Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Here are my two charmers!

Here we are at the Halloween party at church. I know...my costume IS the scariest. ;)

Bad lighting but look at the chubby little ladybug.....So happy to have found her old friends...3 Musketeers and Crunch bar!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Here are the two beanbag toss games I made....with tons of help from my stepdad. Some might say a little too much went in to this for a couple of Halloween games.....but it was fun and Drew and Ash have already enjoyed playing it in the garage....so well worth it.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Noticing the good things. Andrew and Ashley have become quite the good older brother/sister. Andrew is my in-the-car helper who feeds Holly Cheerios in the car...especially on long trips. This sometimes stresses him out I think and he frequently says "I'm having a hard time feeding Holly".....or "Just one more right?"...but it's good for him. He knows how often to give her one by her signal. She growls when she wants another one and so then he puts another cheerio in her mouth....I should say 5 cheerios...she's getting bigger. Perhaps we should teach her sign language so that she doesn't have to growl at us to get food. Or, I suggested to Daniel tonight that we teach her a high-pitched growl for when she wants drinks and then of course a low-pitched growl for bites of food. Anyway, I can always depend on Andrew to help me out with Holly for feeding and entertaining her in the car.

Ashley too is enjoying her role as an older sibling. She always gives the first drink from her sippy cup to Holly. Also when I give Ashley peanut mnm's ....it's not too long after that I see Holly come around the corner with blue (or whatever color mnm I gave Ashley) drool streaming down her face. I then tell Ash....no more mnm's for Holly she could choke....but the idea was sweet ....right?

Finally, Holly is starting to walk more than just a few steps....seems to be in sync with her 2nd cousin...first cousin once removed....I dunno....anyway Callie Green...I hope I spelled her name right. So Holly walks....and it's so adorable to see the look of pride in her eyes accompanied by a huge grin as we cheer her on with each step. Tonight we put Andrew and Ashley's mini pumpkins in their wal-mart shopping cart and let Holly push it around the kitchen. She loved it!
Ahhh kids.....so sweet sometimes.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Here's my trendy...and one can't deny...chubby little girl. You can see how the vest is pulling a bit across the mid-section. Still....what a sweetheart.



Andrew loves dressing up in his Halloween costume weekly. He just got this horse and loves to ride it around the living room saying "eah-haw horsie...eah-haw!". The horse neighs and gallops....he tells it to settle down sometimes. What a handsome fella!




Friday, October 17, 2008

So I don't have those other pictures I promised but I do have these.

Holly's headed to town in a car that seems to be in better
shape than our other two.
Hmmm...looks like it too needs a little push sometimes.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What have we been up to? Well here're a few things...just to let you know I'm not dead. We've become obsessed with the Wii fit....could be worse right? We're yoga masters....well I am....and it's hilarious to watch Daniel try to be. He's an amazing hoolahooper though. I'm really liking it and my thighs are killing me. I reccommend it.

Andrew's class went to the fire station today...pictures to come. It was so cute....we met his class there...he got to ride a little bus there and I think that may have been his favorite part of the day. Anyway he's getting so big....I teared up watching the excitement on his face as he got out of the bus at the fire station. It's so fun being a mom and watching your kids experience new things .....especially the good things. He even got to spray the fire hose...not at full blast....I think that would've blown him away.

Finally, last weekend my stepdad and I made these two halloween beanbag toss games out of wood. Yes, we used power tools and everything. Now all I have left to do is paint them. One's a pumpkin face....the other is a spiderweb with holes to throw spiders through. We made them for our church halloween party.....again pictures to come. Andrew and Ashley are going to be a cowboy and cowgirl for halloween....which leaves Holly......I was thinking horse or cow to match...but as of yet I have a ladybug costume from when Ash was little....we'll see.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

What do you do? What do you do with 3 kids ages 4 and under when they go wild any time you are in public? I used to have the philosphy that being away from home with the kids was somehow easier to stomach than being at home. I now am on the fence. On the one hand when you're away from home time goes by more quickly and the kids are messing up someone else's place. Now on the other you have to constantly keep them from getting you kicked out of places and from giving other people the impression that you are a horrible parent and obviously don't know what you're doing. Lately during any outing....Andrew and Ashley in particular act like wild hyenas running, screaming, and laughing maniacally. With this new development...not that they were ever little angels but they used to be better....I'm not quite sure what to do. Lately I've tried to be very military with the opinion that I will just be firm in demanding order while we're out....I'm not going to stay at home because practice makes perfect...right? Not working so far. I spend lots of energy disciplining and worrying what other people are thinking and to no avail. Should I just let kids be kids....and think who cares what other people think as long as they are not vandelizing or mooning anyone.....or is staying at home really the only option for a mom with a 4 year-old, almost 3 year-old, and a 9 month-old? I think wal-mart has the stay at home moto.....the carts that hold 3 kids now have been fixed so they only hold 2 at our local wal-mart....Thank you very much Wal-mart!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Ok so Jessica tagged me to do this blog. You're supposed to list 6 quirks about yourself. I'll do my best.

1. I'm a crazy road rager. It's true. I confess. As much as I'd like to believe I'm not...I find myself yelling at people in my car for doing things as small as taking too long to get going at a stop sign. I never really realize it until someone is in the car with me. For all of you that heard Elder Wirthlin speak...you know that his comments hit home with me. :) And I quote....
"Have you ever seen an Angry driver who when someone else makes a mistake acts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam?".....He encouraged us to laugh in those situations instead of "raging".....I'm going to try

2. I'd rather fix a car than fix a meal. Maybe that's apparent from my previous posts, but really I'd just get more joy out of fixing a car. I don't hate cooking....especially when it's for a big group that acts appreciative....instead of toddlers who'd be just as happy with mac n cheese. So Daniel cooks dinner a lot.....don't feel too sorry for him....he likes to cook.

3 I only like talking on the phone to a close few....(Daniel, Dad, Mom, Sister).....or to total strangers. It's those people in between that I have a hard time talking to. I feel pressure to constantly be talking....no silences. So, what do I do when a silence comes....say something stupid inevitably. So I try to avoid phone conversations with others for that reason. Crazy I know.

4. I've developed a love of peppers.....red and green that is. No I'm not pregnant. I just think my taste buds have decided it's time for me to branch out. They are tastey.

5. I love scrabble. Daniel has informed me that this makes me a nerd....and that I'm a minority in this way. He humors me with a game or two a year so I don't get my fill. I just like word games.

6. I'm rarely the right temperature. I spend a lot of time adjusting our thermostat....opening and closing windows...turning on and off fans.....or messing with the temperature in the car when I'm driving. Lucky for me Daniel doesn't seem to care.....or he pretends not to anyway.

So hopefully you'll all still be my friends after reading this. I'm quirky....aren't we all?