puMpkiN carving

The boys and Chris did a little pumpkin carving on Sunday afternoon.  Of course, at our house we use drills and jig-saws instead of knives and spoons!  The boys were in heaven.  Sam wanted a "Super Sam"...Tanner used the marker dobbers to make his pattern then foll wed it precisely with the drill!

  

batman...and the little monster

Thank you Dad and Shelley for taking the boys to ZOO BOO!  They had a blast!

the Pinta and the Nina

Last week, the boys and I headed down to the River to see the Pinta and the Nina replicas.  The boats were is town for just a short time so I'm glad we were able to go.  Tanner loves reading about history.  He just finished learning about the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria at school so he was pumped! 

They has lots of pictures of the replicas being built so Tanner spent some time reading (with help) about the construction.  He also read that a 14 year old built the small boat on the Nina.  Of course, now he wants to build a boat and knows for sure that Chris can help him do this! We stopped by the library on our way home and checked out a few books about Columbus and his ships!



5 little pumpkins...a fav game

Five Little Pumpkins

5 little pumpkins sitting on a  gate

the 1st one said "oh my its getting late"

the 2nd one said "there are witches in the air"

the 3rd one said "but we don't care"

the 4th one said "lets run and sun and run"

the 5th one said "we're ready for some fun"

wooo-ooh went the wind

and

out went the lights

and the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight

ok...the boys can play this game for hours

what's the game??

when you sing "out went the lights"...the boys take turns turning out the lights

so SIMPLE

but

they LOVE, LOVE playing this

Sam likes to play with the felt pumpkins and some wood pieces.  He builds a fence thens adds the pumpkins as Tanner and I sing or read the story.

halloween decor by Tanner

Tanner has been very busy uping the "scare" factor at our house!

ghosts

spiders webs

cobwebs

sewing with boys

Did you know Tanner loves to sew?

I think it's getting to use the sharp needle.  About a year or two ago, I made him a sewing bucket with plastic needles, yarn and felt.  He picked up two simple stitches fairly quickly so we moved to real needles.  It had been a while since he had sewn anything so I thought a pumpkin would be perfect.

1. He hand drew his pumpkin shape then cut it out.

2. Trace the first pumpkin onto another piece of felt.

3. Pin the two pieces together.  He loves this part because it involves lots of sharp pins.

4.  Sew!  I always thread the needle, tie the knot and get him started.

Hint: Use a short piece of thread.  It's easier for little fingers...he needed 2 short pieces for this piece.

5.  Then he sews.

Our pumpkin became a Jack-o-Lantern bean bag...we filled it with beans right before he sewed the last few stitches.

ghost paint

GHOST PUFF PAINT

a big squeeze of Elmer's glue

a bigger squirt of cheap shaving cream

mix together...should be very thick

The boys love this recipe especially because they can pour, squirt and mix themselves.  You CAN NOT mess this recipe up.  I love that I always have the ingredients on hand.  It's very to use food colring to color the puff paint also! Once our ghost dry, we will cut them out and hang them in the windows "to scare people", according to Tanner and Sam.



a weekend getaway

NORTH FACE ENDURANCE RUN

This weekend, Chris and I headed to Atlanta (actually Pine Mountain, GA) for the North Face Endurance Marathon. Chris decided for his birthday this year he wanted to run a trail marathon. I prefer a nice dinner and a new Kate Spade purse but to each his own! Again, I am so amazed that after only a year of running, Chris is running marathons.

Ahhhhh...seven hours in the car by ourselves...heaven on earth! It is so refreshing to spend so much uninterrupted time with Chris...we spoke in complete sentences without having to finish our stories 3 days later. A big thank you to our sweet families who watched our boys for 3 days...what would we do without you!

Our weekend transportation to the race site.  This weekend was a very valuable lesson in trail running races.  I originally wanted to run the 1/2 but it was on Sunday so it kind of threw us...but now that I have experienced one as an observer...I will run next go round! They are very family friendly, laid back, spectators only join at the start and finish and cars are not allowed at the race site so this fabulous yellow school bus took us to the race from Callaway Gardens.  I also learned that small towns have limited accommodations...booking at the last minute not a good choice...on the bright side our "Inn"   kept us laughing!  There was also an Indian Festival that weekend and our "Inn" had some attenders!

