Michael - It's great to be 8 !!

The big 8th birthday came for Michael this year. His birthday was  a Saturday so it involved soccer and service projects.  But he got to have his friend Derek over which was lots of fun.  He got his favorite breakfast and his favorite dinner (which is Tex Mex and he would probably eat it for breakfast too if I made it).  He got fun presents, but mostly we just got to celebrate our sweet little Michael turning 8.

8 great things about Michael
1.   He is a great artist.  He will give you drawing lessons if you ask. :)
2.  Michael is a deep thinker.  It doesn't always work to his advantage as he is quite the worrier, but he also thinks deeply about spiritual matters which is good.
3.  Michael is very athletic
4.  He can be a great helper when he wants to be.
5.  Michael still has the biggest, bluest eyes
6.  He is trying to read through the Book of Mormon
7.  Michael is a good friend at school
8.  Michael was conscious of what a big decision it is to get baptized.

 

He got to celebrate his birthday the day before in school.  This was his birthday crown.

Michael loves these little animals tubes

Playing in the leaves as dad blows them.

Birthday dinner...how we love this stuff.

Drawing books

Concentrating on legos

I don't know how I didn't get a picture of blowing out the candles.  I think I only got it on video.
Cheesecake seems to be the birthday cake of choice this year.

Jacob turns 4

Jacob turned 4 on October 12th.  What can I say about Jacob besides.....whoahhh!!!  This little boy is so alive!!  Looking back, he's been that way from birth.  But now that he's older and his personality comes out more it's more obvious.  He can be so funny and say the most clever, hilarious things.  He also has a bit of a temper which gets him in trouble some times, but he can be so sweet at other times.  Every day is an adventure with Jacob around. :)

Four things I love about Jacob
1.  He is a great helper.  If he makes a mess he is usually quick to clean it up.
2.  You can have great conversations with Jacob.  He is quite insightful for a 4 year old.
3.  Jacob loves everyone...sometimes to the point of discomfort. ;)
4.  Jacob is a good big brother.  He loves Daniel and will do anything to help him.

I love his winks

He was so excited about his birthday

He loves play dough

He didn't get this for his birthday...just had fun riding the neighbors toys.

We went to our old stomping grounds for pizza.  Natoli's in Secaucus.  I miss living
across the street from this place.

Daniel was excited to get a cup cake

There's that wink again.  Happy Birthday to Jacob

October little things

I'll attempt to catch up mostly through pictures.  Here are some fun things that happened in October.  (2 birthdays and Halloween not included...they deserve their own posts).

 

Cutest baby ever!!

Daniel loves to stand at the fridge and play with the magnet letters.

Let's just say that the leaf situation in NJ when you own a home is insane.  It's a full time job. 
I can see why people hire landscapers to handle their leaves.  Us....we just have children which
equals free labor. :)

But who can resist doing flips into the leaves

I found Jacob outside eating straight out of a can of mandarin oranges.

At least this car was of some use instead of just collecting leaves.

If you don't have a leaf blower or wheel barrow you improvise.  Snow shovels and a garbage
can to wheels the leaves out to the street where they come and suck them up for you.

Michael is in his bird phase

Lenape Indian wigwam project for school.  We discovered you can mix flour and water to make
paper mache

Wax paper and melted crayon leaves

Okay, I had to do this progression of a photo with Jacob.  This kid is so funny.  I just kept
snapping pictures of him and this is what I got.  He was excited about his homemade
dog Halloween costume.

Cowboys and Indians on the front porch.  We had a pretty mild October weather wise.

Love this picture of Daniel

Sucking up said leaves

Did I mention Anne learned to ride a bike finally.  She loves it.

I look through the camera and find funny photos like this that I didn't take.

 100th Anniversary of the church and Scouting

Michael, Dallin and Shaylee.  Shaylee is the bishops daughter and she is so adorable.

Secor Farm

Anne had a Daisy scout field trip to Secor Farm in Mahwah and it was so cute that we had to go back several times during the fall.  They have animals, hay rides, mazes, corn boxes (way better than sand boxes) and the best Honeycrisp apples and apple cider donuts.  I love fall on the East coast.

 

So hard to get them all with a normal face.

Can't remember why Jacob was crying...but this picture cracks me up....they are all doing
something different.

One of those Good Apples looks like trouble

I loved this idea of a corn box...instead of a sand box.  Daniel loved it!  The first time we went he didn't
even try to eat the corn.  But the next time he kept trying to shove it in by the hand fulls.  It was hilarious.

Off to the maze.

Carving the pumpkin Annie picked out on her field trip. 

And a cute baby in a bath...for good measure.