OTW – toasty days (inside)

We’ve been using the fireplace in our porch quite a bit lately.  It’s been warmer out there than most of the days in MN this past summer – 80, close to 90 degrees.  It was the perfect temp for a coloring marathon.  We spent several hours working on the oversized coloring pages.  I even broke out my old box of 96 crayons.  The kids loved the selection.

Nolan’s imagination continues to brighten my day.  I gave the boys wooden spoons to play with while I was working in the kitchen.  Nolan called for me to join them in the living room.  They “roasted marshmallows” using their spoons as skewers over a pretend fire on the carpet.  Nolan brought me an imaginary graham cracker, so Lincoln had to do the same.  Then I received chocolate and another cracker from both of them.  It was pretty cute.

We had game night at our house on Friday night.  Larissa & Michelle joined us for Scrabble Slam, Buzzword & Mexican Train.  Add the chicken, black bean & spinach dip I love to make (and the fireplace) and we had a fun time.  🙂

Saturday night we joined a few other members of Jake’s extended family to celebrate his cousin Sara’s birthday.  On our way to the party, I mentioned I wanted a beverage from SA.  Nolan then said from the backseat, “Mom, I’m going to get you a medium mocoa…And a Diet Coke for me.”  Sounds like our kid has heard us order from the McDonald’s drive-thru a few times.  Are we that predictable???

The boys had a lot of fun helping Sara open her gifts.  At one point they were both jockeying for the prime seat next to her so they could see what she was opening.  While we were there, Aunt Kristin came through for me in a big way.  Nolan wants to be a pumpkin for Halloween and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to dress him for the cold (and potentially wet) Halloween we will likely have.  Kristin had a pumpkin costume in her basement that she made for one of her own kids.  It’s great!  And Nolan is so excited to wear it.  He gets to wear his costume to school on Wednesday, so he’ll get to take it on a trial run before Saturday.

We’ve been working on what the kids need to say when they ring the doorbell on Halloween.  The last time I asked Nolan what he should say he told me, “Can I have some candy, please?” What nice manners, huh?  I’m guessing if he uses that, he could end up with extra candy pieces for being polite!

I went to visit my mom today.  She had shoulder surgery on Friday morning.  She’s recovering well, resting up, and doing her best to let her family take care of her.  It’s nice to be able to return just a little bit of the kindness she has shown all of us over the years.  While I was gone, Jake watched the boys plus our friends’ son.  They boys always have such a great time with their friend.  Breakfast for dinner was on tonight’s menu.  Lincoln apparently wanted to eat like the big boys and use his fork tonight.