Thanksgiving in Ohio

Since Josh's work schedule is so demanding, we had planned to stay in Richmond for Thanksgiving this year.  The week before Thanksgiving his work load lightened just enough to tempt us to travel to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.  It was JUST the thing I needed to "refresh" and it was the perfect teaser for being with my whole family at Christmas in just a few short weeks.  Josh and I had a great time, but I think Rex enjoyed it most of all.  He had the almost undivided attention of boy cousins, Merek (11) and Jack (8).  He was in heaven.  

 Preparing the turkey.  I should probably make a joke about how many people it takes to prepare a turkey, but it's probably not necessary.

Evelyn also enjoyed her fair share of cousin love

 

The guys were able to get tickets to the Ohio State v. Michigan football game again this year and bundled up appropriately

And as always, there was lots of gaming and goofing off 

SO glad that we live within driving distance of these guys!

Halloween Festivities

We had a fun Halloween weekend.  I say weekend because our church had a trunk-or-treat on Saturday night which got festivities under way a little early!

Josh and I were WAY too lazy and busy to come up with a good costume idea this year, so we went with our trusty stand-by. 

Rex went as Captain America and so did his good buddy, Noah (thanks, Jen, for the pic)

Sunday afternoon we carved pumpkins.  We got a lot of pumpkins this year with the plan that we would only carve one or two.  Well, one or two turned into 5.  

In the past couple years, Josh has spent a few precious hours on a special pumpkin.  This year was no exception.  Check out this work of art!

On Halloween Day, Rex got to dress up for preschool.  They did a costume parade, which I almost skipped since I was due back at the school in 30 minutes to help with the Halloween party.  SO glad I decided to stay - I would have missed this cuteness.

I love this picture because this is a typical Evelyn face

I seriously LOVE Halloween.  I love how excited Rex gets and who can hate a holiday where candy is so abundant?  The worst part of Halloween?  Hearing, "Mom, can I have another piece of candy?" about 50 trillion times per hour.  Any ideas for how to secretly dispose of a gallon-sized Ziploc full of sugar?

Saturday Morning at the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to the local pumpkin patch with some friends for what else, pumpkins.  It was a chilly, beautiful fall morning here in VA.  Perfect for a little family/friend time!

Fun fact: You can pay a flat fee for all the pumpkins you can carry.  Tyson did not mess around.

Evelyn looks horrified, but really she was just very intent on watching the tractor.

We sat down and had hot chocolate and donuts with the Crowthers.  Rex wanted to use my camera to take a couple pics, and here is the only one of his that turned out.  He gets all the credit for this darling pic of his buddy, Brody.  Impressive, don't ya think?

Picking Apples

A few weeks ago, the kids and I headed back to Charlottesville, VA to the place where we picked peaches - Carter Mountain Orchard.  This time we were there with some friends to pick apples.  It was such a beautiful morning, on the chilly side (which is perfect for apple picking) and we had a great time.  

This is Rex's buddy, Benson.  Benson is a little younger than Rex and Rex takes really good care of Benson.  I think Benson dropped an apple that he was eating, so Rex kept finding him new apples and they were holding hands.  Pretty sweet.

The Superhero Party

In honor of Rex turning 4 tomorrow we had his first REAL birthday party where he got to invite some of his friends.  I started gathering ideas a few weeks ago and kept gathering and gathering until I had quite the elaborate birthday party planned.  Luckily, Josh (the real superhero) helped me pull it off and Rex was thrilled.  He's been telling us all day that he had the best birthday party ever and that's all the thanks I need.

The theme of the party was superheroes, obviously.  We held a superhero training camp where they had to prove themselves before becoming superheroes.

As the party goers arrived, they were given a cape and a mask.  They then chose a superhero name which was written on their certificates.

Then it was off to the challenges.  First up was an obstacle course.  They listened so closely to the instructions and when it was time to perform...we'll just say some did better than others.  Super funny and cute!

Then they had to practice punching, of course.  They punched the "punch board" and received a treat with their new superhero power attached to it.  Rex received the power of x-ray vision, which he hasn't stopped talking about all day.

Next up, each hero was handed a bottle of silly string to attack the green goblins that were lurking in our backyard.  While that was happening, a real villain attacked the yard throwing bombs which had to be stomped. 

 The heroes prevailed and the horrible villain was annihilated.

 

We ate and Rex got to share his birthday cake with his friends.  Rex has made some great little buddies here in Richmond and we are SO grateful they were able to come today.

Luckily, each hero proved he/she had what it took and was presented with their certificate.  Rex chose the superhero name "Booster Gold" since his cape was gold/black.  We just laughed and went along with it because he tends to have quite the imagination.  Turns out the joke is on us because Booster Gold is a real superhero, I have no clue where Rex has heard of him.  This obsession obviously goes much deeper than Josh or I realized!

 

No wonder he wanted the black and gold cape, who wouldn't want to be this guy?!

Happy Birthday little dude, we hope you had a fun party!

Caterpillar

The other day, I headed out to the porch to scold Rex for going outside without telling me, and without putting his shoes on first.  I found him completely enthralled with this furry, little caterpillar.  We spent the next 20 minutes letting him crawl on us and giggling as he reached our necks.  A special memory with my special little guy.