Carving Pumpkins

It's that time of year again- carving pumpkins before Halloween. The month was busy enough, we didn't actually get to carving until the night before, but we got it done and the kids had fun. Jacob was pretty helpful cleaning the pumpkins out but Caleb & Matthew don't really like that part, and Jeff was busy with his institute lesson, so I ended up doing most of it. Emily loves to 'help' usually meaning sticking her hands in the pumpkin and playing with all the seeds and guts.



The finished products- nothing too spectacular. Jacob's was a storm trooper (actually he wanted Darth Vadar, but after seeing those 6-hour project patterns, I was able to talk him into something a little less involved). Caleb just wanted a happy pumpkin face, Matthew wanted ghost, Emily had a small happy face pumpkin and Jeff's was the eyeball, fitting don't you think? We had one more pumpkin, but I decided I would be just as happy if mine wasn't carved. They looked great all lit up on Halloween night.

Happy Birthday Matthew

I can't believe Matthew is 4! He was so excited for his birthday to finally come. We got back from our trip late Monday night, and I spent Tuesday finishing up everything for his birthday. On Wednesday morning I made some treats for his preschool class- I thought the rice krispy pumpkin treats turned out pretty cute, and they were a lot faster than cupcakes.
We had pizza for dinner and then started right into the presents. Matthew was pretty excited about the Lightening McQueen lunch box- now he can carry around all those cars!
I love how eager everyone is to help Matthew open his gifts and how he was totally happy with it.
This Hex Bug Nano Battle game was a hit. I found it in the clearance section at Walmart months before and had saved it until Matthew's birthday. The kids have all had lots of fun with this one.
And we finally upgraded Matthew from his little tractor to a new bike. He was pretty excited about it- now he can finally ride along with his older brothers and friends. Hopefully we get some good use before all the snow comes!
We started everything early that night because Jeff and the kids had to take me to the airport later on for a trip to Vegas. I don't know how it's worked out this way for both Caleb & Matthew's birthday. I really felt bad when Jacob said, "Good thing my birthday is in January- there aren't any races around then." Jeff then joked that maybe he should start looking around. I was just glad we were able to celebrate all day and do some fun things. I sure love this sweet 4-year old of mine.

Can you tell that Emily was excited to have a chance to blow out some candles too?
This picture was taken a few days after- Emily and Matthew love playing together with the Hex Bug battle game. I love that they've gotten to be such good friends- most of the time. Emily loves to follow Matthew around and is interested in everything that he is.
Matthew has really become such a sweet boy. He's had some times where he's given us a run for our money, and sometimes still does (grocery shopping...aah) but as he's grown up, he's really developed a fun personality and sense of humor.

-Matthew still loves his cars and trains. His favorite movie is still Cars and has been since he was two. I thought he would out grow it, but I guess some boys never outgrow their love of cars. :)

He loves lining them up, organizing them, and especially racing them.

-Matthew has been obsessed with numbers, dates, times, days of the week and "What comes after..." It's not uncommon to have conversations for an hour at a time with him asking me what comes after (i.e. Wednesday, Thursday, 37, Christmas, 98, Jacob's birthday, a, b, c, etc). I saw a statistic that said the average 4-year old asks something like 400 questions a day and yes, I believe it!

-He's also got a thing for being first, the fastest, the strongest, and the best. That's made for some interesting times and rough moments. Especially since Matthew happens to be the 3rd of three boys.

-Matthew's favorite book lately has been "The Giving Tree" but he loves reading books in general.

-Every night Matthew still has a routine of hugs & kisses. He'll tell me which one he wants and we usually go through a round of about 12. I love it and hope he never outgrows it.

-He's usually sweet to Emily and they've been such good little buddies. She idolizes him and loves to do everything with him. She usually cries when he goes to preschool and is so happy to see him when it's time for him to come home. The times they're not such great friends is when Emily takes his cars and runs off, or when Matthew takes Emily's blankets and runs off.

-Happy Birthday Matthew. We love you!

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy...

You've probably heard the song. I thought it was a pretty fitting caption for the pictures of these two riding the John Deere 'tractor' together. Matthew is pretty proud of his tractor and loves to give Emily rides. It's probably time to get another bike, but I think these two are pretty cute.

Preschool

Matthew's preschool has a website where they keep information, schedules, announcements, etc. They also update the website with photos and videos. Generally, you hear about the day's activities and adventures from your preschooler, but I've enjoyed being able to take a peek at what goes on through the pictures. Some of the pictures are pretty funny, but I love seeing the candid shots of the kids being themselves. I've absolutely loved Matthew's preschool and his teachers Miss Tera & Miss Linda. It's been such a great experience all around and Matthew has loved it!

Making "goop" I love the looks on all of the kids' faces- they're so concerned!

