Happy Halloween From the King Brothers!

Eli and our neighbor Ben knocking on doors together! 
So Brave! Eli knocking on his first door. He said "trick-or-treat" before they answered the door but he was very polite and said thank you right away!
Fire truck cruising down the street!
Nate seemed a bit bum to put on the dalmation costume again tonight! Look at that sad puppy face!
He rallied though! (there might have been a tiny piece of candy involved) Happy puppy!
Nate got to ride on his daddy's shoulders while we trick-or-treated! 
Halloween brothers! The fire truck and his fire dog dalmation Nate!

This year the boys were dressed as a firetruck and a fire dog (dalmation).

Happy Halloween! What a busy day we had! The boys and I made halloween sandwhich cookies (shaped like pumkins) this morning. This afternoon we got to go to a terrific costume party at The Little Gym (where the boys do classes)! It was such a blast. They had pumpkin bowling, a maze, ghosts, and skeletons and dancing! We loved it! After the party we picked up their daddy and headed home to get ready for trick-or-treating! We met up with our neighbor/friend Ben who lives 2 doors down (he will be in Eli's kindergarten class in a few years) and went around our block. So much fun! 

***I have officially earned my Halloween mama merit badge for making both costumes! 

Halloween Parade at the Champaign Library

Eli (as a fire truck) and Harrison (bulldozer) cruising the library during the parade
Such buddies! They held hands the entire parade!

Eli and I had a special mommy and Eli date this Wednesday. We went to the champaign public library's Halloween parade for 3-5 year olds! Eli was so excited to wear his fire-truck costume! He and his little buddy Harrison loved dressing as big trucks and were the hit of the parade. They were so cute that they made the newspaper (grandparents I have copies for all of you!) 

Picking pumpkins

Eli pulling baby brother in the wagon!
Eli pulling 2 wagons! He is such a strong guy and he felt like the toughest toddler in the world!
Nate loves running around like a big boy! But nothing is better than getting scooped up in a hug!
They guys! 

We had so much fun going to Curtis Orchard to pick pumpkins! (we actually do not have any pictures picking the pumpkins... but you get the drift!). We ended up with 3 tiny pumpkins and 1 medium size pumpkin! We are going to carve the medium one and paint the small ones on Halloween! I love our weekend adventures!

Halloween Decorations

Halloween Ghosts!
Halloween Pumpkins!
Nate with Paintbrushes! They taste great! HE loves to paint as much as big bro!
Mr. Cheesy! So happy to make art!
Ghost and pumpkin fun!
Nate eating as much as painting! 

The boys and I decorated the house for Halloween! We had so much fun making pumpkins and ghosts! They love looking at the decorations they made and Sam and I take such joy in having our house just as full of little boy art as possible! 

Eli is such a comedian

At dinner tonight Eli busts out laughing when he sees Nate's entire head covered in beans and Spanish rice. He looks at us and says "Oh God, Nate is a red head now". Joker!

Curtis Orchards pony rides

Eli really wanted Bill the Pony (yep, same one from last year) to run! 

Nate enjoying his first-ever pony ride! He loved it and was a total natural in the saddle! (must take after mommy after all)

We had such a fun afternoon! We went to Curtis Apple Orchards (were we pick apples and pumpkins)! We got a late start so we didn't take the long wagon walk to the pumpkin patch; instead we rode the ponies and went down the GIANT inflatable slide (no pictures of the slide because Eli and I were moving SO fast! We our headed back next weekend for pumpkin picking! 

Nate Funny and other little toddler phenomenon

Nate, Sam and Eli were sitting on the couch today and Nate was being a silly guy! Sam said "You're being so funny Nate". Nate promptly replied "Nate Funny!"

This evening Sam and Eli were counting for hide-in-seek and said 1, 2, 3 Nate then said 4 and 5 and we were floored. So we tried it with him and the boy can count to 8! He is just 18 months old!!!

Nate is FUNNY and SMART! 

The ABC's of being the cutest almost 3 year old ever!

Eli loves to entertain us with songs and stories! He is such a sweet little boy, but boy is his mischievous streak a mile wide! We love that in this family!

Nate and his body part!

Nate is all about body parts these days! The boy will flash his bebo (Belly button) to anyone who will look! (just ask all the lovely people at Meijer who he flashed this week!). He loves to show you his eye, ears, nose and mouth and poke at yours! Nate is such a big joker! Enjoy Nate is all his cuteness!

Happy Birthday Grammy! (Two days late but we have a good excuse!)

Happy Birthday Grammy! We have been trying to get a video greeting from the boys for 3 days and mass chaos has ensued! Those who have tried to capture both boys on film know that it is like catching a glimpse of the yeti! But Eli really wanted to go for it tonight! So Grammy, we love you and Happy Birthday!

Lake of the Woods Park: Toddlers on the Loose

Running like a wild man up the trail, into the bushes and out of sight!
The King Men!
Nature boy Nate! Look at the grin!

We went back to Lake of the Woods nature preserve today to take advantage of the amazing weather we are having! 85 degrees in mid-october! Crazy! We loves this place so much. It is gorgeous! The boys love being outdoors in the "wild" as much as we do! I cant wait until we can go camping, fishing, and hiking as a family! (That will be when I can go to sleep in the tent with the happy knowledge that Nate will not have escaped in the middle of the night!).

Birthday Party Fun

Eli saying cheese!
Nate was trying to shove the birthday boy out of the fire engine. he wanted it all for himself! 
Eli is the youngest of this older set! Look at that happy face! 

We had such a fun morning on Saturday! It was Eli and Nate's friend Harrison's 3rd birthday party! There was a firetruck to climb all over which was so much fun! It was a great day! 

Meet Ramone

Meet Ramone! Ramone is our new double jogging stroller and he is something special! He is one of only 2 double joggers that are big enough for my extra-tall boys to grow in to! He is also wide enough for them to sit comfortably (Yep, we are not small people and we like our space!). 

Best of all, Ramone is a smooth-riding monster truck type of stroller that can handle anything we throw his way! Ramone joined our family on friday during nap-time. I put him together and the boys and I took our first run together to a park 1.5 miles from here! (and by run I mean staggered up a small 1.5 mile hill at a near stand-still pace, before collapsing on the playground and setting the boys free while I tried not to puke). We had a great time at the park and had a great run DOWN HILL on the way home. 

Now, I have just gotten back into running and have been feeling pretty great about my progress thus far! But running with Ramone is something entirely different! People, that is a 33 pound stroller with 69 pounds of man strapped into it! 102 pounds of madness! 

We are heading out for run 2 tomorrow morning! It is such a fun thing for the boys and I to do together! They love the speed and chant "run, run, run" at me! What great motivators! 

P.S. Eli named Ramone after the coolest car in the Disney "Cars" movie!

The Belly Button Boys (Nate calls them bebo's)

Nate loves a book by Sandra Boynton called the "Belly Button Book". In this book, belly buttons are called bebo's and this is what Nate calls his belly button (and Eli's too). 

Nate loves showing off his belly button and exploring under shirts for other peoples belly buttons! Check this out! 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: As Performed by Song Bird Eli