Best of Weekend_SUNDAY 101313

Dear Eddy and Otto,

THANK YOU SO MUCH

for catching the first

(and hopefully LAST)

mouse of the season

AND for NOT bringing

it upstairs into my bed!

Love, Mom

P.S. Eddy, Laying it down on the napkin on the floor was a nice touch!

Swiss Valley Nature Preserve Chili Feed:

Best of Weekend SATURDAY_101213

We went to the Kids Concert at the library to see a Trio perform... playing an oboe, a bassoon and a piano. (Grandpa tried to take a picture of us, but that big bassoon got in the way!)

We went to the KIDS EXPO at the Grand River Center. 

(Grandpa took this picture of the boys and mommy at the corn bin. FUN!)

The caped crusader, BATMAN, was posing for pictures

and passing out bat rings. This amazing SUPERMAN DUO

posed - with Grandpa - for a picture. (Since last year, the boys

have switched places... last time, Silas was anxious to pose with

Batman, while Sydney was afraid. This time around, Sydney

was THRILLED to pose with Batman and Silas was fearful.)

Our two little SUPER HEROES are pretty amazing!!!

We love them SO VERY MUCH!!!!!

After Silas and Grandpa napped, we tackled the messy job

of carving one of the pumpkins. (The biggest one!) Grandpa

cut into it. The boys each took one turn to scoop out the pumpkin guts.

If only my hands would have been clean, I would have LOVED

to capture pictures of Sydney GAGGING from the sight of

the bowl full of pumpkin guts on the table. It was FUNNY!

(Poor guy... has SUCH a high gag reflex!)

It was a tough pumpkin to carve.... it was VERY THICK!!!

Grandpa took a picture of Mommy and Sydney getting ready

to carve the pumpkin. (We had moved inside because the wind

was cold.) Deciding on which image to carve was tough work!

Sydney picked the witch in the window, that Mike had pinned 

on Pinterest last week for us. FUN! FUN!

Sydney was excited that he was ALLOWED to sit on the table

so that he could watch Mommy poke the pumpkin template on.

At last, our pumpkin is done.

We're ready to LIGHT IT!!!

It was the wrong time of day to get full cooperation

for another picture, but HERE we are with our pumpkin!

(Thanks for taking our picture again, Grandpa!)

Funny Things Kids Say... BIRDS

We had another BEAUTIFUL DAY today - with temps in the 70's! After picking Sydney up from preschool, we stopped at the library to pick up some BRAND NEW Mr. Putter & Tabby books (that they had ordered, per our request) and then, headed home for some lunch. We decided to eat outside on the deck and it was PERFECT!

While eating, Silas started running across the bench - away from the table.

SYDNEY: Why were you running, Silas?

SILAS: There was a bird.

SYDNEY: Birds don't eat children; Birds eat bugs... and worms, silly!

Fall 2013: Pumpkin Patch

Mike's Favorite part of the day: 

When I had propped my camera on a concrete ledge and was getting a scene ready for a self-timer family picture... when all of a sudden, a cow nudged my arm and slurped its tongue towards the side of my face. Of course, I squealed like a girl and startled the two cows that were curiously checking me out. (He was a little disappointed that Carol was busy looking at pics on her own camera and had missed out on the photo op of catching the cows getting fresh with me. Had she caught that picture, that likely would have been my Photo-of-the-Day for our family Project Life album.) I have included a photo of my bovine friends to help us remember the day. 

:)

Happy Birthday Mr. Putter

Our household FELL IN LOVE with this adorable series of children's books. 

We've checked them out from our local library MANY TIMES. Young and old, we've ALL loved them. (Even parents AND grandparents have read and enjoyed these sweet children's books!)

Last year, while reading Mr. Putter & Tabby Make a Wish, 

we discovered that Mr. Putter's birthday is October 2. 

So, naturally, this Mr.P&T-loving mom marked it in her iCal program on the computer and planned ahead to check out a copy of this book so that WE could celebrate the birthday of Mr. Putter, too! (Heck, if we can have a Seuss birthday celebration, WHY NOT celebrate lovable Mr. Putter, too?)

So, we would like to wish a

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

MR. PUTTER

and want to

THANK

Cynthia Rylant, author

and Arthur Howard, illustrator

for creating these FANTASTIC 

CHILDREN'S BOOKS!!!!

An ABSOLUTE FAVORITE in our house: 

Mr. Putter & Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant

Looking online, I've noticed that our library does NOT have all 19 books in this series. 

PLUS, there are a few brand new ones that are releasing in September 2013.

We'll hope to enjoy these soon, too!

• 1994 Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea
• 1994 Mr. Putter and Tabby Walk the Dog
• 1994 Mr. Putter and Tabby Bake the Cake
• 1995 Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears
• 1997 Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane
• 1997 Mr. Putter and Tabby Row the Boat
• 1998 Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train
• 1998 Mr. Putter and Tabby Toot the Horn
• 2000 Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch
• 2001 Mr. Putter and Tabby Feed the Fish
• 2002 Mr. Putter and Tabby Catch the Cold
• 2003 Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup
• 2004 Mr. Putter and Tabby Write the Book
• 2005 Mr. Putter and Tabby Make a Wish
• 2006 Mr. Putter and Tabby Spin the Yarn
• 2007 Mr. Putter and Tabby See the Stars
• 2008 Mr. Putter and Tabby Run the Race
• 2009 Mr. Putter and Tabby Spill the Beans
• 2010 Mr. Putter and Tabby Clear the Decks
• 2011 Mr. Putter and Tabby Ring the Bell
• 2012 Mr. Putter and Tabby Dance the Dance
• 2013 Mr. Putter and Tabby Drop the Ball

UPDATE: Noticed that the local library HAS honored my request for purchasing more of the titles! YAY! We can't wait to read them!

On Mr. Putter's birthday, we threw a birthday party. Grandpa Lowell joined us. We ate cinnamon raisin bagels with apple butter. (In the book, Mr. Putter and Tabby ate raisin crumpets with apple jam.) We also baked a birthday cake and went out into the bonus room in search of an airplane toy (since Mr. Putter gets an airplane for his birthday... as a child and NOW.)

Loved this day! (Thanks for joining us, Grandpa!)

P.S. We can't wait to read the NEW Mr. Putter & Tabby BASEBALL book with you! (And thank you for teaching our boys to sing "Take me out to the ball game!" It is SO CUTE to hear them sing it!!!!!)