Miscellaneous November

I transferred all the pictures from the camera to the computer today, and I noticed that we had a few random pictures of the boys throughout November that would make a good blog post.

Ronan has been in swimming lessons for the past few months, so I finally got him his own pair of goggles. He decided to test them out in the bath before bringing them to his lesson. I searched online to learn different ways of de-fogging them, but nothing is working very well.

Art time at the McLoughlin household. Latham's smile makes me smile; I love how it makes his whole face light up.

Ronan's painting technique has changed over the past few months - instead of covering the whole paper in one solid color, he is branching out and using several different ones. That's progress, in my opinion.

Bottle time for Latham (soy milk since he has a dairy sensitivity). I had to get a picture of this since very soon we are going to be done with bottles. Our goal is to have them finished before the new baby comes in January, but it makes me sad since he loves them so much. Every morning the first thing he says to me is "Boddle" and when I start to make it he giggles in anticipation.

This picture cracks me up! Ronan is dressed as a pilgrim for the Thanksgiving Feast that was held last Wednesday at his preschool. Families were invited, so Latham and I joined in.

Ronan, Latham and I enjoying the feast. Many foods that were present at the original Thanksgiving were present at the preschool Thanksgiving feast but in slightly different forms - pumpkin muffins (pumpkin), cornbread and popcorn (corn), deli cold cuts (turkey), etc.

After the meal (and a few false starts), the class sang a Turkey song. I got the song on video so that in the future we can look back and marvel at how young the boys once were. In the picture, Ronan is in the red shirt, third from the right.

Latham turns 2 years old!

On November 16th Latham turned two years old! We celebrated with two parties, a family party and a friend party. The family party was held on the 14th (the day after Collin got back from a three-week trip to Japan), and in attendance were my parents, sister Delta, and Collin's father, sister Teresa and niece Lauryn.

Auntie Delta supervised the decorating of the cupcakes. Latham wanted to eat a cupcake rather than decorate, so before adding the sprinkles to the second one he took a big bite out of it!

Ronan got in on the decorating action too - everyone knows that the sprinkles are what makes the cupcakes taste so good!

The birthday boy and Papa.

It was really special to see Latham during the party - he knew the day was just for him.

He blew out the candles like a pro and wanted them re-lit several times so that he could do it again and again.

The presents waiting to be torn in to. I added this picture because of the big belly visible on the right - I don't know if that was intentional by the photographer or not, but it makes me giggle.

Mommy helping the birthday boy open one of his gifts.

Pretty soon the present action moved to the floor where Ronan was more than willing to help.

"Ronan, you let Latham open it!"

On Wednesday the 17th we had the friend party at our house. Although there were 4 Mommies and 9 children, I didn't get any pictures of the party-goers.

I made another batch of chocolate cupcakes...

...and Latham knew what to do!
(Notice the preggo belly on the left!)

It was a pirate-themed party, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the decorations either...oops!

Latham and I had an interesting conversation one day when talking about his birthday:

Latham: Mine birfday!
Me: Yes, it's your birthday.
Latham: No, mine birfday!
Me: Yes, it's your birthday!
Latham: No, mine birfday!! (He is getting really agitated at this point)
Me: Yes, it's Latham's birthday!
Latham: (Happier now) Mine birfday!

Trick or Treat!

On Halloween my sister Delta and I took the boys trick-or-treating around Fairhaven. Most of the merchants along the main street participate and it's neat to see all the ghosts and goblins (and fairies, pirates, and different animals, too).

We started at Fairhaven Pharmacy which takes pictures of all the children infront of this backdrop free of charge. I snapped a few of my own because it'll be a few weeks before I can go pick up the pictures they took.

Starting down the street - it took Latham a few minutes to get the hang of things, but before I knew it, he had it down pat...it doesn't take kids long to learn when the activity involves candy!

Auntie Delta came down for the day to help me out. Taking a toddler and a preschooler trick-or-treating by myself while 29 weeks pregnant is insanity!

Ronan showing off his stash.

The boys listened really well, and after an hour and a half we were ready to pack it in!

Delta and I also took the boys out to trick-or-treat around our neighborhood in the evening. Latham was done after a few blocks, so she took him home while Ronan and I did another block or two.

We hope you had a great Halloween!

Stoney Ridge Farm

Every year I take the boys to Stoney Ridge Farm in nearby Everson. It's a pumpkin patch and apple farm, and they have lots of fun autumn activities to do.

This year, for the first time, they had barrel cars, so of course the boys wanted to go for a ride as soon as we arrived!

The boys are in the 5th and 6th barrels.

Then we took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Latham loved the tractors and began pointing and yelling, "Tractor, tractor!" when he saw them.

A fun photo opportunity in the pumpkin patch.

Latham couldn't quite reach to put his face through the hole, but Mommy got a picture anyways.

Checking out the animals -goats, piglets, lambs, chickens, etc.

The bunnies were soft and warm.

Our traditional picture that I get of the boys every year. It only took five tries before both of them were looking at the camera!

We finished off the day with mini donuts and fresh (cold) apple cider.

What a great day at Stoney Ridge - Ronan is already asking when we can go back!

Ronan's Preschool Harvest Party

The last school day before Halloween, Ronan's preschool held a Harvest Party. Parents and siblings were invited, so Latham and I participated in the festivities.

The first activity was cookie decorating. Each child received two cookies, a bowl of frosting and several choices of decorations.

Latham kept himself occupied at the train table (surprise, surprise!).

Almost finished his masterpieces.

After cookie decorating, it was time for making scary hands...

...and then some fun games!

A group picture of (some of) the preschool children - this was the "funny faces" shot.

The Harvest Party at First Presbyterian

Our church held a Harvest Party before Halloween, and encouraged the kids to come dressed up in their costumes.

Ronan was the Dragon, Mushoo, from Disney's Mulan.

Latham (the monkey) was extremely excited to participate in the games; more than once he disappeared and I had to go looking for him.

The fishing game.

Latham took a turn at the fishing pole.

By far, the boys' favorite game was the penny toss, although they didn't quite understand that they were supposed to stand back and toss coins into the cups. They hovered right above and dropped them in.

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy!

The night before Daddy left for a buisness trip, he and the boys carved the jack-o-lantern. Ronan remembered from last year, and was really excited to get in on the action.

Cleaning it out.

After transferring the pattern, Daddy handled the sharp tools while Ronan gave instruction (as usual).

Like Father, like Son!

Latham wasn't really interested in what was going on, he'd rather play with the new train that Auntie Delta gave the boys.

Ronan wanted me to take a picture of the "guts" of the pumpkin.

As everything in our house revolves around Thomas the Train, it was natural that the jack-o-lantern would too!