Max has worn this costume EVERY SINGLE DAY since the day we purchased it. He has worn it grocery shopping, to the barbershop, for walks around the neighborhood, while playing in the house or yard--every day he wants to wear his spiderman costume. Moreover, once he steps into this superhero cloak he suddenly thinks that he possesses superpowers. He will try to climb up and jump off of anything when he is dressed in this fashion. Surprisingly, he literally displays more coordination and confidence when masquerading as spiderman, and he has amazed us both at the obstacles he can conquer when pretending this way. I never knew he could climb up and over the ramp on Paul's trailer while it was in the upright position, or pull himself onto the seat of Paul's huge 450 dirtbike. Max might not have been able to do these things, but, for SpiderMax--Piece. Of. Cake.
Not surprisingly, I have had to patch a few holes that wore their way into his beloved alter-ego garb (I do possess enough sewing skills to at least accomplish that task), and the flimsy thing has already had to go through the wash a couple of times. Paul and I were a little worried that this costume wouldn't make it to Halloween, so we ordered an exact replica for him to wear for the hoopla of the actual occasion. I just hope he hasn't moved on to a different superhero by then since it is still a little ways away...
Sam is going to dress up as Superman for Halloween and, unlike his brother, doesn't feel the need to parade around in his costume on a regular basis. However, per Max's insistence, Sam has tried it on more than a few times
Sam's latest thing is doing anything and everything even remotely dangerous with a sharp object in his hand. Okay, lets jump on the trampoline. Wait a second, mommy, I can't jump on the trampoline without a long, pointy, sharp stick in my hand!! I am serious. Sam will point and yell for me to put him on the trampoline with Max, and then seconds later he will be complaining to get down. So, I get him down. Then, he runs straight for this stick and motions me to lift him back onto the trampoline. He has a hard enough time staying upright when Max is bouncing him around, and I can't imagine what would happen if he tried to do so with said lethal object in hand. So, I pry it out of his hands and he throws an enormous tantrum and refuses to get back on the trampoline without it. The same thing happens with Paul's motorcycle trailer: Max loves to run around on it, and of course Sam (idolizing his big brother the way he does) wants to do everything Max does--with a sharp pointy shovel, a dead tree branch twice his size, or a rusty broken golf club in hand!
Sam is definitely fearless, definitely defiant, and thinks he is just as big and coordinated as Max. With his interesting and exciting stunts, Max has provided Sam with the motivation to get moving. Sam will follow Max around all day and try to do all of the things his big brother does. It is really quite cute (but at times a little unnerving). Sam has also become really friendly, and he is totally LOVING the response triggered by his charming antics. Whether he is in the grocery cart, the stroller, or simply walking along, he waves at everyone we pass. And it isn't just a simple vertical folding and unfolding of his fingers: he cups his hands and gives a big "Miss America" wave, complete with the dazzling ear-to-ear smile. Everyone responds with a totally amused and charmed smile while "oohing" and "aahing" and energetically exchanging their own wave. Sam eats it up. When he does this on walks around our neighborhood we refer to him as "The Mayor".
But, when we are in the confines of our own home, "Mr Mayor" likes to go around au naturel. Here he is sitting in his favorite makeshift seat--one of the toys he got for his birthday. This kid is so much fun and so freaking funny.
We are absolutely LOVING this fall weather. It has been gorgeous here, and the boys and I have been living outside. We eat our lunch out here, play right through naps--we are really enjoying hanging out in our yard and taking walks around our neighborhood. 
C
]
Shortly after we returned from UT, Paul and some of his buddies from work ran in the "Warrior Dash". I won't go into a lot of detail explaining it because he is the one who always complains about my blogging anyway. (I guess because the only time I have to do it is really late at night, and, since our basement is STILL under construction, our computer is in our bedroom.) I suppose I really can't blame him for complaining since he has to get up so early for work. But, my kids don't nap, so after they go to bed at night it is usually dishes, straightening the house, and laundry. My only free time is really late at night. But, I can tell he is really annoyed with me tonight, so I won't write all that I had planned about the "Warrior Dash". You will all have to get that information from him. Here are the pics...
And who wouldn't enjoy this beautiful backyard??? This is a pic that Max (aka SpiderMax) helped me take while we were playing one evening. I showed him this picture in full size on the computer after I downloaded it and he even recognized it (which surprised me)--he pointed at the screen and said, "That's my house, Mommy, that's where Max lives!"
So, we are loving this beautiful, cool, non-humid fall weather, but I am still a little homesick...
We recently took a trip home--to UT. It was a very short visit, and we didn't get to see and visit as many of our friends and family as we would have liked, but we really crammed a lot in and got to see and enjoy the little time that we did have.
CSam instantly fell in love with Papa and Gramma Jill...
