Trimming the Tree!

Here's John putting the last part of our tree together... now it's time to decorate!

Working together:

John showed a particular sense of devotion to this one spot on the tree:

 Here's part of the little crowd of ornaments he made:

What do you do if you run out of room?  Just hang ornaments on the other ornaments!

Someone else was hamming it up:

Thank you.

Will got to put the star on top:

 After decorating, the boys got to have some egg nog and eat the Rice Krispy Holiday Houses they decorated with Dan & Cara the day before:

Admiring their handiwork:

Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of our pumpkin artist, Will, and our pumpkin helper, John:

Dad, carvin' & scoopin'

The finished products, Wills pumpkin on the left, Mom's on the right:

Bert & Ernie:

Mom getting in on the action as Abby Cadabby:

Somehow this is the only picture of Cookie Monster we got.  I think Will took the picture.  He's been allowed to do that more and more these days.

Soccer

Our little soccer player!

Will's team is called Impact - though everyone usually just calls them the yellow team.  Will is sitting on the bench, farthest kid to the right.  Will's classmate, Maeve, is not the little girl sitting next to him, but the next one over with the curly red hair.  They spent a lot of time holding hands before & after practice.  Will's friend from church, Jaret, is on the ground all the way to the left.  They had fun being on the same team.  Will got to wear the #4 jersey just like he did in tee-ball.  Maybe we'll try to stick with it.  :)

Kindergarten

I can't believe my baby is a big Kindergartener already!  This is Will's first day of school.  He has to wear red, white, or blue shirts every day as part of the school's dress code which is no problem for him, since his favorite color is red!  He goes to Charter Oak Primary School and his teacher's name is Mrs. Mahrt.  We like her very much and she is already very fond of Will!  Here's will checking out his Bobcat paw-print necklace.  It helps get him from his bus to the correct classroom in the morning, and from his classroom to the right bus at the end of the day.

We're getting ready to walk to the bus stop together.  It's just down the street from us, so John is still in his jammies.

So excited!

Here comes the bus:

He was so excited, he didn't even turn around and say goodbye!  Mom got a little misty on the walk home, but Will was totally fine!

"The new journey begins August 20" - you got that right!

Here's his official school picture from a few weeks later (and after a haircut too):

A Dr. Seuss Double Birthday

I'm a little late in getting these posted, but birthday season is in full swing around here.  Will and John celebrated their 5th and 2nd birthdays together with a huge Dr. Seuss party.

Here is the fantastic cake, made by my talented friend Melodie, and the Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes:

We also had Cat In The Hat hats for our friends to wear.  As you can tell, Lucas was very enthusiastic about wearing one:

 We made this "Beezlenut Juice" with Sprite and Jell-O.  The look of excitement on Wills face is because the chunks of Jell-O floated and sank over and over again in the Sprite - it was really cool looking!

The weather was absolutely perfect and we spent most of the day outside.  I love the picture below because it really captures Brent's true essence.  If you can click to make it bigger, it's totally worth it!

 Here's Avery knocking one out of the park:

 Will and Laura got tired of playing outside and decided to come in where it was quiet and draw pictures together:

 Here's John and Grammy hanging out together.  Sadly, John got stung by some bees, but Grammy saved the day with some technology!

 Then it was time for some presents!  The kids kept getting closer and closer to Will and he kept scooting farther and farther back until he wasn't even on the blanket anymore:

 Brandon sporting a Grinch t-shirt and Cat's hat:

 Here's John with the ride-on motorcycle we got him.  We should have waited and made him open it last, because once he was on it, there was no getting him off of it.

Brandon tried lifting him off, but he would not let go:

So, we had to open the rest of the presents while sitting on the motorcycle:

 Will being Will:

 Rylee, Jenna, John, and Will with The Cat in the Hat:

It was a fantastic day and we were so lucky to share it with 40 or so of our closest family and friends.  We didn't get pictures of everyone, but we were especially excited to have Grandma Wilson, Grammy and Grandpa Heath, Aunt Beth & Uncle Walt and some of the cousins there with us.  We don't usually get to have so much family around us at once, so it was a real treat!  The boys were showered with wonderful gifts and cards, for which we are so grateful.  I asked them to stop growing, but since they won't, I think birthday parties are the next best thing!