{Halloween}

This year I went as a witch again.  I think this is the third year straight.  Danny really liked that I was a witch.  I think I just like getting to wear bright green and black striped tights!

Austin was a ninja.  He loved it and really enjoyed getting to help create his costume.

Danny was a Pirate Thomas.  He found the Thomas costume at the thrift store and begged me (tears and all!) to get it for him so he could wear it for Halloween.  Normally I am a bit of a costume snob.  I always have to have their costumes be homemade.  I guess it is because that is how my mom did it growing up, so I will blame it on her  ;)  But anyway, I decided to give in and buy him the Thomas costume.  Then come Halloween time, he doesn't want to wear it!  He wants to be a pirate instead.  I reminded him that he choose Thomas, so that is what he needed to be.  He came up with a compromise and decided to be a Pirate Thomas.  And then, when it came time to take pictures and head out the door to trunk or treat, he didn't want to wear any costume at all.  I had to bribe him just to get this oh so sad and miserable shot!  Luckily, later on the incentive of a whole buckets worth of candy convinced him to put it back on again!

Spooky and Colorful Sugar Cookies

The boys and I decorated a batch of sugar cookies yesterday.  They taste soooo good!  It has been too long since we have had some!  The boys of course, being boys and all, wanted spooky cookies.  It was a big, huge, colorful yummy mess but we were pretty pleased with our skeleton gingerbread men, they were the clear favorite!

I love getting to watch General Conference at home.  I wanted to make it a special day for the boys, so we started out with the most delicious cinnamon rolls I have ever made!  But I also wanted the boys to realize that it was still a time to be quiet, listen, and not play around so I made up activity packets for them, and had all their art/writing supplies ready to go.  The activity packs helped a little bit for a little while but by the end of the morning session I was a bit discouraged.

Surprisingly the second session sent much better.  I finally got both boys to settle down and be quiet!

Here is Danny on one end of the couch . . .

And Austin and I at the other end . . .

Found!

I have been searching for awhile for the perfect hutch to go in our front room.  The price, the size and the style had to all be just right for me.  I would find one on Craig's List only to get no response back, or find on at a garage sale only to find that it had been sold 5 minutes before!  Well, I finally got lucky, and found the perfect one, on Craig's list.  The lady responded right away, and I went down and got it that night.  I took my dad with me because I am always nervous about going to some random strangers house with money in my pocket.  Turned out there were no worries in this case, the lady was a total sweetheart and the hutch was even better in person than the picture!

It will eventually be painted black to match my table, chairs and kitchen island, but I ran out of black paint!  I love that the doors are tin and not glass, so much better when one has energetic boys.  Now I am all organized and even had some room to display some of my favorite white/milkglass/hobnail dishes!  I am so happy that my patience paid off!

Pinewood Derby

Austin had his very first Pinewood Derby last month.  His car didn't win at all so it was a very upsetting night for him.  I am so proud of him though, of how much work he put into his car.  He had a bit of help and a lot of guidance from Papa, but he is the one who did the work!

I told Austin that he was the winner when it came to the most supported scout there.  He had Oma, Papa, Uncle Mark, Auntie Tanya and Maysie, me and Danny, so he was super lucky.  That made him happy again once he realized that!

Halloween Prep

The boys love Halloween.  About halfway through September they start asking me when we will get out the Halloween decorations, especially the pirate dishes.  I make them wait until Oct 1, but then they get a whole month of feasting at their Pirate table!

 We also carved our pumpkins this week.  The boys loved pulling out the pumpkin guts!  Austin kept staring at himself in the mirror while scraping and removing the guts.  Danny kept picking up the little carving knives every time I wasn't paying attention and was trying to carve all on his own.  Austin did his pumpkin all by himself this year, all I did was help a bit on the final scraping.  He did a really good job and did not give up when it got hard!

 Kitty Bat - my pumpkin, 

The King - Austin's pumpkin, 

The Haunted Castle - Danny's pumpkin

All the Funny Little Bits

 

I got to realizing the other day that there have been so many funny little bits of my life that I had posted on to Facebook, but that I hadn't saved them here on this blog, which is supposed to be my family's journal.  So this morning I went through and found all those little bits that I don't want to lose and here they are . . .

Oct 1, 2011

Me: "For the second time Austin, dinner is ready!"
. . . no response . . .
Me: "Do I have to come in there and take your (pause) book away?"
(pause because normally it would be his gameboy I would have to take away)Austin: "Haha, mom, you would never do that!"
Sigh . . . how well this child knows me. I love that he is finally loving to read!

