Want a Marshmallow?

Gus came home from school the other day and was excited to tell John he had marshmallows and offered to share.  I went into the other room to change Anders' diaper and, when I came into the kitchen, I found John and Gus eating the marshmallows off of Gus' ghost picture.

GROSS!  The funniest part was that Gus was telling me about his marshmallows the whole way home.  This picture had been hanging in the hallway at school.  I wonder if Gus passed it every day and thought to himself, I can't wait to take that picture home so I can eat those marshmallows.

Oh, I have silly and totally disgusting boys.

Birthday Cake

Debbie and Pam gave me this...

...for my birthday.

They gave it to me a couple of days early thinking Hans could make a birthday cake for me using the new airbrush.  There was NO WAY I was letting Hans get his hands on this.  It actually has to be cleaned out immediately after each use.  I actually wanted to be able to use it myself.  So on my birthday I made my own cake.  I didn't really care how it looked when it was done.  It was a day to try out new cake and frosting recipes and use my new airbrush.

 This was the end result.  The flowers are made from marshmallows, first cut then sprayed.

The cake was lopsided and not smooth, but it tasted good, I had fun making it, and I found some new recipes.  Oh, and I got to use my cool, new airbrush.

Costumes

The boys love dressing up.  They actually have quite a collection of costumes now.  This is one of the newest costumes...Emile from "Ratatouille."  And what one boys wears, they all wear.

 This is John pretending to be a rat.

Gus also tried it out.

And Anders will ALWAYS do what his brothers do.

Let's Get Real

I'm not a big Facebooker.  I just don't have enough time for it.  I also seem to have friends on every side of every issue and Facebook just tends to be exhausting.  I only really discuss politics with my husband, and that is a rarity, and I don't go around preaching to everyone I don't agree with.  I am open for discussion and, if someone asks me my view, I will give an honest answer.  There aren't very many people out there that I don't get along with.  And usually the people that I have the hardest time with are the ones that may share a political, moral, ethical view with me but tend to be nasty and mean spirited when expressing said view.  I bring up Facebook because I signed on the other day and was immediately met with a picture that was shared by a number of my friends.

I can not express to whomever reads my blog just how much this makes me ill.  I am normally pretty good at reading things and venting to my husband (or parents) about it and then letting it go.  But this picture is all I've been thinking about for a few hours.  I can only hope and pray that the people who created this picture and the ones who continually post it in support don't really believe this is true.  Just because I don't agree with a certain lifestyle does not mean that I wish ill on those who choose to participate in said lifestyle.  I stand firm in my beliefs and will fight for what is right.  But that doesn't mean I condone the sheer hatred that this photo represents.  To make the argument that those who are opposed to gay marriage wish harm on those who are not opposed is ludicrous.  It is the same type of argument my 6 year old makes when he tells me that, because I don't want to give him a cookie, I must want him to starve to death.  Even the most obnoxiously conservative people I know may get a little short with those who don't embrace their beliefs, but they are not in favor of harming those who don't share their beliefs.

So to those that know me, I am opposed to gay marriage.  Do you honestly think that this is what I'm in favor of?

Kuipers Family Farm

Debbie and Pam took the kids to Kuipers Family Farm again this year.  I had to work so I missed the fun this year, but the boys had a great time and were excited to spend the day with Sophie.

Last year Gus didn't want anything to do with the jumping pillow.

 He stayed like this until Debbie came to take him off.  I was too busy to take him off because I was laughing and taking pictures.  I'm a great mom.

This year Gus embraced the jumping pillow and made up for lost time.

 Unlike Gus, Anders first time on the jumping pillow was a huge success.

It is amazing how much things change in a year.

The farm also added a new slide this year.

I'm pretty sure he is thinking, oh,crap!  I don't think this is a good idea.  Then he gets to the bottom and thinks, Nevermind, that was AWESOME!  Let's do it again!

Poor Anders

A while back Anders was playing on the couch and somehow fell off, hitting his upper lip on the coffee table.  He seemed to recover quickly, but a few hours later, after a much needed nap, we noticed all the swelling.

 The swelling of the lip make him look very different.

 He had a very hard time using a sippy cup and eating for a few days.  Don't worry, he milked his injury for all it was worth...and then some.

It did look pretty painful though.

