Pumpkins, cornstalks, ghosts, and more pumpkins

Last Saturday after sitting around for the first half of the day (well Lars and Ashton went grocery shopping I guess)...we decided to go get some pumpkins and cornstalks to start decorating a little for Halloween. I heard that Zollingers tree farm, about a mile away from us, had some of both. So off we went in the rain. We picked out a few pumpkins and a couple bunches of corn stalks as it started hailing on us! Then we went to the craft store and got a couple other decorations. Ashton is just SO into Halloween this year and comments on every pumpkin or decoration he sees, so I wanted to get a few things for our house that he could look at all the time. So we came home and put those things up, then I decided to make some ghosts to hang from our front lights...Ashton thought that was pretty fun too (and I think they turned out pretty cute!).

Then on Sunday we were pulling into the church parking lot and saw a truck full of pumpkins that someone was giving away for FREE!

Since we were amazingly a few minutes early we pulled over and Lars grabbed a few more including this GIANT one.

We even got some green ones. It was snowing that day when we got home to unload them! It was kind of a cold nasty weekend, but fun to get started decorating. Ashton loves the big pumpkin and thought it was pretty fun to try to stand on it, until it flipped over backward and flipped him off head first!

Luckily he barely caught himself with his hands before he cracked his head or teeth on the front step!!

About Ashton

Tagged by Cassidy

Name and Meaning: Ashton Jeremy (I think in the baby books it says Ashton means Ash tree settlement, Jeremy obviously after his Daddy)

Age: 3 1/2 (will be 4 on January 6th)

Nicknames: Ashy

Favorite Activities: Depends on the moment...Today he and Lars have built a fort with blankets and our big chair-so he's had a blast pretending it's his house-he even hooked up a pretend tv with satellite! Playing with friends is a big one lately. And just pretending, pretending, pretending with everything-What an imagination that kid has!

Favorite Foods: chicken nuggets, ramen noodles, smoothies, goldfish crackers, MILK, graham crackers, waffles, rice, salmon.

Least Favorite Foods: Pretty much everything else :) He was good about trying lots of things for awhile, but now he's back to his basics.

Favorite Music: He loves Taylor Swift and particularly the song "Picture to Burn."

Favorite Toy: Also really depends on the moment. He still really loves his Lovey...and he always gets back around to his lawn mowers and vacuum. For outside he loves his tractor. And anything that's not really supposed to be a toy or played with. Anything mechanical.

Favorite Item of clothing: He would live in just underwear if we let him. But if he has to wear something he loves pajamas. (his batman, spiderman and incredibles ones that I'm so sick of seeing!)

What makes him Happy: Listening to music and dancing, Playing with friends, being chased and tickled by Lars and me. Definitely just playing with someone...anyone. Like most kids, he just loves attention.

Funny words or phrases he says: Oh there have been so many, but lately he always says differenter (when he is describing something different), and he still can't pronounce breakfast-he says brekfrisk. Oh and I love it when he says "a few whiles ago."

I tag Angie H. with Ethan

& Mandy with Dylan

My date night with Ashton

This past week Ashton has been filling up a sticker chart when we catch him doing something nice (like being nice to Gunnar, playing nicely with friends, not hitting, doing things we ask him to without fighting etc...), so after he put 10 stickers on he earned a night out with me (he would have rather it been Lars) but I was excited to spend a night with just him. So he and I went to the little miniature golf course that is here in Providence and I knew he would love it because it's all decked out in Halloween decorations and "scary guys". He is loving everything Halloween so far this year. And he really likes the really scary looking life size decorations. There is a big dead looking guy at Sam's Club that takes his face off and he'd sit and watch it for an hour if I let him! No fear whatsoever! So after dinner we got dressed in some warmer clothes since it's really starting to cool down at night here and he and I went off on our date. I forgot how fun it was to just be with him like we always used to be. It's amazing too how different he acts when it's just him and me. I had to laugh as we were getting out of the truck when we got there-he says to me "This might be kinda boring Mommy." I don't think he had a clue what miniature golf was. So after we paid and got our clubs and balls, we went over to the little practice area and hit the balls into the holes a few times. He thought that was fun for about 3 minutes, then he decided he wanted to leave his ball and club at the first hole. Oh well-he had fun going from one hole to the next just looking at all of the fun decorations. He decided he wanted his club back when we got to the 17th hole I think-so we went back up and got him another one and he hit the ball a few more times. Then he wanted a treat, so he got a popcicle and a orange pop. A big treat for him since he rarely gets pop. He loved all of the Halloween songs they had playing too and kept dancing. I love to watch him when fun music comes on, because he just can't stop his body from dancing! Oh I love my Ashton and it was so fun to have him all to myself again if only for an hour or so.

Gunnar's 6 month stats

We had Gunnar's 6 month check up yesterday...he weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs. 13 oz. He hasn't quite doubled his birth weight! That puts him down in the 6th percentile on weight!!! For a long time I called him my

"little tiny"...I guess I can keep calling him that. He's 27 1/2 inches long putting him in the 80th percentile on height. That's how Ashton always was, but he was never that low in the weight percentage! And Gunnar looks chubbier than Ashton did at this age.

