Pumpkin Heads

This is how we celebrate Halloween around here.

The Little Guy was very excited to carve pumpkins tonight. He was all ready to clean it out. Then he actually started and the "slimy guts" were totally "sicking" him out!

He takes his pumpkin carving very seriously and really got into it once the pumpkin was gutted and ready to go. Thanks Dad!

Here's Jon, Pre-pumpkin head.

The finished product turned out really well.
The little pumpkin bodies are our Little Guy's pride and joy. He carved the monster closest to him. I carved the small one on the ground and the skeleton head, and Jon carved the monster pumpkin. The little mummy pumpkin is the pip-squeak's. She's not really into the whole pumpkin carving thing yet!

And one last pic. A close up of my little skeleton pumpkin. He's pretty cute, wouldn't you say?

My Turn

A-Attached or Single: Attached, for 8 years no less!
B-Best Friend: My hubby (so cliche)
C-Cake or Pie: Hot apple pie, a la mode
D-Day: Thursday
E-Essential Item: hot showers
F-Favorite Color: red
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: swedish fish
H-Hometown: Orem, UT
I-Indulgences: Spending the whole day shopping where I don't have to worry about price tags! (It's never happened, but I can dream)
J-January or July: July, the 4th is my favorite!
K-Kids: two
L-Life is incomplete without: my family and Disney World
M-Marriage Date: August 12, 2000
N-Number of Siblings: one brother and two sisters (none of who read this blog)
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples
P-Phobias or Fears: grasshoppers...it's a long story.
Q-Quote: "There is no charge for awesomeness, or attractiveness."
R-Reason to Smile: listening to my kids laugh
S-Season: Fall
T-Tag: Would I be so cruel? Ya I would, I say Christy :)
U-Unknown fact about me: Ummm....then it wouldn't be unknown.
V-Vacation destination of choice: Australia or the UK
W-Worst Habit: Eating junk food
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Neither
Y-your favorite food: I would say peanut butter, but I just found out I'm allergic. So sad for me :(
Z-Zodiac Sign: virgo

In Remembrance

We are mourning the loss of a wonderful fall tradition. No longer do we have the satisfaction of watching mature maple trees shed their leaves for our little guy to play in. In remembrance of a priceless autumn past time here are some pics from last year in the University Village.

The leaves in the village blanket the little kids with no problem at all. We usually stopped raking long before all the leaves were gathered.

Don't ask me why we raked and raked and raked. The little guy obviously had enough fun with a very modest pile of leaves.

He was very proud of himself for raking the leaves by himself, with only a moderate amount of help from mom and dad.

Here's our little guy hard at work.

Family Pics

On Monday we had our family pictures taken by a wonderfully talented photographer, Tiffany Burke, who just happens to be our next-door neighbor! You can see some of them on her blog:

artphotographs.blogspot.com

The pip-squeaks dress wouldn't stay down. I'm a little disappointed about that. It looks like we dressed her in a sweater and tights, but forgot to put on her skirt. I didn't realize it would ride up so much. She also refused to sit still for longer than a nano-second, giving poor Tiffany a literal run for her money. She is so talented though that I barely notice the flaws in the pip-squeaks ensemble.

Check them out and tell me what you think!

She Did It!!!

The pip-squeak is potty trained! Hooray! I NEVER thought she would catch on so quickly. Our little guy was potty trained relatively early but it took a few months to get him all the way there. I figured it would be the same with this little one, but she is a potty prodigy! I'll spare you all the stinky details but she is wearing undies throughout the day (even at naptime). She hasn't been able to stay dry at night yet, but that's my fault as I'm too lazy to get her as soon as she wakes up in the morning. I'll work on that. We are so very proud of our little pip-squeak. And our pocket-book thanks her too!

Stuck in the Suburbs

Jon is currently applying to fellowships across the country. As we start scheduling interviews for places like Florida, South Dakota, Nebraska and California it got me thinking of all of you out there in suburbs, cities and the sticks. I will literally be sending Christmas cards all across the country this year. So where do you live??
Alaska
Arizona
Connecticut
Nevada
New Mexico
Idaho
Kentucky
Texas
Florida
Virginia
Michigan
Wisconsin
Louisiana
California
New Mexico
Oregon
Ohio
Utah
...and, Indiana (sorry Dev!)

