Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I always used to wonder if I would love Halloween as much as an adult as I did when I was younger. I didn’t even need to worry, Halloween is just as much fun as an adult. I love seeing my kids get excited, wearing their costumes, and taking them trick-or-treating. Of course, raiding the treat bucket is also fun. J I’m afraid when they get older, they won’t be as excited about piling everything together in one bowl.

Even though we had a lot to finish before moving day, we wanted to take the kids trick-or-treating. It was a great night, not too cold, and we just went to a nearby neighborhood. It was great, the kids loved every minute of it. Caleb after every house would say, “Let’s go get some more!” People around here definitely know how to hand out the treats. You only have to trick-or-treat for about 30 minutes before your bag is full of all the good candy, big candy bars, and lots of chips. Matthew had fun riding around in the stroller and looking at all the fun decorations.

When we got home, we let the kids each choose one piece of candy, then got them ready for bed and stayed up for a few more hours of packing. I think I would have stayed up longer, but I also needed to get up at 6am for a 13-mile run the next morning. It was a fun Halloween, and I’m sure glad we were able to enjoy the night together.

Lack of Posts

This week has been pretty crazy with everything going on and trying to get packed up to move. Everything just always takes longer than you would think, especially when you’re trying to pack with three active little boys.

On Wednesday night, there was a girls night at Teresa Green’s house. It was fun to go and spend some time with all the girls. Most people dressed up in their costumes, I had great intentions, but when it got down to it, my costume was already packed & I was feeling fortunate to have even gotten out of the house with make-up on. It was a fun night and great to enjoy the company. The other great part of the evening was to come home and watch the Phillies win the World Series!! Yea PHILLS!

Thursday morning was the preschool Halloween party. I signed up a few months ago to help out, and I’m glad I was able to go. My friend Sara watched Matthew for me while I went- I really appreciated it! At the party, each volunteer came up with an activity for the kids to do. I decided it would be fun to decorate sugar cookies. It got a little crazy, and some of the kids probably got a little too much candy, but they really had fun decorating their Halloween sugar cookies. At the end of the party, they all lined up outside to sing us a few Halloween songs- it was pretty cute. I can’t believe my boys are getting so old.

Halloween Party Part 1

I think our boys probably get confused about the real celebration of Halloween because there are usually 3-4 parties before the actual holiday. Not that I mind, as long as we can limit the candy a bit...:)
Friday night, our ward had a Halloween party and Trunk-or-Treat. Last year after seeing my sister do it, I had a fun idea to have our family dress up like the Incredibles. Unfortunately the rest of the family didn't share my enthusiasm for the idea so I ended up the lone superhero. (I think the deal breaker for Jeff was the red tights) Jacob & Caleb opted for 'Ninja' costumes, and when I was at Old Navy (checking out their $1.50 clearance shirts) I saw a little costume that I immediately fell in love with for Matthew. It was a little red dragon with blue & yellow accents. They had it on the little manequin boy and I just couldn't resist it. Plus, it was on sale for $11, and really...you can't beat that for a high quality costume.
So I guess we went as the Chinese Ninjas, the Chinese dragon, and Chinese??? superhero? Hmm. At least I had the holiday spirit to dress up. Jeff went as his handsome self.
The boys had fun playing games that night, donughts on a string, pin the nose on the pumpkin, beanbag toss, and cupcake walk.

Carving Pumpkins

After having our pumpkins on our porch for about a month, we finally got around to carving them. We did it Monday for family home evening.
I made the night interesting, by taping our pattern on the pumpkin upside-down, I figured it out when I went to cut and couldn't understand why the picture-holes looked so funny. Luckily I was able to trace it on, and our 'bat' turned out alright.
Jacob and Caleb had fun pulling out the pieces and playing with Hailey and Ashlyn.
It ended up being a little bit of a late night, but it was sure fun! Thanks Farnsworths for having us over & providing the good supplies and great company!

Year In Review

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today is Matthew’s first birthday and I still can’t believe it. I can honestly shut my eyes and still feel like I’m sitting in the hospital holding him in my arms. I can’t believe how quickly the year has passed. I miss those days and my tiny baby; and yet I’ve absolutely loved watching him grow into a little toddler, running around chasing his brothers. More than anything, celebrating Matthew’s birthday has been another reminder that even though he is only a year old, we can’t imagine life without this precious little boy.

