hAlLoWeEn

This year Dave and I decided to have a Halloween party- nothing big- just some family over for food, trick-or-treating, and karaoke. We decided to throw a party because years ago we bought a little bottle of rootbeer concentrate. Every year we talk about using it but for one reason or another, it stays in the cupboard, unopened. This year our goal was to empty that bottle. And empty it we did!

The rootbeer was a hit with the kids. They called it "spooky juice". We feasted on chili, mummy hotdogs, brain jello (Taylor's favorite), queso dip, & veggies (to counteract all the candy, of course). Alan & Sam showed up with homemade donuts.



Taylor dressed up as Commander Cody- a Star Wars Clone Wars guy. He probably wore his costume for 2 weeks straight after we bought it. I was sure he would be done with it by Halloween but nope, he was happy and excited to put it on to wear to school. I snapped a picture of him and his friend as they were running out the door to catch the bus for school. I also caught a mask free picture of him during his Halloween Parade.



Sara decided to be Ariel this year. We ordered the costumes about 2 months before Halloween. I told her she could not, under any circumstance, change her mind before Halloween. She begged and pleaded to be Ariel and told me she wouldn't change her mind. Yah, whatever. Promises, promises...

October 30th rolled around- Sara's preschool Halloween party- she came down the stairs dressed in one of her dress up dresses, ready to go. I think she feels her purpose in life is to do anything and everything contrary to what I want her to do. I am SO looking forward to her teenage years... Anyway, I had to redirect her back into her Ariel costume. I bought her a full-body nude dance leotard to wear under her costume and a wig. There was no way she was going to wear a different costume. NO WAY!



She did the same thing on Halloween, only this time she first said she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty. I reminded her that she was Sleeping Beauty last year so she changed her mind and wanted to be Tinker Bell. "No Tink for you, you little Stinker! YOU. ARE. ARIEL!!!" I'm not sure what part of this "You are Ariel" thing she wasn't processing. It worked out though. She conceded and was Ariel. And she was happy. And I was happy. One big happy family, in fact.

Liv was a "punkin". She loved it. And she was darling.



Finally! The answer to my little game the other day. I'm tricky like that- make you read the whole post before I give you an answer. Good times. So, the answer, in case it's not obvious- I dressed up as a MUMMY and TAYLOR drew the picture. I didn't even ask him to draw it. He just came up to me one day, handed it over, and said, "Mom, I drew this for you. It's you dressed up as a mummy for Halloween!" What a sweet kid. Cutest thing EVER. Don't you love this picture of my family? I live in a world where the word "cooperative" is optional in terms of behavior.



What do you think of Dave's costume? The label on the bag said "Old time Golfer". I have a feeling this will be his costume for, well, forever. It's one piece and velcros in the back. He should have no problem dressing up in it when he's 85.

As for me and my mummy costume. I liked how it turned out. I got a little carried away with the make up. A little goes a long way. So, when you put on a lot, like I did, it's just that- A LOT. I was too busy to make it look any better. It did a lovely job of scaring the bajeebees out of my kids. Livvy was almost in tears. Poor little Spencer, he didn't even know who I was. He wouldn't even look at me. I think there was just so much makeup that he didn't even register that there was a person behind all the makeup. I was feeling bad for him by the end of the night- a whole evening without a mommy is a lot to ask of a 4-month-old. I washed it off and he had his mommy back. Another thing about dressing up for Halloween while nursing a baby- not an easy thing to do! That's all I have to say about that.

I kept forgetting that I was dressed up scary. I would answer the door and the little tiny 2-year-old crowd of trick-or-treaters would just stare at me and move back toward their parents. I was confused until I remembered that duh- I have crazy makeup on. One lady said, "Your voice doesn't match your costume!" It's nice to know that I don't sound like a monster. Cuz I was worried.

I am so happy that people dressed up for the party! I think it's fun for the kids (and me too) to see their parents dressed up. My cousin's wife Jenny came dressed as a zombie. She looked awesome! It wasn't until she showed up with amazing makeup that I fully realized how loser-esque my own feeble attempt at makeup was. My sister Kristina was a princess. My dad wore that scary Jason guy mask- I'm pretty sure my dad has no idea who that is. I think he just saw a creepy mask and bought it. Actually, to be honest, I don't know much about Jason, other than I can recognize that mask a mile away and know it's associated with Friday the 13th. I don't do slasher movies. I think I watched a few back when I was younger but have blocked them all from my memory. Waste of time and creepy. Anyway, I'm getting way off track here. Back to my dad- Sara and Livvy were stunned speechless and scared out of their minds when he walked in. It was SO funny.