Did I miss any of you? How could I live without the internet? I'm so glad that we have a way to keep in touch! Thanks for sticking with me even though we're hundreds of miles apart!

FHE, PDQ

I have a confession to make...our family is TERRIBLE at Family Home Evening. Tonight was quite successful but we need help. I know I have amazing friends with GREAT ideas so I am asking you all to pretty, pretty please help me. If you have any great, fun, creative and/or inspirational FHE lessons please leave me a little comment with your advice. I really want to have FHE become a regular part of our family life. I could do hours of research to try and find a bunch of lessons, but I'm hoping the easy way out will help me, and hopefully help all of you too. Check back and see if anyone leaves a comment that your family can use for FHE.

(Oh, and if you're not in on the 1991 slang PDQ stands for "pretty darn quick". I doubt they use that in text-lingo but it's the best I could do!)

A Day with the Kids

I took the kids to Gardner Village yesterday to see the Halloween decorations and walk around. Of course, I got no shopping in, but they had lots of fun.

The Little Guy wanted his picture taken with this witch because it looks like she is holding a whole cow leg in her left hand. My Pip-squeak LOVES ducks. Everything is about ducks. We read duck books, play with duck toys, watch shows with ducks in them. Naturally she was thrilled when we saw these "kack-kacks" by the river's edge. She eventually forced them into the water to escape her overbearing adoration.

The petting zoo was fun for both of them. This sheep was the pip-squeak's favorite, while the little guy favored the goats.

Except for this one because he looks really "dangerous". We gave him plenty of room!

I've Heard Of Licking The Bowl But This Is Ridiculous!

Today, between sessions of conferences, the Little Guy and I made pumpkin oatmeal cookies. I turned my back on him to fill the dishwasher and turned around to see his whole head in the bowl. It was all over his face, and in his hair! I guess he liked the cookies, or at least the dough.

For all of you who are dying for the best pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe in the world I'll let you in on a little secret. It came from a mix. If you are a costco member (and you should be if you aren't) there is a pumpkin bread mix (Krusteaz brand) there every fall with an adapted cookie recipe on the side. It is by far the best cookie-from-a-mix I have ever tasted. And I have tasted a lot of cookies! So look for it next time you're at Costco (hopefully it's not just regional)!

Pickin' Pun'kins

On Saturday we were able to take part in a charity pumpkin patch for a sweet little boy in our old ward. He is a three-year-old down syndrome boy who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. He has an amazing family, but the financial requirements are, no doubt, overwhelming. They have great neighbors who have been growing a field full of pumpkins all summer. We found some great pumpkins to carve for Halloween and it was nice to feel like we were helping out such a fantastic family.

Our little Guy is so sensitive to other peoples difficulties. He was very concerned for Jameson and wanted to say a prayer on the way to the pumpkin patch. He asked his Heavenly Father to help Jameson feel happy and to get better. He also asked that they could get the money they needed to take care of him, and that Jameson would have nice doctors. It was such a sweet, simple prayer. He is constantly reminding me that I need to kneel in prayer. His love for his Heavenly Father humbles me and strengthens my testimony on a daily basis.

Ta-Dah!

My latest project has been to resurface our dining set. It was looking really tired and faded so I gave it a face lift. What do you think?

'Pooky 'Piders

I love October. The temperature cools down, the leaves change colors, and Halloween ends the month with a bang...or a boo! I was searching for some fun stuff for the Little Guy to do and thought I'd pass the goodies along. Below are several links to fun Halloween printables. I like to print these out and take them in the car, or to church for fun, quiet activities.

• http://holidays.kaboose.com/halloween_Activity_Booklet.pdf
• http://a.familyfun.go.com/Resources/global/printables/halloween/31days/catpumpkin_connectdot_oct17.pdf
• http://a.familyfun.go.com/Resources/global/printables/halloween/31days/monsterbrain_maze_oct15.pdf
• http://a.familyfun.go.com/Resources/global/printables/halloween/31days/mummy_maze_oct1.pdf
• http://a.familyfun.go.com/Resources/global/printables/halloween/31days/witchbrew_hiddenpic_oct14.pdf

• This one is fun. The kids can create their own coloring page and print it out. http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/drawpaint/feature/clifprintable/clifprintable2.html

• Here's an age appropriate joke page to spell you from your kiddos usual punch lines. http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/halloween/humor.htm