fall fun recap...

Here is a little recap of just some of the fall fun we've had.  We kicked off fall with our annual trip to Gentry Farms.  This was the first year that we were bundled up and still freezing.  I kept thinking of the first time we took Ethan to the pumpkin patch and I was so excited to take Bennett this year...our littlest pumpkin:)  

can you tell I have a migraine in this picture??  

As room-mom for Ethan's class, I am responsible for hosting the Halloween Party.  The kiddos dressed up, ate treats, made skeletons, and played pin the smile on the the skeleton.  It was lots of fun to see Ethan in his class with all of the friends.  

We had a pumpkin carving party in our neighborhood.  It was so much fun....we had chili, made smores, carved pumpkins, and mingled with friends.  What a great time!  We are blessed to have neighbors who have turned into such great friends.

 the "owl" smores kits my friend Catherine and I made for the kiddos

 David and Ethan carving pumpkins

Ethan's pumpkin

Ethan and his buddy Finn at our Pumpkin Carving Party

Ethan was really into spider man this year.  I have no idea how he knows about spider man, but lets just say he was really into it.  I think all 3 year boys are right now  He is definitely turning from a toddler into a boy.  Every time he put that suit on....he transforms into this guy:

trick or treating....he ran the entire time like he has been doing this for years:)

and our little spider:)

Ethan's summer so far...

People are always commenting on what a "happy boy" Ethan is.  He loves life and glows with joy.  His little light is one of the brightest I've seen.  If he notices me looking worried or stressed, he will say "just be happy mom."  He is my happy boy.  Bennett was having a 'moment' in the car and Ethan said as calm as can be..."babies just cry mom."  So matter of fact that I had to just laugh.  His new saying..."that is just ridiculous."  When I ask him "where do you get your sillies from because mommy isn't that funny."  He looked at me point blank and said "Nana."  The kid cracks me up.  

  He has had such a great summer.  I haven't been the best at posting pictures, but here a few so far from our summer with little captions.  

 3 year photos

he has been wanting to learn to snorkel at the pool...too bad the kid size doesn't work very well

all boy!  

 

This picture was taken when Bennett was only a few weeks old and I was a very tired mommy.  But Ethan can make you have fun and be silly no matter what!  I think we took 30 silly phone pictures that day!

Ethan and David have a little vegetable garden in our back yard.  Their strawberries might be small...but they are the sweetest you've ever eaten!  We now have tomatoes and cucumber!

He wore this necklace of his cousins for a week solid.  David just loved it!  

If I had to sum up his summer favorite times...this would be it!  Catching lightening bugs.  Can you tell he is happy?  David and Ethan have a method to catch them and letting them go.  I could sit and watch them run our backyard for hours.  Both having the best time.  So sweet.  

Ethan attending cooking camp at his school for a week.  This was his chef's hat.  His teacher wrote on his daily notes that she is amazed at how shy he seems, but has the best belly laughs and can really  let loose and have fun and be silly.  I think she nailed it on the head:)

He asks every day to hold "Bennett Stone."  He call his brother by his full name.  Bennett might just go by his full name one day if Ethan has his way!  Grandpa just calls his "Stone."  

Swimming!  He has had the best time meeting up with his buddies at the pool.  He loves to dive for dive rings and swim nonstop.  I have to tell him to "stay above the water for a while."  He would swim until he literally would pass out asleep most days.

He still loves his sandbox

We have to go check out "Daddy's House" almost every day.  David is building a house down the street from ours, and Ethan has to keep a close eye on the progress.  

David has several remote control sail boats and Ethan has loved going with David to the lakes behind our house to sail them.  They did this more in the late spring when we had windy days.  I need to catch a photo of this.

so true...

Ethan lately...

I wanted to share these photos of Ethan.  If you can't tell, he is quite the little character.  He is such a charming, loving little boy.  I wake up literally every day with a sweet kiss from this little man and a "morning mommy."  We are quite smitten with the joy he brings.  He has been busy lately...

making funny faces

is now using real tooth paste that you "spit" out

helping mommy prepare for baby brother...yep he still fits in the bassinet

going to the library on many rainy days

he can now catch the cat while dressed as "Woody" from Toy Story

wore this hat to school for Hat Day:  Gotta love Waffle House!

Finally got inducted into the Potty Club at School...what took them so long?

will still smile at Mom's request

now walks into school with a smile and a hug.  photo taken on Valentines Day

posing with his Valentines Balloon...I buy the craziest balloons I can find every year

opening his Valentines Gift:  Little Einsteins Videos!  His latest obsession

sleeps in a big boy bed.  More photos to come as I finish the room

goodbye and thank you gift...

We were so sad to hear that Ethan's assistant teacher, Miss Aunie, would be moving and last Thursday was her last day.  I could tell from the very first day she was a cuddly, sweet type of teacher who is always so sweet to the kiddos.  This brought comfort to me especially with this being his first time at school.  Since we is moving across the coast to Colorado, I am assuming she has either a long plane ride or car ride so I made her this a good-bye and thank you.  

a stack of good magazines and a stash of chess squares

a little note from Ethan...

I guess Tuesday will be another 'first day' of sorts meeting his new assistant teacher.  Sigh...

label it...

The weather is cooler which means it is time to bundle up your little one.  Now that Ethan is in school, this means I had to find a way to put his name on everything:  hats, gloves, sippy cups, lunch boxes, school totes.  The southern girl in me is always eager to slap a monogram on anything.  But unless you own your own machine, it gets a little pricy putting your kiddos name on everything.  


So I wanted to share with you some products that I have found that have made my life easier, especially when sending your tot to school.

The first product I found are Inchbug's Orbit labels for sippy cups.  They were actually recommended to me by a friend at work.  They work on multiple types of sippy cups and are dishwasher friendly---aka---can survive at my house.

What I most recently found was Ethan's day school was asking that all coats, hats, gloves, etc be labeled.  I had already found that my sharpie marker would bleed on the labels of his lovies, etc.  My fingers then went to google and I found several products for clothes.  My favorite was Name Bubble's bitty bubble.  First of all they come in a huge variety of colors and styles.  They had a more mature monogram style, but I choose the preschool label with the train icon in the center.  I thought if you had two small kids who can't read {hello, Courtney!} they could simply identify the icon such a train or plane.  Within minutes, I had labeled all of Ethan's coats, jackets, mittens, hats, and even a lovie.   

Have fun labeling....I did!