Happy Halloween

Miles has been looking forward to Halloween since he got his rain boots last week. He doesn't really know what Halloween is, but he knows he gets to wear the boots and that's all that matters. He's been saying "I'm a fireman, I save people" all weekend.

We had several stops.....First was his party at school. I told him this morning that I was coming to his party & then then got to put on his fireman outfit & boots. I made the mistake of bringing it in, which totally distracted him from the party. So I moved it outside his classroom door. If you look out the window, you can see the orange bag that has his costume & boots in it. It took some coaxing to get him away from the window.

He finally got over the costume and decided to get in on the fun....

We didn't carve pumpkins at home (bad parents)....he was fascinated by the pumpkin. Here he is with Mrs. Nancy, the lead teacher in his room...

He wore his glow in the dark "I Love My Mummy" shirt today, which has been a big hit with him the whole month. It's always a good day when he gets to wear it...

Miles and Ms. Lee Ann, or Ms. Nee Nan as he says. She is the other main teacher in his room. He absolutely loves her. She says he is her shadow all day...wanting to know what she's doing...where she's going...come play with him...on and on and on. She is so patient and sweet with him...


After the party, it was time to Trick or Treat at the businesses downtown. We met several friends at the library, which was the starting point. Here's our little fireman...

Miles and Avery Reece...



Miles and Aiden...

And he's off...we didn't really practice saying trick or treat, and he didn't really grasp it. Halfway through he started holding up his pumpkin and saying "I want more". Must work on this before next year...


Along the way we found our little friend, Amelia...





Next stop was Fall Fest at my work. I only have one picture b/c I stink at taking pictures inside. He loved playing the games at Fall Fest...

Our fourth and final stop was Trunk or Treat at church. The first trunk was set up as Angry Birds. From that point on, all he wanted to do was go back to Angry Birds. It was really cute.

Miles and his cousin, Abby...


Miles and friends, Ethan & Caleb...


This trunk was all decked out with a spot to take pictures. This is probably one of my favorite pics from the day...

Whew....I'm exhausted. It was totally worth it to spend the afternoon with Miles. He enjoyed every minute of it.

The Day Went Something Like This

8am: I left for work, leaving Miles & Darrin at home b/c Darrin was taking Miles to get his hair trimmed at 9am & then to daycare.

8:27am: I get a text from Darrin saying that they are going to stay home all day and have a Daddy & Miles day.

9am: Hair cut & lollipop



9:30am: Rented the Lion King. Darrin wanted the Smurfs but he was vetoed.

9:45am: Go to Rural King to get free popcorn & rain boots to go with his Halloween costume. Terrible picture quality, but he loved the boots. He wore them all day including with his pjs.


10am: Watch the Lion King. Miles sat beside Darrin for over an hour glued to the movie.

11:20am: Nap time b/c he couldn't stay awake any longer.

Afternoon: They played golf outside in between the rain & watched more of the Lion King.

5:15pm: I called Darrin to tell him I was running a little late. He told me to hurry home b/c apparently their time together had come to an end. Miles was super fussy.

5:20pm: I came home to a happy little boy, tired husband, and a yummy dinner....grilled chicken, baked beans and corn.

6pm: Darrin left for practice. Miles & I enjoyed the rest of the night together. He took a bath, we played trains & read books.

7:45pm: He put his rain boots on to walk to bed. I asked him where he wanted to put them while he slept. He placed them neatly right next to the stool that he uses to climb onto his bed so that they would be there in the morning.

For a child that seems to thrive on quality time, I'd say his cup runneth over. What a great day for both of them. Darrin- thank you for being such an awesome Dad.

Wordless Wednesday

My Kind of Sandbox

Miles loves to play in the sandbox at school. They had a small sandbox on the playground for his last classroom. In his current classroom, they have a giant sandbox. He loves it. Me....not so much. I just can't stand the sand in his hair...shoes...diaper...so I've always deprived him of sandbox at home.

Then I saw a neat little sandbox on Pinterest. It's just a rubbermaid tub with some sand that he can play with, but can't sit in and wallow around in. Perfect. I also love that you can put the top on at night so it doesn't get wet and yucky.

