Happy Halloween!

The boys were so excited to go trick or treating tonight!  They really understood much more about Halloween this year so it was fun to watch them!  They did a pretty good job of saying "trick or treat" and "thank you."  The part we forgot to go over was the part about knocking or ringing the doorbell and not just going right into peoples' houses!  They quickly learned this new rule, however, and even when someone was standing out on the porch with their bowl of candy, Ben still insisted on ringing the doorbell.  After the first several houses, Ben would take his candy, then turn to us and say "One more?  One more house?"  Apparently he was afraid that the night would end too soon!

 

We stopped at a house a street over from ours where an older man answered the door.  He loved the kids' costumes and he talked to them for a while.  The boys got several treats from the nice man and then Ben decided that the nice old man should come trick or treating with us!  He kept saying, "You come too!!! Come on!!"   We eventually moved on to the next house but I just bet the next time we walk over that way, the boys will remember who lives there!!!

The boys did start to drag a bit so we headed back home to inspect the bounty!  Ben was surprised to find a leaf in his pumpkin and couldn't figure out who would give him a leaf!  They really enjoyed eating a few pieces of their candy!

After enjoying some snacks, Conner was ready to go again!  We convinced him that it would be more fun to stay home and answer the door when someone rang our doorbell!  Everytime someone came to the door, Ben would grab the candy and the boys would open the door (with Dad's assistance) and scream trick or treat to whomever was standing there!

It was almost time to call it a night but Conner disappeared into the kitchen and came back carrying the milk.  He needed some milk to wash down all that candy!

We had such a great night!  It was so much fun to see the kids so excited and happy!  And, after a long bath, I am happy to say that the red dye came out of Conner's hair just fine... I was a little worried...

Happy Halloween to all!!!

Halloween Parade!

The boys' classes always have a little parade through the halls so we can see all of the cute costumes!  Ben was too busy marching in his pirate boots to look up at Mommy...

Hey, Conner...!!!

Oh, Hi Mommy!!!

One last time through the hall....

The boys had a great Halloween party and came home with lots of cool crafts and snacks!  They are anxiously awaiting trick-or-treating tonght...

Ready for our Halloween Party!

Today is our Halloween party at school!  Ben is a pirate and Conner is a rock star!  They are both very excited about their costumes and can't wait to get to school for their party!  I was a little worried about getting everyone ready on time, but it is amazing how cooperative little boys can be when you give them a sword, a guitar, and some fun clothes to wear!  We even had time to color Conner's hair and make sure that Ben had some pirate tattoos on! 

We are ready to go!!!

Gooey and Sticky...

The boys were so excited to carve their pumpkins this year and they both jumped right in.  Ben made sure to tell Daddy that he wanted a scary face and Conner decided he wanted a happy face!

Conner kept saying that it was so sticky inside that pumpkin!

Ben thought the inside of the pumpkin felt pretty gooey!

Our finished pumpkins!!! 

Leaves!

After a very fun weekend, we returned home to a yard completely full of leaves so we all grabbed our rakes and mowers and got to work.  Well, minus a little time to play in the piles, of course....  Ben was first to jump in.  Conner joined him shortly after!

Conner absolutely loves using the leaf blower, even though it almost knocks him down when he turns it on!

The race back to the house has become something the boys love to do after mowing with Daddy!  Get ready, get set....

I love it when work turns out to be fun!

Adult Time!

Nick and I are celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary this year, so we decided to have a little getaway weekend!  The boys were happy to stay with Nana and Gramps so that Mom and Dad could have some grown up time!  We went to Galena and spent Saturday evening in Dubuque having a great time!  Shopping, gambling, fabulous meals, adult beverages, and enjoying our own hot tub in the biggest hotel room we have ever had made for a pretty nice way to celebrate!  The official anniversary is still over a week away so hopefully we can fit in a couple more celebratory moments before then.  Thanks to Nana and Gramps for taking care of our monsters and thank you to my husband who still manages to be the coolest guy I know!

 

Inky Messes...

Nana and Gramps sent us some yummy cookies and some very fun Halloween stamps today.  The stamps seemed like a great after-dinner activity at the time.... I'm not sure why I did not anticipate the mess...

I wanted to capture Ben's song tonight!  He was adorable!  And then Conner had to have his moment on the camera too...  Notice that the ink has spread to their faces by now as well!



Basketball...

What a great afternoon for basketball!!!

 Nick thought he would try to explore the attic area, but we had flashbacks of what happened the last time he spent some time up there... (he fell through the kitchen ceiling onto the floor ... )  Nick changed his mind and came back down to play some more basketball!

I love days like these....

Hawks and Halloween!

We love the Hawkeyes... and early Halloween candy...!!!!

Heart Breaker and Captain Awesome...

We got to do a little playing outside this afternoon in the beautiful weather!  Conner proudly showed off his heart breaker shirt.  It's new and I asked him if he wanted to wear it this morning.  He wanted to know what it meant so I told him that all the girls are going to love him.  He immediately said, "Oh yeah, I wear it!"  He walked around singing "Heart Breaker" all day!  Ben's new shirt said Captain Awesome on it and he agreed that he is, indeed, our very own Captain Awesome!  However, his awesomeness refused to cooperate for a photo op because he was very busy on the phone....