And both boys were having such a blast with Jeslyn and Jauncee...
Too bad we only got to see them for a couple of hours, though. Marnie and her family live in Idaho now and just happened to be passing through SLC the day we landed. We hung out with them for a while at Aunt Sandy's and then had a nice lunch with them. The visit was way too short, but better than nothing.
And, while I only got one picture of my brand new nephew Clay, I got to hold him quite a bit (when I could pry him from my mom's arms, that is).
Twice during our short visit we enjoyed lunch at Paul's favorite place, Cluff's. It is an old school carhop burger joint that is really quite expensive and extremely greasy but really really good. Oddly, we never introduced this Fillmore hot spot to Paul until after we moved to PA, and places to eat around Millard County are very few and far between. I guess we enjoy the food and service at "Jill's Bar and Grill" much more (my mother, Jill, is a fabulous cook).
Max and "Cousin" (This is what Max calls Brooks--they are cousins, but I don't think Max gets the title.) We think it is an adorable nickname for his beloved cousin.
]My handsome boys looking sharp for the wedding. One of the perks of our visit was that we got to attend my cousin Sara's wedding. It was so awesome to see her so happy, and the wedding was truly lovely. While trying to find something "dressy" to pack for the boys to wear, I tried this shirt on Max to see if it still fit him. I was expecting him to be a little resistant to the long sleeves, especially since he definitely has and wants a say in what clothes he wears. And, at this point in PA it had not reached long-sleeve weather. Instead, he examined one arm, then the other, and briefly inspected the buttons before looking up at me and proclaiming, "I look SHARP!!--like Daddy!"
Cute little Sam. Actually, he wasn't so cute at the wedding. For some reason he was a major Mama's boy that night. Every time I tried to put him down or hand him to someone else to hold he would arch his back and erupt into a tantrum. I literally had to hold this little guy every second. So, I took him to the dance floor with me. The two of us actually did quite a lot of moving and shaking that night, and to this day he still wants me to pick him up and dance whenever he hears music.
Max rediscovered that he really enjoys riding on the 4-wheeler. We all discovered that Sam's delight at cruising around on the ATV turned into devilish wails when it was time to get off. The kid could have rode around the yard all day. Whenever we were playing outside, Sam would beeline straight for it and try so hard to climb up onto the seat, begging someone to take him for a ride.
We went to a Millard Eagle football game while we were there. Not exactly my first choice of how to spend one of our few nights in UT, but it was my mom's birthday and she and Dad just LOVE to go to these games. Visiting my old high school actually turned out to be quite fun --I got to see tons of people I knew and hadn't seen in ages, including a few of my old teachers and several classmates. It was Max and Sam's first live football game and they both thought it was pretty cool.
Then, Dad took Paul and me on a nice little pleasure ride. He had originally planned on taking us all the way to the top of the mountain looking for cows. However, after hearing us complain that it had been AGES since either of us had ridden, he caved and instead we rode to the water trough just below Indian Ranch. It was beautiful. And, it was a ton of fun. I forget how much I enjoy riding horses, and on hindsight I wish he would have just taken us all the way to the top of that mountain--we could have handled it!
I also got to meet my cute little niece Oakley for the first time (Judd's little girl). She is adorable and looks just like her big brother Brooks.
Max and Sam got to hang out with both of their great-grandma's...
and Grandma Bonnie. They are both such beautiful, talented, and remarkable women. I am so glad that my boys have the opportunity to know them, and I just wish that we lived closer so that we could visit and be with them on a more regular basis.
We celebrated both my mom's and brother Judd's birthdays at Maple Hollow Canyon. What yummy food we had, complete with perfectly grilled T-bone steaks!
Sam (with Uncle Judd) loved the brownie. But, that kid will eat just about anything. He especially loves chocolate.
I love this picture. Max just fell asleep right next to Uncle Jake--it was so sweet. He typically fights naps but all of our days were so crammed full of fun that he just succumbed...
Shortly after we returned from UT, Paul and some of his buddies from work ran in the "Warrior Dash". I won't go into a lot of detail explaining it because he is the one who always complains about my blogging anyway. (I guess because the only time I have to do it is really late at night, and, since our basement is STILL under construction, our computer is in our bedroom.) I suppose I really can't blame him for complaining since he has to get up so early for work. But, my kids don't nap, so after they go to bed at night it is usually dishes, straightening the house, and laundry. My only free time is really late at night. But, I can tell he is really annoyed with me tonight, so I won't write all that I had planned about the "Warrior Dash". You will all have to get that information from him. Here are the pics...
1 comment:
Looks like you guys had fun in Utah. I am way jealous...horse riding, cook out up he canyon, cluffs, no fair!
Maybe your hubby just wants to snuggle!
Miss you and love you!
Post a Comment