A little of everything....

I know I am so behind on this sad little blog and it makes me sad. I do have a good excuse.... not really a good excuse but an excuse....my poor camera that Ryan and I splurged on before we had kids is starting to bite the dust. It makes me sad (literally sad) everytime I turn it on and it gives me error messages so I have started just not turning it on. I have used a couple of cheaper cameras and the pictures just can't compare so it makes me not even want to take them. So therefore, sadly I have hardly any pictures of the last couple of months and what is a good blog post without some pictures to go with it?

We have also been working hard soaking up every last minute of this amazing sunny weather. I have so enjoyed the warm fall we have had and so have the kids. I am so NOT looking forward to winter and the long cold days of being cooped up in the house with the two monsters! I may have to consider moving to California...

So, there you have it... some excuses and a couple of pictures that I managed to coax my camera into taking!

I did happen to catch our little Missy in action. This is the face I get whenever something doesn't go her way. She immediately crosses her arms and scowls at me. I usually can't help but laugh which then makes her laugh and then she forgets what she was mad about to begin with. Works out well for both of us!

Jack has to check Grandma Rosie's garden about every 10 seconds to make sure something hasn't grown that needs to be picked.
Overall we have had a fantastic busy fall and even though it wasn't all documented in pictures and blog posts we still had fun!

Hunting Season

I am proud to report that I successfully survived another round of "hunting season." It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun but we are all still in one piece and we are happy to have Daddy back home. Not only do I miss him and his help when he is away but the kids miss him TERRIBLY! We were on our way back from Idaho yesterday and had been gone 5 days while Ryan was hunting when Jack informed me that he was going to start looking for a new mom. A nice one. Apparently, we were both at each others wits end by the end of this vacation. He requests a mom that will let him watch as much "shows" as he wants and let him eat all the candy he wants. So if anyone knows of anyone that is available that fits that criteria I'm sure Jack would appreciate it!

The kids always enjoy playing with all of his stuff when Ryan is getting ready for another trip. This day they were looking for deer through their spotting scopes! Only a few more years and then I will be sending them hunting with Ryan and I will be heading off to Hawaii for a nice vacation during hunting season!

Blackberries and MORE Blackberries

The last couple of visits to Grandma Rosie's we have had the "pleasure" of picking the Blackberries with her. I have never seen my children so filthy and covered in purple stained skin. Ella LOVES picking the berries and eats probably more than half of the ones she picks. She is actually really good at it and caught on really quickly to which ones were ready and which ones weren't. Despite the purple hands, purple feet, purple faces, scratches and stained clothes the kids really had fun picking the berries with Grandma. I didn't so much enjoy the picking but I am a fan of the berry cobbler and jam that resulted from helping Grandma pick the berries! Checking out our loot!

If you look close you can see the purple hands, feet and face! And, probably tongue too!

They actually are good little workers and love helping Grandma with anything that she asks them to!

Preschool 2011

Preschool this year started on August 30th and Jack was more than ready to head back to school. He is going to school this year at the Lehi Elementary and he is loving it. He is in a class mixed with special needs students and "regular" students. We love his teacher and he asks me everyday if he is ever going to have to go back to his "old" preschool. Apparently he really likes his teacher this year and all of his friends, but I think he mostly enjoys the "magic milk" they serve every day for snack!
Of course he gave me this picture when I asked for him to say cheese.... You may remember the exact same pose from his first day of preschool last year.....

He looks so much more grown up since last year and has shown how much he has matured since then too. I have yet to have to drag him into school or leave him while he is in tears! Ryan took the morning off so we could drop him off together and so he could meet the teacher. Jack was so brave and was so excited to play with all the new toys and friends. He quickly gave us a squeeze and was off to play!

He loves having to go find his fish everyday to "sign" in and usually has to fight his sister for it because she REALLY wants to be able to go to school too!

It seems kind of weird to be taking him to such a big school with so many kids there but he really loves it so I feel good about leaving him with all the "big" kids! He looks like such a peanut walking into school with all of them!

And just one final picture because I thought it was cute. They stood at the end of our driveway and wished all the kids a good day at school! Ella can't wait to be big enough to go to preschool and I can hardly believe that next school year she will be! Wow - time sure does fly!

Cousins....

They sure love playing with Okie and Emma and they were all loving that I let them lick the cake batter bowl. Good thing I am not a germaphobe.... okay I actually am so this was really hard for me to let them do but they enjoyed it and that's all that matters right???

