Piggy Back Rides

Piggy back ride in the mid 1970's.........This was my Dad giving me a piggy back ride at my Grandparent's house when I was about 2 years old.

Piggy back ride in 2009..........This is my Dad (Vandaddy) giving Emery a piggy back ride at our house today.

His hair color is a little lighter, his face was turning red, and I guarantee he'll be sore tomorrow, but it's still just as much fun for the passenger 33 years later!

Christmas List

Gavin has been looking through the toy catalogs almost every day. When I explained to him that Santa Claus will bring him presents, he quickly came up with a Christmas list......... "a combine, Lightening McQueen, a jeep, a big truck, and a tractor". Wow, they learn fast.

Halloween #3!

Since we're almost 1/2 way through November, I thought I should FINALLY post some Halloween pictures.......

We live out in the country (sort of), so there aren't many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood and it's a long walk between houses, especially for little guys (and girls). We started out in the wagon and visited a few of our neighbors. Gavin and Emery quickly got the hang of it. Gavin was confident, standing up front, saying his "trick-or-treats" and "thank yous". Emery on the other hand was pretty shy and hid behind my leg most of the time waiting for the candy. Towards the end, she picked up confidence and tried to swipe an extra handful from a couple of candy bowls. Emery quickly ditched the wagon and insisted on walking. Gavin loaded his bag of candy into the wagon, climbed in, and said "Next house! Hurry!". After visiting a few houses, we headed to the downtown area of our tiny town, where the business owners were giving out candy. This was a lot less walking for a lot more candy. We stopped at a few more houses in our neighborhood on our way home. By this time, the kids were pros and were on a mission for more candy. They also loved using their flashlights after dark. Overall, Halloween #3 was a lot of fun and Pete and I enjoyed eating most of their candy! :-)

Getting their flashlights ready for the night out.......Emery likes to use hers as a microphone.

After visiting a couple of houses in our neighborhood........

Ready for more!


Lighting the pumpkins at the end of the night. Tired, but on a sugar high!

And a couple more pieces of candy before bedtime!

A look back at Halloweens #1 and 2:

Gavin and Emery's first Halloween, almost 3 months old (Gavin still on oxygen). I was home alone because Pete was travelling for work, so we kept it pretty low key.

Halloween #2......... Excuse my crazy looking face in this picture. The kids were almost 15 months old. We cruised the neighborhood in their wagon. We didn't do much trick-or-treating, but they loved checking out the Halloween decorations and all of the other kids. This was the first year in the Pebbles and Bam Bam costumes. We used them again this year and they still fit great!

More pumpkins!

This year, the kids got to help with the pumpkin carving. The knives and markers made me a little nervous, but it was a success. Of course, we didn't let them handle the knives, but we did trust Emery with a marker, which she LOVED and wouldn't let go of.



Helping to dig out the "guts"..........



Gavin with the pumpkin's eye. He kept trying to put it back in the hole, saying "fix it, fix it".



The finished product: Emery has her shirt on backwards (independence phase) and marker all over her face. Gavin fell down the stairs just before this picture was taken (He was fine and learned a lesson about hanging on to the railing!). Group pictures are usually a disaster these days.........



Getting crazier by the minute...........

Attempt at a picture on the front porch. Emery is still drawing on the pumpkin with her marker.........

This was the best we could do after bribing them with fruit snacks.........

On Halloween night, they helped (watched) us light candles in the pumpkins. They loved it and nobody burned themselves or set the house on fire, which was a bonus. :-)