Halloween

We had a fun, low key Halloween. We decided not to take the boys trick or treating this year. They're not old enough to know they missed it, so we figured we'd just take them next year for their first time. They'll be old enough to get the concept a little better. We'd have to take their candy away when we got home anyways because so much Halloween candy has nuts or is processed in a factory with nuts, so we don't mind putting off dealing with that part for another year.

I put the boys in their personalized Halloween shirts this morning. I love having a shirt for every occasion. (I actually got their election day shirts today, too.;)

After Greg got home from work, we took the boys to the park to run off some energy. Carter is looking up at a kite that was stuck in the tree. He kept talking about how high it was.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I've taken in awhile. (until you get to the end of this post) but I love that it's outside and shows the pretty leaves and fall weather and that Carter is running. This is what they look like at the park. I'm glad I was able to catch it on my phone without it being blurry.

The boys wanted to go exploring again, so we walked around the whole park, through the softball fields, picnic areas, etc.

Then they found some sticks that they had a blast with, they are definitely all boy!

I got out the candy that we were going to handout (skittles and starburst) and the boys begged me for some, so I let them have a couple of Skittles. To say they loved them would be an understatement, so I decided to use them as a bargaining tool to get the boys to stand side by side and smile at the camera.

They got side by side immediately. it was so funny seeing them in panic mode, they were in a rush because they wanted more Skittles.

This is what Evan does when I say "Say Cheese" "smile". bahahaha....how funny is that!?

I love that Carter is looking at him so serious.

Evan is still smiling, he wanted that candy bad.

So, I told Carter he had to smile too, so he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned forward.

And this is Carter's "Smile" face. hahahaha. It cracked me up. I had him do it for Greg when he came downstairs and he looks at Greg and just squeezes his eyes shut. It's so funny.

I got the biggest kick out of their poses. They ended up splitting like 4, fun bags, they loved the skittles. I'm going to have to keep those on hand for bribing when I need it. The boys stood at the door greeting all the trick or treaters and saying bye when they left. Then when we went to put the boys to bed, I put a note on a bucket full of candy and put on the front porch. Greg calls it my "bowl of trust". :)

It's been nice doing holidays low key because the boys didn't really know what was going on, but I think this was the last holiday that we will be doing that. After seeing the boys interacting with the trick or treaters and how excited they were about candy, I think they would have enjoyed it. So, I think they're at an age where they can enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I'm excited because I want to do fun crafts and traditions with them and I think we can start some age appropriate ones this year. But, we had a fun Halloween and the boys enjoyed our evening.

I hope everybody else had a great Halloween.

Fall Leaves

Yesterday, we took the boys to the park. It was laundry day at our house, which is why they're wearing sweat pants in public. ;) There was a ton of leaves at the park, I wish I had known and I would have brought my camera, dressed the boys in cute fall outfits and tried to get some fall pictures. But, I did get a couple of pictures of the boys playing with my phone.

Evan loved the crunching of the leaves as he walked.

The leaves have just recently started falling. It's so beautiful here in the fall. We really love it.

Evan just sat down and started throwing leaves.

I love that the boys are old enough to experience these things. They picked up the leaves and brought them to me and Greg (mostly Greg) and go over the colors that the leaves were. It's so cute.

The boys had so much fun playing at the park and getting to experience playing in the leaves. They also found lots of acorns that they would roll down the slides. They played so good that Greg and I just sat on a bench for awhile and talked and watched them play. We used to talk about the day when they'd be old enough to play at the park and not need us to help them like it was so far away and now it's here. They're definitely growing up fast.

The Minivan

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know we traded in my CRV for a minivan today. You also know that this was not my idea, I wanted a Honda Pilot. Actually, I pretty much wanted anything but a minivan. But, Greg wanted a minivan. Bad! Here is him test driving the minivan on Tuesday. Look how happy he is.

 

 

I went by the dealership while the boys were at preschool on Tuesday and spent the morning there looking at the Pilot. We went back after Greg got off work and looked and test drove both the Pilot and the Odyssey. Greg loved the Odyssey--loved it. He loved the room, the sliding doors, all of it. The third row in the Pilot was pretty small and there just wasn't as much room. But, I didn't care. I did NOT want a minivan. Wednesday after Greg got off work, I went by Toyota and spent the afternoon there test driving the Sequioa. It was a BEAST! I've never been in a vehicle that big. It had more room than the minivan and it wasn't a minivan, so I thought it was perfect. I drove it home to show Greg and he decided to be practical and look at things like miles per gallon (17--yikes!) So, it started setting in that the minivan was going to the best most practical decision for us.

So, Thursday morning, I went by Honda and told them we wanted the minivan.

 

I negotiated with the salesperson and got more for our trade in than they offered. I was feeling good! They ordered us the van we wanted in the color I wanted and I left thinking that I was something for handling it all by myself and getting us the best deal possible! Then, Greg emailed the salesperson, they called him back and talked for a few minutes and he talked them down almost $3,000!!! So, apparrently I'm not as good of a negotiator as I thought I was. :(

 

They got the van in today. Greg went up there while I fed the boys lunch and put them down for a nap and signed his part of the paperwork. He came back with the van and I rode up there and signed my part of the paperwork. We're now owners of a minivan.

We did get Sirius radio for free for 3 months, so that's pretty cool. We have a backup camera in the dash so we don't hit anything while backing up.

I swore I would never, ever drive a minivan. But, it was the most practical decision. Ugh, being responsible and practical are not fun. ;) I really couldn't argue with Greg on the sliding doors, the room, the miles per gallon, all of it. I will miss my CRV, but it was just getting a little cramped.