June 28, 2011

Danny - "I didn't leave the water on mommy. It was somebody else, or a wolf.

March 17, 2011

aaaaahhhh! Austin was supposed to be brushing his teeth but was cutting his hair instead! This is the first time he has pulled this particular stunt. Luckily it can be easily fixed (or if not then we will just buzz cut it). Sweet boy, he told me he was just trying to help because I mentioned after the bath tonight that it was time to cut his hair :)

March 10, 2011

I got the most amazing compliment yesterday from the sweet lady who drove the courtesy shuttle for the shop fixing my car. She said she thought I was a teacher because of the way she heard me talking to Danny. It totally made my day!

Feb 23, 2011

Danny asked me this morning, "Mommy, will you help me eat my cereal? It is being rude to me!"

Oct 9, 2010

Danny slept in this morning! But he was still awake early enough to see the sunrise and said, "Oh, Mommy, see the pretty rainbow!"

Sept 27, 2010

learned the hard way that Danny can lock the storage shed door. I only had to yell at him for about 5 min through the door to get him to open it up again!

June 26, 2010

Austin just asked me if carrots have juice because he thinks that's what x-ray glasses are made of!

June 14, 2010

overheard this morning, from Austin to Danny, "Oh great, now look what you've done! Mom will find out, she always does."

May 25, 2010

when Austin realized it was my birthday this morning he got very excited and told me he was going to make me a present. I told him that he didn't need to, and the best gift would be for to be a good listener and helper today. His reply? "No that's okay, I think I'll just make you something"!

May 19, 2010

when Danny says "fruit roll up" it sounds just like "throw up". I'm glad I finally figured out the mystery of why he kept telling me he wanted to throw up all day yesterday!

Feb 7, 2010

"Here mommy, this is for you cuz I love you" Austin says as he hands me a lollipop that he had started licking but then he had to put it away so he put the wrapper back on it and put it back in his pocket a week ago!

Jan 26, 2010

"It's not a door mommy, it's a portcullis." I guess I was just supposed to know that he had transformed the bunkbeds into a castle. My mommy mojo must be off this morning!

Dec 12, 2009

Austin wants to know why some girls put pickles on their eyes! He was also worried that the car was going to lose contraction on all this rain! He makes me laugh!

Dec 6, 2009

Austin was jumping on the top bunk of the bunk beds, hit his head on the ceiling and got mad at the ceiling! It was hilarious!

Nov 23, 2009

Austin told me today that fireworks don't fall to the ground, they turn into stars. I'll believe it!

May 15, 2009

"My name is Abolito, you killed my father, I hope you want to die" - Austin as Inigo Montoya

An Interview with Austin April 26, 2009

“What your child thinks of you”

Austin age 6

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
That I clean my room

3. What makes mom sad?
That I hurt Danny

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
By tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
like a girl

6. How old is your mom?
5

7. How tall is your mom?
40 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
plant

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
play with Danny

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
me

11. What is your mom really good at?
making lemon juice

12. What is your mom not very good at?
getting in the hammock

13. What does your mom do for her job?
help us eat

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
pizza

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
when you laugh at me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Dora

17. What do you and your mom do together?
plant seeds

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we like to do the same things

19. How are you and your mom different?
I'm a boy and you're a girl

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
because I can see your heart

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
out to eat

23. What is your Mom's least favorite place to go?
a boy place

Pumpkins and Apple Donuts - Yay for Fall!

The best part of fall for me has always been Apple Hill.  Well, that and chilly nights and mornings that allow me to wear sweatshirts again!  Last Saturday we got to go up to Apple Hill with Nessa, and we had a great time despite the crowds.  We got our apple donuts, Austin got his pumpkin, and the boys got to run in the hay maze; a perfect fall afternoon!  And then we went to a ward luau, a completely un-fall type activity but still really fun (no pics from the luau, because both my camera batteries were dead!)

Pumpkins with Hannah

Danny and I got invited to go along on cousin Hannah's field trip to get pumpkins and go on a hayride.  Danny was soooo excited to get to see his Hannah!  And Heidi told me that Hannah was just as excited to get to share her Danny with her pre-school friends.

 and of course I had to include a mini photo shoot for Danny while we were there as well  :)

Danny Builds

Danny decided, one night, to build a house for his Thomas trains using books.  It took quite a bit of perseverance to get everything to stand together just the way he wanted it.  He was so happy when it finally worked! 

But then he decided he didn't want to stop there, so he kept on building . . .

 and this was the end result, quite impressive!

 and this is was Austin was running around doing while Danny was building

 and this is what I found in my bed when it was my turn for bed!