Preschool Halloween

School Halloween Party!

James, the Jet Pilot
(aka just like "Uncle Matt")

James with his buddies, Jack and Francesco

Trick-or-Treating the halls

With his teacher, Miss Stephanie 

(loves her!)

and teacher Miss Cecilia

Red Wagon Farm

Red Wagon Farm 2015

Pumpkins, corn pit, hay maze, scarecrow village wagon ride!

Then, we topped off Sunday Funday with a trip to the Gibbs Butcher Block! 

Jet Setters - NC Trip

Phil and Pilot Matt's first solo trip to North Carolina! 

Just two best friends and some golf clubs, flying the friendly skies. 

Because, why wouldn't you want to head to North Carolina on a Saturday morning to escape the chilly Ohio weather and golf with Chad?! Lucky guys!

And this picture with our nieces. Casey and Alissa, just is the best!
We miss you all and must see you soon!

Apple Picking

James' 1st School Field Trip! 

We spent the morning touring the apple washing and packaging center, watching and learning how apple cider is made, taking a wagon ride around the farm and getting to pick our own apples! Although it was a chilly fall day, it was a fun family day!

James spinning a wheel to feed the goats

Learning how to reach and twist the apple stem four times to pick it from the tree

   

James loved picking, collecting and eating the apples!

Preschool!

James started preschool this week! 

What, you say, he's only 2?! Well, James has been asking to go to school for months now. Although we were thinking about waiting until next year, he will be 3 in December (time, please slow down!) so we wanted to get him into a fun program where he can learn and play with other littles his age. On a whim to just tour a few preschools to get ideas for next year, we came across a great program, two days a week (mornings) and specifically for "Young 3's." Perfect solution for James! Week one down. He loves it. His face tells us it was the right move for him. He was so excited - the day he has been waiting for!!

He combed Curious George's hair and got him ready for school. 

George also accompanied him on the car ride there. 

Hooray for preschool! 

Walked right in to find his cubby!

He found the play dough, and with a quick hug and kiss I walked out. 

He blew me a kiss at the door and waved, then continued playing!

In his words, when I picked him up: "You dropped me off. I was so brave! I didn't cry." 

Big hug and kiss for Curious George, who was eagerly awaiting James' arrival to tell him all about his big morning. 

We celebrated with a lunch date to Panera for his requested "grilled cheese and tomato soup - it's my favorite!" And of course, a cookie.

We are so proud of our little guy!

Potty Trained!

Oh yes, he did it! 

Here he is, week #1 in his big boy Super Hero undies. 

Could not contain his excitement!

Who knew running out of diapers in July and offering Super Hero undies just to 'try' for the day (aka until I could get to the store to buy more diapers) would result in James being fully on-board with going potty on the toilet - from that point on? Good thing I had undies washed and ready to go for that "just in case" moment!

I should clarify that he has been very interested in the potty for a long while now. Back in June, we introduced a potty seat and stool in his bathroom for him to get comfortable seeing and to test out whenever he felt like it. He mostly used it before bath time to pee, but refused to go near it any other time of day when he had to do his "real business." We even rented a few silly potty videos from the library to "plant a seed" that might encourage him to try it. I knew he would be ready soon - August was my target month for starting to think about committing to it and hoping we'd have success by sometime this fall. But, leave it to James to declare 'no more diapers for me!' and never look back. We are SO proud. And thankful - so far (knock on wood) things have been going smoothly!

We are now on week #3 of potty training success and we have had little to no accidents. Although I am not quite sure who-trained-who, as it all happened so fast, I am relieved and so proud to say that at 2.5 years old James has officially crossed this big boy milestone! And yes, we have visited our share of public restrooms, and even port-a-potties, and we are surviving just fine (this was my biggest fear of the potty-training adventure, but as it turns out, not so bad!). In fact, I think that makes it even more exciting for James. He can now visit the potty at any location we are at, just like the big kids do. :)