The Sleepers

The Tuesday morning after Halloween, I was greeted with a phone call from Jon saying I needed to pick him up from the ER in Albany, MN. (The short version of the story is that Jon was headed up to Grand Forks with co-workers for a business trip and ended up fainting in the back seat.) I packed up the kids as fast as possible,which seemed to take forever, and headed out to get him. We picked him up and brought him home. He opted to then stay at home the rest of the day to recuperate. 

All that back story just to get to the point that: Brianna loves her daddy! Since he was home she wanted to be right by his side, even so much that she didn't want to take a nap.  I even tried to persuade her to come outside with me to give daddy a break to rest. Instead, she just snuggled in beside him on the couch (which she never does) and laid her head down. 

She didn't last long, so I thought maybe if Jon went in the bedroom instead she might forget he was here. But... once he did, she kept walking over to the door, tapping it and saying "daddy". It was really cute!

Animal House

Halloween was a fun filled day... and I mean the entire day! While trying to work out logistics with my sister and how we would arrange it so they would be in our neck of the woods, with the least amount of driving, in order to go trick-or-treating at her work and Jon's then around my sister's neighborhood, we came up with this plan...

Around 8 am, my brother (in-law) dropped of his two boys at my house to play for the morning/afternoon before trick-or-treating. The kids played so well together, you could barely tell that there were more kids than usual in the house.

We started with a blanket fort, but quickly moved on once it was confiscated by the dog. Silly Eko! He jumped on the ottoman while the blanket was still lifted, fell into the crevice and never moved.

Oliver found a little bag in with the toys and started packing it with necessities for "school". You know like a wallet, a few beaded necklaces, some play baby bottles and the paint brush Brianna is holding. He asked Brianna to play and be the teacher. Here they are walking to "school" (the ottoman). Don't you just love little kids imaginations!

Lunch was good too. It felt like an assembly line getting their plates all ready with food. They even ate (most of) it, which was a bonus.

After lunch, my sister was done with work and came to my house to wait for naps to be done. Then the six of us piled into our car and traveled around town to get some goodies and show off our homemade costumes. We went for a woodland creatures theme. Oliver was a fox, Lucius a skunk, Brianna an Owl, Carl a Raccoon, and not in any of my pictures, Casen was a squirrel. My sister and I even got into the spirit by being the trees. It was a subtle costume but it worked!

You can see the leaves on my hip!

After T-O-Ting at our respective works we headed to my other sisters house for dinner and MORE T-O-Ting. Brianna didn't make it that far and started losing it so we went home and she crashed, but we had plenty of candy already and didn't need more anyway.

Our plan worked out pretty well and we had (like I said) a fun filled day.

After a Bike Ride to Minnehaha

With it getting darker out sooner, plus getting colder, it's been hard for Jon to take Brianna on many more bike rides. But the last weekend in October, he was able to take her out on a one way journey to Minnehaha Falls (roughly 18 miles). If I recall correctly, we were struggling with taking a nap, so Jon got all ready, packed up the Brianna and headed for a bike ride. She will usually fall asleep, or at least just relax and take it all in. It's seems like it would be so peaceful in that Burley!

I then had some time alone with Carl, so I just sat on the couch and did nothing! It was very nice. I tried to nap but quite time is just as good. We knew it would get too dark for a return trip, plus close to dinner time, so I pack up and met them at the park. We took a short stroll around before deciding we were all getting hungry and needed to find dinner. Here are a few videos we took while out there:

The day before, she was helping Jon with the leaves so she saw this pile and headed straight for it!

Brianna has attempting jumping, but this is the first time I've caught her jumping with both feet. Not sure what prompted it, but she gets some air!

With Head Held High

Carl is doing an amazing job of holding his head up - and has been for a long time now. I feel bad some days for not blogging more on just him specifically, but you get the time you get and do the best you can with it. Like right now, Brianna is actually taking a nap, A NAP! She actually fell asleep today, something of a rarity the last few days.

BUT back to updating on what's new with Carl, four months have already flown by. Everyone tells me that he looks so much like Jon, right down to his hair style - long on top, short on the sides! He is also a very generous smiler. He loves to watch his sister and will frequently laugh at or with her when she gets right up close to his face. She thinks it's hilarious when he smiles so she does more to make him laugh and it becomes a silly circle. He grabs and holds onto things with ease and has even figured out how to pop his pacifier out of his mouth in order to get at his hand. If you've held Carl at all you know he prefers to stand than sit. Try bending him in half and he stiffens as straight as a board. He loves to be cuddled and held in close (unlike his sister). He is sleeping well, but not quite all the way through the night; some days he does and than others he wakes up early. I truly can't complain though, I've heard of worse circumstances. We are so thankful for you Carl and love you so very much!

