HALLOWEEN !!!

Jack had a fantastic trick-or-treat evening!

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I was a little worried earlier in the day that he wouldn't want to get into his costume, and therefore wouldn't be trick-or-treating, but as the time drew near he got excited for candy and wore the costume just fine :)

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We started with costumes before dinner. I got the boys all dressed right before G&G B stopped over to see them. I had no problems getting them on - part one a success! However, then Jack thought it was time to go get candy and kept trying to walk out the back door as I was getting dinner ready!

Isn't he a cute duck!
I like the side angle view :) Jack was carrying the pumpkin around all afternoon!

The duck and his peapod.

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Jayden had no complaints about his costume - it kept him toasty warm. Although I had to take it off when the sun was still shining so bright because the living room was getting so warm I didn't want him to over-heat! It got much nicer when the sun went down.

Jack with daddy just before heading out at 5pm......

the back view is cute too....

Although we left right at 5pm because Jack couldn't wait any longer... as we approached our first door, Jeff yelled out our front door that he had just checked trick-or-treat times online and found out that ours didn't start until 5:30, not 5pm like we thought!!!! So we turned around and went home.... Jack was very disappointed. He kept saying "When get more candy? When get more candy?" It was a very sad sight to see.

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So we went inside and I fed Jayden, Jack enjoyed a pack of smarties, and soon enough it was time to head out again.... and now the sun was setting, so it was more fun anyways!

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I walked Jack and Jayden up and down our street. Jack did great! He never said a word to anyone (even though we had practiced and practiced saying "trick or treat, thank you!" all day) After we finished out street I wanted to take Jack over to Miss Cathie's house a few blocks away. I was going to leave Jayden with Daddy since it was getting pretty cool outside, but as soon as I walked away Jayden started crying. So we got out the double stroller, and bundled Jayden into his carseat. He just stared at me during out entire walk.

And Miss Cathie was very excited to see Jack, and after a minute to two Jack warmed up and didn't want to leave! He would have gone right inside and started playing if he could have! And I was able to introduce Jayden to his soon-to-be sitter (he started crying, but Cathie got him to stop with his nuk).

We didn't stop as anymore houses during our walk because the double stroller is kind of hard to manuver, expecially around all the trick or treaters, sidewalks, steps etc, and Jack wouldn't go to a door without holding my hand. But we got plenty of candy already, so we just enjoyed a nice evening stroll.

Jayden upon arriving home - wide awake and cozy!

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After we were finished outside there was still about an hour of trick or treat left - and Jack was a too preoccupied with the giant bowl of candy daddy was handing out, so I spent the rest of the evening watching Toy Story in the basement with the boys, and trying to keep Jack from running upstairs everytime he heard the doorbell ring!

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We all had a wonderful Halloween!

Teachers Convention Weekend - Part 2

On Saturday we spent the day down by Grandma & Grandpa Stollenwerk's.

We took some family photos and enjoyed a nice fall day!

All the grandkids.

Jack did alright with the pictures... getting him to stand still is always a challenge... he didn't always go where he was told, but he was in all the pics (smiling or not, looking at the camera or not) and there were no tantrums or meltdowns - so I think he did alright!

Grandkids with Grandma & Grandpa.

Our family.
The first picture we took, I think it's the best one of the four of us!

Jack getting a ride to lunch from daddy when pictures were done!

Jack had a blast with Chase on the lawn mower!

The peapod and his duck (missing a brother)

I brought the boys' costumes along to show everyone. Jayden was very cooperative in his peapod.... Jack not so much. Hopefully he puts it on for trick-or-treat tonight.

Chase playing with Jayden.

Jillian reading a book to Jack.

Both boys napping before dinner - they were worn out after a fun day!

Jayden's such a big boy!

The past few days Jayden hasn't been sleeping as well as normal. And when I say "normal" I mean like the abosolutely perfect sleeper he has been since I flipped him onto his tummy 3 months ago!

When Jack was just under 4 months old and slept very poorly for a few nights I started giving his cereal and that made all the difference... Jayden is a week or two ahead of Jack, but I decided to give it a try.

So this afternoon, after he nursed at lunch time I made up some rice cereal and milk for him. He loved it!!! He ate the whole bowl (1 tbls cereal + 1 oz. milk).

He did really well with it. He had both his fists on and around his mouth pushing the cereal in. He was happy and smiling the entire time. It took about a half hour, but he finished it.

We'll see if it helps his sleeping......

I'm not too sure about this mommy, what are we doing???
Not too bad.... I think I'll help shove that cereal in with my fists!
I like it!
Oh, is it all gone already?

:)

Teachers Convention Weekend - Part 1

Daddy had off school this week Thursday and Friday so we were all home together!

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On Thursday Jack helped daddy outside for a while. It was a cold, windy day (not as windy as the two days before though!) But Jack still had fun - He got out his new winter coat and snow boots to keep him warm. He helped put away a bunch of stuff in the yard to get ready for winter and also picked up all the sticks and branches that fell down in the wind storm.

On Friday we carved our pumpkins. We grew two bigs ones here in our garden, and two down by Grandma & Grandpa Stollenwerk's.

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Jack helped mommy and daddy dig out the insides of the pumpkins - but he was a little grossed out by it all and wasn't too into the whole idea of sticking his hand inside, but he tried!

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I carved one Jack-o-lantern design and daddy carved the other three big ones. Jack lost interest once the knives came out and he couldn't help anymore - so I got out some fingerpaints and let him paint a smaller pumpkin. He had a GREAT time! He painted it orange and white. It looks great :)

Boys having fun....