Ahoy Mateys

I picked up some pirate party plates awhile ago on clearance and I hoped I could convince Jack that he wanted to have a pirate birthday party. In early August I started talking up how fun a pirate party would be and lucky for me he took the bait and was eager to have a pirate party! It was so much fun putting it together and I can't believe how many great ideas you can get from the internet for a party! It probably would have been way cheaper to just head to Chuck E Cheeses but he had so much fun and honestly I did too. We happened to be in Idaho this year for his birthday so we decided to have his party at my mom's house. On his actual birthday he was able to head to the cabin for the day with his Dad and Grandpa which he thought was really cool. It also worked out great because I was able to get everything ready for the big party. We had a treasure hunt, played pin the treasure on the map and even had a visit from a real live PIRATE! Grandpa Lee was such a trooper and worked all day rounding up his costume to make his surprise visit! The kids loved following him all around on the treasure hunt! We had so much fun and I hope he knows how much I love him and love to spoil him rotten! Grandma Myrna and Grandpa Knute even came for the party!
He loves his "wife" Ainslee. Whenever she would ask what he wanted for his birthday he would smile and say "just you!"

The pirate crew... Emma, Okie, Cooper, Jack and Ella
Arrrrggghhhh Matey..... she really got into it and was super cute!

When we got home we did even MORE celebrating and we were able to go bowling and to play laser tag with the rest of the family. Grandma and Grandpa Paxman also spoiled him rotten (do we see a theme here?) and let him choose what he wanted to do to celebrate his day. He chose bowling but most importantly wanted to go play laser tag. The whole family joins in and Ella and Jack both love to play it! And, I wasn't thinking and didn't even bring my camera so no pictures but definitely memories!

Thanks everyone for loving Jack and making him feel so special and important!

.

Happy 4th Birthday to YOU

My Sweet Blue Eyed Baby Boy... I can't believe you are already FOUR! How did that happen? I am so lucky that you chose to join our family and that you made me a Mom. You have taught me so many things and most importantly you have taught me patience... LOTS of patience. You are smart beyond your years and too witty for your own good. You often sound just like a teenager back talking and weasling your way into getting what you want. I can often hear your Dad in the things you say and I think we may be in trouble in the future! You are so lucky that you are so cute because many days I am tempted to wring your scrawny little neck but then you look at me with those big blue eyes and give out your devilish little giggle and I can't help but love you instead! You have given me a run for my money but I wouldn't have it any other way and wouldn't trade who you are for the world. Next week you start your second year of preschool. It's hard to accept the fact that you are growing up. I know you will do great because you are one smart little boy! We love you to the moon and back, to Africa, and to the Ocean. (We play this game all the time and you love it!) Thanks for being our special little boy and putting such a fun spark of joy into our lives. Happy Birthday to you Jack- We LOVE you!

Chubby

I nearly busted my gut laughing when I walked upstairs at the cabin to check on Ella and found this. I was busy painting the kitchen and sent her upstairs to watch a movie while I finished painting. Apparently I didn't notice that she had managed to snag a whole can of chips to enjoy while watching her show. She must have ate herself into a BBQ pringle induced coma. I didn't get the best of pictures but I didn't dare wake her! She cracks me up sometimes!

Cuties

A few weekends ago at Grandma Rosie's we decided to do a spontaneous photo shoot. We asked Christina to come attempt to get a few good pictures of the monsters and I think she succeeded! Even though neither of them had a nap and had been playing outside in the pool all day I think they were rather cooperative and showed their spunk well! We may or may not have bribed them with Ice Cream!

Now I just need to go through the hundreds of pictures she took and pick which ones I want for my wall!!

Another Weekend of Fun

A couple of weekends ago I loaded up the kids and headed to the cabin to meet Grandma Rosie and Colty there. We had a great time and the kids absolutely love going there. We did some painting and we did some rock gathering until Colton spied a GIANT water snake. I am not sure I will walk around the cabin in flip flops anytime soon. Of course, he ran it down and picked it up to show the kids. Ella loved it much to my dismay and both of them thought it was really cool to touch. We had a long discussion afterward about how we don't try to catch snakes (bad example Colton) and if we see one to run the other way! After our busy day we gave Ella her usual bath in the sink but this time Jack was not going to be left out. He insisted they would both fit so they both wiggled into the sink for their nightly bath! Sunday afternoon out of the blue Ella demanded she put her swim diaper, swim "soup" and floaties on. She was insistent so we just let her do it. It wasn't five minutes after she got her outfit on that we experienced the worst rain/thunder storm that I have ever seen. The clouds just opened up and poured on us! She was so funny out there running around the porch in her swim suit and floaties the middle of this huge rain storm. Apparently she knew something that we didnt!

The boys loved playing out front in the sand pile that Boppy has made. I am pretty sure his intentions weren't for the kids to enjoy a day at the "beach" but they spent a good hour out there burying each other and playing in that sand. Colton is usually so good to Jack and will play, explore and entertain the little twerp most of the time that we are there!

Overall it was a great weekend as usual and we are loving having the cabin to go to for a mini-vacation! I hope my kids grow up with tons of memories there and that it will be something they will want to continue doing with their own kids!