And I'm pretty sure the DVD player that it came with will make it all worth it. We let the boys each pick out a movie at Sam's Club and they loved watching it on the way home. They also love getting in and out of the car by themselves. They have enough room to climb in and get in their carseats themselves and we just have to buckle them in.

 

 Even though the minivan wasn't my first choice, I know it was the right choice. And after driving in it and taking the boys out in it, I think it's going to be perfect for us. Maybe not as cool as my Pilot would have been, but still perfect for us and the boys.

 

Play Dates and Timeouts

Yesterday was our turn to host the Moms of Multiples playgroup. The boys always have so much fun at these and it's nice to talk with the other moms. I got the boys dressed and put them in their matching "I love Papa" shirts and was hoping to get some good pictures, maybe of them together, to show Papaw, but you know how that goes.

Here's Carter in his. He found a pair of sunglasses before the playgroup and decided to wear them around the house.

I swear the kids always do more eating than playing. Snack time is all the kids favorite time. They had cookies with pumpkin on them (a huge hit with all the kids, one of the moms brought them) muffins, and apples.

A messy house is a sign of a successful play date. It means the kids had a lot of fun.

This was the best picture I got all day of Evan in his shirt. :(

The boys are starting to see what they're able to get away with and really test limits. I told Evan to stop throwing his toys and he didn't listen. He can be very dramatic when he's disciplined. He actually went to the time out corner on his own and cried. It was pretty pitiful. :( It was weird because we tried timeout several months ago but it seemed too early and so I'm surprised he remembered. And maybe it was just a coincidence that he went to that corner and faced the wall.

On the way home from the gym, the boys got their goldfish taken away for throwing them in the car. Evan got upset and decided to take his shirt off. Such a little stinker.

Last Friday, a speech therapist came over to evaluate Carter. I've been a little worried that he's behind in speech. He's a little behind Evan and Evan seems to be a little behind kids that are even younger than they are. So, I took Carter to the doctor to get his hearing checked and a referral for speech therapy. The woman came out to the house and had to evaluate Carter on all his development, not just speech, which I didn't mind. I like knowing where they stand as far as development and want to know if there's anything I can be working on at home. I made the appointment a couple of weeks in advance and of course as soon as I made it, Carter started talking so much more. When the speech therapist got to our house, Carter decided it would be a good time to start talking even more. He said sentences which he never uses with us and said words I didn't even know he knew.  Carter (and Evan) are both doing great as far as development. There were three different categories, one which means the child qualified for intervention, one which meant the child was behind and the parents were given guidance on ways to work with the child, and one which was normal. Carter was in the normal category. I'm really glad that we had the appointment and now I feel much better. We discussed the fact that they don't have older silblings, they're boys, and they're twins which are all reasons they may be talking less than other kids. They're also "walkers not talkers" They're very good with their motor skills. And the fact that they've concentrating on perfecting those could be another reason they don't talk as well as another child who may spend more time talking and less time doing things like climbing or jumping. It was very reassuring. I feel like since the appointment, both boys are talking even more. The therapist gave me some suggestions to help them start talking more, things like narrating, but she gave me some specific examples that I found very helpful. I wanted to document this information, but didn't want to do an entire post on it.

Today we're going to test drive some vehicles. We've decided we need something a little bigger for our family and growing boys. Greg is trying to talk me into a minivan, but I don't see it happening. We'll see. I'm sure taking two active boys to a car dealership is going to be quite the undertaking, so wish us luck. :)

Our Weekend

Saturday morning, we all ended up getting up around the same time. We all snuggled on the couch with some blankets and Saturday morning cartoons. Greg and I usually take turns on sleeping in, so it was nice to have us all up early. We had a few things we wanted to do, so we decided to get an early start.

We took the boys by Dunkin Donuts and got them a few munchkins (donut holes) and Greg and I got coffee. The boys loved their munchkins and they also liked just being there. They liked sitting at the table like big boys, they flirted with the other customers and LOVED the attention they got. It was a great place to go to get them a little treat.

We hit up a yard sale that was put on by our gym. We found some really, really good deals. We don't even need anything, but we just couldn't resist. We got the boys several trucks for just a few dollars and they're big and make noise, so the boys love them. We also picked up a kids vacuum cleaner that wasn't pink--it's so hard to find toy household items that aren't pink.

We headed to the park after the boys nap and let them bring some of their new trucks and planes they got at the yard sale. here's Carter making his plane fly.

There was nobody at the park or playing soccer, so we let the boys wander the field checking things out. They loved the nets and there was a soccer ball on the field that they played with for awhile. They loved for Greg to kick it and them to go get it. :)

Rocks and trucks, our boys are definitely all boy.

Sunday morning, I got the boys dressed in some "play clothes". I got a couple of inexpensive and free things a month or two ago, so they'd have a couple of outfits that they could get dirty in and not worry about it. So, they got ready and we went out in the driveway and I let them paint their pumpkins while Greg mowed the lawn. Evan was very serious about painting his pumpkin and Carter seemed more interested in painting the paper I brought out there for them to use. But, they both seemed to have fun painting and I'm glad we did it.

Carter, helping Evan out.

After they were done, they wanted to go in the backyard and see what Greg was doing. They walked with them up and down that hill while he mowed. It meant that he had to go a little slower and be more careful, but he loved having them tag along. It was sweet they wanted to hang out with him that bad.

Then they took a break. :) You can see our newly painted fence in this picture.

and it matches our deck. We're happy with the way it turned out.

Here's a better picture of the finished deck.

I knew the boys were exhausted from running around when they went and got their chairs to sit and watch Greg mow.

We had lot of idas on what to do this weekend, but they all involved long drives, skipping naps, etc. I'm glad that we just decided to hang around here and keep it low key.We enjoyed the weather and spent some time outside, which makes us all happy. I hope everybody else had a great weekend.