And the winner is...

...astronaut!

Andrew decided to be an "orange astronaut" for his Halloween parade at school. So much for the doctor costume. Maybe we can sell it on eBay. I think he was proud that he and "bubba" were both astronauts.

Unfortunately, Davis's costume keeps ripping out at the seam. We had it repaired last week at an alterations place, but this morning when he put it on, it ripped right back out...of course at 8:15 a.m. when we haven't had breakfast yet and need to leave by 9:00 a.m.

Luckily, my mom (who in her infinite wisdom must have seen this day coming, even 25 years ago) taught me how to sew when I was just a wee little thing. Somehow, I remembered how to thread the sewing machine this morning, and lovingly pinned and stitched the seams in the costume back together. Meanwhile, my precious boys were right beside me, watching PBS. It took me back many (many) years to the days when I sat by my own mom watching PBS while she sewed. The moment was fleeting, but very sweet all the same.

OK, so by the time we got to school, the seam had ripped out a third time. You know, I'm thinking in all the excitement of the day, no one even noticed!

Before the parties, all the kids were in a costume parade, and I was so happy to see my little astronauts as part of it! Andrew wanted to stay with me once he saw me in the crowd, but he was finally convinced to go back to his classroom with Ms. Brenda. Davis showed me some candy he had gathered along the way, and then kept right on going...probably in search of more candy.

Here's a shot of them together in Andrew's classroom...
Andrew is definitely proud of his pumpkin cookie here! This was taken during his class Halloween party.
Mom was doing a lot of running between classrooms, since Davis and Andrew had their parties at exactly the same time. Davis is pretty excited here about the treats he's getting...a cupcake in one hand and a "monster" lollipop in the other.

Davis is showing us his spider ring in this shot. Lucky for me, one of the other moms is a photographer and didn't mind snapping a photo of us.

And, running back to Andrew's class, another sweet parent offered to take a picture of Andrew and I together!

Their parties were great. Lots of food for parents and kids, and the boys came home with tons of candy. No need for trick-or-treating here!!

Doctor or Astronaut?

Well, Andrew sprung a new one on me today. We were in the car talking about their Halloween costumes, and how Davis would be an astronaut and Andrew would be a doctor. Then Andrew busts out with "I don't want that."

What?

After weeks of "I a doctor!" and asking for this costume? The day before their Halloween parade at school he decides he doesn't want that costume?!

OK, Andrew - what do you want?

"I an astronaut."

Hmmmm...he must really like Davis's costume. Lucky for Mom, we just happen to have an orange astronaut costume, size 2/3. Not so lucky for Mom, I took it to storage just yesterday. But they love to go to storage.

So we drive up to storage, all get out and troop in to find the costume. They had a blast, we found the costume really quickly, and now we wait...

What will he decide on tomorrow - doctor or astronaut????

(Now I can relate somewhat to what my parents must have felt when I changed majors five hundred times in college...what will she be? nurse, teacher, political scientist, geologist, mathematician?...no, accountant...and that didn't even stick too long. He must get it from me!)

My Dog Chews Bubble Gum!

This is Shelby. Not her best picture, but this is moments after she had her first experience with bubble gum. I think she's in shock.

Davis and Andrew were working hard to get the last few pieces of buble gum out of their machine. They were very generous, sharing the pieces and distributing them evenly among the family members present (namely Davis, Andrew, and Mommy). One "family member" they weren't planning on sharing with was Shelby.

As you can see, Shelby is lurking underneath the kitchen table, which she does anytime we are even remotely close to it. As the boys struggled to manuever this gumball machine, a piece unfortunately fell to the floor. Shelby is not typically a quick dog, but when food is involved, her speed picks up quite a bit. She attacked that little blue gumball like it was her last meal on earth.

What was hilarious is that Shelby didn't know what to do with it - as you can imagine! So our silly cocker spaniel is sitting underneath the table with a blue mouth, trying to figure out what in the world she's gotten a hold of. Davis, Andrew and I just sat under the table with her, laughing. I guess she finally swallowed it (probably taking her cues from Andrew, who swallows all his gum as well). I hope it sits well with her tonight. I really don't want to clean up after my blue-gum-ball dog!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Davis's class from school went on a field trip today to a local pumpkin patch. I was so excited when they asked for parents to volunteer to drive - sign me up!!

It was the perfect fall day that was cool and crisp with beautiful blue skies. We couldn't have had a better day to be there.

Mommy and Davis having our first field trip together! My little guy is growing up so fast.

The church where we went also put on a kind of carnival so that all the kids could play different games inside. I took tons of pictures, but chose just a few to show here.

Here's the classic...carrying an egg in a spoon. Lucky for all of us, they used plastic eggs. We wouldn't have been able to stand up in the mess if they had been real...eggs were "breaking" left and right!

Here they had a row of pumpkins and they were supposed to roll the ball down and back again. I think I see the first glimpses of a hockey player here...is it just me?

We had story time and a clown, then headed back outside for a picnic lunch. After our picnic all the kids played on the playground. When Davis was ready, he and I headed back to the pumpkin patch on the grounds of the church and picked out 3 pumpkins to bring home and carve. Just before we left, Davis struck one last pose with the scarecrow.

So much fun! I can't wait for the next field trip. This was a great day for Davis and Mommy.

Two Little Monkeys...

We are really getting warmed up for Halloween now! Davis and Andrew both tried on their costumes today and had a great time playing.

They love to take pictures! Andrew is a little doctor, with a doctor's bag and everything. Astronaut Davis is ready for lift off...

Speaking of lift off, I found them jumping on our bed in their costumes, singing the "Five Little Monkeys" song. More like two little monkeys if you ask me!

Andrew has one small problem with his costume. His pants are a little loose in the waist (wouldn't we all love to have that problem!) and keep falling down. Every few minutes he has to stop and pull them up. It's a little sad, but so cute, I have to admit!

...and we may have just given up on keeping them up!

Shortly after this picture was taken, he gave up and just took the pants off altogether. We'll have to come up with a solution before next week.

Art Day

Davis and Andrew were sitting at the table just holding hands and enjoying hanging out, so I couldn't resist taking a picture of it!

We tried painting the pumpkins, but all we had were watercolors which didn't work well on a pumpkin. So we settled on drawing jack-o-lantern faces on the pumpkins with a Sharpie marker and painting on some paper.

Here are their finished products - my little artists are so proud!

You're My Best Friend...

Davis and Andrew had so much fun today playing in the living room with their dinosaur tent. They got in the tent and I could hear Davis singing to Andrew, "You are my best friend, you are my very best friend today!" My heart just melted.

They are closely examining a little wind-up caterpillar...it's the little things...

Davis and Andrew are really excited about Halloween this year. We got them each a little pumpkin today to paint at home. We're saving the actual pumpkin carving for this weekend with Daddy.