Wordless Wednesday

John Jeep and Pumpkin Pictures

Papa and Finny got Owen a John Deere jeep for his 2nd birthday, but he was not really interested in riding it until he was close to 3 years old. Now, every time he goes to Papa and Finny's he wants to ride his "John Jeep". He rides it all around the yard and Papa gets on his riding mower and he follows Owen around. Adam had his first ride with Papa yesterday evening.I tried so hard to get a picture of both boys with the pumpkins, but it was impossible! Every time Adam was looking at the camera, Owen wasn't, and every time Owen was looking at the camera, Adam wasn't!
This might be the best one out of about 25.
I gave up and tried to get some pictures of just Adam. That did not go too well either. He was too intrigued by the pumpkin and trying to eat pieces of hay.

Construction Rodeo

Today after church I got a call from my friend, Jill, telling me about a "Construction Rodeo" being held from 1-5pm in Manheim. Since Adam had napped almost all morning and Owen does not always take an afternoon nap, we decided to take the boys to this really cool event. It was put on by ABC Construction and was free for the public. They asked for donations which went directly to Make-a-Wish foundation. I was so glad Jill told us about this! They had all sorts of bull dozer and other construction truck competitions. They had electricians, welders, and carpenters giving demonstrations. There were many activities for kids too. Owen played with Legos and PVC piping. He got to drive a mini tractor, and dig in a pile of sand with a mini bull dozer. He also got to pretend to be a carpenter and hammer wooden pegs. Kids were even able to help build a brick wall with cement. It was a little piece of heaven for little boys. We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!!

Oktoberfest/ Papa's Birthday

Yesterday was Papa's birthday. He and Mike both celebrated their birthdays this week. Every year Mike looks forward to going to Stoudt's Oktoberfest. He LOVES Germany and everything/anything German... especially the music. So all 7 of us piled into Papa's Suburban and drove to Adamstown to Stoudt's Brewery. We spent about an hour and a half in the "Beirgarten" (not long enough in Mike's opinion) before going to dinner at the Black Angus.

The little kids in their lederhosen were adorable!! Adam did not mind the loud music and Owen loved watching all the dancers. Owen also LOVED the Bavarian soft pretzels and spicy mustard. In fact, he may have eaten two pretzels!

I was a little worried about how Adam would do at dinner because our reservation was at 6pm and lately he has been going to bed at 6:30pm. It was a very quiet, kind of fancy, restaurant with tables really close together. However , Adam did great! Both boys were so well behaved.

We came home after dinner and celebrated Papa's birthday with a cake that Owen decorated earlier today. I'm thinking he could go into business doing abstract cake decorating?!It was a great evening celebrating Papa's and daddy's birthday with some good ol' German culture.

Cutie Patootie

Adam is crawling the "correct" way now and he's getting faster every day!
He is also able to pull himself up to a standing position.

He's into EVERYTHING and still prefers to play with Owen's toys and attempts to chew on cords and stick his finger in sockets. It figures that he found the ONE socket that I forgot to childproof. Luckily, I was right there and moved him to safety before he shocked himself.

He continues to drool like crazy... all the time...everywhere. I am constantly stepping in puddles or walking on wet carpet spots.He's lucky he's so darn cute!


I took this picture of Owen hugging Adam (without my prompting), however Owen's eyes were half closed, so I cropped it.On a completely different note... Wednesday I picked Owen up at Linda's and he had a bite on his neck. Once we got home he was crying and complaining that it hurt. Turns out it is a spider bite. How did I know that it was a spider bite?I could see two fang marks where the nasty spider bit him. Poor guy! I'd like to find that spider and step on him!!

My Book Worm

Adam seems to be developing the same love for books and reading as his big brother.
Which makes this mommy (and teacher) soooooooo happy!

Wordless Wednesday

Shoot Out Competition

Mike found out about a shoot out competition for kids in our area from a flyer that was sent home at his school. It was to be held Monday and Tuesday evening this week. Mike thought Owen might enjoy the shoot out so we entered him in the competition. There are different age groups... 7 and under, 10 and under and I think 14 and under. Owen was definitely the youngest competitor out of about 15 kids that were there on Monday night. He was the 4th kid to shoot and he had the highest score. We left right after he shot, so I am not sure how he ended up doing compared to the other kids in his age group. If he is a top scorer he will go to Penn State for another shoot out competition. We don't really think he'll go that far, but he had a great time, which is all that matters!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Mike's 33rd birthday! To make sure he had an extra special day, I e-mailed his secretary and told her that it was his birthday and she should harass him as much as she wants. Well, she had two teachers announce his birthday during the morning announcements. He had kids and teachers saying "Happy Birthday!" all day long. I told his secretary not to mention that I told her because he would not be very happy with me. Hopefully he does not read this blog post or I'm in trouble.

When he got home from work today he told me that he wished they would not have announced his birthday because it was a big distraction for the kids. He could not even go into classrooms without the kids yelling "Happy Birthday!" Oops.

Owen was in a soccer competition tonight (which I will write about later) and when we got home we had lasagna and then celebrated Daddy's birthday with some yummy cake that Owen made and decorated!

Happy Birthday Mike!! We love you!!