Happy Halloween, Mr. Chicken!

Here he is...the much anticipated...eagily awaited...Mr. Chicken!

That's right, Samuel is a chicken for Halloween this year. He is very excited about it too. When we were in Old Navy he saw the costume and went bonkers. He started reaching for it and signing please. Since that is what we went in for, we got it. When we first tried it on him he looked at his arms and stomach and looked at me like something was definaty wrong. He then got a glimpse in the mirror, threw his head back and laughed. It was great. I'm glad he thinks he is as funny as mom does.

Tonight will be the big premier of Mr. Chicken to all his friends. He will be going trick or treating then to a Harvest Party. I am sure we will take plenty of pictures and will be sure to post them soon! Have a great Halloween!

Loving Books

I guess it is a given when you have teachers for parents...but Samuel loves books. He has always enjoyed looking at books and even having them read to him. He will often times now sit for a good 10-20 minutes while you read the same 3 or 4 books over and over. He is even anticipating what is coming up and will say it long before we are even able to turn the page.

As most kids, he does have his select favorites that are well loved. He carries them throughout the house and even chews on them every so often. He has loved a few so much that they have had to be replaced!

Here is his latest, cute trick. He will take a book over to the table, climb up and read. It is very cute, but then is usually followed by him climbing onto the table, not so cute!

Last week, Samuel found daddy's New Testament book on the floor and started to flip through it. He found it very funny and would turn a page then laugh (the good belly laugh kind). He did this for about five minutes. Too bad, Mike doesn't find that book funny or all that interesting!

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Corn Maze

On Friday afternoon, Samuel and I joined daddy's class for a visit to Bob's Corn Maze. As always, Samuel had a ton of fun running around outside. He loved the pumpkin patch and running through the corn maze.

Here he is off the path. He found it very funny to run into the corn and to be chased by mom and dad.

One of his new words is tractor. He was very excited to see this one that was his size. He ran right over and climbed on. He then thought that he could ride the big one!

More Michigan Pictures

Here are a few more of the pictures from our trip to Michigan.

Samuel has become a pro at riding on the airplane. This is the first trip we bought him his own seat and it made a ton of difference. He was able to nap, read his books and play all without driving mom crazy!
At the end of the trip we made our way down to Chicago to stop in and see Aunt Kate, Uncle Dave and Addison. As always, Addison and Samuel loved playing together. Here we are trying to get a picture with both kids and Gram. This was right before Samuel attacked Addison to get her donut. He is his father's son!

We were also able to visit Grandma Doris, Grandpa Vern and Aunt Karen. Here is Samuel with Grandma and Grandpa, quite the ham!

Jon's Birthday Party

Since I didn't have a chance to post these before we left for Michigan, I figured I would do it now. The Saturday before Samuel and I left for Michigan we celebrated our good friend, Jon's 28th birthday. As tradition has it, he always gets a fall themed birthday party complete with apple bobbing. For the past three years, crazy men have decided that sticking their head in a freezing cold bucket of water to pull out as many apples as they can in one minute is a good idea. These year was no different...

All the names went in a hat and one at a time they each took their turn. I think it is luckier if you get to go first. After 10+ men stick their heads in the same bucket of water going after the same apples the water is a bit gross and the apples are a bit beat up and torn apart.

Mike was able to go somewhere in the middle . He learned a bit from last year and this year came prepared with his goggles. I guess they helped because he held the lead after his turn. He was quickly passed by though and ended up finishing fourth. I guess there is always next year!

Being "all boy" that he is, Samuel wanted to join the fun also. Instead of allowing him to go in head first, which I do believe he would have loved to try, he got his turn with daddy's help. He loved it and wanted more!

Bath Time

Samuel looks forward to his bath time each night. He loves splashing around, dumping water over his head and face, chasing Elmo around the tub and most recently playing with the bubbles.

Here is his first ever "Santa Look Alike" picture!


As you can also tell he has become quite a ham in front of the camera. We are starting to get the big "cheese" and the fake smile that takes up half of his face. Oh well, it's cute!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Samuel went on his first visit to a pumpkin patch. Mosaic had our October event at Carleton Farms up near Everett, WA. They had a hay ride, a corn maze, a pick your own pumpkin patch and farm animals to visit. Samuel had a great time.

Samuel loved sticking his face into the animals and peeking at mom. Little did he know how cute of a horse he could be!

Samuel loved running through the corn maze. He was so dirty by the time we finished. Pure boy!

Here Samuel is picking his own pumpkin. Samuel was able to pick out a big one for himself and a little one for Hannah.

Samuel wasn't so sure about the animals. They were great at a distance, but when they moved quickly or tried to "get" him he backed away pretty quickly.

Samuel and Roxy posing for the camera!

SNOW!

Samuel didn't know what to think. As for the rest of us we were not pleased!

Dancing Machine

Here is the little man keeping the party going!

Angie and Caleb's Wedding

As most of you know, we spent last weekend celebrating the marriage of Aunt Angie and Uncle Caleb. It was a great trip home complete with snow!

The wedding was beautiful and went perfectly. Here are a few pictures, more will be available at Shutterfly soon.

Here is the bridal party on Angie's side. (starting on left: Maddy, Tara, Michael, Jenn, Denise, Angie).

Daddy and Samuel enjoying the bubbles! Samuel actually made it down the aisle with a little help from daddy.

Mommy and Samuel partying the night away!

Samuel and Jase

Here are a few pictures of Samuel and Jase. Jase is the little boy that I am nannying for on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays! He and Samuel love spending their days together. They play really well and keep each other busy! Today we were able to go and play out on the deck. There is a sand box, a swing set and cars to push and ride in!

Indoor their favorite activities are playing chase, banging on the piano and racing cars in the window track. We also love to climb up and down the stairs over and over. Thankfully they both have great balance.

Back at it!

Well, our new camera is here! I guess I now have to get back on the blog regularly and keep everyone updated.

Samuel is continuing to amaze us. When we pulled up these pictures today we were amazed that he doesn't look like a baby anymore. He is a little boy! I don't know if mom is really ready for that yet! He is increasing his vocabulary daily. His most recent words are truck, buba (what he calls Bailey), cracker, no (a bit too soon for my liking), and Titi (what he calls Matia).


He is also into climbing on everything. He loves fruit and knows where the fruit bowl is so you can guess where I often find him! He has also learned how to come down stairs and surprisingly has a bit of fear in doing so. He is really careful and cautious of steps now. He didn't even have to fall to learn that one.

Mike has a tough week this week. Five days of teaching, four grad classes and three papers. So far three days of teaching are finished, three grad classes are done and one paper to go! I guess he will make it.

As for me, I am spending this week getting to know Jase (the little boy I nanny for). We have gone to a playgroup and a story hour at the library. He is a sweetheart and is very well behaved. It gives me hope into how Samuel may act in a year!


That's it for now!