More pumpkin carving

The boys got some more pumpkins in the last week, so we had another night of carving tonight.

AJ insisted he had to carve his own without help, he chose a skull pattern, and he did a great job.

Andrew isn't big enough yet, but he picked his pattern - which is a spider, just like his other pumpkin.

Corey's work is having a pumpkin carving contest so he brought home a pumpkin and carved a pirate ship to enter in the contest.

I don't actually do any carving, so while the boys were busy hacking away at their pumpkins I was busy scraping out seeds and goop. I separated them and saved the seeds to roast tomorrow, and I plan to turn the last pumpkin into bread (it's small and thick so it's too hard to carve).

The bed that AJ built

AJ built a new bed in the living room the other day for him and Andrew to snuggle down in and watch a movie, he is so creative, it cracks me up sometimes the things he thinks to do.

Andrew is sick

Corey and I have had a cold for just under a week, AJ never got it of course, but Andrew came down with it Thursday night. He woke up at 3:30am Thursday night coughing and was in and out of sleep all night long. He seemed fine during the day yesterday, but then his cough got bad at night and he started to get a fever too.

I took him into the walk-in clinic today and they heard some whistling in his lungs so we did a chest x-ray adn it turns out he has a touch of pneumonia.

He will be on antibiotics for 5 days and we have some saline and albuterol for the nebulizer to open up his airways a bit.

He seems to be doing fine, he isn't acting sick. He's still into everything, running around the house and causing trouble. His cough is pretty junky though, so hopefully that will clear up soon.

Reading Night

AJ's school had a reading night, where all the kids come in pajamas and bring pillows and blankets and crash in the gym and listen to some teachers read stories. AJ liked it, Andrew got bored and ran around out in the halls for awhile while Corey chased him.

Andrew at the pumpkin patch

Thursday was Andrew's pumpkin patch field trip for preschool, I was volunteering in AJ's kindergarten class so it was just Andrew and Corey.

I apologize in advance for the number and quality of pictures, Corey apparently ran out of batteries.

Visit to Grandmas

My mom wanted to see the boys before she left for Oregon earlier this week, and also she finished a quilt that she's been working on for Andrew, so we headed up for a visit.

The boys had fun blowing bubbles and playing with their cat.












Andrew rubbed his face all over my shirt awhile after I'd picked Jax up and pet him, and got all puffy and red so we had to leave to get him home to his allergy medicine - I need to get that back in my purse!


He fell asleep on the way home and was just fine. I hope he outgrows this allergy soon, he loves animals so much and it's so sad to see him get so sick after being around them.

Dinner tonight was awesome

First I made mini-meatloaves for the boys. They loved them, ate 5-6 apiece. I used my mini-muffin pan and they were just the right size for the boys.



I mixed together a pound of hamburger, half a can of tomato soup, and half a cup of oatmeal. Then I spooned the mixture into my mini muffin tins. Baked at 375 for 40 minutes (recipe called for 30 but mine weren't done at that time). Then I sprinkled them with shredded cheese and put them back in the oven for 3 minutes.



Then, the most amazing part.

Chicken fried bacon.

Yes you read right.

SO good.


I soaked the bacon in milk and then coated it with a flour/seasoned salt mixture. Then I fried it for about a minute and a half on each side, just until it turned golden brown.

The bacon is so crisp that it melts in your mouth. You have to handle it carefully or it will crumble.

I think I'll try deep fried Coke next. Or a deep fried Snickers bar.

School update on AJ

AJ is loving kindergarten. And we've gotten a few bits of praise that I want to post here so I don't forget them.

First was at the grocery store a couple weeks ago, it was raining and the carts were all wet. There were paper towels near the cart bay to use to dry them off, so I handed each boy one and showed them which sections to dry. The cart attendant was an older woman, and she told me she'd never seen anyone get the kids involved in helping, and she was so impressed. It's all that wonderful co-op parent ed I've been getting over the years, it's really showed me the importance of involving the kids in everything.

Then a couple days ago, I was dropping AJ off at school and his teacher told me that AJ had been brilliant the day before. I guess the teacher was introducing math, and telling the kids they could count up, and he said AJ was doing problems way above grade level. The kicker was that the teacher was being observed that day, so he was especially impressed because AJ's ability made him look good too!

AJ can add things like 4+4+4+4, or 57+6. I usually give him a big number with a small number, and he gets them right away.

The teacher's aide asked Corey the next day if she could give AJ some advanced math problems, and we think that will be great for him.

His writing is coming along nicely, he seems to follow directions well. Corey has volunteered in his classroom twice now, and today he said AJ's teacher complimented AJ's writing too. I get to go the next 2 weeks, so I'm looking forward to that.

AJ has grown up so quickly, and he's just the greatest kid. I'm so proud of him.

We have his conferences at the end of the month, I'm interested in hearing his teacher's perspective on how he's doing.

The last brag I'll add is about last night at pumpkin carving night. Corey and I cut the tops off the pumpkins and then gave the boys some spoons to dig out the seeds. Then AJ drew the face he wanted on his pumpkin and started to carve, very carefully. His teacher walked by and noticed and told the boys he was so pleased to see them helping out, that most of the other kids were just telling their parents what to do instead of being actively involved.

I love hearing that we're doing a great job with the boys. We really try hard to do right by them, and help them grow into well rounded, happy, successful kids.

Andrew's 3 year checkup

Andrew had a well-child visit today with his pediatrician. We're managing his allergies well, and every other part of him is healthy.

He weighs 32.5 lbs and is 37 inches tall, he's in the 50th percentile for his weight and the 30th percentile for his height, which the pediatrician says is just fine.

He got one shot, had a finger prick to test for iron, and peed in cup so they could check his liver function and all that.

I stopped on the way home and picked him up some ice cream dots, but he fell asleep in the car before we got home, so he had his ice cream when he woke up.

He won't go back for another year, unless he gets sick between now and then.

Kindergarten Pumpkin Carving Night

Tonight was Kindergarten Pumpkin Carving Night at AJ's school. All the kindergartners from both classes, AM and PM, met in the school gym to carve pumpkins and put on a little show.

Carving

AJ dancing the "Monster Mash"

AJ's pumpkin

A fun picture of Andrew

AJ blowing out the candle in his pumpkin at the end of the night