The rest of October...

You're going to think I'm super sentimental after ending my post about our trip to Arizona the way I did, then starting this one the way I am, but hear me out. The grand majority of our lives are filled with screaming babies, whining toddlers and complaining 5 year olds with me losing my patience and always feeling 10 feet under. Then, there are moments like these. Sweet moments reading a book and snuggling and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world that I get to stay home with by babies. "B is for Bear" is Olive's favorite book. At least once a day, she'll tug it off the shelf and waddle over to me with it, grunting "uh, uh" until I sit down and read it with her. (I have this book memorized, btw.. "A is for apple that I like to bite, B is for Bear who I cuddle at night." If you ever care for a reading, I'd be happy to oblige.) She is my little shadow right now. Wants me to hold her constantly, or else is crying at my ankles. She has started nodding her head when we ask her a question. She doesn't usually know what she's agreeing to but it's interesting to me that she's caught on to the cadence of a question. When I ask her if she's poopy, her hand will go to her crotch and if I'm lucky, she'll walk over to the diapers. She's a tease though, and if she can roll over while I'm getting the clean diaper, her cute tush is off and running away, while giving me mischievous sidelong glances as she goes. It's one of her favorite games. She recently picked up on hitting from a friend and so we're trying to teach her to be "soft". Example: she hits, then we take her hand and gently stroke whomever was hit and say, "Soft. Let's be soft." She gets the idea but her impish personality usually prevails and it usually goes something like this... gentle stroke, gentle stroke, whack across the face! I have an Olive finger nail sized scratch down my nose to prove it. ;) I also gave her mullet a trim last week. I asked Shelley what I should do and she immediately text back, "Cut it off!!" Haha, so away I cut and although it made me nervous, it looks so much better! I cute little bob. No more party in the back.

Oh how she loves that thumb! It used to be just a comfort thing or bedtime habit, but it's now morphed into a "as long as it's not needed for anything else, it'll be in my mouth" habit. Once or twice I've seen the pointer finger gravitate to the nose. Yuck!!!

Trav and I usually exercise in the morning before the kids get up, but for whatever reason we hadn't this day and I was doing it later in the big room. Weston magnetically drew near and when I glanced over my heart melted. He pulled the kids encyclopedia off the shelf and was "reading". All on his own. Love!

Every fall, for as long as we've been married, I make a big pan of these pumpkin bars. This year I made 4. We got "Boo'd" early in the month (where someone leaves a plate of goodies on your doorstep with a "You've been Boo'd" sign and instructions to boo 2 more people.) and Collin and Weston seriously thought it was more fun than Christmas. So one pan when to "booing". Then I made another pan for pack meeting, another one for Collin's classroom party, and a final one for the dental office. I guess it was kind of a hit (one cup of oil and two cups of sugar will do that to a recipe) and they've been harping on Travis to have me make another one. Maybe next week I can get to that!

In preschool, we did the letter "E". So we learned that E is for experiment! We made bubble volcanos and played with cornstarch and water. Definitely winner ideas in the eyes of these 3 year olds.

We also made hardboiled eggs to eat as a snack. I did not think they'd like them at all, but all 3 of them scarfed those puppies down! Ha!

Weston got invited to a little friend's Halloween party that was really cute. 

And we ended soccer season! He really loved it and was indignant that it's not played year round. In his words, slightly dripping in disgust, "Why do people need a breaaaaak??!"

I put together a little thank you for his teacher. I feel most inclined to do this when I recognize a service that I'd loathe doing myself. Coach Monica had a lot of patience!

 

The way the league did professional pictures was lame... just a collage of everyone's individual shots. So I offered to snap a few of the kids before their last game. Unfortunately we were missing 4 kids. One had just had surgery to remove the quarter she swallowed. Eesh. 

The man was a dad that usually coached the other field on game days. He nicknamed Collin, the Flash, because he was the fastest runner on the team. Collin ate it up. I knew his energy would come in handy one day. :)

 

So handsome!!!

It took some coaxing initially to get him to accept his bubblegum pink jersey. Now, he fairly worships it.

Oh, the day the costumes came was a good one!! Collin wanted to be the gold ninja (from Ninjago apparently??) since last year. So this year I gulped and paid the ridiculous amount it cost. He LOVED it. It wasn't until his school's carnival that I saw it in new eyes and had to giggle a bit to myself that he was running around in seemingly gold spandex. And Weston was THRILLED to be Spiderman. He kept asking for us to assemble his fingers correctly to shoot out his "web". (The ASU devil sign, basically) Their enthusiasm was contagious. I love Halloween.

At the school's fall fest!

