Lunch, learning, and laughter

The other day we had some more insulation blow into our ceiling.  (Thank you, Covenant Church!)  In order to do this the men pulled the big truck right into our front yard, got out their long hose, and climbed into the attic.

Mead and Cole were fascinated - so much so that they sat on the front step and asked to eat lunch outside so they could watch the man in the truck loading all the insulation into the noisy machine.

It was a beautiful day, and they thoroughly enjoyed passing the time watching, learning, and entertaining each other.

Basketball

Cole has thoroughly enjoyed his new basketball and hoop.

Eagerly watching it being assembled...

Time to play.

Score!

Trip to the pumpkin patch

I recently got to join Laine on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  There are a lot of pictures here, so I'll keep the captions short.

The whole class - Jeremiah is hidden behind John.

Laine and Maggie.

Burlap sack slide.

Zip line swing.

Hay bale maze.

Another class picture, and one of just the girls with their souvenir pumpkins.

Pancakes and painting

Mead's class made pancakes at school the other day.

She was so excited to come home and tell me all about the process: 

measuring, mixing, and eating!  Yum, yum.

Mead has also been working on her painting skills, bringing home many wonderful creations.

Birthday treats

We didn't have a major celebration for Cole's birthday, but just did a few little things to make the day special.

Cole loved the card he got from Nan and Pop - an Elmo card that sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

He carried it around with him everywhere playing the song over and over.

Later that day, after Laine's soccer game, we went to Dairy Queen and got three blizzards to share between the five of us.  Cole was so excited!

Happy Halloween!

Just a few days after Penny's birthday and Cole's birthday is Halloween - what a busy time of celebrations!

We joined the Reels this year for trick-or-treating in their neighborhood and had a great time - cool evening, fun friends, lots of candy!

Such cute kiddos!

Happy Birthday Cole!

Cole turned two years old on October 27th.  Hard to believe he's that old already - he's certainly big enough though!  Here are his two-year check-up stats: 36 lbs (99% weight), 36 inches (88% height), 50.5 cm head (90%).  The doctor said, "I don't need to tell you that he's thriving!

We celebrated with chocolate chip pancakes that morning.

Trying to blow out the candles...

Success!  (With a little help from Laine)  

Yummy!

Fun opening presents...

Every boy needs a hammer to pound things!

And of course Cole was excited about his new basketball hoop.  More pictures to come.