Here's Jenny with her little guy Brodey. He was dressed as a little Skunk.



I love Halloween! It's so fun to decorate, dress up, and do fun things. Thanks for the good times everyone!

Just can't get enough

Last year I did this post about my Halloween decor. I figure I can't put away the Halloween decorations without making mention of some of my favorite additions since last year:

I got together with my sister-in-law Lora and we both painted one of these. It was easy and fun! I even made the witch broom from a twig in the yard. Taylor accidentally threw a ball at the cat and knocked him off the mantle. He split in two (the cat, not Taylor). Taylor was apologizing like crazy (probably afraid for his life, hm, don't know why), failing to realize that cats have nine lives! A little wood glue and our furry friend was back on the mantle in no time. Since this is about as close as my kids will ever come to owning a cat, we best be taking better care of him!



I've been looking for a little Halloween Village for a couple years now. When I was a bitty kid my mom painted a ceramic Halloween village that I loved to look at. I liked to move the characters around (shhh, don't tell my mom), my imagination running wild. I finally found one that I am satisfied with- it's Winnie the Pooh. Spooky yet enchanting and fun. I bought 5 houses this year.

Livvy has been the #1 fan of the Halloween Village. As you can imagine, this has caused a few cardiac arrest moments on my part. She likes to pull a chair up to the table and play with the characters. Problem is, she likes to bang them together. Nice Liv. She also occasionally takes them on field trips. I do have to say though, she is a rather responsible little deviant- as soon as I notice that Winnie the Pooh or Piglet is missing, I ask her where they are and she takes me right to them- even if that means walking over to the next door neighbor's house.

My mom gave us this cute little ceramic ghost thing:

I think I put the vinyl lettering on this glass block last year but I didn't get the bow done. I'm a year behind on half of my projects. Oh well. If I get much more I won't have room to display it all. I guess that means I need some more furniture!

This door sign turned out great! People have really gotten a kick out of it.

I know, way too much dialogue for a post about Halloween decorations.

Punkin' Pickin'

Friday night we stopped by Walmart. I was rather excited to see that they had their pumpkins marked down to $2/pumpkin. There was no way we were skippin' this deal. I hadn't bought pumpkins yet which is totally weird for me because I usually have a bunch on our front porch by the end of September. Something about $8/pumpkin at Sam's Club turned me off to front porch pumpkin decorating this year.

Anyway, I was hoping that somehow picking out pumpkins from a bin outside Walmart would put a big black X through the kid's memories of wandering through pumpkin patches picking their favorite pumpkins from off the dirt. Uh no. Sara was not letting me off the hook. The whole time we were choosing pumpkins at Walmart (all 2 minutes), Sara was asking, "Are we going to the punkin patch next? Mommy, I really really wanna go to the punkin patch." No Sara. No punkin patch for you... or so I thought.

Saturday Dave had AirForce. I thought about going out with the kids and then realized that one mama at a pumpkin patch with 4 kids and a big fat wagon equaled a big fat mess. And so I hoped the kids would forget. Not my Sara. "MOOOOOM, when are we going to the punkin patch? I wanna pick out a punkin." When Dave got home, off to the pumpkin patch we went. It was short and sweet and now the kids are happy.



That night, realizing we had 7 pumpkins and hardly a soul to carve them, we invited some peeps over. Russ, Nat, & Stina came over for some pumpkin festivities. Turns out, Dave was the only one who carved one. The kids created their "potato head" pumpkins with a little help from Stina. Taylor and Livvy had an especially good time ramming the screw driver into the pumpkins. Sara and Kristina were making silly faces for the camera. Crazy Coots!



We spent the rest of the night watching Beetlejuice. Getting ready for Halloween this year, I was worried about the kids watching shows that would be too scary. Apparently they are braver than I thought- they have set me straight on what they can handle.

Earlier in the month I bought a couple Halloween cds- the ones with music and scary stories. While listening to them, Taylor was in tears. No, not from the scary stories, but from the lack of scary stories. His five-year-old little self was bored silly with the stupid stories on the cd and he was mad that I told him they were going to be scary.

