Because sometimes you just have to laugh

I guess brothers laughing at sisters starts early...I was trying so hard not to laugh and shake the camera.

Sugar Cookies

So, I got all excited for fall yesterday, so I dug out my autumn decorations (my generic ones.  Most of them are either Halloween or Thanksgiving, but I brought out the ones that are just fall), and then decided to use my fall leaf cookie cutters.

I don't think we've made shaped cookies since Erin's really started helping with cookies, so she was really excited by the idea.

and of course, they both like the finished product the best.

Best scrapbook page EVER

So, the forum I'm on has a scrapbooking section.  They have a weekend a month where they post challenges.  I missed August's, but I went looking through the challenges to see if I could be inspired by something.  They had a movie challenge, to have a page inspired by a movie (poster, quote, etc).  Well, I came up with this:

And another picture I just have to share.

We were at a store, and he saw this duster and just grabbed it.  He LOVES furry stuff lately.

18 months

Seriously?  Has it really been a year and a half since this?

Or a year since this?

Or six months since this?

Patrick amazes me every day.  He looks so grown up.

He's also talking more and more.  Just today I confirmed to myself that he calls Erin "Yayay."  Every time I called to Erin, he'd look at her and call "Yayay!"  He calls Matt the normal "Dada" but he calls me "Mom-mom" rather than "Mama."  He is also good that the nonsense words like "Yay," "uh-oh," and "whee."  He says "wow," "dah-yee" (doggy), still says "tssss" for please, and "down."  He also says "dood dob!" whenever he does something he's proud of, and he'll clap at me expectantly if I don't also clap and tell him "good job!"

He's recently mastered the art of straw drinking, and thinks it's the coolest thing ever.

Don't you love the way he wrinkles his nose???

And a video I uploaded a while back but forgot to put on the blog


And I also forgot to mention we got bunk beds!  Erin loves loves loves her bed.  We need to get a twin mattress for Patrick, though, so he's still on the crib mattress on the floor until further notice.

Meeting a friend

Most people who know me know that I post on forums.  Justmommies.com, in fact.  Anyway, today I got to meet a JM friend!  She and her father recently took her younger brother to the MTC, and they drove through Denver today on the their way home, so we met up with them for dinner.  It was great to meet her in real life, and we just talked liked we'd been friends for, well, the last two years!

Erin and Patrick adored her.  She's going to be a great mom someday.

The art of play

It's really interesting to see the differences in the way Erin and Patrick play.  Take blocks for instance.  Erin haphazardly stacks them on top of each other, trying to see how high she can get the tower without really paying attention to how it'll balance.  I think she enjoys it falling over as much as she enjoys stacking them.

Patrick, however, is very methodical.  He starts with the thicker blocks so it's steadier, and always thinks a moment and then places the block very carefully.

This is his concentration face.  Matt makes the EXACT same face.

Another good comparison is the slide.  Erin is quite timid.  She need to be holding a hand to go down (though by the end of this particular playground trip we got her to start going down herself)

She was celebrating going down all by herself: "I did it, Mommy! I did it!!" and jumping up and down.

Patrick, however, is a little too fearless for my own comfort.  He was going down completely on his own within just a few minutes.

And we always love Gidget

My Hallween costume is done

Catching up

We went to Eldorado State Park on Friday for Matt's company bbq lunch.  Google maps took us the wrong way, but we got some pretty pictures!

And when we finally got there, we let Erin and Patrick play in the water a bit.

Then Sunday I made the MOST fabulous blueberry pancakes ever for dinner.  Patrick loved them.  He ate four.

Erin didn't eat any.  But she let me take a cute picture!