Oh well our doctor wasn't concerned since he eats so well and is healthy.

He had to have shots again, so that wasn't fun and I ended up getting him a flu shot too and Ashton one since he was there with us. (Even though he was practically yelling in the office "I am NOT getting any shots!") I was surprised that he sat on my lap and got his shot without freaking out too much. He did cry for a minute afterward, but it wasn't too bad. Poor Gunnar had to get 2 in each leg...It was so sad. He's had a little fever from them today, but otherwise they don't seem to be bothering him.

I'm so thankful for our happy, healthy little boy!

Our yearly fall photo shoot

Every year pretty much since Lars and I got married, we've gone up Logan Canyon to take pictures in the fall leaves. I LOVE fall! So tonight we finally got around to doing it with the boys. We were hoping that the colors would still be bright after all of the rain we've gotten the past few days. We found a pretty good spot...the hard part was getting the boys to cooperate. Gunnar was pretty happy for most of them, but we had to bribe Ashton to get him to take a few good ones. I kept trying to get him to sit on the ground in the leaves with Gunnar (since Gunnar can't sit up on his own yet) but he never would. Right before we left we talked him into sitting on this rock with Gunnar in front of him and I actually got two good shots before they'd both had it. After we finally got done we took Ashton to King's (as we had promised) to pick out 1 little toy and a couple of Halloween decorations for the outside of the house. By then Gunnar was starving, so I sat in the truck & fed him while Lars and Ashton went in and picked out some spider webbing and spiders and a little toy gun/phone/keychain/etc... set for $2. Then we were all starving, so we went over and ate at Subway, then came home. It was kind of a fun night! And I was excited that I actually got a few pictures that turned out cute.

Here are some more of my favorites...

Ashton the photographer

Out of town again...

Ashton and Lars weren't home from Price for long before we all left town again. This time to Wyoming. While Ashton was in preschool on Tuesday Lars and I got all packed up, then picked him up and headed to Wyoming (in both vehicles). Lars was going hunting up there and I got news on Sunday that my Grandpa's sister, my great aunt ("Aunt Tom" we always called her) had passed away. She would have been 88 next month. She was a great lady and when she was in good health I have lots of memories of her over at my Grandpa's house when we had barbecues. Ashton got to ride with Lars as far as Woodruff, then he got in with Gunnar and me to travel the rest of the way to Evanston. I thought he would be really upset when he realized he wasn't actually going hunting with Lars and had to come with me-but he was fine. He always loves going to Grandma & Grandpa Harry's house. The funeral service was on Wednesday morning and luckily they just had a little viewing and a family prayer at the funeral home, then we went to the graveside service which lasted close to an hour I guess, then a luncheon. Ashton did pretty well considering he doesn't sit still for too long usually. I'm glad we were able to make the trip and attend all of it. It worked out well too since Lars was going to be hunting all week. We spent some time over at my Grandpa's house again with him and my uncles and my cousin Neil. It was good to see you again Neil-we never see you twice in one year! Thanks also Charlie & Sam for entertaining Ashton again! We spent the rest of the time at my Mom's house. Ashton stays entertained for hours helping her outside with her chores and playing in his little sandbox and on the swing set...so it was somewhat of a break for me. Gunnar was pretty good too besides sleeping. I think I got a total of 8-10 hours of sleep in the four nights we were there!! I don't know if he was just finally catching up last night or if it was all the food I tanked him up on at 8:00, but he actually slept from 9 pm-4 am! He hasn't slept that long of a stretch since he was 3 months old!! I hope it will become an every night thing! We got up yesterday morning and got all packed up and left Evanston around 10:00. I was sooooo tired driving and it rained hard the entire trip. It was such a relief to finally get home. Luckily Lars got home a few hours after we did. He got drenched hunting too...and said they saw a few bucks, but didn't shoot anything.

(Darn!)

Hopefully we'll all be home for awhile. I had thought Ashton and Gunnar were pretty much over the little colds they had last week, but while we were there Ashton's nose started really running again and he was coughing a lot. Now Gunnar sounds like he's getting something again. Grrrrr....

Here are some pictures from our trip...

Gunnar sitting on the porch with Grandma wrapped in a towel since I forgot his blanket!

Gunnar's first ride in the swing! Ashton roasting hotdogs with Uncle Sam on my Grandpa's patio (wearing my sunglasses to keep the smoke out of his eyes)

My cousin Neil and me :)

Gunnar on Grandma's couch

The boys playing the piano with Grandma

Ashton & Daddy's trip to Price

Well Ashton came back from Price last weekend with lots of stories about how much fun he had with his cousins, his Aunt Shelley and with Nana & Papa. He got to carve a little pumpkin with Hunter and Aunt Shelley, went to McDonald's for lunch one day, played and played with Hunter...riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the little swimming pool, playing in the sandbox & one of Ashton's favorite things-vacuuming Nana & Papa's house many times! All the while Lars was hunting (most of the time anyway). Thanks again for having them for the weekend Ken & Nora!