Huh?

Seth cracks me up. I have been asking him lately what he wants for Christmas (or his birthday) and he usually always answers with the same request "a train with no hookers". That is great by itself, but when I just asked him, he informed me all he wants is "some toilet paper and little bit of toys". Easy kid to please--I would like to have some toilet paper as well and it is kind of an unspoken rule in our house to keep the hookers out. Don't you just love kids?

My little boy is growing up!

I only have 4 minutes to get this done, but today is Seth's 4th b-day and as it seems to be the thing to do in the blogging world, here are the top 4 reasons I love Seth.

1. His infectious giggle. It is the cutest thing to hear him start laughing when he is really having a great time. I love it.
2. That he does not know the meaning of the word stranger. Okay, I guess that could be a bad thing, but in his mind, they are just friends he hasn't met yet.
3. His "whistle". He thinks he is whistling and it sure sounds like it, but he just has the highest pitch squeal you have ever heard. (dang, it is 12:01 now)
4. All the funny things he says. He comes up with his own words and he listens and copies a lot of things that I wished he wouldn't. I love it when he tells me that he can't do something because it is very "distresseding" uh, okay. There are many more things that he says that I can't come up with right now.
5. Okay, he is only 4 but there are so many things to love about him. He has an amazing exuberance for life. He is very (or can be) polite. He can have great conversations on the phone. He loves his primary teachers. He loves to say prayers and wants to say the prayer for every meal and every family prayer as well. He loves the story of Samuel the Lamanite. He is a sweet boy and contrary to what he tells me when he is angry with me, he will always be my favorite firstborn!


An example of his whistle!

This poor cat

I promise I am not going to devote this blog to videos of my pets, but I just thought I would show you how patient my cat is. He sure has to put up with a lot from these beasts in my house.

Attempt at family pictures...

Tonight was a little frustrating. We tried to take family pictures since we haven't done one since Seth was turning one (he's 4 in a few weeks) and the one my parents have on their wall was when Seth was like 6 months. Needless to say, we are way overdue. We tried a week or so ago, and it just did not go well. We thought we would torture ourselves and try once more. Again, it was insane. Hopefully with a little photo shop, we can do enough head swapping to get one picture where everyone is looking at the camera with at least a pleasant look on their face. THOSE DARN BOYS!!!

I loved this one--it seemed like things were going pretty well until we noticed that Sam is LICKING the fence. Yummy!


I actually love this one of Seth. I sure have a cute little guy!



Most of the time Sam would only smile at the camera when one of us would hold him close. If all 4 of us were in the picture, he would either be looking to the side or look just plain dopey.



If we can get something that actually works of all of us, I will have to post it. However, I'm not holding my breath....

Fall Fun!

I seem to be having some troubles with moving my photos around, so I guess it will just be a big jumbled mess. Here are some of the things we have been up to lately.



We had our ward Halloween party on Saturday night. It is hard to tell because the picture is dark, but we went as Little Red Riding Hood, the big bad wolf, the woodsman and to round out the family...Thomas the Train (I guess we could have ridden on him out of the forest).


The woodsman and little Red



Our city does a main street trick or treat thing every year. Most business on Main give out little treats for a couple of hours. It was our first time doing it and the boys had a great time. The above picture is of Seth doing his "kick or treat" at the local Karate shop. I guess I missed the kick (actually I think it was a punch).



Last week we took the boys to let them pick out a pumpkin. We keep saying that we are going to carve them, but we are days away from Halloween and they still sit untouched on our front porch. Oh well, they add to the decor!







We went to our neighborhood Halloween party last weekend had a great time. There were some great costumes. Here are a few of my favorites!









(this one is for you Val --or I guess I should say Matthew)






The scariest part of this costume was how well he walked in those heels. I'm thinking he must have some experience with that....

How cute is this?

It's payback time

For those of you who know my cat Reggie, you know how he used to torment Callie all the time (he called it "an attempt to get some lovin", but with how obnoxious he was, there was no way she would put out). Well, he now knows how it feels to have something climbing all over you and chewing relentlessly. Please ignore the messy house.

