Family Pictures

We went and got family pictures taken yesterday and I'm excited to see how they turn out! These were some pictures I took with our own camera after the photo shoot.

Levi loved throwing rocks in this lake.  It was really hard to pull him away from it.  We are learning he is one determined little boy!

Calvin didn't want me to take his picture (he wouldn't look at the camera) so I felt lucky to get this one eventually. 

Halloween!

Calvin's Joy School class had a little Halloween presentation. It was really cute. There is another boy as well in the group but he's hiding at the moment. :0)

Levi makes a really cute Nana puppy dog!

On Friday we went to a Halloween party for Trevor's work.  We were reminded that we cannot eat fried foods at all anymore (we just had a little bit and it made Trevor and I sick to our stomachs).  They did have some pretty good balloon artists there and I thought it would be fun to request Mickey Mouse because Levi loves pointing out Mickey (and Donald, Goofy, etc.) anywhere he sees him.  We didn't think we would receive such an elaborate Mickey balloon!  It took her a long time to do, but it was really cool to watch her do it!   

Here we are at our ward Halloween party.  Trevor was Peter Pan, Calvin was Captain Hook, I was Tiger Lily, and Levi was Nana.  Not many people got our theme, but oh well, we had lots of fun putting it together. 

Calvin liked the doughnut eating contest.  No surprise there.

Peter Pan and Captain Hook sparring

They also had face painting and Levi got a nose and whiskers.  I'm amazed he stood still while they did it.  I tried earlier and he would NOT let me put makeup on him. 

Calvin insisted on calling us by our character names the every time we were in our costumes.  He called me "Tiger Lily Mommy" or would say, "Hey Peter Pan...."  I'm glad he enjoyed getting into character. :0)

Trevor and I also learned that we can't eat candy anymore (once again, it makes our stomachs hurt).  I still don't know whether I'm happy or sad about that.  I think I'm more happy about it, but I wish I wasn't so tempted by the big bowl of candy in our kitchen.  I think I'm ready for Trevor to donate it to his work. :0)

The Exploratorium and Carving Pumpkins

We decided to start a "good behavior" jar for Calvin where he can earn marbles to put in the jar for doing good things.  He finally filled it so for his reward we went to the Exploratorium in San Francisco last Saturday.  I went there on orchestra tour when I was a senior in high school and I remember it being a lot of fun.  I remembered correctly!  We had so much fun!  Calvin was on sensory overload and couldn't stand to be at one exhibit for too long.  He had to keep going to the next one to see what else there was to do.  We were there about three hours and didn't even get to play with a lot of the exhibits.

Trevor and I were talking afterward and asking, "Did you do this one? No...  What about this one?  No...."  Apparently there were a lot of cool ones we both missed.  Well, we'll have to go back another time.  Maybe we won't take our kids and just go on a date so we can take our time. :0)

 
This picture was taken from the second floor.  It was pretty dark in there, so our pictures are dark as well.

One of the many exhibits.  You push down on it and it makes smoke rings.

This one turned and vibrated to make designs in the sand.

This was a steam vortex (created a tornado out of steam) that Levi loved to play in.

Long pipe tunnel that made fun echoes.

Jukebox

Calvin loved these drums

Yesterday we carved pumpkins (thanks to Gordon and Chrissy for the beautiful pumpkins they grew in their backyard!)  Calvin and Levi had fun, although there is only so much they can do when there are sharp knives around!  They enjoyed eating the toasted pumpkin seeds.

If you are wondering, Calvin fell from the slide a couple days ago which explains the cut on his face.  I guess it comes from being a boy, but I'm just so glad he didn't break anything and we escaped another trip to Urgent Care.

Stop moving so I can take your picture!

Kids don't understand this notion of sitting still for a picture and my kids don't like to sit still for more than two seconds at a time.  We bought a new camera (hooray!) and I still have a lot to learn on how to use it.  It's hard to focus the lens and take a picture when you have a moving target.  These are some of the better ones we got.

Don't touch the camera Levi! :0) 

Levi is Calvin's little shadow now.  Whatever Calvin does, Levi is right there behind him doing the same thing.

Some funny things Calvin has said:
"That'd be good" means "yes"
"That'd be okay" means "no"
After breakfast this morning Calvin said, "Oh no, my stomach is getting bigger!"

Update!!!

Trevor and I have decided to start going on bike rides in the morning to Trevor's work. Levi loves going and FINALLY doesn't mind wearing a helmet! He actually asks to wear it now!

This was an amazing shot I got of my two energetic boys who posed so wonderfully for me for about two seconds.  Long enough to take the picture and then they were off chasing each other and didn't ever sit still again.  This was taken at our public library.

Levi is our little hugger.  He loves to give hugs and we love to receive them!  I should say Calvin also gives really good hugs.

Trevor celebrated two years at Microsoft at the end of August.   He made 24 cinnamon rolls (one for each month) for his coworkers.  Last year he made blueberry pancakes.  I don't know what he's going to do next year.  Maybe french toast?  What can beat out cinnamon rolls?!

Here's a video of Calvin's first day at Joy School!