Luke is 5

Oh my, Luke Riley is five!

He has been so excited to turn five.

Luke is a boy who loves life, he is always having fun...always, unless he is sleeping or really tired. He is a thrill seeker, always up for an adventure. He wakes up talking and does not stop until his head hits the pillow. He little voice, wonderful stories and random information always has us laughing. Carter tells him he sound like Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

For his birthday, Jeremy took him out to eat while Carter and I did up his room with lots of new things...superhero things, new bedding, tin superhero signs, new superhero toys, etc. He was so excited when he saw it that he squealed with delight!

Thanksgiving weekend fun

We headed to Grandpa and Grandma Jenkins (Jeremy's grandparents) for Thanksgiving dinner. Carter and Luke had a blast playing in the basement...they came up with red faces and sweaty heads...they had fun. We all had a wonderful dinner.















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A couple of days later we celebrated Grandma Sommerfeld's (Jeremy's other grandmother) 91st birthday.

The Mayflower

Luke has been learning about Thanksgiving at preschool. At random times he comes up with random bits of information that he learned. We were talking about what to eat for dinner. His little mind lead us to a discussion about the Mayflower...a big ship that brought the "pilmans" to the Indians and they ate corn. His hat with feathers he made a school has been worn around the house more often than not, he is really excited about it.

Make a room

The parents were invited in to the class this week to help the students create their room. Carter and I had fun searching the house for materials best to make his room the night before. He and Luke searched every toy box and closet for ideas. Then they found some foam blocks.

The time in the classroom, Carter was very serious about making his look just like his room. All the way down to the globe on his table and large stuffed animals.

Dinner over a fire

We made dinner over a campfire in the back yard on Tuesday night, trying to soak in the last bit of warm weather. It was a nutritious meal of hot dogs, bratwurst and smores. A few bratwurst, hot dogs and marshmallows were lost in the fire but we had back ups.

Montana

Jeremy just returned from him hunting trip to Montana.

While the trip wasn't quite what they expected (not really seeing the elk they were looking for), for the most part everyone had a good time. They were hiking in this everyday.

Jeremy came home with a mule deer.

The end of the season

Carter had his last football game on Friday. It was a chilling 35 degrees for the game at Fireman's Field under the lights.


Carter enjoyed his first football season.

What to do

When Jeremy is out of town, the boys get antsy. I do too. I was cleaning out a draw in the kitchen and came across a bag full of Chuck E Cheese tokens. Idea! Take the boys (we have only been a few times when others have invited us). It could be fun.

So we went. A brought along one of Carter's friends.

The favorites where the little kids flight simulator type things, races and whatever could give them the most tickets.



















Luke has some fabulous skee ball form.

Halloween the Waterford way

Halloween in Waterford is a treat! We do not trick or treat in our neighborhoods...all the people of Waterford go down to the little historic village of Waterford. The Waterford elementary school collects candy to hand out to the homes of those who live the village, each grade decorates a house with a theme amongst all of the other houses and the kiddos come and have fun. It is like our own little Sleepy Hollow. There is nothing like trick or treating in Waterford.

The theme this year was books made into movies. The houses that are decorated are more like a movie set than anything else. It is magical.
K - Charlotte Web with a farmer, animals, farming truck all to decorate the house
1st - Where the Wild Things Are with Max, his bed, a real boat, larger than life wild things
2nd - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with giant candy all over the place, fun music and lights
3rd - Chronicles of Narnia with all the magic of Narnia
4th - Harry Potter with giant spider, spooky shadows, lots and lots of things that looked straight out of Hogwarts.
5th - Journey to the Center of the Earth with smoke and it scared Luke a bit.

Carter and Luke dressed up as Batman and Joker. Luke was the cutest Batman...every time we went up and said trick or treat, the person would put the candy in his bag and his eyes would light up, followed with a big thank you! It was such a thrill for him. Carter was more than excited to spray his hair green.

The pumpkins that we carved were dropped off at the elementary school and taken down to the village for decoration. Carter and Luke thought it was pretty cool to find their pumpkins!

Jack-o-what?

The boys and I decided to carve up some pumpkins. The enthusiasm was great until Luke decided the insides of a pumpkin felt yucky. So Carter became in charge of the cleaning, Luke picked out the designs, I carved and Brayden supervised.

We made a mess. My carving skills included random bits of pumpkin flying across the room. The pumpkin insides stuck to every one's clothes and we finished.

Fall Treats

While the pumpkin bread was baking.

We sat on the porch, enjoyed a beautiful fall day and nibbled on caramel apples.

Where the Wild Things Are

Let the wild rumpus start!

Well we did it. We took 18+ 1st graders to the movies for Carter's birthday. The historic Tally Ho theather hosted us with a party room, balcony and the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Carter had a blast. All the kiddos, pizza, lots of popcorn, candy, cake...a recipe for fun (or diaster). They all sat, for the most part and enjoyed the movie.

Corn Maze Time

Carter has been asking and asking about the corn maze.

A local farm has a large corn maze and other fall activities. The boys were so excited to go. The maze has 10 posts to direct you and make sure you are going the right direction. You are given a series of questions to read at each post to help you decide which direction to go.

We jumped and jumped on a massive jumping pillow.

Carter and Luke road a cow train.

Then shot corn with a corn blaster.

Went for a pony ride.

Brayden was there, tolerating it all (can't you see how thrilled he is to be there).

We had a great time and we had to top it all off with some hot chocolate and caramel apples. The boys tried out some tractors, checked out lots of farm animals and even a pig race.

Carter is 7

Carter is seven years old!

I cannot believe it.

Let me tell you a little something about my first born. He is sweet and compassionate. A perfectionist. A leader, in just about everything he does. Helpful and thoughtful. He loves school, animals, maps, sports, outdoors, math (counting $) and his brothers.

When he grows up he wants be a zoologist or a toy designer.

Happy Birthday to Carter!

Luke's Big Goal

Soccer season has been underway. Jeremy as the coach. Luke playing up with Carter's team. Carter has scored goals throughout the season and has been doing really well.

Luke only being 4 years old playing with 6-7 year olds, has been keeping up really well. In fact, other than his size, you would not know him to be that much younger. He has been right in the mix (pushing, kicking, running) to get the ball.

Well this weekend, it happened. Luke broke away from the group with the ball (picture below). He dribbled right up to the goal and SCORE! He was so excited, he did a little dancing, fist pumps and finger pointing (Saturday night fever style) to celebrate.