Harvest Moon Hurrah!

We had so much fun! Our city does something they call the Harvest Moon Hurrah! They have performers going all afternoon and night. They have food, games, pictures, hayrides, and all sorts of fun. I thought Braiden would love this. Analisha and Maddox were able to come as well. Cortlynn had a little cold. Next year, we'll have to give everyone more advance notice so that more of the family can come. They had a tent for the kids where they were able to play some games but make a lot of crafts. They made headbands, bracelets, pictures and even got to eat carmel apples. Braiden loved the performers. He wanted to sit and watch them dance. I was finally able to get him to go in the line for the balloon animals. He wanted a sword. He was so excited. It was our last stop for the day. From there we headed home. As soon as we got to the car, the sword POPPED! He was so sad because he wasn't able to show his dad. The line was forever long, so we weren't going back for another one. He survived and actually was a pretty good sport. Everyone had such a good time. Thanks to the city for putting on such a fun event. We look forward to next year.

Our Little Climber

Gavin has turned into quite the climber. He does not sit still. He is climbing, walking along, or crawling somewhere if he is not eating or sleeping. I don't remember Braiden being quite like this, but I am sure he was just as busy. The other day I came in and Gavin had climbed into Braiden's chair and was sitting like this. I thought it was such a cute picture. We are so lucky to have Gavin as a part of our family. He is such a happy boy who loves to smile. I love seeing what he will do next.

More Apple Art

As part of our A week, (I am a little behind!) we painted with APPLES. Braiden chose the color and then he would paint the apple. He then stamped them on the paper. They turned out really good. We had so much fun learning about the letter A. Next week we start Letter B. We are having so much fun!

{Learning our ABC's}

This year I am not sending Braiden to preschool, we will wait until next year. We decided we wanted to keep busy this year (yes, I know I ALWAYS have something to do) and continue learning. Braiden and I (with Gavin in tow) are going to learn and explore using our alphabet and holidays. I am so excited. I hope Braiden is as excited as I am. It is not necessarily going to be anything big, but we are going to have fun. I want to try and focus more on my kids and less on things that I should be getting done. (These items will still need to be done, but I will figure out another way to do that.)

This week we are learning about the Letter A. We have colored a few papers about the letter A. We are making an alphabet book. We are learning about APPLES, ANTS, and ALLIGATORS.

These are pictures of Braiden getting ready for our APPLE project. We have checked out books from our Library on all of our 'A' topics. The other day we read about apples and decided to paint a picture of an apple tree. We made homemade finger paint. (EASY, corn syrup and food coloring) It was easy clean up, just a little sticky:) Braiden painted the leaves on the tree and then colored a few pictures of apples and a tree trunk. We then stuck those on the leaves.

Today we learned about ANTS. We went on a nature walk looking for ants. We found one ant. It ran so fast, we couldn't get a picture of it. We found many many grasshoppers. Braiden loved running and making them jump. Gavin was a good sport and enjoyed the stroller ride. We had so much fun reading about ants and searching for them. Braiden had a great moment today:) We also stopped and let Braiden play on the playground. There is a bridge on the playground and Braiden has been really scared to cross it by himself. HE DID IT! We were both so proud. We jumped and yelled and waved our hands through the air! It was an exciting moment:) Tomorrow is Alligators. It should be another fun filled day!

Fishin' with Dad

Braiden got a fishing pole for his birthday. He had been so excited to go and use it. JT decided on Saturday they would go fishing. Friday night, Braiden and JT went out in the backyard and let him practice casting his line. He really is pretty good. Saturday came and they were so excited to go. They just went up to the reservoir and you could see fish jumping and swimming, but nothing wanted to bite. Braiden told me he was going to catch me a great big fish. He then told JT if they caught one he wanted to put it back in the water. Unfortunately, they came home without a fish, but they had a great time together. Braiden was so sad and said to me, "I didn't catch a big fish for you. I am so sorry.!" He felt so bad. I told him it didn't matter as long as he had fun. He said he did. He loved fishing with Dad. Maybe next time they will catch something:)

Look at that cast!

Braiden by the reservoir.

The boys trying to catch something.

Braiden and Dad

Bath Time

I finally pulled out the bath chair for Gavin. He would not sit still in my arms. (of course not Mom) I didn't want to pull it out because it takes up so much room, but I couldn't handle it anymore! I pulled out the camera and took pictures of the boys, because I did it when Braiden was little. I got the same picture of Gavin and Braiden in the chair. See if you can guess who is who? I think they look different, but some people think they look just the same. If you thought Gavin was #1 and Braiden was #2, then you are.....WRONG! Braiden is the first picture and Gavin is the second. They are both around 7 months in their tub pictures. How fun it is to see how similar but how different they are.

Growing so BIG!

I can't believe how fast time goes by. The other day I heard a lady say, "The days are long but the years fly by." How true that is. Braiden just turned 3 years old. I can't believe how old he acts and how big he is. He grew 4 inches this past year. He is really getting tall. The Doctor said that he looked great and he was a healthy boy! I love that:) Gavin had his 6 month check up about a month ago. He was looking great as well. The boy is crawling on his knees, climbing and won't sit still. Just today he yelled Mama as I put him in his crib. He is not a little baby anymore. I love that my boys love me. They show me all the time. I don't know how many hugs and kisses I get each day, but I love it. I love that they are growing up happy and healthy.