What a Week!

Last Monday for family night we decided to carve pumpkins, so we got the kids into their undies/diaper all ready to get slimy. (When I was a young girl we use to dig into the goo, throw it around, and a few times my dad picked ones so big that we would sit in them!) Well my kids weren't that enthusiastic to say the least-don't let this first picture fool you.

Scott wouldn't even touch the pumpkin until finally I made up a big ball of the goo and threw it right at him. He thought that was funny and threw it back. Here we are carving our pumpkin together.Here's a video of Hailey in the beginning when she thought it may be kind of fun to touch the yucky pumpkin after all...

After that she wouldn't go anywhere near the pumpkin and had to sit on Kevin's lap while Scott and I carved it! She even went ballistic just sitting next to it for a picture... kids are so funny!

Scott with our final project. His favorite part has been helping us light it up each nightHailey's other top tooth finally came through along with the one next to it (now she has 5!) The one front tooth is still a lot bigger though so she has quite the funny grin!

I can't believe it took me almost 2 years to find out there are ducks here in Logan to feed (other than the zoo) One of our favorite things to do when we were in Rexburg was to go to the Nature Park to feed the ducks. Well these ducks are tucked away behind a park and were very eager to get some bread pieces- they came right up to the kids. It was cute to see Hailey squeal each time a duck came by her Hailey on the seesaw
These chair swings are so cool! There was another little boy there and Scott was being so cute with him. When he'd go down the slide Scott would say, "He's a good slider mom" and when he'd climb up the stairs Scott would say, "You are a GREAT climber" It gave me a proud mom moment because I realized the reason why he was giving the little boy so much praise and encouragement is because we do it to him all the time. Yeah! There's one thing I do right as a mom (and trust me there are so many things I need to work on)
Brooke had a tournament down in Orem this weekend, and since Kevin had it off we spent Friday and Saturday night down there with Brooke, her husband Chris and my mom-Grandma Melody who drove up from Vegas to watch the games. While we were there we visited my favorite place in the world-the Discovery Children's Museum. Hailey pushing the stroller in the little house
Grandma Melody and Hailey peeking into the mouse house (they even have tiny furniture and everything in there!)
The mini house for tots. With Grandma in there you can really see how small the furniture is
The upstairs of the museum is where Kevin and Scott had most of their fun. It's like a mini engineering center with magnets, a wind tunnel to test out paper airplanes you build, a building block center where you can test out your structures against earthquakes- oh man it was awesome and Scott and Kevin were definitely in their element.
We went to watch my sister Brooke's soccer game on Saturday. She's the Team Captain for UVU and she doesn't just win over hearts on the field, she definitely has a natural knack with kids-they love her
We were sitting on the blanket watching the game and my dad came up behind us! Grandpa Scott decided to show up at the game and surprise us all. If there is a good word to describe Grandpa Scott it would be "Spontaneous." I know Scott sure was excited to see him!
We had a busy week and a great weekend despite Scott not having a nap for 3 days. He went to bed last night at 7:30 pm and woke up at 7 this morning a happier boy. Thank goodness!

Hailey says "momma" and "dadda" occassionally, but I put together some clips of her favorite language- enjoy!

Chilly Spell

Not much has been going on the last week, except this miserably cold weather! It even snowed this past weekend! The highlights of the week were:
Kevin got his knee checked again- after deciding we would wait it out for 2 more weeks before opting surgery, Kevin had his 3rd x-ray and the bones have gotten closer together. Now he can put weight on it, but still can't bend it until another X-ray in 3 more weeks. I guess like Kevin said it's better to try everything else before just rushing to get knee surgery!

One thing I feel guilty about is not getting the one on one time with Hailey that I did with Scott. About 2 months ago I started a trade with a friend in my neighborhood. Every Wednesday I drop Scott off at her house or she drops her son at my house for 2 hours. (we switch off) Our boys are only a week apart and they look forward to seeing eachother each week, plus us moms get to spend time with our babies running errands or whatever! I love it!

Kevin's brother Carson and his wife Lana came into town over the weekend, but unfortunately there wasn't much to do with the snowy weather and Kevin still in crutches. We watched movies and let the kids play. Here's Amanda and Hailey doubling up on the four wheeler.

Finally I got a decent picture to show what Scott does at least once a week. He grabs these ties from his room and puts one on himself and one on Hailey. It's too funny watching them wear them around the house all day....and Hailey doesn't seem to mind. She's just glad she's on Scott's good side for that particular day! In all fairness though, Scott has been a pretty nice big brother. He has his moments, but I started to notice this week that he defends her big time if others aren't nice or aren't sharing with her. He gets mad and says, "That's my baby sister-be nice!" It's too cute.

I can't believe we got yet another climber! Hailey climbs into and up everything and she even pulls out drawers now to use them as steps.

