Pumpkin Carving

On Tuesday night we went to the Hoyt's annual Pumpkin Carving Contest Party. The kids had fun running around, helping daddy, eating suckers, and watching everyone else. Luckily they are shy and don't go far from us, ha ha. I did the cleaning out of the pumpkins but didn't feel like sharing the pictures of my extra chins and all their glory. Daniel did all the carving. The kids didn't get real messy because they poked at the pumpkin goo and thought it was gross. But they did like the clean pumpkins.

Staucie is busy drawing on Parker's pumpkin.
Parker made scary faces behind the chair.
And then came out laughing.
They had fun bouncing on their knees to the music.
Sitting by daddy, just making sure he is doing it right. If you'll notice Parker has Staucie's red sucker now so I had to get her a new green one.
Yummy.
A little blury...but the sucker was yummy.

The pumpkin carvers

And partiers.

The finished pumpkins. When we bought our pumpkins, Staucie picked out the small pumpkin and said that Parker needed the big one. She was happy to have the little one so she could hold it all by herself.

Some of the carvers and their pumpkins. My picture is blury...

The glowing pumpkins.

Monday

I was having a hard day on Monday... I stayed up too late and I am not sleeping anymore anyways because of the amount of pain I am in (Tylenol is NOT strong enough), so I was cranky. The kids decided that a nap was NOT necessary. I was REALLY looking forward to nap time on this particular day and it was just not working.

Then Mindy, friend/neighbor called out of the blue and invited us to dinner. She said they had a coupon from Macey's and bought a family size lasagna that came with salad, bread, and ice cream and they couldn't eat it all. I said, yes, of course.

I was so happy to not have to worry about dinner that night. Dinner time is not my favorite. I do not like to cook, planning what to cook is the worst, and trying to cook a meal while both kids are standing at my feet crying is not so fun.

I was so grateful for the Grovers on Monday. We had a lot of fun getting to know them better, and Mindy made us an excellent dessert.

When we were leaving Mindy said they were wondering who they should invite over to help eat all the food and they thought of us because she figured I would like a break from cooking right now. Boy was she right and it was a great day to not cook too.

So, thank you Ryan, Mindy, Ally, and Tanner for having us over to eat all your food, jump on your couches, spill on your carpet, play with your toys, and make a mess of your house! We enjoyed hanging out, eating, and playing a game.

Fifth Folder and Fifth Picture

I was tagged by Jaime. I had to pick the Fifth Folder of pictures and the Fifth Picture in the folder. I thought this was a funny one. It is my brother, Shea and Daniel shooting shot guns. They are shooting a plastic Santa that they bought together while I was at my baby shower in Livermore. And then we all went to the cabin and they shot it. This is in December 2005 after Christmas when I was largly pregnant with Staucie.

Now you have to TAG five people. I tag: Brittany B., Ashely E., Lindsay C., Stacie V., and Kim B.

Random Pictures for the Grandmas

Sharing Daddy's chair

Staucie made me make her a doggy when we were coloring and then she wanted a picture of it, I made her get in the picture too.
Today she wanted to try on my boots, she was afraid to walk in them. They were longer then her legs.

One of their favorites is the "fridge chair."

And yes, Parker often has his dinosaur and his pacifier. His favorite part of the dinosaur is the tag on the tail. He plays with it for comfort and when he falls asleep. Good thing I didn't cut it off.

Cornbellys

For Family Night on Monday we went to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point. Jared, Bethany, and Sadie were there too. We didn't really hang out because the girls were interested in different things. Staucie's favorite thing was the blow up Princess Castle that she jumped in, Sadie was not interested since her mom wasn't going in :) This is our attempt to get the 3 kids in the rocking chair together. Sadie did NOT want to sit by Parker, she is trying to get away.

My big bump snuck into this picture.

Staucie's other favorite thing was the slides.
These were some weird swings.

They really enjoyed pumping the water.

The Cinderella pumpkin. I couldn't get them all looking at the same time.

Barnyard Boo

Friday night we went to Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point after dinner. At first things weren't looking so good because Staucie was afraid of all the animals. And Parker wanted to hold onto the chicken fences and the chickens wanted to peck him. Then we found this fake lamb and Staucie wanted to ride it. We had told her before we went that she could ride a pony and she was really excited. ("I sited, Daddy!") Then when we got there she was not so much. But then she got a balloon and threw footballs through a jack o'latern and then she started to have fun. She ran around all excited to do everything after that. Parker was pretty sick so he just wanted to sit in the stroller most of the time and was fine with that.

Staucie got a cookie.
Parker, who couldn't breath through his nose, didn't want a cookie, he wanted a cracker.
We rode on a horse drawn wagon. Parker sat on my lap facing me and clung to me with his head on my chest for most of the ride. Staucie loved it. And of course, Staucie got to ride a pony. She was so excited and wanted the BIG pony. We thought she would chicken out, but we are glad she didn't. She wanted to go again.

