Hutchinson

Each morning I find him reading.  Giggling and talking about what he sees in the book.  Then he falls asleep reading every night.  He is always asking for "one more book pease!"I love it and hope he always loves to read! 

Last week...

I am not sure how the weeks slip by do quickly.  I have full intentions of blogging a couple times a week and then I pull the blog up and it has been a week!  Last week was fun!  Finnean has a great week at school and Hutchinson had a great week with his momma.  These boys are just growing so fast.  Hutchinson keeps turning into a big boy and Finnean is fast approaching FIVE years old.  I am not ready.  I just want them to stay little.  Finnean keeps saying "I am SO EXCITED for kindergarten,  I can't wait to go to kindergarten! !" It is killing me.  Of course,  I want him to be excited but SLOW down little one!  :) Here are a few pictures of last week.  This week we are just relaxing, getting ready for thanksgiving at our house!  It is so fun,  they are so excited about the holidays!  Stay tuned for all the fun that is to be had!

Finnean LOVES to write and draw.  He is always finding notebooks and taking them over.  Last night I needed to write a few notes and couldn't find any paper without drawing on them...so I just made them my stationary!  Hopefully my letter recipients enjoy the art as much as I do!

We had a BLAST on Saturday morning!  We headed down to Crème Cupcake on Ingersoll and decorated turkey cupcakes.  The boys loved it and I got to have some tasty hot chocolate! It is COLD here, like single digit cold!  Our friends, Logan and Cullen joined us and it was so fun to see the little boys hang out.  As you can tell, our boys LOVED decorating and this was about 5 seconds before they took huge bites of those delicious turkeys! 

On Friday, I had the opportunity to volunteer in Finnean's classroom for his Thankful Feast!  It was SO cute.  His class and the class next to them all brought things that they liked to eat.  We had everything from strawberries (Finnean's pick), to ice cream sandwiches to mac and cheese.  It was quite the spread.  After the feast, they had the First Annual Preschool Thanksgiving Parade.  OH MY!  I will post more pictures.  Finnean was a drummer in the marching band.  Look at how darn cute he is!!  They also had "balloon floats", cheerleaders, a giant balloon turkey and Santa!!  It was so cute! 



This picture is supposed to be below the turkeys but I can't get it to move there! After cupcakes we headed to the Des Moines Winters Farmer's Market. It was nice and cozy inside and we found some tasty honeycrisp apples and yummy beef sticks.  We did NOT find any Christmas presents!  After we checked out the goods, we did some skywalking.  The boys LOVE running free in the sky walks.  Hutchinson took a break to watch some worker guys. 

We had our first snow on Friday.  Hutchinson thought it was pretty cool and kept yelling "NO!!!" AKA snow :)

Finnean and the grilledcheeseasaurous.

This kid.  How did he get so old?!  That smile is killing me and I just can't get over how many words he has.  It is so fun watching him grow.

Before bed giggles!

Wagler Weekend at the Lake!

In September we headed to Lake Okoboji to hang with the Kelcee's family.  It was SO much fun!  Her parents are so good to the boys and the boys just love going.  We spent our time relaxing and enjoying some good food.  We hunted for frogs and we even caught one, thanks to Matt and Molly.  The boys loved watching our little frog friend.  We are not sure how he got out of his bucket, a bird snatched him?  He jumped to his death?  We were just glad that Finnean didn't ask to many questions and didn't mind he was gone! We adventured to Arnold's Park but it was closed for the season, so we toured the maritime museum.  It was full of really cool boats and history-all of my boys enjoyed themselves.  The adults hit up the tap room of the local brew house, West O Beer.  We laughed and laughed as we played life sized Jenga and a few games of FARKEL!  The boys hung with Mark and Molly-everyone had a blast!  We lost power that evening for a few hours, so that made for some excitement.  The boys enjoyed playing by candlelit and watching for the worker guys to come down the road.  :)  We are already looking forward to next year's Wagler Weekend at the lake!

I am so thankful that we get to do life with the Murphy's.  Not sure how we got so lucky to have such amazing friends!

Frog hunting and watching!

Finnean said his favorite part was when we left and he got to hang out with Mark and Molly! :)

When the kids are away, the adults will play!

 

Whoa...that was a long month!

