Pumpkin Carving

This is the third year we went to Sebastian and Mindy's house to carve pumpkins.  This was the first of the three years that Chris and I went by ourselves!  Cannon and Colson stayed home with Grandma & Grandpa and Auntie Karin.  They were still in their jammies and enjoyed watching a movie and playing with Cannon's new birthday presents.

Chris and I had a good time without kids.....no one else to watch, look after, feed, pay attention to, etc.  As always, Mindy cooked a wonderful meal.  She made two different soups, home made rolls, and meatballs.  I tried both soups...a corn chowder and chicken & dumplings.  They were so good!

This year Chris choose to scrape his pumpkin to make a face....no carving.  His turned out pretty amazing!

I choose a simple witch pattern and had pretty good success, too!

It was a fun evening out!  Thank you Sebastian and Mindy!

Enjoying every moment.

Our Sweet 7 Year Old

Feeling a little nostalgic tonight as I reflect on Cannon's birthday weekend.  We just can't believe that Cannon is 7!  Seven seems so big, so much older than six!!  Seven means he isn't a little boy anymore.  He's growing up into a wonderful young man and we couldn't be happier.

Cannon is an awesome boy.  He has a heart of gold and is very sensitive.  Cannon cares about others' feelings and is a friend to everyone.  He never wants to be left out of anything, including conversations and understands more than we care to admit.  He wants to understand the 'why' of things and is sensitive when things don't go the way he thinks they should.  Cannon gets his feelings hurt at times because he takes everything very serious.

Cannon is a thinker.  He asks mountains of questions about everything and remembers an enormous amount of what he is told.  He is very much like Chris when it comes to understanding how things work.  He is creative and loves to build trucks, trailers and others things with Legos.  He also enjoys drawing and will spend what seems like hours drawing extremely detailed pictures.

Cannon enjoys learning and does, for the most part, exactly what the teacher says.  He is a rule follower!  He is a great listener and tries to put to use what Mrs. Green has taught.  We are constantly amazed at his new learning and enjoy seeing his growth both academically and socially.

Cannon is a typical big brother.  He is definitely protective of Colson and would do anything for him. However Cannon is sometimes annoyed by Colson and Cannon gets frustrated with him.  This is a typical brother-brother relationship.  There are many times in which they do get along, playing right along side each other, working together to build and create and imagine.  Cannon is very helpful for the most part and I can often here Cannon explaining things to Colson or teaching him the 'correct' way to do or say something.

Cannon is a pretty much wonderful kid.  We are so blessed he is ours.  We know he will continue to learn and grow and mature into an amazing young man, one day at a time.

Enjoying every moment.  

Happy Birthday Party!

Cannon chose to have his birthday party this year at Peak Gymnastics in Enumclaw.  He had been to a party there before and loved it...so that was his request!

Cannon said the party, "was awesome!"  He loved "getting presents" and going on the "bungy thing" which was a harness that he put on and he could swing and do flips.

The best part about having the party at Peak is that it was minimal prep for me and I didn't have to do much.  I was able to really enjoy the party.  The kids all got to play on the equipment for an hour and they couldn't have been happier.  They pretty much had free reign of the place and could jump and run and exert as much energy as they needed!

Some of the favorite activities included:  the inflatable slides, the harness, the trampoline and the foam pit.  Colson LOVED doing the harness and smiled the entire time.

After an hour on the floor, the kids all came in to have cupcakes and juice.  Then Cannon opened his gifts and everyone was allowed to play for another 10 minutes or so before we had to go.  Seriously, an awesome time!

Happy Birthday to Cannon!  We love you to the moon and back!

Enjoying every moment!

Autumfest

Autumfest is an annual event at our school.  It's one of the biggest, if not THE biggest event of the school year that brings out hundreds and hundreds of people.  I look forward to it as well.  The kids all get dressed up and trick or treat around the school.  I love seeing all of the costumes and it's wonderful to see so many current and former students.

Cannon and Colson have a great perk of getting their early and walking trick or treating through first, missing the lines and crowds of people. They got just the right amount of candy and were able to enjoy the gym, music and 'Glow Shop' before it got too crowded.  Cannon got glow teeth and Colson got a bracelet.

Grandpa and Grandma Anderson and Auntie Karin were here to take the boys around trick-or-treating with Chris and enjoy some time with them.  Cannon received a lot of compliments on his costume!

It was a fun night.

Enjoying every moment!

Wacky Hair Day

This week was Spirit Week at school.  The students have loved it!  These are the crazy days that the kids remember, even though they are a bit silly and it makes it a little more challenging to accomplish things in class!