The other night Sara was telling me that our house was not scary enough. "We need to put up some REAL spider webs" she told me. I just told her we have pest control for a reason- not that she knows what that is, but it beats spider bites on your face in the night. Yuck. Mommy knows best.

So yes, we watched Beetlejuice, and they loved it. Livvy requests watching it everyday. She loves the "shake shake" song. We listen to it in the car and it makes her happy.

Fun night. Fun conversation. Fun family! I love my family. They are the best.

Come play!! Come Play!!!

This is a drawing of me, all dressed up for Halloween. The game goes a little something like this- Two questions:

1. Who drew the picture?

and

2. What am I going to be for Halloween?



Whoever guesses both questions correctly will win... the satisfaction of knowing that they delved into the mind of a [insert age of child who drew picture] year old and actually made sense of the madness. Sorry, no real prizes. This isn't the Oprah show. Okay, really it comes down to the fact that I don't have the time or patience to wait in line at the post office with 4 littles to send a prize out. Maybe someday I'll be fun like that. Thanks for playing!

we should make a gameshow out of this

I guess I should clarify what exactly she is rubbing into her hair. I thought she was upstairs playing with the other kids but instead, she had pulled a chair over, climbed up by the kitchen sink and emptied lotion and handsoap all over her head and body. The white stuff under her armpit is lotion. She had three baths this particular day but really could have used four by the time she went to bed. Look at her face- all dry and splotchy- she is getting dried out!

Slingshots & other painful procedures

Wednesday- Taylor was scheduled to have his warts checked out. I didn't tell him about the appointment AT ALL because T is a bit of an emotional kid. I didn't want to ruin his whole week fretting over a visit to the doctor.

That afternoon Dave was home at lunch for a few minutes- I had him break the news to Taylor. Of course the little guy had a bit of a breakdown at the news, screaming "Nononono, I'm not going!" And so Dave, to ease the trauma, promised Taylor that together they would go pick out a Lego set if he went to the doctor. Funny the promises parents make to get their kids to do things. Taylor seems to be making bank lately what with his visit to the dentist and now the pediatrician. Crimany!

So he cried for a minute and was sad but calmed down on the way to the doctor's office. Once we got in the office, the anticipation got to him again and he started crying- until he noticed the video games. He was fine again...until we got called back to the room [Insert crying child here]. After a minute he calmed down. (notice a pattern here?) As soon as it was GO time, he freaked and wedged himself in the corner. The doctor had to pry his hands from off the chair while I had hold of his body and was pulling him out. It was a great time- right up there with shoving bamboo sticks under my fingernails. Despite being covered in tears, boogers, & slobber, we got the job done. I really am proud of Taylor. The doctor was saying that he usually only can freeze 2-3 warts at a time with kids Taylor's age. Taylor had SIX warts frozen. Six. The kid is a champion.

To add insult to injury, I did keep one little secret from Taylor- he was also getting a flu shot! Yikes. The doctor walked out of the room after the warts were frozen. Through his sniffles his said, "Okay mom, let's go." And of course I was like "Uh Tay, we have one more thing to get done..." So he looked at me, crocodile tears welling up in his eyes (and a look of absolute terror and panic) and said, "Whaaat mom, whaat else are they going to do to me? Tell meeeeeeeeee." It was awful! I about started bawling myself- talk about breaking a mom's heart. Stinkin' doctor's office... Needless to say, the flu shot was another fiasco. The good news is- he was carrying on so much he didn't even feel it. And I tell you what, I walked out of there sweating like a pig. Sheesh- being a mom is high maintenance sometimes.

While we were at the doctor's office I picked up a prescription for Sara. A little girl that went to the same dance studio as Sara died over the weekend from bacterial meningitis. Fine one day, dead the next. Kind of scary. They recommended that the other dancer's talk to their pediatricians and get on an antibiotic as a type of prophylaxis.

Fast forward to today. Sara had her 4-year well check at 9:00 and Spencer had his 4 month well-check at 9:30. I forewarned the girls that they were going to get flu shots. They don't tend to freak out like Taylor so I thought it might be nice to give them some advance notice.

