Kids, Costumes, FUN!

Halloween with the kids. So, it is now Halloween afternoon and we have already been to 3 parties, filled a cookie jar with candy the kids got, and worn our costumes out. We did our ward party that the young women put on for the primary kids, pre-school party for Jacob and a friends Halloween party last night. We have really done it up this year! Jacob decided to be Spiderman and Ricky is a monkey (as seen in pictures and video below). It is so fun for me to see Jakie so excited about things and seeing him flip out about the Spiderman costume was especially so (see his face in the pics?? priceless!!). Ricky could not have cared less about his costume, but it sure was cute! We will take the kids again tonight to trick or treat with our friends and their kids but I think we are done with candy for a bit come Monday. I had a dentist that said parents should let their kids just binge on the candy, get over it and be done within 48 hours of Halloween. A binge of sugar (if you are still cleaning teeth every night) is easy to overcome, but the continued eating of candy for weeks/months does damage to your teeth. He is an authority and I know jack on the subject so I figured a binge is what Rick and Jake want so, we will binge and then it shall disappear by force if necessary. J/K. Anyhoo.. we are loving the season and cant wait until the next Holiday. This time of year goes so fast and I am ready for Christmas already! We were pregnant with Ricky this time last year and I was pretty sick so I am grateful for feeling good, having to healthy kids and a wonderful husband that I can share it all with. All that is missing is the rest of you guys! Enjoy the pics (just my very favorites) and videos. I think they are pretty darn cute!

And Ricky Was A: MONKEY

He does not sit up on his own yet, so this was a feet in itself! Would you look at those eyes!! He is all eyes and cheeks!
He loved his paws!
This one was just for the tail! I just want to eat him all up! So cute.

SPIDERMAN here was thrilled to have muscles. At a party Jake said excuse me to a kid as he passed and said, "you have to make room for the muscles!" -HA! Such a cutie!
Jakie's 4-5 year old class at Pre-School. They are all great kids!

**VIDEO OF JAKIE'S COSTUME PARADE AT PRE SCHOOL. Classic Speidey!Jakie's sweet Spidey moves! He is quite flexible and agile.

This one is a favorite. His face is so expressive!This was a bonus for mom. I said I'd give him candy if he gave me a muscle pose and smile. I love this kid!

MIA

Well Hello Everyone,

Sorry that I have been MIA (for you non military families ...Missing In Action) for a bit. We all got sick, Ricky ended up with croup and then we had a house guest so time on the computer was limited almost exclusively to bills that HAD to be paid. We are all getting back to normal and feeling better (though I am still hoarse from a cold). I hope you all have not been plagued by the sick that we have been. No H1N1 though, so I guess I can count my blessings, right? So, I will do a short catch up with a few pics below and see if we can get back on track. We didn't do much because we were sick for a few weeks, and even after Lisa Venturi came to visit, we just hung out, baked cookies, pies, etc. and lived life for a few more weeks with her here. Especially since she was sick for a week of her two week visit. Darn Colds! The weather turned cold a few days before she arrived and has been Fall weather since. We loved having her here and are loving fall and all that it offers. It is my favorite time of year for outdoor fun because the colors inspire me. I will update with more pics of costumes, parties, the kids in a fall picture or two, holiday plans, etc. as we go. I just wanted to get these out there! Lisa, we sure miss you!! Come back any time you can!! You are always welcome in our home for as long as you want to stay!

Fun At Our House!

Fall is in the air and for me, that means cleaning, baking, getting out into nature, etc. It is what spring is for me so naturally I have taken on 20-30 projects! That is how I spend my free time..

projects. I love them. Not crafting per -se..just finding something that needs to be done, made, photographed, commemorated, celebrated, anything as long as it is fun or worth while. So, today I was thrilled to tackle quite a few of them.

Project 1. I have been meaning to make a little habitat for a Caterpillar with Jacob for forever. It took all of about 5 minutes and it was so fun.(You can see the the little guy inside on the branch by jakies eye. He has white fur with a black legs and belly.)

Jakie was delirious with excitement and I loved watching him squeal about Jr. That is the caterpillars name. Junior (Jr.). The kids in the neighborhood were poking him with a stick when I found them and rescued him with Jake. Jake was poking him too, but I told him caterpillars are not bugs, they turn into butterflies, so we love them! He got excited and promptly promised not to kill him anymore. Thank goodness. You have to listen to the video I have on the little guy. Jake is so funny. Listen for the herbivore line. He watches animal planet and loves to use their lingo. I will post a pic when the little guy becomes a butterfly (if he makes it that long).



Project 2. Clean out the house. I have made room for Jakie's bike, my jogging stroller, blankets, etc. in a closet that a few days ago could not fit another thing in. Now I have room to spare. Shout out to the good folks at Goodwill that made that possible. Who needs 12 un-used bags for the airport?? 1200sq ft. can feel pretty big if you get rid of all of your crap! I got the kitchen re-organized, laundry done, dishes washed, a full run to wal-mart (a full days event in itself.). hit a swap meet, listened to conference and got cute today. I wish every day was Saturday!



Project 3. Paint Jacobs bed. We previously had Jacob sleeping on a box spring and mattress because I refused to by a cheap bed that would fall apart or that I hated. I wanted to find a great bed that I loved and would hang on to for a while. Well, a friend (that's you Kate) gave me a bed that they were going to donate that was perfect. I sanded, primed and painted it to be milky white and it is just perfect. I cant wait to afford a massive bundle of bedding that will rock the rooms world!! The bedding and frames and whole kids room (and house) decore will be my project for the tax return time!! YAY! Anyway, for now.. I am just glad that the bed works. (I will post a pic here tomorrow when the light allows a good pic)



Well, that was about it today. I had hoped to get the car cleaned out, take Jake to ride his bike and go to the park with Rick & The kids but the day just was not long enough! Also in the works, I am going to go do fall pics with my kids and hopefully a few trys with my friends kids. Can't wait!



Hope your conference weekend is wonderful. I am excited for tomorrows session. I just love my family, ward, and friends here. We miss you all and wish we were home to play and visit! Have a great week.

Creative Little 4 (almost 5) Year Old.

What a creative boy I have!! I asked Jacob to draw me a picture and gave him a blue crayon and stack of paper (in case he wanted to do a best of 3) and he came back with a series of the following 6 pictures. He wanted them stapled together like a book and was super proud of himself. I asked him why 6 and he told me the following story:

**He asked me to scribe for him as he told this so this is verbatim.

1. Once there was a scorpion that loved to eat Octopuses.

2.Then an octopus came and he loved to eat scorpions.

3.Here is what was left: * (piece of the scorpion) and * (piece of the octopus).

4.Then a big huge dinosaur came and he ate up what was left of the octopus and scorpion.

5. The dinosaur went for a swim and he ate the puffer fish....mmmm!

6. Then the caterpillar ate the dinosaur that ate the puffer fish.

7.Then the stingray stung the caterpillar.

8.Right before the 2 eyed smiley fish with legs finished him off and had a nap.

9.Then the fish that eats scorpions ate the 2 eyed smiley fish with legs while he slept. He, he he.......The End. 

I love his little imagination!  I don't scrap book so this is the closest I can get to keeping it all.  I think he will laugh one day when he looks back at his little creations.

*Sorry about the poor quality. We don't have a scanner so these are pictures of the pictures.