chillin' with the groomsmen

Granddad's house was the staging area for Uncle Chris and his groomsmen. The boys loved getting on their suits while all of the other groomsmen were getting ready, too. It was a beautiful day, very warm for November, and we all waited outside for the limo to arrive. Then we waved goodbye to Uncle Chris and the guys and headed off to the wedding.

The Fam

More wedding blogging and pictures to come, but I wanted to get this one up right away. I stole it from my SIL's facebook site. I think her mom took it.

thoughts on Chris's upcoming wedding

We leave tomorrow for Uncle Chris and Auntie Katie's wedding on Saturday.

Luke is very excited. "I get to wear my wedding costume! And my shiny shoes! And my tie!"

All Michael heard was costume. "Michael wear monkey costume!" Oh my disappointed little moo-bug.

Wish us luck, it will be a long day in the car tomorrow and a very long day and late night on Saturday. I'm hoping for no major meltdowns from the kids and no major puking episodes from me!

Too Much Halloween

Matt and I are not big fans of the Columbus tradition of moving trick-or-treat night and we couldn't stand the thought of not doing anything on the "real" Halloween. So tonight, we drove into Westerville for more trick-or-treating. There weren't many kids out at all where we went, so we didn't feel bad for imposing ourselves on the neighborhood. After all, somebody had to collect the candy! We only went for about 40 minutes, then the boys tuckered out. "Tuckered out" is an understatement for Michael, as the picture shows. He fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up when we moved him, took his picture, took off his costume or brushed his teeth.

violin lessons

We have been trying to get into a Saturday violin lesson routine with our friends, but managing our schedules has been tough. We're finally getting into the swing of things. Luke and Malcolm have real violins and are learning to play such classics as "Mississippi Hot Dog"--it's really more of an exercise than a song, but they love it. What we didn't count was the little ones wanting to join in. So now Quinn and Michael are also "playing." Matt does all the work, while Karla, Pete and I sit upstairs, eavesdrop, giggle and marvel at how well they are all doing. Here they are, all holding the violins in the proper position.

Beggar's Night

I'm not sure we'll ever understand why Columbus doesn't do trick-or-treat on Halloween if it falls on a weekend. Oh well, the weather was beautiful for Beggar's Night last night and the boys had a blast.

This morning, Michael was hung over from staying up late and too much candy. Here he is with a much needed sausage fix, still wearing his costume, which he wore all day again today.

Apple Picking again

We made a quick trip out to Lynd's for our second 20lbs of apples this season. It's the only time Michael ever eats apples! We were supposed to go this weekend, but the weather is looking nasty. We still hope to get to the pumpkin patch on Sunday, but I didn't want to risk not being able to get my Winesaps and Fujis. So we made the trek today, met some friends and got a huge bag of apples and a couple of squash for good measure.

Pigeon Roost Farms

I love all of the fall activities in Central Ohio. On Monday afternoon, we took the kids to Pigeon Roost Farms. So many great "low-tech" activities. Poppy and Nan, I think you should buy a little piece of land and start building your own slides, obstacle courses and spooky tunnels. You can probably do without the obnoxious goats, though.

Michael loved the "corn box."

Most of the slides are just this black tubing, Michael couldn't get enough.

Luke's new best friend, a fuzzy caterpillar.

Climbing the obstacle course in the "enchanted woods."

Love the tire dragon!

And we finished with about a hundred slide races down the hill.

Boo at the Zoo

You know Halloween is close when it's time for Boo at the Zoo. Cold this year with temps in the 40s. It didn't bother Michael in his super warm monkey costume. Our Transformer Optimus Prime didn't last too long before he needed to take off his mask and put on his jacket. I hope to get better pictures of him at one of our other Halloween events.

There's a superhero show each year. This year's featured Luke's favs Spiderman and Ironman fighting the Green Goblin. Luke is the perfect audience member. He cheers and jeers at all the right spots and laughs like a hyena at all of the jokes.

Back home, there was just enough time to play with their loot, one plastic dolphin and one plastic squid from the zoo and two monster trucks that came with their Burger King dinners. It was a good night to be a kid!

Chilly morning

It was rainy and ridiculously cold this morning. What else to do but sit on the coffee table and eat little chocolate donuts?

More Practicing

I've been on a mission to get Luke's winter gear without spending a fortune this year. I finally finished the ensemble. New coat, snow pants and snow boots in the much requested black, all found at Once Upon a Child in perfect condition. Luke wanted to put everything on yesterday and then he tromped around the living room for a while.

Home Visit #1

One of the best things about the boys' school is that a teacher comes for a home visit each year to get to know the children better. Michael's teacher Molly came on Friday. Molly and Michael raced cars while I packed for Toronto. Molly was Luke's teacher when he was 2 and she came for his home visit that year, too, so it was really neat to have her here to visit Michael this time. Michael had a great time. It will be Luke's turn in a few weeks.

