Happy Halloween

Here is what the boys looked like on their way out the door for trick-or-treating. I have to give a big THANK YOU to Hyrum's sister Katrina who is visiting and brought these costumes with her from the States. There is pretty slim pickings for Halloween costumes over here in Germany.

The boys lasted for about 1/2 hour before the cold temperatures beat out the desire for more candy. Now I just have to figure out a way to sneak a few pieces of chocolate without them knowing...

I hope you all had a fun and Happy Halloween!

Bowling, fun. Spending money...really fun!!

I took the boys bowling last night because they had been asking me for weeks to go bowling and the bowling alley is right across the street from the gym where they take gymnastics (which is why they are wearing shorts and t-shirts...it actually SNOWED yesterday!)

The other photos are for Hyrum so he can see what I am spending his hard earned money on. There was a Bazaar here today with a bunch of German vendors selling old antiques and rugs and paintings and nut crackers and cheese and lots of kitsch basically. I found this really cute wooden wagon and I couldn't resist because they are pretty hard to come by these days so I snatched it up after being at the Bazaar for only about 5 minutes. The other thing I got was a hand stitched nativity made at a monastery in Poland. I sort of collect nativity sets and so I believe this makes number 11 for me, but I still couldn't resist!

Thanks Hyrum, I guess you don't have to worry about getting me anything for Christmas:)
***that was just a joke, you still have to get me a gift***

Check out the concentration on his face.

The boys were able to lug around their balls all by themselves, they hardly needed any help at all.

This is Julian in his winter bunting. I guess Old Navy thinks ears on the top of babies hats is cute...I'm still undecided, what do you think?

The old wooden hand wagon

Nativity #11 (or is it 12?)

Fun In Fountains

So it is next to impossible to keep my boys out of fountains. And, living in Europe, there are fountains everywhere. We went to Ramstein this past weekend and they have a large fountain in the altstadt (or old city). I'm pretty sure you are allowed to play in this fountain, there are horses to sit on and stones to jump from one to another. But, I'm also pretty sure that most people would call you crazy for getting soaking wet on a 60 degree day.

Let's just say, they were pretty chilled to the bone after about 10 minutes of playing in the water. Maybe this will teach them to not get wet on cold days? Highly unlikely!

They Get Around

Where can you go to get the energy out of two very active five year old boys? How about a "rock maze!" I took the boys to the Felsen Labyrinth this last weekend. It is a big park with a bunch of boulders and trails that lead you up, around, over and through cracks in the rocks. Needless to say the boys loved it and they could run and jump and climb all they wanted without mommy saying "no"!

There are also a few photos of the boys with some squash. We got quite a few squash out of the garden along with about 10 million zucchini, lots of tomatoes, carrots and even a few peppers. It was a fun thing to have this summer but I'm glad the Elders came over and pulled it all up for me. I was running out of things to make with zucchini!!!

Townsend getting ready to take a running leap. The other person in the picture is my friend Tammy, she came to help with crowd control and even carried Julian part of the way.

The boys climbing on a log

Heading up the ladder to explore some caves

These cool mushrooms were growing all over the place

This is Emerson with his favorite squash pumpkin we grew in our very own garden

Townsend shows us his favorite pumpkin

Julian can scoot around on his tummy and get pretty much anywhere he wants. The only problem, he can only scoot backwards. This is how I am constantly finding him. He scoots himself back under things until he is stuck and calls for me to rescue him.

Beaver Dams, Bamberg and Beautiful Days

This post is brought to you by the letter B.

B is for Beaver Dam. The boys created this "beaver dam" yesterday. I did make them stack all the wood back up after they were done but it kept them busy for a few minutes and I thought it was pretty creative of them to think of building a "beaver dam."

B is for Busy Boys. Of course it's not OK for Emerson to climb on a 200 year old fountain, but you try and tell him not to!!!!

B is for Bayreuth. This is Emerson trying to figure out how tiny rocks can float on top of pond scum in the park in Bayreuth. "Mom, rocks are supposed to sink but these rocks float. Why?"

B is for Bang. Townsend throwing rocks at the ducks in the pond. I know he should probably not do this but you try and tell him not to!

B is for Blue Boys Building Beaver Barracks. I think this photo speaks for itself. Yeah, those are their pajamas. I figure they only get Saturday morning to run around and play now that they are in school and their favorite thing is to run around in their jammies, so I let them.

B is for Bamberg. I took a day trip to the city of Bamberg with my Stake Relief Society. We had a professional tour guide and it was very beautiful and interesting. I would love to get back to this city when I have a bit more time to walk around and explore. I had to rush back home to pick up the boys from school. (I was actually 20 minutes late picking up the boys...thank you Mrs. Riggans for keeping an eye on them for me!)

B is for Baby Blue Eyes. My man Jules playing outside on his swing.

My boys love water

Ever since my twins were little they have loved water. Bath time was their favorite part of the day. They loved swimming and splashing at wading pools or in sprinklers. And now, it seems that Julian is following his brothers in his love for water. Even when the weather is cool and we have gone to the pool or lake Julian has loved splashing and playing in the water.

I'm glad we have taken advantage of the warm weather this summer and spent many days in the water. The high temperature for today is only 57!

Can you hear that?

Listen really closely...can you hear anything? No? Nothing at all? That is the sound my house makes when my two 5 year olds are at school and my little Julian is taking a nap. It's a wonderful sound and one I am looking forward to hearing often in the future.

Today was the first day of school for Emerson and Townsend. I drove them to school and dropped them off. We first went to Emersons classroom and when I was leaving with Townsend Emerson said, "Mom, is Townsend going to be all by himself too?" Emerson has been more hesitant about being split up than Townsend.

We headed over to Townsends room and he just walked around the room until he found the table with his name on it and sat down. They both did great. No tears. No, "I don't want to go to school mommy." It was fantastic!!!

I didn't do much today after dropping them off. I did put together a little gift for after school. In Germany there is a tradition that on the first day of school you give your child a Schultüte. It's basically a cardboard cone filled with treats and toys to help the children celebrate their first day of school. The boys were really excited after school, they were all smiles and happy to see me again. It was an exciting thing to pick up my boys after school. I felt all grown up or something!

I am really proud of my boys and I'm so happy they have wonderful teachers and the chance to learn new things each day. I love you my smart boys!

Emerson in his classroom on the first day of school

Townsend in his classroom

Townsend and his teacher Mrs. Riggans (that's his Schultüte he's holding)

Emerson and his teacher Mrs. Olden