The Goodies?

Ok, so by no means are they GREAT, but they are good enough and at least I don't feel like my entire efforts were a waste. Some peoples pictures turned out better than others, but we could always try again...or not!

My only goal for today...

I simply wanted a few pictures of the kids. One of each kid individually for our wall (judging from the pictures on our walls you'd think we only have two children), and one of them all together for my dads office desk. I think I just have the kind of kids that are darn cute in real life, but not so photogenic.

It wasn't from lack of preparation either. I put a lot of though and energy into picking their clothes out (and Maya never took her sweatshirt off), and fixing their hair (Maya's hair got snagged on every low hanging branch on the hike to the photo spot, and the boys rough housed their spikes into submission). I think next time we'll just cough up the $8.00 it cost to have their pictures done at WalMart. They may not look the best, but they'll sure be a heck of a lot less hassle.

I did get a few cute individual shots, but as for the group photo... sorry dad, I just don't think it's happening.

"Babies, you'd be better off rasin' tomatoes!"

I was cleaning the kitchen last night and turned around to find Miles like this:

He thought he was pretty hot stuff, and as soon as Porter and Maya saw what he was doing, they both grabbed the nearest marker and dropped to their tummy's to follow suit.

Bennett Turns Three!

Bennett had a great birthday, everything he could have wanted and more. He had a wonderful cake with all his favorite TV pals (Barny, Kipper, and the Backyardagains). He got to go to Ikea and got all kinds of fun and exciting presents. He got two Thomas trains (from Mom and Dad), Matchbox cars (From Porter and Maya), a tea set, a play rug that looks like a little town for his cars, a cool motorcycle toy (Porter is totally jealous of this present), and a monster truck (all from Grammy and Poppy). He is such an amazing little guy. I feel blessed to have him in our family.

For Bennetts birthday we also went on a Duck Tour of Boston. We all had a great time! Not a single kid is looking at the camera in this picture, what are the odds? The Duck Tour was a great way to take in the sights of the city with our actually traipsing all over town. The guide was great and the information was varied making in fun and informative. They even let the kids drive the boat once it was in the water (did I mention that the tour vessel goes from driving along the streets of Boston, to putting along the Charles River?).

Some of the things we loved about Bennett as a two year old are his amazing personality. He's the kid that will randomly walk over to me and look at me with his sweet brown eyes and say "Mom, you look wonderful". His vocabulary, it's constantly growing and he is constantly pushing the limits with it. The other day he dropped a thumb tack in the bed and I said "Are you setting a booby trap?". He gasped and asked "Did you say booby?" (Booby is a no no in our house). I told him I didn't say booby, I said booby trap and booby trap is OK. Later that night I heard him say Poop (another no no) and said "Bennett, we don't say poop". He quickly told me "I didn't say poop, I said poop trap". What can I say, the kid is hilarious. Bennett is a great kid to have around, he is usually so mellow and easy to get along with. As a two year old we finally broke him of his chocolate milk habit, but he still enjoys drinking more than eating. He loves milk, juice, and egg nog (which he calls egg milk). He also has quite the sweet tooth and I often catch him climbing onto the top of the refrigerator to scavenge for snacks. He is always so thoughtful and I'll usually catch Miles walking around with a sucker that Bennett has given him. He loves reading books, any books, and will want you to read the same book to him over and over again. He is obsessed with his cousin Addie. He is always wanting to go play with her (unfortunately they live so so so far away). Similarly he loves Sarah and will sometimes tell me "I'm Sarah's boy". I have to say "No you are MY boy" and he then tells me "You can share me". On a slightly negative note, Bennett is the WORST to share a bed with. Many a night he'll end up in our bed, and he flops around incessantly and drives me and Casey nuts, but we sure cherish the time we get to spend with this sweet little boy of ours (even if we do receive the occasional foot to the face). We are excited to see what life with this little three year old brings...

