Jack-O-Lantern!

Today we FINALLY (as Jackson would say) carved a pumpkin in time for Halloween. I know, I know, the jack-o-lantern may not last, but you would have thought I waited until the day of to carve it if you asked Jackson's opinion. He's been asking daily when we are going to make a jack-o-lantern and every time he sees one he says, "See Momma? SEE! we NEED to make one!".

So make one we did. With James and Jackson in tow, I had some pretty great help. I think we picked out the biggest and toughest pumpkin of all time because my arms are STILL sore, but we had fun...

1st up we discussed design...We laid out some paper and pens and talked a lot about what we were going to do. James really wanted a car, "beep beep" but Jackson quickly shot him down and asked for a haunted house. Then a cat, then a witch, then a spooky tree, then a witch again. 

I said this was beyond my realm of drawing and patience and we mutually agreed to a face. With eyes, a nose AND a mouth. I didn't forget any of the important aspects, Jackson made certain....

 

We outlined the face onto the pumpkin, James used his highlighters :) and got right to cutting....

 VOILA! A JACK-O-LANTERN! The boys (I promise) were excited but it doesnt' look it in the photo...

 We decided it'd be fun to add candles of course to make it a true jack-o-lantern and even strayed from the real candles and instead used some LED ones. Better than be safe than sorry, especially around these maniacs....

 Both boys were ecstatic once we turned off all the lights and turned on the 'candles'. 

James was cracking up laughing and Jackson said, "Thank you soooo much for my jack-o-lantern Momma, I LOVE him!"

 It's the little things :)....

Cleaning Crew

Man I'm lucky. I've got two little slaves who do my bidding at the drop of a hat! Not really, I wish, actually, I ask them to do something and they practically roll their eyes at me. The boys, (unsurprisingly to most of you) truly enjoy cleaning. They ask me for damp cloths almost daily and get right to work when I hand them over. It's amazing. mopping, sweeping, dusting. Y'all should see how happy they get when I get the vacuum out! I'm hoping this lasts, but I have a feeling I'll be begging them to clean once they hit the teenage years....

Pitiful Pumpkins

With fall being in full swing around these parts, (save the weather...meh....) we've begun the annual traditions of decorating for Halloween, wearing our costumes (daily), and of course, taking pictures with our beloved pumpkins. 

Jackson and James had picture day at school last week and I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to also  get good pumpkin patch pictures. Well....

As you can see they weren't really feeling it. I was drenched in sweat after 5 minutes and 85 pictures later this is the best we got...

James is always up for pictures and politely sits and even says 'cheese' (or 'theese' rather) but Jackson is going through a don't-you-dare-even-ask-to-take-my-picture stage. It makes picture taking SO much fun.

Here's another random amazing picture of James outside of Whole Foods. He's an even better picture-taker when his brother isn't around to persuade him otherwise. 

 

Which brings us to our next problem. Little brother James wants to do EVERYTHING that big brother  Jackson does, eats, says, sees, etc. etc. etc. So when Jackson isn't in a picture taking mood, neither is James. 

During the weekend my parents were in town and we decided to give it another go with more hands on deck. Here are a few before James figured out what Jackson was feeling...

Jackson: "Seriously"....

 James: "Wait, you mean we're not smiling, don't listen to her?"

 

James: "Oh, ok"...

James: "I guess I'll just walk away then"...

 These cats are something else let me tell ya. Even though the pictures look forced and fitted I promise they had a good time. See all those pumpkins in the wheelbarrow? Yea, they all came home with us so they wouldn't complain...

 ...And I happened to catch a halfway smile to prove it ;). Stay tuned--more angry, 'I'm not looking at that camera' pictures to come soon enough!