Our Family: November 2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

5 o'clock ...

The "bewitching hour" at our house.

For some reason, everyday at 5 o'clock everything comes undone.....

Connor starts crying continually,

Dallin and Abby are fighting, screaming, running around like crazy animals,

And Mom is trying to get dinner on the table.

Why does this happen?? I will never know. But what I do know... is at 5 o'clock I turn up the music and let it all come falling down around me :).

** I snapped these pictures after Connor had been crying on and off for about an hour. I had finally put him in his chair to eat. When he saw the camera he smiled :).... too cute. He knew what he was supposed to do. But within seconds the feelings of "the bewitching hour" overcame him :).

The Spoon

I realized the other day... I haven't given Connor a spoon! What? I guess that is what happens to child #3.... at least at this house. Development continues when Mom remembers to get things out of the drawer :).

Here he is loving the new "toy." Everyday he gets better at using it :).

Our Dancing Princess

Abigail is loving her dance class. Here she is practicing her "jazz" dance. Too cute.

Thankful Tree

Our version of the "Thankful Tree."

I have seen lots of people make this type of tree before. This is what we came up with. It is really fun to see what the kids come up with to write on their leaves. And since we have done this for a few years now, it is also fun to see some of the old leaves, with Abby's little 2 year old handwriting :).

In years past we just made the leaves for FHE and ended with about 15. This year we have made a goal to have each child (Abigail and Dallin) add a leaf each day. Can't wait to see how the tree turns out :) It is a little sparse to start with :).

Love This Boy

This conversation occurred a couple of weeks ago while driving in the car on the way to playschool.

Dallin: "Mom, Jesus made all the world."

Mom: "Yes Dallin, Jesus created the world."

Dallin: "Yeah" ... (pause)... "How did he do it?"

Mom: scrambling to think of something in 3 year old terms to explain the greatness and power of God... In the meantime ...

Dallin: (while looking intently out the window) "He must have used A LOT of glue."

I love this age :).

"The Highway"

The kids have decided that our hallway from the front door into the kitchen is a perfect "highway" or "road." It is pretty funny. They can spend hours going back and forth, and if you want to cross the road ... you better look both ways. I have definitely been run over a few times... only to have Dallin remind me - "Mom, this is a road. You need to watch out!"

On occasion, Mom can't take it anymore... and the "highway" must go outside. But that doesn't stop them... heat or mosquitos ... these kids love the "highway."

**For those of you wondering... why call it a highway and not just a road? Because a highway has multiple lanes of traffic going in both directions. Roads tend to have slower speed limits and more organized travel :).

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Just Can't Help ...

But LOVE this little man.

Connor has definitely been our most curious child. He loves to open anything and everything. If there is a cupboard or drawer to be opened he will open it... empty it out.. and move on to the next one. If there is a door open to a closet he will find it ... if it is the front coat closet he will find the broom... and never let it go. If it is the front door he will be gone before you know it.... down the sidewalk... and when I say down the sidewalk, I mean, yes, two or three houses down the sidewalk. Silly boy. He just wants to touch, feel, and investigate everything in his world. He is amazing to watch.

He has finally learned to successfully navigate the stairs up and DOWN (down was the hard part). This is wonderful for him... it equals freedom. Lately, if there is silence and Connor is missing this is where you can find him ...

On top of the coffee table (which has been converted into a school room table) in the office. He is always finding something to destroy there. One day it was erasers to eat... the next day markers to color himself with. Somedays it just happens to be Abby's assignments for the day... now drooled on or ripped to pieces.

Here he is trying hard to get at another item that peaks his curiousity... the lap top computer. It if it open... you guessed it... he is there.

John is good to try and make him feel apart... instead of battling him the entire time it is open.

Those were just some of the random shots of our "Curious Connor" these days.

You just have to love him. We can't wait to see what this curiousity brings.

Camera Craziness

Here are a few camera experiments from Halloween night ....

Happy Halloween!

BEWARE: PHOTO OVERLOAD

We had a great Halloween!

From sun up to sun down it was never ending Halloween fun around here.

[except for the time when children would not listen to their parents and clean up their mess:).. but's that's typical, right?] After completing their chores ... the kids found some small halloween treats and books, which had to be read right away, to help celebrate the day.

Here are the kids all dressed-up in their new Halloween shirts from the neighbors. How nice are they?? So nice! The kids love dressing up in their festive shirts no matter what the holiday may be.

After lunch (PB&J jack-o-laterns) and cleaning up, it was time to carve the pumpkins! Both Dallin and Abby were a little hesitant about the "guts," but Abigail soon dug in. Dallin just preferred to stab his pumpkin. It was a good thing Dad and Dallin were a team this year :).

The kids were a little dissappointed that they couldn't really see the light in their pumpkins (it was the middle of the day). So we stuck them in the coat closet. Everyone was happy to see what the pumpkins really looked like... the finished product.

Dad taking care of the messy job... seperating "guts" from seeds...

you have to have pumpkins seeds on Halloween.

Some of our Halloween Decor ...

I was a little dissappointed... we always get a traditional picture of our "Dinner in a Pumpkin," but this year I failed. We did have some friends over this year... but still ... Ellice, come on. So this will have to do... the remains of our "Dinner in a Pumpkin."

[We have had this dinner for the past 6 years ... it is becoming quite the tradition. We have added some new additions in the past years... monster juice, salad, apple cider, and this year... apple pie for dessert. We love this tradition!]

Trick-or-Treating ... the kids could hardly wait.

"The Gang"

After a long day of fun ... still smiling :). I think maybe the sugar-high might have something to do with it.

Connor was entralled with the pumpkins... he kept trying to reach inside and touch the candles or roll the pumpkins around. He just kept pointing and saying "Ooooooooo." I love the discoveries a little one makes.

Starting to wind down....

All-in-all it was another successful and fun Halloween.

The kids had fun... and so did Mom and Dad.

We hope you all had lots of fun this Halloween season as well.

Wish we could have been with you to trick-or-treat and share our pumpkin dinner :).

** Thanks to the Millers for putting up with our silly tradition and eating our goulosh.

Day before Halloween ... Trunk or Treat, Cookies, and Crafts

Crafts... Crafts... Crafts....

Abigail and Dallin LOVE crafts.

So when there is a holiday, they are especially excited for the crafts that come with it. This year we ended up painting handprint spiders, making spooking haunted houses, painting pumpkins, making a pumpkin in Abigail's bedroom window (pictures will be in the Halloween post) and making some spookilious cookies to deliver to neighbors and friends. FUN!

Friday night we were able to go to our Ward Trunk-or-Treat and Carnival. It was lots of fun. The kids had a blast. When I asked what they liked best (besides getting candy)....

Abby replied. "The haunted house, it was so scary!" and Dallin said, "I love the balloon room!" (Of course!!)