Happy Halloween

On Thursday, Caleb had a Halloween party at his preschool. He was pretty excited about being able to dress up in his pirate costume. My aunt Tami was so sweet and took Matthew & Emily for a couple hours so I could go and help out with the party. It was so fun to be able to see all the kids and help with the games.

Friday night, our ward had a dinner and Trunk-or-Treat. More than anything, it was pretty much games set up in different rooms where the kids could play the games and earn the candy. It turned out pretty well and the kids had fun. Their favorite game was the ring-toss to earn a can of soda.

Originally we were going for a family Peter Pan theme. We had the pirate & tinkerbell, but the week got busy so we just went the easy route. Jacob was a viking/dragon slayer, Caleb was a pirate, Matthew was a gorilla, and Emily was a fairy princess. I spent a grand total of $6 for all the costumes. Jacob's, Caleb's and Emily's accessories came from the dollar store and Matthew wore a costume that has now gone through all three boys. Jeff and I just went with Halloween colors.

Cute little fairy princess...looks sweet enough

Until she attacked my necklace...

Fortunately we got her under control. :)

Saturday night, some people in the ward set up a trick-or-treating route to ward member's houses. It definitely took a lot more time- being new, we don't really know the boundaries and houses very well, but it was still a fun night and the boys had a good time. They didn't come away with as much candy as a normal Halloween year, but that was perfectly fine with me!

Random October

-Caleb & Matthew are always good at coming up with games. This time, they were playing some type of 'hockey' using fishing poles and a golf ball. These two are pretty entertaining.

-Matthew also loves to stick right by Emily and crawl around with her. Sometimes I think it drives her crazy, but I know she loves him too.

-I was fiddling around with a lens and settings on the camera with different lighting. Emily was following me around, wanting me to pick her up. I finally picked her up and continued what I was doing. When I was going back through the pictures, I found this one- I'm looking a little scary, but I love the sweet little grin she has on her face. She was just so happy to be with mommy.

Classic

Caleb wanted to hold Emily, Emily didn't want to be held- she just wanted to crawl away, and Matthew is picking his nose.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

This little girl may look sweet and innocent, but she is one busy girl! These pictures can be daily occurrences. Good thing her brothers are all so good at helping to keep an eye on their little sister too!

Moving in on Matthew's snacks

Carving Pumpkins

After Caleb's preschool trip to the pumpkin patch, Jacob's school field trip to the pumpkin patch and one last pumpkin pick-up at Winco, we were all ready to carve pumpkins. It's always a Family Home Evening activity that the kids look forward to.
The boys helped picked their designs- somehow I got stuck with the dragon pumpkin, but it was fun and turned out pretty cool. Emily thought the whole thing was great and was right there in the middle ready to help by eating the leftover pieces and digging into the pumpkin. Seriously, this girl... It was a fun evening.

Lacey's Visit

Lacey came up on Tuesday for Matthew's birthday and was able to stay until Friday. It was so much fun having her here. We didn't really do anything too exciting, mostly I just took her around with me while I ran kids to school & preschool, and did all the regular daily activities but we did have a lot of fun together.

(First few pictures taken by Caleb & Matthew)

I think the funniest memory was on Wednesday. That afternoon, we had a little time before we had to pick up Jacob from school, so we took the other three kids with us to JoAnn's to get some paper. That was pretty much the biggest mistake ever. I guess I thought with two adults, the kids would be better- but there's just something about being in a craft store that really brings out the wild side in them. Emily was in a stroller & started to get fussy (naptime) so Lacey took her out and held her. Caleb decided he wanted to push the stroller, so I let him with very specific instructions on how he needed to act. I had Matthew in a cart with me. We literally were only there for 20 minutes, but it was just 20 minutes too long. Emily was a little fussy with Lacey, Matthew decided that he no longer wanted to sit in the cart & started whining that he wanted to get out- it just got louder and louder. Meanwhile, Caleb forgot my 'stay by me & walk slowly' instructions and was now doing loops around the isles with the empty stroller at a pretty decent speed. Of course I was already trying to keep Matthew quiet while I grabbed the last needed item, and didn't want to yell out to Caleb to stop running- I guess partially I was hoping Lacey would catch him or that people would just think he belonged to someone else. Finally I see Caleb race by one more time and I just know something bad is going to happen. Right after he passes the end of the isle and disappears out of sight, I hear a crash. Classic Caleb. Two ladies that were also in the isle look over, then back at me with that 'look'. "Is that one yours?" I begrudgingly admit that he is and walk over to where Caleb is with Matthew still hollering in his cart. Fortunately- and I said MANY prayers of thanks for this- Caleb happened to loose control of the stroller and crash at the storage container/tupperware display. I was thanking my lucky stars it wasn't one of the displays of breakable items that were all throughout the store. Of course, the store manager also happened to be in the general area and he came walking over when he heard the crash. I was feeling dumb enough, I sure didn't need a lecture from him. He came over and helped me put everything back up and asked, "Does this one being to you? Or do you not want to claim him today?" The latter was sounding like a pretty good option, but everything turned out fine. :) At that point, I cut the trip short, and had Lacey take Caleb & Emily out to the car while I checked out with the things I had and then we all made it to Jacob's school where we got to play at the park for a while. It was just another reminder why I don't take my kids to craft stores with me!

Lacey and i made another trip to JoAnn's quickly one morning without the kids and were able to finish up getting the things we needed. We were able to have some fun movie nights together, and spent lots of time playing with the kids. I loved being able to enjoy late night talks, and visiting together while we cooked and cleaned, and just spent time together.
One night we were able to go watch Kourtnee play her last volleyball game. It was fun to watch her- she really did great. The boys sure thought it was exciting to watch. I think they especially loved it because Kaden took them out and got them a treat. Lacey and I enjoyed visiting with Tami & Kyle and Kenlee too. I forgot how much fun it is to watch the high school sports.



