Sisters, Sisters

I have the greatest sisters in the world.

We've gotten to spend more time than usual together the last few weeks and I've loved it.  More to come on this beautiful Park City weekend as soon as I can steal the pics from my mom and Cindy. 

Halloween '10

We're big Halloween fans around these parts (the fun, dress-up part of it, not the scary part, although Stanton would beg to differ on that point).  The week before this year seemed especially busy with kids in school and ward activities, as well as the general goings on of life.  We made the best of the holiday, though, and had a great Saturday night out Trick or Treating.

I started the day with a (nearly) 3 mile run (GASP, I know -- believe me, I'm sore from the hills).  Stanton made pancakes and we enjoyed a lazy morning.  I ran errands for a while and when I got back, Miss Chloe was feeling sick.  We suspected a UTI and after taking her to the InstaCare, got her on an antibiotic.  At one point in the afternoon, she felt sick enough that she didn't want to go trick or treating.  We got her dosed with Tylenol and she perked up in time to enjoy pumpkin carving and trick or treating.  

 We only carved one pumpkin, as a result of our little afternoon detour.  The kids didn't seem to mind...that is, until the table got upended by too many little ones on one end (for the record, when a table's legs are located in the center, it only takes one pumpkin, one 5 year old, and one 4 year old to tip it over).  After that, our jack-o-lantern became a "Joker" jack-o-lantern (the only way to convince Brigham to stop crying).  After all that drama, we forgot to light the candles inside.

We got everyone dressed up and headed to the first few houses.

Batman joined them.

And so did a pirate.

It started raining, so we decided to hop in the Jeep and visit grandparents.  We saw Grandma Judy, Grandpa David, and Grandma Allen at Dave & Judy's (didn't get a picture with Grandma Allen....Darn!) and then headed over to Grandma Barbara's.  The kids love going trick or treating at her place -- the grandparents all ooh and aah over them and they load up on candy pretty darn quick.


After we got home, the boys stayed in with Stanton and I took the girls out to visit the rest of the neighborhood.  There are a few houses we HAVE to hit every year -- Hot Chocolate at the Cole's, Hot Dogs at the Stephensen's, Chips at the Day's, and (though we missed it this year) French Fries at the Lundberg's.  We visited a lot more houses and stayed out way too late, but boy did we have fun.  I love getting to spend time with the two of them alone.  We told silly ghost stories (Brigham thinks Frankenstein is "Frank Frankenstein," so we had a lot of fun with that one and Lily got the wits scared out of her at the Johnson's -- their candy bowl was haunted.  After a big 'ol meltdown, we got her back together and finished our trick or treating.  It was a great night.


When we got home, the boys were still awake and helping Stanton hand out candy.  We got everyone ready for bed and enjoyed handing out candy and watching TV for another hour or so.  It was such a fun Halloween night. 

School and Work Dress Up Days

I forgot to take a picture of Brigham for his 2 preschool dress up days, but hey, 3 out of 4 isn't bad!  Great to get some traction out of these costumes!

Reason #793 I Love This Man

(and his job)...

Stanton dresses up every year for Halloween at his office and can I just say how much those children love it?!

To Infinity...And Beyond!

Quick cute story:  Apparently, a grown man in a Buzz costume is THE Buzz Lightyear.  One of Stanton's patients truly thought he was Buzz Lightyear.  He referred to Stanton as Buzz throughout the entire appointment and took his hand to lead him to various spots throughout the office.  "Hey Buzz, let me show you this, Hey Buzz, did you see this thing?"  SO great.

Ward Halloween Party

Shaynna put together a great party for our ward on Wednesday night.  There was a fun carnival, popcorn, nachos, and homemade root beer, and a costume parade.
The kids loved wearing their costumes and so did Stanton and I.  Chloe was Dorothy, Lily was Spidergirl, Brigham was Iron Man, Cannon was Buzz Lightyear, I was Justin Bieber, and Stanton was a prison inmate.

The young men and young women helped with the carnival games and we all enjoyed great conversation with friends and neighbors.  I didn't see Chloe most of the night, which explains the lack of individual picture of her.
A great night and nice to have another time to wear the costumes, since they're so dang expensive!

Pumpkin Walk '10

We didn't make it to the Pumpkin Walk as a family this year, but I got to go with Lily's Kindergarten class.  Chloe went a couple of days earlier with her class, so at least half of our family got to see the great displays!