While getting them in the car, Sara turned to me and said very seriously, "Mom, am I going to get a slingshot today?" I can't even type that without laughing. She just gets everything so jumbled up. So yep, she got a slingshot today. In fact, she got five. I had no plans to get her immunizations done but they said she could get her kindergarten ones done. I figured it's better to get the drama over with sooner than later. She still has 2 years (2 years!) until kindergarten. Heaven help me. Anyhoo, Liv got her flu slingshot and Spencer got two immunization slingshots! Whew. Busy day/week at the doctor.

So the grand tally (in only 3 days), for those of you who haven't been keeping count (tsk tsk):

1 antibiotic prescription

6 frozen warts

9 slingshots

and a partridge in a pear tree.

Boo Hoo.

We've really been keeping Barbie and Scooby Doo on their toes!

Spencer is *4 months*

My little SPJ is getting so big! Yikes.

The official stats are in:

16 lbs 2 oz

25 1/4 inches long (1/4? I've never had them be that precise before).

He is in the 75th percentile for weight and just a little below that for height.

Looking back over the month, I can't really pinpoint any huge developmental milestone he has accomplished. He moves himself around a little if I lay him on his back but he hasn't flipped over yet (he doesn't get very much floor time for his own personal safety). He still sleeps through the night. He gets stronger and stronger every day. He holds his head up well. He loves to play. He loves to people watch. He's just a well-rounded little guy. The biggest thing I have noticed is that his little personality is coming out so much more. He is a crack up- he will be watching us and just start laughing & laughing & laughing.

When I take off his jammies to change his diaper his little legs go wild. And then once his diaper is completely off, there is no stoppin' the kicking. He kicks, fidgets, and makes his little baby sounds like crazy. It's cute. He's probably getting more excercise than me (not that that is hard to do).

The swing is becoming his worst enemy. When I try to put him it, he lets out a loud wail, letting me know that it is most certainly not okay to leave him there. Oh my. I need my space little guy! He wubs his mommy very much. It's great fun.

His little legs are getting stronger too. I brought the Johnny Jump Up out of the basement for him to play in. He doesn't really get it. He'll figure it out soon enough. It's nice for him to have a change of pace- somewhere new to lounge. I also push him in it like a little swing.

He has fun in the bath and likes to be warm!

And to honor his 4 month birthday, I actually got his birth announcement put together. I know, it's about time! It's a little late but I've been a busy mama! More to come on that later.

I love this little guy and am so glad that he is mine all mine!

Hugs and kisses my little Spenny.

About my day...

Wow. I had a bad day today. I think I can safely compare my day to a 10 car pile up. I spent most of the day in the middle of a project that needed to be completed by tonight. So pretty much a mommy-project day equals a demanding-kid day. By the time Dave got home I was pretty much done with the kids. Lucky for me I had somewhere to go so I pryed Livvy (wailing) from off my leg and left the house. Did I mention I am fighting off a sore throat (again!)

Sometimes Livvy's antics can get overwhelming. In just the past few (less than a week) days she has poured and/or rubbed the following items onto her head: lotion (x2), hand soap, hair spray, neosporin, Boraxo (yes, this is what I used to clean the Neosporin from her head- she climbed onto the counter and made a powdery mess of her head just as I was trying to get us all out the door), hand sanitizer, and of course, vaseline. Then today she added mascara, poop, marker and pen to her list of body art supplies. And did I mention that she walks around the house saying "butthead"? Seriously. This child cannot be controlled.

She will not stay dressed or leave a diaper on. I've resorted to duct taping her diaper on again! I was so hoping we were past the diaper-removal stage. Nope. We are back on. And yes, I did try potty training her a couple weeks ago. We ended up with puddles of pee throughout the kitchen and piles of poop in the bedroom. Needless to say, "operaton potty-training" has been called off.

She is so darn determined. She spends most of the day either trying to get out of the house, crying because she can't go with the bigger kids to their friend's houses (which I really do feel bad about), or rummaging through the pantry, emptying out flour, cereal, and anything she can get her little grubby hands on. It's nuts!