It was a little sad when Friday came and it was finally time for Lacey to head home, but we were just glad she would take the time to make the trip up and spend time with us. I loved that we have 5 bedrooms so Lacey was even able to have her own room- definitely a step up from when she visited us in Philadelphia and had to sleep on the couch. The boys loved playing with her, and Caleb told me that he wants an iTouch for Christmas after playing games on Lacey's - nice try Caleb! I also love that Emily and Lacey have such a sweet relationship, Lacey was there the day Emily was born and I think they'll always have a sweet relationship. I'm so grateful for sisters, and so grateful for Lacey- she is such an amazing girl and we all just love her.

Happy Birthday Matthew

Matthew turned 3 years old on October 19th! I don't know what happened, but three seems to be this magical number where all of a sudden our little guy seems like such a big guy! He has just really grown up a lot over the past couple months. He talks so well, and really has a funny sense of humor. He'll crack little jokes and say things he knows will make everyone laugh. He thinks he's just one of the big boys and loves to tag along for everything they do. I really think the younger kids grow up faster because they're trying to keep up with their older siblings.

Matthew had a great birthday this year. The biggest surprise of all was when aunt Lacey decided to take a little road trip so she could come and surprise the boys for Matthew's birthday. She came and stayed with us for a few days and it was so fun!

For Matthew's birthday, we did a few fun things during the day and I let him pick out a special treat at the store when we picked up last minute things. He requested a Diego cake-a definite favorite interest at the moment- and the boys loved helping me decorate it.

For dinner, we had pizza per Matthew's request. After dinner Tammi, Kenlee & Kaden came over to open presents and have cake and ice cream with us. I think it's the first time in a long time we've had family around to celebrate a birthday with. It's so fun to have family around! It was funny to watch Matthew when everyone sang to him, he would start singing along with the group, then he'd get really shy and run away to hide. We were all laughing at him.

He got a 'Rescue Pack' just like Diego's.

He got some really fun presents and was feeling pretty cool that evening with all his new fun toys. Finally, we cut the cake. Again, he was being pretty shy when we all sang to him, but he was pretty excited to blow out the candles, and then everyone else took turns blowing out the candles too. When I tucked him in that night, I asked him if he had a good birthday to which he happily replied, "Yes!" Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew obviously had better things to do than pose for pictures....I was lucky to get one with him looking at the camera.

Showing off his new pajamas from grandma and his rescue pack- he loved both.

7 Months

Emily turned 7 Months Old on October 19th

Weight: 15.3 pounds (13th percentile)

Length: 26 Inches (26th percentile)

- This little girl is by far my worst child when it comes to putting things in her mouth. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth! If there is some tiny, dangerous object somewhere in the house, she will find it and she will eat it. I can't say how many times I've pulled things out of her mouth -toys, seeds, rocks, game pieces, plastic, tape, tags, leaves, sticks, the list could go on and on. It's pretty ridiculous, and I really do sweep & vacuum! Last week she managed to get a hold of some deodorant- I thought for sure that would cure her of eating strange foreign objects, but even that didn't work. :) I sure have to keep my eye on this one. She also loves to chew on books- she's been responsible for destroying papers, pictures, and homework. I guess a baby sister is just as good of an excuse as a dog... :)

-Emily looks a lot like I did when I was a baby. (I still need to get some old pictures scanned). It's also become pretty obvious that Emily is definitely a mommy's girl! She loves her daddy, and her brothers, but she prefers mommy over anyone. I'll admit it that I kind of like it. I love that my sweet little daughter loves to be with me- I feel the same way. :) I hope it will always be this way- even when she hits 16!

-She's still a pretty busy little girl. She is standing up to everything, and she loves to get into the cupboards, cords, and especially the stairs. I have to watch her because any chance she gets, she likes to head to the stairs and crawl up them. She is always crawling around all over things. If we're sitting down on the ground, she loves to come and crawl all over us. This is a typical shot of her-crawling to get over my legs. She's a funny little girl.

-Emily has really been loving eating 'people' food. She thinks it's great! She discovered cheerios this month and loves them! I've been impressed how many actually make it into her mouth- we still end up with a few on the floor, but she does a pretty good job.

- She loves soft things- especially blankets. When I put her down for bed, she loves to grab the blanket and wrap herself up in it. She loves to have it close to her cheek.

-She likes to blow raspberries, and is starting to make more 'sound' noises.

- She's had a couple rougher months of sleeping at night. I guess I got used to her sleeping through the night, now she'll usually get up once- there have been a couple times where she's been up a couple times. I think she must be growing, because she wakes up and is hungry! Fortunately she's pretty good about going back to bed, but it makes me realize what a blessing a good night's sleep is!
- Emily still loves to suck on her fingers. She usually does it when she gets tired or sad, like when she trips or bonks herself. She'll get a little fussy, then in go the fingers. I know we'll have to stop it at some point (Caleb used to do the very same thing) but it sure is cute-and helpful- for now.
-She also, over the past couple months, likes to stick out her tongue. I think it is so dang cute. When she's playing or concentrating on something, sometimes she'll just stick out the little tongue. Other times she'll stick it out and say, 'la la la' I love it.
It doesn't seem real that she's already 7 months old, she's getting so big and so busy that she'd rather be crawling around playing that snuggling, but we sure love this little sweetie.