Family Picture Time!

Thanks to Haley for being our expert photographer this year-- She was very patient with us :) This actually took a lot of patience because Parker and Abby kept running around and climbing on the walls. It's amazing that we haven't been to the doctor more often.

Preschool Time

I'm a mean old witch with a hat! And I ride on a broom with my cat!
And my shoes are pointed, And my chin is too. And you better watch OUT!.... 'cause I might scare you. BOO!

I Pledge Allegiance... you should know the rest!

Lunchtime with the "Workers"

Since we live so close to the green wash, we always have the landscapers in our culdesac. They usually eat lunch at the park picnic tables unless there are people at the park, then they sit against a wall on the ground, in the shade to eat.

This is Abby explaining why she drew chalk lines all around the picnic area-- "so the workers don't eat here. so they eat at the wall."

a small dose of parker's haircut...

Hello World!

Jon's latest project... more pictures to follow

Abby's new best friend
She named her "Big Abby"
How creative.
Thanks Gramma Martha!
She dresses her night and day. She also rides with us to and from preschool in a seat belt. And Abby gently explains to her that she can't actually come in to preschool. How tender!

our 55 gallon water storage container being "cleaned" in the backyard.

roll kids, roll!

This is Parker's very common sleeping position with his missionary :)

My blogging hiatus is finally over. October was crazy busy and November is my cool-down-take-it-easy month! So here are a few of the happenings in October:
We cut Parker's hair. And yes, this is a BiG to-do. He hates it and acts like we're slowly cutting off his fingers one by one when we do this. So it doesn't get done very often and when we do seem to accomplish this, it's super short so that it lasts and it's only "mostly" straight and even. Oh well, some day!

I revamped our guest room with a few things including a "treasure" (nightstand) from Craigslist. A little primer, 2 coats of paint, a shiny gloss finish, and some new hardware made the nightstand very chic! I'm a little bit proud because it seems like Jon usually does these kinds of projects. I mostly do the home organization ones and the keeping-the-kids-out-of-the-way ones so that he can be the one to get his hands dirty!

Grandpa Jan came for a visit which meant that Parker finally learning how to properly ride his bike with the pedals! Sadly the day after Grandpa left Parker took a spill on the driveway and is now scared to death and clings to his little red car. Thanks dad for all your help! The hours of babysitting, the van touchups (yes we are now a minivan family), the hours spent at my kitchen table cutting and coloring felt pieces for Abby's birthday party... I hope we didn't scare you away from coming again soon! I'm pretty sure my kids burn twice as many calories when we have a grandparent here!
Nothing a cheeto won't cure! (just after he fell off his bike)

Abby turned 4!!!! She is officially a little girl and no longer a toddler! Which means I'm basically old. I'm no longer in the newly married/newly parented group. Is it time for botox yet? Well if you've talked to Abby in the last 6 months you'd know that she talked about her birthday almost every day. And at stores when she wanted something, I could always get away with saying "Oh! Great! Well, let's get it for your birthday." This way we didn't have crying and tantrums in the store and I only sometimes felt bad that she didn't understand how far away her birthday actually was. So hallelujah! She finally had her birthday! Once she realized it was October her birthday month, she insisted on practicing for the big day. So yes, I let her blow out the candles quite a few times before the 15th. It was kind of fun =)Parker got to "practice" too. We just kept the candles out and stuck them in our nightly snacks and desserts! The problem now is that I can't light a scented candle in my kitchen without Parker singing "birthday" and spitting on it.

I'm 4!

Just Practicing!

The birthday was a complete success (thanks to dad). The girls--11 of them--decorated felt princess bags, made personalized bracelets, and played pin the tiara on the princess. Thanks to dad again for his incredible talent! He free handed life size drawings of Snow White and Cinderella for the girls to pin the tiaras on... we kept them up for quite a while on the doors. And I actually rolled them up and saved them- I don't know what for, but I couldn't bring myself to throw away these masterpieces. I have come to the conclusion that I never took enough advantage of dear old dad when I was in school. His talent and ability in the field of art is unsurpassed! I'm sorry that none of his 6 daughters took after his passion, but I did give him grandkids first, so I think he still likes me.

Parker finally stopped picking his nose this month! YEAH! No more public humiliation! Actually he would mostly do it when he was trying to go to sleep at night, and so one morning he walked into my room with crusty blood ALL over his face. To say the least, his sheets, blankets, and pillows looked the same. I took this picture of him and made him look in the mirror. No he tells other kids to not pick their noses. So in that respect, yeah for bloody noses that cure a bigger problem!

The kids got a newly used (ok it's from a garage sale $10 yahoo!!) table for the backyard. This is the answer to most of my kitchen nightmares. Honestly my life is so much happier if they can eat breakfast and lunch out there. My kitchen stays cleaner and I no longer have to clean the floor twice a day =) Another triumph!

The Kitchen Saver

I hosted a baby shower and a block party all on the same Saturday-- I know, what was I thinking, right? But it actually was great... I only had to clean my house once for 2 events! The kids thought the decorations (onsies) were so fun to have up around the house, and I used magnets to put some on the front door so that the guests would know they were at the right house!

Our block party was well attended once again! I estimate about 120 neighbors came. We coned off the culdesac and planned it for the Saturday before Halloween so the kids could wear their costumes! One of the moms brought treat bags for all the kids who dressed up. We invited the fire truck to come, but they didn't show up until the very end when most people had gone home, so we more or less got them all to ourselves! It was a fun success- I think we'll do it again in the Spring!

Halloween! We had a whole lot of Halloween this year- a ward trunk or treat, a preschool party, the block party dressup, Halloween party at a neighbors house, and trick or treating itself. Whew! Don't worry, I only let my kids keep a handful of candy on top of the fridge which they forget about most of the time. Abby went through 5 different outfits (Pink Barbie, Barbie Mariposa, Cinderella, etc.) before actually deciding on Sleeping Beauty. That stinker! She can not possibly be this spoiled! And Parker was the cutest little elephant I've ever seen. He loved his costume and wanted it on the minute he woke up on Halloween day.

Thanks to Grandma Marty, the kids had the cutest Halloween shirts to wear this month! Thanks mom! We didn't have anything to do the day of Halloween itself, so my neighbor Jen and I planned a little to-do to keep the kids busy and to get us through the day. The kids got to decorate pumpkin, haunted houses, and moon sugar cookies and for lunch they got to make JackOLantern pizzas. Yum.

Abby's preschool class had the moms come in for pictures and songs. All of the kids brought some candy and they went trick-or-treating to each other. It was very cute! Thanks Ladawn!