Thursday was wacky hair day and Cannon got as wacky as he could with his short hair!  Chris helped him make little 'spikes' all over and then he sprayed it with red and blue spray.

It's great that Cannon gets into these fun experiences!  I love them, too!  (But I'm secretly happy that Spirit Week is over!)

Enjoying every moment!

Quick Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

It was a beautiful fall day.  I love days like today.  The sun was shining and it just made you happy.
This afternoon we took a nice drive and then ended up at Schultz Farms.  It was crazy busy!  But the boys had fun playing in the sawdust pile, seeing the animals and looking at all of the pumpkins.  We didn't buy any pumpkins here because the line was about 30 people deep.  So we headed down the street from our house, back to the little pumpkin patch where you pay on the honor system.  We found two great pumpkins for carving and didn't have to wait in any lines!  Mission accomplished.

Enjoying every moment.

A Few Things

Here are a few stories to go with some pictures from earlier this month:

Colson likes to look through photos on my phone and sometimes he gets into the picture taking mood. I found about 20 different photos on my phone that he took one evening.  Some of his blanket, of the floor, of my foot, of the desk... Here is one of Cannon and Chris.  They were reading before bedtime.

Colson very rarely wants me to take pictures of him.  He usually turns away. Actually, both boys do. I think they feel like they've had their picture taken enough!  This time however, Colson asked me to take pictures of him.  I was able to snap a few with a great smile!

At times I read to both boys together, especially when I am putting the kids to bed by myself.  On this night, Cannon did some of the reading to Colson.  They snuggled up under their blankets and enjoyed a few books!  Perfect!

Enjoying every moment.

Package

The boys know what a big yellow envelope in the mail means!
They know it is for them.
They know it probably has something fun in it!

Yesterday, the boys received a package from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.  It had some Fall/Halloween goodies in it.  Just the anticipation of opening it was exciting for them!

Colson wanted to open the stickers right away!
They both shared some gummy worms, too!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.  You know how to make Cannon and Colson's day!

Enjoying every moment!

Afternoon at the Harley Store

We took a trip up to Bellevue to Sebastian's store so Chris could meet wit him.  We enjoyed doing something different and hanging out at the store.  Sebastian was cooking lunch for everyone, so we got to eat some good food and browse the store.  The boys had fun looking at the toys and hiding in the clothing racks.  When Chris met with Sebastian, the boys parked themselves on the floor and played CARS on my phone and ate snacks.  :)

Hard to tell, but that is the boys on the screen!  It's the little things!

This kept the boys busy for quite some time!

Motorcycles.  Lots of them. 

Enjoying every moment. 

We Are...

We are enjoying these warm fall days and evenings.
We are watching the boys build trucks and trailers with Legos.
We are being silly.
We are always backed up on laundry and folding.
We are glad to have pictures to look through to help us remember.
We are getting up early because that's when Colson wakes up.
We are loving listening to Cannon read.
We are constantly reminding the boys to use an indoor voice.
We are ordering a couple presents for Cannon's birthday.
We are always staying up too late reading.  (Chris and I)
We are picking up toys....again and again and again.
We are telling the boys to go outside and play....the rain is coming!
We are so glad to have each other.
We are a family.
We are loved.

Enjoying every moment.

Happy Fall Evening

Sunday we took advantage of the beautiful fall evening and headed down the road to the small pumpkin patch by our house.

The boys rode.
Chris and I walked.

We had the pumpkin patch all to ourselves and the boys loved finding the perfect pumpkins.  They tried to lift the giant ones and even posed for some pictures.

It was a great end to a beautiful day!
Blessed.

Enjoying every moment.

Leavenworth

Chris and I took a ride over to Leavenworth for the day this weekend.  The day didn't turn out as fabulous as it sounded...

Cold ride over....really cold.
Weather wasn't the greatest in Leavenworth.
The stores were crowded.
Didn't get to see much.
Missed going to some of the stores and didn't get to browse and relax.
Didn't get to the visit the big pumpkin patch on the way out of town.
Missed dinner.

However, there were some great things about the day...

Got to visit with friends.
Enjoyed a nice motorcycle ride back home.
Shared a very yummy chocolate milkshake.
Listened to an inspiring podcast on the way home.
Enjoyed seeing all of the fall colors.

Looking at the positives.

Enjoying every moment.  

A Few More Shots From September

Just some random shots from September:

Ice cream is so yummy no matter what time we eat it!

Always building and creating...using him imagination and being a super kid!

A bag that is always full of books and papers and school things.

Glow in the dark hands!  Cannon's glow stick was leaking and he found out his hands were glow in the dark!  What a cool and awesome discovery!

Doing puzzles together before bed!

Enjoying every moment.