Praying for Halloween

Praying Mantis that is.



That's what Austin wanted to be for Halloween.
Evidently he is the only child that has wanted to be a praying mantis as there is not a high enough demand that a praying mantis costume actually exists. Nor a pattern. So we went to the pumpkin patch for the first time in Austin's life to select a pumpkin.



Dad got "his size" - a big one we carved.



And Austin got "his own size" a small one we decorated.



The child care group had a Halloween party and made haunted houses.
They ate most of the candy instead of putting it on the house...



Then we got busy making Austin's Praying Mantis costume.
He had a lot of fun helping.



This is the top.



This is the front.



I didn't get a photo of the back before the wings fell off.
We went around the block with our good friends and had a great although chilling time.

September 2010

I don't have a clever theme for a post from last September
but, Austin sure looks handsome in his church suit.



He also broke the record for tallest Lego tower. So proud!



He came up with quite the frog from his homemade playdough.

Bring on the Heat

This post is from last August. I'm still playing catch up and not very quickly. Austin loves to create and to figure things out. He loves doing projects. When he grows up he'll either be an engineer or an artist or a scientist or a writer.

He even made himself into an art project. He points out people who are tattooed and says that person "drawed on himself. We shouldn't do that." So, at least we've got that going for us. Hopefully that sticks when he's old enough to get one.



And there was the cheerio spider.



The finished masterpiece:



His unusual sleep habits (which he gets from his mother) proved
to be a problem in his "big boy" bed.



Mike's work hosted a party at Boondocks. Austin and Mike had a blast.



They have a 4 story play place for those under 48".
It might as well have been the tower of Babel. Austin thought he was climbing to heaven.



Austin didn't get to do the GoKarts but I thought this was a good picture
and we had fun watching.

Gross Negligence

Or maybe it was just being a bit overwhelmed with starting a day care service from my home but I didn't take very many pictures in July. It's too bad because Austin was just as cute in July as he was in June.


Here is a foot painting project Austin did.



Great Grandma took a picture of Austin eating corn on the cob when she was here visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Janet. He didn't understand why drinking out of his sippy cup was anything less special so I took a picture of that too. It's the only picture I got from their trip and they aren't even in it.



On "K" day the kids enjoyed a kangaroo hop in the backyard.


And there you have my entire documentation of my son's July 2010.
Better luck next year, kid.

The Rest of the Story

At least the rest of the story from June. Considering it's 11 months later I thought I'd better hurry and get June 2010 posted before June 2011 rolls around in a couple days to avoid confusion.

After our trip to the Grand Canyon we spent some time in Phoenix with Austin's cousins. Of course there was a pool party. Austin jumped off a diving board for the first time.








All that fun in the pool was exhausting...for Dad.



A picture with ALL the cousins.



Including his brand new cousin that Austin couldn't get enough of.


I kept asking, "Are you done yet?" "No."
Eventually my arm grew too weary to continue.



On the way back from Phoenix we stopped in St George
to visit the "Curious George temple!"








He has a thing for water, can you tell?


When we got back we took Austin to see his first movie in a theater.


He was fascinated.


Not a bad June for a growing boy.

It's Grand...

...at the Grand Canyon. Way back in June.





He took plenty of walks with his Grandpa. We took a long hike and saw 2 deer!



Austin had lots of fun with his cousins.











And yet something seemed to be missing...
Should there be a dog on the end of that thing?


As usual Austin was a great helper.


All in all we had a grand time.

Ready a go?

That's what Austin always says when he is anxious to leave.
"Ready a go?"
Here are some pictures of Austin at the ready.



Ready to hide.



Ready to read Curious George - his current favorite.



Ready for church.



Ready to walk a mile in Mommy's shoes.



Ready to ride his bike.