october

October has been a whirlwind. Fall adventures and Halloween crafts have kept us busy, bordering on exhausted at times, but it has been totally worth it.  It has been a great month.

Vanilla steamer, please!

Fortunately for me, Harper has developed a taste for "vanilla steamers" (steamed vanilla milk) from Starbucks, and she is always asking if we can stop.  I may have created a little Starbucks-loving monster, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree--and so she usually manages to twist my arm into a little pit stop.  Whatever keeps us running!  It helps that Hunter is equally obsessed with the pumpkin bread there too, and he knows a Starbucks logo when he sees one.  During a quiet moment in church recently, he shouted out, "I want pumpkin bread!"  Apparently he was unsatisfied with the Sacrament Meeting bread--yikes.  

We have been enjoying more than just snacks this month though!  The foliage has been absolutely amazing, stretching on for weeks.  Some years, it seems like the leaves turn and immediately fall--and that fall is over as fast as it began.  This year has been a happy exception, with the leaves turning slowly and remaining on the trees, everywhere looking stunning and quintessentially New England.  One of our favorite places to see the brilliantly colored leaves is the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.  It is so peaceful there, and I remember back to when my own parents would take me there when I was little.  The kids enjoy it there now, the way I did back then, and we love to collect leaves and acorns.  Sometimes we even get lucky, and friends are able to join us for a walk there.  The winding paths mean a "short" walk often becomes much longer and more strenuous than anticipated, but we love every minute.

Little h with her adventuring friends at Mt. Auburn

We have enjoyed some really fun fall art projects this month as well.  The Wilson family is all about the seasonal crafts, and the fall is perhaps the best time of year for fun art projects.  This year, we made ghost Halloween cards by having Harper and Hunter make foot prints with white paint on black paper.  They thought it was hilarious that I actually wanted them to step into the paint and couldn't get enough.  When the paint dried, the Hs added googley eyes and drew faces on their ghosts.  Hunter's ghosts were a little more abstract, but Harper got really into the different emotions of the ghosts!  We added our annual Halloween photos before mailing them to our friends and family.  Such a success!

Love this ghoul--and her ghost cards!

Of course, it's not Halloween without one of our favorite traditional Halloween crafts: chalkboard pumpkins.  This year, I spray painted a bunch of pumpkins so that some little friends could join in the chalk art.  Much, much easier than a pumpkin carving party!   Since he is still pretty young, I had initially offered Hunter just a little mini pumpkin, but he was adamant in decorating a "mommy pumpkin" like Harper; I couldn't say no, of course.  The pumpkins turned out so well, and I couldn't help but compare this year's chalkboard pumpkins to the years past.  Our little Wilson pumpkins have grown so much in that time, especially Harper.  It was fun seeing Hunter enjoying his pumpkin as much as his big sister this year.  Every child is different, of course, but it makes my heart so happy that he enjoys the creative process as much as I do.  Watching them work and create remains one of my very favorite experiences.

Harper and Anne, hard at work on their little pumpkins--
and their sugar cookies.

Harper has also been really into painting lately.  She gets the chance to paint a lot at school so her interest for painting has spilled over to home as well.  To keep things festive, we have been using orange and white paint on black paper.  She got a little bit overly enthusiastic the other day, and it seemed like only a moment passed before this happened.  She said proudly, "Mom, I'm a pumpkin!"  Indeed, little girl.

The Hs aren't the only ones who have been doing Halloween art projects.  Harper decided that she wanted to be Tinker Bell this Halloween, also proclaiming that Hunter would be her Peter Pan (he willingly accepted).  So I set to work on putting the pieces of their costumes together, including this amazing idea for Tink's little shoes that I saw on Pinterest.  Harper's old Toms shoes got a brand new look, and I'm actually pretty proud and excited that they turned out so well.  This mama may not be able to sew, but I can certainly use glue and glitter!

Harper's old Toms get a brand new Tinker Bell makeover!

Meanwhile, the school year is in full swing!  Harper received her very first progress report, which was so sweet:  Harper is a bright little girl who is always eager to please her teachers.  She makes friends easily and will happily play with any child who approaches her.  Harper enjoys a variety of activities including arts and crafts, dramatic play in the dollhouse, and swinging on the swings.  Her favorite activity in our classroom is lacing cards!  She has formed a nice friendship with Abigail.

Harper's first progress report!

