Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Our October

Alright... so in the same spirit as the last post, here is what we did in October at the Clements' household. Enjoy! (Oh, p.s., you'll have to click on the collages to make them bigger.)

I got two boxes of apples (about 30-40 lbs. each) for $10 a piece. So we spent a couple of days canning apples and making apple butter. The whole family helped out, and it was quite the production. Brinley loved pulling the apples out of the boxes and taking a bite... just one bite out of each apple. Silly girl. Levi was a pro at working the apple peeler/corer/slicer. Sam helped out with everything, and in the end we ended up with more apples than we'll probably use in a year. Also, I just have to give a shout out to my stove. Having 6 elements is a huge help with a project like this!
Brinley loved to be under our table. Now she is too tall... well, kinda... Anyway, I was the same way and have a picture of me under the table when I was a baby. Brinley wasn't so cooperative and this was the best shot I got. Brinley reminds me of me in so many ways: she looks like me, she walked early like me, and she loves to climb-- just like me!
We have several pictures of Levi sleeping in funny positions and we had zero pictures of Brinley sleeping. This is because Brinley is not a great sleeper. If we tried to take pictures, she would surely wake up and then we'd spend way too much time trying to get her back to sleep. With that in mind, I thought I'd better snap a picture of this: sleeping with daddy.
Brinley was done with her car seat and I was done with Levi being a slow poke following me around Walmart. So I made a little switcheroo. We got quite a few laughs and comments from fellow shoppers:

Like I said before, Brinley is a climber. She loves to climb up this stool, stand there for a minute, and then screams for me to come get her down. Oh, how to answer when people ask me what I do all day!
Brinley with cousin Kamora
We went to my nephew Nate's soccer game, and the whole time I had to hold Levi back from running onto the field. Honestly, he'd be just as good as the 5 year olds out there, but he wasn't on the team so of course I couldn't let him. :) So after the game, Uncle Joe took Levi out on the field and kicked the ball around with him. What a great uncle Joe is! Levi shot a scored a few goals. (Great uncle... not a great goalie. Just kidding!)
Ahh... October was the month that Levi learned to play computer games. Hmm... the explains why I didn't do much blogging since then (before then... I have no excuses...). Levi went from only knowing how to click the one button when I told him to, to being able to play several games completely on his own and totally navigate the Nick Jr website in just 2 or 3 days. It is incredible how fast he learned to use the mouse.
Brinley loves pasta. Here she is eating ravioli. Yummy yummy sauce!
Who doesn't love a rocking chair?
Levi was pushing Brinley up and down the hallway in his giant Tonka truck. That toy was a great purchase. Brinley now climbs in the back of the truck and screeches at us until we push her around.
Wahoo for fall! It is seriously one of my favorite things. I raked up a big pile of leaves and let Levi go to town. He mostly kicked his football through the leaves instead of jumping in the pile. Brinley did not love sitting in the leaves, but she sure looked cute. (Token picture of me in the upper right corner to prove I was there. Thanks Levi for knowing how to use a camera!)
I love my little pumpkin!
Sam's sister Becky and her family came for Halloween. It was super nice outside, so we headed to the park. Here are some pictures from that outing.

Every kid loves to throw rocks in the water. Here's Levi and cousin Isaiah (he's Levi's same age).
Isaiah, Levi, Eric, Eli, and Becky
For a while there, Levi didn't go anywhere without a football or two. Not even to bed.

Halloween! Brinley was a pink leopard. Levi was... well that's a funny story. First Levi was supposed to be a knight, but the outfit I bought him on clearance last year was WAY too small. Poor kid. Then he was supposed to be a tiger, but he didn't want to and pouted until we took off the costume. I also tried to make him a mini-Sam (I dressed him up in one of Sam's shirts and ties), but he hated that too. So, we gave up. A few minutes later, Levi came out of his room with a green hat, golf club, and golf ball. So he went as a golfer. Oh, I guess he was also Lightening McQueen for 5 minutes. Another little boy at Trunk or Treat wouldn't wear his costume either (seems to be a theme there...), so Levi tried it on for size. I was a "fairly good mother." Sam was "the good father." Also pictured is Arina (Sam's youngest sister). She went as Cleopatra.
Brinley loved the chocolate... another way that she's like me!

And now for the videos:






Levi can be such a spectacular big brother sometimes!

2 comments:

Shaela said...

how utterly adorable!! miss you! You should come visit us here in Henderson: we have world-class climbing practically right outside our door :D

Shelly said...

Cute pics! Ellie is wearing the outfit Brinlee wore in the wal-mart photo!