In the sky its a bird-- its a plane no its super sam!

My Nephews Derek and Dallin (twin boys how cute is that) had these cool reversible capes growing up. On one side it was Batman and on the other Superman. Well I thought it is high time for Sammy to be getting into something besides trains so I got down to work and made he and his friend Fischer Capes! So far he always wants the superman showing... I mean how cool is it to fly. Actually it is probably due more to the fact that two of his favorite characters (Lenny from Wonder Pets and Wyatt from Super Why wear blue capes--- I swear my child does not sit and watch TV all day I have just been trying to introduce something other than Thomas!) I couldn't get him to hold still for even a second to take a good picture so these are pretty sad, but it's fun to have him run up to me and ask for his cape. I found the symbols online and cut them out of felt so I don't know how long they will last with rough boy play :)

In search of the Great Pumpkin

Fair warning-- this will be the first of many pumpkin picking trips I am sure (I want to go in a sweater not shorts and a t-shirt :)... now that busch gardens and water country are closed I think it will be my new hang out :) And each time there will inevitably be a picture overload.

I talked Chris into going over to Surrey to pick pumpkins Saturday even though it was blistering hot. Sneaky us also talked our friends the Grady's into going. I also love the drive past Jamestown and then the fun little ferry ride.

(Sam was done being up top, this picture is one of my favorites of him, such a natural smile)

We went up top to look over the river, and then the real fun began-- Seagull feeding, a lot like mortal combat.

I had stocked up on crackers so the boys had fun tossing them onto the end of the boat and watching the seagulls fight over them (think "mine!" from Nemo).

(rare picture of Sam actually looking at the camera)When we arrived I was so excited to see the plethora of pumpkins this season. Liam thought this huge one made an awesome chair,

and this one simply called out to me as if it had been waiting for me to come and take it home, such a good little volunteer (what my parents always call plants, I love it)

What is amazing about College Run Farms is that you get to actually pick everything yourself! They hand you a sharp set of shears (say that ten times fast) and a map of the different rows, Fairytale, Cinderella, Pie, Carving, Moon you name it they plant it.

(Sam on a Cinderella pumpkin)

Even this weird Peanut Pumpkin:

They are kind enough to let you drive your car out to the field for easy load up. The boys has a lot of fun meandering through the rows. Sam was ecstatic to find this cute little pumpkin!

It was pretty small but every few feet he would drop it :) With a little Ughh sound as if it weighed a ton. Liam loves his tummy. He likes to rub it a lot for good luck. Maybe he wanted luck to find the perfect pumpkin!

When I saw these pumpkins:

I immediately thought of my sister Felicity. These are the type of pumpkins she would love. So of course I had to stack them up and take a picture of her youngest Nephew in front of them.

Liam then proceeded to try and either eat or hug the pumpkin who knows which.

If I could mail you one of these Felic I certainly would!

Fun with Photoshop

It was long been a dream of mine to be a photographer. I have no particular extra talent than anyone else that would set me up to be such, but I LOVE taking pictures. So I have been trying to absorb as much as I can from others and try to pick up any tidbits I can. I have also been working on my photoshop knowledge via online tutorials. Last night I messed around with some things and these are the results, kinda funky but kinda cute:

Liam with his pumpkin

Sammy seriously contemplating how to turn this into a coach

Sammys little hand on his pumpkin and the adorable sheers they give children

My favorite. If Liam had been smiling I think I would frame this pic. I don't know why but I just love Chris's eyes in this. He has the most amazing green eyes and although not well conveyed here I feel like his happy go lucky personality is.

Hot Chocolate and Toast

Chris and I have this neat system worked out for the weekends. We take turns being the one to get up with the boys in the morning (usually around 7:30ish really not to bad) The other gets to sleep in until Liam goes down for his morning nap, usually around 9ish. Then the person who got up early goes back to sleep until Liam gets up. Well this Sunday I got to sleep in until 9:30!! Then I was up and needed to entertain Sam. I was also hungry though and none of the cereals we had looked good. So I decided to introduce Sam to what I consider an Irish snack. when I was little and would go visit my Granny and Grandad in the evening after dinner we would have toast and hot chocolate. My mom has done a good job of keeping up this tradition and I LOVE IT. Although it has been raining like a monsoon here it is still blistering hot, so I cranked the AC a little and pretended that it was in fact fall, as it should be, and we got out our hot chocolate maker and toaster and went to work. Sam loved putting in all the ingredients

and pushing the buttons.

I put peanut butter on our toast and asked sam if he wanted bananas on his. He said no that he wanted pawcorn and went ahead and put a few on his toast-- hey to each their own!

Eventually we were all up and ready to go to church. The boys were looking far to daper not to take a picture. (We trimmed Liams hair that morning and had to put it pookie-uppy as my nephew cooper calls it).

The Today Show In CW

The Today show taped in CW yesterday! Had I known about it sooner I totally would have been lined up at five in the morning :)

(Liam says you are in big trouble!) But Jordan and I "rushed" over there and by the time we got there they were done taping.

