random pics from october

This was a preschool field trip to a local farm that I didn't attend because it was super cold and Lindy was still a newbie.  My good friends even took Avery along with them.

These next few pictures are just random ones from messing around with my camera.

Graham thought mittens were enough warmth for him to follow Avery outside.

Completely out.

And my most popular photo subject as of late...

Gotta love it.

At least I do anyway.

halloween

We celebrated Halloween the day before... which was Graham's birthday.  Thus, Graham concluded that anyone in costume had dressed up for his birthday.  In the days leading up to his birthday, he often asked to try on his costume "for his birthday".

Here is the gang excited to go trick-or-treating.

Even little Lindy dressed up as a princess... but ended up sleeping in her car seat the whole time we were out, so it was in vain.

We celebrated mostly by going to our ward's trunk-or-treat.  It was fun to see all the different costumes.

The food was good too.

We stopped by just a few houses in our neighborhood on the way home.  The kids were plenty tired by the time we were done.

It was a fun night.

Happy Halloween!

Graham's 4th birthday

Graham is now 4 years old!

One of his absolute favorite things to do is draw.  He could probably sit and draw all day long.  This is a picture he drew of Avery (notice the curly hair).  He also has a talent for writing his name backward.

We opened gifts first thing in the morning.

One of his favorite gifts was a cape from his cousin Spencer.

It entertained him (and us) most of the morning.

He also really enjoyed a set of Trio blocks from Grammie and Grandpa (Drake did too).

Graham requested a vanilla-flavored pumpkin-shaped cake.

So there you have it.

This was his first birthday with a friend party and he was very excited.  He wanted it to be a costume party.  Here he is out on the front lawn watching one of his friends get out of their car.  I think he was really excited.

This was the birthday party gang.

We played a Pumpkin Walk game.

Drake (a.k.a. Woody) was more than happy to draw out the numbers.

The kids went bowling with a pumpkin.

It wasn't a very round pumpkin, but oh well.

They played Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin (you'd think I might have branched out from pumpkins....)

And then he opened presents.

When it was time for cake, Graham acted embarrassed when everyone sang to him.

But he enjoyed blowing out the candles.

After cake, we had the kids wrap Graham up like a mummy using crepe paper.

He had to free himself at the end.

I think they all had a fun time (I hope so anyway).

Graham is a wonderful kid and it's hard to believe that he's only four.  It seems like we've been blessed with him for much longer.  I look forward to many more days with this boy.  We love you Graham!

trying different things

There is never a shortage of creativity among the kids.  Drake and Graham made marshmallow/toothpick structures for a while.

Avery likes to wear any assortment of things...

Graham's trying to cut an orange, and Avery's working on a plum.

One morning, Graham volunteered to help Avery get dressed.  I eventually turned her shirt around and put on long pants, but I kept it this way long enough for Graham to know I was grateful for his help.

This was the first time I caught Avery "reading" a book to Lindy.

She's done it many times since.

She's very happy with herself.

And it almost looks like Lindy is actually paying attention in this photo.

Sweet facial hair.

My second (maybe third?) time doing pigtails for Avery.

A fun spider balloon from Nana and Papa.

It's a rule in our house that the kids must eat at the kitchen table.

Apparently, these kids think they're the exception to the rule.

And finally, the kids have been reading a lot of books lately.

Simultaneously, Shad has been replacing a bunch of our interior doors.

So, of course, the kids used the old doors as book holders.

I mean, really, isn't that the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of old doors?