Two Little Boys At The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday afternoon, I took the boys to Brooksby Farm in Peabody (which is so close to our house, by the way) to pick out a pumpkin.  They were both jazzed about the idea, and since there were some sinister clouds in the sky, they insisted on wearing their rain jackets and boots (well, Zach didn't want to wear his boots because he "don't like it").

We had fun looking at all of the pumpkins, the different sizes and colors and shapes.  It was hard to find the perfect one, but we eventually did.  There was an antique tractor that the boys (especially Gabe) liked sitting on, steering the wheel, stepping on the pedals, and playing with the gear shifter.  It was very hard to get Gabe off of said tractor, actually. 

I was able to lure him away from the tractor and into the country store to pay for the pumpkin with the promise that we'd buy some cider donuts for dessert.  While the boys ran around the country store causing their typical chaos, I tried to corral our 3 pumpkins, cider donuts, bag of apples, and jug of cider.  Ugh.

While in the store, Gabe spied some wafer cones filled with animal feed, so we bought two cones and headed over to feed the animals.  In my crazed Mommy mode (trying to get our pumpkins and other purchases into the car as fast as possible with two trailing toddlers so that we could go feed the animals), I spied Zach with his cone full of animal feed.  He tipped his cone over, poured out the feed in the middle of the parking lot, and started eating the cone.  Crazed Mommy then ran over, yelling at him to stop eating the cone, telling him that the feed was for the animals.  Crazed Mommy grabbed the cone, tried to scoop up the feed pellets to put them back into the cone, all the while Zach is crying, "me hold it.  Me do it myself."  Crazed Mommy is yelling at him that he shouldn't have spilled the feed, that the food is for the animals, that Mommy will carry the cone from now on, etc.  Seriously?  I seriously lost it.

So, we get to the animals, I hand the feed-filled cone back to Zach, and he pours the feed out onto the ground as soon as possible in order to put the cone back in his mouth.  Gah!!!  But, of course he would.  He's two years old.  To him, ice cream cones are meant for eating.  Right?  On top of that, he'd just visited Gabe's school earlier that day and played with the very same cone (in pretend plastic form).  What was I thinking?  Anyway, my idea of two little boys feeding the animals sort of turned into one little boy parceling out the feed (two pieces by two pieces) to the goats and ostriches (i.e. Gabe); while Zach teased the animals with his empty cone.  He eventually put his cone too close to an ostrich and the ostrich grabbed the cone through the fence and gobbled it up, all to Zach's dismay.

Even though this post sounds harried, we really did have a good time.  And, Crazy Mommy was able to recognize that she was crazy.  So that's always a good thing.

Here are the pics:

baby cumpins

trying to find the perfect pumpkin

I think this might be the one!

I think this might be the one!

I found a baby cumpin just for me!

hugging my baby cumpin

look how tall I am next to the corn stalks!

hmmm... I found some corn

bumpy pumpkins  ("I think they have some germs", said Gabe)

the patch

the gourds (or as Gabe called them, the "cucumbers")

t-razy pumpkin

"cheese!"

Mom's photo op

Gabe LOVED the "beautiful" flowers

the beloved antique tractor

two little boys at the wheel (check out Gabe's concentration as he's changing gears)

Zach's zoning out on the tractor

he thinks he might like it, actually

nope.  back to zoning.

"Hi, Mr. Goat"

this was one hungry goat

the sweet sheep

the aggressive goat

look at Zach's face!

loving the "fresh" goat

the goat would head butt the ostrich out of the way

poor little aggressive ostrich - doesn't he look so downtrodden?

good times!

Two Cute Gabe Comments Today

Gabe helped Zach and me with something today, and I said thank you to him.  In response, he said, "No need to thank me.  I'm happy to help my friends."

Where did he hear that one?  Too funny.

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With the rainy day, the boys and I watched 1.5 movies.  We watched Nemo in the morning and part of Mary Poppins in the afternoon.  I could tell that the boys were movied-out, so we played in the playroom for the rest of the late afternoon and evening.  After dinner, when we typically watch Sesame Street, Gabe suggested that we lay down on the couch and take a rest.  I asked if we should turn on some music while we laid down, and in reply Gabe said, "No.  Let's just have some peace and quiet."

I love that he knows what he needs and wants!  (sometimes at least)

Dinosaur Hats

Our dedicated babysitter, Connie, brought dinosaur hats for the boys last week when she heard that Gabe had had a birthday.  Very, very sweet of her.  Here are the pics:

should have edited the red-eye...gah!

looking up at my dino hat

two little boys in their dino hats

so much fun!

love this shot!

Roaaar!

The End

This Post Is For You, Auntie Auntie

So, last Friday night the boys wanted to be babies (i.e. Gabe wanted to be a baby and got Zach to join him) while they watched Sesame Street.

Gabe had the brilliant thought of running upstairs to get their baby blankets, so that they'd be warm and cozy babies.  He brought down both of their blankets, and for a short while the two of them sat on the couch all warm and cozy.  Within a couple of minutes, the blankets were off and they were running around, but it was super cute while it lasted.

The baby blankets that they wrapped themselves up in are the blankets that Auntie Auntie made for them before they were born.  I think it's wonderful that they've both taken to these blankets so fondly.  I'm sure Auntie Auntie had that hope, as she spent hours making them; it's just so wonderful that they treasure them.  Love it.

we're babies!!

look at how happy Zachie is!

close up!

How Our Morning Started Today....

Lately, Gabe's been sleeping with his door open at night, which means that he runs (with a loud stomping) into our room at any hour of the morning to climb into bed with us.  Usually, J's already left for work, so it's just me and the little man, and we have a snuggle.  A snuggle that he never wants to end.  And then we launch into a difficult morning.

A morning that turns into Gabe doing any or all of the following:  yelling at me to stay in bed, turning off all of the lights on me when I'm stuck in the shower, waking up Zach and then slamming the door on Zach, jumping on my bed, throwing the fan to the floor, stealing my burn sutures, etc.  You get the idea.

This morning, I was thrilled to hear him singing in my bed rather than the usual chaos mentioned above.  As I poked my head out to hear the song, I heard the following:

"Four minutes, four minutes, four more minutes to be fresh.  Four minutes, four minutes, four more minutes to be fresh."

Seriously?

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This song, which I've never heard him sing before, is clearly a spoof on our transition song that we typically sing to remind the boys that they have a few more minutes to play; a song that we learned from early intervention that goes like this:

"Two minutes, two minutes, two more minutes to play.  Two minutes, two minutes, two more minutes to play!"

Lord Give Me Strength Today!!!