We made it.  We did it.  We survived.  Michael was gone for all but three days of a two week span and I was prepping for our HUGE Bare Root Trunk show.  I knew that I just had to get to November 10th.  Then my family threw in a family reunion and I pushed that date to November 12.  If we could make it until then, we would be fine!  Christmas is going to seem like a breeze.  WHOA! This post is sounding way more complainy that I had hoped.  That is not the case, it is just real life.  I am SO thankful for my husband and the hard work he puts in for us.  I know that he hates being gone.  This trip was just extra hard for some reason.  I learned that I am not a super mom.  I am reminded of that a lot but really reminded of that this time around.  I learned that I need people around me to support me and I am so thankful that I have those people in my life.  I also learned that I need to lean on God.  Man, I just try to pull away when I am struggling but I need to pull in.  I am learning.  I am thankful that I took a risk and joined a bible study that I didn't know anyone at, they were an awesome support through the crazy.   I am writing this because my heart is full of gratitude.  I am so thankful that I have a husband that cares and works hard for us.  I am so thankful that I have those two little boys to care for, even though they make me stressed sometimes!! :)  I can't imagine life without them, I wouldn't give up being with them for anything.  I am thankful for all the people that helped us out in the past month.  I think that I have still been recovering this week and I am so thankful it is SATURDAY!  A favorite day at our house!  We get to spend the day together exploring and doing whatever we want.  I get to make breakfast for my family and drink my tea at a normal pace.  It is the little things and I just had to share my gratitude.  Maybe it's the season but I try to live in gratitude.  My life seems better when I can be grateful, even for things I don't really want to be grateful for.  What in your life are you grateful for that is not a favorite thing? Mine right now is laundry.  I am trying so hard to remember that we have clothes, warm clothes and a washing machine and water to run it and soap to put in it. Sometimes I despise laundry but I today I am going to be grateful for it and just be thankful that we have clothes to wear.  I might even try do a few loads today! :)  Happy weekend and don't forget to be grateful!

Cutest Hide and Seek ever.

While Finnean was at school today, Hutchinson asked if I wanted to play Hide and Seek.  Sure, how can you resist that sweet, tiny voice?  I asked him if he wanted me to count and he said, "No, Hutchy count." (while he was hiding in the closet, mind you)  So he counted to five and then burst out of the closet, giggling already.  He starts yelling, "Mom, where are you? Where are you, Mom" The whole time, when he found me, his face lit up and bust out laughing.  "Again, Mom, you hide again!"  He would start to get worried he couldn't find me right away, you could hear it in his voice.  He always would look in my previous hiding spot to make sure I wasn't there but each time he found me, that smile that just melts my heart would erupt on his tiny little face.  He was so excited and then he would say, "one more time?" as he walked back to his counting place.  Just a snippet of something that I don't ever want to forget.  My job is pretty amazing.

Brothers

These boys have my heart.  Just look at Hutchinson's crazy, long hair and his sweet little chubby cheeks that make his grin just perfect.  And Finnean, hands full of rocks, only pausing for a minute (since I bribed him candy) to hold still for a picture.  They have so much love for each other.  It am so thankful that we had two boys.  I love the things they think up together or how Hutchinson will do whatever FiFi is doing(most of the time this is okay!). I love how they will always have a friend.  I know they will struggle and drive each other crazy but I hope when they are older they will know that they have someone that they can always count on.  I think Hutchy will miss FiFi like crazy next year when he is at school.  My heart just melts when Finnean helps Hutchinson out with something or offers to play a game with him.  It also melts when Hutchinson gets so excited to pick Finnean up from school, he has only been gone for a few hours and he is ready for his brother, his friend, his playmate, his partner in crime to come home and see him!  It is awesome.  And the way that Finnean can make Hutchinson laugh, it is priceless.  One of my most favorite sounds! I wouldn't trade having two little boys for anything. 

New gig!

I am so excited to share that I have been chosen to be a new member of the writing team for The Des Moines Moms Blog (DMMB)!  I am so thankful for my sweet friends, Abby and Shelby, that encouraged me to apply.  The DMMB is an awesome group of women that have had so many experiences and truly just want to help other mommas.  I hope that you read along.  I will be sure to post a link to my posts on this blog.  I keep giggling because I can't believe I am a blogger!!  So excited!  Check out my introductory post HERE! Want to hear some small world, Iowa living at it's best?  The gal that I am introduced with, Kelsey (who is not my Bare Root partner), happens to be my college roommate's class mate from elementary school!?  Isn't that weird!  I love Iowa. :)

Favorite day...

