Seeking Sole Mates

Today we had several projects going on, one that I have a picture of to share!  We'll get to that at the end.  First, is a catch up project.  Repainting the old hardware on our doors has been on my list for quite a while now.  So a few weeks ago, I decided to just do it.  I removed all the hardware that needed to be re-painted and put it in my slow cooker.  No, I wasn't in the mood for slow cooked paint... but as it turns out this is a great way to remove paint from old hardware!  I left it on over night, then the next day, peeled off the paint!  Some was a bit stubborn, so I used a stiff bristle brush to nudge it in the right direction.  Sorry, no final product picture, it's not that exciting.

Now on to today... first Evan and I put the lights on our tree, while Cooper watched, amazingly patient, in his stroller (our tree is in a room that Cooper isn't allowed to crawl in).  Evan was sooo excited about the lights!  Decorating the tree will be part of our Advent activities, so we'll do this December 1st!  Then while Cooper was sleeping Evan helped me start the 'Seeking Sole Mates' project.  Again, I found this project on Pinterest.  Here's tonight's final product (yes, it took all day in between our normal chaos and during that small, but fabulous time when both naps sometimes overlap).

If it's not Messy it's not Fun!

We had a super fun and busy day this past Thursday!  After the mundane day to day stuff, we decided to make some art!  So I prepped a little painting project while the boys finished eating their breakfast.  After breakfast the finger painting started!

The final product!

*I found this idea on Pinterest.  Loving pinterest....

After this, I had to bath them in the kitchen sink to keep the paint contained- they loved this too!  The morning was tough to top, but it was pretty awesome too.  After naps, we went to our friends house for a Pie Swap Playdate!  There were 5 mamas (& 7 tots!), we each brought a fabulously homemade pie, tried a bit of everyone's then sent home with all the different types!  Brett enjoyed our share for dinner :-)  I was still stuffed!

August in Review.

Finishing up the exterior painting.  Brett now swears a man-lift is the answer to all exterior house work.

Cleaning up leaves and debris after some tree trimming.  Cooper (napping) in tow.

Evan loves to pick flowers.

Evan and Cooper's first trip to the Frederick Animal Preserve.

Evan requested to hold Cooper- perfect opportunity for some pictures- easier said than done though!  Here's Cooper trying to get Evan.

Playground time after church!

Cooper enjoying the weather!

Another attempt to get a picture of the boys together.  You should see the ones before this...(Cooper screaming...Evan throwing grass...Evan running off...Cooper eating grass....)

Yeah for finger painting!

Storytime!

Hanging out on the porch after Cooper's baptism. 

Our sweet boys!

Evan was watching the squirrels and birds in the trees.

Our little Hokies!!

Oh, this is soo much fun!

Yet another trip to Lowes.  Evan's favorite errand destination- and yes, this is why.

Cooper's First Solids

Cooper started solids a little before he turned 6 months.  He showed a bit of concern and hesitation, unlike Evan who took to solids like a fish takes to water.  Still, Cooper did great, he just took a bit longer to be convinced.  He still does not like bananas, no matter the form.  These pictures just crack me up, so here a few to share.  I promise, we weren't torturing him.

Rock the Vote!

Hope everyone got out there to vote today!

Happy Halloween!

I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped or as many pictures as I would have liked on Halloween, as we were a bit short on time.  We didn't even get our pumpkins carved!  I got back with the boys at about noon, after being away for about 2 weeks.  By the time I got them fed and Evan down for a nap it was 1:30!  I had a lot to do, and of course Cooper wouldn't take a nap...so here he is drawing on the chalk board while I was setting the table.   This actually entertained him for a good 10 minutes, who would have thought?!?  

For our little Halloween gathering, we started with pumpkin dip with apples and vanilla wafers (huge hit!).  I got the recipe from pinterest.  I didn't have vanilla pudding mix, so used chocolate, still turned out great!  Then we had pumpkin soup with homemade croutons- yum!  To drink we had apple cider from our favorite farm, Bro-Kor Valley Farm, and a selection of harvest beer!  That's about all we got done!  

Here are our little ones and friends: Amelia the lion, Ryan Spiderman, Nola the ladybug, Cooper the turtle and Evan the octopus.  All super cute and classically impossible to get a picture with everyone happy and looking in one direction, but to me that makes the picture all that more unique and special.  :-)

Here's Brett, the scuba diver with his little sea turtle.  The octopus was feeling elusive and didn't want to take part.  

 Here are some better pictures with some better lighting!  Cooper's costume was so appropriate- he's crawling and also he still rarely rolls from his back to his belly- only during diaper changes...  Oh this costume was completely free- I just pulled together some green layers, then sewed up a little turtle shell and attached it to the little vest!  Easy peasy!  Evan's octopus costume was also super easy to make!  The base layer is just a set of thermal pjs I got for him previously.  Then I used some old knee socks of mine, stuffed them then attached them to a belt with safety pins for the legs.  The eyes are just felt that I stitched to a pair of baby pants then knotted on the top.  Definitely not fancy, but I think they looked adorable!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Halloween!  Much love!