Trick-or-Treating

We went to a neighborhood not far from ours, and got SO MUCH candy in just a few minutes. At the rate of 1-2 pieces a day (if Jake behaved well that day) I'll never get it all out of the house! I did go through and pull out all the good chocolate for me and Andy. :) I also ate the Swedish Fish - I love those!

There was one house we went to - so weird. Some people go way overboard with the scary stuff. (Do they go all out for Christmas too, or just Halloween?) Anyway, the lights were all off, but it was decorated with the fake cobwebs and other scary stuff. As we got closer to the house (he was definitely watching us) a smoke machine filled his yard with smoke. He had one of those two-story, really tall archways leading to his porch. He had hung black fabric like curtains over the entire archway - like 15-20 feet, and it was really dark. It kinda looked like heavy wooden doors.

Anyway, Jake was a little spooked, but I told him I'd go up to the door with him. In retrospect, this could have been a bad move - who knows what kind of crazy scary thing this guy could have put in my 4-year-old's mind! But we walked up there together and he jumped out from behind the curtains, standing on something with this crazy mask and big crazy plastic hands. I kinda screamed which made Jake kinda whimper and cry. :) Jake said something like, "You shouldn't do that." But then they guy took off his mask and let him touch his hands, then gave him candy. Later we saw that guy really having fun with a big group of teenagers. Later Jake talked about how he was a silly guy...

Hope you all had fun too!

Brotherly Love

Lately, Jake and Max have really been buddies. I love it. When I sit at the computer I hear little boy giggles from across the house. Usually they're chasing each other (now that Max walks!), and of course Jake is faster so he tackles Max and they both laugh. Or they hide behind Andy's hanging shirts in our closet and reach out and tickle each other. I love that Jake is being sweet with him, and I think he loves the companionship. And Max thinks Jake hung the moon. It's great for me because they entertain each other. All this rough-housing, though, makes me think we'll need padded walls when they get bigger. :)

Just a few minutes ago I heard Jake singing a lullabye (original lyrics). I didn't want to ruin the moment so I didn't peek until after it was over, but they were both on Max's bedroom floor (Max with paci and blankie) and Jake was rocking him. Awww....

This is a game they played the other night. Jake was rocking them in the recliner and they were laughing so hard.

Check out Max's laugh!

Teaching his little brother tricks... And, yea, I know it's gross to put your mouth in bath water, but I'm sure they'll do plenty more gross things.

Thank you Lord for silly boys.