I am so behind on all the fun we had in October but I had to share this family picture.  I LOVE everything about it.  Finnean was so excited because he got to pick apples and obviously, Hutchinson is super pumped about his apples.  We had so much fun and  I will share more about this adventure soon!

BOO!

The boys LOVED Halloween this year.  Finnean was really into things that were "spooky" but not scary.  So we made these "spooky" ghosts.  As you can see, they flipped out when I hung them from our little tree...

More Halloween pictures to come...it has been busy here!  

Nature walking.

Today was beautiful, like crazy beautiful.  Finnean had the idea to go look for some nature after rest time, (he rests, Hutchinson still naps!) so we headed out to a newly found trail that is really pretty and not far from our house.  The boys  were off and exploring the instant their tiny shoes hit the pavement.

We stopped to check out some bugs.  There were a ton of box elder bugs and a similar red bug that they boys thought were pretty darn cool.  As you can see, they were REALLY into checking them out.

We of course had to collect some nature while we were out there...Finnean took to a stick collection.  He found a Y shaped stick and a lower case R stick.  Pretty cool...letters are everyone when are you really learning about them!

The sticks became our instruments.  They made a cool sound when Finnean hit them together and then Hutchinson joined in.  I wish you could have heard the giggles that were going on, not to mention Hutchinson's cute dance moves.

Hutchinson REALLY wanted to get close to this little bug.

The little bug moved a little too fast and surprised him...I LOVE the expression on his face and his clenched little fists.  He was squealing in delight and a little bit of fear too. :)

Happy boy.

Hutchinson focused his collection on leaves.  I had to carry them all for him and it turned out to be quite the pretty bouquet.  He loved finding the "baby" ones and when he found a new color he would yell it out, pick it up and run it over to me.  I love watching him learn, right there in front of me.

They loved walking along the side of the path because that is where the leaves had collected from the bikes whizzing by.  They crunched under their little feet as they marched along, hoping to see a bunny or some sort of wildlife.  We only saw a few cats, maybe next time we will see a bunny or two.

Soaking them up...

This little boy just kills me.  I love everything about him but especially his messy hair and his grumpy faces.

You can't forget his dreamy eyes and cute little toothy smile.

Both boys are infatuated with Bare Root.  They love to help and usually want to help a little to much! :)  The weather has been A-MA-ZING here and we" needed" to be outside and I needed to work, so I just moved my office right outside!  It was great, even with my little helpers tiny hands helping me.

We went to the fire station for their open house on Wednesday night.  Hutchinson kept saying "fireman truck" and we would ask if he wanted to go see it and he would shake his head yes.  When we got up to the trucks he didn't want to go close to it.  Finally, we found one that had it's light on and he walked right up to it and all he said was "whoa."  He was mesmerized!

I could hardly believe my eyes when he laid down like this.  He just makes my heart burst with love and happiness.  He looks so dreamy here.  I had a flash forward (is that a thing?) of him laying in the grass with his college sweetheart, working on homework on the campus of his choice.  Can' t you just see him...probably won't be doing any studying but looking all googley eyed his date!

So Hutchinson is into screaming before he falls asleep at naptime.  Thankfully the time that he does it has decreased but on this particular day he just did NOT want to give it up.  He cried and cried and then finally fell asleep like this!

I just love this shot.  No one in my family would get up on the log to stand on it to get this picture.  I had to really talk Finnean into it but I am so glad he did it!  I just can't get enough of him or those Iowa sunsets. 

Sooooo...if you run into the trash can with the back of the car, your tail light will get busted up.  Note to self.
#drivingfail

On Tuesday night we headed down to the Blanchard's for a little bit of crazy fun!  The boys had fun running and playing and man is it crazy with 5 boys under five!

Go Cyclones!

Thursday night was PERFECT!  Well almost perfect, we were missing Michael (he was working hard on the road for us) but besides that it was a perfect fall night.  We headed to Ames for the Cyclone game against the "hook em' horns" as Finnean calls them.  We were set up for the night.  Tia took Hutchinson (Thanks, Tia!!) and dropped us off  at the stadium.  I had a free ticket (Thanks, Kate!) and the weather was amazing.  It kept threatening to storm but never did, so that left us to tailgate and enjoy the game.  Finnean LOVED it.  He really loves seeing Uncle Trav there and they tossed the football for most of the time we were tailgating.  We headed into the game and found a great spot on the hill.  Finnean was so excited to see the stadium and his face when we got to the top of the hill was priceless.  He spent a lot of the time making imaginary catches from the ISU players or doing touchdown dances.  He watched the game and clapped and cheered!  He didn't make one peep of grumpiness...it was glorious!  We has so much fun together.  The Cyclones were even playing well but ended up losing on a very controversial call or so we heard.  We didn't see the end of the game but left after we watched the band at halftime.  Our ride picked us up and we were in bed by 915!  I can't tell you how much I loved soaking up the time with just Finnean.  It doesn't get much better than soaking up a football game with your boy.
 

