Definitely a treat.

I've decided that I really like Halloween. I'm not into the scary part. In fact, I'm thinking about instituting a scary-free costume rule for the kids in years to come. But really, what's more fun than carving pumpkins, dressing up in costumes, and getting candy from your neighbors?
Warner decided a while ago that he would be a cowboy for Halloween. He relishes every opportunity he gets to wear his cowbuddy boots (as he calls them) and hat. You can see the boots a bit better in this picture:I wasn't sure what to dress Maren as, but since she had a tutu, I figured a fairy would be easy enough. She didn't mind the wings and seemed to like the tutu.Maren was all business with the trick-or-treating. She would walk straight up to a house (with or without Warner or parents to help), choose a piece of candy (or a handful), and carefully place it in her bag. Warner got off to a quick and excited start, running ahead of us to get to the next house, but he fizzled fast. It was cold and he was ready to go home before we got to the end of the street.
He really enjoyed handing out candy to the kids and would say "you're welcome" as he placed a piece in each bag, regardless of whether or not the recipient said thank you.
We carved pumpkins earlier in the day on the deck. Maren liked the seeds and goo and Warner thought they were disgusting. Warner did tell me what shapes to make the eyes and noses and thought that was pretty cool.

This was taken right before he caught on fire. Kidding! Kidding! Kevin was ready to kill me when I handed our son the flaming pumpkin. It's a great picture though, huh? I have fond memories of taking inventory of my loot with Meredith after trick-or-treating. We would plop down in the entryway of our home, dump out all our candy, tediously sort it, and then trade with each other. I think the whole process took over an hour.
Maren isn't big enough yet to take part in this activity, but I think Warner enjoyed going through the fruits of his labor from the evening.Happy Halloween!

Big girl

Maren truly believes she's as big as her brother. I suppose it's this way with most younger children. She plays trains and tools with Warner (when he's in a sharing mood) and even prefers Clifford and Thomas books to her more age-appropriate board books.
She can now climb up the rails of the swing set without assistance (I of course still hover behind her with hands ready to catch if needed) and thinks the clubhouse is the coolest place on earth. She spins the steering wheel and looks through the spyglass just like Warner, then turns around, gets on her belly, and zips down the slide solo. Warner will then say "Maren so big. She growing up." And he's right. Where has my baby gone?

Three

Although he's not officially three until Tuesday, we celebrated Warner's big day this weekend with a Thomas the Train party. This was the first year Warner had specific instructions for his birthday cake. He wanted Thomas (easy enough), pulling Annie and Clarabel (not so easy). After agonizing over what to do, I finally made a simple cake and literally plopped Warner's requested trains on top. He was happy and I think it looked better than my past birthday cakes (Curious George was a real bust, Elmo not so bad). I'm not sure why, but I have this thing about making my kid's birthday cakes. So until I give this up they are going to have to deal with these not-so-professional-looking birthdays. It tasted great though. I make a mean butter cream frosting. Warner loved opening presents, and would say "I wonder what's in this present" as he unwrapped each one. Along with the train theme, he got mostly Thomas gifts. He had a list of every engine he "needed" (not wanted) for his train table months before his birthday. This past week, as we read his Thomas books before bed, he'd say "I sure hope I get James (or Toby, or Diesel, or Gordon, or whichever one he was thinking of that night) for my birthday".

He also got Cranky the Crane and the quarry mine tunnel for his train table, which were both a huge hit. Maren was pretty excited about the Veggie Tales movies Warner got, and Kevin's parents got us a pass to the Children's Museum, so the birthday worked out for her, too. My parents weren't able to make the party, but they got Warner a big boy bike for his birthday.He's still working on braking and has had a couple falls, but for the most part he's handling it really well. I tear up every time I watch him ride it. He's getting so big. Three years already? My heart hurts at how quickly the time passes. We're so proud of our little man and can't wait for what's in store in the years to come.

And now for the kids

I'm beginning to look forward to the funny things Warner says each day.

Warner: Mommy, I need a purse.
Me: Why?
Warner: To put mine things in.
Me: What would you put in your purse?
Warner: Gum. Pink gum, green gum. Lot gum.
Me: Well, boys don't carry purses.
Warner: Why?
Me: I guess they use their pockets. That's just how it is.
Warner: That's just how God made it?
Me: Yes, that's just how God made it.

The "that's just how God made it" response is apparently something Kevin and I say because he's picked up on this phrase and uses it himself. The nice thing is, it's an acceptable answer to Warner's "why?" questions - for now. I wonder how long this will last.
Maren has developed a slightly concerning obsession with animal crackers. Her first item of business each morning is to walk to the pantry, open the door, point to the animal crackers, and whine until I tell her we can't have animal crackers for breakfast. She then stomps her feet and cries, as if this hasn't happened each morning for the past month and my response is a complete surprise to her.
After dinner a few nights ago, Kevin got out the Sam's-size bucket of animal crackers for Maren to enjoy for dessert. He put it on the ground and she reached both hands in and grabbed fistfuls of crackers. It might have been the best moment of her life so far.
Against my better judgment, I let my mother buy Warner light-up Cars shoes that also make engine revving noises. They are ugly but he loves them. So much. She also bought Maren light-up twinkle toes, so we won't have a problem finding our kids in the dark.So Warner has taken notice to what he wears. Now we just need to work on his fashion sense. I used to care more, but seeing how happy Cars shoes and Elmo or Thomas shirts make him, I've given in. A few days ago after getting dressed he announced: "I look pretty cool in my outfit today". How's that for self confidence?

