Happy Halloween!

All the boys had fun. Ed was proud to have the best decorations on the block (and in true Wevodau fashion - the most). Aidan was very pleased to trick-or-treat at his Kindergarten teacher's house in his train engine costume. And Austin, after a little coohersion from his parents was a great alligator and collected a bunch of chocolate.

The cute story for the night was after we visited Mrs. Gray's house, Austin asked if that was Aidan's teacher Mrs. Gray. Ed said, "Yes, it was". Then Austin asked, "Why is she Mrs. Gray when her hair is black?"

CAMPING

The Wevodaus went camping this weekend. While Ed took the boys camping over the summer courtesy of Aunt Marge and Uncle Larry’s RV – that was really living in the lap of luxury. We scaled it down a bit this weekend. I wouldn’t call it extreme roughing it, but it was a bit more back to nature than their summer adventures (after all Ed’s trusty queen size air mattress had a leak and so we really did sleep on the ground while the boys were at least on top of the bed roll foam).
We visited Dinosaur Valley State Park, about 1 ½ hours from our home. We didn’t explore everything, but we did see a set of Dinosaur foot prints in a creek bed! We rode bikes around the camp sites, when fishing in the creek – Aidan got some nibble using his fake grub worm, but most of the fish were scared away by the large rocks being thrown into the creek by the other kiddos that weren’t fishing. We ate brauts and pork chops (although the boys didn’t – they stuck with plain bread) for dinner and sausage and fried potatoes for breakfast. We made smores and took a ghostly flashlight walk in the evening.
Lessons learned for our next camp out:
1) Bring firewood – especially if it is going to be 40 degrees at night
2) Bring a trash bag – we create a lot of trash
3) Don’t use a whole stick of butter and 2 “glugs” of oil when trying to fry potatoes
4) Put the rain flap over the tent – whether or not it is forecasted to rain
5) Bring Christmas lights- they just make it all look festive
6) At least consider bringing a camera (to capture rare moments when your boys are swinging on swings and holding each other’s hands – sorry no picture)

Things we did well and will do again:
1) Pop popcorn in a skillet
2) Always bring bikes – great entertainment around the camp site while the adults are getting things ready
3) Bring extra shoes and clothes – you never know when someone will fall in the creek
4) Bring good food and lots of it
5) Bring extra flashlights and extra batteries – there’s always one that doesn’t work or someone who doesn’t have one

Fall Has Arrived

Fall is just flying by. This weekend we had two soccer games, instead of our usual one. Aidan really enjoys soccer and when I told him we only had two games left, he asked for clarification - "Two more games this year?" I said yes and asked if he wanted to play again in the spring - he gave a definite "Yes" on that one and then wanted to know why he had to wait so long.

Construction Update: We are moving right along with our home addition. The room itself is finished except for paint, flooring and some lights/fan fixtures. The new bathroom also needs finishing touches including painting, tiling (on the floor and around the tub), staining the cabinets, adding the sink/counter, the lighting and the solar tube. We picked out all the paint, tile and lighting this weekend so all of our decisions are done until it comes to actually using the room!

Everything looks good with the exception of our existing middle bathroom which is still in great disarray. No toilet, no floor, 1/2 of the walls and ceiling torn out. Oh, and no closet in Ed's current office - as it was on the other side of the now missing wall. All of this will come together as soon as the plumber figures out how deep to dig a trench into our foundation so that the upstairs sewer pipe can connect to the downstairs sewer pipe... That is really the only challenge we have had during the entire process. The contractor is still on track to complete the project on their original timeline - keep those fingers crossed.

Austin has narrowly escaped being "locked away" in a recent trip to the Ft. Worth zoo (just kidding). His behavior is improving slightly, but most recently he wrote in blue pen on a white chair cushion in the living room. After I sprayed the lines with upholstry cleaner, Austin had a wet rag and rubbed the lines. We repeated this 4-5 times over the course of 30 minutes, and using all of Austin's elbow grease, the line is virtually invisible. In addition to cleaning up his obvious misuse of the pen, he continues to be banned from markers and pens until next Saturday.

Our Dear Austin

It's our fervant hope that our little Austin is going through a phase - perhaps a phase called "I want to push my parents over the edge". In the last few months he has been exhibiting non-preferable behavior in our house. He has reverted a bit in his potty training skills. He doesn't have accidents (except maybe at nap time), but he does have intentional peeing in his pants, onto the floor and anywhere else he decides. Now, I am sure we will make it through this, but it is a bit distressing to discover he has peed on the carpet in front of his bureau while getting dressed or while standing there telling you "No, I don't have to go potty". He is certainly exerting his independence.

He now dresses himself and in the morning this includes removing his wet pull-up and stuffing it anywhere (hiding it really) instead of putting it in the trash. I have found wet, yucky pull-ups under his bureau, in his toy box, in his closet, under his comforter, etc. He is running out of hidding places (pretty soon he may have to go back to using the trash can as I will have looked everywhere else).

This week he has added another fun surprise. He loves to color with markers and we have lots of them - not all of which are washable (unfortunately). Austin decided to demonstrate his excellent letter structure by drawing a 12 inch letter "A" on our living room carpet. He also had marker on his arms and legs - but that was nothing new. Oh, my... he is pushing us closer to the edge - but on the other hand, he can be so sweet. I just can remember any examples right now.

Time Flies

Our household and house have been in constant motion since the start of school. Three days into kindergarten Aidan was diagnosed with strep throat! He had the long Labor Day weekend to recover and has been enjoying school ever since. He prefers to take his lunch in his Volcano lunch sack, rather than buy something in the cafeteria. He brings home a different train book from the school library every few days and we now work on homework each week – learning to recognize and write works like I, see, the, a, me, red, etc. I think Aidan’s highlight of the year thus far was when Grammy (Ed’s mom) visited school, had lunch with him and watched him play at recess. He is having a blast.

Austin is exerting his 3 ½ yr old independence. Of late, he will not let us in his room while he is “cleaning” it. Cleaning consists of taking every visible, movable object (books, toys, clothes) and piling them into the closet. Austin picks out his own outfits each morning – and they are colorful to say the least. He prefers red, orange or green shorts all with red socks. When Austin goes missing in the house, you are sure to find him in his closet or under his bed sneaking a snack – yes, he likes to take food back into his lair without us knowing. He is now a very proficient bike rider with the help of his training wheels.

Ed made a special trip to Colorado over the Labor Day weekend. On the spur of the moment, he accepted an invitation to go climb a “fourteener”- Mount Elbert. He really enjoyed the experience and was pleasantly surprised that after reaching the summit, the threat of storms disappeared and he was able to stay at the top for an hour enjoying the views of surrounding mountains and the successful climb.

Our fun continues with Aidan playing soccer (and me coaching). Aidan and Austin are starting choir – Austin is very excited to be old enough this year. Hot water has been restored in our house (after having our hot water heater moved and replaced). Now the boys’ bathroom is being dismantled (with a jackhammer) in order to put in wider pipes for the new upstairs bathroom to flow through. The concrete chunks and visible rebar are distressing, but we’re sure it will all come together as planned in another 8-9 weeks.