remembering rex

In that day an infant shall not die until he is old; 

and his life shall be as the age of a tree.

-Doctrine & Covenants 101:30

Even though October is such a fun month, with Halloween and all the fall festivities, it is always a bittersweet time for our family.  On October 18, we remembered what would have been the fourth birthday of our sweet little boy, Rex Fish Wilson, who passed away just one day after his due date four years ago.  As our children get older, Dallin and I wonder about the best way to help them know of and remember their big brother.  How do you love someone you never knew?  We love watching the tree that we planted in his memory grow taller and stronger each year, and it's hard not to imagine what he would be doing now, how much fun Harper and Hunter would have with him.  It is comforting for us to know that we will be able to see him again in heaven one day, and that our family can be together forever there.  

This year, as in years past, we spent the weekend of Rex's birthday out in Western MA, close to his tree, the place where we scattered his sweet ashes.  Surrounded by the brilliant colors of fall, it is breathtakingly beautiful there right now.  We brought the kids down to see Rex's tree and to to talk about their big brother.  At their age, they don't have much to say yet.  Still, we hope this will continue to be a way for our family to stay connected and to remember him together.  Of course, we keep in our hearts every moment of every day, but it is special to take one day for a special, quiet remembrance.  It is also an important reminder of all that we have to be grateful for, of the two beautiful children that grace our lives everyday.

october / 13 months old!

Making mischief

Happy October!  This month, Hunter turned 13 months old!  He is such a force.  Although, he is not walking yet, he is fiercely independent.  When we are at the park, he prefers to crawl around through the wood chips rather than be carried.  We find leftover wood chips all over the house for days following a park outing.  The outdoors are a source of constant wonder for Hunter, and when we aren't outside, he will stand at the window and survey his surroundings.  The wind and the movements of the trees and light are particularly interesting to him.  He is totally aware of everything around him.  He also loves getting into mischief; when he knows that he shouldn't be doing something, a tricky little smile will appear on his face.  The giggles of his older sister only encourage him further; Dallin and I live for the joy that exists between them.  

13 months old!

Our sweet little Hs at the park

Cute little girls playing Candyland on Fancy Friday

Harper is growing fast as well, approaching her third birthday next month!  From dance class to play dates, she greets each day with infectious excitement.  It has been interesting to watch her becoming more independent, from physical progress like potty training to emotional independence like staying in the play area at Ikea with her sweet bff while the moms shop.  She is my best little helper, letting me know when Hunter is getting into things he shouldn't (what some might call "tattling" is more like "lifeguarding" at our house); grabbing extra diapers from the closet when our supply runs out; and even "reading" to our cute little man.  Harper is such a great big sister.  She is so patient; in fact, I learn a lot about patience from her.  Thankfully, she's patient with ME too.   I know I'm biased, but there is a huge amount of goodness in that little body.  She is really just the best little girl we know. 

Love this girl

Fall is upon us, and we have been enjoying every single moment of the bright foliage as it falls, collecting leaves, Halloween activities, pumpkin crafts, and fall treats:

Harper takes the farmers' market!

Somehow, amidst the craziness of this summer, we missed out on most of the weekly farmers' markets in our town. Luckily, it runs through the end of October, and we have been doing our best to make up for lost time.  It's been getting darker earlier and earlier lately, but we have bundled up in the stroller and walked down to our town center, where Harper and Hunter love to sample the goods--especially the apples.  At home, I typically cut up apples for the kids, but lately Harper has been asking for a "clean apple" instead, ie. a whole apple.  Even Hunter seems to prefer the "clean apple."  You know what they say about an apple a day…  So who am I to argue?

Little man, big apple

Chalkboard pumpkin design

Crafting, crafting, and more crafting--there are just so many Halloween crafts to do!  My favorite is actually a repeat of last year, the chalkboard pumpkin.  We have also been experimenting with apple painting, dipping an apple sliced in half into paint and then using it as a stamp on paper.  Of course, sometimes stamping and painting on paper evolves into face painting, which further evolves into early bath time…  Hunter has also been developing an interest in art projects, which is exciting.  At school, he made his first craft, a watercolor painted over a white crayon-drawn spider web (his teachers helped with that part).  It's so beautiful, and it's exciting to see him developing the interest and ability in creating art.

