spookly the circle pumpkin...who lights up

Luca got the chance to carve a couple of pumpkins this year. Enzo decided he liked pumpkins and ate the first one.

 

So Monday we carved another pumpkin that Luca picked on his trip to the pumpkin patch with his class last week. Luca named him "Spookly, the circle pumpkin...who lights up".  He's living a safe life in the house away from the giant puppy.

 

Monday night we headed downtown to meet Luca's friend Jett and his mama for the Halloween parade.  The boys had fun and then we went out for dinner which was an adventure with 2 silly boys at their bedtime!  Luca loves his new spidey costume.

 

 

Happy Halloween!

fabulous four year

Our little man turned 4 on the 17th so it's finally time I got around to posting some new pictures. We had a family party with nana and papa on the 17th and I went to school with him to take cupcakes and go to chapel with him. 

Luca had his party with friends last weekend. They all had a really good time playing swords, decorating shields and beating the piñata.

We have also been having a beautiful fall.  We have carved one pumpkin so far but Enzo promptly decided he liked pumpkins and chewed it beyond recognition.  Maybe we’ll try again this weekend and find a safe place to put it up!

Luca has been having a fun time at school and he is learning so much!  He has learned his letters up to H so far and can almost write his name on his own.  He is also learning to relax and he is always excited to stay home on his days off from school which he calls his “family days”.  While it is nice to have a little time to run errands and get some momma time on Luca’s school mornings, I love our “family days” too and know I will really miss this time when it’s gone.

On baby news I’m almost 27 weeks and feeling very good except for a sore back most days.  Luca still lets me get a little nap in most days even though he’s given them up.  Mike thinks we have another bad sleeper in the making because he says he can feel the baby kicking a lot at night while I’m snoozing away.  We are still undecided for a name.  It seems much harder to choose one this time.  We are planning to start on the nursery soon and Luca has been very helpful washing and sorting baby clothes with me.  Today he even asked for more baby socks to match.  Luca has decided that it’s ok for the baby to have his room next to him for now but the other day he cried because he wanted the baby to share his room.   Right now he still says he wants them to share rooms when the baby gets a little bigger.

first day of school

Luca had his first day of school today. He has been so excited over the last week since we decided we would go ahead and start him part time this year. Last week we went to tour the school and Luca told another little girl there with her parents that he was going to go to school when he grew up. On the way this morning he said "Mama, does this mean I'm grown up?"



 

Last night Luca seemed a little nervous and asked if I would come to school with him.  He said he wasn't sure he could do it because he might miss me.  What mama doesn't love to hear that!  He did great this morning though.  A kiss goodbye and he went right to line up with his class.

We still don't know much about what Luca did today...he says it's a secret.  He did have chapel in the morning which they do every Wednesday and he got a snack and they did some drawing and got to play outside.  His teacher did say he did very good and Luca even gave her a hug goodbye so it looks like he's off to a good start!

summertime

Well, it’s time that I finally got around to updating Luca’s blog.  We have had a fun summer.  We made a trip to the St Louis zoo with Nana, Papa and Auntie Rhonda and also made it to Boston for a couple of weeks to see Mike’s family.  There has also been lots of playing outside and trips to the lake.  Here are a few pictures from our summer. 

Spending the morning at the beach

Train ride at the St Louis Zoo

Luca's KC Royal basketball that he won in the claw game in NY

Yummy fruit stand at a rest stop in NY.  This year Luca snagged some huge blackberries.

Luca had a great time at Revere Beach searching for shells and chasing the seagulls.

Luca and Auntie Rhonda at the Green Dragon after our walking tour of Boston.

Luca with his cousins.

At the farm in Amesbury.  We had a good time feeding the chickens and picking blueberries but Luca was done before we made it to the peaches.  Partway up the hill he stopped and said he couldn't walk any further.

Don't they look sweet.  Auntie Rhonda said they were fighting over the cake until they saw her with the camera.

Lunch at the Black Rose in Boston.  "Daddy, WHY DO YOU KEEP BREAKING HIM!" 

We brought a tiger home from the Columbus Zoo.

enzo

So, for those few of you who don't know we got a new puppy back in April.  His name is Enzo and I haven't gotten around to posting any pictures of him yet.  He's a neopolitan mastiff so he should wind up being roughly the size of a horse...maybe not quite.  He came home when he was 8 weeks old and weighed about 20 pounds.  Today at 14 weeks he's 53 pounds.  He's a good dog...for a puppy.  The big dogs tolerate him and Luca likes to boss him around.  He has a funny personality and I think he'll be a good fit for our menagerie.

spring days

It was a beautiful day here so Luca and I took this morning to head over to the beach and play in the sand with a new friend.  Many castles were built and destroyed, cars and tractors crashed and balls thrown.  Then over to the spillway for a little fishing with daddy followed by lunch and flower shopping with momma. 

After nap we followed Mike and papa over while they worked on the tractor and Luca got a horse ride out of the deal.  I think Mr. Russ has a soft spot for Luca since he even broke out the saddle to complete Luca's cowboy horse ride.

it's a jungle out there

Last month we got a chance to go with some friends out to the sale barn in town for an exotic sale.   We all had a great time.  We got to see the animals so close, Luca even got to pet the giraffe, Zach.  Zach was for sale, he's one of the giraffes from the movie Evan Almighty.  We saw all sorts of animals, Luca pet a baby bear cub and a pigmy marmoset grabbed my hand.  



 

The biggest hit of the day though was this sweet baby camel.  Luca was nervous to touch him at first but once he let that little baby suck on his finger he thought it was great.  The camel even kissed him on the face.  I tried to convince Mike that we have enough room for a couple little camels but no luck

...yet...next sale is in July!

how does our garden grow?

Well, time will tell.  We planted our first big garden this year.  Mike plowed and disked and tilled a place in one of our front pastures for a garden.  Luca and I went a little crazy picking out seeds and we all planted it last week.  We have had a few nice days of rain and luckily didn't loose the tomato plants to frost.  Hopefully we will have some nice vegetables this year.  We planted corn, squash, peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, tomatoes and pole beans, yummy!  Not bad for a boy from the city!

Plowing

Disking

Tilling

Planting

Here are some pictures of our happy chickens too.  Mike built them a nice big pen this year since we have too many to move all over the yard now.  We gave a couple of hens to some friends so we're down to 10 and we're also down to 1 rooster but still tons of eggs!

And the country dogs...they have adjusted well to their new life!