It's the Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown

Happy Halloween! 

Robert even taught him how to hold it up

Our plans were changed for the day early in the week when one of Ethan's little friends came down with strep throat.  Don't worry she is feeling great today. 

But, we decided to reschedule our group's Halloween party until next week so everyone can participate.  So with our change of plans, a few of us went the costume party at Chick-fil-a.  They do such a great job of handling the amount of toddlers that come through there every Wednesday morning.  Today, they had a backdrop set up for photos.  They even took pictures of each child and print it out for us to take home.  We went as Clark Kent/Superman this morning so we didn't ruin our costume for trick or treating.  Smart move, we had strawberries all over it. 

After our pictures, there was a little pumpkin craft waiting for us.  While ours are still a little young to figure it out, they did their best. 

Then, Chick-fil-a was kind enough to pass out free chicken minis.  Ethan had no interest.  Mom was hungry.  So, thank you Chick-fil-a! 

Tonight, when Dad got home we went out to do some trick or treating for the first time!  We made our way around the neighborhood for a little bit with The Reed's.  Ethan and Abigail were so happy to see one another since it has been a few days.  Ethan thought it was funny that she was in costume.  He was fairly hesitant at first going to people's doors.  I don't think he truly ever understood what was going on.  However, he did know not to let go of the candy bag and to knock on the doors.  He loves to knock on doors.  Abigail kept walking into everyone's houses.  Both kiddos enjoyed themselves.  And we appreciate the neighbors that gave regular size candy bars since they knew Mom and Dad would be the ones to indulge. 

A little fuzzy but too sweet!



We then went over to Bernadette's house for some familiar faces.  Good 'ole Bern had some treats for Mom and Dad too. 

Happy Halloween from our Little Monster!

A case of the Mondays?

Not a the Flynn house. 

Dad is back at work this week.  For those that don't know, CONGRATS to Robert.  He started his new job at The Hartford on Monday.  The family will be seeing some changes in the future, but one step at a time. 

We are left to ourselves once again.  We loved having Dad home for the week, but I think Ethan missed his friends too.  We made it a great Monday.  We started out with a pudding painting playdate.  One of the moms in our group is a brave soul to let seven young toddlers come over to paint with chocolate pudding.  I think they all had a lot of fun though.  Some of it was short lived and others were content to stay to play for awhile.  That may be due to finding out the pudding is delicious.  We started out with attempting a spider.  Some more successful than others.  Mine liked to squish it around.  So a spider we did not make.  Then we just put them on the plastic covered floor and let them at it. 

A little hesitant at first

Discovering that it taste good too.

And this is after we cleaned them.

A brief milisecond of peace.  How chill is my child.  Loving his buddies.

And about a second later!

We were pretty tired from all of our crafting.  After a nice nap we decided to play outside.  Turk showed Ethan that there are some dogs next door that love to irritate the rest of the neighborhood. 

Wait for it, they will be here in a second

Hey buddy!



After all of this playtime we went to Kroger for our first Halloween event.  I will post those pictures tomorrow!  All of this fun was not to be outdone by our pre-bath fun that Ethan decided to have.  He found the cowboy hat Uncle Mike gave him when I was getting him ready for a bath and took off. 

Warning: inappropriate photos ahead. :)

Thank you Turk for censoring for me!

We somehow managed to get through this without any accidents on the floor!  Miracles do happen!  Hope you all had a great Monday like we did.  Mom was definitely tired by the end of the day! 

16 months: go, go, go

At 16 months old, this kid is one busy kid.  We have gone to some pumpkin patches, the fair, and so many play dates it is hard to keep up.  But, he has a blast going and doing.  He gets cabin fever so quickly we have to keep busy.  I feel like he changes with each passing day.  He is finally starting to get some hair, slowly.  He still only has his front eight teeth.  I feel like this first molar has been taking forever to come in.  He is such a slow teether.  We have had a couple of nights that he has woken up for about an hour, I assume due to teething. 

Taking our first carousel ride at the mall with Mom and Dad

We don't really have any new milestones this month.  But, some of the smaller, yet just as fun, milestones we have met are eating with a fork, jogging, and climbing onto the couch.  I think we have finally settled into a good bedtime routine that has limited fussing and lots of snuggles.  It is basically, bath, pjs, reading his bible and prayer book and off to bed with a little song (at least when I do it).  Robert has his own thing going on some nights.  But, whatever works.  He is definitely a little snuggler.  I sometimes can't wait until he is in a toddler bed so I can lay with him and read.  Don't rush it, I know!

A little snack with Mom, for the short amount of time he is still

Morning milk with Mom and Turk

This looks like a relaxing spot.

Some other fun things he has started is mimicking and a little bit of focused play, like finger painting.  Any noises we make he will repeat with the same pitch and tones.  We even got him to do the Home Alone scream.  But, of course he won't do it for a camera.  He also tried to blow me a kiss when we FaceTimed the other day.  That one is a work in progress.  It somehow always turns back into him doing the indian call.  He is starting to follow some directions.  He will help put things up when asked, sometimes.  He will give me a hug, not too many kisses. 