Matthew has been such a joy to have in our home, we love his sweet, happy little personality; and his sometimes impish grin. The name ‘Matthew’ means “gift from God” and I can’t help but think how perfectly his name fits him. He really is our little gift.

We had a pretty low-key birthday party. Sunday with 1pm church is hard on the kids and Matthew didn’t get much of a nap. He fell asleep on the way home and took a short nap after church while I finished dinner and his birthday cake. He woke up not too long after- with a little help from Jacob. We went right into cake & presents because Jeff had to go to a stake leadership meeting at 6:15. We didn’t have much time together, but we still had fun. Matthew loved the presents although he preferred Jacob & Caleb to open them. He would rather eat his chicken nuggets and play with the toys once they were opened. He was excited about them and had fun playing with them.

I made a small cake and kept it pretty simple, it was a double-layer and had some tempting sprinkles and m&m’s on it. I guess it wasn't tempting enough though- I’m still not sure what happened, but Matthew wanted nothing to do with his cake. He thought the candle was interesting and enjoyed watching Jacob & Caleb blow it out for him. When we tried to get him to dig in though, he wanted no part. He didn’t even want to touch it or taste it. Jeff finally convinced him to go for the m&m’s, but after he carefully pulled about two off, he decided that was enough and took off to run around the room.

We even tried to entice him with a cheeto on top

I love Caleb's face in this one...both Jacob & Caleb wanted Matthew to dig in!

I know he doesn’t like to get his hands real messy, but I know he likes treats and thought he would at least try to eat some. Oh well, at least we all enjoyed a cake that was still completely intact. It was yummy, and we all enjoyed it- with the exception of the birthday boy.

It was a fun evening though, and we had a great time celebrating Matthew's birthday. Happy Birthday Matthew, we love you!

Good For A Laugh

So at lunch the other day, Caleb came up to me and said, "Look Mom, I'm a beaver." Apparently beavers are now sprouting teeth out of their noses...

Oh, Caleb what would we do without you?

And a couple more just for fun...

Love This

Who doesn't love Lysol? It's the perfect home accessory during the winter/sick months. The only problem is the strong 'disinfectant' smell....not anymore! There is now a new variety that smells fabulous! The new 'Early Morning Breeze' scent can pass as an air freshener. I highly recommend it!

Saturday

Jeff wanted to take the boys fishing today. Both Jacob and Caleb have been dying to use their fishing poles again, and they just stocked the nearby stream. Jeff also has a good friend & fellow resident, Vince, who wanted to do some fishing too. So Vince and his fiance Tami met up with Jeff & the boys to do a little fishing this morning. I had a long run scheduled, so I took off a little before the family and met up with them once I had finished my run. It made it convenient that I was running right on the trails next to the river they were fishing in.
Apparently it was just a little too late in the day and the fish weren't all that interested in the bait. While I was running I had seen some fishermen with some pretty impressive catches so it's a bummer the group missed out. They had fun anyways though. The boys enjoyed fishing and spending time with Daddy and friends. Matthew was a great little trooper and enjoyed sitting in his stroller watching everything around him.




I had a long run today. I'm glad it went well, especially considering that my grand total last week was only 2 days and 12 miles.
Distance: 18 miles
Time: 2 Hrs 29 minutes
Few things along the way-
Mile 4.5: I hit a covered rock and completely biffed it on the trail. I put a hole in my capris, bruised and scraped my knees, hands & elbow. My right knee was already sore and I'm pretty sure this didn't help much. I'm glad it wasn't worse. At least I provided some entertainment for fellow runners right?
Mile 10-12: I found out that there was a huge fund-raising walk and had to run through a group of about 500 adults & kids, plus strollers and dogs, that were doing a long walk down the trail. I had to run by them twice- down & back. It definitely wasn't my fastest split time.
Mile 14- We originally planned that Jeff would be down there at mile 8 and was going to have my gatorade ready for when I went past. It took longer to get the fishing gear together so he wasn't there yet. I didn't have a choice but to keep running, so when I hit about mile 14, I was so thirsty and I literally felt like I had run out of fuel. I felt okay, but it was just like my body had no more energy to run on. I was glad I was just about back to the area where Jeff was parked. Nothing looked so good as that drink sitting on the bumper of the car!
18 miles was definitely a stretch for me, when I finished my legs, knees, and feet were tired and sore. (I wonder how much was from running and how much was from falling:)
I was definitely glad to be done and be able to go spend some time watching the boys fish. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the gorgeous trees.

