Family Day

This past Wednesday was another fun day for our family, it was Family Day for Arthur's flight class.  After 4 weeks of primary flight training, it was time for the students to show off their hard work.  While this was obviously Jake's first time watching Arthur in action, I was a little surprised by my own excitement until I realized it was my first time watching Arthur fly too.  Yep, even after all of Arthur's previous flight time I have never seen him fly a helicopter, at least not in person.  And it did feel a little surreal as Jake and I stood behind the fence and watched Arthur make his initial decent into a hoover right in front of us.

It has been a long road to get here and it felt like such a family victory to see him fly.  I know that Arthur never would have made the decision to fly for the army if it hadn't in the best interest of us as a family, but I am so happy that he found a way to provide for us while doing what he loves.  Although, right now, Arthur might tell you his personal excitement has been a little dulled by the 3 am alarm clock and the assessment to "be the book" aka memorize paragraph upon paragraph verbatim.  Nevertheless Jake and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Jake, of course, was over the moon to spend the afternoon at the air field watching all the helicopters fly in around us.  I really don't think that there is a job on the planet that a little boy would think was more exciting than a helicopter pilot.  On Arthur's first day on the flight line, he brought Jake home a model of the TH-67 to explain and commemorate the day.  Since then, Jake has been very clear on what Arthur is flying each day at work.  Each time we see one fly over head Jake announces, "That is just like the one Daddy flies!"  And when he is asked, "What does your Daddy fly?" he doesn't just give a mispronounced version of the word "helicopter" like I think people expect.  Instead Jake puffs out his little chest and with all the pride and love in the world states, "My Daddy flies a training helicopter!" 

The cutest part of the day was when Arthur finished his flight.  The second Jake spotted Arthur walking toward us, Jake was in a full sprint and continued running along side Arthur until the fence between them ended. Then the two of them threw their arms around each other like they'd been apart for months.   Luckily Mommy was ready with the camera to catch it. :-)

 

I will admit I did have Jake and I color coordinated with Arthur on purpose.  I was hoping for some family photo op...and here it is.  With Jake's eyes closed it may not make the Christmas card cut, but it is still pretty cute.

And for the icing on the cake, Jake got to check out the inside of a "training helicopter."

Spots

I must have had some Mommy intuition when I helped Jake pick out his 13 new books at the library this week.  We came home with one story called Iris Has a Virus and another called Lots of Spots.  Well, now Jake has a virus that gives him lots of spots...itchy ones on his hands and feet.  Yep, he has the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease.  Gross huh?  Unfortunately, it seems to be going around town and with 90% of the population all going to the same doctor's office I imagine it will be difficult to contain.
When I found out that we had been exposed last Saturday I did my best to keep Jake quarantined, but by Tuesday night we were both getting a little stir crazy and since he was still symptom free I thought we had dodged the bullet.  No, such luck...Friday afternoon I couldn't deny the little rash forming on the palms of his hand and feet.
Luckily his case seems pretty mild.  No fever to speak of and most importantly, no fever blisters in or around his mouth.   That would have been a nightmare!  So you might be asking, "Why is she sharing this?"  A funny Jake moment of course...
So yesterday morning, after taking his baby Tylenol and having his hands and feet lathered in hydrocortisone cream (all in an attempt to control the itching), Jake sat quietly eating his breakfast.  All of a sudden he started examining his hands and after a few seconds asked, "Why do I have so many fire ant bites!?"  "Remember in our book last night when Iris got a virus that made her throw up?  Well, you got a virus that gave you bumps," I explained.
A look of complete disgust spread over Jake's face as he lifted his hands up and away from his body.  He held them there for at least a minute looking straight ahead refusing to speak to either of us.  He looked so mad!  I guess even Jake realizes how yucky it is.
Don't worry Baby you'll get better soon and we still think you are adorable...spots and all.

A Hands on Halloween

I can't take credit for all of it, but we had one fun October and quite a hands on Halloween.  We made crafts, decorated cookies, went to the pumpkin patch (twice), carved pumpkins, trunk or treated, trick or treated...it was quite a month!

Sometime last year I decided that it would be a fun family tradition to make decorations each year for the various holidays.  The short term benefit: a fun creative activity to do as a family.  The long term benefit: each holiday filling our home with decorations that hold warm fun memories of years past. Here are a few pictures from the Halloween 2010 collection. :-)  It took two FHE to complete these beauties!

Hard at work

Planning his next stroke

The final product. 
Daddy-Bat, Mommy-Cat, Jake-Pumpkin

We were also lucky enough to be included in the Halloween tradition of our friends the Haymore's.  Toddlers decorating sugar cookies, what could be more fun?!  Oh that's right, fighting with lightsabers.

