This year I didn't feel like gutting pumpkins. There- I said it. My justification for this laziness was that the boys can't really carve their own pumpkins & they would enjoy it much more if they could be hands-on with their creations. So we decided to try paint this year-

Kaden with his 'tall pumpkin'

Kyson seemed really excited- I'm pretty sure he thought we were going to eat them.

He did pretty well painting for the first few minutes- then he got bored & tried eating the paint so we had to cut his art session short.

Kaden's was pretty cool- it reminds me of an impressionist painting.

Here's the pumpkin head family- (Kaden's, mine, Tyler's, & Kyson's)

Kaden got a digital camera for his birthday from Nana & Papa...he loves it! Here is a collage of his pics so far (there were almost 200 so I pared it down to these). Some are funny because his fun camera has different settings for distortion and framing. If you click the collage it should open a larger version so you can see it up close.
It was fun having Papa visit for a week- Kaden is going to miss him the most! Here is a cute picture of the two of them on their last night together.

Today we went to the pumpkin patch! It was the boys' first hayride/pumpkin picking experience. Kaden wasn't sure when I first described the idea of riding in a big wagon- but check out his face as soon as we started to move:

And here is the face he pulled when I asked him to smile:

Here's Kyson with Ty inspecting a possible pumpkin candidate:

Kaden protecting his choice, waiting for the guy to come and cut it off the vine (sorry about the shadow):

On the way back:

Kyson with his pumpkin:

Kyson checking the durability of his pumpkin with a few kicks:

Posing with the loot- too bad no one was looking at the camera!

It was fun- I hope we can make it a tradition!

Today was Kyson's first "big boy" haircut. I'd been keeping it longer because I wasn't ready to give up that baby look. However I think it started to annoy him a little, and it was not easy to "style" since he rarely sits still. So now he looks like a big boy- I was shocked at how much more he looked like Kaden at this age! He sure looks older- like a big brother!

We went to "Snip-Its" because he is not usually very well behaved for his haircuts...I was really glad we went there. He sat in his own chair (no hair on mom!) buckled in. He threw a min-tantrum initially, but once they gave him a sucker, turned on a video, and put a little lion toy in the other hand he was perfectly happy.

At the end he got to put his 'ticket' in the prize machine and it spit out a blow-up ball. He LOVED it.

Toilet Auger= $8

Gro-beast Alligator= $1.00

NOT paying a plumber $100+= priceless.

I told him to smile...that it was for Kaden's posterity... but he said he didn't want Kaden to think he was happy about it.
So now you know how to remove an object from the toilet drain-
#1Use wet-vac to remove all water/waste from toilet bowl and tank. (Plug your nose!)
#2 Rip toilet off the floor, make lots of noise, spend 2 hrs trying to push object out of drain with various every-day household objects.
#3 Place toilet in the bathtub, go to home depot and purchase a new wax ring (for when you replace the toilet), and a "Household Toilet Auger"
#4 Sleep
#5 Wake up first thing, remove object from toilet per auger directions, insert SIGH of relief.
#6 Replace toilet- feeling very proud of handyman skills.

The End
(whew!)

Today my grandma was babysitting at my house and when I got home she mentioned that Kaden had clogged his toilet somehow...when we plunged it there wasn't anything large enough to clog it that would come up. So I asked him what he put in the toilet and he quietly muttered "crocodile."

This was not just any crocodile...it was a "grows with water" crocodile. It grows from three inches up to 12! ANY other toy would have been preferable to this. After 2 hours of trying, even taking the toilet off the floor Tyler still couldn't unplug it. So stay tuned to see if the beast will shrink enough to slide out...or if a new toilet is in our future, dun, duN, DUN!

I just wanted to post a Happy Birthday to my sweet husband, Tyler! He is my best friend whom I happen to love a whole lot. He works so hard to provide for us and be the best dad/husband/son. I'm so glad he puts up with me...I can't imagine a family or life without him.

Mmm...banana pudding-filled white cake!

Not my most aesthetically pleasing cake...I was going for substance, not style.