Plumply Dumply Pumpkins

Great Grandma gave Ethan a book called the Plumply Dumply Pumpkin which is his new favorite. We went to Luther's farm to let Ethan pick a plumply dumply pumpkin to carve for Halloween and also to go on a hayride since we hadn't been on one yet this year. I always forget it is just right around the corner. He loved seeing the pigs, horses and especially the roosters. He was amazed that they actually said "cock-a-doodle-doo".

Here he is with the biggest tractor ever.


It was such an amazing fall day, too bad it gets dark so early now


Daddy and Ethan on the hayride


Hay anyone?


The pumpkin of choice


Joe was all about carving the pumpkins. Ethan was all about playing in the gooey mess.


Note the shirt Ethan is wearing. It is a glow in the dark skeleton. He told me that it is a "very pretty white color, but when you look at it in the other room (the bathroom with the lights out) it is a veeeerrry beautiful green". Oy


The finished product! A plumply dumply grin!

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere

Here are a few (or a lot) of pictures I took of Ethan in the park on one of the last nice fall days we had. He loves running in the leaves, throwing the leaves, sitting in the leaves. It is safe to say that Ethan loves leaves.

Pig Roast

The fourth annual Sidon/Twardzik/Rosa pigroast was a success. At least until Ed used our flip-cup table as a slip-n-slide. That pretty much shut down the party. It was a lot of fun though and the weather held out.

Here is our piggy friend this year. If you were lucky enough to have been there much later in the evening you would have gotten to see Brian dancing with his head on a stick.


And of course, the kids...


they could play ring around the rosie all day long I think


Grandma and Ethan dancing. Anna and Ethan were dancing later in the night. Right in front of the tv playing the Notre Dame game. They thought the big circle that had formed was to watch them dancing and took full advantage of all the attention. I say they were practicing for their wedding day.

Note the dollar bill in Shannon's hand...the only way Ethan will give her a kiss. For everyone else they come free. Just Shannon has to pay for them.

The future Mr. and Mrs...

How sweet is she? Sophie is a true fashion statement

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan!

I can't believe my baby is two already! Joe and I took off work on the Friday of his actual birthday and we took him to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. He had a blast. He loved riding all the rides and playing the games. He was all over the place and it was so much fun. I didn't take my actual camera, but here are a couple of pictures from my phone...



Such a big boy, driving my tractor...


Grandpa stopped by for lunch. I snuck up behind them to take this picture. I think if you have to get on your knees to play the game, it really isn't meant for you.



Ethan had so much fun opening his presents this year. He totally got the concept and tore right in. His comments when opening all his presents were priceless. He loved the workbench that Uncle Kevin and Aunt Shannon got him and cried out "Oh my goodness!" when he saw it. He has finally figured out that it is not a kitchen and the wood pieces it came with aren't pieces of pie.

Mommy and her baby two years from the time he was born

Ethan wanted an animal themed party. Here he is posing with all of his animal friends the morning of his party. I am surprised they made it to party time with all of the wrestling that was done with them beforehand.

The jungle animal cake...yummy

His party was a great success. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate! Ethan had a wonderful time with his family and all his friends.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch down the road to get our fall decorations. Ethan was all about posing with the ghosts and goblins. They have a graveyard set up and he kept pointing out all of the people who were "sleeping"....with no limbs...and blood all over their faces. So, I had no idea it would be so gory. He didn't seem to really notice though.



The corn maze was a hit. He loved finding all of the hidden pumpkins amid the chopped up body parts.




The roasted corn on the cob, cookies and apple cider were the best part of the day.




I think maybe this one...

Petting the Sharks

We took a weekend trip to Cincinnati to visit Brendan and go to the Aquarium for Joe's birthday. We drove down Friday morning and the car ride went much better than I thought it would. Ethan has never been in the car for more than about and hour so I was nervous. He did great but didn't sleep at all. He didn't love the idea of staying in a hotel and told us he wanted to go back to his house when we got to our room. He was much better after a nap and some dinner though. He loved the aquarium and hanging out at Uncle Brendan's house.

This is LuLu the penguin. Ethan ran right up and gave her a big hug which makes me excited for Disney World. If he liked a big stuffed penguin, he should love seeing Mickey and friends!


Petting the horseshoe crab




He was most looking forward to petting the sharks. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. The only thing he liked better was licking the shark water off his hands after. So gross.


Like father, like son...could they have posed any more alike?


Ethan had a blast with Uncle Brendan and Cathie. He loved running around and tearing up his house. We may have scared Brendan from ever having kids, but it was fun.


Jellyfishies!


Ethan still talks about the men who were in the water swimming with the fish. He was amazed that they were in there and could not take his eyes off of them.


Ethan on the scale they use to weigh the fish...36 pounds!


We went to dinner at a hibachi restaurant. Ethan wasn't sure about it at first...especially the guy who cooked our dinner. He said he was a bad man in a really tall hat. He got over it when the bad man started handing out food though. He was completely won over when they let him play the big drum when they sang Happy Birthday to Joe.

He was a pro at using the chopsticks...