Happy Halloween!!

My how you've grown...

Each year at the pumpkin patch we've taken a picture of Joshua in front of the same sign. It reads, "This fall I am this tall." It's fun to see how just how much he has grown from year to year.

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday Jeff, Joshua and I went to the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. It was our 3rd annual trip to this patch and each year Joshua has had a favorite thing. The first year we went he wasn't quite walking yet, but he loved riding on Daddy's shoulders. He seemed to enjoy the bird's eye view he got by being so high up. Last year Joshua was enamored with the open space and just wanted to run and run and run out among the pumpkins. And this year it was all about the bounce houses.

After the bounce house, when we went out to the patch to pick our pumpkin he wasn't very interested in choosing a pumpkin to take home. But apparently pumpkins make great drums. Joshua probably drummed on every single pumpkin they had. He was on a mission. It was so funny and I tried to take a quick video of it with my camera and this is what I got. It was really windy, so the sound isn't too great. But you get the idea.




Here are some more pictures from our visit. We had a nice time and, as you can see, the weather cooperated for us.

My bookworm

One of the things I love most about the city I live in is the city library. I just can't say enough great things about it. It's beautiful, clean, has a great staff, fabulous children's section and their story time is top-notch. I know I sounds like a commercial, but I really really love our library.

Since the days have been so hot and humid this summer we've been going to the library about once a week. Joshua loves to pick his own books from the racks and bring them back to Mommy to read. Then he puts those back and gets new books and we read those. We'll typically do this for about an hour and then pick a few to check out and take home with us.

And during my mom's recent visit she came with us and I snapped this fantastic picture of them reading together.

Another toy recall -- Thanks, China!

On the same day Joshua receives his Thomas the Tank replacement trains, we learn of a new recall involving 80+ products. http://www.service.mattel.com/ Ok, we've all known about lead paint being a problem for a long time now. Lead paint should not be an issue! If the paint has lead....don't use it!!!

After visiting the Mattel website, I've learned that since our toys were purchased before May 1, 2007 they are not affected by this recall. But honestly that doesn't make me feel better. I've lost a lot of confidence in toy manufactures over the last few months. Yesterday, Joshua saw me open the package from the Thomas people and, of course, immediately wanted to play with the new trains. I hesitated before I gave them to him. I guess we can only keep our fingers crossed that the toys we're told are safe, are actually safe.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Tonight we took a family outing to Willow Bend Mall. And as it turns out, my son loves window shopping as much as I do. We spent about 20 minutes in front of this window talking to the animals. We said hi to the Doggie, Elephant, Mama Octopus, Baby Octopus, Duckie, Giraffe, etc. It really was so cute, Jeff and I couldn't bear to tear him away from his new friends. But I did...seriously 20 minutes was about all Daddy and I could take.

So, after we said goodbye to the animals, we played for a little while in the play area. Willow Bend has one of the best play areas and Joshua really loves it. It's set up like a table top at breakfast. There is a plate with steak and eggs, chili peppers, toast, grapefruit, spoon & fork....you get the idea. And it's all soft for the kids to climb and jump on. It's a great indoor air-conditioned place to play when we've had enough of the park. I put together a little video of Joshua playing tonight (using Windows Movie Maker---my new obsession.)

A New Playroom for Joshua

Joshua has a new playroom. It's actually just the back bedroom that we've made into a playroom by clearing it out and putting all his toys in there. He really seems to like having his space. Before the playroom, his toys were basically in his bedroom and the living room. And the living room was mainly where he played. Now I have my living room back (horray!) and Joshua has his own space to hang out. Win-Win.

A Night at the Zoo

Last night we packed up and headed to the Dallas Zoo which is one of Joshua's favorite places on Earth! Every time we go he seems to have new favorite animals. This night it was the Giraffes. Their enclosure has an outside part and inside part. The giraffes spend most of the time inside and we had a great view of them though the window. Joshua loved the up close view and loved watching them eat dinner. He also loved the giant tortoises. There were about 5 or 6 of them and they were really active. It really was fun to watch. Usually the turtles are just sitting like rocks, so this really was a treat.

A new blog!

In the words of Grover, HEEEELLOOOO EVERYBODEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I love Blogs! I'm addicted. I spend more time than I'd like to admit reading them, so I've decided to start my own blog. It's time to start spending that time recording my family's life.

One thing I've learned during my short two years as a mother is that nothing stays the same for long. Just as soon as things become routine something happens to change it up! For example, my son has spent the last two nights in his BIG BOY BED! In fact, he's napping as I type this. It's been an adjustment for him, but he's handling it like a pro. "No more baby," he's been saying. I think he likes the autonomy that comes with a bed versus a crib. It's been a little more work for me and Daddy, but it's so cute to watch him make another move toward little kid world and away from baby world. sniff, sniff.