Iowa Images

Crab Leg Dinner & The Hogan/Larsen Kids

An Early Trick-or-Treat Trip

Mmm, Icing!

Photography by Marah


Corning Rental Boys

Really Blogger?

Yesterday I uploaded 25 pictures and wrote a lovely story about our Iowa Excitement then walked away from the computer and somehow it kicked me out! Ugghhh, so you might get some pictures but probably not as many and certainly not as much of a story.

Baby in a Big Boy Bed!

I know he's technically not a baby anymore but don't burst Sean & I's bubble on that one! He's been crawling in to the crib (yes in, not out) so I've been thinking it was time to set up his big boy bed and the other night after they boys spilled gobs of Cheerios on the bed it was time to get it moved! Here is Linc's new room. He fell asleep with Sean holding him last night so he didn't actually fall asleep in his bed but he stayed until 2 when he came to our room demanding water and when I gave it to him he marched right back to bed and back to sleep! Lets hope all of our nights are that uneventful!

No pictures! ? !

Nope - not so much to photograph around here in the last 10 days - mostly sick kids. I did get some cute pictures of the boys jumping in the crib and will have to post them. The crib is on limited time since they have learned how to climb in so I'm pretty sure climb out comes next and Carter was trying to scale the wall off it last night! Eek.

We had open house for the boys' school tonight - what a fun time! Carter was so excited to take us and they have this super cute little folder for each of them - he had an interview on his first day revealing this -

Favorite Color - Red & Green (what? never heard those before, ok)
Favorite Food - Fried Ham (now is that an Iowa boy or what - this was also done on his birthday and that was his requested birthday meal)
Favorite Toy - Fire Truck
What I want to be - Firefighter

His teachers also say he is such a good listener - really, our Carter? Really our Carter! We tried not to sound so surprised! He was super excited to introduce us to his friend, Zach who he talks about a lot at home. Such a new world for this family.

Lincoln wasn't sure he wanted to go back to school tonight but had a lot of fun playing once we got there. There were lots of cute pictures of him in his classroom - especially holding his blanket. They say he does a lot of observing at school and isn't sure if he is allowed to use the markers (I wonder why between Carter's dominance and my fear of marker on wall).

We are so lucky to have such a great school and wonderful teachers for the boys - visiting school makes it even easier to have mommy's day out which was fabulous today! It almost wears me out to be alone for 5 hours since I can do so much! And to top off a great day - Sean lost his voice tonight right before my gas light came on - what wonderful timing, he couldn't say a thing! Love it.

Sick and Tired...

Of having sick and tired kids! We are fighting a virus or the flu at our house and it is nasty - the only illness it compares to is the RSV we had last winter but I think the fevers are worse this time. The boys don't feel like doing much other than watching t.v. and hanging out in the backyard a little bit and we are trying to be considerate of other people and stay at home but after 3 days of it I'm ready to get out! We will certainly be having a Sonic drive through date tomorrow just for a change of scenery! Carter started his fever on Sunday and it is finally a little lower today - maybe tomorrow it will be gone but Lincoln's (who is refusing to take his medicine) is really bad today. Fever please go away, mommy wants to go to Dallas on Saturday!

We had a good weekend & I guess this is why we picked up some cooties as Sean calls them and even though I was a bit obnoxious with the Purell we still got sick - go figure. I guess either the pumpkin patch or the fair are places that have lots of germs, likely both of them! The boys enjoyed our pumpkin patch trip on Saturday - the drive of an hour was a little longer than they would have liked but I saw parts of OKC that I hadn't ever seen so it was worth it, and unlike the patch we usually visit they got to actually pick their pumpkins this year and cut them. The liked the duck water race where you pump water to make your duck go fastest down the guttering like stuff and riding on the tire horses the best. We also checked out the fair on Sunday and saw some animals and walked through a few different exhibit type things - all of the hour and a half that we could stand as it was getting hot! We also had salt water taffy which was a delight for me and I think a first for all of the boys - including Sean.

That is about all from our house, not much new when you are stuck inside being sick. We have had many visits from the neighbors cat, Ms. Kitty which is keeping us entertained - yep we are in need of some entertainment!

Hogan Happenings

It is fall - yippee, Amen, welcome fall, welcome velour tracksuit days! It was about 60 this morning so we packed up to enjoy a lovely morning at the zoo. It was not only quiet but it was crisp and lovely there. We visited some of our favorite animals and nearly got peed on by one of the Rhinos (thankfully there was a splash guard of sorts, I'm not sure what I would have done had we gotten wet and it was SO close). After a stop at McDonald's (yes, I'm weak and gave in) they boys fell asleep in the car and I'm getting "work" done!

Carter and I had another big date this week and went to see Disney on Ice - that night I would have told you it was amazing and great but paying for it the next day with a tired little man I was reconsidering its worthiness of our time! He enjoyed it and seemed very fascinated by the characters being there "in person". This year it included Cars, Lion King, Little Mermaid & Tinker belle - lots of fun - he told Lincoln when he gets 4 he can go too (only after selling staying home with daddy to Linc - you get to stay home and have some special time with daddy while I go do something fun with mommy -I hear myself a little too often in his words!). Anyway, he chose to get a Lightening McQueen Car over the light up twirly thing that I was pushing (only because I had one similar when I was little) but it was actually cheaper than the light deal - Disney certainly has an amazing cash cow with Disney on Ice and I spent way more money that I'd intended to but it is making memories - right?

Carter has also been getting some golf lessons from his daddy which goes very well until Lincoln gets a hold of a toddler sized regular club and then the panic begins! We also just got our new battery for the hot wheels and the boys are enjoying going "wicked fast" in it around the driveway. Tomorrow is Mommy's day off - yippee, so many choices which one to choose?

My 100th Post!

I noticed that today is my 100th post - not too bad for about 15 months or so. I think we are finding our fall groove, it sure is a different schedule with school on 2 days, can't imagine what it will be like when we go 4 or 5 next year! We are trying to keep things kind of low-key on the days after school days because the boys are just more tired than normal.

We hit the Zoo this weekend and rode the tram - very exciting for the boys, not so much for me but I'll happily do it for them. Carter and I also had a little date lunch on Sunday - Sean wasn't in the mood for having lunch out and I was fearful we'd be inside all day so off we went, it is amazing how wonderful he was all by himself - he ate and we had nice conversation.

As our pictures show we've had lots of rain - it has been cool too but I love 70's-80's so I won't complain. It has also given the boys the opportunity to use their rain gauge, however, I can't really give an exact measurement from day to day since they want to dump it - a) before I can see it and b) every time there is a droplet of rain in it - so I'd tell Sean - we got 1 inch from the last time they emptied it, I guess it works and they are starting to pay attention to the numbers on it when I get to it quick enough.

The boys geared up for the Bears vs. Packers game on Sunday night - Lincoln didn't want to take off his t-shirt that was on over his jammies but Sean was able to convince him it might have been too hot. Carter was not pleased to wake up and find out that they'd lost and that Mimi's "Stinky" Packers had won, after a short conversation on that I decided I wouldn't bring it up again!

I tried to put some 4T jeans on Carter this morning - what was I thinking when I bought a normal cut pair of jeans for him - they are super cute and from Gymboree but I'm thinking that my skinny little men might never be able to wear them, although they have the adjustable waist they need an adjustable butt - he needs at least another 7 pound to even start to fill that out!

I had too many t.v. tears last night between the poor lady who lost her family on The Biggest Loser (who I'll be rooting for all year, I think) and Patrick Swayze's last interview I had some serious tears - between that and The Time Traveler's Wife I think I've had my crying quota!