beauty everywhere

Posted on November 7, 2011 by mommyinthemidwest

You know, I always complain about the onset of fall. Nothing personal, Autumn, but you mean the end of warm weather and the beginning of coats and icy roads and static in my hair. This weekend I took a little time to look at my little world and I decided that I actually do like fall (a little). There are certainly some beautiful colors to admire and without a doubt, some mild weather to enjoy.

chalkboard plate, birthday gift from my sister (artwork courtesy of me)

Colors, like the oranges, reds, and yellows on the trees. Colors, like the blue of my baby boy’s eyes. I think they are going to stay blue, guys, and I’m so excited! After hearing how much Theo looks like his daddy from day 1, it’s nice to know I have something in common with Dexter.

hanging out with mama on Friday, while Theo took a nap

Then there are the rich browns – like that Hershey bar we let Theo go to town on Friday night.

I love the kelly greens – like the balloon the waitress at Red Robin gave Theo to keep him occupied until our food came. Oh, and Dexter’s paci.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so those aren’t all fall colors. Whatever. Switching gears for a second – my sweet cousin, Kara, came to spend the weekend with us. We had fun going out to eat, doing a little shopping, and just relaxing at Barnes & Noble while Theo played with trains and looked at some books.

Kara and Dex

Thanks, Kara, for snapping this sweet pic!

Sunday, we didn’t have any plans. I watched most of Crazy, Stupid, Love. since I fell asleep 30 minutes into it Saturday night. I’m a fan of both Steve Carell and romantic comedies, so I thought it was really cute. Kara had to go, but we were glad to have gotten some extra time with her. The boys loved her. The weather was perfect so I took Theo for a wagon ride around our neighborhood. After we got back, I carried him inside and he instantly dissolved into tears in a pile on the floor. I agreed with him – it was way too pretty to stay inside. So we went out to the backyard and watched the neighbor clean up his leaves.

Alright, so … truth be told, it’s time to clean up our leaves, too. But not before raking a big pile for Theo to jump in…

By the way, 1 1/2 year olds aren’t that good at raking leaves, but they look cute trying. I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer to put this one on the chore list.

Let me just tell you how much he loved the leaf pile. Uh, he ran past it and poked it with a stick and kept going. He was not impressed. Yeah – I got all out of breath raking up that awesome pile for a poke with a stick. Dexter actually loved it, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

I wouldn’t ask for anything more.

hope your weekend was full of color too,

~C~

halloween 2011

Posted on November 3, 2011 by mommyinthemidwest

I was looking forward to Halloween this year but really didn’t have high expectations. I knew we would take Theo to a handful of houses and assumed that he would be over it and want to eat all the candy as soon as he saw it drop in his jack-o-lantern bucket.

Y’all. He loved it! We went first to our next door neighbors so they could see both boys in their cute costumes, then took Dexter back to the house to pass out candy with Nana. We live in an older neighborhood with beautiful trees that were covered in gorgeous yellows, reds, and oranges. The sky was blue. The air was crisp. Perfect setting for trick-or-treating.

Before we set out, Theo was saying “trick-or-treat” perfectly, but of course when we showed up on a stranger’s door, he just stood there and stared at them blankly. I think he did say it once or twice. He watched as the candy fell in his bucket or carefully selected his piece if the candy bowl was offered to him, then he would turn around and start heading to the next house. We had to turn him around and prompt him to say “thank you” every time. He loved all the decorations and I thanked the neighbors that went all out with creepy skeletons, spider webs, and cackling witches.

We started just after 6pm and Theo was still going strong at 7:30, but it was time for Dexter to eat and Theo needed to start getting ready for bed. At the end of the night, I was so happy. I don’t think I ever had more fun trick-or-treating as a kid than I did last night with my own kid. Loved it with my whole big mommy heart. Now I can’t wait for Dexter to be a bigger part of it next year. We had a blast.

Just another failed attempt at a family photo.

Our little hot dog. The top is supposed to be over his head, but he wouldn’t leave it that way – not even long enough for a picture!

Mommy and her hot dog.

Cheeseburger boy, checking out his goodies!

Theo wanted to walk the whole time. Houses in our neighborhood are not close together and the driveways are long. He didn’t care. I kept asking me if he wanted me to carry him. “No!” I asked him if he wanted me to carry his bucket. “No!” What an independent little boy my baby has become.