Halloween at last!

B went with Clay to his school and they carved pumpkins with his kindergarten class. Here is the carved pumpkin he came home with! (While he was there he had so much fun chasing the girls around the gym!)

Since B carved his pumpkin already, Ry, Clay and I set to carving ours at home. Ry got a chance to scoop out the "ew" inside his pumpkin and he wouldn't touch it to save his life.
He got to choose what shapes he wanted (just like the pumpkin on www.starfall.com--if you have children under the age of 5, what a great website to learn how to read!)

Here are our final products--Clay's is by far the most intricate and detailed!
Of course, mine is the only girl pumpkin.
Even though this shot is blurry, I love the expression, the tongue, the candy (and the anticipated sugar high...)

B's dragon (actually dinosaur) costume...

Ry was an old school airplane pilot.


The boys and I went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. In case you don't know, we get about 500 kids every year. Parents drop off their kids because the houses are so close and everything is so safe! We went out for about one hour and Ry was such a trooper... up and down the porches, saying, "trick or treat"... for weeks later he would carry around the basket giving us "trick or treats" of toys, blankets or stuffies for us to have. What a sharing boy!

Yeah! October is finally done! It was a busy month for us! Stay tuned for November! (I'm getting there...)

Annual Apple Barn

We always leave the Apple Barn to the last possible day and this year was no exception. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning (yes--we did skip church--) and B was so excited to go to the apple barn as this was I think the 5th year he had gone.
We got the same picture of Ry, but this was just before we went home...
It was a chilly morning, so we bundled up...
this was the drama that occurred when we arrived! Ry did not want to get near ANYTHING! It makes for a funny photo!
He calmed down when we distracted him and also pulled him out from the middle of the pumpkins.
B picked this one--couldn't quite lift it...so he had to choose one he could carry!
Ry picked up this one all by himself and he kept saying, "Heavy! It's so heavy!"

We always get a pic by the growth chart...
and with the apple boy!
Ry finally warming up to the tractor after 10 million tries...
Running in between the apple trees...B always says, "Let's race, Ry!"

B proceeded to roll down the giant pillow multiple times...
while Ry was a bit skeptical at first, but had a blast! The pics show he had to be carried kicking and screaming off to the car.
Love the apples, love the family fun, love the pics. Another fun fall!

Ry's 3? ....No, he's 2! Birthday Celebrations

Rylan had an airplane themed party! I made him a 3-d airplane cake (that said he was three instead of two...brain fart!), we made paper airplanes and he gave his guests styrofoam airplanes! He actually blew out the candles this year by himself!

Kiddie table with his other little two year old friends on the right!
We went to Red Robin on his actual birthday for dinner. A tradition in our family. Grandma, Trisha, Dean and Stephanie came too.
Ry loves to get pizza! Mmmm mmmmm!
Auntie Jenn and Sam have the same birthday only three days before so we celebrated together. Here us Ry making a silly face with NO prompting!
Ry got the coolest airplane made by the makers of the movie cars! His face lit up as soon as he opened it and he wanted it "out". Here he is flying the plane! You can actually see the sound effects.
Happy Birthday Ry! To my special "little big" boy--for your smiling face with the cutest dimples ever, for your affection with Mom, Dad and B, for your silliness and your willingness to try and learn something new all the time. Love you!

Fall into fall...

I always try to take some kind of fall pics with the boys--last year I think it was in the studio, but this year we were out and about on a nice day with lots of fall colours. Ry and B tried to throw leaves at the same time, but it didn't really work-it made for hilarious photos though!

Walk for Autism for Autism Speaks 2008

A colleague of mine had a huge part in organizing the walk for autism this past October in the lower mainland. We volunteered to photograph the event, but we brought our boys along for all the fun. They had a great time running in the park, sliding on the slides, and terrorizing my fellow teaching colleagues (Look for the next post of fall photos taken the same day!).

Mill Lake

Yeah!  The first sunny day in May, we went to Mill Lake to look at the "Quack Quack" and have a snacky picnic.  Ry walked all the way around the lake by himself!  Yeah!  B also climbed up the blue jungle gym and then couldn't get down!  Ha Ha!  I love the playground for pics--such good expressions!

B's skating lessons...

So B dawned all the hockey gear and went for his first skating lessons in October! He did so well--he passed both the first level and half of the second level in his first bout. B every week said that he didn't want to go, but every week he wanted to stay on the ice longer. Go figure?!! Ry had alot of fun running around the rink, climbing on the railings and yelling, " Bay-den, can you see me? Bay-den you at skating lesson?" Later we found out that Ry was jealous. He put on B's skates and told Clay, "Dad, I go to skating lesson. You watch."