September

September is always a pretty slow month.  Trying to get everyone on a 'school schedule' was the focus.  They all seem to be loving school.  I have seen a lot of improvement in Caleb's reading and math.  He is one smart boy.

 

Caleb inherits Blake's old clothes.  He is such a skinny Mr. that they might fit him in 10 years.  They each picked a t-shirt out of our latest stack of hand-me-downs for pajamas.

Sometimes there just isn't enough kool-aid left for 2 glasses.

It isn't the first time that they had to share a drink :)

 

Books and blankets was the theme for this afternoon.  A D O R A B L E!

I let the girls make 'potions' one morning with their leftover cereal milk.  They had a blast.  I ran out of parsley flakes, sesame seeds & soy sauce that morning.

This kid can't get enough of me.  Who can blame him?

Casey tackled a pantry make over one week.  It turned out nice!  The girls helped me get the painting done while Luke & Alexa napped one afternoon.

These birds were HUGE.  And yellow.  I have no idea what they were & I probably looked like a psycho standing on my front porch taking millions of pictures.  I was waiting for them to fly or to turn around - but it wasn't happening.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween arrived!  Caleb told me a couple of days before Halloween, "Mom.  I don't think that Halloween is my favorite holiday anymore."  I replied, "How come?"  He said, "I'm pretty sure that I don't like being scared."  I told him that it was okay if Halloween wasn't his favorite and that we would just have a fun night getting candy and putting on a costume.  He said that Christmas is now his favorite.

 

There were a couple of stores around town that had the front decorated for fall - I tried to take advantage of their hard work.  Luke was NOT having it.  But - they all still look pretty cute!

We had to recycle costumes this year.  I have some cute ideas for next year, but Caleb is already arguing with me about them.  Stink pot.

These two babies...I guess technically toddlers...loved their candy corn from Grandma Babe!  They walked a little and rode in the stroller while Grammy pushed them around & I took movies & pictures.  Casey was at work.  I sure am grateful to live near family that is always willing to help me out!

Jordon & Dylan's costumes are fantastic.  And Eva's & Jackson's couldn't be more perfect.  Ashely wins mother of the year for Ariel. 

I love these pictures.  Innocence.  Happiness.  Fun.  Joy.  Excitement.  So many things captured in a photograph.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Party!

It was my year to host the pumpkin carving party!  Caleb got to clean out his own pumpkin this year.  From the look on his face - I don't think that he enjoyed it.  I have an obsession with polka dots - so Casey got out his drill for me & I went to work!  Luke was very impressed with the drill.  He would get the cutest surprised look on his face every time I would drill a hole.  AND - he got a hair cut.  I don't want to talk about it.

Everyone was busy, busy, busy with their pumpkins.  Ashley was busy with Jackson and my mom was busy chasing kids, making sure they had on extra layers of jackets and snapping pictures.

My mother is out of control.  She made WORMS!  Taylor wouldn't try it.  Caleb, Eva and Rylee did though.  As Rylee was chewing hers she said, "So, is this worm still alive?"  I didn't get a picture - but my mom also made the kids mummy dogs.  They looked delicious.  The rest of us brought ingredients for taco salad and I made some yummy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.

As always, our pumpkins were masterpieces.  I don't know what it is - but Blake's pumpkin gave me pure joy.  His is the cute little smiley face at the bottom right.  Caleb-ghost, Brittni-polka dots, Don-vampire, Ashley-cat, Derrick-witch, Brittni-bat, Casey-scary jack!

Hunting

The 2015 deer hunt!  This comes every year - and every year it seems like we aren't prepared.  No tent. No trailer. No place to sleep. No vehicle to get us all up there.  No 4-wheeler.  No sleeping bags for the kids.  It is very frustrating for me.  I don't like being so dependent on others for things.

 

I had a sitter planned for Luke & Alexa, we borrowed a tent from Kevin, and we found rides for the other 5 of us to get up there - then I checked the weather forecast the day we were supposed to leave & it said, rain, rain and more rain.  (I had even made camouflage cookies with orange frosting!)  We hadn't set up the canvas tent - so we didn't know if we would've stayed dry or not.  I chickened out & just sent the boys.  That way they were able to stay in a trailer with someone and stay dry.  I guess it really didn't rain that much - but the overcast weather made the sky so beautiful for the pictures that Mona took!

