Practicing Letters - Monster Style!

I am always trying to find fun ways to work on letters and numbers with Owen.  Last weekend, while he was napping, I made this little Halloween monster game.  I printed out a bunch of pictures of silly monsters, wrote a letter on the back of each one and then hid them all over the living room.  I also wrote Happy Halloween on a large sheet of paper.  When Owen woke up, I sent him on a monster hunt.  Each time he found one, I asked him to match the letter on the back with one of the letters in Happy Halloween.  He had a blast!

 

 

The Gingerbread Crew Hit the Apple Orchard

Fall has always been my favorite season.  I love the beautiful colors the leaves turn, I love the apple cider, putting on a warm sweater on a chilly day....but one of my very most favorite things has become our annual fall outing with our former daycare families and Ronda and Terry.

We commented this year how much more active the boys were - climbing, running, jumping, apple picking - all by themselves.  We chose a little gem that none of us had been to in Hastings.  It was perfect!  Lots to do, but not a lot of people!  The kids had a blast and so did the grown ups!  The weather couldn't have been any better and it was a perfect morning!

Our group of three has grown!  Owen, Nelly Lu, Sully, Logan and Liam

 The original Gingerbread House Daycare Crew

 Ronda and Terry with the kiddos

 Sully and Owen were the conductors

 Pumpkins!

 Even little Logan loved the train!

 Owen loved the goats

 We tried harder than you'd ever believe to get this shot with any of the three boys.  I just happened to capture this one and I LOVE it!  It just captures these guys so well.  They aren't just friends, they are like brothers.  I hope it stays that way forever!

 The Born family - Justin and Nelly, Becky and Sully

 Paul, me and Owen

 Off to do some apple picking

 The McDonald family - Logan, Miles, Liam and K.C.

 Ronda and Terry

 Apple picking is sure hard work!

 Ronda was kind enough to take O by the rooster since I wouldn't go near it

 The goats putting on a show for us

 

Celebrating our Special Angel Babies

Today was a special day for a lot of reasons.  Paul and I both had the day off because Owen had a dentist appointment and his school screening.  He did really well! We were excited to hear that they think he's doing well and that he scored 20 (16 is what they like 3.5 yr. olds to score).

Tonight, we had dinner and celebrated our angel babies with our friends the Lavines and the Beckers.  The kiddos decorated paper lanterns and angels that we sent up to heaven.  What amazing families they both are.  Both have suffered losses, yet they are so strong.

Lisa and Ashley decorating Lily's lantern

 Eric and Lucy working on Sam's lantern

 Doesn't my friend Jen have the best smile?

 Owen and Daddy working on Abby's lantern

 Lucy, Jen and Piper

 Lisa, Dan and Ashley ready to send a lantern up to Lily

 Ready to send our love up to Abby

 Jen, Eric, Lucy and Piper sending love up to Sam

 Sam's lantern being lit

 Up, up, up

 Lily's lantern being lit

 Abby's lantern being lit

 On its way to Abby!

 Enjoying cupcakes and decorating angels for their siblings

 Owen was thrilled to have someone to play construction with!

In so many ways, my heart wanted to be sad today.  Sad that I'm not pregnant with Abby, sad that we'll never hold her in our arms.  Instead, I chose to make today a celebration.  I am grateful that I got to be Abby's mom.  I'm grateful that she didn't feel pain.  I'm grateful that I have an amazing husband and a wonderful little boy.  I am grateful that I had supportive, loving friends to be with tonight.....there are just too many things to celebrate for me to waste the day being sad.  Abby deserves more than that!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged!  We've been up to all sorts of fun fall things, including celebrating Papa's birthday today!  Have a wonderful day Papa - we love you!

RED day at Heidi's

 Working hard

 Lunch shot

 Bear day during "B" week

 Acting out Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

 Cutest little Papa Bear!

 Owen and his new friend Colin

 Heidi always captures him hard at work

 Proud of the card he made for Papa

 Happy birthday Papa!

 Mmmmm! Ice cream

 Two of my favorite guys....XOXO

 Owen got a sliver at Heidi's on Monday.  He wouldn't let us near it and after waiting a few days, it hadn't worked itself out.  On Friday night, I took him in to get the sliver out and to get a flu shot.  He didn't even cry from the shot!  The doctor soaked his hand, then put a numbing agent on it for 20 minutes.  Then the nurse took his upper body, I took his lower body and the doctor worked on the sliver.  There was a lot of blood. :(  He did the "not breathing" cry, then wailed.  I seriously think the people next door must've been wondering what was happening in our room!

 You're not sick of seeing this pose yet, are you?  Paul was busy hanging drywall in the shed, so Owen and I stopped at the fire station open house.  This boy LOVES his trucks!

 In the back of the ambulance

 Sparky the Fire Dog!

 Driving the ambulance

 Mr. February in the 2014 fire fighter calendar????