October 2011

October has been so much fun. Not only is it great to be home but the weather has been awesome and I love the fall. We got home from our trip early in the month and started potty training the day we got back. Reed has done amazingly well. Ihave been dreading the whole process but he was so ready that it's been a non issue. After a week of having no accidents he earned a couple of knights that we'd gotten in Germany. For his birthday he received a package in the mail from our dear friends in Germany with a fun knight set with a horse and canon and accessories and he has played with these knights for HOURS. It's fun to hear him playing with them when I'm in another room. They usually have fights and then decide to be friends and have a campfire with marshmallows while their weapons dry. Fun boy.

Speaking of his birthday, Reed turned 3 and wanted to celebrate with pizza at the park...

...and fireworks.

We also had Brent's family over for dinner and cake and the weather was still nice enought to do it outside (when Reed was born it had been snowing!). I asked Reed what sort of party he'd like thinking I'd get something like "trains" or "kinghts" but he wanted a "spooky" party, so we pulled out some candles and pumpkins and cut out some paper bats and "voila" SPOOKY! I didn't take and pictures that show the decor though - whoops. Here's a picture after we'd moved it all inside (please excuse the mess I was still party stuff away).

The one and only picture I took during the party - Reed with his ice cream sandwhich cake (a new favorite)

Reed got a costume box and a marble tower/track set, but anything associated with knights has been the favorite.

They had cars that looked like the "Cars" movie characters come through Salt Lake. You could just look at the cars but they also had free games and prizes and a bouncy house and it was practically across the street from Brent's office so we met up after work and Reed had a great time. We love free fun!
This month Reed's new thing is to pile of his stuff onto his bed or the sofa and go on a trip. The sofa is usually a bed and he's a pirate. His bed is usually a horse and he's a knight. He makes up the silliest names for the places he's going and loves to try to jam as many possessions and poeple along for the journey as he can. In this picture he got loaded up and snuggled right in and fell asleep. Does anyone else have as many pictures of their children asleep as they do when they're awake?


To get ready for the family birthday party we cleaned up the back porch. We had tons of scrap wood back there from different projects and Brent made these cute benches. Saved the wood and we had plenty of seating for the party!

Then there's always the yard work. We've gotten so much done this year, mostly because we have Nate who has been a huge help but also because the weather has stayed nice for so long that we just keep the projects going! There's still a long way to go, but it's finally starting to take shape and go in the right direction. It still feels like it's a mess, but when I look back at pictures I took in the spring I feel like we've done a ton. Another post about that when we've wrapped up for the season...

Here's some random favorites from the rest of the month.
Reed loves his "B" cape. It is part of pretty much every costume he assembles and he chose it as one of his special things to pack on our Europe trip. :o)
A car parade. YOu really have to watch the stairs at our house - you never know what you'll find!