Disney On Ice

Last Thursday night, Alex, Aidan, and Aunt Sherrine and I went to go see Disney on Ice (Jon was sick).

The show was really good and Alex sat riveted the enitre time.

Alex was thrilled that one of the first acts was from Aladin - one of his very favorite movies. He enjoyed singing along to the songs.

Who would've thought that Dorrie could skate?

Alex enjoyed eating a cookie while watching his favorite characters.

Alex was also thrilled to see his absolute favorite - Buzz Lightyear. To Infinity and Beyond!

They even had some skaters act out "It's a Small World".

Aidan was a real trooper and also thoroughly enjoyed the show.

By the second Act, Alex assumed his semi-tired position: sucking his thumb and holding his blanket.

The Incredibles showed up.

And the show ended with a great finale including all the characters and fireworks.

Aunt Ene bought Alex an early Christmas present - a Mr. Incredible that spins the robot he's holding and lights up.
We had a great time!

Halloween

Jon's work has a tradition of letting the kids come trick or treating in his office on Halloween. So around 2 pm we headed over. Jon was on the phone when we came, but the kids still got to say hi. We finally got his attention and got him to turn around for a picture.
As an added bonus, the boys also got to see their aunt, dressed as a witch.

She hand-stitched her sweatshirt herself - pretty cute!

This is Alex in full Power Ranger character.

This is the first year we've been in a house, and the first year Alex really got to go trick or treating. He started out strong - running from house to house. He was one of the last kids out in our neighborhood and scored tons of candy. He had a great time.

A Halloween Party for the Boys

So, Alex is like his mom and gets really excited about holidays. We had talked about having a Halloween party but I hadn't had time to plan one as we had to give talks in church a few weeks back. Then there's the uncertainty of how a 4-month old would cooperate, and if I could handle the kids on my own (since Jon lives and work and visits us for a few hours in the middle of the night). At the last minute, we decided to pull one together, deciding that 5 year olds wouldn't be too picky about the party details. Wednesday afternoon we invited a few 5 year-old boys over for a party the next evening. Thursday morning Alex helped me cut out some sugar cookies for them to decorate. (I purposely didn't hide the dishes in the background to "keep it real") :) Here's our little group of Halloween goons that joined us.
We had a kid-friendly dinner of mummy dogs, cheetos, carrots, apple slices and cranberry wassail.
One of the kids asked me why there were leaves on the table and the plates? And why the plates, napkins and cups matched? Silly me - thinking 5 year-olds wouldn't care about the details - good thing I was semi with it! The noise level got a little high during dinner and I wondered if having six 5 year-olds over was really such a good idea. I will say that they all seemed to share the same sense of humor.

We played a few games - including a "drop the ghost (painted clothespin) in the bucket". Jon made it home a little bit early and was able to help out a little bit.

We played a homemade "pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern" that was a hit.

I hid some mini pumpkins outside and let the kids go find them. Inside, we made spiders out of them.For the grand finale, the kids decorated (and of course, ate) some sugar cookies.
This was, of course, enjoyed by all.

We are lucky that we live so close to some of our cousins now so they can spend more time together. These 3 were born within 6 weeks of each other. Aren't they so cute with their happy grins?

Everyone seemed to have a good time and I was glad we did it. After all - it's all about the fun memories for my sweetie pies.

Family Fun Day

Since Jon works so much (uh - I mean "hard"), we try to have some "Family Fun" days - usually around holidays, but whenever we can squeeze in time together. Last Saturday we went to Frightmares at Lagoon. The weather was nice and we had a great time. Aidan (even though he doesn't show it in this picture) enjoys riding in the Baby Bjorn. Alex enjoyed the candy he got from the mini haunted house for little kids. Cute little Alex.
Alex and I got to ride Odyssey together. Jon told me I would only get "a little" wet. I guess he wasn't counting on Alex riding us directly IN to the spouting water - EVERY time we went around. Really, what are the odds that he could hit it every time?
Little Aidan was a trooper waiting for us to ride rides while he patiently sat in the stroller.

We stayed until dark and got to take a picture with their Jack-o-lanterns. You can just barely see Aidan's stroller in the corner.

It's no coincidence that this is the picture we took with Jon in it - he tends to be a workaholic. A little foreshadowing if he doesn't ease up? :)

Alex loves the Halloween decorations.

The Proof is in the Pudding

I meant to include this in the "All About Aidan" post, but hadn't uploaded it yet. This is just to show that I wasn't exaggerating when I said Aidan thinks it's funny when I change his clothes.

Jon is Akela?

Last Thursday night, Jon helped present an Arrow of Light for one of his Webelos. He played the role of the Indian Akela. He looks pretty good, right?
After the ceremony, the Scouts put on a small Halloween carnival for the kids.Alex loved this game where you try to eat the hanging donut without using your hands.The donut was too tasty and the "right" way took too long, so Alex just grabbed it and ate it.One of the Moms there took a picture of Aidan. I guess you could say that he had her at "hello" (or should I say "cheese"?), because she thought he was cute enough to take a few pictures of him. I love my boys - all of them.

All About Aidan

My sweet little Aidan is 4 months old. He has been such an easy, happy baby. One of his best attributes is his cheery disposition. I often get asked if he is always this smiley or this happy, and he is! And for some reason, he thinks it's hilarious when I change his clothes and it just makes him laugh. I love his little laugh. His favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." And while sleeping through the night is not one of his skills yet (but he has been doing 5 - 6 hours - - so that's good), he does have several skills that he is working on.

For example, he can put many of his fingers, or almost his whole fist, in his mouth at once. He has just started playing with toys and is so cute grabbing them. Of course they go straight to his mouth. He has found his thumb. He's not a thumb sucker like Alex, but he sure does like to gnaw on it.

I love this picture. I think it's so cute that he likes to sleep with his hands behind his head. This reminds me of his cousin, Charley, who also sleeps like this.

He also likes to blow bubbles, often leaving himself with a milk mustache. Jon wouldn't let me put a picture of that on - he thought it was too unflattering. And of course, he's got a head of hair that would make any high councilor proud. I sure love you little Aidan!