Meredith's Miracles

I have been MIA the past few weeks primarily due to the planning and execution of the MMCCF 2nd Annual Golf Classic last weekend. In case you haven't heard, I'm now the president of Meredith's Miracles (I know, I know, pretty big deal - ha) as well as the fundraising committee chair, so the golf outing was primarily my responsibility. It is also our only "official" fundraiser thus far, so it's a huge deal to me. Thanks to the help of my family, lots of volunteers, and the rest of the board of directors, we pulled off a spectacular event.
I spent the day on hole #5 where the guys could pay $10 for a tutu and the ability to tee off from the ladies tee. Here is Kevin's team looking oh-so-pretty:
Two of Meredith's good friends, April and Jess, were at the hole with me taking pictures and helping with tutus. You'd be surprised by how difficult it was for the men to tie a bow.
Golf was followed by dinner and live music by Velvet Soul. I had the opportunity to address the group with a video another friend of Mere's, Sara Carpenter, made. I also spoke about the work the foundation has accomplished this past year and our hopes for the future.
Don't worry, I didn't speak with the tutu on. Maybe I should have though, to lighten the mood? Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who cares about this foundation and the work we're doing. But after raising $11,000 Saturday, I'm optimistic that God does indeed have big plans for the foundation Mere envisioned years ago.

Take a minute to watch Sara's video, and visit www.meredithsmiraclesfoundation.org to learn more.

Apples

Fall is my favorite time of year. Cooler temperatures, colorful trees, and all things pumpkin make me smile. Throw in a visit to the apple orchard and it's just about too much for me to handle.

Warner has been asking to visit an apple orchard to pick his own apples since reading "Clifford's Apple Picking Day" a few weeks ago. We were in Somerset for the weekend, so we went to Haney's Appledale Farm with Kevin's parents on Sunday afternoon.Warner was thrilled to run around and choose which apples to place in our bag.Kevin found a slug on one apple and showed it to Warner. Warner touched it, then said "I'm so brave".
After picking the apples, the kids were delighted to use the washing machine to clean a few apples to eat. They loved them. I don't think I've ever seen Maren eat that much at once. Or maybe in her whole life. She ate a lot. We really did cut up peeled slices for her, but she preferred taking the whole apple to her face.She even stole a few bites of the apple I was eating.
Maren also found a tractor out back and wanted so badly to ride in it. When I told her we couldn't do that, this is the response I got (click on the picture to see it larger).So now we're back home with more apples than I know what to do with. This afternoon we used the apple peeler/corer/slicer for the first time, and it was a definite hit.Warner could crank it by himself, so all I had to do was put the apple on the device and he'd do the rest. Pretty cool. Maren sat in her highchair to watch us and tackle quality control on the apples Warner sliced.
We made apple crisp today and our apple supply doesn't even look touched. Guess we'll be making lots of applesauce and other freezable apple items in the next few days.

80 Years Young

My maternal grandpa turned 80 years old on Saturday. The whole family (over 30 of us in total) traveled to my Aunt Kathy's house in Indiana to celebrate. We had a pig roast and were supposed to have a hot air balloon but the weather didn't cooperate. Seeing the actual pig roasting was a bit disturbing. But the result was delicious.The little kids (great grandkids) ran around the yard and played for hours, and my children were in heaven. It's so fun to see them interact with other kids. Grandpa Gene has nine great grandchildren in total. Maren enjoyed cornhole the most.I so enjoyed the "cousin time". As I've grown older I've come to realize just how unusual my family is, in that we are so close. We are a tight-knit group, and being around them feels like home to me. My heart ached for Meredith to be with us, especially since we were at the exact location of her wedding. She would have had the best time with us.Here are grandma and grandpa Warner with their kids plus spouses.No Warner get together in the fall is complete without a hayride. My grandparents used to have a farm - the same place my mom grew up - until a few years ago. Since the tractor, trailer, and hay are not available at their new house in town, we have to improvise on this fall tradition. Aunt Kathy borrowed a trailer from a friend, bought a few bales of hay, and we were pulled behind my cousin's SUV. Not your traditional hayride, but it worked.Another requirement for Warner hayrides is that we sing Christmas carols while we enjoy the ride. Don't ask why. Warner requested we sing Jingle Bells multiple times.Instead of a gift, the cousins all gave Grandpa a bag full of items that reminded us of him. It was so fun to tell our story of why we included the item as Grandpa pulled each one from the bag. My memories included he and Grandma visiting me in Europe when I was studying abroad, and the two horses they bought for me on their farm when I was younger. Oh, how I loved those horses.
Of course no birthday celebration is complete without cake. Grandpa, I'm so thankful for you and the man that you are. You have established a legacy of faith and character that will be passed on for generations. We love you.