Tiny Tot Halloween

The city hosts a Tiny Tot Halloween for children the Friday before Halloween each year. All the businesses in Old Town hand out candy. There is music and even a dance for the kids with cookies and hot cocoa after they are done collecting candy. We took the boys down town today so they could trick-or-treat and we all had a fantastic time. Just a few pictures of the boys in their costumes.

Ironically, there was another little boy named Asher dressed as Batman collecting candy as well. We seemed to be walking close to his family and any time the other Asher's family would say "this way Asher," our Asher would start following the other family. He's never been around another kid with his name... especially another one dressed as Batman.
This is Ezra... just in case you thought it was actually Spiderman wearing yellow dog-print mittens and snow boots with a fleece hoody under his super-hero costume, carrying a green pumpkin bucket.
Solomon only wore part of his costume - a lobster hat - since the rest of him was tucked tightly into a snowsuit, trying to stay warm.

Snow!

I think it must be tradition that when we move to a new place, we are guaranteed a large snowfall in October. When we moved to Minot, our first October we got 16 inches of snow on October 12th (not sure why I remember the date... I just do). In the last 36 hours, we have gotten around 20 inches of snow, with more snow expected to fall all day. Fortunately, it's supposed to be in the 50's and 60's next week, so I don't think this snow will be around come April!

After work yesterday, Vince took the boys out to shovel the driveway and sidewalk, a job which Ezra loves! It was snowing so hard when they were out that Ezra's crazy, long eyelashes kept collecting snow.
After the work was done, Vince and the boys built a snow sculpture. Sure, most would build a snowman... but not Vince.
They built the ever popular snow rabbit.

Obed LOVED the snow rabbit and kept talking to him and kissing him and saying, "oh bunny, you so coot. Oh bunny, coot, coot bunny."
After Obed was done kissing the bunny and the building was over, like every good boy should... the boys utterly demolished the rabbit, stomping him into a million tiny little snowballs.

A Snowy Pajama Day Party

We awoke to quite a bit of snow this morning and as the day has worn on, a no travel advisory has been given for the city. It has been snowing at a rate of 1.5-2 inches of snow an hour since about 9:00 this morning. It is simply beautiful! A great day to stay inside and have our first Colorado Pajama Day!

Ezra has been learning the days of the week in school, and with the days of the week he is also learning about calendars and days of the month. What better to put on a calendar than a birthday! Since no one in our family has an October birthday, the boys decided that October was the month in which to celebrate their baby's birthdays (i.e. Elmo, Grover, Monkey, Curious George, etc.). So on this snowy pajama day, we decided to make carrot-apple cupcakes and have a birthday party for the boy's babies.

The boys and the babies helped make the batter.
Solomon mostly just sat and smiled at things unknown to the rest of us.
Then, while the cupcakes were cooling, we had a special "date night" lunch (as Asher calls it), where the boys got to watch a movie during lunch and eat popcorn with their meal. They chose to watch a Dora movie, which is funny to watch them watching since they follow all the instructions Dora gives. When she tells them to tell Swiper, "Swiper, no swiping!" The boys start yelling in one voice, "SWIPER, NO SWIPING!"

After lunch, the cupcakes were cooled, so we made party hats and then sang happy birthday to all the babies. A great, snowy pajama day!

Super Elmo

Not a great photo, since it was taken with a phone... but Obed is relatively certain that Elmo is a super hero as well.

Growin'

Solomon was 10 weeks this past Saturday - hard to believe! He continues to grow like a weed, and while I don't know how much he weighs right now, I do know he is out of size 2 diapers and well into size 3, which are made for children weighing 16-28 pounds. The kid is large, but oh so cute and lovable!

We may have to move him into his crib a bit sooner than I anticipated since he has filled out his bassinet. He has a few more inches before his head and feet are touching both the head and foot of the bassinet... but not too much further to grow.

Solomon is also full of smiles. I love this stage - when my babies begin to respond with smiles. This morning was the first morning I went to get him up, and he was not crying. Instead, he was lying in bed cooing and offered me a big smile... LOVE IT! He is awake for much longer stretches and very alert when he is awake, making lots of eye contact and "talking" with us a lot in the forms of coo's and goo's. He has had a couple nights where he has slept 8.5 hours... the only down part is that his long stretch of sleep began at 4:30 in the afternoon, ending at 1:00 AM, at which time, he thought it was time to play and interact since he'd been asleep for a night's worth of sleep.

We are so thankful for our little man. It's so much fun and such a blessing to watch him grow and develop.

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we ventured out to the pumpkin patch to have some Fall-time fun. When we left our driveway, it was sunny warm, a bit breezy - just a lovely day! By the time we arrived at the pumpkin patch (a mere 10 miles away), the temperature had dropped 20 degrees, it was cloudy, starting to spit, and crazy (North Dakota style) windy. I guess that's the unpredictability of the mountain weather. In spite of the weather, we had a great time.