Harper really seems so happy at school, and it's evident that she is learning a lot.  She is always singing new songs, telling us about the stories they act out in drama class, and perhaps most exciting for her are the letters of the alphabet that they work on each week.  Harper's personality makes school a great fit for her, and it's really tender to see her growing and maturing.

One bow is never enough.

In fact, she is so grown up that we reached yet another milestone this month: Harper's first haircut!  She has been insisting for a while that she wanted her hair to be "as long as Rapunzel's," but we agreed that Elsa might be a more attainable length.  Still, her ends needed to be trimmed, and so we were lucky enough to have a friend do it for us right at our house.  I was worried that her little curls would disappear when we finally cut her hair, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.  Our friend even gave Harper a special Elsa braid when she was done!  Later on, I asked her how she was feeling since her hair cut.  Without missing a beat, she said, "Well, it still hurts--you know, from the cutting."  It was so hard not to laugh.

Before

Little h's first haircut!

After!  Elsa braid and all.

Dallin discovered this sweetness the other night.

Hunter has reached another milestone this month too!  It all started about a month ago when we heard Harper crying and yelling during the night.  Dallin went in there, and came back with Hunter in his arms.  "We have a problem," he told me.  Turns out, Hunter had climbed out of his crib, crawled up into Harper's bed while she was sleeping, and woken her up--she was terrified and half asleep.  So, after a few too many crib-escaping escapades, we conceded that it was time for a toddler bed.  I was so not prepared for this transition; Harper stayed in a crib long after Hunter was born, only transitioning to a big girl bed when we needed her crib for him!  But like I said, every kid is different.  So, to make more space in their bedroom, we said goodbye to Harper's super tall, big girl bed, and Harper and Hunter each got a new, matching little toddler bed--placed right across from one another.  This little man loves the idea of his big boy bed, but sometimes he still needs snuggles.  When Dallin went in to check on the kids before we went to bed the other night, he found Hunter snuggled up in Harper's bed.  He moved him back to his own bed, but gosh, does it get any sweeter?  I love their love, and I hope that they are always the best of friends.  What a gift.

First night in his big boy bed!

We have also had the opportunity to enjoy some really fun field trips this month.  Not surprisingly, a frequent destination has been Wilson Farms.  I believe that we can't get there enough during the fall.  It seems like they have a million different kinds of pumpkins, and the Hs love to look at all the options and choose their own.  We are developing quite the pumpkin collection, which we have proudly displayed on our front porch and steps.  Plus, we get to do a little grocery shopping while we are there too.  Their lemon chicken risotto soup is a special favorite right now, as the temperature is dropping in the evenings.  Unfortunately, Wilsons is not putting on the "spooky hayride" that we have loved so much in the past years.  We are really going to miss it!

This month, we also took a brand new excursion--to a cranberry harvest festival!  It was the neatest experience, and I may have actually been the one most excited to be there.  As a New Englander, I can't believe I didn't know more about cranberries and the harvesting process, but our family learned so much!  We got to see some real cranberry bogs and watch the cranberries being sucked out of the bog and processed.  Harper and Hunter even got to taste the fresh cranberries.  Hunter was not impressed; I think he prefers his cranberries processed and sweetened in the form of Craisins.  As luck would have it, Ocean Spray was there sponsoring the event, and so we scored a bunch of packages of Craisins too.  We also got to enjoy the little fair that they had set up, and we met up with our friends, the Staples, who had come down earlier in the afternoon.  This will definitely become an annual tradition.

Hunter definitely wants Craisins over fresh cranberries.  Sigh!

We took another fun outing over Columbus Day weekend.  Since Dallin was working that Monday,  the Hs and I traveled with Aunt Annie up to Marblehead to spend the afternoon with our friend, Talyn--or "TT" as Harper and Hunter like to call her.  It was an unseasonably warm, gorgeous day.  We got to see a lighthouse, went for lunch, and even ran around the beach.  I never thought we would be dipping our toes in the water in October!  Don't get me wrong, the water was freezing, but the sun was shining and the air was warm.  Life is good.

The Hs--with TT and me--at the lighthouse.

Harper loved climbing all over the base of the light house.

A playground ON the beach?  Yes please.

