knock, knock

This little Noah makes us laugh, despite his jokes.

Noah: knock, knock

Calvin: who's there?

Noah: apple

Calvin: apple who?

Noah: knock, knock

Calvin: who's there?

Noah: orange

Calvin: orange who?

Noah: knock, knock

Calvin: who's there?

Noah: Isn't it good that I didn't say banana?

merry, still

Perhaps our lack of posts can attest to our busy but wonderful holidays.

The boys managed to:

- spend time with all of their grandparents, aunts, and uncles

- ride horses, 4wheelers, canoes, and airplanes

- get showered with more Christmas presents than we ever planned

- now have a little puppy to call their own

meet Bowser...

... Calvin's latest subject of expertise, Noah's basement-running training partner, and Malcolm's new best friend/archnemesis, depending on the moment.

Happy Halloween

Calvin wanted to carve something "really cool," while Noah giggled uncontrollably when, in his words, he found "the weirdest pumpkin" in the patch.

There is no doubt in my mind that this Halloween will be remembered by Calvin and Noah as one of the greatest holidays ever. Between parties, parades, and trunk-or-treats, they amassed an INSANE amount of candy. They were both very pleased with their costumes and received all the admiration and adulation I'm sure they expected.

The only downside, according to our little Mario, was the masked candy givers. Noah decided it wasn't worth the risk to reach into any bowl of a masked stranger- no matter how yummy their treats might look.

First Day of School/ "I have no other choice"

(Sadly, this is as good as it gets when RB's not home to take the pictures)

Calvin's first day of school was, according to him, "awesome". To celebrate, I let him play on the playground afterwards with a few of his new classmates.

I was busy retrieving Malcolm from his perch halfway up the giant slide ladder, when I heard,

"IT'S A CRICKET!"

"NO, KATYDID!"

"NO, CRICKET!"

Apparently the true identity of a small green insect on the swings was causing problems between Calvin and another little boy.

Later that evening in the car, RB and I overheard Calvin talking to himself. Evidently he wasn't quite over the bug incident:

"I have no other choice. Next time I see that boy I'm going to verse him in battle. It's the only way. It was tied three-three... it's the only way." (I have no idea where the scoring came from.)

Maybe we should start focusing more on Calvin's conflict resolution skills.

Summer, we're sad to see you go.

The lightpole incident.

No 5 year-olds were hurt in the making of this video.

...and the livin's easy

Summertime has been treating us all pretty darn well. Our days are filled with popsicles, bikes, and swimming pools and our evenings, fireflies and basement forts.

RB and I even managed to sneak away for a week while the boys stayed with Oma and Opa. (I'm pretty sure they didn't even realize we were gone.)

The only real source of frustration so far has been the mysterious ball disappearance on the 18th hole of putt putt.