Happy Halloween!!!

We had another fun Halloween last night.  As you can see, both of the boys went as Tigger.  This was not the intended costume for either of them.  However, on Wednesday, when I went to try their costumes on (Aidan was going to be the puppy Jacob was last year and Jacob was going to be Bob the Builder) Jacob wanted to be a puppy just like Aidan.  No Bob the Builder.  Not at all.  SO, I went on a puppy costume hunt.  No luck.  But, did find these two Tigger costume, in the correct sizes, for only $5 a piece!!  Both boys were happy and excited.  And I was beside myself over the price, so awesome!  So all was well for Halloween.  We did the usual pattern - Farmor and Gramps, Grammie and Papas, Nan's and then Aunt Lori and Uncle Les'.  The boys had fun at each house.  Thanks for all of the loot!

Oh yeah, the first thing Aidan said when I walked into his bedroom this morning was "candy?"  I guess when you don't get candy very often, it is a treat.  :-)

At Home Before Trick or Treating

Two cute Tigger's lovin' each other

All ready to go.

Pumpin' some pumpkin iron

No idea what he's thinking, maybe pumpkin golfing?

At Gramps and Farmor's

At the neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Gibsons

Daddy and Tigger #2

At Grammie and Papa's

Ringing the doorbell - Jacob is very proud of himself, now that he is tall enough to reach it on his own.

At Nan's House

At Aunt Lori and Uncle Les'

This is Jacob being shy when their neighbor Gary came over.

Annual Pumpkin Carving

We had a lot of fun carving our pumpkins again this year at Grammie and Papas house last Sunday.  Aunt Riss, Uncle Doug and Rosco were there and so was Uncle Travis.  Great-Nan joined us too!  Aidan was a bit more interested in it than Jacob, which is the reason I have a few more pictures of Aidan than of Jacob.  (It's not favoritism :-)  )  As usual, I didn't do a great job at getting pictures of everybody . . . sorry!  And, in great "it's time for a bunch of pictures" fashion, at least one of the boys has a large bruise right smack dab in the middle of his forehead.  Earlier that day Aidan bumped his head and the bump seemed to get redder and redder as the day went on.  Oh well . . .

BIG Congratulations to . . .

CODY!!!

On Friday, Cody accepted a promotion offer at his current employer, the University of Phoenix. He is now an Associate Director of Centralized Admissions.  I am so proud of him and excited for him.  He has done such an awesome job at supporting his family and making it possible for me to stay home with the boys.  We are SO blessed!  Way to go Cody!!

Opinions Please

Thank you all for your encouraging words in regards to these photos.  I've made a few changes on the photos and was hoping to get your thoughts-your thoughts and opinions do help me learn!  I've posted 4 photos, 2 of each.  The first one is the new one and the 2nd is the original photo I posted.  

On this photo I desaturated the color instead of going all black and white.  I also blurred the background so you can't see the creases in the fabric as much.

Original posted, black and white except for the color in Aidan's eyes.

The main difference in this photo is the blurred background.  I did crop it slightly differently and played with the black and white levels as well as the brightness and contrast.  Not a huge difference.

My Big Belly

If you are interested in seeing some pictures of the belly, please go to my photography blog (Ang's Photos).  I did a photo shoot of myself for our class and felt that they fit better on that blog.  Plus, l am self conscience and fewer people look at that blog. :-)  Despite that, I would love to hear what people think.

Happy Early Birthday Boys!!

Even though the boys birthdays aren't until next month (the 15th and the 30th), I purchased an early birthday present for them both.  They LOVE to play with their trucks and tractors in the dirt, so I thought it was time to invest in a sandbox.  I figured it would take me a while to find just the right used one (they can be pretty expensive brand new, that is if you want anything other than a turtle or ladybug).  I started checking out Craig's List and got lucky!  We got a great deal on this one and it is in great shape.  And the boys LOVE it!!  The weather is finally perfect for spending lots of time outside too.  Thanks again to our cousin Luke for picking it up for us.  (Although I think the boys think it was from him - if you talk about the sandbox, they refer to it as the one Luke brought.  Oh well. :-)  )  One of the first things the boys figured out was that they could jump off of the little table that is attached into the sand.  Being the safety conscious parent that am I, I first took photos - then stopped the jumping . . .

Whatch' you lookin' at?

Jacob decided to "help" Aidan jump.

Big jumper

Playing with Rolly

Tandem jumping - although it appears they are not going to end up in the sandbox . . .

More jumping

Aidan practicing his big karate moves

Finally playing and not jumping

Just chillin' in my box

Jacob doing some "silly" falls . . .

And down he goes . . .

Ugh . . . maybe not so silly!

(He was fine and not hurt at all)

Concentrating hard on the dump truck

Cannot resist the cuteness of toes . . .

for now.

New exhibit at the zoo

The boys, especially Jacob, have a new favorite place at the Phoenix Zoo.  This month they opened a new play space, the Yakulla Caverns Playspace.  It is this cool cavern with stalagmites and stalactites, slides, waterfalls, misters, water pads shooting up water and more.  We first checked it out on Tuesday, not realizing it had so much water.  Normally Jacob isn't really into water play areas - but he loves this one.  He was soaking wet and we had no change of clothes!  Luckily you dry off fast in Arizona.  So, I decided to take them back on Thursday, with swim suits, and they had a blast.  Jacob even ran through the part where a bunch of water shoots up - he never does that!  Aidan pretty much stayed in the cavern or played in  the little (very) mini moat.  Jacob woke up from his afternoon nap asking if we could go back to the zoo.  I wish it could have opened up during the summer though!  Oh well, we will definitely visit it while we can now and will have something to look forward to next summer.