Tailgating with Uncle Trav is always FUN!  Finnean has that smile pretty much the whole time we were there.

This boy.  Oh my, he just tugs on my heart strings.  I don't even have the words to tell you how excited he was!

They have a "Flex Cam" at the stadium and Finnean was trying to get on the big screen :)
Cutest little muscles I have ever seen!

Uncle Trav surprised us at halftime and came to chat with Finnean.  As you can see from Finnean's smile, he thought that was pretty cool!

This is Finnean right when we headed up to find our seats.  He instantly started playing imaginary football.

According to Finnean this was his favorite part.  The players walk right underneath you when they were going back out from halftime.  I told Finnean to yell something to them and he said, "No Mom!  They are focused!"  HAHA! Where does he come up with this stuff?  He was pretty amazed by them.  He also said that he really liked the "hook em' horns" mascot.  My favorite part was when both of us were really paying attention and we got to see the Cyclone player rush into the end zone for a touchdown and we both started cheering and jumping.  The look on his face while he was yelling "touchdown!!!" was spectacular, just filled with pure excitement.  I can't get over how much fun it was to spend the evening with this sweet, almost five year old!

Finnean was pretending but Hutchinson was not.  He was out before we got on the interstate in Ames.  Tia said they had such a good time and Hutchinson spend most of the night giggling with Gabi.  What a fun night for everyone and thank you to everyone that made it possible!

Random fun.

Hutchinson looks a lot like me or so we are told very often.  I think so, most of the time BUT he doesn't always act like me...he gets is organizational skills from his Daddy!

Finnean has been REALLY into eating apples these days.  He is also really into getting his own snack.  For afternoon snack I usually tell him to pick something healthy and he usually comes back with an apple and a cheese stick.  He eats that thing to the core!  He is so proud when he finishes it!  When we went to the apple orchard the other day we picked up a bag of small apples-he has been loving that they are just his size!

Last weekend the boys made crowns at "church school" and they look pretty darn cute wearing them:)

We hopped in the car to head to school the other morning and I noticed this guy on the windshield wiper! He kind of freaked me out but Finnean thought he was super cool.  He made it all the way to school so I put him in a cup and kept him for Finnean to check him out.  We kept him all day and then released him when Michael got home.  We found out that they FLY!!!  The prayer mantis (as Finnean called it) made quite the exit by flying away very quickly!

On Monday we headed for the zoo.  I can't get over how long this guys legs are getting...

Can't beat an Iowa sunset.

I love fall. I love scarves.  I love the fall sunshine so I can wear scarves. 

  

"Air-pane!!!"
This little man just kills me in his cardigan.  Thanks Abby and Cory for that cute little cardi and thanks to Hutchinson for being a little guy he can still wear it from last year!  I am so proud of Hutchinson.  He is doing great in the nursery at a church that we don't go to (I am doing a bible study) and he acts like his owns the place.  I was worried that he would be nervous without Finnean but he is loving it!  I am so thankful because it makes it so much easier on me:)

  

Mr. Finnean cheesing it up at the zoo!

Last Sunday our church hosted a concert to benefit the Imagine No Malaria campaign.  I am on the committee for this group at our church, so I helped prepare and serve a potato bar for 100 people.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  We laughed a lot, got a lot done and I learned so much from the others on the committee.  The potatoes turned out really great and the concert was awesome.  The boys loved it and sat through the whole thing!!  Richard and Lisa came up, that was a bonus!

Check out Finnean's sweet fire truck!  Ms. Margaret (his teacher) said that she asked them to cut out a rectangle and make it into a fire truck.  He did just that!  Sorry the picture wouldn't come in the right way, so you kinda have to turn your head to see it.  He even added a ladder!  I just love his little imagination.

Last Friday night I had a girls night with my sweet friend, Michelle (HI MEL!!) and she taught me how to make her homemade pasta.  We had so much fun and stayed up WAY to late.  We will definitely be doing this again. 
PS-the pasta turned out really tasty.  We actually had it for dinner tonight and the boys ATE IT UP!!