Bryce's Birthday Party

We celebrated Bryce's birthday today with a party at a bowling alley. In the past, we have just celebrated with family and close friends. This year, Bryce invited friends from school. He said it was his "best birthday party ever!" We were pleasantly surprised when Bryce said he wanted to have his party at the bowling alley. It was a great place to have a party with all of his friends and cousins.

Bryce selected a "monster truck" theme for his party.

Bryce was excited to be surrounded by his friends as he opened presents.

Picture Time

We had the boys' picture taken yesterday. We accomplished a lot during the session...birthday pictures, Christmas card pictures, family pictures and even pictures of me and John. We usually make a separate trip for each occasion but we decided to try to accomplish everything in one session.

Make Up Game

One of Bryce's soccer games was cancelled due to rain. It was rescheduled for yesterday. Bryce was exhausted and fell asleep during the 20 minute drive to the field. Games are usually held Saturday mornings when the kids are fresh and well rested. It was evident that it was an evening game because the players' little bodies were so tired!

Landon enjoyed sitting on his Nemo chair while sipping from Bryce's water bottle. Bryce was angry when he noticed Landon drinking from his cup!

Happy Birthday Bryce!

Today is Bryce's fifth birthday and he had a perfect day! John took the day off work and spent it with Bryce and Landon. They had donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast at Rutters, ate lunch at the Target snack bar and went to Borders Books. In the evening, we made cupcakes for Bryce to share with his friends at school tomorrow. We also had cake and opened presents.

Landon got Bryce the Jonas Brothers CD for his birthday. The two of them danced to the music this evening!

We got Bryce a Lightening McQueen helmet to wear with his Halloween costume. He loved it and said, "this is the best present I ever got!"

Hands-On-House

Bryce went to his friend Josh's birthday party today at Hands-On-House in Lancaster. He had a really nice time exploring there with his classmates. (For those of you who are Jon & Kate Plus 8 fans, you may recognize the place from one of their episodes.)

Landon and Bryce had a terrific time singing and dancing on the stage. I would expect this performance from Landon but Bryce totally surprised us by singing and dancing in front of other kids and adults.

Bryce liked using the cash register in the grocery store.

Bryce went "fishing" with his friend Gustav.

Bryce, Gustav and Holt fed the pig corn. What a fun time at the farm!

Potty Time

Look at Landon on his pretty pink potty! (This potty was highly recommended and I could only find it in pink!) I started to introduce the potty to Landon when he was 18 months old because he began to talk about it. I thought maybe he would get on board early. No such luck! I have encouraged him to use the potty before bath time, but he usually isn't interested. Yesterday, he was definitely interested! Out of the blue, he said he wanted to sit on the potty. He went to the bathroom many times on his potty yesterday (and on the carpet, and the kitchen floor, and on a chair). We are moving in the right direction! It took us over a year to potty train Bryce so we are fully prepared for another long training process with Landon!

Work Day

We volunteered at the boys' daycare center on Saturday for one of their "work days." We are trying to teach the kids about the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community and we thought this was a perfect opportunity to accomplish that. Bryce REALLY enjoyed spreading the mulch on the playground and took his job very seriously!

John worked hard and was exhausted by the time he got home.

Landon....well, there was no work for Landon at this work day! He had fun playing with all of the toys. I had to take him home after about an hour of play!

Pumpkin Picking

On Friday, we took the boys to pick out their pumpkin that we will carve in a few weeks. Landon wanted to buy every pumpkin he could get his hands on! John helped him narrow it down to one. Bryce easily found his pumpkin. We are already talking about what he wants to carve on his pumpkin!

Fruit Farm Field Trip

Bryce's class took a field trip today to Raab's Fruit Farm. This was Bryce's second time there; he had a field trip there last year with his preschool class.

Bryce is in a class with 10 boys! God bless his teacher!!! The boys had a great time "being boys" today getting dirty and searching for pumpkins.

Bryce had a hard time selecting the perfect pumpkin to pick.

Picking apples was another highlight of the field trip.

Outside Play

Bryce wanted to play outside yesterday so we walked to the park in our neighborhood. We saw our neighbors Addie and Lauren there. Landon enjoyed all of the attention they gave him!

Bryce asked the girls to push them on the swings.

Landon entertained Addie and Lauren by running away from them then falling to the ground. He is such a ham!

