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!!!