Halloween

Halloween is an exciting time at our house, as it is Jonathan's favorite holiday (must have something to do with its proximity to his birthday...). This year Michael helped hollow the pumpkins with us, and busily pounded his pumpkin while the other two were carved.

We used costumes that Nicole's sister made last year for her family. Perfect for us, except that we couldn't very well have Jax wear the Yoda costume! Instead we gave her a little "senator" outfit and - voila! - we were transformed into Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Padme, and a Senator (or, if you want to merge episodes, Princess Leia).

As part of the Halloween fun we attended a party for Michael's preschool group, and Jonathan met Michael's favorite girl Cami for the first time. The two are so funny together, and have been caught at preschool stealing a kiss on more than one occasion. With the number of chaperones at this event, their hanky-panky was greatly limited.

Jonathan's brother and his family came to our church's annual "Trunk or Treat" and their costumes were so cute! Sophia was a darling little pumpkin and Hannah came as Princess Pocahontas.

Happy Birthday to Dad

Jonathan's birthday was this month - hooray! For some reason we thought he was already thirty-six, so our discovery that he was, in fact, only turning thirty-six this year was nice and unexpected.

Jared and Heather brought their kids up from Blacksburg to celebrate and we had a party at Mel and Cherry's place. Shortcake with strawberry icecream "frosting" was served, as it is every year, while we all tried to figure out if Jared or Jonathan had first tagged it as the birthday favorite.

Shenandoah National Park

We went to Shenandoah for a few days in mid-October and had such a great time! We knew the kids were in good hands with Mel and Cherry, and so fully enjoyed ourselves without any responsibilities, or needless worrying.

We were able to book a great cabin that had the most beautiful view of the valley below and spent several hours just gazing out the window and talking. We also went on a hike that wound down the mountain alongside a stream; it was gorgeous. We stopped at a small pond and watched the fish dart back and forth before wandering back. The hike was nice and easy - though we realized on the way back up the mountain that we should have had T-shirts rather than sweaters.

The Power of Spiderman Underwear

Michael is now potty-trained! It's amazing, the power of spiderman underwear mixed with reward M&Ms. Especially once I discovered, thanks to a tip from potty-training expert Marcia Stewart (a woman who goes to my church), that Michael should get M&Ms for dry pants (!) along with successful bathroom activities...

Yes, I know this isn't quite so interesting to many of you, but if I don't write this down I will not remember, and twenty years from now I'll be claiming something totally unbelievable ("My son Michael was potty-trained at six-months...").

Grandma and Grandpa Bryson Retire

Michael and Jax are enjoying the happy results of Grandma and Grandpa Bryson's retirement. Retirement for Grandma and Grandpa was, I am sure, met with conflicting emotions but the kids felt only excitement at the prospect of more time with them.


Grandma now comes to play with the kids at least once a week and boy do they look forward to it! Grandpa joins us for many activities, including one of Michael's favorites: feeding fish at the pond (not actually the pirhanas that Grandma calls them, but they do go crazy for a little bread).

Great Falls with Friends

We went to Great Falls with our friends, Tyler and Danielle Kraus, in the end of September - timing it just before we thought the weather would get cold. After a dinner of pizza and snacks (mostly snacks, as Michael is thoroughly un-American at the moment and doesn't like pizza) we walked along the trail toward the old river locks, throwing and kicking what we think were walnuts.

Along the way we stopped to examine a hollow tree which, until going to the park at Great Falls, I didn't know existed outside of books.

Once we got to the locks the boys ran, climbed up stone "bricks," and wrecklessly jumped off again. Michael and his friend Tyler are great pals and loved playing together.

Teaching Jax to Read

Michael is a very quick learner - just two days of preschool and he's already teaching his sister to read!