And Sara. Oh. My. Sara. This poem describes her perfectly, "There once was a girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid." This child... She will not leave Spencer alone. If he's asleep, she wakes him up. If he's laying down, she sits him up. She shakes him and squishes him just a bit more and a bit harder than she should- just to be naughty. Don't get me wrong, she can be helpful too. It's just a matter of what she chooses to do. She knows how to push Taylor's buttons and antagonizes him (and everyone else) like you wouldn't believe. I ask her to stop and she completely ignores me. So today she was bugging him and he was freaking out. I kept telling her to stop, holding Taylor off from pounding her at the same time. She wouldn't quit so finally I let Taylor at her. I told her if she wouldn't stop then she deserved what she got and I wouldn't help her or feel bad for her. So as you can only imagine- that didn't end so good. Sara, wailing, ran up to her room, locked her door, fell asleep, and then woke up at 11:00 p.m. refreshed and ready to go for the night. So here I sit at nearly 1:00 in the morning with a 4-year-old watching Clifford the Big Red Dog in the other room.

So I guess maybe it sounds like I am complaining. I'm not. I'm just reflecting on my day and committing myself to being a better mom. Tomorrow is a new day- a chance to start over and work harder at giving my kids the kind of mom they deserve to have. I enjoy my family, all these little bodies that follow me around from room to room. They are happy, healthy kids and I am grateful that they belong to me.

I'm off to bed.

I spy a witch!

Yesterday I ventured out with my kids on what was quite possibly the last really nice day of the year (mid 70s). We picked up grandma and headed on over to Gardner Village to check out the witches. The kids loved it! They had a great time spying all the witches and playing in the pumpkins.

Oh just look at this cute girl! I tried to get her to wear her Halloween outfit (ya know, just to be festive and what not) but she wasn't having it. So here she is covered in pink hearts. She is so funny- the other day she wore a green and blue outfit to school. She picked out pink socks and brown shoes to go with it. I tried to talk her out of the pink socks. She wasn't interested in my logic at all- She told me "Mommy, I am a rainbow". Fair enough. You are a rainbow.

Livvy is always good for a laugh. As always, she was everywhere. She had no shoes on. They got lost somewhere between our house and Gardner Village (later found at grandma's). I guess she may as well have been an orphan... except I claim her as my own so scratch that. She was trying to pick every pumpkin up. A few of them were small enough for her to lift.

After a while she figured out that she could just roll the ones she couldn't pick up. It was funny to see her so determined to take control of these pumpkins! It's just so like Livvy to own the moment- and she certainly did!

Taylor picked out a couple favorite witches.

He really liked the witch in the boat. I believe his reasons were #1- she was planning on blowing something up and #2- she was in the water. He loved that. He wanted to be as close as possible to the edge of the water. He would go down on the grass. I would freak out because the girls wanted to follow him. Luckily we had grandma along and she was more than happy to accompany Taylor on his adventures.

Here are the kids "sitting for a spell" with their grandma. I think the kids may start objecting to going on outings with me because they have to pose for so many pictures. My mom was getting into it. Any opportunity she had to pose them, she would. If there was a bale of hay (which there were hundreds), she was plopping the kids down for a picture. Smashed pumpkins were no deterrant either. Anything goes when the witches are out!

Here I am with my girls. For the sake of a good time, we are going to pretend my sister Kristina is the witch. Teehee! She never reads the blog so I can pick on her. It's great fun. And as for this picture, I'm really not in pain, I just seem to look that way.

I love these photo ops that they set up. Kinda tacky but somehow everyone gets sucked in. Isn't it great fun to think that all those little people I am surrounded by grew in my belly? Eek. It explains a few things- that's all I'm sayin'.

Soccer!

I have neglected posting about T and soccer. I think that may be in part because it's not that easy to get a good picture (totally lame, I know). I got what I thought was a great shot and then upon further inspection noticed that his eyes were closed. What are the odds? Anyhoo, this is his third season playing soccer. His last soccer game of the season was on Saturday- he will start up again with this same team in the Spring.

His last couple teams have been really good. This team- hmm...not so much. But hey, the good news is that Taylor is probably the best player on the team. The five-year-old competition is rough- ha!

The age group Taylor is playing in right now does not take score. That doesn't really fly with Taylor. He keeps track of the score and runs around the field yelling the score out. He'll come running by, give me a thumbs up, and a score report. It's really kind of funny because his coach is the nicest guy on the planet and keeps saying things like, "we're just playing for fun" or "we're all winners". Whatever dude. The kids are playing for blood.

Last winter Taylor played indoor soccer. It was great fun- the only problem is that the rules are different from outdoor- the biggest difference being that indoor has a goal keeper and outdoor doesn't. The first few games of the outdoor soccer season this year he really struggled pulling himself away from the goal. MUST. DEFEND .GOAL. He's gotten better.

