Two, going on Eight

Happy Birthday Ashton!!

I can't believe my baby is already 2 years old. In some ways he still feels like a baby (we really have to shake the habit of calling him baby before the new baby comes) and in other ways he acts like he is eight and on the same level as my older kids.

We had a hard time deciding what to do on his cake. His birthday is so close to Halloween that I thought we might do a spider cake because here is one of his favorite songs: (we tried several takes to get him to sing Itsy-Bitsy Spider, but this was the best we could do)

But in the end we went with "Chonk-Chonk" otherwise known as Chain-Chomp from the Mario Wii games. Most 2 year olds won't know who Mario is let alone Chain-Chomp, but like I said, Ashton is kind of 2 going on 8.

He enjoyed most all of his presents (once his siblings let him see them),

but his favorite has been the basketball hoop. Anything will work for a game of hoops.

Ashton has opened a whole new world of 2 year old for us, he is the first of our kids to not only color on walls, but couches, tables, chairs, floors, books and anything else that is in front of him when a crayon is in his hands, but he also enjoys playing with our i-pod touch. (we have to watch him close though because if it runs out of battery while he is playing then he hides the dumb thing anywhere from under couch cushions, to behind bedroom doors....mine is currently missing and there is a reward for anyone who finds it)

Crazy as he is we love him tons and can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Happy Halloween

Ahhh, Halloween is over, and I, that is um...the kids....have enough candy to satisfy those sugar cravings for a while. Here is a peak at our costumes this year:

Ashton the Giraffe

Nathan the Monster

Kaylee the Tinkerbell

Trevor the Optimus Prime

Bryan the "Where the Wild Things Are" Monster

Now go eat some chocolate!

A Little Sunday Football

Ok, so truth be told they were playing catch with a baseball and this is how it ended up. I had to come out and check when I heard the screams squeals of delight. I am sure our neighbors loved hearing the sweet sounds of children playing catch with their dad.

On a side note I am feeling much better. Still not all the way through the morning sickness but at least I am able to get dressed in the morning, which is a big change from a few weeks ago.

On a different side note..my kids started school. They have both really enjoyed their classes so far this year. Trevor is in 3rd grade and Kaylee is in 2nd grade. My only complaint is when I make their lunches in the morning I have to fight with Ashton who thinks that because Trevor and Kaylee are picking out chips and juice boxes that he should get one right then as well. But overall the school year is going along great.

On yet another side note Nathan has been a real trooper with the kids being gone during the day and mom being down for the count. He has learned to keep himself pretty busy (the wii, computer and ipod don't help much at all) But to help with his new found boredom we have started doing a special day with his cousins. Once a week he gets together with his cousins for a fun activity. One of the special days we made robot outfits and the kids got to practice their robot skills.

Well that mostly catches me up. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here really quick and I wish you all a happy start to your Fall!!

Question of the Day

What is worse than having a house full of kids with the stomach flu?

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Getting the Stomach flu right along with them.

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Whats worse than getting the stomach flu right along with a house full of sick kids?

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Getting the stomach flu right along with a house full of kids

AND

Having morning sickness all at the same time!

(yeah, you read that right....I am only just over 7 weeks along, which is pretty early to tell people, but when it is number 5 you start showing pretty early, so I thought I would tell people before I started wearing maternity clothes.)

Have You Ever......

Have you ever felt like stuffing your face with chocolate and taking a nap?

Yeah, me too.

A Weeks Worth of Knowlege

The leaders of the church have counseled us to never stop learning and I have taken their advice.

Here are a few things I have learned this week:

Leaving cereal, sugar, and splenda on the counter top will attract the attention of little critters (this was the first time I have ever left the kitchen before cleaning up breakfast I promise!)

Adding a little sleeping potion when you water your garden will eventually pay off.

Deciding to rearrange bedrooms and make a toy room all before unpacking from a 10 day vacation turns into a LOT of housework, which can wear out even the most valiant workers.

One cucumber plant is WAY more than any one family can use (anyone can feel free to stop by and have a free cucumber) This is one days harvest from our garden.

I am super attractive (I know you are thinking it has taken her 31 29 years to realize how attractive she is!?!) But now I know, the only down side is that I seem to only attract flies (and Bryan...but that is a different post all together). They swarm to me whether I am cleaning, sweeping, reading or heaven forbid using the facilities. It doesn't even matter if I have done my make up, hair or even showered, (in fact I am beginning to wonder if I am more attractive when I don't shower.....) they swarm to me!! I am about to go crazy!

It is WAY past due for a picture of our super cute 4th of July Picture.

Well now that you are just as knowledgeable as I am I will bid you farewell, and happy learning!

Overnight Cucumbers

So...we are home again. *what* *gasp* *gone*??? Yes we made a last minute decision to spend the week in Utah so we packed up and left. (I know you were all worried about where we were at) It was a fabulous trip and I will post more about it later, but when we got back we were delighted to find some orange tomatoes (SO close to being red...come on little tomatoes...you can do it!), some large cauliflower (but not large enough), and onions poking up from the ground (I think they are done growing, but they are not very big) . But none of them were ready to harvest. But don't feel to bad for me, I did get some cucumbers that were more than ready to harvest, and one green pepper.

I swear I checked them before we left and saw NO sign of growing cucumbers, but I must have missed them. I am thrilled to try them out for dinner tonight!