Naked painting time with Abigail

Other things he loves: stacking things, pushing strollers, playing with shoes and being tickled.  He is so ticklish.  If we get right on his inner thigh he will just squeal in laughter and then come back for more. 

Playing in Mom's shoes

Some of the moms got together this past weekend for a Busy Bag Swap.  We each made 16 of the same activity, each person a different activity.  Then we got together for a MNI and swaped all of our bags.  There are so many great activities for them to grow with.  They are there for a quick pick up too if you want to take them to dinner or something, plus there was wine.  Good night all around.

This little game is great for about 10 minutes of fun (that's a long time in the toddler world)

Tantrums have been minimal, thank goodness.  It is really just when we put him in a shopping cart and occasionally when we take something away.  But, they are usually short lived when ignored and then offer a distraction. 

Hanging with Uncle Mike

Living up to his name BBQ baby.  The kid loves food!

Halloween is coming up next week!  I can hardly stand the cuteness that will be!

Up in Flames!

Last week we took full advantage of Robert having a little time off over this week and last and went to the fair.  This is our second time taking Ethan to the fair.  Anyone remember this little guy from last year?

We left as soon as Ethan woke up at 9 to ensure us a good mood baby for as long as possible.  Lucky for us we picked canned food day and got in for $2 each.  Yea for saving money!!  For most the day we just walked around taking in the sights pulling Ethan behind in his wagon.  Our first stop was the corn dog stand.  Ethan got to have his first Fletcher's Corn Dog.  I couldn't feed it to him fast enough.

We decided to bypass the crowd at the petting zoo since Ethan never seems too interested in that right now.  Our next stop was my favorite building, The Embarcadero.  I just like the name.  We browsed through booth after booth resisting all of the things we really need.  Such as the special hairbands that hold your hair better, the magic juicer, and clippers that can cut through a tree trunk!  We did make a stop at the nuts and candy stand.  I think it was a hit.

My first gummy worm!

Most of our time was spent at the AutoShow.  I don't know who had more fun, Robert or Ethan.  They both enjoyed going from car to car just to sit and dream, Robert about having some of these fancy cars, Ethan just steering to his hearts content.

Ethan and Dad hanging out.

Hey, Mom!

There may have been an accident that required no pants for a bit.

Dad, I've got this!

Once little man started getting tired we made our way through the Midway, only playing a few games and learning we aren't as young as we used to be.  All in all I think we all had a great time.  I already look forward to next year with the hopes of taking him at night to show him how amazing everything is lit up. 

I am very glad we picked Wednesday to go.  Our beloved Big Tex was accidentally cremated on Friday morning.  At the young age of 60, DFW has lost a local icon that has always been looked up too.  With his giant Dickies and giant cowboy hat and boots, he greeted us every year to new fall season and posed for many photos with not one complaint.  He is as important as the midway, the fried food, Fletcher's Corn Dogs and the Ferris wheel.  It just isn't the same without his signature "Howdy Folk's!".  Fortunately, it is said he will back and better than ever for the 2013 season. 

My sweet boys

Family photo with Big Tex

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Fall is here.  The temperature wouldn't indicate that this past week.  Ninety degrees most days, ugh.  We decided to venture out to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch, the Original with our playgroup.  It was amazing.  There were rows and tows of pumpkins, big and small, white and orange.  They had free hayrides, cutouts of many of our favorite characters, and lots of other photo ops. 

While he tried to pick some up, he settled for beating them like a bongo drum

He really loved this large wooden pumpkin with the shutter windows, until he got his finger smashed.  Don't worry, he recovered quickly!  We had a great game of peek-a-boo going up until then.

Always so chill!

Mom, I think this one will work.

Thank you to another mom for this gem.

Hello, ladies.  Can I treat you to a pumpkin?

Of course mine is the only one not paying attention.

The kids had a great time exploring and chasing each other around. 

We had such a great time that Robert and I decided to go out to the pumpkin patch in Grapevine with the Reed's so that Dad could see the fun to be had.  Things are always more fun with Dad around. 

You see Abigail, this one would be great for carving.

The two kiddos had a great time chasing each other around and picking out their pumpkins.  We only ended up with two little Ethan sized pumpkins.  I plan to paint his name on it to put on the front porch.  We enjoyed looking at some chickens, miniature pigs, and some baby goats.  We really hope Dad enjoyed his birthday weekend.  Again, I am sorry that I forgot the SD card at dinner.  At least I got a picture of the cake before we left.  For those that aren't zombie lovers, it is a Walking Dead cake.

I hope everyone else is enjoying the beginning of fall as much as we are.  I am really looking forward to all things fall, boots, long sleeve cardigans, taco soup, and most of all, teaching my little one to crunch some fallen leaves the way they are suppossed to crunched!