Apples, donuts and pumpkins

October 3rd we drove up to Carter Mountain with our friends the Simmons to pick some apples and watch the sun set. Carter Mountain has become a yearly tradition for us and I love it every time we go.

Of course the first thing the boys had to do was pose with the apple:

Sitting with friends... Lance is loving on Ellie Simmons, the little girl we watch during the week. I thought it was so sweet. :)

Off to pick some apples before the sun goes down!

The area they told us to pick must have been popular because when we got there, the only apples left were the ones way up high.

Not sure if you can see, Jude is helping George help Lance get the apples in the top branches. How's that for teamwork?

The boys did manage to find a few closer to the ground.

Cole wasn't too sure what to do with the apples on the tree and ended up smacking them whenever George tried to get him to pick one.

Working hard...

The Simmons family! We sure love these guys!

Cal is in his fourth year of Med School at UVa and is going into Emergency Medicine. Sarah works as a nurse on the Pediatric floor so I get to watch Ellie about twice a week. She's such a sweet baby.

Our attempts at a family photo:

Waiting for the sun to set and enjoying Carter Mountain's famous apple cider donuts. Seriously, these things are good!

They had a display of huge pumpkins where Lance and Jude wanted to hang out most of the evening.

Lance found a perch from which to enjoy the sunset.

Of course Jude had to follow suit.

At one point, George and I looked up and Jude had disappeared. After searching for a few minutes, we discovered him sitting in the pumpkins next to these two huge men drinking beers and was just chatting it up with them. It doesn't matter if he's known you for five months or five seconds, Jude makes friends with everyone!

Love it!

September Wrap-up

September was a busy month! It seems like most months are busy now with three boys, Lance in school and starting Scouts.

Here are a few little moments from this crazy month I couldn't pass up posting:

Cole is obsessed with anything with wheels. He is constantly oogling over cars and buses and trucks and when we're driving or in the parking lot he'll point them out with such enthusiasm, you would have thought the random tan car over there was a rare and exciting site. I love that it's the little things that make kids the happiest.

Almost every day, Cole asks me to build him a track for his trains. He'll sit there for an hour sometimes just rolling the trains back and forth, saying "choo choo".

I love it! 

Lance has been missing his friend Killian who used to live next door, so one Friday we had him over to spend the night. The first thing they did was go to the Zobrist's farm where Falcon is to play, shoot Lance's BB gun and of course ride the Polaris!

Falcon is such a good dog. He stays right there with everyone and listens to Scott like it's his job. The boys all thought it was neat to see him jump and catch the Frisbee.

Scott set up a target for the boys to practice hitting with the BB gun. I have to admit I took a turn as well. I can't pass up a chance to shoot a gun!

Hit!

Teaching.

Watching Killian take a turn with the gun.

Killian did a great job! It took him a few tries to perfect his stance and aim, but he hit the target consistently.

After taking a ride around the property on the "po po", it was off to dinner at a local diner and then home for homemade cookies and popcorn while the boys played the playstation and watched movies. I tried to be a "cool" mom and let them stay up as long as they wanted, but once it hit 2 a.m., I told them to go to bed. 

Lance and Killian had a great time which made me happy. As a mom, it's a nice feeling when you've done something for your kiddos that they appreciate.

Virginia is full of bugs. Full. I'm usually annoyed with all the flying and buzzing, but occasionally you get to see something really cool. One day at the park by our house, our friends stumbled upon this HUGE caterpillar:

That's Lance's hand next to it. It had to be a good 5 inches long.

The kids all thought he was pretty neat, although I'm not sure the caterpillar shared the enthusiasm for the chance meeting.

So cool. And creepy. But cool.

Jude started preschool! Well, okay, it's a co-op preschool I'm doing with three other moms and we meet once a week for two hours. The kids are all pretty young, ranging from almost 3 to almost 4 (I think Jude is the oldest by a few months) so it's mostly learning letters, patterns, colors and playing. Jude has enjoyed it and I've loved the two hours every week to only have ONE child with me when I run errands. I think Cole's enjoying the undivided attention as well.

And finally, Cole made his first trip to the Emergency Department! We had come home after Scouts and it was late and kids were tired. Jude and Cole started tussling over a waterbottle on Jude's bed while I was getting PJ's in the other room when I heard a thud and Cole start crying. The room was dark when I go get him so I didn't even realize there was blood until I walked out of the room with Cole in my arms. 

He had split his eyebrow open! Agh! I called our amazing neighbors who came right over. We agreed he may need stitches so Cal watched Lance and Jude while Sarah and I drove over to the ED to meet George. He was working a shift at the time, so he was able to come out and see us right away to make sure we really needed to be there. Yep, Cole needed stitches.

Waiting for our turn. George had to finish up his shift, so Sarah stayed with me while we waited.

For having a split-open face, he was pretty cheerful. That is, until they took us back and put us in a room.