It was so fun to walk with Lily to the park where the walk is held.  She was a joy and it was great to have a little time to connect with her.  I took my camera, but noticed the battery was dead when I went to take my first picture.  Fortunately I had my phone and remembered to snap a few pictures here and there.

That Christmas tree is so clever and I think I'd even put it in my house during the holidays (it was from the Polar Express display).  The Pixar displays were all terrific -- I loved Mike Wazowski.  The UP display was great -- even though a few of the balloons didn't make it through the snowstorm earlier in the week.
Although I have never actually seen an episode of Spongebob, I couldn't get over how clever the display was.  The way they incorporated the pumpkins was just awesome.
It was a great year at the Pumpkin Walk and added to the wonderful Fall spirit that we've felt in our great little community.

Progress

I'm so proud of my little Brigham.  He's making huge educational strides lately, including actual coloring with a purpose.  I was shocked to see him color this picture a couple of days ago.  Way to go, Bubba!

Skirt Pattern

Hey, quite a few of you have asked what the pattern is that I used and a few have also asked for a tutorial.  Since I used a purchased pattern, I don't really feel comfortable sharing a how-to.  I feel like it infringes on her copyright a bit.  BUT, the pattern is available for purchase by clicking right HERE.

A downloadable PDF is HERE.

My advice to you is to GO FOR IT!  Honestly.  And don't sweat the details.  Oh, and instead of the second layer underneath, we did just one layer and measured from the girls' hips to their knees for the length measurement.  For my girls, that was 10 1/2 inches.  Also, I did the size 7 measurements.

Okay, this is getting more complicated.  It's NOT!  I promise. 

Craftiness

I've been sewing this week (thanks to a wonderful day crafting with my sisters and mom last week).  That is no small feat in my life and it means that my laundry is a serious disaster at the moment. 
I have to do it every once in a while, though, or I go crazy.  It's nice to create.

I made the skirts in the pictures two posts previous, plus 2 others.  This is the 3rd set.  I decided to take these ones a little further and embellished some Old Navy shirts and matching hair flowers.  The girls wore them to church today and can I just say how stinking cute they looked?  I didn't snap a picture because I had to get 5 kids ready and to church a half hour early for a choir practice (we sang in church today).  The girls looked beautiful and I have plans to make a Halloween version and Thanksgiving version of these skirts for the upcoming holidays.  It's a fun, easy pattern that I now know well enough to use without instructions and change up a little, too.  Anyway, fun, fun, fun to be crafting a little.

Fishin'!!!

Oh, man.  This day has been a LONG time coming.  Seriously.  Chloe has been begging for a fishing trip with Stanton for literally 2 years.  The kids even worked really hard being obedient and helpful and cooperative for 2 weeks to earn enough stars for a fishing trip and we still never delivered.  It was totally time to make good on our promise and having Eliza here made it the perfect timing.  We took them to a fish hatchery just 2 miles west of Smithfield.  It was a perfect place for first time fishin'.
Prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures -- I took almost 300!  I couldn't help myself - it was a perfect afternoon.

The fun started right when we got there.  The kids were fascinated with all the fish in the first little canal thing.

  We had a lot of fun little friends all around us.

 They found plenty to entertain themselves with while Stanton got everything ready to go.  I am in love with that picture of Cannon's puffy cheeks.

 Chloe went first.  She was No Fear from the word go.  She had the longest wait for a fish (about 7 whole minutes!!), but was beyond thrilled when she got that tug and got to reel in her fish.  Honestly, I had tears in my eyes because she was so darn cute.

 The one thing she was NOT fearless about was holding the fish.  You have to admit, it's a little freaky seeing it flail around -- I jumped my fair share of times.  The cool thing about Chloe, though, is that once she wraps her mind around something, she's completely fearless.  It took her about 20 minutes to decide to hold the fish and then something clicked (maybe that the fish wasn't struggling and jumping nearly as much).  We finally had to make her stop carrying the fish around.  Love that kid.

 Liza was next in line.  She was a pro!  She got a bite within seconds of casting and reeled it right in.  She was very, very okay, however, with Stanton taking care of everything post-catch.

 Could there be a more classic picture of a dad and his boy???  I adore it.  The other pictures are what really make me smile, though.  Brigham is super jumpy around all animals.  He really doesn't like them at all (all my children have gone through a phase like this and it has passed for each of them -- I hope it does for Briggy, too).  Anyway, the second he realized there was a real live fish on the end of that line, he had a total freak out and couldn't get out from uner Stanton's arm fast enough.  I caught it on film...hooray!

