Super Halloween

We had a wonderful day. This morning Johnnie carved the pumpkin with daddy. And it sat outside all night for the Halloween trick or treaters. After some family photos we set off to the neighbors home to begin our night of treat-or-treating. Johnnie & Joey were so ready this year to walk up to each house & announce their line, take their candy & say thank you. And Jimmy just slowly followed along.And as soon as we turned to walk away Johnnie was pointing to the next house & saying "Lets go to the next house." This didn't last long though because after hitting up all the houses on one block the boys were ready to go home to pass out candy & check out all the other costumes. It was a great night & a Happy Halloween. Hope your day was as super as ours!

The Local Patch

This time of year is always the start of my favorite season. The weather starts to cool down & it's the start of the holiday & birthday season in our home. 1st we had Johnnie's birthday, then Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Joey's birthday (on New Year's Eve), daddy's birthday, Valentine's Day & Jimmy's birthday all in a 5 month period. And part of working our way toward Halloween is visiting the pumpkin patch. We used to go to the big farms with the rides & hay mazes but for some reason our boys didn't seem to enjoy these places. They just wanted to run around touching the pumpkins & mostly just trying to keep away from mama's camera. So keeping with a longstanding tradition (it began last year) we visited our local pumpkin patch here in town. A lot has changed since last year. All the boys can now walk but they still enjoy being pulled around in the wagon. Gramma was here this time & of course Auntie Kim but Auntie Kayci & Grandpa couldn't make it. And this year the boys did some of the pulling. And I think we discovered where Johnnie gets his sense of humor. Each time I look at these two photos I laugh out loud. I spent lots of our time there chasing Joey around trying to get just one picture of him watching the animals or playing with the pumpkins but all I got was a blur as he ran around so daddy helped me out out. Johnnie & Jimmy thankfully were happy to oblige with big smiles & giggles. And take notice of their new short haircuts. Joey escaped the scissors for now by being sick. And no trip anywhere would be complete without an attempt at a family photo.

Beach Date

1. It was a beautiful Columbus Day weekend so two families, 4 adults, 5 children & a lot of beach toys ventured out to Redondo Beach. 2. There was beach soccer with a large beach ball. Currently being held hostage by Jimmy at the moment.3. An impromptu beach date. 4. A lot of time spend holding daddy's hands to watch the ocean.5. Running back & forth from the shore to the sand to bring water for sand play.6. Teaching little brothers & sisters how to build a sand castle.7. Time to just enjoy the view.8. Playing shy when interacting with new adults. Wallis was trying to convince you to come in the water but you were having no part of that. You just stood there staring at him.9. Thank you Laughrey girls for a lovely day at the beach.10. The only way to get all the sand off is a bath of course. And what better way to end a playdate, right? Notice that only the Laughrey girls are smiling. The Bolander boys are too busy playing in a new tub to notice their mama with a camera.

Friday Five

It's Friday & that means the weekend is right around the corner. That also means more time with the boys to catch up, take more photos & just enjoy our time together. But before that I wanted to share some of our recent goings on.

1. Johnnie's gramma & grandpa Joe could not be here for Johnnie's birthday party but we did manage to share cake & a birthday song with them the evening of his actual birthday.2. Johnnie modeling his new fireman pajama top from the Vuoso boys. 3. Auntie Kim showing Johnnie her birthday gift to him. He was shocked at first but then he happily jumped up & down & gave him a high five. It's a Spiderman wall decal & all the boys love it. 4. Thanks to Auntie Kim watching the boys all day Rick & I were able to go to the University of Washington vs USC Football game. (UW won 32-31). It was a great game & a great afternoon/evening spent alone (along with the other 90,000 fans) watching football & eating. 5. And because Auntie Kim is always so willing to watch the boys they really enjoy her company & happily love to show her how much they love her.

Another Milestone

It finally happened. Joey moved out of his crib & into his very own bed. At first he wasn't too interested. He crawled out & went over to Johnnie's bed. But we moved story time to his bed & that made him happy. And then after singing his 1st song with daddy he finally layed down for the evening to try & sleep.Another milestone down big guy.

Party Pics

Johnnie's birthday party was such a great day. From the moment daddy & Jimmy started setting up the backyard Johnnie truly had an amazing day. All his friends made it such a special day. They played inside, outside, in the bouncer, on bikes & with trucks. And of course there was cake. Everyone sang Happy Birthday including his brothers & the excitement of the chocolate cake made Johnnie a happy boy. And then there were photos taken with family & friends before everyone had to leave & go home & you can see that Johnnie was not happy about people leaving. Thank you friends for giving my son a day to remember. Hope you had a wonderful day baby boy. Just because you are another year older doesn't mean you still aren't my baby. We love you!