This picture is probably the only time he stopped crying for the hour and a half we were back there. Poor guy. They put some lidocaine gel on the cut and then gave him some ketamine up his nose to numb the stitches, but he was crying too much and none of the ketamine went in. George and I ended up having to pin him down while a colleague gave Cole three stitches. While it was sad he was upset and the stitches hurt, I'm pretty sure getting shots of lidocaine would have been just as traumatic

He got a popcicle for his troubles which he ate in Daddy's arms. I love the look on Cole's face. He was not amused at all. 

I have to say, having an Emergency Medicine physician as your husband does make trips like this a bit better. No, our wait time was still pretty standard and we didn't get any special treatment, but it was nice to be surrounded by professionals that like your husband and are legitimately concerned for his child. George could have done the stitching, but as he stated, he'd rather his son hate someone else. The doctor did a great job and the cut has healed well--you can hardly see it.

Cole, let's please not make a habit of visiting the Emergency Department. I know you miss Daddy when he's at work, but next time let's just wait until he comes come before we see him, okay?

Lance's Baptism

On September 28, Lance was baptized! 

In our Church, we believe that before you are baptized you need to be old enough to understand what it means and the significance behind the ordinance, which is why we wait until children are at least 8 years old before they can choose to be baptized. Since Lance just recently turned 8, it was his turn!

So many friends and family turned up to support Lance on his special day!

Grandma Brewer flew in from Florida so she could be a part of it.

 

Four generations!

 

Grandpa Bob flew in from California for the weekend, too!

Proud parents:

Laura and Tyler were also there with their two boys; Amy came as did McKay, Mom and Glenn, George's parents with Callie and Bryce, the Elmers, Vedomskes, Players, Williams and Carlsons.  I was so busy before-hand making sure everything was in order that I totally forgot to take pictures of everyone.

I even forgot to get a family picture! That's not like me at all. So, we took family pictures the next day at Church. We can just pretend we took them the day before at the baptism. :)

Let's see if we can get all three boys looking at the camera. First attempt:

Getting better...

Almost...

Yeah, it's not going to happen.

What can you do?

Lance's family!

The service was nice. My mom gave the talk on Baptism and did a wonderful job. Scott baptized Lance with George and Bob as witnesses. After Lance was baptized, I got to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. I can't believe how nervous I was. Scott gave Lance a beautiful blessing after giving him the gift of the Holy Ghost, we ended with a song and prayer and then it was time for fun!

Scott and Abbey hosted all the family at their house for dinner. It was nice to be all together and enjoy the company and good food.

Grandma Brewer with her newest great-grandson Grant.

The Elmers came. Love them!

Lance had begged me to make some homemade rolls which I gladly did. Unfortunately, I totally forgot he also wanted deviled eggs. Oh well. One out of two ain't bad, right?

McKay and Laura with baby Grant.

Elmer family.

Glenn, George, Sue-Lon and Grandma.

And while the adults were eating, this is what Jude and Bryce did the whole time:

Those boys play together so well.

Since Lance's Birthday was just a couple weeks ago and most of the family didn't have a chance to celebrate with us, Lance and I decided to do a mini-Birthday celebration at the dinner with a cake and pinata. Lance is really into Minecraft these days and requested a Minecraft cake and creeper pinata. This boy knows how to pick the hardest things!

The night before the baptism, Amy and Derek came over and helped me finish up the cake. (They were already in town for an Anthro Con where Amy was selling her hats and scarves she makes.)

See those little squares? They are pieces of fondant we cut out to make the sides of the "dirt block" cake.

One side finished.

George was so nice and stayed up to help finish the creeper pinata even though he had just finished a week of night shifts.

Finished cake. Not as perfect as I had hoped, but all in all, it turned out pretty well.

 I was sure Lance would be happy with the end results.

 I was right! He thought the cake was awesome!

.

I forgot the candles (it must be pregnancy brain because I was forgetting things left and right), but we sang to him anyway. He didn't seem to mind the lack of candles. Sorry, buddy!

 Laura and Grant.

Multi-tasking? Getting ready to cut the cake and video taping. (Don't you love the food faces George and Aric are making in the background?)

It was hard to cut since the cake was 8 inches tall. I hope nobody minded fingers on their cake...

After cake, it was pinata time! 

 

We brought a baseball bat and thought we'd be lucky if all the kids had a chance to hit it before it broke, but I guess I underestimated the pinata's strength once again.

Watching...

Cole wanted a turn on the second run.

"Am I doing this right?"

After the kids all had two chances each, we decided the candy needed to come out. George stepped up to the plate...

...and felled the creeper with one swing. All those years in baseball paid off.

 CANDY!

I just thought this picture was fun. After most people left and we were cleaning up and loading up the car, Abbey got out Lance's BB gun and practiced hitting the target Lance made earlier that day.

 I think the best part is Falcon laying at her feet sleeping.

It was a great day! What a blessing it is to have such supportive family and friends. We truly are lucky. Lance, we are so proud of you and the decisions you're making in your life. Thanks for being ours!