We met some neighbors today, who we saw at the pumpkin patch. We also saw the couple that sold us the house we bought... so we saw 100% of the people we know in Fort Collins at the pumpkin patch! Clearly, it was the place to be.

The boys got to run through the fields, hunting for pumpkins.

Asher found a keeper and Vince was pointing him in the direction of the wagon to deposit his treasure.
There were hay mountains to climb, as well as a petting zoo, a corn maze and several other kid- friendly options (unfortunately, our camera battery was running out, so we got very few pictures).
There was also a pumpkin cannon. They would fill the tank in the back with air, sound a loud horn, warning the pumpkin was about to be chucked, and then there was this huge blast and the pumpkin would fly at least a quarter mile, maybe further - you couldn't see it land. Vince and I thought this was great fun to watch... Obed and Asher dissolved into tears every time due to the loud noise.

Super Hero Sighting

I bet you didn't realize Spiderman has daily chores, like checking the mail. Sometimes Batman likes to help Spiderman do this particular chore.

A Friend Named Fan

At some stage in their infancy, all four Black boys have discovered a friend named Ceiling Fan. While I find Ceiling Fan to be, at times, comforting with his cool breezes, I find his overall temperament rather dull as he just spins around and around and around. Solomon, however, would heartily disagree with my assessment of Ceiling Fan and finds him to be both entertaining, and at times, down right funny!

Solomon will lay on the bed for long stretches (mind you, "long stretches" in baby language is 10 minutes) just staring at his new found friend. He'll flap his little arms and kick his chubby legs, cooing, and often times laughing at the unheard jokes that Ceiling Fan tells. And here I was worried that our boys would have a hard time making friends in Fort Collins.

A Morning in the E.R.

After we went to the park on Thursday, we came home and had lunch. Asher said he didn't want to eat any lunch and just wanted to go lie down. Now, if you know Asher, you know that any time he declines a meal, something is not right. And on top of that, any time he declines a meal AND wants to go lay down, something is really, really not right.

After Asher got up from rest, he came upstairs and promptly puked all over the kitchen table and floor... bad news! This progressed into multiple puking incidents and "south of the border" explosions, as well as a fever. Poor kid.

This morning Asher started throwing up repeatedly (about 5 times in 90 minutes). After consulting with some doctor friends back in Minot, it was recommended we take Asher to the hospital to get re-hydrated. So, off Vince and Asher headed to the Poudre Valley Hospital (pronounced "pooder" which really makes it worth the trip just to say "pooder!"). After some re-hydrating, anti-vomit medication and a bit of TLC, Asher is home and seems to be feeling a bit better. Now we pray for protection from this nasty bug for the rest of the Blacks!

Cousin Fun

My sister, Megan, and her son Isaiah are home in the States from Singapore for about a month and arrived on Monday as our first Colorado visitors. We had a fantastic time. Megan worked like mad, unpacking just about all of my kitchen and living room while Ezra, Asher and Obed enjoyed playing with their cousin, something they don't get to enjoy very often.

In spite of all Megan's hard work, we also found lots of time to play. Tuesday, we went to a park and the boys had a grand time running around. They played at the playground.

The sun was at a bad angle for this picture, but I had to include it... Asher and Obed's smiles make me laugh. They almost look like they're hurting themselves they're smiling so big!
Isaiah, Ezra and Asher enjoyed trying to climb up the slide and make a train coming down the slide.

Every night they enjoyed swimming in the "ginormous bathtub," as Asher and Obed have coined it.
All 4 boys during Bible time.
Wednesday we drove up to Estes Park and had lunch at a pizza place in town before we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
The boys hiking and exploring.
We loved having Megan and Isaiah with us and are sad they are headed back to Singapore so soon, but thankful for all the fun we got to have with them!

Holy Messes, Batman!

I ran up to the hospital this afternoon to visit a friend who had a baby yesterday. When I returned, the boys' bedroom was really, REALLY clean. Why? Well, because every single toy they own was in the living room. I looked at Vince and he simply said, "they're playing garbage dump." Each boy was a garbage man and the area behind the coffee table is the garbage "cruncher." Therefore, all the garbage (toys) goes to the cruncher.

When in the throws of moving, I expect the house to be a little disorderly, but wow! This was a whole new level of mess. But wow, the boys were sure having fun being garbage men!

Waiting

It's Friday, that means Grandma is going to call sometime soon. It's Asher's turn to answer the phone today, so he's been sitting on this chair for the last 20 minutes, waiting for the phone to ring. He's ready and keeps telling me, "I know what button to push, the big silver one." The boys love Friday morning calls from "Gwa-ma."