A New Spin on an Old Classic...

The other day at school, I was working with a group of kids on adding doubles. After the lesson, I passed them all out a worksheet to do, and told them that when they were done, they needed to come show me so that I could correct it and go over it with each of them. This sweet little boy Aidan finished and we went over his paper. After going over a few missed facts, I told him to pick a sticker to go on his paper. He looked at the sticker sheet, and started to chant, "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. Catch the tiger by his toe. If he hollers let him go. Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. To-be-the-best-mom-say-NO-MORE-VIDEO-GAMES! and you are it with a very dirty dish rag on your big, fat, stinky toe!"

Help! No More Facial Hair In This House!!!!

Dan informed us all that November is Mu-vember at his work, and all the men are growing mustaches. I am not a fan of the individual mustache. Grown with a goatee, or as an accessory to a beard is great....but a lone mustache just doesn't do it for me. Jesse and I have been berating poor Danny for the last few weeks to shave it off...we told him he looks like a greasy cop; but James, on the other hand, is an avid mustache supporter. James decided that since he can't grow a real mustache, he would draw one on his face with marker! Now that's love for your father!

James is Eight!

Was this boy once a tiny baby with a dusting of black hair and a little round nose? I can still picture him in my head, but when I look at him now, it seems so long ago! James is turning 8 tomorrow and to celebrate he had a sleep over "Mario Brothers" party with a few of his cousins.

Jesse was even more excited than the birthday boy! While James was at school, he helped me make all the cupcakes and James' cake. He had to make sure that he was the one to put Mario on top of the cake!

We had a scavenger hunt for "Yoshi's egg", and at the end, the kids found their own Mario Mustaches!
James has wanted an Ipod for a very long time. My parents got him a shiny green one for his birthday, and his reaction was priceless! He got so many fun things from everyone, and we really enjoyed and appreciated getting to spend time with our family!

Make a wish, James!

Happy 8th Birthday, Bud!

Magical Fall!

Every year the Hutchings Museum in Lehi, puts on a Harry Potter Night. It is seriously better than Christmas for us. The boys (and myself) were going crazy with excitement, waiting for this day to come. (I know that's a little pathetic, but it's true.) Right when we walked through the front door, we ran into Rita Skeeter, writer for The Daily Prophet. After she interviewed both boys, and took lots of notes, we headed to the magic show down stairs.

During the magic show, if you answered any of the questions the magician asked, he would give you a chocolate frog. James was the little boy in the back with his hand held high for every question. James ended up with two chocolate frogs, and he got to help in one of the magic demonstrations. He was beyond giddy. (I answered a question too, the only adult to raise my hand....I forget that I am not 12 when I go to these things!)

Next, we headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, where Professor Lockhart (Aka Joseph Smith) was signing Autographs and posing for pictures.
A trip to Divination Class was worth while. We found out that we were destined to meet many interesting people on our travels throughout the museum.

And Finally, to top off the night, we had to bring home an assortment of sugar. The kids shopped at Honeydukes Candy shop with their Galleons and Sickles and enjoyed blood pops, chocolate frogs, and exploding bon bons. My favorite were the chocolate covered cockroaches!

The next day, we got up and headed to the mountains for a family hiking trip up to Bells Canyon. James loved that the lake was dried up in places and left a swampy bog. Mud is too hard to stay away from when you are seven years old.

These are all the happy hikers. Everyone in my family was able to come except for Jeff and Jill. It was so fun hanging out and talking. I feel lucky to have such a great family.
This is a picture of me, my sister Kait, my nephew Easton, and my big sister Kim.
We stopped and ate lunch on a dried up waterfall bed full of bolders. Jesse's pose is standard for all pictures that are taken of him now. Danny made us a lunch of cheese, crackers, salami, apples, carrots and water. For some reason, the simplest things taste the best up in the mountains.
Henry, my stinkin' cute little nephew, fell asleep on his Dad's back (my brother Clint). He was so good on his first hiking adventure!

My nephew Easton is almost as tall as his mom! Why do kids grow so fast?


For one of our family night activities, we made and decorated Grandma Judy Sugar cookies. They have almond extract in them, and they are sooooooo tasty. Jesse was very serious about the placement of his frosting!

Here is James' creation. (Notice the lack of clothing. My boys do everything shirtless these days.)

And while we are talking about sweets, Jesse and I decided to make a pumpkin pie the other day. I have had an extreme affinity for anything pumpkin with this pregnancy. This was Jesse's first attempt at making pie, and he was a great helper.

Baby bump update: This is my 20 week bump. I'm still growing and so is the wee little guy! It seems like I woke up one day, and my stomach decided to pop. It's pretty amazing how fast your body changes. I'm looking forward to Halloween and spending time with our family! I hope all of you enjoy your holiday as well!

My Three Sons...

Good news everyone! I had my Ultrasound today, and we have found out that we are expecting a little boy. He is healthy and everything looks normal! I will post some pics later!

Conversation of the Week:

Jesse: Hey mom!
Me: Hi Jesse!
Jesse: Mama, open your mouth, and then I will be able to say Hi to the baby!
(I open my mouth)
Jesse (yelling): Hi Peanut! (pause) It's too dark down there. I can't see the baby!

Playing Catch-Up!!!

The last few weeks have left me breathless! Between busy work/school weeks and full weekends, we have hardly had time to sit down and relax! But, I can't complain, because our time has been taken up by fun things. Here are some pictures of the last few weeks:

Danny and I had the opportunity to go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with our friends! We came along as the support team for our friends who rode in the Logan to Jackson Cycling race (Lotoja). Which meant, that Danny and I got to drive the Minnie-Winnie (motor home) and we got alot of quality time with each other and our friends. This is a picture of us by one of the antler arches in the town square in Jackson.

As we were shopping, we came across this Native American Warrior hiding in an alley. I thought he was really great, so I had Danny take my picture by him!

The guys (Danny, Phil, and Garrett) had to try on hats at the Cowboy Shop! I think the lady who worked there was very glad when we left. We were trying on hats and mocking one another. I don't think she appreciated our sense of humor! These hats were hilarious on the guys!

This is Jesse (on the right) and my nephew Carrick (on the left) in Jesse's Jeep. They have so much fun together, and they look like little twins with their blond hair and shaggy hair cuts!!!



This is James and my niece Maple in our garden. James was "looking after" Maple while she was at our house, and he loved showing her the pumpkins and tomatoes in our garden. He is such a great big brother and a great help whenever we have the younger cousins come over. I thought this was a really sweet picture of the two of them! What cuties!

We headed down to St. George for the last of the hot summer weather, and because I really wanted to get a bit of a tan before winter comes! We took the boys over to Dixie Rock, and Danny snapped this photo of my 16 week baby bump!

The farmer has finally released the horses into his back field, which happens to border our backyard! Jesse loves to go out and feed "his horses" carrots. The horses are very sweet, and when they see us come out by the fence, they automatically come over for a treat!
The winter freeze decided to come early this year, so we were forced to pick our pumpkins a bit early than I would have liked! But, the boys had a great time setting them out on our front porch. They were so proud of their pumpkins and the work they put into taking care of our garden this year. I love gardening, and I will miss it when the snow falls this year. It is such a stress reliever for me to go out and weed, and see what's growing.

We are looking forward to fall...(hopefully, we'll have a couple of days in the 70's before winter comes!) We hope all of you enjoy this time of year as well!