If you give a child a pumpkin...

If you give a child a pumpkin,



He'll probably ask you for some seeds.
You'll cut it open, dig out the seeds, and cook them for him.



When you give him the seeds, he'll probably ask you to make a funny face on his pumpkin.



Looking at the funny face will remind him that it's Halloween.
And since it's Halloween, he'll want to decorate.
He'll make ghosts and draw spiders.




He might get carried away and decorate every room in the house!






When he's finished, he'll need a snack.
He'll probably ask you for some more pumpkin seeds.
And chances are, if he asks you for some more seeds,
He'll want a pumpkin to go with them!

"Where's all the PUNKINS?"

So, you know it's bad when even the North Carolinian farmer can point out Nick's southern accent! We went on a field trip to a farm with Nick's preschool class. He was so excited because they were going to get pumpkins at the farm, and Nicholas and Christian are obsessed with pumpkins. Right at the beginning of the farm tour Nick shouted to the farmer "Where's all the PUNKINS?" He immediately said "Now, that there is how we say it in the south, PUNKIN!" It was such a fun trip!



This is Nick with one of his best friends Maura. She is on his soccer team and in his preschool class, and he just adores her, he talks about her all the time! (Note: they are not holding hands because they have to, but because they want to! Cute!)

When the kids are tucked away... The Daddies will play!

On our beach trip I was amazed at how as soon as the kids were all tucked in bed, the Daddies became kids themselves. I saw grown men, all of whom were either Duke grad or law students, and MD Residents turn into boys as they discussed what would happen if one of them jumped off the balcony of the beach house into the swimming pool below, and using water bottles and side tables to demonstrate it (this is ironic because the very next day I saw Sam scold Nicholas for wanting to throw something off the balcony). They played 500 in the pitch black ocean for an hour, and Merrill even pulled Cami into the pool while she was fully clothed-shoes and all! she was by the way a very good sport about it! Is it possible that boys never really do grow up?

The Beach

One of the best things about living in North Carolina is that we are just 3 hours away from the beach. This is great because you can go anytime of the year, not just for a summer vacation. Fall is perfect for NC beaches because it is still at least 80 degrees outside, and since it's 'off season' the beach houses rent for a lot less. Last may was our first trip to the beach since moving here 3 years ago. Sam always said that he didn't really care for the beach, so we never went. I think he said that because he grew up with Utah Lake as his beach, and well, who can blame him for not liking mud? So this being our second trip now we have fallen in love with the beach.

Nicholas could honestly spend all day chasing waves and playing in the sand and water.



This is about as close to the water as Christian would get without clinging to the had of his father-yeah, he's a daddy's boy.
Christian LOVES looking for seashells, and digging in the sand with trucks and shovels. He especially loved helping sam burry Nick in the sand.



And I could spend all day watching the two of them, listening to the waves, and looking at my boys tiny footprints is the sand.

Tag update...

For 'special' people like Julene, When you get tagged you post the tag on your own blog :)

Tagged!

OK, 7 weird or random things about me...

1. I have an OBSESSION with eyebrows. I can't stand to see people rub theirs backwards, and if I see someone do it, I immediately fix my own eyebrows.

2. There is a bee under a cup on my kitchen table waiting for Sam to get home to take care of it.

3. HGTV is about the only channel I watch.

4. The only TV show box set I own is 'I Love Lucy'.

5. I grew up in Provo, Utah, and I have NEVER been skiing or snowboarding, and I don't ever want to either.

6. I only ran track in high school because there were boys on the team, not because I liked running.

7. One of my mottos in life is 'Ice cream makes everything better.'.

Now to tag 7 lucky people.... Lisa, Lindsay, Amy, Julene, Kara, Kristen, Kate

Safety Week

It has been safety week in Nick's preschool. They learned all about how to dial 911, they had a real fire truck come to school with a fireman to tell them all about fire safety, and he gave them all fireman hats and stickers to take home. They had a practice fire drill, and today Annie, a friend in Nick's class brought her uncle who is an EMT for show and tell. He taught the kids a few things about what he does and listened to their hearts, and had their teacher Mrs. Speight try on a neck brace for the kids. He also let the kids use their muscles to try and lift his heavy EMT bag. Nick had a great time this week and loved all this fun stuff, and by the way Uncle Tyler, When I told him that you were a firefighter and an EMT, you went up at least 100 points on the coolness scale!