how do you pick?

When our schedules just didn't work out to do our original (and amazing) family picture idea, I decided to settle for pics of the boys together for our Christmas cards. Well, as you can see, Jaymee worked her magic, and I don't feel like I am settling at all! This is just one of five poses she sent me to choose from. When your kids are this dang cute, and your photographer is this amazing, how in the world do you pick just one? The answer is..........I haven't yet. But I did have to share just one. The Christmas cards will be a surprise. :)

Yeah, he's cute

I was lucky enough to take advantage of a gorgeous October evening that Jaymee had a cancellation. The place she picked is totally ghetto. We kept telling Elliott and Raigan to be careful of the sharp metal pieces on the building. Seriously, a tetanus shot waiting to happen down there, but you cannot beat the outcome.

Here is our big 2 year old. I used a sucker to bribe him to be good. It worked, and it made the pics even cuter.

Ta-Da!  

Love this hat!!!! I had is custom made by a friend and fellow Etsy shop owner, Denelle. She is busy trying to have a baby, but you should check out her shop when it's back up. 

We sang songs and played games with him to keep him entertained. Peek-a-boo. 

I love how he looks like he is king of the world in this picture.  

And this one. 

I am so "ok" with Elliott loving this girl. She's awesome, and totally cute. 

Jaymee does some amazing work huh? Check out more HERE.

trick or treating: part 2 (the finale)

We had a busy Halloween morning and afternoon, so after a quick rest, we got the boys in their costumes and headed out. Our first stop was to see our friends, Carson and Erica. Carson (the conductor) was waiting for us at the door. I absolutely LOVE this kid, maybe because I am his favorite "Aunt Mer". 

Carson gave the boys their candy, and he gave me some peanut M&M's (like I said, I'm his favorite). Erica informed us that her block was a good trick or treating place, so we started there. 

The first couple houses, Elliott wasn't quite sure what was going on.  

It didn't take him long to figure it out though. 

And as you can see here, after only 4 (or so) houses, he was pointing out the next house with the light on to us. He even started pushing Ethan out of the way when the doors would open, and before he was down the stairs, he would be pointing to the next house. (Thank you Erica for the trick or treat bag for Elliott, it worked great)

There were a lot of comments about the 3 heads again, but it worked to Ethan's advantage, and most people gave him a piece of candy for each head. SCORE!

Elliott made the cutest little biker ever.  :)

Because we didn't think that a whole box of candy was enough sugar for one night, Jason and I took the boys to our new favorite treat stop, Billings Best Yogurt. It wasn't busy at all, so we got to hang out, enjoy our ice cream, and enjoy our Halloween together. Dang I love these guys!

trick or treating: part one

Ethan could hardly wait for this day! After hockey practice, we ate lunch and put Elliott down for a nap. Jason was on his way home, and we planned to go to the Zoo for trick or treating after he got home. As soon as Elliott was up, we started getting the costumes ready. Elliott had fun watching Ethan get his face painted, and was pretty disappointed that his costume didn't require it, but the tattoos made up for it.

GRRRRRR 

I tried to get some tats on Elliott's neck, but he wasn't having it, so we had to settle for just the arms and hands. 

Ethan stuffed himself into the car. 

Elliott couldn't wait to get some candy. 

After several minutes in line, they were off. 

Ethan tried to fit his two extra heads in two of the holes, but I made him use his real face. I love this picture. 

Ethan thought he was telling us directions, but it was an informational sign, not a map. Haha. 

Even Borris was there! Elliott was ecstatic!  

They had some real sled dogs and sleds, and Ethan got to stand on one!  

Every person that walked by made a comment about the boys, mostly about Ethan. This is what they saw coming at them.  

After the zoo, I saw I had a text message from my cousin, Natasha. The beauty school she goes to was having trick or treating there. Oh my gosh! They each had full buckets from the zoo, so we dumped them out, and they were full and spilling over by the time we left the school. They still have tomorrow to go! They had a blast, and I think tomorrow will have the same outcome.

before it's too late

Carving pumpkins is something I love to do. Not so much the process of, but the outcome. There are just so many possibilities! The night of Elliott's birthday party, before Jason had to go back to Helena, we got out our prize pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and dug in.

The boys weren't so sure about the guts at first, but Ethan didn't take long to warm up to the idea. 

I can't wait until he can do this all on his own. He kept wanting to wash his hands after every clump he brought out.  

Elliott tried a handful, got grossed out and spilled it on the floor. He thought the spoon was a much smarter way to do this. 

He really wanted to help. 

We cheated and used patterns. While they look cool, I think we will skip the patterns next year. They are way more of a pain than they are worth. 

Sunday night got much to late, so Monday after Jason left, the boys and I painted their small pumpkins. They really got into it.............well, you'll see. It started out so innocent. Ethan's says "I love you mom and dad".

Elliott could not figure out why I thought finger painting and getting messy was a good idea, but he got the hang of it after a bit. 

They had so many colors they couldn't remember which one was in which bottle. 

Elliott kept getting paint on him and was wanting to wash it off every time, so I decided to make it more fun for him. I painted a smiley face on his stomach. Of course Ethan couldn't be left out (remember the tattoos Chris?).

Elliott thought painting himself was so much more fun than on the pumpkin. 

Ethan has never been impressed with my art so he added his own. Don't worry, it's acrylic paint, and they were in the tub washing it off soon after we were done. They even had fun washing it off. Haha.

I'm pretty proud of our pumpkins. They turned out perfect. 

They look great on our steps. 

Tomorrow starts a weekend of Trick-Or-Treating! I can't wait!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

won't my mommy be so proud of me?

I bought these candy molds for my mom to use. She makes the COOLEST "Graveyard Cake". She usually buys a bag of plastic skeletons then cuts them up, but I thought edible ones would be so much better. She decided while she was here that I needed to make Ethan and his class "Graveyard Cupcakes". She has a sneaky way of putting these ideas in our heads and not being around to help make them happen.  Haha.

Ethan and I made a bunch of the pieces one afternoon and put them in the freezer for another day. They are pretty awesome. 

Today was the day to bring them to life. I started by baking cupcakes this morning. Elliott snuck up onto the counter and stole one while they were cooling. It was so dang cute to see him with it all over his face, I couldn't even be mad at him. After school, I sent the boys outside and started frosting.  

Then I colored the "grass" and sprinkled it on. 

I crushed the Oreos and made "dirt". 

They were starting to come to life at this point.

I used the squares from mini Hershey bars for the head stones and added a little white frosting to look like writing.

And last, I added my skeleton bones sticking out. Sometimes I impress myself.

The teacher preferred cookies, but how do you tell a kid we have to do lame cookies when he has his heart set on "Graveyard Cupcakes"? You don't.  :) I did wrap them all individually like she asked. (Dang the camera hates the crappy light in my house)

The kids are going to LOVE them!

Happy Halloween Weekend!