Canadian Thanksgiving

We spent last weekend at Granddad's cottage outside of Barrie, ON. There was a huge gathering with 15 adults and 7 kids on Saturday night. It was great to see the boys play with their cousins Talia, Claire and Jacinta and they also got to see Grandma Sylvia's grandchildren Luke and Caitlin. The kids were adorable and there would have been lots of cute pictures except that stupid me forgot the camera!!!! After taking a couple of very lame pics with the cell phone, I gave up. I'm hoping somebody else will eventually post some pictures that I can steal.

Chris and Matt played bocce ball in the drizzly cold.

Claire and Luke really hit it off and played all weekend. Grandma Sylvia has a painted stool that says "Grandma and Grandpa's Cottage: where cousins go to become friends." How true.

Can't wait

So Uncle Christopher's wedding is on November 7th and the boys are invited to the whole shabang, reception and all. I bought Luke's winter coat and snowpants second hand this year, so I could afford to buy the boys matching outfits for the wedding. I found them on sale today for $25 each at JC Penney's and I am so happy with them. Not sure if you can tell by the photo, but they are navy blue pin stripes with pale blue striped ties that will bring out their eyes. We may even spring for some portraits in the outfits for Christmas. I did buy the shoes second hand, no sense busting the bank on shoes they will wear a couple of times and kick off at the first opportunity.

Practicing

For our trip to Toronto this weekend. Michael's officially too big for a pack n play, so he'll be bunking in a sleeping bag on the floor with Luke. We are excited to spend Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada this year!

Luke's Prayer

In the car the other day, Luke asked if the baby would be a boy or a girl. I told him we wouldn't find out for a while. Luke said, "I think I should say a prayer to God that the baby is a girl. Dear God, we have a lot of boys in this family who will grow up into daddies. I think you should make this baby a girl baby, so that mommy has someone who will grow up into a mommy like her."

It's hard to drive when you're trying not to cry!! But I assured Luke that we love boys at our house and that I will be super happy if the baby is another boy.

Rainy days

It has rained and rained and rained here, with more to come this week. Yesterday was terrible, but Luke still had soccer. Later in the day, he braved a downpour in his boots and coat. Today dawned rainy again, but it was clearing by the time we finished church (hooray for Sunday school again!). We decided to chance the weather and my stomach and drove an hour south to the Renaissance Festival. Turned out to be a lovely cool day. I didn't puke and the boys had a great time riding the rides, playing the games, watching the joust and acquiring more swords and shields.

Michaelism of the day

I posted this on FB, but I want to remember it, so I'll put it here to. Yesterday, Michael shoved too much food in his mouth, choked and spit up. "Baby in my tummy," he said.

Sunday School

So I don't have a picture, but this morning the boys started Sunday school during the 9:30 mass at Immaculate Conception. Michael's is really just the nursery, but Luke's is a religious preschool program. They both did great and enjoyed it much more than driving their parents crazy during mass. Matt and I spent mass together actually holding hands--awwww. Can't remember the last time that happened!

First Day of School!

The boys FINALLY went back to school today even if it was only for orientation. First, we went to Michael's classroom and Luke got to visit with his old teacher Molly and show Michael all of the toys. Then we played on the playground for a minute where we ran into Luke's crush Matilda who greeted us with "I'm back and I have a brother now." Then we went to Luke's classroom. Wow, 4-year-old heaven. There's an inclined tumbling mat that Luke and Matilda somersaulted down. Luke and "School" Eli dressed up like pirate knights complete with hook-hands. There's a letter writing center with letters to trace, real envelopes and a mailbox. Luke was especially impressed with the huge rubber mallets that they can use on the play-doh and the teachers promised that they will soon open up a real workbench with real tools! Morning sickness mommy is too preoccupied with not puking to take too many pictures, but I got the requisite backpack and big rock shots.

Soccer!

And so it begins . . . Tiny Tots soccer started yesterday. The Easton Fields by our house were just packed with soccer parents. It was crazy. It took us a while to figure out where we were supposed to be. Finally, we found our way and Luke got his gold jersey! His coaches are two college-aged girls and they were pretty tough! Luke followed orders for the whole hour even though it was pretty hot out. He had a good time and was rewarded with a Rice Krispies treat and a Gatorade at the end of the session. He can't wait to go back, although he was happy to hear that it should be getting cooler week by week.

Michael had to stay on the sidelines, but I found him a soccer t-shirt and he kicked the ball back and forth with daddy.

because it would be too obnoxious to update my FB status again . . .

I have to post this here. I'm watching the boys play with pillows and sleeping bags on the living room floor. They are pretending to go to bed.

Michael: Goodnight Ernie.
Luke: Goodnight Bert.

Profiles

Haven't posted a double profile shot in a while. Gosh, they are looking mature to me these days!

Apple Picking

Last weekend, we went to Lynd's fruit farm for the first time this season to pick Galas and Golden Supremes. We picked 20 pounds. If I could just get over the morning sickness, I'd be cooking a lot more with them! We'll probably go back and do it again in October. I think we went through 60 pounds of apples last fall. Everyone remembers how much Luke likes apple crisp, right?

Self Portrait

Michael seized the camera shortly after the last picture was taken and got this self portrait. He looks amazingly like his Uncle Chris in this picture (you can see Chris in some of the pics on the side). You can also see his chronically beat-up forehead!