Halloween post

Happy Halloween everyone!  It has been very fun to have a toddler to dress up for Halloween.  Our Calvin dressed up as Calvin and Hobbes.  We had fun showing him off at the ward Halloween party  and at the "Screamin' on Main" Halloween dance last week.  We are looking forward to some trick-or-treating tonight.  We carved three pumpkins this year.  I love Halloween. 

Calvin and Hobbes and "Dad"

Trunk-or-Treat.  The eyes even wiggled back and forth.

At the dance.

My Halloween decorations.  Thanks to my mom for letting me borrow the tombstones!  Thanks to my mother-in-law for the pumpkins!

Invader Zim, GIR, and a spooky pumpkin.

Hobbes

Lots of pictures again.  I wanted to make a Hobbes for Calvin.  I found a pattern and proceeded to make him.  He cost between $20 and $25.  He looks very home made, but that is part of the charm... He took about a week to complete.   I made the body and sewed it together, then I added the face, then I sewed every black stripe on by hand.  I made the body first, and Calvin loved throwing it around.  After I added the head on and showed it to him, he made an "oh" sound, like now he understood what it would become.   I am planning to use it as a Halloween prop, then wrap it up for his birthday. 

Right after I put his face on.

First stripe.

Both arms.

Arms and legs.

Head and beginning of back.

All the back stripes.

Completed back.

Completed front. 

Pinterest Fun

I found this idea on Pinterest to let your baby play with cooked spaghetti.  We gave it a try today.  I prepared the pasta while Calvin took his nap.  I put food coloring in the water while the spaghetti was cooking.  I did green and orange.  The rest of the story will be told with pictures.

The finished spaghetti.  Waiting for nap time to be over.

A little trepidation at first.

Tasting it.  He put his head in the bowl. 

Touching it.

Pulled most of the orange spaghetti out of the bowl.

We moved to the kitchen so I could supervise while washing dishes.

He spent a lot of time just eating.

He lost interest, but then I gave him a spoon and he was able to explore even more.

The final mess.

Bianca came to see what she could eat.

Playing with the bowl during clean up.

I saved most of the spaghetti.  I think we can get a few more play sessions in with it.  I think he had fun.  Now I have to go clean up the rest of the spaghetti off the floor. 

Enjoying the Harvest

We put a pepper plant in our garden this summer.  Mark chose the Cajun bell pepper variety.  It is small  and SPICY.  We decided to try it for the first time yesterday.  We bought a one topping pizza from Papa Murphy's and added our peppers to it, along with some black olives.  I knew the peppers were hot, but I didn't realize how hot.  I couldn't get the heat off my hands.  I decided to take my contacts out and my eyeballs felt the heat. Ouch!  Now I know to make Mark handle these peppers.  They didn't taste too bad on the pizza.  It was pretty neat to eat something we grew ourselves.

Another Gardening Post

We decided to try and grow vegetables this year.  We built a 5 x 4 foot raised bed in the backyard. We planted a tomato plant, a bell pepper plant, some lettuce seeds and some pea seeds.  We started really late, so we might not get to try everything, but we have enjoyed the peas and the lettuce.  It was a good learning experience for us.  I hope next year our garden will be more successful.

Before.

After.

Bonus picture of Calvin wearing earmuffs.

Stuff We've Been Up To

Calvin flushed the toilet.  He was very proud of himself.

Playing in the dirt.

We went huckleberry picking.

Napping in the tent.

Calvin got 5 teeth during August.

Peeking in the cupboard.

Played on the playground.  He climbed all the way to the top.

Celebrated Great-Grandma's birthday.

Third Anniversary

We celebrated our third anniversary this year at Lagoon.  Our little boy was teething and sad, but he was with his grandma.  I feel very grateful for her watching him.  It was so fun to walk around and ride the roller coasters and have it be just the two of us. It was fun to experience all the adrenaline with Mark by my side.  I am always amazed at how much he loves me.  How did I get to be the one he fell in love with?