Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween/Nevada Day this year! This is not one of my most favorite "holidays", but I try to make it fun for my kids. I think we had so much fun this year because Wade was actually home with us for the first time since he started working for Metro 4 1/2 years ago!

The festivities began with the ward Trunk-or-Treat on Wednesday evening. (Wade did not get to attend this with us and I was ready to go back home before I even left the house-the kids were being kind of rotten) and I didn't really want to put up with all of them by myself. But I gave it a shot and it turned out to be a fun night. The kids were pretty excited to get candy and I had fun visiting with friends and seeing all of the cute costumes go by. When we got in the car to go home Jakob got a piece of candy out of his bag and began to open it when I hear Mason yell at him to stop eating his candy because Mommy hasn't checked to make sure it's safe to eat. (He had been learning about Halloween Safety in preschool and he was obviously listening to every word they told him!)

Then on Thursday Mason had a Halloween party at preschool and was excited to see all his friends in their costumes. Jakob didn't have a "party", but they did do a costume parade, which we were able to go watch and I made some sugar cookies to take to his class during lunch. As Jakob and I were handing out the cookies one of the little girls in his class raised her hand and said, "Are you his mom?" I said, "Yes I am!" She then said (so sweetly and innocently), "You are soooo pretty!" My heart just melted! Aren't little girls so sweet?

On Friday (Halloween/Nevada Day) the boys began the day with a playdate and then Mason got to go to a Star Wars birthday party! He was extremely excited. Wade and I were able to go and vote and then we came home to carve pumpkins. Wade was so sweet to gut out all 5 pumpkins by himself while I hurried to shower and get ready for the day. Then he and I carved them (the boys really could have cared less, we were outside and so were their friends-what's more fun?). After pumpkin-carving, I made some chili and cornbread and then we took the kids around the neighborhood. We made it to the top of our street when the complaining began, "My legs are tired, my bag is heavy. Can we go home now?" We told them we are just going to walk around the block and head home. When we got home they could not wait for trick-or-treaters to come to our house so they could hand out candy. Mason was out in our front yard yelling at people to come to his house to get some candy! He also felt it necessary to tell some of the kids (and even a mom) that you should say thank you when someone gives you candy! He is such a hilarious kid and has no problem correcting you when he thinks your wrong! Wade let Hannah have her first succor and boy did she love it-she was sticky from head to toe! (It was quite a fight trying to take it away from her.) We had a fun time being together as a family this weekend and look forward to all the upcoming holidays to create more fun memories and traditions!

My Exercise Buddies

Trying to loose baby weight/weight in general has never been an easy task for me, I'm just not one of those lucky women who gives birth and comes home from the hospital in their size 2 jeans. Unfortunately I have a huge sweet tooth, I am not a disciplined eater and I am not a good dieter, so I have come to realize that exercise will have to be a permanent part of my life for as long as I live, which is not a bad thing, but can sometimes be challenging with the little tykes around all the time. I have a membership to the gym, but it just hasn't quite worked out with Hannah and school and babysitting, so I have found other ways to incorporate the exercise into my daily routine and luckily the kids are good sports about it and actually enjoy going with me. Hannah loves it sooo much, she falls asleep everytime! (I would say that's better than screaming her head off in a gym daycare for 2 hours, right?) Mason loves going because he either gets to play Jakob's DS all by himself or listen to the ipod. I am grateful that they are willing to cooperate with me so that I can do this for myself each day-it's one thing that is important to me and one of the only parts of the day I take for myself. I also owe a big thanks to Wade, because on his days off he is always willing to keep the kids so that I can go all by myself! Love you all tons for helping me while I try to lose these last 10!

(P.S. I am also thankful for all the massive hills that I live around-makes for a much better workout!)

Why, Why, Why...

does my blow dryer always have to quite working right in the middle of me blow drying my hair? This is the second time this has happened to me and it always happens mid-process, never before I start and never after I've finished. I guess I felt overly frustrated and annoyed this morning when this happened to me because all last week I concentrated on exercising and getting ready for a bridal shower that I had to put on, that I never really took the time to do my hair. So this morning I went for my run and came home and hurried and showered and started to get ready so that when I had to pick the girl I babysit up from kindergarten I would be ready for the day and not feel frumpy all day long (like I usually do) and I was on my last layer of round brushing when my blow dryer decided it was done. I let it cool off, tried every other outlet and nothing-I was so mad! So my morning that seemed to be going so smoothly came to an abrupt halt and I left the house with a half-done, frizzy-haired ponytail and back to feeling frumpy! So tonight I went to Target to spend money that I wasn't planning to on a new blow dryer and hoping for a better hair day tomorrow!

