THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

So, we are down to single digit days until Zach and Dan are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am slowly, but surely completing my "to do list" before the guys arrive. Ben has been such a big helper. He picks anything up off the floor that I can't reach. :) He also helps put laundry into the washing machine. And, helps throw away trash. He is going to be the greatest big brother. On Saturday, my friend Marion has offered to come over and help me tidy up our bathrooms and vacuum! I am so grateful for all of the love and support we have received while Dan has been deployed. We have made a chain link to countdown the days until Daddy returns. Ben keeps saying, "My friend Daddy coming home soon!" Ben is excited to play football with Daddy, and all of the other "manly stuff" that Mommy just doesn't compare to Daddy's skills! A few days until I kiss my sweet pea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

With our "family carver" out of country this Halloween, we decided to take a different spin on pumpkins this year. I painted Baby Zach a pumpkin. And little "Picasso to be" painted his own. Every time I asked him to look at the camera, without looking up once or pausing from his master piece......he would say, "Mom, I'm painting a pumpkin!" How is it possible that our little munchkin gets cuter every day????? Not the greatest for painting pumpkins. But they came in handy for our secret project for Daddy! The greatest invention ever! Do you mind Mom? I am working on my art........ All I see in this picture is a character from "Lord of the flies" or a lost boy from Peter Pan..... He kept pointing to his creation and saying, "MY PUMPKIN!" He had so much fun. After everything was painted, little monkey was taking a bubble bath. I asked him if he had a fun time painting. He said, "Yah Mommy, you had fun too?" Yah lit...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE GHOULY GARDNER'S! First pictures are around our house on Halloween ~ Halloween lunch time....yup, still in our pj's........ :) Ben could watch this movie 4 times a day if he had his way! Today we watched it twice! Ghouly green broccoli and orange cheesy macaroni ~ TRUNK OR TREAT ~ Our church Hallowen party. First we had a chili and soup dinner. Benjamin was clapping with some music that was playing in the background. His favorite Halloween song is, The witch Doctor sung by David Seville and The Chipmunks. Mr Incredible, Horsey, and Penguin ~ Benjamin with his buddies Brycen and Kael ~ Ben enjoyed handing out candy and popcorn balls more than trick or treating ~ Benjamin with his favorite babysitter Natalie ~ BACK AT HOME - CANDY TIME! Time to dump his Thomas the train candy holder and see what he got! Yummy! His favorite...dum dum lollipops! Airheads rule! While sorting the candy, we watched a classic Halloween movie ~ My attempt at getti...

After Cracker Barrel, we headed to Corn belly's corn maze and pumpkin patch. At first Ben was cold and just wanted to ride in his wagon. This Hawaiian born boy was not so sure about the cold weather. But then he warmed up as he met a pumpkin princess and received some candy. He rode a cow ride all by himself. It was pulled by a tractor and took him around the pumpkin patch and corn fields. The whole ride he was chatting it up with the boy sitting in front of him. An actual pumpkin launcher! Because of how loud it was, Ben said, "FIREWORKS!" An actual John Deere tractor pulled our hayride! YEE HAW! Festive Grandma Reva on the hayride. At first Ben was not enjoying the hayride. I can't blame him. Sitting on my prego lap can not be comfortable. I was also pretty unstable. In this picture, I was feeling like I was about to topple over. Some of the potholes in the pumpkin patch were not pregnant lady friendly. Grandma Reva saved the day. She warmed up his hands and...

We picked up Ocean Grandma from the airport. Then, headed straight to CRACKER BARREL! I took some really great pictures of my Mom and Ben just being cute together. I missed my Momma, and Benji missed his Grandma. We love Ocean Grandma! Let the spoiling begin! Grandma Reva bought Ben a real harmonica! And boy can he play!!!! He played all the way from Cracker Barrel to the pumpkin patch we headed to.