First lost tooth and other random pics

Thomas lost his first tooth in early November. He lost it at school, so the tooth came home in an envelope, plus he got to pick a prize from Mr. DeLille's prize drawer. He chose a 64 crayon box. Not too shabby for a mere tooth! 

He wrote this note for the tooth fairy. I love it.

The tooth fairy left him a gold dollar coin. He thought that Sacajawea on the coin was the tooth fairy until I explained who she was. :)

A cute Ben shot

And another

And another!

I love two things in this photo. First, Jojo's toes. Second, the fact that TJ is waiting patiently for a turn rather than horning in on Jojo's turn.

We love leaf jumping!

The boys (and me, though I'm not in the videos since I was taking them!) did this one night over and over and over again. 

It was fantastic--the perfect fall late afternoon!

And there's no place like a leaf pile to dive into when you're catching a football!

Grandma and Grandpa visit

 Tom and Alice arrived Halloween evening for a long weekend visit, and it was so nice to have extra sets of hands for trick or treating!

Grandma with the littlest tiger

Ben and Grandpa hanging inside

Love Jojo's eyes in this picture

Leaf jumping!

Jojo played so hard that he fell asleep eating lunch

Having a snack outside with Grandma

Leaf pics!

Even Ben played in the leaves

Sometimes shovels are easier than rakes.

Snack dinner while we watch football!

Cheering on the Wildcats with Daddy

 Ed took this photo of one of our Japanese maple trees. The leaves were the perfect shade of red and appeared translucent in the bright autumn sun.

Nothing like a little brother wrestling!

Meanwhile, Ben and Grandpa watch football

Halloween!

The last few years, we've taken the boys to Trunk or Treat the week leading up to Halloween. It's a great social event with a bunch of their friends, and it means that they've gotten to trick or treat already in case the weather on the 31st is nasty (which it has been the last few years!). Ed was out of town this year, so I left Ben with our neighbor and took the big boys.

Here are the boys in their Halloween costumes, which Mom made for me and Jenn 30 years ago. Note that Jojo's nose and whiskers are green--he insisted. 

Here are me and Jenn in the same costumes.

The boys with their buddies at trunk or treat

Me with the boys

And now onto actual Halloween:

With their jack o'lanterns lit up outside

Three big cats--two tigers and a leopard!

Here's how Ben spent some of trick or treating. He didn't get to collect any candy. :)
And, like the past few years, the 31st was cold and wet. Brrr!

The boys with their fake carved pumpkins, made by Ed's Aunt Donna. Their names are carved into the smiles. So cute!

Vero comes to visit!

 October was our month of visitors...and our next one wins the prize for longest journey! Ed's host sister from his year in Argentina was in Ohio for 6 weeks and drove up to visit us for a weekend. We last saw Vero 7 years ago when we visited Tornquist for her sister's wedding. She's a doctor now! We also got to skype with the rest of the family back in Argentina, so they got to "meet" all three kids.

It was a perfect fall weekend, so we spent some time playing in the leaves. Also, Vero brought the two older boys Argentina soccer jerseys, which they immediately put on. Ed dug his out as well.

Ed flipping Thomas into the leaf pile

Jojo in the leaves--his hair always looks so beautiful with the fall colors. :)

Hard at work raking.

Soccer jerseys mean pulling out the soccer goal.

Ed grilled a beer can chicken (over Dr. Pepper instead of beer though).

 It was such a beautiful night, so Ed made a fire outside and we roasted s'mores.

Ben's first campfire

We took Vero to Gull Meadow Farms for fall fun. The last time she visited us (1999, in Chicago), it was autumn as well and we did the same thing! She's going to think that's all we do here. 

The bounce pads

The tractor ride

Guys on the slide!

 TJ on the pulley ride

On the hayride

After we got home from Gull Meadow, Ed stayed back with Ben while Vero and I took the boys over to buy pumpkins at Gene the Pumpkin Man--an institution in Kalamazoo.

The pickings were a bit slim (this was the Sunday before Halloween!), but the boys found pumpkins they liked. They were both more concerned with finding Ben a pumpkin than themselves, which was sweet.

Teamwork with the wagon.

We carved the pumpkins on the deck. 

Thomas drawing his face on

 

Vero and I did all the pumpkin carving. The boys refused to touch anything inside the pumpkins. Such chickens! 

The boys with their pumpkins and gourds

We also took Vero over to Eccentric Cafe for dinner in the beer garden.

Vero and the boys

We're so glad Vero came to visit! I guess it's our turn to travel next...