 

Fun on the 4-wheelers!

The boys!  They start growing the beards for this hunting week around June.  Such a hairy bunch!

I am so happy that Caleb had the opportunity to go spend a few days with his cousins.  He doesn't get to see them often.  I hope that they bonded and made some fun memories!

Casey had a successful hunt this year.  He had to come home a few days before the hunt was over because of my work schedule - and he shot his buck just a few hours before he had to come home.  LUCKY!  I am so happy that Caleb got to spend time with his dad while he was doing what he loves.



Caleb was so sad because his dad got to stay up on the mountain a couple more days than he did.  I mean S A D.  Alligator tears sad.  I kept trying to teach him to not be sad because it was over - just be happy that he got to go!!

Oh October!

I think I need to be on some kind of medication.  Here is only the first installment of October activities.  I feel like we don't do anything - but why do I feel that way?!?  I just hope that I am making some precious memories for my children.

 

One Saturday we went to Pettingill's fruit stand in Willard.  They have a short wagon ride to go on and then we picked out our pumpkins.  The horses pulling the wagon were beautiful.  I was always scared to ride horses when I was younger....looking back I wish that I wasn't such a wussy.  Lexi tried to pick up every pumpkin and would grunt like a weight lifter every time.  Luke said, "Pumpkin!" probably 50 times....at least.

We managed to get a darling picture of all 5 rascals!

One evening we went to the corn maze in Perry.  It isn't a very long one - and it is right near the freeway so you always kind of know where you are.  The kids had fun.  I scared Caleb pretty good.  He went to sit on the little swing so I could take his picture & I said, "I hope no one comes up behind you."  I got the biggest glare in history.  I'm excited to see this glare grow over the years.  NOT.

Another activity was the pumpkin walk in Logan.  Some years it is fantastic and some years - it just isn't.  I enjoyed last year much more that this.  BUT - my Spanglish boyfriend, Juanito Bandito was there.  So everything worked out.

We seem to always have a good time with the cut out pictures.  Lexi stuck her face into every one that she could reach. 

Ariel (Taylor), Harry (Luke), Yoda (Rylee), In the car (Rylee & Caleb)

My babies

These two are sure showing their darling personalities more & more each day.  They have started to play together, fight & crack each other up.  They always sit right next to each other whenever they watch a show - if one of them gets a drink out of the fridge, they always grab the other sippy cup & deliver it to the other.  Lexi will get her milk and then after she gets her brother's she'll yell, "Looooooke!"

Luke loves me.  L O V E S me.  And I love this boy right back!  He will almost always give me a big kiss every morning.  He is finally starting to say more.  His most said words are - puppy, milk, outside, door, shoe, sock, car (vroom vroom), eat and he has all of his animal sounds mastered.  My favorite word in his vocabulary at the moment is froggie.  It sounds so adorable. 

 He definitely has a bigger appetite than his sister.  Maybe that is why he weighs 3 pounds more.  I'll even catch him yoinking food off of Lexi's high chair tray.  BUT - if I watch closely, it's only because she is putting as close as she can to him so he can reach it.  Stinkers.

 

His stats for his 2 year checkup were:

Weight - 27.6 pounds - 39th percentile

Height - 35.5 inches - 72nd percentile

Head Circ - 50 - 81st percentile 

This girl.  I love her.  She is going to give me a heart attack, but I love her.  She is so adventurous!  Climbing on everything, balancing on everything, and always wanting to do what the big kids do.  She thinks she gets to walk up and down the stairs, not crawl.  It drives me crazy.  If she is ever FREAKING out - it's probably because she can't get a certain shoe on her foot.  She's obsessed.  

 I will get her out of bed after a nap and just want to sit in the chair and cuddle.  I don't even try anymore.  She just says, "Get down."  I'll say, "Give me a kiss!"  She replies with a, "Nope!"  Usually in the morning she isn't' as eager to get down and we always pick a flower from the collection for her hot mess of a hair do to get it out of her face.  She will put her tiny finger on her chin as we are looking and say, "Hmmmmm....let's see.  That one!  I love it!" 

 

Her stats for her 2 year checkup were:

Weight - 24.2 pounds - 15th percentile

Height - 34.75 inches - 68th percentile

Head Circ - 47.6 - 50th percentile