Hunter's first craft!

We have also been working on our Halloween cards for the last couple of weeks.  This year, the first step was our Frankenstein head, made from a hand print.  Once the hand prints dried, Harper glued on googley eyes.  I was originally planning to help her draw in the monster's mouth and head cranks, but she had it under control; cute perfection!  But not as cute as the kiddos in costume.  We are just so excited for Halloween.  Harper is going to be Princess Anna from Frozen, and Hunter is going to be a ferocious(ly cute) lion.  Now we just need to get our cards in the mail… 

Tiger pumpkin

Decorating pumpkins: Isn't that what the Halloween season is all about? It feels like this year we have set some sort of record for the different types of pumpkins we can make.  I'm proud to say that Harper has completed most of them either entirely by herself, or with just the tiniest bit of help.  The only one that was a parents-only pumpkin was Dallin's masterpiece: an Olaf pumpkin.  Yep, it is a Frozen Halloween this year.  Little H's own pumpkin masterpieces include:
-Her chalkboard pumpkin, of course

-A tiger pumpkin, where Harper put tape on her pumpkin and then painted over the tape with black paint.  When the paint dried, we peeled the tape off, and then--viola!  Tiger pumpkin.  Roar.  The best part for Harper was that she did this fun activity with her bestie, Brenn.  These cute friends have so much fun together.

 -A pom-pom pumpkin!  We went to a fun pumpkin festival at Boston's Faneuil Hall, and Dallin and Harper worked together to decorate the sweetest little pumpkin, adorned by fuzzy pom-poms.  Blame it on the Frozen mania that has overtaken our house, but this pumpkin bares a striking resemblance to the love trolls in the movie.  With a face like this, we may just have to keep this pumpkin all year long…  

Harper and Daddy, plus glue and pom-poms...

Cutest pumpkin ever.

The pumpkin festival was such a sweet, festive experience.  In addition to  decorating pumpkins, Harper had fun in a little corn maze.  There was also a youth dance troupe there, and they performed the Thriller dance.  Harper was at first excited to see the dancers, and I took her up to the front of the crowd to watch.  The dancers were all dressed up in fairly believable zombie costumes and make-up.  The dance began with them all lying down; as they started to come to life and movie with equally believable zombie steps, Harper lost it.  I could sense this moment coming, and we made a pretty fast exit.  Fortunately, she rebounded quickly, though she insisted on hanging out in her stroller seat for a little while as we walked around. 

He does his best to lift all the pumpkins--
even the big ones!

Hunter, on the other hand, was absolutely consumed by all the pumpkins at the festival.  He looooves pumpkins!  He goes crazy when he sees them, in fact, mostly likely because they resemble balls.  At first, he would say "Ball! Ball!" when he spotted a pumpkin.  We explained that the pumpkins only look like balls but are actually pumpkins.  Now he says, "Pump! Pump!"  He was so excited to see the different types of pumpkins there.  His enthusiasm has inspired me to invest in so many pumpkins this year.  I truly just keep buying them.  Our house is, well, quite festive right now, but oh his sweet little face is well worth it.

We have also had the chance to enjoy a spooky hayride at a farm near our house.  The ride was only five or so minutes long, but the kids loved it, especially Harper.  It was just spooky enough to be fun, and afterwards they received free apples--and you know how the Wilson kids feel about apples…  We can't wait for Halloween this Friday!

apple picking

A couple of weeks ago, we had the chance to enjoy one of our very favorite fall activities: apple picking!  We met some friends at our favorite picking spot, Russell Orchards, where we took a hayride out to the rows of apple trees to search for the perfect apples.  We picked and picked and picked.  Of course, we also sampled some of the apples while we worked.  After all, that's part of the fun.  When our bags were full to the brim, we took the hayride back, where we stopped at the farm store for some apple cider.  The day was unseasonably warm so ice cold cider was probably the most delicious thing ever.  Oh how we love fall in New England!  Now the make an apple crisp…  That is, if Harper and Hunter don't eat all the apples first!

Daddy and Hunter on the hayride to the apple trees

What kind to pick?…

Perfect form

Quality control