More Pictures with Grandparents

We had such a wonderful weekend with my parents. I wish we could do it more often and for much longer, but we take what we can get. These are the photos of the kids and my parents at the hotel. Mia and Mason slept at the hotel with my parents every night. They jumped on beds, swam in the pool, ate lots of yummy food, played on the elevators, played photo tag (all the pictures from far away), and watched cartoons. It was a dream come true for my kids. Thanks again Mom and Dad for coming. We can't wait to do it all again!

Family Pictures

Before my parents left we got a few family pictures.

Trunk-or-treat

Our ward did some games along with Trunk-or-Treat this year. The kids had a lot of fun. Mason didn't love wearing a costume, but he did love the doughnut he got to eat. When it was time to actually trunk or treat Mason refused to put on any of his costume so once again this year he trick or treated as a boy. At least we got a picture of our knight along with the witch and pooh bear.

Boo at the Zoo

The kids wanted to go to the zoo while my parents were here and the only day it was warm enough was Halloween. I vaguely remembered that the zoo does something for Halloween, but I didn't know that EVERYONE dresses up for it. We were the only ones with kids not dressed up....o-well, the kids still got to see the animals and got tons of candy too.

Jack-o-lantern

I love that one or both of my parents has been here for Halloween the last couple of years. I love that they take care of the pumpkin mess! My mom picked out the seeds to cook and my Dad helped the kids design and carve the pumpkin. I know I've said this before but my parents are the epitome of patience and my kids are so blessed to have such amazing grandparents.

Sick

We all got sick a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what it was because it was a little different for each of us, but Mia was home from school for several days; there were a lot of ramen noodles consumed; and a lot of naps and TV. I'm just glad the kids were better before my parents came to visit for fall break.

This last picture is Mia reading the kid scriptures in her Halloween costume. I thought it was funny seeing my little witch reading the scriptures. She reads the kid scriptures ALL the time. Sometimes I just want to say something like "don't you want to read something fun?" but I of course stop myself and am really glad she loves the scriptures so much. She read the whole Book of Mormon this week for about the 10th time and has read the New and Old testament more times than I have in my whole life. I'm not sure where this girl came from, but I'm glad she came this way!

The gate

Brant is at that age where I have to put up the gate in the kitchen the block him out...not to mention we have to keep the bathroom door shut. There are just too many opportunities for disaster if I don't. Anyway, Mason thinks it's funny to lock Brant IN the kitchen and Brant thinks it's the best thing in the world to be locked in the forbidden zone.

Mason turns 4!

Mason turned 4 last month. He had a small birthday party with a few of his friends. I didn't get a picture of him blowing out his candles, but here are a few pictures of the kids painting, eating pizza, and hitting the pinata.

Mason has grown up so much this last year. I am so amazed at how helpful he is and wants to be. He can be the sweetest little guy in the world and just wants to play all the time. Mason has a very big and generous heart. He loves to make people happy and is my best snuggler. He is always updating me on how many "Mason" snuggles, hugs, and kisses he has left; and then he reassures me that his tummy is busy making more. He is happiest when he can play with friends or family....he doesn't really care who he plays with, he just loves to interact with others. He loves his gymnastics class he's been taking for the last three years and his teachers love him and are always commenting and on how polite and patient he is. He loves mommy preschool and all the interaction he gets with his friends and the moms. He loves to wrestle with his dad.....well, actually he loves to do anything with his dad; especially anything outside. Mason loves to take his sweet time at everything....eating dinner, walking to the car, getting dressed.....he just can't be rushed.....yes, it drives me nuts sometimes, but it's part of what makes the kid so loveable too. He just has to kick every snow pile, look at every bug, and jump in every puddle before he can get in the car. But once he does get in the car, he's got a great air guitar and head bang. He is always asking to listen to a "boy song" in the car and I can't resist watching him rock out. I'm not sure when it happened but Mason wrapped my heart around his little finger and all he has to do is look at me with those fabulous eyes and I melt. We all love you Mason. Happy 4th Birthday.

Brant is 9 months old!

To explain the pictures below I have to explain that a few months ago I started doing a point system for the kids and chores. So now they get fifty cents every time they earn 10 points....anyway. Mason has been saving up to buy a pez dispenser since we started and he finally had enough to buy one plus a package of refills. Anyway, if you look close in the picture you will see some of the fruits of his labors. Brant ate the orange ones....paper and all. Yum!




So, Brant is 9 months old today and I feel like he has grown up so much over the summer. Here is what he has been doing. Brant wasn't a big roller. He physically could do it since he was just tiny, but unless he was REALLY mad, he didn't use this form of movement much. He was pretty mad for a long time that he couldn't crawl because he soooooo wanted to play with Mia and Mason. The first form of movement he mastered was cruising (yes kinda out of order) at 7 months. Then he started crawling.....backwards at 7 1/2 months. Then fianlly at 8 months old he started crawling forwards...YAY! It looked funny because he used one knee and one foot to push himself, but now at 9 months he is crawling normally and pulling up on everything and cruising EVERYWHERE! Brant was a really fussy baby until I quit eating dairy products and now he is such a happy and smiley baby. People stop and smile at him all the time and say what a smiley baby he is. I love his fun and intense personality. I love the kissy noises he makes. I love that he uses his teeth to help him pull up on things. I love the way he says go go go all the time (sometimes in a whisper and sometimes very loud). I love his chubby cheeks. I love to watch him watch his siblings. I love watch him wrestle Mason. I just love this kid to pieces! Ok enough gushing....I'm done. But I reserve the right to be mushy again in three months.

Conference Weekend

Did anyone else have a fabulous conference weekend. Not only do we get to hear from the Prophet and leaders of the church, but also......WE DON'T HAVE TO GET DRESSED! Since Jared flew out to California on Sunday for work, the kids and I stayed in our jammies ALL day and just relaxed and enjoyed.


We did the kids conference packet that was all over the internet the last week. My kids may not have gotten tons out of conference, but hey they know what color of ties the apostles were wearing! =) One last story: Mason was trying to fill out his conference bingo and we were going to blackout, so all the easy ones were filled in already so for most of the conference he just kept saying the last word of every sentence someone said and asked me if it was on the list.......I don't know if this was the best way for me to get the most out of conference, but it sure did make it more fun for the kids.