Spooktacular 2008!

We decided to take the boys to Spooktacular at the Jax Zoo this year. Its a huge Halloween event with hundreds of carved pumpkins, an enchanted garden, a pirate's cove, and lots of trick or treat stations.

The boys look like cat burglars! :) I love when they hold hands in the car.

Here is a close up of Josiah in his ladybug costume!

And here is Jared in his bumblebee costume. Although he really liked being a bumblebee this year, I think it is the last year I get to dress him up in a baby-ish costume!

Finally, we arrived at Spooktacular-- I had to get one picture of the boys with hay and pumpkins! Naturally, I can never get both boys to look at the camera at one time. :)

The path to the Enchanted Forest was fairly long and lined with pumpkins. Here I am cozy with my boys! Jared was distracted by all the sights and ready to find his cousins!

Josiah LOVED walking around in his costume (and dancing to the DJ they had playing) but he usually liked to walk in the opposite direction, so Dalvin was often Josiah's mode of transport!

We finally found JR, Laurel and the kids at the entrance to Pumpkinville! I managed to get one shot of all the kids. :)

Sarah looked stunning and WAY too grown as Cleopatra! :)

Micah was a mighty Power Ranger!

Many of the animals were asleep, but there were a few available for viewing-- including this giraffe-- Jared's current favorite animal!

Here is Jared posing in front of another of the huge pumpkin displays! The carvings were so cool-- we may add pumpkin carving to our traditions NEXT year!

Our two little ladybugs, Josiah and Baby Hannah stopped for a hug and a kiss!

Another close up of Josiah...

And a similar close up of Jared...

Here's a family shot of Bro and his clan...

On our way out of the enchanted garden, we passed a troll! He was a very patient troll, because some of the kids were quite liberal with the insults!

Jared studied the map to see where we should go next! Off to the pirates cove we went!

Sarah and Jared were the first to enter the Pirate's Cove.

After a long night of checking out animals, fish, jaguars, trick or treat stations, a black light display, play areas, and dancing to old school tunes, we finally headed out! Spooktacular (and our Halloween with the boys) was a success! Happy Halloween to all!

Trick or Treat!

On Halloween night we took the boys Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Traci came up from Orlando with her daughter Taylor to join the boys. Our neighborhood is small, so it was a brief, but fun adventure!

The boys were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their friend, Taylor. They were dressed in their matching glow in the dark Halloween t-shirts to answer the door for early trick or treaters!

After tearing the playroom apart, the kids finally got dressed to go trick or treating! They were fast friends.

Josiah joined them for a photo, but he wasn't happy about it! He was ready to go for a walk!

At one of the houses, they had headstones that were set off by motion detectors, a crime scene and more. Jared had mixed feelings as he is not fond of the scary parts of the holiday!

Taylor and Jared had a blast ringing doorbells and exclaiming "trick or treat!" They didn't really care if anyone answered the door, although it was more fun when they were given handfuls of candy.

Apparently a flying witch had a little accident at one neighbor's home!

Josiah was just excited when we let him run around the cul-de-sacs!

All in all, Jared and Taylor had so much fun and declared that they were best friends. :)

Jared's First Day of School (June 2008)

This summer Jared started preschool at the school on my campus... I have been so delayed in posting pictures lately, but I saved these pictures of his first day of school to eventually post.

When Jared started school, we were still living in Gainesville, so we had to wake him up earlier than usual to get him to school on time after a 2 hour commute! As you can see he was still very sleepy when Daddy carried him to the car.

He struggled to wake up for one farewell picture, but wasn't very successful! :)

Once we arrived on campus, Jared was very excited to carry his own lunchbox and wear his new backpack!
Before going to school, Jared wanted to stop in Mom's office. My office is about 2 minutes walking distance from Jared's school. Part of our daily ritual is to go on a campus walk when I pick him up every day-- ending back at my office where he has a snack while I wrap up my day and pack up for home.

He wasn't even 3 years old when he started school this summer, but he looks FIVE in this picture!

Jared wanted me to take a picture of his backpack. :)

This is the last stretch before arriving at Jared's school.

When we arrived at his school, he rushed right in and dropped his bags in the middle of the floor.

One of his teachers showed him his personal cubby-- where he keeps his backpack, a family photo and sheets and a pillowcase for naptime.

One of Jared's favorite corners of the classroom is the full kitchen. He has prepared many a pretend meal for me in that kitchen!

Here he is sitting down in his class for the first time!

Ms. Heidi is about to do Music Time with the kids.

Jared was still a bit unsure about this new environment! This was the last picture I took before leaving him for the day! I can't tell you how difficult this was for me at first. I took comfort in the fact that he seemed very comfortable and that I could peek in the glass windows at ANY time during my day to make sure he was okay!

When I went back to pick Jared up in the afternoon, he and his new friends had been outside playing and he was busy drinking a glass of water.
Jared loves his water! More please!

He was happy to see Mommy after a hard day at school! :)

Here Jared is showing me some of the toys on the "baby side" of the school. Jared is on the toddler side.



After leaving, he declared that he loved his first day of school and sometimes he still asks me to tell him the story of his first day of school.

He promptly turned to begin what would become a longstanding ritual-- our afternoon walk around our very pretty campus. We always chat about the day and often stop at the vending machine for an afternoon snack and some raspberry tea. I LOVE having him so close to me every day and he has a wonderful director at his school who gives me SUCH peace of mind!

Hanbok Pictures for Josiah's Tol

Here are a few more pictures from Josiah's one year portraits... my boys are growing up way too fast!