I could survive for 57 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds Pedia

Just some misc pictures

Some friends and I started doing a little pre-school for our kids one day a week, just to give them something to do and to give ourselves a break. This was Seth's first day. I have to say I got a little teary eyed seeing my little boy grow up. It was the same way the day of the primary program. I didn't think he would stay up there and sing, let alone say his part, but he did it. Of course as soon as he was done with his part he came back down to sit with us the rest of the time, but I was proud of how long he lasted.




I've been quite domestic lately. My friend Rebecca and I went and picked a bunch of apples (free!!) and then made all this applesauce and apple pie filling. Plus I did about 18 quarts of peaches. It really wasn't that bad--I may actually get into this canning thing.





I was able to get some alone time and go out with some friends for a birthday dinner. I think it is good for me to get away from the kids for awhile. I can deal with them so much better after having a break!



We had a big neighborhood pot-luck BBQ. It turned out really well, although there was only one family that I didn't already know that came. I was really hoping to meet some new people that I haven't had a chance to meet yet. Maybe next time.....



.

And they call it puppy love...

We've been making progress on our yard. We got our fence up and some curbing done. For some reason the day we started on the fence we thought to ourselves "we don't have enough whining and being ignored by our own kids, let's get a dog". Actually we went out to lunch and there were puppies looking for homes and we couldn't help ourselves and we came home with "Jack". He is a border collie/blue healer mix and he is a cute smart dog that is wonderful and frustrating all at the same time. He is still very much a puppy so he likes to chew on everything and chase the kids around. But he can also be very lovey and will cuddle up at your feet whenever you are stationary for long periods of time. Now if we can just get him house trained. Any suggestions????


Coming home the first day.







The first couple of nights he would just howl if we left him in his kennel, so Nick went and slept on the futon with him.



He is now as big as the cats and tortures Reggie relentlessly. I don't feel too sorry for Reggie, he could jump on the bed (or even the couch) to get away from him. Instead he just lays there and howls as he is being mauled. I wish he would just put Jack in his place. He has taken down Labradors before.



I think they are both a little tired here. We are trying to get him used to drives. I have to justify the purchase of the van somehow. That is how Nick finally convinced me to get one. He told me we couldn't go to Parowan with 2 kids and a dog in our car. Of course not too long after that, Bo died.

Do you see why I love being in Parowan?

Oh, the fun we get to have in Parowan with Grandma and Grandpa. This is one of the main reasons I'm sad that we don't live there anymore. If I could be half the parent that my parents are grandparents, I would have some very lucky kids. Instead, they are stuck with me!

We get to:

Eat meals fresh from the garden.

So fresh that the corn still had a worm in it. Seth was fascinated and called it his friend.

We get to help Grandpa cut and stack the wood.

Grandpa sets up a tent for us on the deck so we can sleep under the stars.

Grandma lets us help her sew...

And bake bread...

And make pancakes....

And pick beans....

Grandpa builds us a fire in the chiminea

So we can roast marshmallows (with starbursts)

And eat the gooey mess. Yum!

Grandpa lets us help him mow the lawn.

We get to go to the "fun"park with friends.

And mommy even gets a little "girl time"

We get to hang out with our cousins. Blowing bubbles is the best!

We get to pick fresh rasberries out of the garden.

We get to feed the ducks at the pond (and do a little fishing)

We also love feeding the horses across the street. That colt sure is friendly!

We love Parowan!

I was laughing to myself thinking that the main form of transportation seemed to be 4-wheelers. The people acress the street from my parents don't even own a car. They just cruise around on their ATV's. Then to really give me the giggles, I see the chief of police patrol the town on his ATV. I guess it is saving him over $100 a week in gas, but hopefully there aren't any emergencies or that he needs to arrest someone. What is he going to say? "Put this helmet on and hold on tight".