Da Da

Below are the boys' Halloween pictures that were taken at school last week. Riley kept telling me a story about Carter falling off a chair while they took the pictures. He does look a tad shaky in the first one and then suddenly he's on the floor in the next two, so Riley's story is probably spot on.

We got home one day last week to a box sitting on our front porch from our dear friends (they are pretty close to family, actually) Katharina & Lucas from Germany. It was addressed to Riley and Carter and Riley could not wait to open it. They had sent gifts to both boys. A dragon toy for Riley (a green one with wings, just like his Halloween costume!) and a soft bunny toy for Carter. I miss Katharina and Lucas so much and am really excited for them to visit us this next summer!

On Wednesday I took my car to get my driver's window re-tinted. They did a great job and quickly for me while I was on my lunch break so I was really appreciative! If anyone needs to get a tint job done or get a bed liner in their truck, let me know as I would be happy to recommend them!

On Wednesday after school, Grandmommy & Haha picked the boys up and took them to Cavender's to have them look at Riley's boots. He got some boots from Grandmommy & Haha last Christmas, but just in the last month decided he liked them enough to wear them (he now wears them everyday and won't wear other shoes!) and not 3 weeks after wearing them, the heel started separating from the boot. Luckily Cavender's replaced the boots with new boots, and Riley is happy. He also got a toy gun at Cavender's. (It's actually a Christmas ornament) and we have had talks this week about hunting. He is so much like his Haha! He told me he hunts birds and Haha hunts fish. He also told me that he only hunts the Mommy birds and the Daddy birds, not the baby birds. When I asked why he didn't hunt the baby birds he told me that's because he is going to help them learn to fly! Sweet boy. We also had a talk about bullets and how they hurt people and how not to aim his gun at any person. Never thought I would be teaching gun safety to him already. He was funny later though when he told me he needed "wallets" for his gun, not bullets.

Carter had a fun time bathing at Grandmommy & Haha's as the boys spent the night there Wednesday night. Chad & I had another lovely evening at home. We watched Iron Man 2 and I made homemade zucchini pizza for dinner.

Riley has been quite a toot this week. Here he is on Saturday hiding behind the screen in our master bedroom. He knows he is not supposed to get back there and yet he did anyway. I know, I shouldn't take his picture, but just look at his face! So defiant, yet cute!

He told me the other night that he did not want to take a bath. I just ignored him and bathed Carter and figured he would come around. At one point he pulled up a stool next to me by the tub and said "Here's the deal Mom. I don't want to take a bath. That's the deal." Oh really? I managed to not laugh and just finished bathing Carter and then at the moment I got upstairs to rock Carter and give him his bottle, Riley informed me he was ready to take a bath. He had to wait and then managed to prolong the bedtime routine so he didn't actually go to sleep until close to 10pm! He just wants everything on his 3 year old schedule and Chad & I are struggling to get him to do what we want when we want. The joys of parenting, huh?

On Saturday Chad went to Vegas for the day and I took the boys to my parents' mid-morning. My mom & I went to see Hereafter while Papa watched the boys and they napped.

On Sunday we went grocery shopping in the morning and Riley was pretty well-behaved. He sure knew what foods he wanted to buy! We met up with Grammy, Nana & Papa at Lucile's and I love that they recognize us there now. The hostess always directs us to our table as soon as she sees us and yesterday she took a lobster out of the tank to show Riley. He was so excited!

After the boys napped we went over to Grandmommy & Haha's to celebrate Grandmommy's birthday and Aunt Rebecca's (belated) birthday. Haha & Blake cooked some amazing food and we sat out on picnic blankets in the yard while we visited and ate. It was so nice!

Riley of course refused to eat and so he didn't get to have cake with the rest of us. Carter showed us his new talking skills and guess what he can say.... "DaDa!" Here's a video to prove it:

Riley helped both Aunt Rebecca and Grandmommy open their presents. Then we headed home for bath and bed time and to start our week. My last week at my current job is this week so I am a little sentimental, but excited about what lies ahead.

Oh, and in final news, we might have been able to provide the police with a lead to who stole my purse. We forgot about a credit card that was in my wallet and the people who stole it used it at a gas station off of I-35 & Berry. They thankfully only charged less than $30 and we were able to now cancel the card and dispute the charge, but we reported it all and maybe there were cameras and they will be able to catch who broke into my car. I'll keep my fingers crossed!