Tea Time with a side of Toys

There are no words to describe the special relationship we have with our Nanna.  On paper she is Arthur's grandmother and my boys great grandmother.  But in life, she is our go to nurse and montessori teacher, our friend and confidant, and (as my mother so perfectly described her) our very own fairy godmother.  Here are some special moments I was able to snap during our last visit back in the beginning of November.  I think they capture the deep love and friendship she has cultivated with our boys.  She and grandpa are such a blessing to us.

Life lessons I learned at Halloween

1) If you wait until the day before Halloween, you are too late to find a decent costume for little boys...Anywhere (luckily Halloween PJ's and a hand me down costume can work too)!

2) A three year old will do anything for candy, including sitting still for a complete make over.  Although, in truth, Jake is great at "committing" to things.  Once we decided on a skeleton, he was excited to do it all the way.

3) The second child is often more easy going than the first.  Jake was terrified of this tiger costume as a baby...James couldn't wait to start growling. :-)

4) Slipping in a puddle of water will not detour a determined skeleton from Operation Get Candy.  I was worried that he was hurt, but all Jake could cry was, "MY COSTUME!"  However, after he realized he still looked all right, he never complained about his wet jammies.  Honestly, I was pretty proud of him for not letting is ruin his night because I know he had have been uncomfortable.

5) 11 months is not too young to understand how Halloween works.  After going to several doors, I figured James could skip one or two.  Nope, he took my fingers and marched himself up the walk way after his brother to retrieve what was "rightfully" his. :-)

6) Mommies do get jealous and sometimes have a hard time sharing, but then I see the love and joy in my children's eyes and I am reminded how lucky I am that my boys are so loved.

7) Sometimes family pictures turn out better with an uncle than a dad. :-)

With Daddy

With Tio Lui

8) Christmas isn't the only holiday when children can learn joy in giving

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Guts

Okay, we have our pumpkins.  Bring on the next family tradition.  Time to take those suckers home and have a messy blast getting them all cleaned out and carved into some awesome Jack-o-Lanterns.

Look at how ready and focused we are!  We even have Erin ready to help.

(Quick side note: Erin was one of the first friends I made after I moved to Davis.  I am so lucky that she has been a part of my life through all these years, and now my boys have her too.  As she explained to Jake, during this last visit, she has loved them since before they were even born.  Blood related or not, that sounds like an aunt to me.)

I mean what three year old doesn't like to get a little dirty...

Oh that's right, mine. :-)

This is about the point when Jake said, "This is like the grossest thing ever!"and marched back inside (and yes, Jake does talk like a teenager most of the time) and was not seen again until the threat of slimy pumpkin guts was over.

I learned an important lesson about my husband's side of the family that day...none of them actually like carving pumpkins...not as children...not now.  Luckily, Arthur loves me enough to carve with me (as long as I do most of the pumpkin gut cleaning).

And it actually worked out great.  Not having to keep track of Jake handling sharp tools meant I could actually carry on a real conversation while we carved some pretty rockin' Jack-O-Lanterns.

Arthur's masterpiece

Mine

And while Jake may have taken after Arthur's side when it comes to his feelings about pumpkin guts, I have a good feeling that James will be more than willing to get his hands dirty in the years to come.  Just look at that face. :-)

Starting the Holidays at Home - Part I

While California feel less and less like "home" the longer we are away, it is still where both of our families live...so in that sense it still is.  And while the boys and I have been back several times,  Arthur hasn't been back in nearly two years.  So with flight school complete, and leave to burn, it was time for all four of us to make a visit.
The traveling part was certainly much easier with a husband.  I honestly don't think I could have done it alone this time now that James is so busy.

So instead of dramatic runs through the air port...we just got to play in between flights.

But is still makes for a LONG day...so in order to make the travel "worth it" and to give Arthur lots of quality duck hunting....I mean family time, we stayed for an entire month.

It was a long time, but for the boys it was great...even necessary!  They got to really reconnect, bond, and create memories with their family.  I want to make sure that even though we live far away, that we foster strong relationships with their grandparents and aunts and uncles...even if that means I have to share by boys more than I would like while we are there. :-)

The trip couldn't have been at a better time of the year because we even got to celebrate a couple of holidays while we were there!  In other words, I forced everyone to participate in my family traditions...like it our not. :-)

Liking it...or not at the pumpkin patch

Arriving just days before Halloween, our first stop was the pumpkin patch.  Jake is quite the animal lover, so found the petting zoo to be far more exciting the actual pumpkin picking.

James had a great time too...he just is not as gentle as his big brother yet.

Luckily there were plenty of other things for him to get into...

In the end we did go home with pumpkins...

And some very happy grandparents. :-)