Happy Halloween!

On Halloween, Nigel came home from academy and our plan was to carve pumpkins. Well, by the time we started, it was dinner time, too. So, I made dinner while the boys took care of the pumpkins. I made sure that they scooped out all of the seeds for me so I could bake them and have them for a snack. They had fun. Caden thinks it's hilarious that Nigel made the Daddy pumpkin scary and the Mommy pumpkin happy. We had so much fun. We handed out candy to the neighborhood kids, but didn't realize how many kids we would get, so we ran out a little early! That's never happened before! Oops. All in all, we had a great evening, capped off by a visit from Nanny and Papa to deliver Caden some more candy and his first Mr. Potato Head toy. Thanks Mom and Dad!


The Schnackenberg pumpkin family.

Us with our pumpkins, in front of the house.

This is Caden's photography. I'm not sure how he got it so washed out, but he was proud that he actually got someone in the picture! Normally his pictures end up being all floor or all wall or all ceiling. Way to go, Caden!

The boys play . . .

Caden and I had the privilege of having Jude over for the entire day! These two boys have so much fun together. They really do enjoy each others company. Caden loves it when Jude "gets" him and by "getting" him, I mean that Jude will pull Caden's hair, grab his face, and try to crawl all over him. Caden thinks it's hilarious. Jude loves anything that Caden does. As long as he can see Caden playing, he's pretty happy. The two of them together is a really cute thing. It makes me so excited to see Caden with the new baby.

Jude got teeth! If you click on the picture, it will blow it up really big so you can see the 2 teeth on the bottom. So cute!

Bathtime fun!

Any time you get 3 kids in a tub, there's bound to be some excitement! These 3 had such a good time playing in the bath tub. It was so fun to watch them all. Caden and Alivia seemed to have the most fun together in the bath tub really then at any other time during the day. They would sing at the top of their lungs, and dance, and make clothes out of washcloths! It's amazing when you watch your child grow and realize that they are interested in playing with other kids and using their imaginations together to have a great time. What a fun, fun experience for Caden and for me.

At the Erie, PA zoo . . .

We took the kids to the zoo one day and they of course loved it. The animals were being great, especially compared with the Portland Zoo. Caden got to see a lot of them up closer than he has before here at our zoo. We all had a great time. I love the middle picture of Caden and Alivia holding hands, it's so sweet :)

More New York fun!

This was just a nice sunny day in Amy's backyard. The kids are hilarious together. They really egged eachother on, in good ways and not so good ways. And sweet Clint was just happy to watch the two of them play or argue. Caden always asks now which airplane we can get on so he can see Alivia again. Oh, if he only knew how long a year was . . .

Alivia's birthday party at the pumpkin farm.

Amy planned Alivia's birthday party to be at a pumpkin farm, and it was one of the best ideas I've seen! We all had so much fun playing there. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures, and mostly what I got was Caden playing. But, all of the kids had so much fun and I think some memories were definitely made. It was really a child's heaven, with HUGE slides, a corn pit, hay bales to jump on and run through and a hay ride. What a great idea, Amy. You inspire me to be more creative and think outside of my box of normal. Once a year truly isn't enough for me to get ideas off of you :) That's why when I'm there, we really work hard, right?

Ian's trip to Home Depot with Caden and Alivia . . .

The morning of Alivia's birthday party, Amy and I had so much to do to get ready. We still had some food preparations, plus we thought it would be nice for everyone if we showered and tried our best to look like moms who had it all together. So, we begged and pleaded with Ian to take Alivia and Caden to the Home Depot workshop for kids. He takes Alivia a lot, but the thought of having 2 unruly toddlers was a little overwhelming to him. He did it, and the kids really had a good time. There were policemen and firemen there and they even got to sit in the fire truck. Then, Alivia got her ID kit made with fingerprints and everything (Caden skipped out since we live in Oregon, not New York). They also got some candy and then finally, the project of the day was to make a little fire truck. Obviously Ian did the work, but the 2 kids REALLY enjoyed themselves. Caden kept talking about it. Thank you, Ian, for sacrificing yourself and your sanity for a little while so that Amy and I could feel like women for a moment :)

New York!

Caden and I flew to New York to see Ian, Amy, Alivia and Clint. We went for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Nigel didn't get to come because he can't take time off during academy, but that's why Caden and I went. It was nice to break up the routine of me and Caden without Nigel for a week. We had such a great time! The kids loved playing together, for the most part, and Amy and I can never see eachother too much. Although, I do have to say that once a year is not nearly enough :) Lots more pictures to come . . .