Halloween 2011

After a fun filled Halloween weekend, we are finally into November.  We were able to spend Saturday with Grandma Lisa and Auntie Em at the first ever Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo's Spooktacular!  Carson LOVED it.  It will definitely have to become a yearly experience!  Lots of games, activities, animal encounters, pumpkins, lights, and treats!

On "Beggars Night" we spent about 45 minutes trick'er treating and then headed home to pass out some candy.  I don't know which part Carson enjoyed more, collecting the candy or passing it out.  He was absolutely thrilled trick'er treating and informed all those who had mistaken him for Santa that he was actually Papa Smurf!  He insisted on sitting outside to pass out the candy and was so excited when his friends from school came to the door.

Thanks G'ma for making Carson the exact costume he asked for!

Pumpkins!

It was pumpkin carving night at home last night.  Monday night was pumpkin carving night with my coworkers.  When Carson woke up the next morning and saw I had already carved a pumpkin and he hadn't, he wasn't very happy with me.  We were trying to wait until we made it to the pumpkin patch with Emily on Friday, but instead had to go to the store to get one of his own.  It's just a little obvious that the same person carved both, huh?  Happy Halloween! :)

Lost Kitty

When we returned from Omaha yesterday, we found this kitten wandering my yard.  My cat loving friends decided it would be a good idea to pick it up and cuddle it.  God knows I'm no cat loving woman, so I definitely wasn't touching it.  Everyone left, although I think it was hard for some of them to leave without this adorable kitten, and Carson and I went inside and didn't think much about the cat after that.  When we came out to play later that afternoon, we saw that it hadn't left our yard.  Carson was in seventh heaven.  Carson decided the cat might be thirsty so he gave it some water, which led to feeding it bread and milk.  (I have no idea cats eat...!)  In the end, the cat got in our house twice.  It snuck in once and I'm pretty positive the little boy in love with it let it in the second time.  Carson decided the cat needed a place to sleep so I convinced myself it would be okay in the garage for one night only.  Carson got out a beach towel and made a nice little soft spot on top of his stroller.  He was thrilled when he saw the cat was actually laying in it.  When I put Carson to bed, he insisted that I wake him up early in the morning to give the cat new milk, "Old milk is disgusting, mom," and that is just what I did.  He was so excited because he could hear the cat meowing while putting his shoes on.  Much to our surprise the cat was clinging to the top of the screen door.  Carson got it to come down and took it new milk and tore up new bread.  He was excited to go to school and daycare and ask everyone he saw if they were missing their cat.  I have him convinced that the cat's family is missing him and how sad they must be without it.  The cat was not allowed in the garage for today while we're not there.  Carson moved the food and milk outside for it.  I know in his heart of hearts he so badly wants that cat to be there when we get home.  I on the other hand.... don't!  We'll be taking a trip to the vet's office if that is the case!  Ahhhh the surprises in life.  This will definitely be something Carson and I remember for a long time.  :)

Omaha Zoo Weekend with Friends

I have the best friends a girl could ask for.  Five of my best friends piled in a car and came and stayed with Carson and I this past weekend.  It was fun, fast, eventful and we definitely made memories that will last a lifetime.  Thanks for making it so special!

Birthdays

One of Carson's top five favorite things would have to be birthday cake.  We got to celebrate a few birthday's recently... Happy Birthday to all of our family and friends with September birthday's!

First Day of Preschool

I know this is a little late, but I thought some of you might like to see Carson on his first day of preschool.  As I have said in other posts, he is REALLY enjoying daycare and preschool!  My favorite part of the school day is seeing him there... :)  There is an outdoor classroom at school that is so, so neat. We get to go volunteer with other preschoolers and their parents this weekend to help "clean" it up.  Hopefully we'll post pictures from that soon!

Catch of the Day

Emily gets out here as often as she can.  The weather has been so nice though, that we haven't been spending much time at home.  These beautiful fall days warrant for many trips to the zoo!  Last weekend we woke up to sun shining skies and decided to pack a picnic lunch and head to the Omaha zoo.  On our way we called to see if any of the Sobetski's wanted to join us and they invited us to join them on their mini vacation at Mahoney State Park, between Omaha and Lincoln.  It was absolutely beautiful.  What really made this special was we got have take Carson fishing for the first time!  He's talked about preschool friends' fishing stories and showed great interest in doing it.  Carson was interested in every step of the experience from digging the worm out of the dirt cup to reeling in the catch.  I believe his favorite part was touching a real fish.  Chalk one up for another life experience.  We probably won't do much more fishing until Carson's amount of patience grows with age (waiting for the fish to bite was HARD).  As you can see, it was a successful afternoon.  We were able to stop in at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo's Wildlife Safari Park.  If you ever get a chance to get to the Omaha area, I highly recommend driving the twenty minutes out on I-80 to this park.  We were stopped on the trail by elk and bison among other animals.  It was awesome!

Green Grasshoppers

In order to get to know more people in the community, I decided before we even moved here to put Carson in soccer.  They have a soccer club that takes place in both the fall and spring and Carson made the age cut off by just a few weeks!  Carson plays on a U6 team and all of the older kids have taught him a LOT about the game of soccer.  Prior to the season, he could identify a soccer ball, but I don't think he knew much about the game itself.  We've grown leaps and bounds since our first practice!  Carson is even making comments like, "I didn't even do any somer-saults, Mom!"  Carson scored his first goal last night (at least first one in his own teams' goal) and scored another tonight!  I have to say, there is something about Emily being at his games that makes him be more goofy than focused.  He did love getting to have Grandma Lisa and Emily at his game though.  He really enjoys playing with his friends from school and daycare, outside of school and daycare.  We are loving the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful fall weather.  I'll try to be better about keeping this up since the chaos seems to be slowing down at school.  (Knock on wood!)

Glimpse of the Summer of 2011

Catching Up...

Since I was too busy to blog all summer, I thought I'd post a few pictures of some things that went on.  Nothing too exciting...  We had a very busy end of May where we got a trip to the zoo, Elmo Live, circus, and hotel/waterpark stay in.  June seemed to be consumed with pool stuff, t-ball, swimming lessons, and the movie theatre.  I don't know where July went.  After accepting my teaching position at the end of June, July didn't seem long enough to get everything situated for a big move and new job.  We spent most of our days at the pool working and trying to beat the heat.  Now that August is here, it seems as though it will fly by just as fast as July.  We are a moved and pretty settled in, I've started school, and the pool closes this weekend.  Carson made the comment tonight that he wishes Emily could come sleep in his big boy bed with him.  He proceeded to tell me that at Christmas time, she will come live with us for many, many days. I think his count down is on.  Thanks so much to all of you who either helped with anything at the pool, with Carson, or our move.  I think the thing I am most excited about for this time of year is ROUTINE.  We will have one again! :)