Mario Bros.

Happy Halloween from the Zappe Bros. Mario Bros.  They had a great time dressing up, trick or treating, and eating some candy.  Hunter came up with the idea for this years costumes.  They were pretty cute!

 Doing the signature Mario move/jump.

 We made multiple stops around town including the great-grandparents and grandparents.

They made quite the haul of candy!!  This should last for awhile!

Mommy's Monsters

In the spirit of Halloween coming up in the next week, thought you might enjoy these cuties in their monster jammies.  Hunter is really excited and can't wait to wear his costume and go trick-or-treating and I'm sure Brody will follow his lead.



Fall Pictures

Yesterday.  5:30 PM.  Eating Supper.  Gorgeous Day. Mid 70's.  No Wind.  Leaves starting to turn.  Knowing it will be cool today.  And Windy.  Windy=Leaves blowing off.  Leaves blowing off=blah looking trees.  Panic.  We have family pictures the end of the month, but the weather is too perfect.  Light bulb goes off.  You can do just the boys today.  Hurry!  Eat supper.  Pick out their outfits.  Line it up.  Clean off the boys.  Give Hunter his clothes to get dressed.  Race Brody down to his room to change the diaper and get new clothes on.  Wipe Brody's face.  Unfortunately he has a nasty cold with a runny nose.  Face clean.  Boys dressed.  Grab the camera.  Get boys in car.  Drive.  But where?  Train tracks.  Take pictures.  Chase boys.  Watch for trains.  No trains in sight.  Not enough fall color.  Hop in car.  Pit stop at home.  Grab washcloth.  Wipe grease off Brody's hands from train tracks.  Drive.  Go to Spruce Hill.  Go to the tunnel.  Did ok, but lighting was getting away from us.  Drive to a spot with more light.  See Deer.  Take more pictures.  Play in the leaves.  Run around.  Enjoy the gorgeous evening as the sun is beginning to set.  And here are the results of my impromptu photo shoot.  Enjoy!

Pictures are my passion.  I carry my camera with me everywhere I go.  I know sometimes the boys get annoyed with me wanting to take their pictures, but I hope one day they are able to cherish their pictures.  I know one thing is for sure, I will never have to hear them complain that there are no pictures of them.

Rain is a Good Thing

There is a song by Luke Bryan (a country singer for those of you who don't know who that is) called "Rain is a Good Thing".  After days and days of rain, I would sing bits and pieces of this song in my head and reminding myself that the rain isn't all bad.  Ok, maybe not this much rain, but really, we do need it.  There was one line of the song that was on repeat in my head.  "Kids out playin' in a big mud puddle."  I knew that I wanted the boys to get out and play in a puddle once the rain finally quit and assure them that rain can be fun too.  Thankfully this week, Hunter has had science camp so he hasn't been stuck inside all week.  But, a lot of "Rain, Rain, Go Away" was sung in our house this week.  And let's all be honest, we've had enough for awhile and we're ready for summer and the sunshine and heat that goes with it.  And I knew that they would get dirty...I just didn't know how bad it would get.  But I can tell you, there is nothing better than seeing pure joy on your child's face and it doesn't matter how dirty they get as long as they're having fun...right?
 

 Brody and Hunter testing out the big mud puddle at Grandpa Al's.

 Splish! Splash!  Not going to lie, this was almost a big collision.

Classy kid.  I asked Brody to point to his nose and this is what I get.  Also, take notice of his jeans.  They're pretty dirty...

 But since they weren't dirty on the back, he decided to fall and get the full dirty effect.  I actually love this picture and so glad I was able to capture the splash.  And I couldn't help but to laugh.  My dad thought I was crazy and just shook his head most of the time.  But I did see a few smiles on his face.

 Yep, I didn't anticipate that it would get this messy.  Oh well.

This summarizes the boys so well.  Hunter has always hated getting messy and this was really pushing the limits for him.  In Brody's eyes, the messier the better!  He literally crawled through the puddle.  I hope we get to do this again this summer.  I hope that the sun in shining and it is warmer and I can strip them down to their undies and diapers and let them have fun and rinse off in a sprinkler.  See, rain is a good thing.  Especially in the eyes of a child!

Out with the old...In with the new.

A little over a week ago, Hunter's gun broke. It was a sad day in the Zappe Household. Hunter and his cousin, Ashton were playing in Hunter's room. They had closed the door so Brody couldn't get in...little brothers tend to interfere, you know.

Well, they were playing, having fun when all of a sudden we hear Hunter calling, "Brody! Come in here and play!" Brody ran to the door, went in and slam! Hunter shut the door. Not even kidding, two minutes later, Hunter, Ashton and Brody came out of the bedroom with a broken toy gun. They said that Brody had broke it. Hunter told me, "Brody broke it with his strong muscles. He drinks more milk than me and has really strong muscles." Hahaha!! Craig and I are still pretty suspicious about how the gun really broke. The timing seems a little funny, don't you think? Or maybe we should start calling Brody "muscle man".

Well, we have looked around and found Hunter a new gun. He is back to hunting for deer, pheasants, ducks, skunks, not raccoons because they're too cute he informed me, and whatever else he imagines that day.

Brothers and Best Friends

Tonight I was doing the typical mom thing- laundry. It was time to switch loads and Brody was finishing up a couple of raisins in his high chair and Hunter was busy making me a cake out of play-doh. You know, they are my favorite.

From downstairs, while I was switching the clothes from the washer to dryer, I could hear Hunter talking away, but that wasn't anything new. I figured he was saying he needed some flour, sugar, eggs, and whatever else he could think of to put in a cake. After starting the dryer, I headed back upstairs, but stood in awe about 3/4 of the way up.
Hunter was not making me a cake. He had pulled up a stool and was sitting next to Brody's high chair. I could tell Hunter was talking to him because they looked like two little old men chatting away, but I didn't know what it was all about. Hunter quickly turned around and said, "Hey Mom! I'm teaching Brody how to talk! He's doing it! It's so cool! You have to come up here!!"

I went over to the two of them and Brody had the biggest grin on his face. Brody was speaking "Brody" and Hunter was trying to teach him some basic English. Then, Brody went in for the grab on Hunter's glasses. Oh man, I thought. Hunter will get upset and quickly grab them back and say "They're mine!" But no. Hunter just smiled and said, "Brody, be careful and then put them back on me." To my surprise, Brody did exactly what Hunter had told him to. The two of them really do have a special bond.

It was such a sweet little moment. If only I could have captured it on film. Hunter is such a good big brother to Brody and is so patient with him (well....most of the time). I hope that this continues throughout the years to come and they become the best of friends. It is so fun watching them interact more and more with eachother and the love that they truly have for one another.