Although Scott and Hailey have their differences, their behaviors are sooooo alike! I noticed this when Hailey was only a few months old and it got me looking at kid astrology just for fun since they are both Sagittarius. Here's the link to one I liked. It said:

Sagittarius Nov. 23rd to Dec. 21st-Fire
The sagittarian children are gregarious and are seldom alone as they enjoy a great measure of popularity. This popularity is usually keyed to his or her athletic or sporting abilities. these children are great lovers of the outdoors and must be pushed and guided to get even their homework finished.
He or she must be taught early that life is not all fun and games and everything cannot be rearranged just to suit him or her. The parent should try to instill a more serious and giving side to the nature so that he or she will be likely to achieve their goals and dreams once they are adults.
They value their freedom above all else and rules, to them, were only made to be broken. Rebellion and aggressiveness are also a large part of their makeup when faced with opposition from any quarter and so they will need a kind, but definitely firm hand in the early years. Discipline will be hard with this one but flattery, persuasion,and firmness will work wonders when actual force fails to do the trick.
Broken bones may be about the only serious childhood illnesses that will afflict this active little person as they tend to be particularly healthy specimens.

Scott looks a little tired in the above picture, but at least he wasn't covering his eyes like he has been! It's fun to see them side by side. Their eye shapes are so different! Scott has Kevin's, and Hailey has mine.

Halloween Craft

I saw this idea in Good Housekeeping Magazine and was so excited to try it. Okay so my cat isn't the greatest, but I was trying to be creative! It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I was still able to get it done while my kids napped today. To try it yourself, spray paint the pumpkins matte black and wait for them to dry completely. Then use a spoon and butterknife to scratch off the paint and make designs. So cool!

My little Hailey this morning with her famous big blue eyes! I have to say I'm addicted to putting her hair up into this little pony...so cute!

Oh the mischief!

Scott has been getting into quite a lot of mischief this last week. He managed to find the screw driver we've been hiding (and for good reason) and started taking apart everything from the doors on the entertainment center, every chair in the house, and his personal favorite, the door hinges. So with a huge fight I put the screw driver on top of the hutch and jumped into the shower while Hailey was napping. I got out to find that Scott had changed the silver knobs from his dresser drawer to the gold knobs from my dresser drawers. With what you say? Oh a pair of scissors he found on the kitchen counter. He showed me how when you open them up, they work the same as a screw driver! (If you look closely you will see the mis-matched knobs)

Scott and Hailey have been playing so cute together- I just love it. Hailey anticipates Scott waking up each morning and Scott the same. Here's a story of how much Scott loves Hailey...Last night Hailey went to bed at 8 pm and Scott about 8:15. Sometimes he gets up and says he wants to sleep with a different bear, needs a drink, etc. so at 9 pm I heard him upstairs and asked Kevin to go check on him. Kevin went upstairs and found Scott in Hailey's crib with the lights on! (they sleep in separate rooms by the way.) After Hailey was sound asleep for an hour, Scott decided to go flip on her lights and climb in in her crib to play. I am shocked that I was able to get her to go back to sleep and I can't help but wonder what on earth she was thinking when her lights got flipped on! Scott kept crying, "But I want to play with her! I was just making her happy!" Hailey managed to crawl by Scott right when he was carrying his table across the room and gave Hailey her very first (of many I'm sure) shiners on her cheekbone.

Hailey took her first steps yesterday! She took two steps three different times! My guess was 10 months and she'll be 10 months tomorrow! She is quite the climber too! I have to keep all bathroom doors closed because she will climb right up on top of the toilet tank! Her favorite thing to get into is my bathroom drawer. I keep the door to the master closed too, and as soon as she crawls around the corner in the hall and finds the door closed she throws a HUGE fit! (And in case you are wondering what's in her mouth- it's a whistle...she even knows how to blow it!) She is so stinkin cute!

I took this picture this morning while we were playing in the basement. I have been filled with so much joy today thinking about motherhood. I am so blessed and thankful that I get to be a mom and so thankful that Kevin works extra hard so that I can stay home with the kids. I know not all moms get that opportunity, so trust me, I don't take it for granted! Watching Scott and Hailey play today just really brought me back to remembering what really matters in life- family!

Another thing Scott did this week...I was downstairs with Hailey and Scott screams, "Mom! I found all these cool construction books!" I go upstairs and he had dragged all of the Christmas/Birthday presents I had been hiding under my bed! So then the other night when we started Christmas lists we asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said, "The Diego toy!" (One that he saw under the bed) From now on we are locking them up in the storage room!

Scott and I made playdough the other day which reminded me to post the recipe. This is the best play dough because it smells delicious, (the kids can accidentally eat it), and it's not messy to make. Because you don't use food coloring, the kids can help you mix it up. I have never used another recipe!

No Mess Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 small package of Kool-aid (any flavor/color)
• 3 Tablespoons oil (I use veggie)
• 1 cup boiling water (the hotter the better)
• 1 extra cup flour
  In a large bowl, combine the 1 cup flour, the salt and the Kool-aid. Add oil to the boiling water. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl and stir together with a spoon. Have the kids add the rest of the flour as they knead the dough until it's soft and smooth and not too sticky. Just make sure the dough is cooled enough before having the kids pitch in. Oh, and don't forget to smell it! Yum!