His biggest strategic flaw this season is that he thinks he needs to stand back a couple yards from the herd and then run in hard, fast, and determined to take control of the ball. I'm not sure where this great idea of his comes from. Me, Dave, and his coach all try to keep him "in the game" but he is on his own agenda. He "knows what he is doing". Running into the mass of kids like a crazed loon must add a dramatic element to the game, fulfilling a subconscious something or other. Don't ask me- I didn't major in psych. Funny kid. He's fun to watch!

Called to Serve

My cute sister Kristina got her mission call last week. She is going to Guatemala in January! She is a registered nurse and got called on a medical/proselyting mission. We are excited to see what she will be doing! Go Stina!

A visit to Dr.J

Believe it or not, a trip to the dentist is usually an exciting adventure at our house. And I must say, yesterday's visit did not disappoint. The whole way there Livvy kept saying "Daddy. Office. Daddy. Office." Yeah, she's kind of cute.

Taylor wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of going because he knew in advance that he was going to get a cavity filled. He's kind of a pansy when it comes to sitting in the dental chair. So he cried and hem-hawed for a while but with some bribery (Lego Indiana Jones WII game), Dr. J got the job done. Dave took a pano of Taylor's teeth. We could see all his new teeth coming in and it looks as though Taylor has inherited the Jackson horse teeth. They are huge!

So as I mentioned, Taylor has issues with the dentist. Dave taught him to raise his hand any time he is feeling pain. It's funny because Dave would just put his hand in Taylor's mouth, not touching anything, and up would come Taylor's hand. Awwww- he's a good kid.



Sad Face...



The girls came out unscathed. Polished and Shiny. No cavities. None for me either. Yesssssss... At one point Taylor had on gloves and a mask, helping suction my mouth. Has a 5-year-old ever been in your mouth with a suction tool? I didn't think so. There is a reason for that...

Sara did a great job.



How could I pass up getting this face on film? Ya think she's a little skeptical about what is going to happen?



Fortunately, daddy knows how to make a kid right at home in the dental chair. Here he is tickling her fingers with the polisher.



Once she got comfy, she cooperated like a champ!



We like to start em' young. Prevention is the key, ya know?



These will be priceless photos one day! It's not every day that Dave is boss-hogged by the mother of his patients, with camera in hand- "Can you move your hand away", "Wait. Stay like that for just a sec", "Move the light", "I can't see his face, can you move your hand again?" Hehehe. He loves it!

Okay, from the looks of this picure maybe he doesn't love it... but he loves me, so by default, he loves it.



See ya in 6 months, Dr. J!

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and...

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my kids having fun with each other. Tonight while I was making dinner the kids put in a CareBear exercise video. They were "movin' & groovin" and "hoppin' and boppin" (direct quotes from the CareBears themselves). I couldn't resist snapping a few shots of the kids getting fit!

At one point Sara yelled over to me, "Mom! Mom! I can feel my heart beeping!" Seriously. How cute is that? This is after she told me earlier in the afternoon that she wanted "roast beeth" for dinner. I just couldn't help but laugh- then give her a squeeze- because I'm glad she's mine.

As soon as the show ended, a loud chorus of "Again!! Again!!" came from all three of them. Oh my. I envy their enthusiasm and energy!

A plus B does not equal C

I asked the kids what we should have for dinner tonight.

Taylor yelled across the room: "ARBY'S!!"

To which I replied: "No, we aren't doing Arbys"

Livvy looked at me: "Ahhbeees?"

And I said: "No, Livvy. No Arbys".

Taylor asked: "Why not, mom?"

To which I replied: "Taylor, we don't have all the money in the world to eat out every night."

And his reply: "Well then can we go to Wendy's?"

Just another lazy Sunday

We really do watch her. Just not when we're napping...

I heart my friends!

This week has been cram-packed with fun things and fun people. Today was no exception- I spent a few hours catching up with two of my good friends- Becky and Jennie. We go way back to our days up at the University of Utah Institute. Becky lives in northern California so when she comes to town it's fun to get together.

My kids stood by me for the first 5 minutes but warmed up rather quickly and were running around like wild banchees in no time.

