While they baked, we started cutting pumpkins. The boys kind of watched when we started (and I lost the picture)...
But they got bored and went to watch something else.
When the cookies were finished, we got to decorate them. McKay globbed on a tablespoonful of orange frosting, squished on a handful of candy corns, sprinkled excessively, and voila!
Carter did about the same, with slightly more restraint.
Suzanne and I each carved a pumpkin (I emptied the goo from both). She did the cat and I did the spider with the help of a kit from Wal-Mart. Pretty cool, huh?
Carter and McKay had firefighter-themed costumes- Carter already had the rain coat and we got McKay's dalmation costume off of eBay. We only had to go down one street before they had WAY too much candy.
November 14th we had a joint birthday party for the boys. We had it in the cultural hall at the church and they had 11 of their closest friends there. It was complete chaos for 2 hours. Luckily all the parents stayed so we had plenty of help cleaning up at the end.
Soon after their birthday, Carter and McKay were invited to their friend Gabbi's birthday. Gabbi turned 5 and for her birthday wanted everything Tinkerbell. Gabbi's mom made every guest a pair of fairy wings. I was not happy. "What did you do to my boys???"
Girly as this new attire was, it led to some pretty cute pretend play.
Here's the perfect example of some really cute pretend play. For all who are not internet savvy, this is a SUPER-CUTE VIDEO. Click the play button to watch it.Closed caption for the hearing impaired (or if you just have trouble understanding McKay):
McKay: (quiet) I'm gonna change you into a frog.
McKay: (quiet) I'm gonna change you into a frog.
Me: You're gonna what? You're gonna change me into a frog? Yeah. Ok.
McKay: It don't have any magic in it.
Me: No, not really, but it's fun to pretend, isn't it?
McKay: Uh-huh!
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I'd like to say that this next picture was a white Christmas, but it was the beginning of January. A Monday, by the garbage cans. This was one of the two snowy days this winter. But let's pretend it's Christmas.
As most of you know, we had to leave California and our Christmas plans didn't go over like we hoped. Then Grandma Carter's flight got cancelled and that was another sad occurrence. But we had a fun Christmas morning with just us. They're so cute in the mornings.
These were taken just last week. This is a shot out our back window. Suzanne and the boys saw 3 deer in our backyard and called me at work to tell me what I was missing. I did see one in our driveway later that night (when I rode my bike home) but I didn't have a camera.
We have been planning to paint our livingroom/dining room a different color for a long time. We are not fans of the red! The boys loved helping.
I will be spending most of my days off on a tall ladder painting up by the ceiling. Remember how I'm afraid of heights? I'm having to work on that.
We hope you enjoy the pictures. I know these are far apart and we plan on doing this more often. We love you all and we hope to talk to you soon!
The boys were very impressed.
McKay wanted to try it. He was game until the cold cold water touched his feet. Then he became a spider monkey and climbed up my arm. (That's a boogie board, not the surfboard I was using.)
Different day, kind of grey. Suzanne took the boys to a different beach while I was working for the Man. 
The boys had fun at the beach that day, but they had a lot more fun with what we bought at the yard sale yesterday. There are a few more pictures to enjoy before we get to that.
We helped the boys write their names in the sand. McKay did the "M" all by himself!
Carter only needed help lengthening the leg on his "R". For some reason he'll write in the sand but not on paper. The last "R" really is there, it's just too light for this picture.
There's a nice walkway up the cliff from Nye Beach and the boys like to stop on each of the dozen benches on the way up. They're about 10 feet apart. It makes the nice walk a very long nice walk.
This is the view from those benches, but usually there aren't two cute boys there.
Same pathway up from Nye Beach. At the top there's this tall spike that acts as a sundial (but no numbers, go figure.) and the boys like to climb up and hug it. I don't know why - that's just what they do. They decided to just stand by it today.
The ridge they are standing on has this inscription: "Light is an appointment we all must keep when we are quiet and can find the way." That means that this sculpture was made by a Confucius wanna-be and nobody seems to know what they meant by it. Many-a-time we've walked past tourists staring at it muttering, "What it the world is that supposed to mean?"
The boys have to bring their toys EVERYWHERE - to the store, to church, Carter even takes his dog to school. They decided the toys need to be buckled so they stay safe. They did this, not us.
Carter introduces the family like this: "This is my friend Dog (the toy), this is my friend McKay, and that's my friend Mama and that's my friend Dada!" Cute, but it shows who gets priority, too.
If it's too windy at the beach, the boys always love playing at the park. This is one of their favorite games. I stand at the bottom and roll the balls up and they roll them back. They like it best when both balls come at me at once so I miss one, then I have to go running to get it.
