Happy Halloween

There! I said it! It's always the whole debate... I'm a Christian, should I participate? I didn't in college, but that was because of what it stood for at UNC. But since we've had little ones it has been a fun holiday to be a part of. Tonight we had 4 other families at our house for a potluck (which was surprisingly low key for the amount of people here - 12 kids and 10 adults) and then we all caravanned to one of the neighborhoods we frequent and did a 3/4 mile loop of trick or
treating.



Steven was a recycled giraffe, Eliza a recycled duck, and Sam was a home-made cardboard Wall-E. It was priceless. I must say Sam's outfit turned out to be a bit cumbersome as he had to walk the .75 mile and he refused to let me carry his candy bag. He had to do it, "my-by-own." His eyes were intended to be on his head, but a good tumble (which involved crying, a 30 second double take by mom and dad, other parents laughing incessantly, and Sam stuck like a flipped turtle) ended up necessitating them on top of his head. It was quite cute and he got lots of attention.

Steven definitely said "trick or treat" with a sucker in his mouth. What a bad mom. How rude!

Eliza was not impressed

Then we came home to our neighbors who gave my boys bags filled with candy, toothbrushes, glow sticks, and recorders! They also had an outfit and a book for Eliza! Over the top! What great neighbors we have! We'll see if I still think that tomorrow when the recorders are walking around the house.

One Step Closer

Any of you who know me well know that I'm just waiting until the point when our whole family can go on a family bike ride. That will be SO much fun for me. Sometimes I dream about it..... three trailing bikes with all of them trying to outrun their father. And maybe we pull up to a campsite as a family on our bikes.... anyway.... we're one step closer to my dream!



Steven Edward started working on a glider bike a couple months ago and my Nanny found this bike at a yard sale for us. It is a bit too big so we're going to probably have to find one that is more his size. But he LOVES it. He wasn't so sure at first, but after about 1/2 mile on the first ride he fell in love with it. By 3 miles he told his Daddy he was starting to feel achy. Funny!

That was Eliza sneezing in the background!

Here are also some pictures that I failed to put up last week! We were graciously given a year pass to the Biltmore, so we are going to have to take advantage of the beauty and fun that it offers! There is so much to do there.







How cute is this laughter?

Sam's 3rd Birthday!

While I feel like Sam has been 3 for quite some time (based on him always following his brother and doing as he does), today was his actual birthday. It really was the perfect day for a 3 year old. We started with a gift from Papa and Nanna Sally - a glider bike. His older brother is quite good on a homemade version, but it was a bit big for Sam. So he was given the real one (which is much smaller). He literally was glued to it all morning.

Then this afternoon his Daddy took just him to the book store to pick out his own book for his birthday. His father steered his choosing and he ended up with a Little Bear Treasury. When he was gone, his godparents showed up to help me decorate the house. And he was able to come home to a small surprise.
He had the sweetest smile on his face and was so excited his friends were there. Then we opened presents.

This is what occupied the kids (and dads as you can see) while dinner was cooking. For dinner - good ol' Sam-picked steak, asparagus, and roasted potatoes. Looks like we are in for pricey birthday dinners. What happened to a kids' favorite.... pizza, spaghetti?
Eliza is also a form of entertainment for the sweet Krueger boys.

Then on to cake - We chose this birthday to start our little lego collection, so I used them for the cake. Legos....



I think this smile pretty much sums up Sam's feelings about the day.

Sam is his own little person. He is so much fun to be with and IMPOSSIBLE to sum up in words. Instead I will give you some of the things he has done or enjoys doing.

*Peeing outside or in a cup. If you give him either of these options the boy would be potty trained. Otherwise, he may wait until Kindergarten.
*Sam is a meat-hound. He ate an entire steak by himself tonight.
*He is incredibly focused when he wants to be. He can sit for hours doing a task he loves.
*He loves little things. His friend Ryan gave him a miniature pumpkin and he carried it around most of the night. He also does this with pennies, and I'm sure he will do it will little creatures as he grows. I will have to check pockets at laundry time!
*He is incredibly affectionate. He spends much of his day nuzzling his sister.
*If he wants something, he is very stubborn.... persistent we'll say. He will sit for an incredibly long time on a swing waiting to be pushed. That is a moment when I know he is a middle child.... his older brother is pumping and his younger sister is nursing... Sam is sitting on the swing waiting for his mother.
*He knows his physical abilities incredibly well. He is incredibly daring physically, but only when he knows he can do something. He will jump from ridiculous places, yet he is happy to watch his brother higher in the tree because he is not quite ready to follow him to the top.
*He is a bit argumentative. He will argue with his brother FOREVER even when I have told him he is wrong. For example, tonight at bedtime Steven said, "I'm bigger." Sam's response was, "No, I am." He continued much past my correction.
*He is always the last to the table. Slow and steady.... or in his case, not so steady sometimes.
*He is happy for you to do things for him.....feed him, tell him his birthday...whatever.
*His is really gentle much of the time, but when he blows, watch out. He will come swinging, even with a toy in his hand.
*When he doesn't want to do something, he just stands still and pretends not to hear you. Even if you are inches away....and if you are not his parent... good luck getting him to listen if he doesn't want to! I have to drag him off the playground weekly at church to eat. It is almost a ritual.

Fun filled family weekend

This weekend Eliza was baptized and therefore lots of family was able to come visit. On Saturday we went apple picking for the second time and had great success with my favorite variety (blushing gold).



The boys spent the entire time with an apple in their hands. Afterward we went to their favorite restaurant. What a day for boys!



Eliza was able to wear the same baptism dress that has been worn for 60 years by her family. It was actually made by her Great Grandmother!

The actual baptism was incredibly sweet and we had an amazing turn out of supporters. Thanks guys. It was a really special weekend for us.

Our Conversation Today

Was spawned by the item below. Having two preschool aged boys in my house, poop is a common topic of conversation, but this was a different issue entirely.


"Boys, what would you do if you were playing and you saw a bear?"

Steven looks up at me and says, "run."

I respond with, "where would you run?"

"In the house" he responds.

"Yes," I say. "You would yell for Sam to run too, and you would run inside and shut the door."

The whole time Sam is taking it all in and watching. Eventually he responds....

"If it is a good bear we wouldn't run. Right momma?"

"No Sam. There are no good bears."

"But if it didn't growl. We could wait and see...."

I interrupt in mid sentence, "No Sam. You would run. Good bears don't live here. Steven make sure Sam was inside and then shut the door. If Sam isn't inside run tell momma and I'll go get the bear."

"What would you do momma? What if it got Sam."

"It wouldn't get Sam Steven. I would get it and I wouldn't let it get Sam."

At this point Sam is still thinking. Eventually he replies,

"But we could hit it in the eye. And smash it. And Daddy would say, 'what is that brown thing?' and we would say, 'A Bear!'

"No Sam, you just run and make a lot of noise."

Sam never pauses while I say this and when I tune back in I hear, "but if if were a bear-bee it would fly up in the air...."

At this point I see this is useless and I just hope I got somewhere with this conversation. Upon pulling in last night I saw a bag of trash in the yard. I walked upstairs to inform my husband and he went to check it out... with a big light and a bat. He stumbled upon some big tracks and what you saw above. It was still warm...