Here are a bunch of the kids eating their goodies on the kitchen floor. They did quite a number on the floor by the time they were finished- muffin crumbs were everywhere! Sorry Jennie.



Taylor practiced his photography skills and took this one of us girls. Not bad. Becky's little Maggie is the cutest baby girl. She was all smiles. See Spencer giving her the eye with a silly little grin on his face? Trouble!



Here's another one of Maggie. Isn't her hat just amazing? So cute. Mags was so smily all day... until I pulled out the camera... then she pulled out the stink-eye.



Good times girls!

Too much of a good time? Never.

Yesterday was a fun day. My friend arranged for a bunch of us to go on a tour of Sweet's Candy Factory. I told the kids about it a few days before we went to get them pumped up for the big event. They were so excited! I was a bit nervous that maybe they were too excited, expecting Mr. Willy Wonka himself to take us on a rowboat through tunnels of psychedelic candy goo and chocolate waterfalls. Fortunately, they were quite happy with what they got, which was a big warehouse stuffed full of boxes o' candy and machines outputting lots of sugary goodness. There were people there too. But no Oompa Loompas, just in case you were wondering.

No tour would be complete without each and every person being handed a hair net. Even 3 month old babies. The baby hair net even had an elastic to go under his little double chin. Too funny. We weren't allowed to bring cameras inside the factory so once we got outside, I shot this one of Spencer. It was so bright out, he wouldn't open his eyes. Isn't that hair net hilarious?



Pretty much the key to a successful tour at a candy factory is to stuff each and every person full of candy. They managed to do just that. Before the tour even began, the waiting area had a table full of free samples. On the actual tour we sampled jelly beans, chocolate caramel turtle things, dark chocolate orange sticks, and taffy- all fresh off the assembly lines.

The kids had a great time, especially Taylor. He even asked questions. I was impressed. Lately I have really been noticing how much older he is getting. His comprehension is amazing.

Sara, Taylor, and Livvy wearing their hair nets and holding their bags of taffy.



Me with my kiddos.



This is the entire group of kids! This was like a flashback of a bad family picture (babies screaming, some kids whining and other kids running out of the picture.) Good times, my friends!



After the candy factory tour, we stopped by Dave's office and went out to lunch. We went to the Dairy Queen right by his office. We don't know how this particular DQ stays in business. We are always the only people there! I tell ya what though, Dairy Queen knows how to make a mean chicken sandwich. I love their flame thrower sauce. It's killer! Add that to the fact that they have fry sauce and I am totally sold.



After lunch with Dave, we ran a couple errands (a totally awful trip to Michael's Craft Store where the kids were begging for everything. "No, Taylor, we cannot buy an entire bag of glue gun sticks". They don't even know what stuff is but they want it. And when Sara had to go pee, all 5 of us, including a shopping cart, crammed ourselves into a handicap stall. Awesome.) .

We then made our way to Copperton Park to play some more with our friends.

It's so nice to send the kids off to play and sit on blankets and chat with friends at the park. It beats folding laundry and watching Caillou all day. Plus, we had to take advantage of what was probably the last really nice day of the year! The rain (and snow!) is coming!!

Taylor posing with his buddy Jakey.



Sara is so funny. Here she is with her friend Mary. I should start calling her "Mother Earth". She is always outside collecting twigs, flowers, grass, fallen leaves, and any other earthy thing she can get her little hands on. Her favorite thing at the park (besides the swings) was to walk around collecting leaves, which is great, until she wants to bring them all home.



Dave was commenting last night, "wouldn't it be nice if all our kids stayed Livvy's age". Of course that would be absolutely craziness but there is just something about a 2-year-old that you just want to eat up. She is so cute ALL.THE .TIME. Even when she has her hands in her poop- she's still cute, just a tad bit unsanitary and stinky!

She loves to swing. She would sit in there all day even if no one came to push her. I pushed her a little and other moms took a turn as well. Even moms we didn't know took a turn. Lucky little lady.



Liv has dare-devil tendencies that freak me out. She climbed the stairs to the top of the slide, hopped on and came down a million miles an hour, landing flat on her rear in the wood chips. She was totally fine, got her little self up off the ground and did it all over again and again. No sweat off her back but maybe just a little off of mine.



Here is maybe a little more perspective on the slide thing. See her tiny baby body at the top of those big slides? geesh.



But see the joy? Totally worth it.