a pumpkin patch & 2 bucks

so i took the boys to this sweet pumpkin patch in north collins on sunday. we had so much fun! we grabbed the wagon and searched the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkins... we got 2 big ones (for daddy & mommy) and 2 smaller ones (obviously, for clay & carter).

how cute are these two? seriously...

they HAD to get a picture in front of the big john deere...

opening day for archery was on saturday, and gerry got this 4 pointer!

i'm not sure who was more excited about the deer... carter went to the garage and got the hand sanitizer and kept saying "the buck needs some soap! the buck needs some soap!" apparently he found the blood on the gutted deer to be a bit too "dirty" for him!

and then yesterday my brother in law dave got an 8 pointer in the woods behind our houses... here he is, proud as a peacock, with little baby dave... looks like there is going to be a LOT of venison in the family! :)

carter columbus...

so, here is chippy with his newspaper hat and rolled up piece of paper... i mean, here is carter columbus! they learned about christopher columbus last week at carter's school and he was all about it! he came walking into the garage and exclaimed "LAND!" and a few minutes later, my personal favorite, "I FOUND AMERICA!" i just about peed my pants laughing...

this weekend was october fest in ellicottville... christiane and i enjoyed the festivities!

and it was dave's birthday...

and after a VERY long weekend, this made me literally laugh out loud...

getting ready for fall!

so we were out at nanny and poppy's this weekend and we painted some pumpkins... or as carter calls them, "pine cones".

gracie loved painting...

chippy was LOVING the painting!

clay made a "scary spider" on his...

and as a sidenote: this is one of the pieces of writing that was in clay's writing folder at open house. the top one says "The buck is fiting (fighting) in the thickit (thicket)." the second one says "The snak (snake) is slithring (slithering) under a bord (board) in the day." you don't think he spends a little time with his dad do you??? :)

my baby is 3 today!

so chippy is 3 today... although he keeps demanding that he is 13! here he is yesterday at school with his mouse hat. he told me "mithith pat helped me make thith nithe mouth hat" (mrs. pat helped me make this nice mouse hat)

i looked up in my car today and saw this and couldn't believe it... i can't believe it was 3 years ago!

first day of school

so i have been m.i.a for a while... i apologize. we were quite busy this summer! i will try in the next few days to post some summer pictures.the boys started school yesterday. clayton is now in 2nd grade, and carter started preschool yesterday. some cereal and poptarts started out the day.

ready to rock the first day... carter's backpack was so big it almost knocked him off his feet!

chippy rang the door bell and waited to be let in... see how big that back pack is? (or backcack as he calls it)

and here he is in the middle of saying "cheese" (that's why he looks angry in the picture) with his teacher mrs. mary.

well the outcome of the day was this:

clay- told me that his teacher is the best in the school. no real reason why, apparently she just is.

chip- loved school, ate macaroni and cheese, had pretzels and juice, and made an apple with two leafes (i love when he says it- sounds like leaf-is) and took a good nap with his fongefob fairpants blanket. he's so damn cute!

hopefully today was as much of a success as yesterday! :)

busy summer so far...

so this summer we have only done a tiny bit of boating... because the weather has not exactly cooperated... this weather needs to get itself together... I WANT TO BOAT!!!

GARDEN UPDATE: here is the side of the garden gerry planted...

and here is mine! i can taste those green beans already! :)

i bought myself a (pink) fishing pole, and actually got myself a fishing license!!!

the same day i got the license and pole, we went down the street and fished in a friend's pond. i became incredibly competitive with clay when he told me that my stupid pink pole wouldn't catch any fish... he won, 11-9. i was pissed!

and i got a new tattoo... it is the letters c (clayton) g (gerry) and c (carter). most people do not see the g... it's a kinda funky font. i love it! and it's pink! (once it heals it will be)

we went to see kid rock at darien lake...

needless to say, we had a good time! ;)

the people building the house across the street from us demolished our mailbox... but by the next afternoon, the trucking company had fixed/remade it and it was as good as new!

and tonight i have been super busy... i fixed the light/fan in our room

and i made some sticky buns (courtesy of barefoot contessa)

mmm... oooooooooooooooooooh yeah! i have eaten 2 already!

and then i got 22 of the 100 key fobs done for my girl courtney's wedding shower august 1st. as soon as the rest of my supplies come in, i will whip out the rest!

now, i'm going to relax and watch "marley and me"... and probably eat another sticky bun! ;)

keeping my fingers crossed!

so we made a garden... and i just want to say, for the record, i worked my arse off! for real! i'm not exactly a very "labor intensive" kind of gal... to say the least. i shoveled so much topsoil, i am surprised i could even move in the morning!

gerry and clay built the garden box...

and then we had 2 yards of topsoil delivered...

and we definitely only needed 1 yard. hence all of the shoveling... at least clay has a nice fresh pile of dirt to add to his dirt bike jump... yeah, he really needed that jump to be bigger YIKES!

here is the finished product! 2 different kinds of green beans, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, and some cucumbers. i'm not sure who is more excited about this garden...

on a different note, we took the kids to the zoo today and became members again... grace and carter were too damn cute!

clay LOVES taking care of baby dave... he thinks he is so old and so cool!

then gracie pushed her brother in the stroller for a bit...

here's to many zoo trips this summer!

proud mama!

so we got a note home that on clayton's last day of school, he would be receiving an award during their award ceremony. now, i'm not going to lie... i kind of thought it was going to be some kind of "participation award" that every kid got. but it wasn't. my baby won an award (along with 5 or 6 other kids) for "most improved"! i was such a proud mom... i cried like a baby!

so here we are, the end of yet another school year... clay will be a big 2nd grader next year! now if only we could give him a "most improved" award at home... :)

a quickie for father's day (you and your dirty mind!)

so i hope everyone had a fantastic father's day... clay, gerry, his dad, and his grandfather (spike) all went on their annual father's day camping trip at highbanks... chippy is a titch too high maintenance still to join them, but gerry says next year. chip and i hung out all weekend... too bad it rained most of it! we were trapped in the house all weekend, which is no good... especially if you know my son! (***remember the fish tank incident?***)


here was chippy on sunday once it finally cleared up... why is mud and dirt so much fun? i just don't get it...

good ole spike won the fishing tournament that they had... such a great man! and proud as a peacock to be with his boys this weekend!

and here is clay (in the orange) and nick on the boat... it's so funny, gerry's best friend growing up, greg, and his son nick were camping too. seeing clay and nick is like seeing gerry and greg all over again! kind of scary! :)

a few random happenings (plus a video!)

so here is my sister in law christiane and me. not sure why i posted the picture, but i did.

here is clay (at the in law's property) riding his dirt bike down the gas line...

carter and grace chillin at the camp fire... complete with their blankets and juice

eating a little birthday cake

clay's school play "this land is our land". SO cute! i cried... so did gerry... and his dad... and his mom...

he was a wolf, and a train conductor. we had a video camera, but it died just as they started. :(

he was so excited about this play that he was counting down all week...

he really looks enthused doesn't he? ha!