fall fun...

i'm glad it's still technically fall so that i'm at least posting these pictures in the same season they originally happened!  here are the boys enjoying a fire in the fire pit.  the boys love doing this!!  ben is fascinated with the fire itself and how it all works and luke likes to poke around at things and enjoy the excitement.  (i promise we are very careful and safe during this entire process - no worries!)  we did this several times this fall and it was always a big hit!  

check out how good and cute sam was being in the stroller for a very long time!  each of my children have loved chewing on buckles and nylon straps.  as babies, they can't get enough of a carseat or stroller buckle - is this strange?  are all babies like this?  why do i buy baby toys?  i'm telling you sam was probably in this stroller chewing on that thing for 30 minutes without fussing...

but who can resist that cuteness?  not us.  so eventually we had to hold him and let him enjoy the fire too...

ben loved to (safely) mess around with the fire and see how different things caught on fire and what happened as the logs burned.  he was really fascinated...  

and both boys loved the s'mores, of course!!

back inside we've been doing lots and lots of crafts and learning activities again.  it seemed like forever when sam was first born before i was really able to play with the big boys again and do fun things with them. so now that we're back on that, we're in overdrive catching up on lost crafting time!  :)

luke now really likes to paint and glue and get messy with things (although he doesn't really like to get too messy, so i'm thankful for that!)... 

and ben still loves all this stuff and is at his best when he's really focused on making something...

we also started doing "sensory boxes" which was a super simple and genius idea i saw online.  i just fill a plastic box with beans or rice or dry pasta and add tiny animals figures and some small containers and the boys love it!!  i change it up every few weeks according to the season or holiday and the boys play with these things for a long time!  they both love pouring, mixing, sorting, dumping - anything sensory-related, and this is a huge hit. 

meanwhile, sam continues to be adorable and chubbier and is content with some toes...

gotta love it.  stay tuned again soon!  i'm determined to finish up the fall pictures soon so we can move on to a few Christmas pictures and some updates on what's really going on now.  bye!!

holly was here...

well, the title says it all - holly was here for her annual fall fandango with the matthys family.  yea!!!  she came bearing gifts, as seen above.  and we all had smiles from ear to ear the whole weekend!!  (we even got to sneak away a bit for a little shopping and silliness without the boys!!)...

the boys LOVED holly - how could they not??  she even got to feed sam - ahhhh!

and even though we didn't take very many pictures with her (booooooo!), we had such a great time and will remember all the fun and laughter and silliness she brought to our home.  thanks for coming, holly!!!  but no thanks for leaving - this is what luke thought about that!!  noooooooooo!!!

but i can't say i blame her for leaving because check out this fire ant pile in our backyard!!!

it's a good thing gabbee wasn't here for a visit because the very sight of that thing probably would have made her break out!!  

and here are a few recent pictures of the boys from the week before...  ben with morning hair, luke making funny faces, and sam at seven months old and rocking the feathers...

see you back again soon!  sorry i'm not as creative as the boys on here.  i save my creative energy for playing with them during the day and don't know how they can be so funny up here on the blog usually.  i'll try better next time.  :)  - momma

early october...

hello again!  i have some pictures to share from early october when sam was just sitting up for one of the first times.  sitting up is always a favorite milestone of mine because they get so excited about seeing the world from this new perspective. they can participate in what's going on around them and play more, plus it's just so cute to watch them try and sit up those first few days!  here is sam out in the grass, and i'm so glad i caught this on camera because it's so funny!  he's trying to sit up and keep his balance while wondering what i'm doing with this camera and while wondering what is about to attack him!!

ben is such a good big brother to sam and wasn't trying to be mean. sam just got startled! but here's a cute one of ben trying to catch sam as he starts to go down...  

i love sweet big brother moments and we have a lot of them around here, which i'm so thankful for!  i know some older siblings (especially boys) aren't as excited about new babies, but ben and luke have loved every minute of sam and help me out a lot as much as they can. :)  here's one last picture of sam striking a pose...

and this is just a random one of ben looking like such a big boy!!  he's still only 4 but seems at least 6 to me!

also back in october we tried the classic baking soda + vinegar volcano experiment and the boys just went crazy for it! they started to be interested in volcanoes as we learned about dinosaurs, and this experiment was a huge hit. i love how the pictures really show their personalities. ben was really checking it out and analyzing everything...

...and luke was just excited and eager!

ben got to pour the first time and luke was content to watch, but i also like luke to get to do as much as he can at his age, so he had another turn and did everything himself too.   but they both loved it!

now that sam is older we get to do more fun stuff like this again and i'm so glad for that! and that's all for now!  i'll be back again soon with more october and some november.  bye!