The Halloween Parade

Hi Mom!

It is always fun to visit the kiddos at school, especially on fun holidays like Halloween.  As you can see, Sylvia is a red devil, and Ben is Spiderman.  Ben has a really cool mask that goes with his costume, but there aren't any masks allowed at school.  So, mom improvised and broke out the face paint.  Note:  I am definitely not a professional face painter...

Anyway, the kids looked adorable today, and as a bonus, we all got to watch the 5th and 6th graders perform the Thriller dance.  Very fun!

What We Do When Dad's Off Hunting

We eat some yummy In-N-Out Burger

We collect stick "swords" at Bridal Veil Falls

We go on the carousel at Provo Beach Resort

We eat ice cream and Dole whips.  Yum!

We play in the pirate ship

We slide!

My Little Walker

At the park, exploring all by himself!

It's been a lot of fun watching Henry learn to walk these last few weeks.  Henry took his first steps on October 5th, just two days after turning 10 months old.  He is definitely my youngest walker--Sylvia walked at 12 months, and Ben at almost 13 months.  Henry has plans, that's for sure.  He has a lot to do, and definitely a lot of stuff to get into!  Watching him toddle around is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls, up Provo Canyon, is beautiful in October. It was cool, breezy, and full of fall color.  I also didn't mean to match my kids in gray sweatshirts.  It just happened that way!

Halloween Books

One thing I love about holidays is books!  Children's books are just too much fun, and my kids love it when I read to them.  We just got out the Halloween books to enjoy for these next few weeks.  These are some of our favorites!

Pumpkin Pumpkin, by Jeanne Titherington

Happy Halloween, Little Critter!, by Mercer Mayer

The Berenstain Bears Go On A Ghost Walk, by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Franklin's Halloween, by Paulette Bougeois

The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid Of Anything, by Linda Williams

Two Little Witches, by Harriet Ziefert

Scary Scary Halloween, by Eve Bunting

Very Scary Jack 'O Lantern by Joanne Barkan

There are lots of other great Halloween books (one that comes to mind that we don't have is Bone Soup, so cute!).  I love buying maybe one or two new holiday books each season to add to our holiday themed collections.  Having special books that you only read at a certain time each year makes them really special.   I really enjoy making holidays special for the kiddos.

The Pumpkin Patch

Time for family night at Jaker's Pumpkin Patch!

 Ben at the mouth of the hay maze

Sylvia and Henry hangin' out 

Is it really that hard for everyone to look at the camera at the same time?  

Seriously, this is the best picture of the 3 munchkins that I could get. 

Sylvia liked the "warty" pumpkins 

Henry is just trying to process what a pumpkin is, exactly. 

Jaker's has a corn pit for the kids to enjoy.  

Ben's idea of fun is to throw corn at all the other kids. 

Cannonball!!!!

Happiness

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and the shadows will fall behind you.

~Walt Whitman

     So, this month has been a little bit of a disappointment.  We had our hearts set on a cute little house, and since it was a short sale, we waited quite a long time for the bank to move on it.  Well, the bank moved on it all right--they foreclosed on the property last week.  Needless to say, we're bummed.  Everyone who knows about real estate will tell you this is a common occurrence, but that doesn't mean that our feelings aren't valid.  Talk about a frustrating waste of time :(

     With the cooler weather setting in, I think we are just going to take a break from looking for a home for a while.  I am excited about saving even more money, and starting fresh in the Spring.  I also refuse to be sad.  There is a great house out there for us, I just know it!

     I love the quote above.  Isn't it a conscious decision to be happy?  You have to turn your face to the sunshine.  You have to get up in the morning, and DECIDE to have a good day.  I'm actually proud of my ability to do this.  I enjoy my life, I understand that bad things happen to good people, I live in the moment, and I look to the future for the good things to come.  

Choose to be happy today.

Henry is 10 Months Old!

The little baby man enjoying his lunch of cut up banana.  Gotta love finger foods!

What Henry's Doing at 10 Months:

• Henry has taken a total of 2 steps all by himself, but he's still a little tentative.  He'd rather walk along the furniture with one hand to steady himself.  Fine by me, but it's really cute watching him.  You can tell he would really like to try walking!
• He's still really enjoying nursing, but I can tell he's beginning to get impatient with daytime nursing sessions.  He would  rather drink water from a sippy cup, the drink of choice for busy babies on the go.  He likes to be part of family mealtimes, but will still tolerate just a little baby food.  
• Still not a good sleeper.  'Nuff said.
• Babbles all day, yells when he wants your attention, and loves to imitate sounds.  His favorite sound to make?  Grunting.  Weird :/
• Has discovered that he LOVES Patty Cake.  And he will play Peek-A-Boo with you ALL DAY LONG. 

All in all?  Henry is delightful. 

Ben is 6!

The Birthday Boy!    

     Ben turned 6 yesterday! Ben is an awesome kid.  On the flip side, he is also destructo boy.  My guess is that I have a pretty typical little guy on my hands.  

     A few days before his birthday, we were at the grocery store, and Ben asked me to buy him one of those little 5 hour energy shots.  Can you imagine, reader? Can you possibly imagine the most energetic boy on the planet after he has imbibed an energy drink??!!  I shudder at the very thought. 

    Anyway, we got Ben lots of small presents for his birthday, the favorite being his new Bey Blade (a glorified spinning top, and boys "battle" and apparently have a wonderful time).  We ate chocolate cake, ice cream and opened some practical presents from Grandma Susan.  Today, Ben asked us to take him to see The Amazing Spider Man, so that's what we'll be doing for family night.  

     Ben is absolutely crazy, but he is growing up to be so smart, and very funny.  He really is fun to have in our family.  I kind of feel like Benny is the member of our family that adds the color to our lives.  My 6 year old is definitely a special guy.