Halloween Parade at LAP

Luke had a GREAT day at school today! He had a Halloween parade in the morning and his class Halloween party at noon!

As a parent, this is one of my favorite days of Luke's school year. The kids are so adorable and proud as they parade up and down the isles in the chapel.

Even though Luke is officially Batman for Halloween, he wanted to wear his Spiderman costume to school. So, that's my Spiderman in the pictures...you can't see his face, but look close at those big brown eyes!

After the parade, he had a normal day at school until 12:30. That's when the class party started. One highlight was when we made scary monster hands out of a clear food prep glove by putting candy corns in the fingertips and caramel popcorn filling up the glove.

After the party, we headed home sugared-up and bouncing off the walls!! Good thing Ms. Sherry called and invited Luke down to her house for a while! Ha!!

Tonight is Fall Fest at church and Friday is BOO on Ballard. Saturday is, of course, Halloween! Stay tuned for more fun posts!

Super-friends

Luke and his buddy next door, Donovin, love dressing up as super-heroes. They are both so cute and funny. They actually refer to each other as "Batman" and "Spiderman" ...sometimes even when they are not dressed up!

Yesterday, Luke and Donovin were playing super-heroes in the backyard. They would jump across the trampoline, fly through the air and slide down the swing set slide.

Costumes are one of Luke's favorite things right now. He has such an active imagination and I just love watching him play!

No More Nursie

Well, it's official. Noah is weaned and is no longer nursing. I'm both happy and sad...proud and sentimental. Noah is 15 months, so we certainly had a good run. And, I feel very blessed to have nursed him so long. Still, there is something very sad closing the baby chapter.

We've been only feeding twice a day...morning and night..and mainly because I've continued to really encourage it. For the past two days, when I've woken him up and brought him right into the living room/kitchen area, he's pointed back to his room and whined. That part is hard. In the mornings, I'm always short on time. I would SO much rather nurse him at night, but at night he's not really interested.

So...here we are...36 hours and no nursing. {Tear.}

Luke being Luke

Gosh, I thought that I would be so happy the day Luke learned to dress himself. And, don't get me wrong, I AM happy he can get dressed...what I didn't consider was his choice of clothing.

For example, recently he and Leo were running up to Chili's to pick up dinner and what did Luke decide to dress in....his Easter sweater vest, jeans and gold Mardi Gras beads. Ummmm...yeah...nice combination!

I've decided that clothes are one battle I will not fight over though, so whatever floats Luke's boat is fine with me...most days.

The following day, Luke got some vampire teeth in a goodie bag. Boy, did he think they were neat! He's been wearing them and pretending to bite "bad guys." He's such a silly boy and had a wild imagination. He makes me laugh every day.

Happy Halloween Early from Nana

Luke was SO happy when he checked the mail today because Nana sent him an early Halloween surprise. Inside the package were party-favor type toys, Hallowen lights, and a card with $20 for a special trip to the toy store.

I was so touched and proud when Luke asked if he could take some of his Halloween toys to share with his friends today. We've been working so hard on being "thoughtful" and moments like that help reassure me that some things we're trying to teach are actually sinking in.

Thank you Nana for the Halloween package...the look on Luke's face says it all!!!

XOXOXOXOXO!!!!

A Treasure Chest of Rewards for Good Behavior

Oh my...another special package from Granny & Gramps and the Santa Clause in the brown van (UPS!) This time it was a big treasure chest of goodies for Mommy to use as rewards for good behavior. There was also a letter inside explaining that the treasure chest was only to be opened when Luke and Noah made "Mommy happy with their good behavior." I LOVE IT!!!!

So, to encourage the boys to be good, we allowed them to open the treasure chest and look at all the goodies inside. There were toys, decorations, bubbles, instruments, etc. After a short time, we put everything back in the treasure chest and it now sits in our kitchen as a reminder to the boys to be good!

Luke is already talking about how good he is going to be...he must have said "Yes Ma'am Mommy" ten times before we loaded up for school today. He also put up his shoes, picked up his toys, opened the garage door, and several other really nice things for me this morning...he was VERY helpful...and he pointed that out to me several times. LOL!

Now, lets see if he can speak nicely all day...he has a very bad habit of yelling when he gets mad. Self-control is definitely going to be a life-issue with Luke and something we work on a LOT!! I'm excited for him to begin receiving rewards and seeing how many wonderful things will come his way if he makes the right choices!

Thank you Granny and Gramps for this wonderful new tool!!!

We love you!!!

Surprises from Granny and Gramps!

Today the boys recieved an unexpected package from Granny and Gramps in Florida.

Toys!!!

Noah thinks he is a star with his new Fisher Price Sing Along Stage. He loves the lights and music and especially the mirror! He will lean it close to his face and kiss himself in it...SO sweet!

And Luke is certainly being challenged by the yoyo's!! He doesn't quite have the hang of how to get them to wind back up, but he's having fun trying. And, these are no ordinary yoyos...they light up and flash as they spin up and down. Cool!

Big hugs and thanks to Granny and Gramps for the unexpected gifts!!!

Pretending to be Pirates

Luke and Noah were so funny yesterday pretending to be pirates in our little red wagon. They literally sat in the wagon for thrity minutes yelling, "Ahoy Mate" and "Arg!"

If I had known that all it took was a wagon for them to sit in to keep them occupied, I would have pulled it in the backyard a long time ago!

Love, love, love my boys!