 

Ok, another moment. A Saturday morning with these three playing so well in the backyard. We had bribed them with a surprise if they slept in. (We are awesome parents.) Well they did, then we had to figure out a surprise! Thank goodness I had stashed these away and forgotten them. Nothing says fun like bubbles.

Collin asked if he could teach the family home evening lesson. He wanted to do it on Joseph Smith. So Travis helped him prepare, then he drew a picture and told us the Joseph Smith story. It's really times like these that make it worth it.

One Tuesday, the dental office closed down to do "team building" up at McGaffey. To be honest, team building is annoying to me, but it's not my call, and at least we were invited this time! So up we drove to have hamburgers and watch the girls try to shoot guns. The kids had fun and helped carve pumpkins. 

And I think Olive looked so dang cute. But I can't help but see a vest and think of Dane Cook's jokes about the ridiculousness that embodies vest. Every time. "For those times that only your chest is cold". ;)

Yvonne and Olive made friends.

I swear, EVERY time I finish with a pack meeting, it's the biggest relief. I asked Bron to come in this time and help out by talking to the kids about careers and his job specifically. He did amazing. That guy was made for being in front of a crowd. Saved my life!

Remember the catastrophe that I mentioned with the caramel apples?!? Here is the carnage. I about broke my tooth trying to eat one. I had to redo everything! I bought a candy thermometer shortly thereafter. NOTHING irritates me more than wasted time!!!

Why is this guy my favorite thing ever?!! I can't even tell you how happy this purchase made me. Look at his mouth. K, I'm seriously cracking up just writing this. It's like he's saying, "Halloooo!! Happy Halloweeeeen!!!" Hehehehehe. And his limbs all move every which way and his jaw goes up and down. I will look forward to him every year.

Weston came home from preschool at Brinn's house with a pet. Apparently, "F is for fish". So funny. It's the boys' first ever pet and they couldn't be more stoked. Weston named him Scombie- like scary + zombie I guess. Well, Scombie was dead within 12 hours. Seriously, we didn't even keep him alive for one day! So sad. I think we over fed him. 

Collin's school has an awards assembly quarterly. They don't even get a certificate, they just get their name called while they go up and what they did announced. Collin was very perplexed by all of it and kept making the funniest faces throughout. Wish phone camera's did better at zooming. Afterward, he kept asking, "What did I do??" I wasn't even sure what to tell him.  

We are running the actual 10k Turkey Trot this year, so I've been trying to jog on Saturdays. Collin recently heard about a guy in our ward that runs Ultra marathons and has NOT LET IT GO. He thinks it's the coolest thing in the world to run for hours on end. Obviously only in theory. The kid has no concept for how hard that would be. But at his insistence, I let him go running with me one morning. The thing is, he was amazing. In Vans and all! He ran 3 miles, only stopping twice. And he really wanted to keep going after that, but I think his 5 year old body was finally demanding an end. At one point he casually, ( but not in a complaining tone) mentioned, "Huh, it feels like a car hit my legs!" Two weeks later he ran 3 miles again with Travis! I think we've found his niche.  

Later that Saturday, I took the boys to the library's little Halloween carnival. It actually ended up being really nice. It wasn't crowded and the boys were excited to try everything. They even spent a 1/2 hr. at the end just coloring Halloween pictures to perfection. I was exhausted but glad I made the effort to do that with them.

We ran a few errands as a family later that afternoon, then made a special trip to get some frozen yogurt. Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" came on the radio and a spontaneous dance party ensued. Made me sooooo happy. These munchkins are the best. 

 

This illustrates the true documenter that I am. And admittedly, could be used as evidence against me in a psychiatrist's office. This is our fridge. My white board "to-do" list, the Halloween sign that my mom sent me in a package at BYU, Weston's growing stack of preschool letters, the library carnival's colored pictures, etc. Just a part of our life.  

Collin was in his first Primary Program. (I think we were in AZ for some reason last year.) Here is his part for the Grandma's who missed it. :) He said it perfectly into the microphone, loud for all to hear.

So Olive has fine taste. Silk, that is. She will find the silky tag on all of her blankets and snuggle that. She even did it with a tag that was on her pajamas. I'm thinking an entire silk blankie may be coming round Christmas time. What will she even do with herself?! :)

All of these pictures were taken while we waited in the lobby of the aquatic center as Weston had swim lessons. He took 10 private, one hour lessons, around 2 or 3 a week. It felt like an eternity. Especially since our aquatic center has 10 billion rules and Olive didn't like any of them. Not to mention that after TEN, ONE HOUR PRIVATE swimming lessons, Weston still can't swim. I cried afterward. So much time and effort. And this isn't the first time he's taken lessons. The kid is almost 4. This shouldn't be happening!!! Frustrated doesn't cover it. Is it too much to ask that my child doesn't drown if he accidentally gets pushed into a pool?!

