our fall weekend

After being totally and completely lazy this fall I decided to jam pack our fall adventures into one weekend. I woke up Saturday raring to go. Stop one was the pumpkin patch. Below are a few pictures of what we did. I promise Luke was there too, and there are pictures- just not on here.







After this we did non-autumnal activites- bowling and arcade games on campus. Jack loves air hockey so we had to do it.

The next day we went to the botanical gardens. We missed the height of
color and leaves by a week or two but it was still gorgeous.







Then we went to get our apple ciders and chai teas. Next stop, home, for some pumpkin carving. Jack wanted no faces or scary monsters on his pumpkin--just his name. The deal was he had to help scoop out the goo on the inside or else it would become my pumpkin. After some protest he helped-- a little.






I have promised to make Halloween shaped sugar cookies as well as homemade caramel apples this week though I fear I may be aiming too high. We will see. We will definitely go trick-or-treating though. Be prepared to find pictures of a gronckle on here next week.

Harry Jackums

We spent fall break in Henderson. The very first thing we did when we got there was head out to the fall festival. Jack rode two rides and was then hungry and then ready for bed. So was this a successful outing? Not 100% sure, but I have two pictures to verify that we did in fact go.



The next day we went out for lunch and celebrated Jamie's birthday a few days early. The picture I wanted, but could not get, as my clumsiness prohibited me from getting my camera out in time ( it was busy having a conversation with the floor). Instead of icing on her face you just get her in the hat.



Then there are a few pictures of the cousins and also grandpa with Luke.







So it was simple visit but still nice to see everyone.

The next thing I want to talk about here is Harry Potter. Now this is not an in-depth analysis of the book, characters, religion, or a commentary on social issues. No, this is just pure amazement at one Jack Weigel. I have read/listened as audio books all of the Harry Potter series, and I have seen all movies up-to-date. I am excited to go see the newest movie and have already asked my family to go see it with me ( I like to make them go see fantasy movies with me-- The Lord of the Rings). Pete as had to watch( on video) these movies with me over the years and has never read the books. I decided it was time to get him up to speed on everything, so I am currently reading the books aloud to him. The best time to start reading long novels is during a long drive-- so last weekend was the perfect time to do this. We began at the beginning, as people do, and I read well over half the first book on our way to Henderson. I read some while in Henderson, and finished the first book on the way back and started on the second. Jack was with us the whole time, of course, and he was forbidden to talk. He did not enjoy this and wanted to ask every 10 minutes how much longer we had. We took to ignoring him. However, something happened while I read this book--my son was actually listening. Did he follow it completely- no he is 3. Did he understand what all the words meant and what all underlying themes were-no, again he is 3. He did begin to ask questions and become familiar with some of the characters. When we got into the car he would automatically ask if we were going to read the book again. When we would finish for a bit he would tell us how much he loved the Harry Potter books. When we weren't reading he was talking about them to us. He would say things like: I really like Dudley and Malfoy and the Dark Forest aka the Forbidden Forest. He would ask about the unicorn, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and the slugs that Ron kept throwing up. Pete noticed this far sooner than I did and began playing up some of the funny parts or cool parts like-- a dog with 3 heads, flying on broomsticks, throwing up slugs, and other parts. Jack loved it. Sometimes it would seem that he had gotten bored, he didn't seem to be listening, he was looking through his own dinosaur books, but if I stopped he would ask why I wasn't reading anymore. This morning he asked over breakfast if I would read to just him, since daddy was asleep, and I did. I must say that I am simply amazed. Just amazed.

Smile vs. No smile

When you pull out the camera for Luke this is what you get:



When you tell Jack to smile this is what you get or some slight variation:



So in the end I just try to get Jack when he is staring with no real expression- at least I can see his eyes:



They are both so funny and so different. We finally moved Luke into his crib and there were no problems at all. He just fell asleep.

Jack has decided that sleeping in your own room is for the birds. He refuses to sleep in there. When I asked why he said: This is where I play and not where I sleep. I guess you can't really argue with that. So he waits until I am in bed (which means we are arguing about sleeping from like 8pm-10pm)then he sneaks out of his room gets blankets and falls asleep on the couch. He loves sleeping on the couch and actually does sleep out there. The other night I was curious as to whether it was the couch or just that he was worn out by the time he made it to the couch, so around 9pm I went into his room ( I knew he was still awake) and asked him he wanted to sleep on the couch now. He was pumped! He grabbed his Dino Dinners book and came out to the couch. I got things ready for him and asked if he wanted the main light dimmed or completely off. He said off. When I asked how he was going to read his book with the lights off he said: I have special eyes that can help me see in the dark.
I went in my room to read my magazine and about 15 minutes later checked on him, and the kid was out. I guess sleeping on the couch really does help him go to sleep.

Luke loves to spend time with Jack and Pete. If he is in the living room with me and the boys go into the bedroom it is only a matters of moments before Luke is doing his caterpillar crawl down the hall. Once in the room I always hear a baby whine/grunt until he gets picked up, then he is as happy as can be. I am always shut out of boy time-- even the 7 month old wants in on the action.

One boy is still high maintenance and the other is so chill and relaxed. I am amazed at how different they already are. Jack is constantly demanding attention and if you just hold Luke or give him a toy or food he is as happy as can be. He just sort of waits for you to dote on him (which I know is something we will have be conscience of as he gets older); Jack never ever waits for anything. Still, they are super cute together- Jack loves to help his brother, and Luke always gets a huge smile on his face when he sees Jack. So precious.