Date Night

For our date night Friday night, I thought it would be fun to find a corn maze for adults (I guess I just couldn't get enough of the one on Thursday...:) I looked earlier in the week, but wasn't able to find one that was close. Finally, Friday afternoon at about 4:30 I found one that was fairly close. So we rounded up a group of 4 couples and headed out together.
We stopped for some food on the way, and finally found our way to the farm. They had a fun setup with a two-part maze that you could go through using "clues" along the way. There were various points throughout the maze where you came to boards with questions on them. Depending on the answer, it would tell you to go either right or left. This worked pretty well for the first section of the maze, and a few of us found our way out in just about 10-15 minutes. The second part took a lot longer. It was amazing to see the arial picture of the maze- it was designed to look like a witch on a broomstick and even said "Happy Halloween". Needless to say, it took a little longer to get through the second and much larger maze. I don't think the 'clues' helped out much on this one, in fact I think they were more of a hindrance. The other half of the group beat us on this maze by about 10 minutes just by walking the direction they thought they should. We kept coming to question #4 and it would send us back the same way, we did circles around that one about three times before we finally just went the opposite way and eventually made our way out. It sure was fun though. The only thing I would have changed about the night would have been to have more time to enjoy all the attractions at the farm. Thanks Farnsworths, Greens, and Johnsons for being such great sports to come along last minute! We missed others who would have come if they could have had more notice, I'll have to do better at giving more notice next time!

Freddy Hills Farm

On Thursday, Jacob & Caleb had a preschool field trip to Freddy Hills Farm. It was nice to be able to go this year. The preschool went last year too, but I was 2 weeks away from having a baby & it was pouring rain. It ended up being a perfect day and so much fun, especially with such a big group.
We started out with a hay ride on a straw-filled trailer being pulled by a tractor. Even Matthew was perfectly content to sit and enjoy the ride. It made me laugh that the thing the kids were most excited about was seeing all the rows of corn. We went past the cornfields and ended up at a cute little pumpkin patch where the boys were able to pick out a perfect child-sized pumpkin. It was fun to watch the boys going around from pumpkin to pumpkin to find the perfect one. Jacob chose a bigger one, Caleb chose a smaller one, and Matthew got a cute little baby one that I picked out. The hardest part was just trying to get them all to look at the camera at the same time. They were too enthralled with all the pumpkins and people.

We took another hayride back to the main area and headed over to the corn maze. I figured it would be a pretty basic and easy maze, but I underestimated the designers! I got turned around and we almost headed right back out the entrance. I think the most difficult part though, was trying to keep up with Jacob and Caleb. They were so excited that they kept running ahead. At one point we lost Caleb for a little while. (typical...) Fortunately we had a big group so we caught up with him eventually. We finally found the end of the maze too; complete with a giant slide. It was so fun that Caleb decided he’d go again…

The final stop of our trip was at the creamery for yummy homemade ice cream. That was definitely a welcome sight- especially since it had warmed up into the upper 60’s, and because I had been chasing the boys around a cornmaze!

I think one reason I enjoyed the field trip so much was because it reminded me a little of my grandparents’ farm in Idaho. The fields, tractors, barn, animals, even the smell. Some might complain about it, but I love it because it was such a big part of my childhood. I spent a lot of time out on that farm and wish so much my kids could have the same chance- (they will when we come back I guessJ) . I also couldn’t help but like the man who drove our hayride because he also reminded me a little of my grandpa. I miss those days. Anyway, it was sure nice to spend the afternoon out in the country again. The field trip was fun for everyone, pumpkin patches are great- just another reason I love the fall!