Anyhoo (deep breaths), on this particular day, I was feeding Olive her baby food (she'd had about 6 or 7 bites already) when I noticed an odd specimen. Upon closer examination I realized it was an insect. A for reals, antennae sporting, three segmented bug. Bah!! It was Safeway brand, Organic baby food. A little too organic if you ask me!! Gives me the shivers. I definitely called in and reported it. They gave me a $3 credit at Safeway. Man, I feel better.

Our ward combined with 1st ward for a Trunk or Treat on the Wednesday before Halloween. The YM and YW did awesome with all the games and a really legit haunted house. (I was giggling the whole time, and totally amazed the boys made it through without crying. Reminded me of my mom forcing us through haunted houses and then making fun of me for crying. Sigh. Those were the good old days. Haha.)

Olive, as you can see, was a pig. Dang cutest piggy I ever did see! I happened to see this at TJMaxx awhile back and shrugged my shoulders and threw it in the cart. The 3rd child gets a lot of heartfelt consideration. Glad it turned out so cute though. The hooves might be my favorite part.

How awesome do the Shaheen's look?! Her sister made all of the kids' costumes. 

I saw this idea on Facebook and was actually really proud of myself for decorating our car this year! Open wide! 

After a month of not being able to get internet on my computer, and the Comcast guy not finding a problem, I finally busted out my new computer. Ahhhh. It just feels so good to start fresh!! Just a little perplexing figuring out Windows8!

We had taken family pictures on the Monday before Halloween, so the night before Halloween, I tried to make kind of fun. Travis is usually gone all night on Thursdays, but President had other plans, so he was home at 6pm! I made chili with a pumpkin face. I'll admit this looks disgusting, but it tasted good!

We had "dirt cups" for dessert and oh how I wish Weston's reaction could have been caught on film! When I told him we were eating dirt, and handed him his cup, he scrunched up his nose and with palpable disgust, said, "Dirrrt?? I no wanna eat dirt." Like, I had gone completely crazy. Oh man, it had me and Trav bent over, giggling.

 

Trav scored major points for not only carving a pumpkin, but letting the boys help. I had put Halloween music on, and this picture was taken while Collin spontaneously danced to Monster Mash. It was like he couldn't help but move along to the tunes. As though his arms moved independently of his body.

 

Then, I thought it would be a great idea to let the boy's paint their pumpkins. Not as hard as carving and less mess. Until someone's pumpkin rolls off the table and onto the white carpet. 

On actual Halloween, I went into Collin's classroom to help with the party.

 

And I brought all the fixings for a Spooky, Halloween punch! I've never used dry ice before so it was an experiment! So glad it worked out! The kids totally loved it. Collin did too, but he also had a ton of questions and it made him kind of nervous. (This is when I see my genes kick in.) I was glad when he actually voiced his concerns to me though. I tried to reassure him that no ice got in his cup. He was afraid it would touch him and burn him. When the bowl was almost gone and he asked for more, I scraped the bottom and handed him his cup. He took one look at it, inhaled and said, "Ok Mom now I'm realllly nervous, because what if one of the small pieces is in there." Oi! Can't get frustrated when it's your own genes manifesting in your child though!

It was really fun, just being me and him for a bit. We ate our treats and chatted about his day. Love this boy!

I had left over ice, so I made the punch again at Megan's house that night. We got together with the Kings, Whiteheads and another family to have soup and bread, then go trick or treating. The punch made headlines for a second time that day!

Sadly, it started majorly raining, hailing and thundering around 5pm on Halloween. Around 6:30pm it had let up enough that we decided to make a run for it. I forgot Olive's costume though!! Sadness!!

Trick or treating in the Shaheen's neighborhood made it feel much safer and more like home. They are all nice homes that I didn't feel like I had to check the candy for needles or anything!

These people were funny and reminded me of my mom! The boys couldn't help staring at the severed limbs. My mom drove around with a severed foot like this hanging from her car window one year. Such a hoot!

We didn't have a bag for Olive (unlike the majority of the population around here that arms their newborns with candy bags), but a few people handed her chocolate all the same. She was grateful, indeed!

Collin's stomach started hurting so after two streets we headed to home to our neighborhood. I wanted at least one picture of all 3 of them! Then we went around to our neighbor's houses. The couple across the street from us is so nice and had special goodie bags for each of the kids! Collin felt better so we went all around the block and called it good at 7:30pm!

This picture does not even BEGIN to do this obnoxious bag of candy justice. We let them pig out almost as much as they wanted for 4 days then threw it all away. Later that week, Weston still cried about having to throw away his candy. Ooops, hopefully we didn't create a scarring moment. I never know what to do about the candy situation! It was a CRAZY, but FUN Halloween month!!