More Halloween

The boys got several chances to wear their costumes this year.  When I was putting my Halloween post together, Gus told me that I didn't have enough pictures of him.  For those of you who feel the same way, here you go.  John, however, said I had enough.

 Gus's school has a costume parade. 

 He really enjoyed showing everyone his costume.  I can't get a good picture of it, but his wings even light up.

 Super Why with Super Why.

He is cute.  But he is also dangerous.

Halloween

Every year John gets a little more excited about Halloween.  The neighbors around here really get into decorating their houses for the spooky season.  John is very upset that we don't do this.  It honestly isn't even a "we don't celebrate Halloween" thing as much as it is an "I don't want to buy decorations, put them up, take them down and store them" thing.  John decided to make his own decorations.

This was the extent of our Halloween decor.  Oh, and there is nothing like a picture to show you that you really need to clean your front door.

 We also had Jack-O-lanterns.

 John-Woody, Anders-Super Why, Gus-Buzz Lightyear

 John decided that Anders should show off his Why-Writer.

 Anders is thinking about what just happened and deciding how he will react.

The Why-Writer becomes an excellent weapon.  The boys have learned to steer clear of Anders and his Super Why gear.

Trunk and Treat

Our church held its annual Trunk and Treat event the Sunday before Halloween.  Last year it was rainy and very cold so we had it indoors.  This year it was just cold so we actually had the event outside.  Trunk and Treat was a new concept for me when we moved here.  Basically people have games that can be played out of the trunk or near the car.  Kids come and play the games and then get candy.  A lot of the members even dress up.  So I told Hans he had to dress up and even found a costume for him.

 How did I get him to wear this costume, you ask?  Well, I brought it home and, in front of the boys, who dressed as Woody and Buzz, I told him that their daddy could be Bullseye.  The boys insisted he wear this ridiculous costume.  And because Hans is such a good dad, he obliged.

 So here is how Trunk and Treat works.  The kids just go from car to car playing games and collecting candy.

 Someone seems to be a little grumpy.

Anders even enjoyed having a horsy ride.

We had a great turnout.  Along with the games and candy we offered crafts, bingo and food.  I think we went through 90 hotdogs, tons of chips and cookies and 3 bottles of ketchup.  I learned that people REALLY like ketchup.

A Day Just With Anders

Debbie and Pam have started taking Anders and only Anders one day a week.  Anders feels pretty darn special and it just may be giving him a little bit of an "I'm better than you" complex.  We'll just have to wait and see.  On this particular day, they took him on the train to Bloomington, IL to the Children's Discovery Museum.

Riding on the train.  I'm told he was a little frightened of the loud noises at first.  Then he calmed down when he realized that he would have a captivated audience for an hour all to himself.

 Doesn't this look like the coolest place?

There were all kinds of things to do.

 He even got to pretend to make a pizza.  Just like his dad.

 He loaded it up with cheese and pepperoni.   Just like his dad.

He even dropped his pizza.  Just like his dad.

 Dr. Anders here to save the day.  Look at that concentration.

 We should really live on a farm because all three of my boys have enjoyed pretending to milk a cow.  Something tells me they wouldn't like doing it if that were actually a requirement of them.

 After the Discovery Museum they walked around campus.  There were lots of cute girls ooing and awing over the cute boy and his little backpack.

Anders loved being the center of attention.

Debbie, Pam and Anders were gone all day.  They left around 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until bedtime.  John said he was starting to miss Anders.  Gus said 'Anders who?'

Fun with Debbie and Pam

I got so behind on blogging lately that I opened my pictures to look for something else and discovered a HUGE file full of pictures from Debbie and Pam.  I'm thinking the next adventure needs to be Katie, Debbie, and Pam and leave the boys at home with dad.  I have a feeling the boys would protest.  We might have a riot on our hands.

 Isn't this a cool picture?  I'm sure the boys just LOVED all of the boats.

 John has a need for speed.  I have a need for him to sit still.

 Where there are hula hoops there is John.

I know these next few pictures were taken at the zoo.

 The boys had a great time painting their faces.

 No surprise that Gus decided to use red.

 John is really concentrating.

When they were done they looked something like this.  They were pretty proud of themselves.  It's no wonder the boys have so much fun when they are with Debbie and Pam.