A Memorable Weekend

This weekend has been a memorable one in many ways. On Saturday I had originally planned to run a half marathon, but due to clumsiness during a volleyball game I pulled a muscle and spent the week with ice and ibuprofen instead. I was disappointed, but it did give us the opportunity to go to the Philadelphia Art Museum as a family instead. It was actually our first time. (Bank of America has a great new “Museums On Us” program that allows you to go to a variety of museums for free on the first weekend of each month) It was fun, and the boys did surprisingly well- I was grateful we came out without any ‘touching’ or ‘bumping’ incidents. Jacob and Caleb loved looking at the amazing art- some more than others. Their favorite was the armory, that was full of knights, armor, swords, guns, and other things that are amazing to little boys & Daddy’s alike. We spent a good deal of time there before heading over to the European Art section- which was also amazing, but not quite as entertaining for children under 5. We could have spent a lot longer, but we needed to head back for General Conference and sweet Matthew had fallen asleep on Jeff’s shoulder because he was so tired-so it was good we were heading home.

Unfortunately we were a little late getting back & completely missed the announcement that: PHILADELPHIA IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!!! After 6 years of waiting for this moment, the one conference that we’re not listening is the one they make the announcement at! I got a phone call from Kimberly congratulating us soon after. Thanks to technology, we were able to go back and watch the announcement almost immediately. It’s amazing, even listening to President Thomas S. Monson make the announcement afterwards, the emotions we felt, and the feelings of gratitude and joy were overwhelming. This area has waited a long time, and this announcement of a temple is seen as nothing less than a miracle. I am so grateful and so excited, even though the temple will probably be completed after we leave the area. We will definitely think of the Philadelphia Temple as ours. We cannot help but feel so incredibly grateful.

This General Conference was memorable in ways even beyond the wonderful announcement of a temple. (…thankfully it wouldn’t be memorable just from having sick kids…poor boys, and lots of laundry) Usually during the four sessions of General Conference I get to watch, there are a few talks that really stand out and seem to hit close to home. This conference was the same except that it really seemed to be almost every talk. Every single talk given was absolutely amazing and so inspired. Once again, I’m grateful for the blessing of technology because I would like to just replay the sessions over and over again to listen to the wonderful words of counsel and advice given from our leaders. I can’t help but feel blessed to live at such a wonderful time here upon the earth.

Happy Fall

Jeff brought home these beauties last night. When I look at them I can't help but think, "Happy Fall!" It was COLD this morning; add that to the pumpkins on our porch, the changing leaves, and these flowers on my table it is definitely feeling like fall and I'm Happy!

Chore Charts

I've had a few people interested in the chore charts I do for my kids. I looked around for a while at other designs, then came up with a chart that works great for my kids (and me).

It's really a pretty basic design that's simple to use & has a few extra features.
-First of all, my kids are like me in that they're more easily motivated when something is visually appealing. I wanted something cute that would be fun to look at and motivating for the boys, not just a piece of paper- but with the same basic idea. Secondly, I didn't want to have to continually make up new fancy charts every week...too time consuming. Thirdly I didn't want to use stickers as the daily job 'check-off' method; too many stickers, they get lost, stuck on fingers, stuck all over the hou se, etc. My boys love stickers, so I wanted a way to include them, but not for every little job.

In addition, I wanted to be able to change up chores/jobs quickly if desired. I wanted a way to include weekly jobs as well as daily jobs. And I wanted a reward system that allowed the boys to see how close they were to their goal.

It took a little time to put the charts together, but I expect them last for a long time. I found some fun 'boy-themed' paper at the dollar store that was perfect for a base. I used Excel to create the chore charts- it's pretty easy to customize the rows/columns/etc. It's saved on the computer so if I want to change chores I can just open it, change the job, print off a new one & put it on the chart. After putting the chore charts together I put them in a plastic page protector. That way when the boys do their jobs, I just draw a star with a dry erase marker. They get to choose the colors, and it's easily wiped off at the end of the week, ready to start anew. Quick & easy!

There is a second sheet behind the first where they get to put their stickers. They get to put one sticker on the chart for every 10 stars they earn. We generally add them up and do stickers at the end of the week, but I'll sometimes just keep track of how many stars by writing the number in the corner of the chart. (That way the boys can put a sticker on every day or so). This way they can see how close they are to their 'goal', and are more motivated to earn more stars. :)

Everyone has a system that works well for them, and this is a method that has worked pretty well for us. The boys aren't always excited to make their beds, but hopefully they'll pick up some good habits.