Oops! I guess it's been a while...

Well, it looks like I'll be doing a little catch up today since I've been neglecting my blog for the last four months! I guess I'll start off with an update on the boys.

Ethan is growing up so quickly, and we are constantly amazed at how much he has learned in his short little life so far. Although he's definitely a typical three year old, sometimes I feel like he's much older. Ethan will often take the time to teach Mason, or patiently explain something to him. I'll overhear him saying things like, "see Mason, this is how to be gentle" or "I'm sorry Mason, but that's not a Mason toy." He's such a good big brother, and we're so proud of him! Like most kids his age, Ethan also says the funniest things:). One time, Ethan was playing with his cousin Myra at Grandma & Grandpa Loewen's house, and they were playing on the treadmill. Myra ended up falling in the space between the treadmill and the wall (there was a base heater on the wall). Understandably, she started crying. Then a few minutes later, the same thing happened to Ethan. But when he fell, he paused for a moment (I was waiting for the tears), then he calmly said, "see, you don't need to cry." Another time, Dan had asked Ethan if he wanted to come with him to Timmy's (which Ethan usually loves and looks forward to!). But Ethan said, "no, I want to go to Starbucks." Oh, Ethan...what are we going to do with you:)!

And then there's our little "Maynon Man." Mason is growing and learning so much every day. He started talking a bit, and he's always learning new words. His current favourites are "air-pay!" (airplane), various animal sounds (moo, neigh, meow, and a few others), "choo choo!" (whenever he plays with trains or sees Thomas), "Dad, Dad, Dad!!!" (he says this while squealing and laughing whenever Dan comes home from work - so precious!), and a handful of other words. For the last few months, he's been "talking," but only in gibberish. He would have entire conversations with us in gibberish, as if we understood what he was saying! Such a cutie:). Mason has also been learning more and more about boundaries, which has been challenging, but cute at the same time:). One of his favourite things to do these days is to climb furniture and stand on it while smiling at me (just to show me that he's a little goof, and that he knows he's getting into trouble!). The couches in our living room are arranged in an L shape, with a coffee/side table in the corner. Mason loves to climb the table, stand on it, then dive onto the couch. What a monkey! Our kids aren't allowed to play on the furniture like this, but he's so quick that he usually gets in a dive or two before I can grab him:).

Well, that's my update on our crazy boys! Now for some photos of them...

Ethan playing with one of his favourite toys...his train set. (He spends HOURS playing with his trains!)

The boys using "teamwork" (Ethan's words) to pick up the pumpkin together:)

This is from a previous post because I wasn't able to get a good photo of Ethan wearing his Halloween costume (he's not a big fan of having his picture taken).

Mason got right in there, helping us clean out the pumpkins! There are no pictures of Ethan doing this because the poor guy started gagging as soon as I cut off the top of the first pumpkin. (Just like his mom, he's very sensitive to smells.) Hopefully next year will be different!

Here's Mason all dressed up, and ready to go out trick-or-treating!

We had just gone to Costco, and Ethan had a blast playing with some of our purchases:). (Remind me again why we spend money on toys??)

Big Brother trying to help Little Brother fit into a basket that is far too small for him!

Playing bumper cars...one of the many rough games they like to play together

My cuties:)

My littlest goof with food stuck to his forehead!

Snow!! We took advantage of the one day of snow we had so far this year, and the boys had so much fun!

This was Mason's first time playing in the snow, since last year he was too little. He loved it!

It's about time these kids started pulling their own weight around here:)! Well, someday...

Ethan plays so well with Mason, and Mason loves him for it!

Ethan has a few colour changer cars, so the boys like to dip them in water to change the colours. However, this is how that activity usually ends up:).