Thanksgiving 2013

Thankgiving?! When did it happen? November is over? Wait....what?! Yes, November has flown by, and I'm sorry I didn't post more. Truthfully, we didn't do anything blog-worthy, just day-to-day stuff. Oh, and I'm getting schooled by my classes. That too.

Thanksgiving was fun this year. We drove down to my parent's house after watching Macy's parade at home while I made some rolls. After eating a delicious dinner, we mostly hung out, played with cousins, and had a good time. Here are some pictures from our happy Thanksgiving Day and a few days after:

Amelia helping Nana hang ornaments. The bear she's holding she got from Santa a few minutes earlier, when we caught him on a fire engine at Walgreens.

Cooper on the ladder with his puppy from Santa. The importance of this picture is that Cooper was ON the ladder. He's scared of heights.

"Hey Cooper, I'm going to take a picture of your cool airplane. Smile."

Amelia balancing a Froot Loop on her nose because it made Lynnli laugh.

Amelia helped set the Thanksgiving table. We didn't have Katie this year, so we're glad we had an adequate stand-in!

Bompa, Nana and all the grandkids.

I will promise to post more between now and Christmas because we have ALOT planned. Although I'm sure you missed my updates terribly and went into withdrawals I have to admit it was kinda nice to have a few slower weeks. Also, look for your yearly Christmas poem, coming soon. Happy holidays!

Leftovers From Halloween

I know what you're thinking....no new picture of November happenings?! Well, yeah. It's hard to post pictures of nothing, which is exactly what we've done since November 1. It's alright with me, October was insane, so I think we need a little boring normalcy for a few weeks. Besides, the holidays are right around the corner, so you'll be inundated with photos soon enough!

Here are some Halloween leftovers I haven't posted yet:

Amelia and Cooper at Boo at the Zoo. Yes, it was raining. Yes, it was cold.

The weather didn't stop them from collecting lots of candy, though! (Most of which is sitting on the counter still.)

Some of the decorations.

I know this is hard to see, but it's a lion. They were both antsy and pacing around their cage. Probably because of the thunder and lightning.  Oh, did I mention we had that with the rain?

They also had their Halloween parties at school:

Cooper as Captain America....with no mask or shield. It was considered a "weapon". He's still happy, though!

Yes, Amelia, you are royalty.

In their full costumes Halloween night!

In unrelated news, I fired my first pot for my Elementary Art Methods class. I almost was reported to the honor code office when someone overheard me say, "I'm going to fire up my pot on Friday"...............

Hocus Pocus and Carving Pumpkins

This weekend we carved our perfect pumpkins and went to the Hocus Pocus held a few blocks away. Amelia and Cooper carefully planned their jack-o-lanterns and then went to work. Wait, I mean I cleaned out Cooper's pumpkin. He hated the feel of pumpkin guts when he was younger and it hasn't changed yet!

Amelia, on the other hand, dug right in and wouldn't let me help! She did a nice Wicked Witch of the West jack-o'-lantern.

Later on, the kids put on their costumes and we walked to Hemming Village, where Hocus Pocus was being held. As we arrived, we were greeted by the Headless Horseman:

He creeped me out big time. Amelia and Cooper hadn't heard the story, so I vowed to tell them so I wasn't the only scaredy-cat in the home. Honestly, isn't ANYONE else getting the heebie jeebies looking at him and imagining him galloping after you in the dead of night with a flaming pumpkin poised to lop your head off?!

The fearless Captain America in the spooky graveyard.

Amelia LOVED the way her dress would blow in the wind. I have at least sixteen pictures of it!

Amelia and Cooper in the storyteller's chair.

We also went trick-or-treating to the shops, bobbed for apples, went on a hayride, visited with friends, and looked at cool jack-o-lanterns:

                                                             LOVE this time of year!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we journeyed to Idaho Falls to get our pumpkins to carve. As always, the selection process was a long, careful, drawn-out study of the "perfect" pumpkin.

Amelia and Cooper in front of the pile of pumpkins.

Cooper found his quickly. The only rule I have is that you have to be able to lift it into the wagon. I was surprised Cooper had done this, so I asked quickly lifted it and was surprised by how heavy it was. I asked him how he got it in the wagon. He pointed to a man standing a few feet away and said, "I asked him to do it." I told Cooper the rule was they had to put it in the wagon by themselves. Cooper looked at me a second and said, "Well, you didn't say that."  Thinking back, I realized I forgot to tack on "by yourself" when going over the one and only pumpkin patch rule. Sigh. Bested by a 6 year old.

Cooper and his 20 lb. pumpkin.

