Sleeping Buddies

Words cannot express how much these two melt my heart when they are best buddies!  I'm not going to lie...most of the time they're fighting but when they have these moments I need to stop and cherish them!  Since we have been living at my parents' house the boys have decided that would rather sleep in Brody's crib together rather than sleeping alone.  Mark and I laugh every night when we look over and see them all cuddled up.  Generally one of them is on top of the other or kicking the other one in the face.  I love it though when we look over and Brody is snuggled into Luke or their arms are wrapped around each other!  Words cannot express my love for them!!!

Trick or Treaters

To say that Luke was excited to go trick-or-treating this year was a major understatement.  I had a hard time even getting a picture of him because he was running from house to house and in constant motion!    We were lucky to even get one picture of the three cousins together before we headed out trick-or-treating.  I love the picture of the dad's trying to get the boys to sit down and all smile at the same time!  Brody and Liam wanted to get going as usual and Luke was freaking out that he was missing out on all the candy.  We gave up fast and didn't put forth a ton of effort to get a good pic because it just wasn't happening.  

I have never seen Luke work so fast while he was trick-or-treating!  He was determined to fill his pumpkin with candy.  The weather was nice and Brody was a good trooper!  It was so cute the first house we went to...Luke grabbed his candy and yelled thank you while he was running off to the next house while Brody was a different story.  He looked at the candy bowl and looked back at us to see if it was okay, we nodded and told him to take the candy.  After he grabbed a piece of candy he got the biggest smile on his face and held it up to us with a shocked look on his face!  He couldn't believe how awesome this whole trick-or-treating stuff was.  After a few houses though he decided he had enough candy and wanted to start eating.  Brods pretty much ate candy the rest of the time we were out!

Luke was determined to fill his pumpkin and have the most candy.  He was always comparing his and Brody's buckets to see who had more.  Luke didn't really understand when we told him that both had the same because they'd been to the same houses.  We finally just started telling him he was winning and he was pumped!!!  

My favorite part about trick-or-treating is when they get home and dump out their loot!  I love to see Luke going through everything and get excited when he finds his favorite candy!  I am in love with the ages my boys are at and wish they would stay this way forever!  It was such a fun Halloween with them!!!  

Carving Pumpkins

October is a busy month for Mark at work so when we carve pumpkins it's usually just me and the boys.  This year it was so fun doing it with all of my family!  Sadly, we had to run to swimming lessons halfway through but we weren't gone long.  

Luke took it very serious this year and was determined to have a dinosaur pumpkin.  Luckily I turned him over to Uncle Pat to create a dinosaur pumpkin.  You can always count on Uncle Pat's artistic skills to deliver on something like this!  Luke loved hollowing out his pumpkin and for the first year didn't eat any of the guts...my little guy is growing up and it makes me sad!  However, he also felt like he was ready to handle the knives this year.  Yikes!  It's a miracle that Uncle Pat still has all of his fingers!

Brody wasn't so sure about the whole carving thing.  He hates anything that gets him dirty.  Every time he would reach his hand into the pumpkin he would shake his head and say, "KaKa."  Cousin Liam wasn't too grossed out by it but him and Brody had a better time sword fighting with their scoops!  

For the first time in years daddy actually made it home at a decent hour and was able to carve his own pumpkin!  Everyone was pretty shocked by Mark's carving method.  He doesn't believe in hollowing out the pumpkin.  Mark claims it gives it more of a spooky look but I call it just plain laziness!  He can't fool us!  

Halloween Sugar Cookies

When it comes to sugar cookies I am just plain lazy...I can't lie!  I was so happy this year when I walked by the bakery at Dick's and saw they had unfrosted pumpkin sugar cookies!  Hallelujah!!!  It was so fun frosting sugar cookies without all the mess of rolling them out.  Let's be real...frosting and decorating is the best part anyways!

Brods loved that he was able to use a knife and spread the frosting!  He would load his cookies up with candy and sprinkles and then take one bite out of each cookie.  Lately, Brods has been a little sugar bug and is getting a little gut.  I love the picture where his little chubby tummy is hanging over the table as he works!  

Luke takes his decorating very serious and works super fast.  Every time I tried to grab the camera to take pictures Luke was asking for another cookie to decorate.  I swear each cookie weighed about five pounds by the time he was done.  I only let him eat two of his cookies when he was done and he was sure that way pretty rude of me!  

I always love how no one else wants to eat the cookies the boys decorated.  After watching them lick everything in sight no one was too hungry for a cookie anymore!  

Spooky Dinner

One night in October I decided we needed to have a spooky dinner!  We went with eyeballs in blood and bone breadsticks.  I don't think Luke has ever been so excited to eat dinner.  He kept checking in the oven to see how the eyeballs were doing.  

When it was finally time to eat he scarfed his dinner down so fast without even asking what it was or if he would like it.  My boys aren't the pickiest eaters, but they just don't like to eat.  They would much rather be running around and playing instead of eating.  Every night when we put Lukers to bed he realizes he's hungry.

Brods is very hit and miss.  You never know if he's going to eat or just get down and run off.  Brody is more of a grazer and likes to takes little bites while he plays.  The dinner was also a big hit with him and he was a little messy monster by the time he was done eating!  Maybe we'll have to do themed dinners more often to get them to eat!

Finally Tubes!

If there is one thing we have always said about Brods it's that "There is always something wrong with him!" Since day one Brody has been the happiest or the grumpiest little guy. As a newborn he would scream and puke for hours on end from his acid reflux. It seemed like once that was finally going away the chronic ear infections set in. 