Visit With Molly and Wally

On our way home from the Apple Harvest Festival, we stopped at Molly and Wally's house to visit. Bryce fell asleep in the car on the way there, so he was a very happy boy when we arrived at Molly and Wally's. He enjoyed singing his two favorite songs to them, "The September Song" and "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." Landon received a lot of love from Molly!

Apple Harvest Festival

We went to the National Apple Harvest Festival in Ardentsville, Pennsylvania yesterday. The kids had a great time enjoying all of the activities.

Bryce really liked the petting zoo. He pet every single animal. Landon was the opposite, he hated it and didn't want to be around any of the animals.

Landon and John sat in the stands and watched the magic show and apple bobbing competition.

Silly boys!

Game Day

Bryce had his second soccer game of the season yesterday. He is really enjoying it and he loves having his Dad out on the field with him. Landon enjoyed visiting with cousin Sammy at the game.

Playing With Matt

Our neighbor Matt came over on Friday night. The boys LOVED playing with him. I don't think either one of them could get any closer to him....Bryce was leaning on Matt and Landon was caressing his face!

Another Doctor Visit

We were at the pediatrician's office again yesterday. I feel like we have been living there lately! Landon had bumps on his torso and we wanted to make sure he was ok. The doctor thinks it was due to sensitive skin. Last week, the situation was much scarier! We took Landon because he had a cold and he was wheezing while breathing. He had asthma symptoms and needed a nebulizer treatment to open up his lungs. We are hoping his breathing trouble was due to the cold and not asthma. Asthma runs on both sides of the family - John has it as well as my nephews Chris and Aaron. Odds are high that he may develop it especially considering all of his food allergies.

The kids were really restless while we were waiting for the doctor to come in. Landon ransacked my purse looking for something fun to get into. We discovered a peppermint patty and a Kellogg's cereal bar and that made everyone happy and content. You never know what you can find in a mother's purse! The bigger the purse the more room for "emergency goodies" to keep the kids content in situations like this!

An Evening At The Park

We took the kids to the park this evening to play for a few hours. Landon was John's buddy and they went everywhere together, even the tunnels!

This was a huge step for Bryce to climb on the ropes. He walked the entire way across on the lowest level.

John decided to climb to the top of the ropes. Landon was fascinated that his Daddy was on the top!

Bryce had a lot of fun on the swings.

What a happy little guy!

I Wash Hands!

Landon is so funny and full of energy in the mornings. This morning, he said, "I wash hands! I wash hands! Bryce's stool!" Translated, this means, "Mom, I want to wash my hands. I need Bryce's stool so I can reach the sink."

Landon took a moment away from washing to admire himself in the mirror. He is great entertainment in the morning while I get dressed.

PlayDoh City

Bryce spent a lot of time playing with PlayDoh this weekend. He was very creative and made an entire city incorporating the Playdoh as trash. We were confined to our house most of the weekend due to illness and rainy weather; Landon was getting over a respiratory cold, I had a stomach virus and it rained on Friday and Saturday. So, Bryce had quite a bit of time available for creative play. He couldn't have been happier!

Books, Books, Books!

Landon is beginning to love books just as much as Bryce. We enjoyed special reading time this evening while John and Bryce were at soccer practice. Landon loves when he gets one-on-one attention during book time.

Happy Guy

Bryce has been such a happy little guy lately!

A Season Of Change

It is a season of change for our family. After being blessed by working a very part-time schedule for the past five years, I have gone back to work full-time. When I had Bryce, John and I decided I would stay home with the kids and be the primary caregiver while our children were babies. My employer, Memorial Hospital, generously allowed me to continue working 12 hours a week to keep my feet in the door professionally. Now that Landon is no longer a baby, we decided it was time for me to begin working full-time again. Memorial has allowed me to begin working full-time in the same department and in the same position. Bryce and Landon began going to daycare everyday in the beginning of September, two weeks before I was scheduled to return to work full-time. I wanted to give them (and me) a transition period. Bryce has done a great job and Stillmeadow is preparing him for kindergarten. Landon, on the other hand, is going through an adjustment period. We have had a few rough weeks with a lot of tears shed by everyone, except Bryce. Things are finally starting to improve for Landon and he is adjusting to his new life. John and I are trying to make the most out of our evenings and weekends with the kids and spoil them with all of the love and attention we can possibly give them!