Dean Karnazes...Chris has read every book!  This guy is a stud...google him!

My race bestie...she either runs with me, keeps me at her house and feeds more or joins me to watch Chris!  What a great friend!

THE RACERS...each race 50 mile, 50k, marathon...etc left at a different time.  They also had different waves to help with the single track of the trails!

So here go the runners....

and here go the shoppers!!!

Kathryn, Emily and I spent the afternoon shopping! Emily drove up/down? from Auburn to spend the afternoon with Kathryn and I while Chris hit the trails for 26.2.  Sooo glad he did the full, it gave us plenty of shopping time and REALLY excited that he said next time he would do the 50k...more shopping!!  Luckily, for the girls, this town had great shopping...love.

ALL SMILES...and at that moment he said "I could have run 7 more."  7 more, 7 more what...minutes NO he meant miles REALLY...I was tired from riding the bus and shopping!  I mean and I'm a runner but I have never thought about running more once I crossed a finish line...CRAZY!!

So now a little bragging...Chris finished 10th in his age group and 21st overall in the marathon!  See the girl in the yellow shirt...2 photos above?  She and Chris ran together the whole race and she got 3rd overall for the women...WOW!  My place in a race is the "I crossed the finish line alive" place:)

This is Dean signing books for Chris and the boys.  He asked Chris how his run was and how he felt...I'm not sure what Chris said but Dean looked at him and said "if you feel like that you didn't leave it all on the trail...you've got more in you"...Chris of course agreed and said he could have kept running...

So next year...book hotel early, bring the boys, I will run the 1/2 marathon for sure and who knows with Chris maybe by then he'll be ready for the 50 miler!!

October Play

Ok...so a little late but I finally dug out the October school/play things this past weekend.  I usually just set them up in the living room and let him explore.  Sam choose a few of them to play with...

SENSORY BIN

PIPE CLEANER BEADS

MATCHING

SCOOPING AND FILLING JARS

TREASURE HUNT

The sensory bin had lots of treasures hidden below the beans and rice...spoders, bugs, skeletons, bats, etc.

MATCHING...by himself

This is a great example of why of do all of these crazy activities.  I was sweeping beans and he said "look mommy, I find 2 orange!"  When I turned to look, I saw he has matched green, black and orange...go Sam!

"snaggle" tooth

For at least a year, Tanner has been coming to us and saying he has a loose tooth. NO teeth have yet to be loose UNTIL about 3 weeks ago. He was eating breakfast and said "i have a loose tooth!"  I went over to check for the hundreth time...and he DID have a loose tooth!  I CRIED...I know, what's with the tears over everything lately!  

Last Friday, at breakfast again, he said is was VERY wiggly! I went to check and it certainly had more movement so I thought I give a little tug.  I got some tissue and in one pull out fell the tooth.  Tanner did not even realize it had come out in the tissue...he was SO EXCITED!  This is big people...he talks everyday about ALL of his friends who have lost teeth. 

(a little up close and personal)

I called Chris after I dropped Tanner off...told him to go to the _ _ _ _ (tanner's reading now) but then I realize we have NO TOOTHFAIRY PILLOW.  I knew I would not have time to meet Nora at the house, hunt for a "manly" pillow and get back to EUMK by 12:00 so I made one.

I remembered seeing this pillow...

http://thelongthread.com/?p=7370

so using scrap fabric

and

a shirt that was too small

I made this for Tanner!

Now, it's not perfect but it did the job.  The toothfairy left 2 gold dollars and a 1/2 dollar...Tanner was tickled!

the blue is an old t-shirt

the orange and white felt are from a halloween costume

i pulled the batting out of the grocery cart cover i made and no longer use

and the buttons are from sweet jon-jons that no one likes to wear anymore:(