When I was pregnant with Brody I got my first ear infection when I was about 37 weeks along. I can honestly say that it was some of the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I know believe that I had that ear infection so that I would be more sympathetic to my sweet Brods. You always know the second he has an ear infection because grumpy Brody arrives and never leaves. He screams non stop and there is nothing you can do to soothe him. Finally we were referred to Dr. Stock and he said without a doubt that Brody needed tubes!

The day of his procedure he wasn't very happy because for the first time since birth he was denied his morning fix of milk. However, once we arrived at the surgical center he was very intrigued by what was going on. He didn't want to sit in his little room and wait...there was way too much going on out in the halls. It was all pretty cool and exciting until he had to be taken away from me. It broke my heart how he screamed for me as they took him away to surgery. 

They warned me he would not be a happy guy when he woke up and were they right. Luckily, I came prepared with his sippy full of cold milk, a binky and of course lamby. It took a while to calm him down but he eventually gave up and went to sleep in my arms. I was worried the next few days would be rough but he was pretty easy after I got him home. Just wanted to be cuddled a lot which I never mind with my sweet Brods! I sure hope these tubes help and bring him some relief!

Leaves

Living in Kaysville our yards weren't mature enough to have big trees and lots of leaves in the Fall.  Luke and Brody definitely made up for lost time this Fall in Bountiful!  Luke is obsessed with raking up big piles of leaves and jumping in.  It was hard for me to even get a few pics of him because he's in constant motion.

Brody wasn't so sure about the leaves at first.  He was really worried about his beloved frog boots getting dirty in the leaves.  When was first in the piles he would point to his frog boots and cry "kuka" but he eventually realized it was okay!

Luke thought Winston even needed to get in on the action!  He loved burying Winston in the leaves and I think Winston was happy just to be free and running wild!

A Fireman and His Dalmatian

Every year I can't even explain how excited I get about find the boy's Halloween costumes!  I don't totally control everything...I do let Lukers help me decide!  This year we settled on a fireman and his dalmatian.  Brody loves puppies so I knew he would be excited.  We needed him to like his costume since he hates having things on his head.  Luckily, he didn't complain too much about his hat!  We went down to the Bountiful fire station to take their pictures.  I was only able to snap a few before Brods was heading off to the park!  They still turned out pretty cute though!  Words cannot express how much I love these two boys!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we have an argument about why we should go to the pumpkin patch.  Mark can't understand why we don't just go to the grocery store to buy our pumpkins and I insist on taking the boys to the pumpkin patch.  Luckily, I have won every year and we venture out to the pumpkin patch.  This year we were lucky enough to have cousin Liam and the Toone cousins join us!

It has been an unusually hot October so the poor pumpkins were a little nasty and it was hard to find a good one.  Luke was sure that every pumpkin was perfect and was tossing them in right and left.  When we wasn't looking we would try and switch them out!  Brody has been obsessed with pumpkins this year so he was in heaven.  He kept pointing and screaming punkin!  Of course Uncle Mitch provided the fun entertainment...zipping the big kids around the field in a cart!  

In the end we were all dusty and hot but found some decent pumpkins for Halloween!!!

Cornbelly's

We have never been down to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point and I have always wanted to go.  Luckily, this year cousin Emerson wanted to go too so we ventured down!  The boys had a blast and we will definitely be going back next year!  I tried to get some cute pics of the boys at their displays before we went in but I only got on decent picture because they were too excited to get in there and start playing.  My pictures aren't always perfect and I don't always have the best subjects and the second picture is a perfect example of that.  Sometimes I feel like it's a miracle if I get a good picture of these two!

Luke was on sensory overload from the second we walked in.  He started screaming about all the cool stuff he wanted to do and before I knew it he was running a million different directions.  I can't tell you how many times I would look up and realize he was gone again.  This little boy scares me to death and I am always sure I am going to lose him.  

There is so much to do there and we couldn't do everything sadly.  However, we did do the carpet slide, duck races, pillow trampoline, corn maze, cow ride, playground, and so much more than I can't even remember.  The one attraction we missed was the corn sand box and yet we still have kernels of corn falling out of the stroller.  Emerson and Luke could have stayed at the duck races all night but Brods wanted to get to the playground!  We had fun night and can't wait for next year!

Haunted Gingerbread Houses

When I saw this haunted gingerbread house kit at Target I knew the boys would love it!  They were so excited when I showed it to them that night.  Luke thought it was so cool that they each got more than one house to decorate.  

Luke was all over this activity and dove right in squeezing frosting everywhere and dumping on the candy!  He felt so cool being able to use the frosting bag.  Luke is growing up so much and it breaks my heart.  I want him to stay my little guy forever!  Lukers also knew right from the beginning that the candy was good to eat!

Brody is still young and it took him a while to figure out we were using candy to decorate with.  He loved sticking the candies on and then taking them off and moving them around.  About halfway through Brody finally got a lick of his fingers and he couldn't believe what he had been missing out on!  Brody is obsessed with pumpkins this Halloween and he wanted every pumpkin on his house.  He didn't really care for the rest of candy but wanted those pumpkins.  Being the little helper that he is Brody enjoyed mixing the bowls of candy together!  

Normally I am very neat and clean but when it comes to project with my boys I like to just let them have fun!  They were covered in frosting and a complete sticky mess by the time we were done but they were happy and had a great time so it was worth it!  They probably would have decorated all night  if I hadn't torn them away for baths!