Sunday, October 31, 2010

Trick or Treat!

We are all exhausted from a busy weekend of Halloween fun! And we have a 100 pictures to prove it!

On Friday we stopped by Mark's NCM Halloween party/contest to check out Daddy and his friends in their Karate Kid costumes! Daddy looked pretty good as Cobra Kai! Check out his sweet moves! His company really goes all out with decorations, candy, costumes, & themes! Nolan loved it all! Heath was a little freaked out by some of the scary things and held on to us with a death grip as we walked through the office!

On Saturday night we headed over to carve pumpkins with Payton and Brady! Heath was exhausted by the time we actually started carving so he went to bed. Next year he'll be able to participate more!

Nolan helped a LITTLE, but wasn't too into the pumpkin carving process...he was much more interested last year. This year, he just wanted to play cars. Brady has too many fun toys!

Mark does a great job carving...my job is to collect the seeds and bake them! Yum!

The Syers family pumpkins

But he sure liked the finished product!

Our Frankenstein pumpkin- Nolan picked out the design! O.k. I "coached" him a little in picking out which ones would look cool...but he made the ultimate decision. He loves watching the lit "Frankenstein" and blowing out the candle!

After carving the kids had a great time playing "Bunga" in the pillows...and if you look really closely you'll see Uncle Wes too!

Daddy made himself Dracula fangs for a Halloween snack with peanut butter, apples, and candy corn. So creative! Then he and Nolan pretended to be Dracula!

Heater rockin' out on Halloween and sportin' his skull shoes! (A gift from Kerri Liu when Nolan was born- Nolan wore this same outfit on his 1st Halloween too!)

Hitting up one of the many haunted houses in our neighborhood!

Nolan had a blast going from house to house trick or treating! He LOVED his costume. And he did a great job saying, "Trick or Treat", "Happy Halloween", and "Thank you"! But he didn't want to do much small talk with the neighbors, after he said his thanks he would say, "Let's go to the next house!" He would have gone all night if we let him!

After trick or treating in our neighborhood, we headed over to Oma & Opa's house. Here are all the kiddos together for a picture! From Left to Right: Nolan, Brady, Ella, Heath, Payton, and Rylan! Cohen was there too, but he was sleeping at the time we took this...he was a "stinky skunk" as Nolan would say!

Nolan and Heath with their crazy Oma & Opa!

I was a DC baseball player!

Now what to do with the buckets and buckets of candy we have...we can't possibly eat it all!
Or will we?! That's a scary thought!

Happy Halloween!

This fireman...
and his Dalmation Puppy...
would like to wish YOU...
a VERY
Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

I just can't get enough...

OF {FALL}!

We have had a LOT of Fall fun this week! Check out the photos to see what we've been up to!

We stopped by a local pumpkin patch in Parker! It was ridiculously expensive just to enter so we illegally trespassed on the outskirts to snap a few pictures instead of joining in on all the fun overpriced activities inside!

SMILE BOYS!


Look at these two! They thought it was so fun to sit surrounded by pumpkins!

Nolan checking out the hay barrel animals!

And later that evening we had some of our own FREE autumn fun at home!
Nolan trying to "help" Daddy rake the leaves. Not sure how much of a help he was, but he had fun trying!

And when raking was just too much work...this is what seemed to be more fun!

Our trees were beautiful shades of red and orange this autumn! Nolan thought it was so funny that the leaves were falling off the trees! It's just so neat to see him really understanding concepts as he gets older! Daddy put him up in the tree to get a closer look!

LOVE this handsome boy who actually wanted to smile for a few pictures this week!

Look what Auntie Mal sent him in his AWESOME Halloween package! Nolan loves Potato Heads, so this was the perfect gift...along with A LOT of candy!

And look what happens when Mommy isn't home! Heath wearing Mark's Halloween costume wig! Silly boys!

My parents also sent the boys a fun Halloween package. My mom made them these adorable bags! So crafty and cute! Grandpa picked out 2 new cars for Nolan and Heath got "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" DVD...and of course...more candy!

The boys have already been wearing their costumes this week around the house on the days that I have been home with them! We can't wait to visit Daddy's work Halloween party tomorrow, carve pumpkins with Payton & Brady this weekend, and trick-or-treat in our neighborhood and at Oma & Opa's on Sunday!

We just can't get enough!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Go DU!