Darrin was hiding golf balls and then Miles would find them....


Win, win on this one. Thank you Pinterest.

More Firsts

We experienced two more firsts with Miles this weekend. He slept in his twin bed for the first time last night. He did great! My mom and I are going to paint & decorate the room over Veteran's weekend, so I'll post pictures of his new room when we are finished.

The other first....Miles played outside in the backyard by himself. Granted, we never took our eyes off of him, but he played by himself nonetheless. At first, he didn't know what to do with the freedom. He kept looking back towards the door as if he doing something wrong.

He came in and out a few times to get random toys. Once he kept talking about a bug and I thought he was asking for water, but as it turns out...he wanted a fly swatter. After a lot of work, he came inside with this massive bug. To my dismay, I saw him pick the dead bug up numerous times with his hands instead of scooping it up. I had to remind myself that it was just a bug and that's just what boys do.

He just wanted to throw it away like I do when I swat flies in the house.

He also did a lot of "work" with his Handy Manny tools...



At one point, he tried to order a cheeseburger through the window....maybe I need to re-evaluate how much we eat fast food. I didn't think it was a lot, but obviously it's too much.

I was reassured when he told me that he was cooking chicken on the grill...

...and here he is saying, "I make peas for YOU!"

He also chased Mack around the yard a lot.

We enjoyed watching him play by himself. He loved being outside and the independence of it. The bed was a bigger milestone for me, and playing outside by himself was more significant for Darrin. Both reminded us how fast he is growing up. We are loving every second of it.

Daddy Hammock

This is one of Miles' favorite things to do. It's called the Daddy Hammock. Those are Darrin's legs propped up with the blanket taut enough to be a hammock for Miles. He thinks it is so fun. A lot of times, he will just sit in there and play with toys.


He is very much a creature of habit. He always has to have Johnny Tractor and Spencer (the train) in the hammock with him.

It's so funny how he associates things.....such as the Daddy Hammock with Johnny Tractor & Spencer. Several months ago he wore a big bib that completely covers him. I used it b/c he had just taken a bath and I didn't want him to get messy while he was eating a donut. Now, when I put that bib on him, he asks for a donut. He says and does things like that all the time. His memory amazes us....and I always get nervous, yet have to laugh, when he shows his OCD/creature of habit tendencies b/c that is so definitely me.

Wordless Wednesday

My Little Encourager

The other day on the way to daycare I was quizzing Miles on spelling his name and counting to ten. He consistently spells his name now, but counting to ten is here & there. On this day, he happened to do it perfectly. I told him that he did a great job & that it was perfect! He said, "Momma you do it." So, I counted to ten....perfectly, I might add....to which he replied, "Good job Momma." He must have been so proud of me :)

Cousins Sleepover

Miles spent Friday & Saturday with his cousins, Olivia & Ava. He LOVES them and was so excited about going. We talked about it all week. Friday afternoon they played outside. Aunt Crystal and Uncle Steve have chickens and dogs, which makes them very cool to Miles.

He is trying to catch "Red"...

Loving on Ava...

Olivia & Miles share a love for animals...

Friday night he had the option to sleep with Olivia, but he said "I sleep by myself". So, he slept in a pack & play in Aunt Crystal & Uncle Steve's room. He slept until 8am on Saturday morning. I'd love to know how that happened since his internal alarm clock goes off between 6-6:15am EVERY morning at our house.

After breakfast, they went fishing. Miles has been most excited about this. He's been practicing with a clothes hanger all week saying that he was fishing.

He caught his first fish!

This is one of my favorite pictures ever b/c I know how proud he must have been after looking forward to it all week.


Saturday afternoon, they went to a pumpkin patch. They had a petting zoo and apparently Miles was fascinated by the camel.










He was so excited to see us when we picked him up that he almost cried. It melted our hearts. I am so happy that he had such a fun weekend. On the drive home he was saying "fun, fun....happy, happy....excited". What fun memories for him. Thank you Crystal & Steve.