Fall or winter?

What is it about playing in leaves that is just "the most fun thing ever" for kids?

And a mere two days later...

Halloween Fun

October was a busy month around our house. With birthdays, Halloween, and potty training, plus some other things we'll get to later, it's been a little hectic. But also a lot of fun!

First up...the pumpkin patch.

 

Could this girl be any cuter???? I think not.

The finished pumpkins. Aren't they pretty? :) Emily's is the big one. Complete with polka dots, ribbon, stripes, and glitter. Chase's is the little one in front. He painted all over it with yellow and orange and then at the end wanted a red ribbon on top. And Robert did the little bumble bee one with the face.

Gardner Village. This is one of my kids favorite things to do at Halloween.

Carly wouldn't take her eyes off that witch...

 Carly liked to crawl around in the dirt/mud/poop. It was gross.

 Emily's dance party.

And of course actual Halloween. Full of preschool party, trick-or-treating, food, and tons of sugar.

 Such a poser. We also sprayed her hair black which she LOVED.

 Cousins

 My mom and stepdad. Yeah....My stepdad was Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. If you know him you will understand why this was somethin special!

 All of our treats. Yikes.

 

Halloween was tons of fun this year. Both Emily and Chase were really into it and had a lot of fun with everything we did.

Emily's Birthday Interview

I did a Birthday Interview with Emily. Here are her answers:

How old are you? 5
What is your nickname? Em
What is your favorite food? pizza
What is your favorite color? pink
What is your favorite TV show? Doc Mcstuffins
What is your favorite movie? Barbie Magic of the Rainbow
What is your favorite animal? kitties
What is your favorite book? Rapunzel
What is your favorite song? I Am A Child of God
What is your favorite drink? red drink
What is your favorite breakfast food? waffles with syrup
What is your favorite snack? peanut butter
What is your favorite outfit? leggings, skirt
What is your favorite game? Candyland
What is your favorite toy? Merida doll
Who is your best friend? Haley, Vanessa, and Aryonna
What is your favorite holiday? Halloween Christmas
What do you like to take to bed? cuddle uppet, sea horse, puppy, pillow pet
What is your favorite place to go? Disneyland
What is your favorite restaurant? Fazolis
Where do you want to go on vacation? the beach
What do you want to be when you grow up? doctor, veterinarian, and a mom

Emily's 5th Birthday

It seems like all I have been thinking and talking about lately is birthdays. Our 3 kids have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other so it pretty much is all we've been dealing with. But now we're done for another year. Phew.

So last up is Miss Emily. I can't believe she's 5! Although she's really 15 in a 5 year old body I think.

This year she wanted to have some friends over for a tea party. She had a special request that everyone wear "fancy clothes" and they all obeyed. She invited 3 little girls, one from our ward and two from preschool. She wanted an Alice in Wonderland tea party. I think she only wanted that so she could wear her Queen of Hearts Halloween costume. Sneaky thing. But it was fun! I was slacker mom of the year and until 1:00pm the day of the party I had NOTHING ready. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. :) But I got it all ready during nap time and I think it went well. There was sure a lot of giggling.

First they "Painted the roses red" (or blue, purple, green, whatever)

 

Then they had the tea party. Cookies, peanut butter sandwiches, chips, fruit, and apple juice. I borrowed my mom's teapot and they thought it was so cool to have their tea from a teapot. It's the small things that impress them.

 They thought 'clinking' their glasses was the funniest thing ever.

 I think this is a scene we're going to become quite familiar with over the next 15 years. Lots of talking and laughing!



After they were done eating they did a treasure hunt, opened presents, played freeze dance, and had cake and ice cream. I was pooped by the end but from the smile on Emily's face I think she had a good time.

On her birthday she wanted to go to the aquarium and buy something at the gift shop. She recieved money from a few people for her birthday and saved it all to spend at the aquarium. It was really cute to see her so proud of the $13 she saved. She picked a big lime green seahorse.

Emily at 5:

Where to even begin with this girl......She is a dream child. It sounds really bad to say this right after I call her a "dream child" but in a lot of ways she's pretty much a carbon copy of me as a kid. Which makes me glad and a little worried! She's extremely well behaved, very smart, and just a sweetheart.

• Girly girl. She paints her nails multiple times a day, loves dress up, glitter, sparkle, princesses, Barbies. All that stuff girls like.
• Such a smart girl. She's been super smart from day one. And she loves to learn. I hope she continues to love school. She's currently learning to read and is doing really well.
• She loves being a big sister and is such a good one. She is kind of bossy so being the oldest is right up her alley. But she is definitely a HUGE help to me.
• She loves the gospel. She knows a lot about the gospel and the scriptures. She soaks it up and is a wonderful example to me. I think she might know more scriptures stories than I do! Certainly more than I knew at age 5.
• Talks literally non-stop. I have never known anyone that talks as much as she does. It can be exhausting at times but she says some darn funny stuff.
• Kind of likes attention. Hence all the talking. And her love of dance. She's a performer for sure.

I could go on and on about this girl. She's wonderful and we're so grateful to be her parents!

Chase's "Bertday"

Our little Mr. Chase turned three years old a few weeks ago. He kept saying "It's my bertday!" He was in heaven having a day all about him. It worked out nicely that Robert was able to have the day off work. We went out to breakfast and had Chase's favorite food: pancakes. Then we went to his favorite place: the zoo.

 

 Here's a picture of Carly just because she's cute. :)

The week before his birthday Chase started playing T-ball. Oh my. It's adorable and hysterical. He has no clue what's going on but he loves it! Anyway, he had a game the night of his birthday so we had cake and ice cream at the park after his game. He of course had a Lightning McQueen cake (which I didn't take a picture of) and every single gift he got from everyone was some sort of Cars paraphernalia. No joke, every. single. one. He LOVES Cars.

 

 

Chase's Birthday Questionaire

Favorite food: Pancakes

Nickname: Chaser, Chaser boy, Boogers, Buddy

Favorite fruit: Oranges

Favorite snack: Fruit snacks

Favorite movie: Cars and Cars 2

Favorite TV show: Little Einsteins

Favorite toy: Lightning McQueen

Favorite things to do: Run, play cars, yell at Carly

Greatest accomplishment: Jumping off the fourth stair into the basement

 

Special things about Chase

• He will ALWAYS have a toy car in his hand and 99.99999% of the time it is one of his 7 Lightning McQueen cars. But he literally always has a car in his hand. And most of the time one in each hand.
• He calls a shopping cart a "trolley" like he's from England or something. 
• He says remarkably good prayers. He amazes me with the profound things he says in them.
• At least one hour per day, I can't stand him. This sounds harsh but there is about an hour per day when he is just down right awful. He whines, throws fits, cries, etc for no reason whatsoever (at least not any reason I can ever figure out) and then he gets it of his system and he's great. So annoying.
• He is the cutest thing. Everything out of his mouth is adorable.
• We always say he beats to his own drum. He lives in his own Chase world and just does his own thing. But I find it adorable.
• He is very very sensitive and sweet. Very tender. This can make discipline difficult sometimes. He doesn't like anyone to be upset with him.
• Loves his sisters but also yells at Carly pretty much constantly. She seems to always try to get his stuff. He does not appreciate it!

We love our boy soooo much and are so glad to have him in our family. He is such a special boy.

 

Happy Birthday Little Man!