"Decorating" to Jake meant grabbing handfuls of candy and attempting to balance as much on cookie as possible.

Cookies are for little boys...and big boys!

    

Let the battle begin

I loved the pumpkin patch as a child.  I have so many great memories of picking out the prefect pumpkin, eating pumpkin ice cream, riding rocking horses, and spending the day with family.  Although, I can't perfectly recreate those memories for Jake, I love getting to create new ones with him.  They may be different, but they are just as wonderful because nothing is as beautiful or exciting as the world through the eyes of a child.  This year felt even more special because Arthur was with us.  While Jake and I did make the most of our Halloween last year, it just wasn't the same with Daddy away at boot camp.  So here we are, all three (almost four) of us and Aunt Robyn at the pumpkin patch in Sweet Home Alabama.

Is there anything sweeter that a Daddy with his baby?

 

Now what good is a trip to the pumpkin patch without a messy ewy gooey pumpkin carving activity? Exactly...so the week before Halloween, we all pulled up our pj sleeves, spread a garbage bag over our front walk way, and got to work.  Last year Jake refused to get near pumpkin guts so it was fun to see him and Arthur working side by side.  As for our "outfits," what can I say?  Think of it as a window into our weekend mornings.

I forgot to get a carving kit so we had to make due with tools from the kitchen

 

Leaning over a pumpkin when you feel like a pumpkin made for an interesting challenge.

And the hard work pays off. :)

This past Halloween weekend was a busy one.  Friday night was our wards Trunk-or-Treating/Chili Cook Off party.  I was a fun night, and after putting together a cute cowboy costume it was nice to have more than one place for Jake to wear it...especially since this party had a kids' costume fashion show.  Jake was a little confused about the whole process, but it made it even funnier and cuter watching Benjamin and Jake "lose" the rest of the parade and wonder aimlessly. 

While he made have been confused about the parade, there was no confusion when it came to getting candy.  Jake was an expert Trunk-or-Treater.  At one point I got caught up taking to someone and he just continued down the line or parked cars.  I finally caught up to him three cars later and watched him confidently walk up to the trunk, clearly say "Trick or Treat," receive his candy, politely say thank you, and move on.  What does he even need me for?  After we had completed our rounds of the church parking lot, he was also a fabulous candy hander outer...his only issue was being slightly too generous...maybe a small case of "do unto others?"
Saturday was the official day to celebrate Halloween since the holiday actually fell on a Sunday this year.  Remember we are living in the Bible belt. Our neighborhood threw an awesome block party with bounce houses and everything.  Getting Jake dressed up the second day in a row was slightly more of a challenge.  I don't know if it was the fun morning playing with Daddy and no nap or Jake just getting into character as a restless untamable cowboy but it was way more work the second time.

 

 

But his attitude made for some really cute cowboy shots...good work with the camera Daddy!

 

 

 

The party was fun.  It was amazing to see how many kids there are in our little neighborhood and I enjoyed mingling with some of the adults.  Although, it was kind of a warm day so I  admit I didn't make the rounds the way I had hoped.  I just went from one shade structure to the other.  So unless they were in the shade too, I probably didn't introduce myself.  Jake isn't a fan of the bounce houses, but he had a great time bowling and sat very still while the "scary bat" he requested was painted on his face.
After the party we were on the Halloween home stretch.  All we had left was the grade finale, Trick or Treating.  Accompanied by the Haymore's and the Kimber's we set out.  Here we all are ready to hit the streets.

 

Note: Grandpa and Baby Evelyn are missing from this picture

Jake was definitely a confident cowboy as he strutted up drive ways and expertly rang doorbells.  At several houses after saying "trick or treat" and receiving his candy he just stood there, like if he was cute enough they would give him another handful.  It is possible to have too much confidence. :-) 

But there was something about watching him saunter from house to house that was pretty priceless.  His confidence was broken, however, when a man in a scary skull mask and crazy wig attempted to hand him candy.  Upon seeing him, Jake stopped in his tracks and would not move forward an inch (even holding my hand) and demanded that the man, "Take off your mask."  Luckily his wife was in less scary face paint and Jake was able to except candy from her.
While I expected Jake to want to trick or treat all night, he was pretty much done after that.  I think we got to one more house before he announced that his legs no longer worked and that he would have to be carried.  No one had any objections to calling it a night.  So after only one block we headed home.  A fun night to end a very fun month.

 

Can't wait to see what November has in store...we just need a few good naps first.