Practicing for his Peter Pan debut

Now the only thing left to enjoy in October is…Halloween!  Harper and Hunter couldn't be more excited.  All the crafting and festive books have paved the way for cutest little Peter Pan and Tinker Bell imaginable.  Harper has also been getting some good practice in, playing dress up with her friend, Anne.  Mimi got them both little witch hats, and I don't think I've seen a cuter pair of witches in town!  Halloween, here we come...

remembering rex

Every year in October, we spend the weekend of Rex's birthday out in Western MA.  We like to be close to the tree that we planted for him, scattering the ashes of our sweet first-born baby into the earth beneath the roots.  So this year, Harper, Hunter, and I packed up on Friday after dance class and rode out to Mimi's house in her car since she's off from work on Fridays.  Dallin met us up there later that night, making the drive after he was done with work.

Hunter, checking out the squash at the farm stand

En route, we stopped at a farm stand to pick up some more pumpkins.  Even though we are developing quite the pumpkin collection, I believe that you can never have enough during October.  We then spent the afternoon enjoying the gorgeous outdoors at Mimi's house.  Nothing makes our hearts happier than the expansive fields, the crisp air, and the beautiful foliage.  It's hard not to feel close to heaven when those are our surroundings.  As my friend Elizabeth pointed out to me this year, the foliage is always at its most beautiful for Rex's birthday; I just love that.  Hunter putted around with his little pretend lawn mower, only taking a break to chase his ball through the field, ride in the play car with Harper, and for Mimi to pull them together in her little antique wagon.

Little man, hard at work.

There's always room for two.

Mimi takes the little Hs for a wagon ride!

Of course, Hunter brings a basketball in the wagon with him.

Soaking up the great outdoors with my little adventurer

Since Hunter now equates Mimi's house with the Eric Carle Museum, no visit to Western MA is complete without a museum trip.  Dallin had actually never been to the museum before so it was fun to have him join us this time.  Harper especially enjoyed having Daddy in the museum studio with her, and he helped her work on her art project.

Hunter in his happy place--the Eric Carle Museum.

Harper was excited to show Daddy around the museum studio
and to work together on her art project.

Reading with Mimi and the very hungry caterpillar

Enjoying the rare occurence of having more adults than children present, I snuck into the museum gift shop for a bit, and I was thrilled to discover a special new Halloween book that my friend Talyn was just telling me about, Creepy Carrots.  It couldn't have been a more perfect time to read a story about funny, eerie carrots because, later that day, Harper helped Mimi harvest some creepy carrots of their own.  Some of the carrots were white, some were orange, and one even had two carrots attached!  Creepy indeed.  Harper thought it was super funny, but we all agreed that they were delicious in the carrot râpées that we had at dinner that evening--which had been a favorite of Grandpa Nick's.  

Creepy carrots!

Harper loves helping Mimi in the garden, this time harvesting carrots.

Harper and Daddy take a night time tractor ride!

Sunday would have been Rex's 5th birthday.  So Dallin and I walked down to his little tree with Harper and Hunter.  Harper calls it "big brother's tree."  We talked with them about their big brother, up in heaven.  

Harper and I have talked a lot about heaven this year, both with Marjorie's passing and also because sometimes she gets curious about her big brother.  Now that she is another year older, she understands just a bit more about life cycles.  She talks about how Rex is together in heaven with her friend, Marjorie, and how one day she will give him a big hug.  Sometimes she talks about how he is with Grandpa Nick.  She wants to know when she will go to heaven, which is such a difficult conversation.  I have told her that I hope it will be a long, long time--once she is older than Gramzy and has white hair.  She is so earnest in her desire to understand, so sweet that it breaks my heart.  In some ways, I hate that she has cause to understand death at not even four years old, but I am also grateful that she has a knowledge of heaven that is not scary.  Still, it is a heavy subject, and I am glad that there is a physical place that we can go to reflect on our angel baby with our earthly children.

Love this little pumpkin

Harper was excited to bring one of the little pumpkins we had gathered down to Rex's tree.  "Hunter!" she said, "Do you want to go see big brother's tree?"
"Uh-huh," he replied.
So they trotted down the hill towards the tree, with Dallin and I trailing behind them.  Then the most beautiful thing happened: it began to snow.  Surrounded by the stunning fall foliage, tiny snowflakes swirled around us.  Heaven felt so close.

"Hunter, do you want to go see big brother's tree?"  Love.

We wish that we were able to know our little boy, to know the person he would be at five years old.  Harper claims that he is taller than her up in heaven; I imagine that would be true.  Having gotten to know our precious little Hs, it feels sad and wrong that we didn't get to do the same with our first born little boy, but we are grateful to know that our family is forever, eternal, and that one day we will all be together again.  What a day that will be.

We were touched by the most heavenly of snow flurries for our angel baby's 5th birthday.