Jayden has been enjoying his exersaucer and bouncy chair this week.

And before it got SOOOO windy, Jack enjoyed an afternoon outside with his trucks in the leaves!

Too Cute!

First trip to the B'Haven Lodge!

This past weekend G&G B moved into their new up-north lodge in Townsend, WI, about three hours away from home :)

We went up on Saturday morning and stayed over til Sunday morning to "help out" (as much as we could with Jayden & crazy Jack!)

The ride up was very good. Both boys were well behaved. Jayden slept a little bit, but mostly just stared at me while I held the nuk in his mouth. Towards the end he had very sad eyes begging me to feed him, I'm sure he was a little unsure as to why he had been in his car seat for SOOOO long.... but he made it great :) Jack was awake the whole time. He did some drawing on his magna doodle and watched things out the window window - we saw TONS of tractors and diggers. And we also saw cows, bison, ostrich, horses.... it was quite an adventure.

And we went through "the home of the hamburger" town.... for don't remember right now what that town was though... I think it started with an S... Seymore, maybe..... I'll look it up on the map later.... :)

Then we headed through Pulaski & Krakow, which I'm told are where the Bruskiewicz's are from. They looked just spectacular from the "highway"..... maybe sometime we'll explore them a bit more for some long-lost relatives.
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Upon arriving at the B'Haven Lodge. We were taken on a tour of the house (I took my tour after I fed Jayden, of course).

Then we headed into town for some lunch and to do so some errands. We ate at a nice place (I don't remember the name) Jack was OK and I left early for the car with a crying Jayden. Then we went to the local grocery store, it was quite nice, then the Ace Hardware store. And after packing all our purchases and all ourselves into the car we headed back to the lodge in the rain (it rained all weekend - but that was ok).

Dad was working on putting new handles and knobs on the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Jeff was helping unpack boxes, and I was helping Mom clean and organize the kitchen.
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Jayden was sleeping and Jack was suppose to be sleeping - but didn't :(

Jayden & Grandma

Jack loved climbing up to the top bunks! When he's a little bigger we'll let him sleep up there sometime. His bed for the night was on the bottom bunk in another room. But soon after falling asleep he woke up and moved himself and all his blankets to the floor, where he slept the remainded of the night. Jayden was in the same room as Jack in his pack n play. They both slept really good :)

Jayden & I

Later Saturday afternoon everyone but the boys and I headed out to get some end tables from a furniture store about a half hour away. I didn't want the boys to have to sit in the car for long drives again so we stayed home and played. Jack and I tried to play Chutes & Ladders, but that only lasted about 10 minutes, tops! Jayden played nice on the floor. Jack was pretty well behaved, just kind of wild. That child wears me out!!!

While everyone was gone I took the boys outside for a little while, just for a change of scenery, even though it was cold and raining..... We took a walk down to the water and around the house before heading back inside to turn on the fireplace! I like that you can just turn on the fireplace and there is instant heat!

Jack loves his Uncle Hayden :)

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After eveyone returned home we ate a delicious lasagna dinner with good red wine followed by chocolate brownies. yummy!

After dinner we played a little while and then it was time for the boys to go to bed. Once they were all settled we played a game of dominos. I almost won, I was doing so good - but dad pulled ahead of me. Oh well... maybe next time.

On Sunday morning we ate a good breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon rolls and bacon. Then we spent the rest of the morning playing with the boys inside with Grandma (it was still raining). Dad and Hayden went out to pick up a new lawn mower so they were gone for a while.

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We headed out around 10am. It rained almost the entire way home and the roads were kind of slow. But we still made it home in a little over three hours. Jayden slept for about 2 1/2 hours and Jack slept for a little over 1 - which was great!

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We can't wait for our next adventure at the B'Haven Lodge!

(It's really cute how Jack says "we're going up north to the b'haven lodge!")

Roll Over, Baby!

Jayden rolled over today!

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It was 4pm. We had been playing on the floor, Jayden was on his back and kept kicking my knees to move himself backward and was arching his back a lot. He was moving around so much I flipped him over to his belly, and just like nothing....... he rolled over his right shoulder! :)

Afterwards he just kind of stared up, like "what just happened mom????"

Then I put him back on his tummy and his rolled again two more times!

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Gotta start watching him a little closer now that he's on the move !!!

Beautiful Fall Day at the Pond!

On Saturday Jeff was helping his dad put a new roof on his garage. Jeff left early in the morning with Jack for day, while I stayed home with Jayden to get some errands and cleaning done around the house (minus Jack - always easier) before heading down later.

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Jack had a great morning playing with his cousins and running around outside. Jayden and I had a nice quiet morning at home - he was very good at the grocery store and then took a nice long nap! And the roofing work was almost done already when Jayden and I arrived around 12:30.

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We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful fall weather, before crashing in front of a movie in the late afternoon and then having some yummy pizza for dinner :)

Jayden enjoying the nice weather on a blanket in the yard.
Jack with Jillian and Chase, and Socks the hamster (or gerbil... or something like that!)
Here it appears that Jack is dragging the tent through the leaves with the Gator..... I'm not really sure..........
Jack took a tractor ride, a go-cart ride, he drove the Gator around a lot, played in the tent, in the leaves... it was a busy busy day of fun!

Jayden trying on his Halloween costume that Auntie Megan brought over for him! Can you tell what he is? (If not, I'm keeping it a surprise!)