Carving those Great Pumpkins

Four pumpkins, one for each member of the family, sat out front until we found the time to carve them. In fact, one still stands untouched - Carl didn't say how he wanted his carved. But while Carl napped, Brianna, Jon and I took on our respective pumpkins with predetermined carving designs. I'm not a huge fan of the slime inside pumpkins but I tried really hard not to make any sounds or gestures to suggest my discomfort as little ears have a way of hearing then mimicking (I think Jon had to remind me a couple times). Brianna did really well, except that she tried to pick up the seeds one at a time out of the pumpkin and since they were so slimy, they kept slipping out of her hand and onto the deck. She just couldn't get enough of those pumpkins!

After the sun went down we all went outside to light them and enjoy the flickering designs. Again, Brianna was fascinated by them. A week or so ago now, when I went to throw them away, she had a fit that I was taking and throwing them away. I had just taken all the candles out and set them aside when I saw her going over, getting the candles, taking the lids back off and putting them back inside - she can be so particular sometimes. We still have the one pumpkin left out on the back deck. I think it's just a matter of time before we'll need to get the carving tools back out and do it all again!

The Great Pumpkin Search Begins!

About a month ago now, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa B's church/house to see Jeff give the message at church then to have lunch with the family. After Brianna woke up from nap, we all opted to get outside and go to the pumpkin patch. It was a little windy, but it was fun to try and find the "perfect" pumpkin. Brianna loved all the pumpkins, but wasn't as fond of the vines. She wanted so much to follow everyone into the patches but the silly vines caused her to hesitate and then to want to be picked up. It was nice too, because her cousins gladly helped in the carrying category (she loves her cousins and the attention she gets from them).

The time flew by while we were there and after we had checked out, it was already time for dinner... so off we went to grab a bite to eat. Thanks everyone for a fun day!

She would have carried a pumpkin around the whole time if it wasn't so heavy for an almost two year old, good thing we had a wagon.

 Thanks Shelley for sharing your pictures with us!

Seven Years

On October 9, Jon and I celebrated 7 years of marriage. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband; he does so much for me, as well as for Brianna and Carl. I love you Jon and thank God for bringing you into my life, for giving us 7 years of crazy adventures, and look forward to all the adventures to come.

We started the day by becoming members and being welcomed into our new church that morning, then driving down to the Arboretum to enjoy the beautiful afternoon with my sisters and their families. It was a little chaotic since our time walking around coincided with regular nap times, but for the most part, everyone survived without too much whining.

We were able to get a few more family photos taken at the same time. Here are a few fun shots my sister captured of the BonFam!

 

Crafty Refuge

With Jon gone this weekend and Grandma and Grandpa Bonkoski graciously taking Brianna, I had a little extra time on my hands to do... well, whatever I'd like. I was able to do things that seem so challenging when you've got two little ones to chase after. One thing I've been wanting to do for a while now is make a few custom shirts for B and C. I started fabric painting shirts when Brianna was little, after I ran across this blog. I think it is so much fun and very relaxing. It takes patients to get everything cut out perfectly, but it's worth the time spent. Here's the three shirts I worked on this weekend. Once I do one, I just can't wait to do more!

While cleaning out a few crevices in my mom's house, my sister ran across some stencils. How fun is that dinosaur??! I was able to use the cut out and it's negative space - waste not, want not! 

Half Dozen to One (Shoe)

My sisters were more on top of taking the "Big Shoe" picture sooner than I did (Carl's almost four months old), but I can now say that number six is completed! Carl was a very good sport and even gave me a few smiles. It's simply amazing - as I was taking his photos, I kept marveling at how similar yet so different and distinct he looks from Brianna way back when. Brianna just had SO much hair!

It's a little silly, but it will definitely be fun to look back on... enjoy!

The shirt Carl is wearing is a onesie that I painted on to announce our pregnancy to our families. The date ended up being a little off, since he came five days early, but I'm not complaining!

With our photo's taken, the shoe can now go into hiding.

Interested in seeing the other baby Big Shoe photos - Check out the other five!