Pumpkin Patch 2010 - Logan

Pumpkin Patch 2010 - Landon

More Pictures from Landon's 4th Birthday

With Alyssa and Uncle Ben
With Donna and Dallas

With Great Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid

With Grandma and Grandpa Duvall

With Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid

Happy 4th Birthday, Landon!!

Landon with Logan, Mommy and Daddy
His new basketball hoop - a REAL one!

Landon LOVES his new guitar!

Spoiled rotten!

Landon with his Toy Story cake!

I can't beleive I am telling you all that Landon is 4 already! I don't know why I am always surprised by how quickly these boys are growing up, but I am! Landon decided to have a Toy Story birthday party this year, and he was so excited! He was very thrilled to get all of the presents that he did, and he seemed equally excited about all of them...he is definitely easy to please in that category! Some of the gifts he received were: a nerf cross-bow, "real" basketball hoop for outside, a mini hoop to hang from his bedroom door, a Paper Jamz guitar (really cool!), pj's, Little People race car and track, lots of Toy Story toys and games and the Toy Story 2 DVD, and lots of money! I'm sure I am forgetting some things, but as you can see, he was spoiled rotten for sure! He was so excited for our "close by" family to arrive at his party, and he wore his birthday crown from preschool proudly as we ate supper (homemade lazagna by Jeff)! Since we had his party the night before his actual birthday, my mom and I decided to take the boys to the pumpkin patch in Lakefield, MN for his real bday (those pictures to come)! I wish Landon a wonderful year ahead, and maybe also for time to slow down just a bit! :)

Landon's 1st Day of Preschool!

Landon has been SO excited to start preschool, and today was finally the day! We went to visit the preschool last night so he could meet some of his classmates, meet his teacher and teacher helpers, and see what fun things there are to do there. He is in love with the Thomas train and train table there and will have to learn how to share it. :) Today Jeff and I took him since it was his first day. He went right in and started playing and could have cared less that we were there. With all the seperation anxiety Logan has always had (though he's over it now for this school year...I hope), I told the teacher I didn't quite know how to drop off a kid that didn't cling to me and start crying! It was WONDERFUL! However, I felt like crying since my baby was starting school, but I held it together! Though I enjoyed my boys when they were babies, I am perfectly okay with being through the "baby/toddler" stage of raising children and on to the "school" stage! Anyhow, Landon can't wait to go back tomorrow, so I hope he enjoys his year, makes new friends, and learns lots of new things!

2010 Clay County Fair Fun!

It's that time of year again for the Clay County Fair! The boys couldn't wait to go this year! Our first stop was the Midway for some rides...Jeff and I decided to get that part over with right away before it got busy. It was great because it was right when they opened and the boys didn't have to wait to get on any rides. Due to the price of tickets, each boy only got to ride 3 rides, which worked out perfectly! Next it was on to the tractors. I swear we spent 2 hours (not joking) in the tractor section. Both boys would climb a tractor, pretend to drive it, climb back down, run to the next one, and do it all over again...exhausting...for Jeff and I as well as the boys. We then ate lunch at the Cattlemen's building (YUM...ribeye sandwiches for Jeff and I and cheeseburgers for the boys)! After that we went to the train depot to see all the model trains. The boys could have stayed there all day! They loved looking at all the little villages within the train depot building. Next was all the animal barns. Both boys enjoyed petting a horse and a baby calf on our way through the barns, and they especially found the pigs to be quite funny! After buying each boy a small toy tractor as their "fair gift," it was pretty much melt-down time for both of them, so Jeff and I did not get to look in any of the buildings at the hundreds of booths. Oh well, we usually just get frustrated by the slow moving crowd and don't buy anything anyhow, so on home we went. Both boys were sleeping before we even got out of the parking lot, so the ride home was nice and quiet! We hope to make it back for one more visit before the fair is over...we didn't get to sample any of the yummy fair food that we always look forward to, not matter how much we don't need it! :)

Landon - Clay County Fair 2010

Logan - Clay County Fair 2010

Cy-Hawk Neighborhood Battle 2010

Future Hawkeyes!

The view our Cyclone neighbors have of our Hawkeye house!

Jeff's little creation - RIP Cyclones!

Our Cyclone neighbors have a banner as well

Crazy Cyclone neighbors!

It's no news to any of you that us Duvall's are Hawkeye fans, but every neighbor who has lived in the house across the street from us has been Cyclone fans. Thus, we have the yearly Cy-Hawk Neighborhood Battle! Here are a few pictures of Logan and Landon gearing up for the big Iowa/Iowa State game, as well as the Iowa/Iowa State decorations in our neighborhood! With the score being Iowa - 35, Iowa State - 0 in the 3rd quarter, I think I know who will be flying their banner proudly by the end of the game! GO HAWKEYES!!!

Logan's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday was Logan's 1st day of Kindergarten, and while he got off to a rough start (with a lot of anxiety, nervousness, and tears), he came home and told us about all the fun he had! Today, Day 2, was even better for him!! Now he tells me he can't wait to go back tomorrow! I hope he means it! It is so rough for me to drop him off and see him crying (after all, he gets his anxiety and nervous stomach from me:), so I'd like for him to be done with that for good! We'll see how it goes, but at any rate, he LOVES school once he gets there! I hope he learns a lot this year, keeps his old friendships, and make some new friends, too! Only a couple more weeks and Landon will be off to his first day of preschool! It's so hard to believe how fast these boys are growing up!