(the boys running to be on TV) Since we were already out we braved the insane winds and took the boys for a walk around CW. We headed to the bakery and got cookies and hot chocolate.

It was a nice relaxing walk and I LOVE hot chocolate so I was on cloud nine. After playgroup we met some friends at great harvest for some more cookies... because you can never have to many cookies :)

Sam kept telling me he wanted to eat the flowers.

He also said the same thing about the pumpkins we bought. It is tricky explaining to a 2 year old why they can't eat flowers and pumpkins :) Sam had a wonderful time playing with Elsa and Ethan, but mainly with Elsa's stroller and baby doll.

The cookies were delicious and the conversation wonderful! To top it all off I got to turn on the seat warmers that night! Woo hooo fall has arrived!

Someone teach me how to knit!!!!

I have never been a huge knitting person. I totally understand the draw... it seems like it would be so relaxing to do it while watching TV at night etc. and you are not trapped behind a rather large machine. I just always picture afghans which I have never been a fan of, so holey and itchy. But when I saw these on one of my fav websites: Warm Biscuit I thought I would die. I want them soooooo bad but simply cannot justify the huge price tag. You throw in the matching knitted sweater and I am practically in convulsions from cuteness. Darn living on a budget!!!! If you are lucky enough to have the mola scoop these up and I will drool with envy. Look at the buttons... the suede bottoms oh my gosh!

By the way they also have the most insanely adorable... well everything but I love this booster!

We ate at an old time dinner in Richmond with Chris's mom and they had these vintage boosters and I was tempted to casually walk out with it. This is almost as cute!

Fall Clean Sweep

Now that Liam is one I thought it was time to pack up his summer/small clothes and organize the boys closest's for fall. I was concerned that everything would drown him since Sam and he are exact opposite seasons but I think we will be okay. I didn't realize what an overwhelming task it would be until I had all the box's in the toy room.

These are just Sam's hand me downs... not the clothes in Sam's closet or the baby clothes that Liam has grown out of... I think my worries were unfounded. Liam helped me sort through the clothes letting me know what he liked and didn't like.

This is midway through the process.

Once both boys were up there was no way I could work on it so the toy room remained a disaster for a while. Finally though it was all folded and put away. Due to the fact that our place is pretty small and has zero (I literally mean zero) extra closests and we don't have enough room in the actual bedrooms for dressers, the closest space has to maximized. it was ncie to finally get it taken care of. Now that all the sweaters are out and ready we just need the weather to cooperate!

Toddling his way to Two

Liam turned one! I CANNOT believe that a year can go so quickly! He has been such a wonderful baby and is now such an adventurous and inquisitive toddler. He has me on the run ALOT more than Sam-the-most-content-baby ever did. We woke up and had healthy whole wheat pancakes for breakfast.

They were awful, almost as awful as me in this picture.

It was funny because Chris and I both thought they tasted like eating the health food section of the grocery store. So next time I will be trying my friend Heidi's recipe hopefully with better success. We read some fun books and then nap time! That evening we were luck enough to have some wonderful friends over to celebrate. We had his highchair all set up for the main event of cake devouring.

He enjoyed being sang to but when the time to dive into the cake came he got a little icing on his finger and that was it!! He apparently didn't want to get himself dirty.

He did how ever offer his brother a lick...yummmy

He got some fun presents for his birthday. His favorite is the big thing of blocks we got him (Sam is a huge fan also) We also got him this cool stand and dance music thing. He seemed to like it a little yesterday but has walked passed it countless times today without even a second glance so that may be heading back to the store.

The Fam after the party

He loved being sung to over the phone. Of course I didn't hear my phone when Chris's parents called form Paris to wish him happy birthday! UGHHHH! But they left a fun message and we snapped a pick of him listening. Then later in the evening he got a fun call from his cousins the Swanson's and had fun listening to them sing!

It was great to have so many little cuties at the house. I had to snap a pic of Atticus with a frosting mustache!

I loved Fischer Sam and Thomas it was like playgroup with an injection of sugar for them! I loved this picture because it totally says "Dud one year old parties are lame! I am totally 2.5 and way cool :)"

After the party was over we did the official measuring on our little height board. It is so fun to see how much the boys have grown.

I love Liams face. He was so exhausted by the end of the day.

After the boys were bathed I had an extra special experience. My friend Kendra is now 11 days over due. They admitted her on Liam's birthday to get the party started. Nothing was happening though so I took her some party treats and magazines to help with the boredom. What was so neat though was as I walked up the stairs to the maternity ward I thought about how a year ago exactly Liam was placed in my arms. I think about that moment and my eyes immediately well up with tears of joy.

The days my boys were born were such miraculous days. Just when you think your heart is full it swells with more love and attachment then you ever thought possible. Motherhood truly is the most amazing gift and I am sooooo grateful to be blessed with our two little boys! Some day when you are reading this I want you to know that I love you so very much Liam you have been such a blessing for our family.