Fireman Bryce to the rescue..

Bryce is a big helper.. he helped us trim the Christmas tree today.. and then he help to rescue some kitty cats from the tree too!

Go Titans!

Go Titans!
Originally uploaded by sleepydad

Bryce has decided he wants to be a football player.. so today he strapped the (bike knee) pads onto his shoulders, grabbed his helmet (Bryce says thanks again, Jimmy!), and even put on cleats, and we ran out into the back yard for some (tackle!) football..

Indiana Bryce

You may remember that earlier in the spring, we mentioned how Bryce has discovered Indiana Jones... well, here's a little photographic evidence.. (notice the bullwhip coiled in his belt)..

Like we said, we've been trying to shield our kids from these pop culture references and iconography.. really!

Playing Star Wars...

The boys have started watching Star Wars this summer... and that has led to the inevitable games of "Hey, I'll be Luke; you be Han"... and other variations..

Bryce in the role of Han Solo.
Aidan in the role of Luke Skywalker.
Here portraying the scene where our heros blast their way out of the Death Star laundry room..

These Boomwhackers-- ostensibly educational toys-- have really come in handy as both blasters and lightsabers..
Here's Bryce now in the role of Darth Vader.. teamed up with his friend, Maddie as "Spider Girl"..
I love Bryce's use of the firefighter mask, magician's cape, and stool to complete the Vader ensemble..

The Grease Monkey & The Bat..

Halloween night, Aidan and Bryce couldn't wait to get started putting on their costumes and get out to do some trick-or-treating!
Aidan went as a member of the Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars) pit crew..
and Bryce, as expected, went as the ever vigilant crime-fighter, Batman!

Ready to go!

Batman wears Chucks!

The aftermath...

Halloween night, Aidan and Bryce couldn't wait to get started putting on their costumes and get out to do some trick-or-treating!
Aidan went as a member of the Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars) pit crew..
and Bryce, as expected, went as the ever vigilant crime-fighter, Batman!

Carving pumpkins

Catching up on some pictures..
A few days before Halloween, Aunt Frances and Uncle Wyatt came by and helped us to carve some pretty mean looking Jack-o-Lanterns!
The boys both really got into it... especially once they figured out that the pumpkin guts weren't all that gross...

Happy Halloween!

What's Halloween without a costume party

There are few things in life that my wife enjoys more than Halloween-- so we're doing it up right this year! On Friday night, we hosted a little Halloween party for a few of our neighbor friends. All the kids and most of the grown-ups came in costume. We were visited by a Billy Goat, Darth Vader, a Blue Power Ranger, Jango Fett, a Red-Headed Cowgirl, Pocahontas, the Incredible Hulk, a ballerina, the cutest Strawberry you've ever seen, an adorable (if teary) giraffe, and even a princess puppy! As for our boys, Aidan went as a member of Lightning McQueen's Pit Crew while Bryce went for his all-time favorite-- Batman!

We had lots of tasty treats and drinks for everyone, the kids did an arts-and-crafts project, followed by a round of "Monster Freeze" Dance-a-thon and I think the whole thing was smashing success.

And speaking of costumes

While we're on the topic of dressing up, Bryce and Maddy (from across the street) have been really getting into the spirit the last few weeks!

Farmer Bryce

In the continuing series of Bryce's costume parade-- today he wanted to go to school dressed as a farmer..