Amelia, who proved she COULD life it by herself.

Wandering through the straw maze.

It was a fun day and beautiful weather for perusing thousands of pumpkins. Afterward we hit the malls for October outfits. Instead of buying a bunch of school clothes in September, I've decided to buy a new outfit per kid each month and see how that goes. So far, it's been great. Cooper went up a pants size and Amelia did, too, so they were able to get clothes they won't grow out of for awhile.

 In other news, I'd been perplexed by smudges of dirt on my walls about shoulder level. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from......until Cooper called me to "come see!" the other night:

He was so proud I didn't have the heard to tell him to stop. Just handed him a wall wipe. Never a dull moment around here.

Harvest Festivities

I love this time of year.....not only for the cooler temps and the beautiful leaves, but for all the activities autumn brings. We had two this weekend--Amelia and Cooper school's Fall Carnival and the straw maze:

Wound up and ready to go in!

Cooper getting his hair "crazy scary". He opted for Superman colors to match his shirt.

Amelia thought it was amazing when the girls starting backcombing her hair so it stood straight up.

My scary crazy-haired kids!!

Cooper's Superman hair. It turned the bath water orange.

Battling siblings.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the straw maze. I LOVE the straw maze. We can't see through the walls, so its harder to get out and/or lose my children. We ended up spending over an hour wandering around. They had extra tunnels the year, and there's only one entrance/exit, so I was able to sit at the entrance/exit and just let Amelia and Cooper run around without losing them.

Getting ready to get lost.

Amelia outside the tunnels. Not only were they low, but they had twine hanging from the bales, which makes it scarier when it's haunted at night. Amelia wants to go next year when it's haunted. I told her she has to be brave enough to get her ears pierced first!

My favorite part of the straw maze? That's right.....when everyone's lost and I'm alone with the peaceful quiet bales of straw.

Amelia and our friend Triston swing on the twine.

Cooper joining in on the fun.

You can't hear his karate yell, but it was there.

No longer lost!!

After we mastered the maze (with the help of an incredibly wise, gifted, beautiful mother who was smart enough to ask the workers for directions) we made it out. The kids played on the bales of straw for a bit and got nice and tired and itchy!

Amelia jumping into a pile of straw.

Cooper's turn.

It was a fun weekend and I was glad to have a short break from all my homework. Who knew going full-time was such a sleep and energy sucker? Anyway, next week we'll head to the pumpkin patch and shopping in IF, along with a ward harvest party. I. LOVE. AUTUMN!!

Harvest Break 2013

Last week Amelia and Cooper had Harvest Break, which was only fun the first three days. After that, fights, tears, groundings, and early bedtimes seemed a daily occurrence! On the last day, blood shed seemed imminent, so we went to the park to find some leaves to play in. Not many trees have lost their leaves yet, but we managed to find some:

Not pretty leaves, but crunchy and perfect to jump, throw, and stuff down shirts.

Amelia and Cooper buried each other, buried themselves, and even offered a passing jogger the opportunity.

Then I buried them. This is the bust-out.

This picture is my sweet, innocent children coming after me as I said, "One, two, three" to take their picture. I'm still picking leaves out of my jacket and hair. Sneaky, sneaky.

We had a good time and remained friends until school started up again and everyone settled back into our routine. I highly recommend finding some leaves and jumping in them. Your life will be happier, if not itchier.

Happy autumn!

Jackson 2013

Last weekend we went to Jackson and met up with Mom, Dad, and Courtney. The weather was perfect, and Amelia and Cooper had fun playing outside.....until Courtney hooked up the Xbox, then we didn't see them for about two hours! We visited Mormon Row and were "ushered enthusiastically" by an overpriced wedding planner past the Most Photographed Barn In the World because a wedding was taking place in front of it. We visited parks, jumped from bench to bench in the gazebo, visited the Moose Junction visitors' center, and discovered the high amusement factor of American "Top Gear."

Relaxing in the gazebo. Amelia crocheted her scarf herself. She's very proud of it.

A less photographed house with accompanying outhouse. It's still gorgeous.

The barn that lost the competition for the most photographed.

I don't think this needs any caption.

Cooper with the anatomically correct moose statue at the visitor's center. Yes, his hand is where you think it is. Everyone watching me take his picture thought it was funny, too. Sweet, innocent Cooper had no idea what he was doing, only that it was about eye level and a good place to hold onto. He did however, ask me if that was where we milk the moose. I think I'll keep this picture handy for future blackmailing.

We went back to the park with the creek running through it and the fun "hanging merry-go-round".

It was a fun weekend and made it hard to come back to life on Monday. We're looking forward to next year!