P.S. I've been thinking that maybe I should just chop my hair off so that it doesn't take me 30 minutes to blow dry. I just can't decided if I like having long hair that takes forever to do or short hair that I can't put in a ponytail when I need to-hmm?

Date Nights

This past weekend Wade and I split up and took the boys on some dates! Saturday afternoon Wade and Jakob headed over to Sam Boyd Stadium for some tailgating and the UNLV vs. UNR game. They had some yummy Brats with some of my brothers and played catch before the game. Jakob is a huge sports fanatic just like his dad and was super excited to be able to go to a game with him! They had a great time together even though the Rebs lost-bummer! I am glad they got to go have some one on one time together doing something they both love!

Mason was my little date! On Friday night we gave Mason the option of going with Dad and Jakob to the game or Mommy taking him to the movies to see "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". He didn't hesitate one minute to decide to go with me to the movies! (He has been on this major Stars Wars kick lately, so I knew he would be excited!) So after Wade and Jakob left for the game, Mason, Hannah and I headed to the movies. Mason got to get his very own kids snack pack (something we never do) and loved every minute of the movie. He figured out all the guys names and who was good and who was bad and thought that R2-D2 and the Droids were the funny guys! After the movie, I had to run to Target to grab some diapers and I let Mason pick out a new Star Wars toy and he choose R2-D2!

We had a fun weekend spending time together and spending some one on one time with each of the boys! I am grateful for these little opportunities we have together as a family to build these little memories that will last forever!

Hannah's New Friend

Hannah's new friend is herself! She has discovered that she can see herself in the silver cap in the bathtub and she'll sit there and jibber-jabber and smile at herself-it's the cutest thing to watch. She has such a fun and happy personality and keeps her family (and herself) smiling all the time!

We're Still Alive...BARELY!!!

Since school has been in session for almost a month now, I figured I better take some time out of my precious hours of sleep to document what has been happening this past month. To begin, Jakob started 1st grade and is really enjoying it! It is amazing to me how much more work there is from Kindergarten to 1st grade, like more homework, studying for tests, and lots and lots of reading and how quickly Jakob has learned some interesting things from his peers that I'd rather him not know (like armpit farts), but I guess that is what happens at school on the playground! I should just be happy that that's the worst thing he has come home with so far. Having him in school and gone all day has made me realize what an impact your peers can have on you and how important it is to teach my kids the things they need to know to make good choices and to stress the importance that just because someone else is doing it, doesn't make it okay for them to do it to. Jakob's favorite part of the day is recess and eating lunch in the cafeteria. He said his favorite classes are P.E. and music and he is really looking forward to joining the "Milers Club" (this is a little club that meets before school with the P.E. teacher and run laps and earn rewards for each mile they run).
Mason (and Mommy) were really excited when preschool started. He gets to go twice a week and is really enjoying it. As we were prepping Mason for this little adjustment I told him he could take Jakob's old Dash backpack to preschool, he kindly informed me that he needed his own 3-year old backpack and that he wanted a "Smashing Hulk" one. Mason hardly ever gets anything new because he has an older brother, so I thought, what the heck-I'll get the little guy his own backpack and luckily I found the one he requested. The night before his 1st day, as I was tucking him in bed, I asked if he was excited to go to school and he said, "Yeah, but are you and daddy going to miss me while I gone?" I think he thought he was going to be gone all day like Jakob! He has learned some fun songs and loves the days when it's "Show-n-Tell".
Hannah is officially mobile. She has been trying to crawl for the past month and a half, and finally took off about 2 weeks ago! She discovered very quickly were the playroom is and this is what I caught her doing the day after she started crawling-playing in the closet with the puzzles! She loves being able to go where she wants and often crawls to wherever her brothers are.
So not only is she crawling, but is already pulling herself up! What the heck-isn't she too little to be doing this? The other day, it was just me and Hannah at home and I was trying to get ready for the day, so I put her in the toyroom while I did my hair and makeup. All of a sudden I could hear this banging noise and I thought what is she doing in there and I peeked around the corner to find her standing at the train table playing. I love that she is growing and progressing, but I feel like I got jipped out of the immobility stage. I guess it's time to start child-proofing!
Last, but not least I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 5th. Yikes-one year away from the big 3-0! I had a really great birthday this year. To start, two days before my birthday my sister and mom came over and my sister brought Olive Garden for lunch for mine and my mom's birthdays and we got hang out and visit (something we don't get to do often enough), then on my birthday one of my good friends treated me to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory-yum, yum! Then as I was picking kids up from school, I received a phone call from my friend wanting to know where I was and she came and found me and brought me a huge plate of freshly-baked cinnamon rolls on a cute pumpkin platter. That afternoon I kept telling Wade that I couldn't believe that my mom hadn't called me yet to wish me a Happy Birthday, surely a mother wouldn't forget her own daughter's birthday, right? Well it turned out that she never called, because as part of my gift, she surprised me by showing up to babysit my kids so that Wade and I could enjoy an evening out! I was so excited, Wade and I very rarely go out without the kids, so that was one of the best things my mom could have given me. Wade made dinner reservations for us at the Geisha Steakhouse, one of my most favorite places! Then we went and walked around some stores and came home and had some yummy chocolate pie with the kids (Mason's choice for my birthday cake)! Then another of my friends invited me and my kids over for pizza and we were able to visit while the kids played-it was really nice! So a big thanks to everyone who made my birthday a special one, especially Wade and my mom! Thanks for the wonderful gifts Wade, you really spoiled me and I love you with all my heart!