Lily was last (she was supposed to be second, but was really hesitant and passed her turn along twice).  Miss Intensity didn't disappoint.  She was focused and determined and thrilled to get a bite rather quickly.

 I had to have a turn, of course!  I think this was my first time fishing since I was about 10.  It was awesome.  Maybe I've been since then (Dad, did I ever actually fish with you or just watch?).  Anyway, it was awesome and I'm secretly hoping for a trip to the Wind Rivers next summer.  Okay, not so secretly.

 Stanton caught the biggest one, of course.  It is impossible not to catch a fish at this place, but it was still a total blast.  Like I said before, it was the perfect place to take little children who'd never fished before. 
Each kid got to catch one more fish, but I had already taken 7 million pictures.

 Brig spent the better part of his afternoon playing in the surrounding field.  Cannon had fun with the net.  We had lunch and visited the llamas.

I just loved these pictures of the kids on the mini golf course (yep, a redneck version of that, too!).  Chloe was so cute and thoughtful of Cannon.  And do you love his running stance???  I do.
By the time we were finished, the kids were wasted.  Two hours in the sun doing something new and exciting will wear you out quickly! 

We ended with a fish fry (grill) of our catches!  I love Eliza's face in that picture.  She wasn't thrilled with our meal.  Chloe LOVED the fish, which I knew she would.  She's an amazing eater.  The other kids were pretty neutral, but liked it okay.  Stanton and I loved it.  It was so fresh and yummy.  We have more, so the kids better get used to it.  :)

I love days like these.  It seems like we're so busy with this and that and trying to just keep up with life that we don't take time to make these memories with our kids.  I'm so glad we did. 

EJ went to church with us today and then moved on over to Grandma's this afternoon.  We're gonna miss her.

Liza Jane Comes to Visit!

We got to have 4 wonderful days with our niece/cousin Eliza while her mom and dad were in Hawaii.  I truly think we maybe got the better deal.  The kids were out for UEA and they played till the cows came home.  Seriously.  EJ has been so fantastic -- a total gem through and through. 

I took a couple of pictures from day 2 of her visit:

I have been making a few skirts for the girls and decided to make a matching one for EJ, too.  They had a lot of fun.

Of course I had to take pictures of the boys, too.  Brigham picked out their matching "lucky sweaters."  Brig just had a ball playing outside and chasing the girls arounds (he didn't like the "them chasing him" part nearly as much).  Cannon played soccer and mowed the lawn.  It was a great, great day.

Chicken Chaser

This is what happens when you pay closer attention to the herding of the chickens than the height of the coop.....

 

U

A Little Daddy Love

They love their Daddy and he loves them.

Catching the Fire!!!

I've been hoping and waiting for this day to arrive.  ChloeBug is catching the reading fire!  She spent much of a Saturday on the swing, on her bed, on the couch, upside down in a chair, etc. reading her first chapter book:  The Tiara Club.
Since then, she's almost completed another, The Magic Pony.  She has misplaced it, though, and only has one chapter left.  It's driving me more nuts than her!

The past month has been really great for Chloe.  She's growing, maturing, and really loving school.

Update:  We found the book and it was finished within hours of its return!  And Chloe is listening to her iPod which is loaded with the following:  A Favorite Nursery Rhyme Album, Some Kids' Solo Performance Practice Songs, and Many, Many Beatles Albums.  I so love that I can still control her music choices.  I have a budding little Beatles fan on my hands, by the way and I LOVE that.

Perfect Saturday

I can't even remember what Saturday in September this was or what we did for the remainder of the day, but it was one of those perfect mornings.....



It started out with homemade pumpkin pancakes with a variety of syrups (Stanton added the Karo and the kids loved it -- I say YUCK!)

The fun moved outside where the kids played in the sandbox, swung on the swings, and all together enjoyed the outdoors and each other.

The weather was just perfect for some relaxation and reflection.

Our brand new and gorgeous maple was just starting to get its Autumn makeover. 

Days like that one are the comfort food of life.

I'll Love Him, and Squeeze Him, and Call His Name George....

Cannon loves Dayton, though it's not always mutual....

You would cry, too, if it happened to you!

Super Kids

Cannon will NOT be left out of the superhero dressing up.  Even if it means wearing the Super Girl skirted costume.