Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving

We were so lucky to have some of our best friends come visit us for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with them last year as well. Sarah and I really enjoy cooking together. The men, well... there was a bit of complaining about how little time we spent hanging out with them. Sigh... the sacrifices they made...

The kid's table.
The adults. Our friends, the Fullmer's came for dinner too.Friday afternoon we all went to pick out our Christmas trees. We looked up some U-Cut Christmas Tree farms and picked one to go get our trees. When we pulled up it was an old house with a sign on the door that said, "Go cut tree", and then regarding payment it said, "if no answer (meaning at the door), use coffee can". We got a kick out of this. So we picked up the saws off of the doorstep and drove down the road that led behind the house. And we saw this. Essentially a forest with a road through it. After looking around and deciding that we didn't drive all the way out there for nothing, Jason picked a tree and lopped the top off.We were kind of annoyed at the lack of "christmas tree farm-ness" of the place but were determined to come out with a tree. Matt paced around and finally went for it.After a lot of trimming, we brought the tree in the house.Tab was pooped from a long day of fun.When we were cleaning up, Tab insisted on vacuuming. He actually did a really good job. I think I can feel a new chore coming on.We didn't get around to trimming the tree until Saturday morning. Tab insisted on wearing gloves to protect his hands.
Benny loved helping too.Pais was there.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

My Tiger

Benton was crawling all over me growling. He was so funny. Don't mind the leftover ketchup from lunch all over his face.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Lovin' on Pais

Tab can be such a big helper with Paisley. A lot of the time all she wants is to be held and given some attention. Tab was reading her a book while I was trying to make dinner. One night Tab was just sitting there holding Paisley's hand during dinner. I thought that it was pretty sweet. Paisley is slowly working on her sitting skills. So Jason decided to help her strengthen her skills while she helped him with some studying.
Working on those sitting skills again.And occasionally mom gets some loves too.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Working with Daddy

This past month's Home Depot project was trivets. We built them at Home Depot with the boys but then Daddy helped the boys paint them and glue their tiles in at home.
They love working on projects with Daddy.
And of course with daddy, a Pepsi is the best way to end a project.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Ah, the Joys of Fall!

A new friend recently offered to teach me a valuable skill. Ok, fine, so I was listening in on a conversation where she was talking about plans to teach someone else how to make apple pie filling and I essentially invited myself. But, she didn't seem to be to terribly disappointed. She taught me how to make and can it and then I brought home the rest of my apples that I didn't finish that day (and borrowed some equipment) and finished making them the next day. Tab loved helping. He got really good at cranking those apples through!Both of the boys were big helpers with washing the apples. I only had to remind them a few times not to eat them while they were washing them.Boy did they make some yummy pie, the first good apple pie I have ever made! Thanks Melea!
I have a cute video of the boys helping but can't seem to get it to load.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rice Cereal Anyone?

Not for Paisley. About 2 weeks ago, Pais had her first go at Rice Cereal and she was not a happy camper. More like, she was some kind of ticked. This is however not an uncommon reaction for her. This is the reaction we get to just about everything these days. (Just when I thought things were getting better....sigh, that is another post entirely.)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Quiet Game

Dinner is always challenging. And it isn't necessarily because the kids are always complaining about what food is put in front of them. They are just "slower than snail farts" as we say in our house. They just take forever and it usually ends in frustration on both ends. So one night Jason came up with this genius game when the boys were being so loud and rambunctious at the table. He took the kitchen timer and set it for some ridiculously long amount of time. And then he told the boys that we were playing a game called the Quiet Game. Nobody, INCLUDING mom and dad were allowed to talk, whisper or do anything but eat until the timer went off and the first person to finish their food would win. Sounds pretty lame and not like a game but, the results...Tab was warning daddy not to talk.
And Benton...well, Benton does whatever he sees Tab do.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Just Being Me

So apparently everyone including my husband have decided that they aren't satisfied with my blogging once every week or two. Well, I'm sorry but I'm busy making stupid faces like this when my husband chooses to randomly stick a camera in my face.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Renegade Post

This is a renegade post of photos from the iphone. Let's see how long it takes Jenny to realize that they are here!





Saturday, November 07, 2009

Trick or Treat!!!!

"Smell my feet!!!!" (Don't ask where Tab learned that from... it only serves to enfuriate Jenny.

Our Halloween festivities began a few days before the big scary day with pumpkin carving. Benny was freaked out and WOULD NOT stick his hand into the "kucky" pumpkin to clean it out.
Tab, on the other hand, was eager to get his hands dirty. (Not to mention the entire dining room too!)
Here is Jason "encouraging" Benton to put his hand into the opened pumpkin to remove the guts.

Jenny and the "Cheesers" going to town on Mr. Pumpkinhead.
The finished products and their proud sculptors.

Next on our Halloween activities list was the ward Halloween party. Here are the kids in the costumes that Jenny made for them. Tab was a pirate, Benton was a prince, and Paisley was decked out in bats and foofies.
Ladies and gentlemen... In the flesh... Captain Slobs!
And, next up the handsome prince:
And last but never least, the little miss:
The ward halloween party was a great time. The kids loved the candy almost as much as mommy and daddy. Poor Paisley fell asleep while awaiting her second-hand sugar rush.
The highlight of the night for Jenny was that the boys won the "Best couple" award for their costumes that Jenny had made. That woman is talented... The boys spent the remainder of the evening playing with their prize beach balls.
On halloween day we "broke on through to the other side" of Michigan to spend Halloween day with the Guymons. It was awesome to hang out with them and catch up. While there, we visited an orchard that had an outdoor playground of sorts. The kids loved playing in the wooden train.
Here is the conductor of the "loco"motive:

The Guymons won the "man of the mountain" competition. Burly...
Here are the Guymons tearing up the zip-line.
When they got a few minutes to themselves, Sara and Jenny returned to their normal conspiratory habits. That is one sexy tractor, Benny! (He saw this thing and went berserk. Benny is enamored by anything "tractor!"

Way to work the camera Benton.
Jenny snuggling Miss Paisley.
More zipline action.
This was a cool goat feeder at the orchard. It is a little cup and pulley to bring food to the goat on the roof. The kiddos thought it was cool.
Here is Little Miss Bekah lounging around in the hay bale maze.
The cold finally won us over. (It was, after all, near freezing and we spent hours outside.) Benny was one of the first to throw in the towel and ask to be inside Daddy's down vest.
Next, we warmed up with some hot chocolate, ran home, ate some food, and hit the frigid outdoors again for some trick or treating. Here is Benny showing off his evening's spoils. (I see a few things in there that were mine shortly after he went to sleep! Thank you Benny!)
Also, a HUGE thanks to the Guymons for their hospitality. It is always awesome to hang out with them. We miss having them just around the corner and will always be able to find room for them nearby if they are willing.

This post, if you didn't guess, was published by Jason. Please stay tuned for your "normal" programming...