Mark's Oma Bosch has had tickets to University of Denver hockey for years and years. Mark grew up going to every game. Before we had Nolan we went to a few games together, but since having kids it just hasn't seemed realistic to go. We thought Nolan was finally old enough to enjoy the game and atmosphere so we decided to head out to the DU/Wisconsin game last night.

When we first arrived we got to snap a photo with the DU Pioneer!

They have great seats- just a few rows up from the ice. Nolan sat in his own seat for most of the game and watched; pointing out the players, the ice, the skates, the flags, the net, the seats, etc. etc. etc. He talked pretty much non stop!

Heath sat on Uncle Dave's lap for most of the night. He had our entire section watching him more than the game. He waved, smiled, pulled the stink-eye, clapped, jumped, bounced, and laughed the whole time! He is so expressive and personable!

I really couldn't get Nolan to pose for a picture the whole evening. He was entranced by everything going on around him. This was the best I could get of us!

Heath with Auntie Sue & Uncle Dave- he always feels the need to wave at the camera! Sue & Dave were a great help to us with the boys all night. It was so nice to go out with the boys and have some extra sets of hands to care for them! We actually got to relax and watch the game a bit! Although in true Abby form- I did not happen to see either of DU's goals for the night. I wonder what I could have been doing instead? :)

Nolan was fascinated with the zambonies- probably his favorite part of the night. We looked at the gift shop for a little zambonie for him and he was devastated when we couldn't find one. But Auntie Sue bought popcorn instead and all was good in the world again! He said he would ask for one for Christmas or his birthday!

Heath was so tired he fell asleep amidst the craziness! He took a little snooze until the Pioneers scored their first goal pretty late in the game! He was startled awake, but was the life of the party during all the celebrating!

Nolan ate his way through the game, switched seats a million times, read all the numbers on the seats and of course asked A MILLION QUESTIONS about the game and the arena. He is so curious and wants to know what everything is, what everything does, and why everything happens! Once he learned a little about the game he was starting to tell me what he saw happening! And Auntie Sue taught him about her favorite player- Zucker. He would cheer, "Go Zucker, Go Zucker!" He probably knows more about hockey than I do!

Nolan especially liked the net and goalie! And he thought the big net blocking the fans from getting hit by a stray puck was really cool as well.

The game ended with a tie- after a 5 minute overtime the score was still 2-2. So even though we didn't win, at least we didn't lose either! It was a late night for all but the boys did great! We were really proud of them. There were a few hungry moments & a few sleepy & overstimulated whines and cries, but overall it was the first of many fun nights out at DU hockey!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Pumpkin Fest 2010

Last year we went to a Pumpkin Fest at Tagawa Garden Center. Click on the bold link to see our blog about it. Isn't it crazy how much younger Nolan looks! He had so much fun last year that we decided to check it out again this year. Brad, Jayne, and Cohen came with us.

Our first stop was the petting zoo! We visited it twice while we were there. Nolan just can't get enough of animals! He has no fear. He walks right in, pets them, gets bumped by them, checks 'em out, and asks a million questions about them!

Unlike Nolan, Heath is a little unsure of animals so far. Just like his Mommy! Maybe this will change when he gets older, but he held on to Mark for dear life when close to the petting zoo!

Silly Mommy thought these animals were camels! Oops...their llamas! Can't you tell I'm an animal lover?!

Nolan thought this turtle was so cool! He loved looking at his head and watching it go in and out of the shell.

Pirate Cohen!

Decorating Pumpkins- Daddy and Heath's pumpkin ended up with pointy eyebrows and a mustache! Silly!

Nolan opted to just put stickers all over his!

And Auntie Jayne & Cohen created this masterpiece! Pretty funny!

Gettin' tatted up!

Uncle Brad & Daddy got inked too!

Jayne and I also got in on the action and got small tattos as well! Nolan thinks it's really fun that I have a flower on my foot right now!

Last year Nolan was completely freaked out by all things creepy having to do with Halloween. This year he thinks ghosts, bats, witches, and skeletons are such fun! We went to the Halloween store this weekend and he loved pressing all the buttons to make the spooky decorations turn on, talk, and move! Heath on the other hand, does not like them so much!

And here is Nolan's pride and joy! A Spider Man balloon that Daddy so nicely waited 45 minutes in line for! He LOVES it!

So this was just the start of our pumpkin fun! We are looking forward to visiting a pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds, and of course trick or treating!