Movie Night...Much Better in Theory

Last Friday night was our first really chilly night of the season, and what could be better on a chilly Friday night than movie night?

Except for the fact that we have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, who have the combined attention span of a fruit fly, so this was a much better idea in theory than in reality.  

We started off with high hopes.  Toy Story was rented from the library; pillows and blankets were piled on the floor; and popcorn was in the microwave.

The popcorn was definitely the highlight of the evening, and once it was gone, their interest in the movie completely disappeared.

We discovered that Carter loves popcorn!  I have NO idea how he eats it (choking hazard, anyone?), but he probably ate more popcorn than any of us!

(Notice he is getting everyone to give him popcorn?)

Pretty soon, we (well, Carter) had finished the bowl, and Jacob and Carter started to fight.  We whisked Carter up to bed, but I still held on to the fantasy that it would be a treat for Jacob to stay up late and cuddle with us.

Not.

So.

Much.

He bounced off the walls... and the furniture... and since he had no interest in the movie, Frank switched over to the Cardinals game.  I don't even think Jacob noticed.  By around 9, one whole hour after his normal bedtime, we called it quits.

After picking up all the pillows, shaking the popcorn crumbs out of the blankets, and putting the coffee table back in place, we realized that maybe movie night was one idea that was still better in theory!

In Stitches

The kids have suddenly gotten really funny, like little unintentional comedians.  Frank's aunt commented that they must keep us all in stitches, and honestly, in between cleaning crumbs off things, stepping on Matchbox cars, and fixing things they've broken,  I really am laughing at a lot of the things they say and do.

Here are some snippets...

Jacob told me he needed to go to "Barker's."  When I questioned him,, he said, "You know, the 'dealershipt.' They have a Cadillac for me!" Barkers really is our Cadillac dealership (or "dealershipt" as he says), but how he knew that is beyond me.

Carter, who has always been a good eater, is now starting to talk.  One of his favorite words?  "'Nack!" (snack).  It's so funny to watch him cruise into the kitchen  yelling, "'Nack!  'Nack! Nack!"

(On the hunt for a 'nack)

On Jacob's Christmas list:  a soda stream machine, a turtle, an Escalade, and a magic wand.

I had a girls' night last Friday and got home after the kids went to bed.  The next morning, I heard Jacob talking in his room, so I went to tell him it was okay to get out of bed.  As I peeked in his room, he looked at me, horrified, and asked, "Did you just get home?!"

We had been talking about corn, and how corn grows on a cornstalk in the field.  Now he asks things like, "Where does soup grow?  What about biscuits?  Do they come from a tree?  Where would a cookie grow? Do cookies grow in the field, too?"
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Carter hates getting dropped off in the church nursery.  He's made it through an entire service exactly twice. Our church assigns each a number to each family, and if you see your number come up on their pager system, it means to come get your kid.  Jacob and Carter are both 2979.  Last Sunday, 3979 flashed over the system.  Frank and I looked at each other.  "Should we check it out?"  Sure enough, it was Carter.  I am oddly proud that we know our kid well enough to know that he was probably being naughty even though we didn't actually get paged.

Speaking of church, Jacob was the only kid in his Sunday School class to come home wearing construction-paper sheep ears.  The only one.  I have no words.

Field Trips!

We have had a busy few days of field trips!

On Sunday, Jacob's preschool had a family fun day at Sugar Grove Nature Center.  A cold front had come through the night before, and although it felt like fall, 55 degrees with clouds and wind also felt coooold!  The kids and parents were free to explore the grounds, which is kind of set up like an outdoor adventure/obstacle course.

 Did someone say, "Explore?!"

Jacob was off and running.  Tree forts, a tee-pee made of sticks, and a swing made from tires all captivated him, as did crossing a dry creek bed and moving rocks from one place to the other.  It was boy-heaven!

One of the coolest activities was a zip line!  Frank zoomed him back and forth between the trees, and Jacob loved it.

I managed to get one picture of him and his new little friend K.

Our other little friend Carter did not want to be there AT ALL.  Normally this kind of thing is right up his alley, too, so I'm not sure why he was such a grouch.  After dealing with his fussiness for an hour and a half, we roasted some s'mores and called it a day.

Then on Tuesday, the preschool class had a field trip to Rader Farms, which is a pumpkin farm with all kinds of ag-themed activities for kids.  I wanted to chaperon, but I did not want to bring Carter the Grouch, especially after his performance on Sunday.  Since our sitter was taking a midterm that day, my parents agreed to watch Carter.

There were several other chaperons.  Actually, I think all the moms came with the exception of 2 or 3.  I was so curious to see how he interacted with everyone!  It was cute to watch all the kids line up in their school t-shirts... it made him seem so grown-up!

We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch, and the kids got to choose their own pumpkin.

They also looked at some animals, which the class wasn't super-thrilled about.  ("They smell!"  "They'll poop on me!"  "Get it away!")

And finally it was time for free play.  The giant jumping pillow below is always a hit!

(Jacob is in the middle in this picture.  His buddy K is on the right, and the little girl in front is his good friend E.)

He got to drive a "caterpillar" tractor (below) pulled by a lawn tractor, climbed in a huge spider web, and jumped off hay bales.

After a quick snack, we were ready to go.

I'm so glad I was able to go with him on his first real field trip!