Happy Halloween!

We started talking about and reading about Halloween a few weeks ago.  I had a costume in mind.  But as soon as the costume concept was explained to Oliver, he had his own opinion about what he wanted to be, a Fireman.  He never changed his choice.  I knew the costume I ordered was going to be a little big, but I wanted him to try it on so I could see if we could make it work.  I thought he would be so excited, but the response was a clear, “NO!”  He was still firm on being a fireman for Halloween, but he refused to try on the costume.  I asked every morning and every night for a week, “Oliver, do you want to try on your fireman costume now?”  Same answer, NO!  This morning we told him it was Halloween…NO!

I hoped that once he saw the other kids in their costumes he would change his mind.  Thankfully, he did.  The photos do not do him justice.  He was so happy and smiley riding around on his fire engine in his costume.  He wanted to ride up and down our street (actually, only about 2 houses in either direction).  He liked seeing all the kids come, but he was not interested in going to trick-or-treat at the houses.  

We told him that our neighbors might give him a treat if he told them “trick-or-treat.”   He finally built up the courage and told us he wanted to go trick-or-treat.  He walked up the steps to our neighbor John’s house, whispered trick-or-treat, and was very sure he wanted the treat in the red wrapper.  We only made it to the one house then he then wanted to go home an open the treat.  That is when he said, “I want to open the red treat and see the car inside!”  I should have known.  We explained that the “treat” was candy, which is something sweet...  

 ...yes, I did let him try his first candy treat.

Oh, and Happy End of the Billable Year too!

Jack-O'-Lanterns

Halloween is coming and Oliver has been getting into the spirit.  He has a very strong opinion about what he wants to dress up as for Halloween, he gets a kick out of spooking us by saying "boo!", and he is a very big fan of pumpkin carving.  He loved the pumpkins so much, I was worried he would not want to cut them.  But, we told him what jack-o'-lanterns were and for the last week when he sees one he tells us all about it.  Given the rainy weather, pumpkin carving seemed like a perfect activity to get outside for a few minutes between rain falls.  When I asked if he wanted to carve the pumpkins in to jack-o'-lanterns, his response was, "Yes!"

Oliver was a hands-on helper.

He liked mixing the pumpkin seeds and "feeding" the pumpkin stew to mommy.

Joe carving a pumpkin.

Making the stem fit back on just right was 10 minutes of entertainment.

Yes, the jack-o'-lanterns got hugs and kisses.

After being stuck inside for a couple days due to rain, Oliver was all smiles be be outside.

Adding the "candles."

Our "Happy Jack-O'-Lantern."

Our happy little boy.

Fall

My favorite season.  I've been preparing Oliver for the changing of the leaves and tried to share my enthusiasm for Fall.  Joe and Oliver have been endlessly raking leaves, but our yard has so many trees they seem to cover the grass as quickly as they are removed.  The temperature went back up and the mosquitoes are back, which makes it not quite feel like Fall yet.  But, it is still great to see Oliver embracing the new season.

We have been apple picking a couple times now.  First, with grandma when she came to town to help out while Joe was essentially incapacitated with poison ivy about 3 weeks ago.  Joe's week of misery should get its own post, but frankly it was too disgusting to talk about.  If you Google poison ivy rash, you will get the idea.  If you see the images and say to yourself, it could not have been that bad...yes, it was THAT bad.  He was exposed while clearing out some "weeds" near the garage.  He had on work gloves and a t-shirt so the situation was his from his wrists to his biceps.  With the help of some medical intervention he is recovered, but his arms are still healing.  As for the apple picking we had a blast taking grandma to one of our favorite weekend destinations.

No hesitation.

As far as Oliver is concerned, "if you pick it, you eat it."

He happily walked the orchard while noshing on his apple.

We walked the raspberries too, grandma picked and Oliver ate.

Watching the "dust fly off the wheels of the cars."

The car ride home, falling asleep with is Tractor Mac book.

Today we met up with our pals Heather, Scott, and Celia (3 years).  Oliver was looking forward to seeing his friend.  When we got to the orchard, they had already arrived and were picking raspberries.  When we walked over to the orchard, Oliver said, "No, want to pick apples with Celia."  I asked if he wanted to wait for her, which he did.  After about 5 minutes, he was done waiting and ready to go pick apples.  But, I thought it was really sweet that he was so excited to see her.  Celia was equally happy to see Oliver and gave him lots of hugs and kisses.  Both kids seemed to enjoy picking apples and pumpkins as well as spending time together.

Too bad about the light, I just love this picture of them.

Oliver was equally as excited about the hay as he was the pumpkins.

I asked Oliver if he wanted to give Celia a hug, he immediately leaned in and the next few minutes were adorable.

He asks to "read a book" in the car now.  Which he quietly did for most of the ride home.