A few tid bits from Halloween

Alright so my plans to redress the children in their Halloween costumes and get gorgeous pictures of them outside in the beautiful fall weather failed miserably due to the fact that its been raining here pretty much continually. Blagh! Anyway I scraped together these beauties for you...


We did some pumpkin carving and the kids taught me a new game called "DON'T EAT PETE". We had a great time playing that (minus the fact that Maya was terrified by the yelling). So the concept for "DON'T EAT PETE" is to make a grid ours was 3x5, then you put one candy in each square. One player closes their eyes and another player points to one of the candies, thus selecting it as Pete. The player who closed their eyes then comes back and begins eating the candies, slowly, one and at time. Once they go to take the candy that was designated as Pete the entire group yells "DON'T EAT PETE". It was pretty funny because when Bennett went he cleared the entire board without eating Pete until the very end. He's a genuine.

Grammy bought the kids a pack of Finger Fries. Disgusting. Not only did they look gross they tasted bad too. That's what Miles is sucking on, that kid has no taste buds.




As far as costumes go, this year Porter was a Boston Red Sox player (for the apartment complex party) and William Wallace (for the Ward Trunk or Treat, I'm not sure that's an appropriate costume for a Mormon Halloween party, but the missionaries all knew who he was:)), Maya was a Bumblebee, Bennett was a farmer (for the party) and a Lobster (for the Trunk or Treat, we found the costume at TJ Max for like $8, and it was perfect for him seeing as he's terrified of all things from the sea. He loved having those little pincers), and Miles was The Flash (Bennett's costume from last year). Our apartment complex hosted a Halloween Part with pizza and all kinds of treats and activities. Casey was working and I tried to take the kids myself (so that is why there is only one really crapy picture from that party). It was super crowded and Miles was all over the place so we only stayed for an hour. Poor Maya just couldn't understand why we had to leave. As for the ward party, we got out of the house a little late on the night of the Trunk or Treat and basically missed most of it, but they had a good time anyway. Then since Halloween was on a Sunday we stayed home and played games and let the kids pass out candy. We also made caramel apples, which Casey loves so so much. He cracks me up!

On Walden Pond

While Grammy and Poppy were here we decided to take them on a hike around Walden Pond. We had tried to do this same hike about a year ago as a family, but it was raining so hard we turned around half way through and came home for hot cocoa. This happened to be a beautiful fall day and we all had a wonderful time. Our dad is so handsome...



We got a few shots here on this stone staircase and as per usual each of us looked better in a different picture than everyone else. We may photoshop them all together to create the perfect Christmas card photo. For now, this is a fairly happy medium.

The kids kept sitting on the edge of the pond and striking a "Thinker" pose. Porter was thinking about Tech Decks. It was especially funny when Maya decided that the thinker needed to eventually come up with an idea. She stuck her finger in the air like "I got it" then, making a circle with her two hands and putting them above her head made a speech bubble to signify her idea. Bennett's idea was "I know, we should get in the water". Not so bright.

We spent a little time on the rail road tracks and did a napkin check, because it seemed sutiable. When I was in Young Womens we had napkin checks at each meal at girls camp. We loved it. A napkin check is where everyone starts counting down from ten to one, and while they are counting you quickly grab a napkin and fold it into a fan and pinch it in the middle so it makes a bow/mustache/bowtie. Then everyone recites together "I can't pay the rent" (putting the napkin up to the side of their hair like a damsel in distress) "You must pay the rent" (putting it under their nose like the villans mustache) "I can't pay the rent" (hair again) "You must pay the rent" (mustache) "I can't pay the rent" (hair) "You must pay the rent" (mustache). Then everyone pounds on the table to signify the horse of the hero approaching and recites "I'll pay the rent" (In a heroes manly voice, while holding the napkin under their chin like a bow tie) "My hero" (hair) "Curses foiled again" (mustache). I'm glad I got that down for posterity! Try it at dinner tonight:) If it's not clear call me or Sarah or Mom and we'll demonstrate.

Maya was truly terrified. Like we'd let her get run over by a train, silly girl.