P.S. I made a promise to myself that when school started I was going to start getting up when Wade got home from work and going running before I had to get kids off to school-I must say that I have been pretty successful and have only missed a few days and was starting to feel really good-then I go and have a birthday and as you can read all I did for 3 days was eat, eat and eat some more, so now I am starting over-wish me luck!

One Last Summer Trip & Our Anniversary!

2 weeks ago Wade and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We didn't get to do too much on our actual anniversary because Wade had to work, but the day after we celebrated by taking one last summer trip down to California to catch a Dodger game and hang out on the beach! Yes-we did take the kids, so it wasn't as relaxing as we would have liked it to be, but what do you do when you have a nursing infant? I guess we can just look forward to the many years ahead when the kids are grown to spend our anniversary alone!

It has turned into kind of a tradition for our family to take a weekender trip during the summer to see the Dodgers play and go to the beach and since we've had a busy summer, we almost ruined our tradition by not going, but we decided in honor of our anniversary, to keep the tradition alive and just do a quick trip. We left on Wednesday, August 20th and drove straight to Dodger Stadium. The boys were so excited and Mason kept telling me that this is so fun-I think this is the first year he really understood what was happening. Other than the fact that the Dodgers lost, the game was really fun and believe it or not I only had to go out 2 times with Hannah, once at the beginning of the game and then again towards the end! We let the boys go to the store at the stadium and pick something out-leave it to Jakob to pick out the biggest attention grabber in the whole store! He has always wanted one of these crazy hair hats, so this year we finally gave in and he thought he was the coolest kid in the stadium that night. Mason choose a new Dodger hat since his other one was too small and a #1 Dodger Fan foam finger! Jakob had a yummy Dodger Dog and Mason had to have his favorite-Nachos! We love going to the game as a family and we look forward to next year! On Thursday we woke up and got ready, stopped and grabbed some subs and headed to Huntington Beach. We had sooo much fun this time at the beach-we actually planned ahead and took some beach chairs, an umbrella, sand toys, and some boogie boards! It was a little rough with Hannah-I took a big blanket so that she would have room to crawl around and not be in the sand, but apparently my blanket wasn't big enough because she discovered the sand within 5 minutes of being there and it went straight to the mouth-so Wade and I took turns holding her and playing with the boys. Jakob loves being buried in the sand, so that was one of the first things he wanted to do once we were all set up. Mason really wanted to build a sand castle, so Wade helped him out with that and then he found a little stick and stuck it on top for the castle's flag as the finishing touch. I have to say I have never been one to go out and swim in the ocean, but this year we took some boogie boards and I decided to be brave and try it out-I have never had sooo much fun at the beach! I could have stayed out there for hours, it was so fun! Jakob also had a ton of fun on the boogie board! Wade tried to help Mason do it, but he was content to just play in the sand and run in and out of the water. Wade didn't get too much time on the board, about 10 minutes of being out on it, he caught a wave just right and it made the board hit the bottom of the ocean and snapped it right in half-I guess that is what happens when you buy the cheapest board, but we didn't want to spend too much without trying it out first. I think next year will invest in some better ones! After spending over 5 hours at the beach we headed back to our hotel to shower and get ready. We went to Outback for dinner, walked around this outdoor mall that was right next to our hotel and stopped for a yummy frosty from Wendy's before heading back to the hotel to crash after a really long, but really fun day. On friday we woke up and got ready for the dreaded drive back home. We did make some stops at the outlets along the way to do some back-to-school shopping for Jakob and eat lunch. We had a great time and really enjoy taking these little family trips. We can't wait for next year! Thank you for the wonderful anniversary Wade-I love you with all my heart and appreciate all that you do for me and the kids-WE LOVE YOU!!!