Halloween Time & < 6 Wks

Before Halloween greeted us, we got together with some friends who have a girl several months older than Koen. We carved pumpkins and the kids had a blast using the seeds in their little kitchen.

A ton of leaves had fallen off a large tree near our home one morning, so Koen and I had a good time throwing them around and watching more of them fall off the trees as the wind blew. Koen thought it was great and people walking by seemed to enjoy watching him too.

Roene's daughter, Wendy was so sweet and gave Koen a perfect pumpkin she had grown. Koen helped me decorate the pumpkin. He was too nervous to really put his hand deep in the pumpkin while it had a ton of seeds inside, but loved stirring a spoon inside of it and stirring the seeds in a bowl. Koen helped me paint the pumpkin after we gutted it and he thought painting was extremely fun. It was Koen's first painting experience. (We are dressed for potential painting mess, which is why we look like we're ready for bed.)

The white pumpkin is the one that Koen and I did together. It is very much inspired and a lot like one I saw on pinterest.com. The other two pumpkins are what we carved with our friends. Unfortunately, we seemed to pick out some bad pumpkins at the patch because they were rotting and moldy very quickly. My pumpkin actually had a gross dark patch inside of it when I first carved it. But it really doesn't bother me because I think their shriveling look added a nice touch to Halloween. :) Koen loved taking the lids off to look inside.

Here is Koen on Halloween day, dressed as a monkey. This costume could possibly fit him next year and I like that I can use it for any future children, no matter their gender. :) There's a sewn banana on his costume, hidden by his arm, but Koen liked to pretend to eat it. I think it was his favorite part. I took Koen trick or treating to a few families from our ward who live on our street. He was nervous to go to a couple of doors, but quickly felt comfortable taking candy their candy. He loved the dogs he saw at a couple of homes and even ran through one sisters home while we chatted. I had to go in to catch him.

This is actually the Friday before Halloween. We went to a party. Jon is Spartacus and I am Spartacus' wife. We all had a super fun time. Koen got to stay up till midnight and slept very well that night and late into the morning. :) And yes, Koen did very well even though he was up so long.

< (Less than) 6 weeks is the time we have left before Jon graduates with his bachelors degree and we hopefully are moving to Missouri for the next stage of our life. I say hopefully because we are still waiting to hear details as to when Jon will start work with the Department of Defense at the NGA and we are hoping he can start very quickly after graduation. We should hear from them VERY, VERY SOON, since they informed us that we should hear from them in September or October and it is now November. I'm trying to have patience, but naturally we want details and want to be able to get a place to live reserved soon.

Koen turns two in less than a month and I am totally having those "it seems like yesterday when you were only a newborn" thoughts. I very much miss having a little babe, but very much love the stage the Koen is in. He talks so much more and I love hearing how he pronounces certain words, especially with such enthusiasm. He is so much fun! I love playing with him, watching him and listening to him. Koen is such a wonderful boy and a blessing in many lives, especially mine.