Tag

My 8 obsessions right now...
1. My kids, I just want to kiss them and squeeze them all day long, but they won't let me
2. Homemade smoothies
3. Trying to wear slimming and comfortable clothes, not possible
4. Trying to keep clutter off my kitchen counters
5. Trying to get Daniel to leave work early all the time, if he looses his job we'll know why
6. Trying to get Staucie to WANT to use the toilet
7. My pillow
8. A clean house, wouldn't it be lovely

8 words or phrases I use often...
1. Don't take that from Parker
2. Give that back to Parker
3. No shoes on the couch
4. What's wrong, Parker?
5. Staucie, no screaming. Just ask mommy to help you.
6. Where is Parker's dinosaur?
7. Parker, no hitting.
8. Do you need your diaper changed?

8 things I want to do before I die...
1. Travel with Daniel to a different country
2. Go to Hawaii
3. See all my children married in the temple
4. Enjoy retirement
5. Serve a mission with Daniel
6. Read a lot more
7. Have a big backyard
8. Pay off a house

8 things I want or need right now...
1. A cook
2. More sleep
3. To be a better wife and mother
4. Someone to put away my laundry (I'll wash and fold, you just put it away)
5. A Suburban
6. To hang out with Daniel more
7. Money so I can go shopping for my kids
8. Matching furniture in my house

8 people I tag..
1. Brittany B.
2. Lindsay C.
3. Ashley E.
4. Kim B.
5. Carrie W.
6. Jen F.
7. Stacie V.
8. Melanie W.

dReSsInG a TwO-yEaR oLd

(I took this post from off a blog I started a long time ago, and just deleted. But I wanted to save this.)

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

One of my hardest tasks during the day is to dress Staucie. She knows it is coming and so while I go to get her clothes she takes off running and hides somewhere. When I find her she runs again. When I finally catch her, she protests. Sometimes Parker is already taking a nap by the time I am dressing her and I try to get her NOT to scream so she won't wake him up. Then I begin to take her pajamas off. She thrashes around until they are finally off. Then she takes off running again. When I finally catch up with her again I tackle her and we wrestle until I get her shirt on. Then she escapes my hold on her because I have to find her pants. They got lost during the process. (One time a shirt got lost and I couldn't find it for awhile. Eventually I found it under a couch.) When I find the pants and her again, we proceed to wrestle until the pants are pulled up. They are usually crooked, but she takes off anyways. I try to follow to straighten out the pants. Once that is accomplished I begin to contemplate whether or not I should do her hair...

General Conference

Daniel was gone most of the weekend (all sessions, except for the first one Saturday morning) because he is a translator at the Conference Center. He speaks Marshallese. Anyways, so I tried to watch all 4 sessions and keep the kids entertained. Conference weekend is always a hard one for me. Anyways, Parker really liked to listen to the choir sing. He would stop whatever he was doing to watch and listen. He loves music and likes to sing along.

Aunt Tyne was home for the second session on Saturday, but she had gone to work that morning at like 4am (she is a baker) so she was tired and fell asleep. The kids ate popcorn and fruit snacks on the floor.
After bath time, (Daniel was still gone) we got ready for bed and Staucie laid down on the floor and Parker copied her. Staucie likes to lay out blankets on the floor.
On Sunday, after their naps and during the 4th session, they were tired, I guess because they were just laying on the floor.
But then I got out the Quiet book and the other books we save for church. They ate Mini Nilla Waffers and played for some of the 4th session. We were glad when Daniel got home that night for dinner. We ate and went outside to get some fresh air. It rained all day on Saturday so we never went out. The kids were happy to get out of the house.

New Bike

Staucie is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited that we finally bought her a bike! She has been practicing on the neighbors' and is sad when she can't ride them. She can peddle all by herself now so we caved in and bought her one. She asks to ride it ALL day. Unfortunately in rained all day today, so she was sad. Her face doesn't look excited, but this was the best picture I could get. She wouldn't hold still. :)




Parker is a climber. I can see him climbing out of his crib well before I am ready for him too. I think he picked this trait up from his father. Luckily, he is still too short to climb most things by himself, but he keeps trying.

Parker is Finally Walking

It has been official for two weeks now. I am so glad he is walking. It makes being outside easier and less dirty. Of course, they still manage to get filthy, but at least Parker's knees and hands aren't so bad. He also really enjoys it of course! I just love first time walkers. He has such a cute walk and likes to walk all day long. Such a cutie.

Another Zoo Trip

My mom was here last weekend so Daniel took the day off and we went to the zoo. Unfortunately Staucie had woken up at 4:00 in the morning and turned on cartoons and wouldn't go back to bed for a little while. Daniel had to convince her that she had to wait for the sun to come up. So at 7:00am she woke up Daniel and said, "Daddy, the sun up?" So, she was grouchy at the zoo, but we rode on the train and she loved it, and they got ice cream cones which picked her spirits right up.

Unfortunately, my arms were almost as long as the gorillas. My arm span is longer than I am tall. I get this from my grandpa who passed the lovely trait to my mom and some siblings. We also have legs that are WAY too long. And you can also see my belly poking out. Fortunately, it is the front view and not the side!

Parker's First Ice Cream Cone

Parker has had ice cream before, but he had his very own ice cream cone the other night for Family Night. He of course loved it and ate the whole thing.

Birthday!

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma Dougherty!

And Happy Belated Birthday to Great-Great Grandpa Hunsaker who just turned 100!