Our Batty Halloween

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted any photos. We've been crazy busy but hopefully things will slow down now that Halloween has passed. Too much to say right now about all that we've been up to but I just wanted to post some photos from Halloween.

Benjamin went as a Lightning McQueen Race Car Driver, Samuel was a Pirates Baseball Player, Don was Batman and I was Batgirl.

The kids had a blast Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood. By the third house, Samuel was a pro and just ran right up to the houses and tried to take at least a handful from people's treat bowls. He couldn't even wait for the people to put a treat in his lil pumpkin bucket. That's our boy!

It wasn't easy getting a photo of Samuel. But I thought he was very cute in his baseball hat behind Benjamin and Don. (Click on the photos to enlarge).

The Votes Are In

Yesterday, Benjamin's class did a mock presidential election. After school we asked Benjamin who he voted for and he proudly said "Barack Obama."

So, Don asked him "Why did you vote for Barack Obama?"

And Benjamin's response was "He was blue!"

Of course!

Obama won in Benjamin's class by four votes.

Obama: 9 votes
McCain: 5 votes

Apparently, Benjamin is not the only one in his Cardinal class that loves the color blue!

After that event, Don later told me he recalled doing a mock election as a young boy in one of his classes. He remember voting for Jimmy Carter because it sounded the most familiar to him... like "Welcome Back, Kotter!"

Happy Election Day!

Our Pumpkin Creations

We carved a pumpkin tonight and decorated another one. Benjamin said "We've never carved a pumpkin before." hmm. "Well, not since last year when you were three." (Overall, Benjamin has a pretty amazing memory [kinda like his Uncle Tim and cousin, Christopher] so I was a bit surprised by this comment).

When we first brought the pumpkins in the house Samuel just sat on one of them. (I'm including a shot of that). I think he keeps thinking these pumpkins are balls. He has attempted to roll them down our front stairs a few times and the way he sat on it was how he often sits on a big bouncy ball he has.

Anways, pumpkin carving is a fun time that I look forward to each year. And generally not something Don participates in. He is a very hands-on Daddy and a great Daddy but there are some things that he just takes a pass on which is fine by me. But NOT this year! He got right into the goopy pumpkin guts and seemed to enjoy every minute. It was great. (Although he just walked by and mentioned something about it being a full court press or a man-man defense. I didn't think it was really that chaotic. hmm. Last year there was no one here to help carve so I guess it's a manner of perspective).

Anyways, I ended up with some good photos. No worry, blog fans, I may skimp on some of my entries now that my hubby is home (yes, I'm referring to the phone call I recently received asking "Where are the blog posts?") but I will continue to bore you all with our family photos. As many of you know, I love taking photos, especially of our boys!

Big Shoes

The other day, Samuel put on Daddy's shoes, all by himself, and was just walking around in them. It was so cute. I took a few photos but they're not very good. He walked over to Daddy for help to get out of them. He has a bit of a shoe obsession and is often found trying to put shoes on his feet, on other people's feet or just putting them away.

Benjamin also tried Daddy's shoes on the following day. Apparently, he's got big shoes to fill!

I took a lil video clip of Benjamin in Daddy's shoe singing a little diddy and dancing about who knows what. It makes me smile every time I watch it! It's a little dark at the beginning so I'm not sure you can actually tell he's got Daddy's shoes on but there's a still photo too (where he was actually singing as well!)

The Little Things

What a week it's been! We have enjoyed sharing all the little things with each other again...

At mealtime we pray and hold hands around the table. We have always done this; however, in Don's absence our circle didn't quite make it around the table and I would just hold one of each of the boys hands while we prayed. Now Samuel lights up as he grabs two hands during prayer time and he holds on throughout the prayer. It's just so sweet to see something so simple bring a sly little smile to his face.

Samuel was also totally fascinated with Don's dog tags the other day and I took several photos of him while he was playing with them.

The boys have been really playing hard with Daddy. They love to wrestle around and really love it when Daddy-O tosses them in the air. The first time Samuel saw Daddy throwing Benjamin up into the air and catching him Samuel ran up to Don and wrapped his arms around his legs as if to say, "I'm next, Daddy!"

Don has gone into the office a couple of times this week but had a pretty easy week getting back into the swing of things. Today he had the day off but I took the boys to Natalie's and came into work. This allowed Don to get a few things done around the house. This afternoon he picked up Benjamin and his best buddy, Jack and took them to the movies to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Don had never taken Benjamin to the movies before and this was Jack's first movie. It sounds like a good time was had by all.

And I have been enjoying having two extra hands around the house! Life is so much less stressful.

Even taking Benjamin (by himself) to the grocery store was a treat. He was well behaved and as we approached the checkout I told him he was a good helper. And he said "Mommy, you didn't yell at me." My heart sunk a bit when he said that. I'm sure in my rushing around I have been harder on him than I would like to be but I really won't say I "yell" at him a lot. He has a different perspective though.

The boys bedtime has also been great! It's so nice to have Daddy there to read stories and actually enjoy that quieting down time. ahhh. Life is good.

Some Family Time

We have been enjoying some wonderful family time since Don's return. We have been spending much of our time at home. And Don has been feeling a bit under the weather (which after some stressful and hectic couple of weeks is understandable). Overall, we have been sharing some great laughs and good times with the boys.

As a big surprise we ordered a blue Power Wheels ride on Jeep for the boys which arrived about a week before Don's return. So, Saturday morning we surprised them with it. They both love it and we've been spending lots of time outside while Benjamin cruises around the neighborhood.

This morning we went to pick up Don's new car (which he had ordered while still in Iraq). The boys (including Daddy-O) had a blast checking the new vehicle out. And Don says I have left my mark on it by securing two car sets in it right away. His lil sports car complete with two car seats!

(Actually, he was pretty thrilled to have us all pile in his new car (car seats and all) so we could all enjoy the thrill of getting a new car).

And this afternoon Daddy took Benjamin to preschool and met his teachers and classmates. Benjamin is VIP (Very Important Preschooler) this week in his class so it is an exciting week at school for him as well. He brought a photo collage of himself with family members as well as a paper cardinal he had to decorate. (He is in the "Cardinal" class and of course he colored his cardinal blue. Hmm, more of a blue jay but this is Benjamin we're talking about and the teacher did say they could decorate them however they'd like).

We've had some busy but great days and have been enjoying every minute! Just enjoying some of our weekly tasks together have been fun: Benjamin's soccer, going to church, eating meals together, reading stories, wrestling around, playing with favorite toys, etc. It's amazing the lil things you take for granted and appreciate so much when they're shared as a family again! We're all loving it!

The Homecoming

Here are some photos from the airport last night.

As you can imagine we're all on cloud nine and enjoyed a great day together as a family. Don was up at 5:30 a.m. but the rest of us slept a bit later! We enjoyed Benjamin's soccer game and otherwise just spent the day at home.

While Samuel and I enjoyed afternoon naps, Daddy and Benjamin really spent some good quality time playing and enjoying each others company... reading books, playing trains, cars, and playing outside. It was awesome.

And Samuel is really warming up to Don. Don got him up out of bed this morning and he was happy. Then he was calling "Mama" from his crib this morning after an attempt at a morning nap and Don asked if he should get him because he was calling "Mama" then we both realized that he switched and started calling "Dada!" (Daddy-O really ate that up!) I think in another week Samuel may have forgotten that Daddy wasn't here for all that time!

Sitting at our dinner table tonight, Benjamin said "We're a family again." He has been grinning all day.

(Tonight at 7:30 p.m. I was the only one still awake!)