Bring your animal friend to school day

Pumpkin patch day- the pumpkin patches were 'out' of pumpkins due to poor weather, so the alternative was to put pumpkins out on the lawn. The kids still were pretty happy about it.

Making bubbles

Decorating pumpkins and doing activities with the pumpkin seeds.

Class field trip to a local pizza shop- this one was a hit!

Sunday Wrap Up

Sadly, Sunday was our last day of vacation with our families. We started off the morning early with 9am sacrament meeting with the Stevens Family. The best part was being able to see Mike & Kimber's baby Daniel be blessed. He's such a sweet little guy and it was wonderful to be a part of it.
After church, we finished getting all our things together and then spent a little more time with the family before everyone had to start saying goodbyes. I love spending time with our families. They have a special ability to make you feel good about yourself and so loved. I'm grateful for the kindness and love shown to one another. No family is perfect, but for the most part everyone is kind and thoughtful and that love makes spending time together feel like heaven. I'm so grateful to feel fully adopted into this wonderful family.

Tony Sam, Grandma, and Daniel.

While we were enjoying the afternoon, Emily decided to start up a wrestling match with Isaac. She pretty much just went over and pounced on him. It was pretty funny to watch her go after him. Isaac is such a sweet cousin and played with her for quite a while.

You can probably see the candy on her face in the pictures- Emily figured out that the good things (leftover reception treats) were in this big brown chest and kept trying to get into it.
We finally had to say goodbye to the Stevens and headed out to see the Tanners one last time. We met up at a park where we got some quick family pictures- trying to take advantage of one of the few times that the entire family was together. It's always a little crazy trying to get all the kids to cooperate, but I think we got a few good ones. More on that later.

I'm pretty sure this was the hardest shot- I know we ended up with at least one where all the grandkids are looking and smiling. :)

Matthew's birthday was just a few days away so both grandma's had fun little presents for him. Grandma Stevens gave him a handsome new shirt and some really fun toys including a giant light-up turbo launcher. Grandma Tanner gave him a new shirt too and some new cars. All the toys came in handy during our long long drive home.
The drive out to see family is painful, but I think it's even harder going back because you're already tired and know you have to hit the ground running as soon as you're home. We did stop at Grandma & Grandpa Tanner's home on Sunday night to sleep for a few hours. We were grateful to be able to stay with them. We love to see them any chance we can get, even if it's just for a quick stop. I didn't get any pictures since we were only there from 10:30pm to 5:30am. We hope to be back soon!

It was a long trip back and Jeff and I shared the driving. The kids did pretty well even if they didn't sleep much of the long drive. They did enjoy any chance we had to stop, even if it was just to fill up the car. We did find a fun little ice cream shop at one of our stops. The kids loved being able to pick a yummy waffle ice cream cone, and I loved the fact that they were cheap- less than 1$. It was a fun break in the trip.

We finally made it home about 10:30pm on Monday night. Tuesday morning the kids were back at school, Jeff was back at work, and I was busy unpacking, doing laundry, getting ready for Matthew's birthday on Wednesday & packing for another trip, but we were so glad we were able to make it home for Jonny & Emilee's wedding and for more fun times with our family.

Reception Night

Saturday, we spent the day enjoying time with family. The cousins had fun playing together, Kristie and Amanda and I were able to squeeze in a quick run together, and Jeff & Scott went biking. Later on that afternoon, we headed over to the church to help decorate for the reception. I'm not sure how much help Amanda and I ended up being with all the kids we had just between the two of us, but we had fun and the kids enjoyed running around.
We headed back to the church that night about 6:30 for the actual wedding reception. It was sure fun to see everyone and enjoy the evening together. Emilee and Jonny were so cute together.
Sometimes receptions can be a little crazy with all the kids and the late hours, but for the most part I really love wedding receptions. I love getting to spend a few hours with friends and family doing nothing but visiting and enjoying time together. I love being able to catch up with people I haven't seen in years. And I love that everyone is just happy to be together.

It was fun to have my family there for the evening too!

The real question is how to keep lots of little kids happy and entertained for a couple hours. Someone came very prepared with some fun DVD's that helped for some of the time.
And a reception wouldn't be complete without dancing, dancing, and more dancing. We all had a great time dancing the night away! I''ll take any chance I can get to having time dancing with Jeff- I'm glad he's such a willing partner.

Even Lilah was busting some pretty sweet moves!

Daddy-daughter dance.

My other dance partner. Matthew sure made a handsome, cute little partner.

I did have to share him with aunt Lacey too. What a ladies man!

At the end of the evening, Jonny & Emilee cut their cake before heading off. I had to laugh- Emi got him pretty good. Jonny was a smart man, listened to his mother and didn't retaliate with the frosting. :)
The escape vehicle- compliments of many younger siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

It was certainly a fun and memorable evening.