October Miscellaneous

Here are some of our latest happenings:

HarvestFest

Each year, our community hosts this fall event at the start of October. Arts and crafts and food vendors line the streets downtown. There wasn't a whole lot for the boys to do, other than this initial children's booth we saw (sponsored by a group that's trying to start a Children's Museum here). Jaden and Cody loved the activities at this booth. First, the boys got to decorate their own pumpkins. 

The permanent markers made Mommy a little nervous, but both boys did well. (Daddy's nearby watchful eye was very helpful, too!)

These colorfully decorated pumpkins now adorn our fireplace mantel at home. Next, we got to decorate our own potato head people-- with real vegetables!

Jaden and Cody picked out which veggies they wanted (peppers, string beans, cucumbers, kale, and a few non-veggies, like cranberries), and then Mommy helped with the attachment, using toothpick halves.

What a creative activity idea! Here are the boys' finished products.

Then, we continued on to check out some of the food vendors. Cody and Jaden sampled a couple of mini "hand pies." Yum!

The only other thing we got was some homemade caramel dipping sauce, which the boys have absolutely LOVED with apples. Unfortunately, we missed out on the cattle drive, since that event didn't start until 2:00. We'll catch the cattle drive another year, when it's not in the middle of naptime!

Mlnarik Visit

 Over Columbus Day weekend, we were very excited to have our dear friends Josh and Katie over for dinner. They moved to Sioux Falls over the summer but came back to town for an extended weekend visit. Both Josh and Katie were fun playmates.

Josh encouraged the boys to giggle and make some silly faces.

After dinner, Josh and Katie played a few rounds of hide-and-seek with the boys and followed them around outside a bit, too. When it was time for bed, Katie read a bedtime story for the boys.

The boys were too excited to sit still for long, so Josh and Katie just read the last book by themselves. Awww.... :)

We are thankful for our friendship with you, Josh and Katie! It was so fun to have you visit. We miss you bunches!!

Recent Playtime

Lately, Cody and Jaden have been REALLY into playing hide-and-go-seek. They (Cody especially) probably ask to play this game at least once a day. Our favorite way to play is to have Mommy hide with one boy and Daddy hide with the other. When Daddy's at work, though, the boys are quite happy to hide together and have Mommy do the seeking. (Mommy no longer hides on her own... the boys too often "forget" to find her!) Jaden and Cody are actually getting much better at finding different hiding spots (at first, they'd continually return to one or two of the same places). Also, they do surprisingly well at hiding quietly together AND at staying hidden until Mommy actually discovers them. This picture captures one of their recent hiding spots. Mommy found the boys lying in this position, perfectly still. So funny!

Another day, the boys thought it would be fun to be "human tunnels" with their trains. I love seeing them devise their own creative play more and more as they get older.

Cody and Jaden also enjoy playing with Mommy and Daddy's shoes.

Just when I'm beginning to think the boys are getting so big, this type of play reminds me how much more they have yet to grow!

I've also been surprised lately to see how observant Jaden and Cody are. One day during the boys' naptime, I changed my toenail polish. The very first thing the boys said upon waking up was, "Mommy, new toes! New purple. Blue all gone!" Not only did they immediately notice my new nail color, but they also had no problem remembering what color I had on previously. They were very excited to touch Mommy's nails and to tell Daddy all about it when he got home.

Time with Doris

Not long ago, we connected with our friend Doris from church. Doris lives really close to our downtown hospital, so she suggested that we take a walk to see the fish at the hospital's main lobby. It was a perfect idea!

The boys loved seeing the fish ("BIG fish" and "tiny fish"). We probably only saw less than 10 total, but Cody and Jaden were still very interested.

On the walk back to Doris' place, we discovered a humongous pile of leaves. Of course, we had to stop and play a while!

Doris definitely knows how little boys think! Ever since we have started visiting her, Doris has built up a collection of toy cars and trucks for Jaden and Cody. Since Doris keeps the vehicles at her place, they seem like new each time we visit! I love the smile that Cody is giving Doris in the picture below. He's giggling at the sound his truck is making.

The vehicles kept the boys entertained for quite some time while Doris and Mommy visited a bit.

At the end of our visit, Doris sent us home with a few new fall decorations for our home and some baby pumpkins, too. We love our time with this thoughtful, generous lady!