Witches

I have always wanted to throw some sort of Halloween party (other than the ones I plan for work) but never have, so this year I took a small step by hosting book club this month- and the book? Witches by Roald Dahl- I had seen the movie and book was a fun read so last night we got to together, we being the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (the name of the witches secret organization) the ladies in the group were good "spirits" and went along with it-

ARRRR we be pirates

I know I have said it before, but I love Halloween- I begin plotting and planning costumes waaaayyyy in advance. This year I decided that we would be pirates and the baby (pre knowing the gender) would be our parrot. Well, they moved the time honored tradition of the ward trunk or treat up 2 weeks (translation PANIC since my Mom who I usually rope into making the costumes would not be in town just yet) so GASP I had to sew (well and hot glue) the costumes! Jane's parrot turned out more like Elmo in bird formation, but oh well- We arrived at the trunk or treat only to discover we did not have our memory card in the camera- so I am stealing this pic from Kristin (lets be honest she takes waaaayyyy better pics anyway)

If planted it will GROW

Sydney was given some pumpkin seeds by a kid in our ward that according to him were "magical" since I was 7 1/2 months pregnant i was really not going to take on planting a garden, but after nagging one day a took a sippy cup that had been left outside scooped out some dirt and planted 2 of the "magic" pumpkin seeds- the results? 5 pumpkins 2 which are at least 40 lbs! and vines all over my yard!

Mommy Wow I'm a BIG kid now

Cash started a little while ago being fascinated with the toilet, since I was about to give birth I wasn't too excited about potential accidents, so I sort of put him off. Cash like the rest of us is stubborn and without sticker charts or bribes has pretty much potty trained himself- his latest feat? peeing standing up- too cute!

Kids the darndest (meanest) things

So Cash finally figured out that it is BYU and not BYme and the other day he stated, "I go BYU" which dream crusher Sydney quickly refuted-"You don't go to BYU Cash" so I jumped in saying "Well if Cash studies hard and is smart he can go to BYU" (disclaimer-I am BY no means implying that you are not smart if you did not go to BYU) then Syd looked at me with shock mixed with 5 year old attitude "Well you went there and you are not smart" OUCH!! so instead of flinging mud back in a very mature fashion I used my words and said, "Sydney what you said hurt my feelings" naively thinking my saying this would impact her, oh no- her response, "I''m sorry, I just didn't know that you were smart"

Afternoon Tea

Sydney was invited to have afternoon tea with her cousin, Ella (she is Johnny's cousin Stefanie's granddaughter)at the Grand America hotel, so with her "up do" done and makeup on Syd was so excited. I managed to squeeze into my homecoming dress from my senior year in high school. We had a great time.

Note: I was the only person who actually ordered tea everyone else did the hot chocolate thing- but man- peppermint tea with 4 lumps of sugar- soooo good. Thanks Jenny and Ella we had a great time.

PS Syd got the zipper stuck trying to help me out of the dress when we got home that I had to go to my neighbor's house to get out of the dress!

Cash and Jane

Both Cash and Syd love their baby sis- and jane loves them giving them her best smiles

Jane is not a fan of the flash on my camera

Conference at the Cabin

After my freshman year of college, Kristin (my friend from the dorms who is Johnny's cousin which is how we met) we went with her Mom to check out a cabin in Eden, Utah. Well. . .13 years later the A-frame is now more of a vacation home, but the cabin still holds plenty of fun memories and now we are carrying on the memories with our kids- We did the typical conference stuff- eat, eat, and eat and not really get a chance to actual hear conference- good thing the talks are reprinted in the Ensign. On the way home we took the LONG way to see the leaves changing.

Boobies, Self-Centered? & Random Prayers

Over the last few weeks the following incidents have occurred:
Boobies- the conversation with Syd went like this
S- Why can't I wear a tank top to school?
Me- Because it is against the rules (they have a uniform/dress code)
S-Why?
Me-(pausing-then I decide to go with the truth)You know how somtimes when older girls wear tank tops you can see their boobies?
S-Yeah
Me-Well it distracts the boys because they like to look at boobies
S-(eyes huge with disbelief) boys like to look at boobies?
Me-Yup-ask your Dad
S-(embarrassed) NO! I can't
Me- Honey do boys like to look at boobies?
johnny- Sure do
Syd-does Daddy like to look at your boobies?
Me- (again I decide to with the truth) he is moe of a bum man
S-oh

Self-Centered?
I love that my kids are confident-with that said Cash has gotten slightly out of hand-

Incident#1 Johnny is saying I love you to Cash who keeps resonding back with I love me

Incident #2 Background: in spite of recent events we are BYU fans through and through and have taught Syd and Cash to say "Go BYU" well in the true spirit of Cash he chants "BY-ME BY-ME and ifyou try to correct him and say no its BYU he just looks at you with that how can you be so clueless face and points to his chest and declares, "No BY Me"

Random Prayers
So the other night when Syd was saying her prayers she branched out from her typical standard prayer announcing to me when she was finished "I added some new stuff" so the next night her prayer went off on the following tangent
Please bless all those who are traveling that they will be safe (so far standard) in every city, in every country and on the planet(new material) even Colorado! then she launched into blessing all of the dancers on Dancing with the Stars (so glad to see Michael Bolton go)that they would dance with their hearts!

Greatest Show on Earth?

We lucked out and got free tickets to take the kids to Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey's Circus when it came to town. I was really excited because I remember going to the circus as a kid. Johnny and never been before so he did not know what to expect. Syd and Cash enjoyed it. Me? well. . .it was waaaaayyyy cooler when I was kid.

Red Butte Garden

We took advantage of family night at Red Butte Garden. It was really pretty and relaxing. Cash got to meet Curious George.

Cash

These are some of my favorite pics of Cash taken over the summer. he cracks me up-his verbal skills improve daily and I love his voice and the way way he says "I 2" but holds up 3 fingers how he loves to ride his tricycle up and down the driveway and he does these cool ninja moves. I love my little man! It has been fun to have time with him while Syd is at school and Jane sleeps.

Popperton Park

Tonight we took the kids to burn off some energy at the park behind the hospital where I work-we were the only ones there it was awesome! Johnny threw a Nerf football around with the kids and Jane was all smiles.

Jane

Ok- It has been an adjustment going back to work (I love my job) and trying to figure out how to juggle everything. Jane is 10 weeks old and I have only gone running once (the plan was 4x a week starting when she was 6 wks old) my chore chart to have a clean home 24/7 is a hit or miss- so is keeping this blog up to date with pics- so anyway enough of my ramblings here is what people check my blog for-pics of Jane

Labor Day

We had a fun Labor Day- first the kids and Johnny (Jane and I were on the sidelines) went swimming with Kristin and her kids and then over to Johnny's cousin, Stefanie's bbq and s'mores. I am bummed to see summer comming to a close--

1st Day of School

Syd has officially grown up-she started school today. I must admit I did tear up a little. She reported that she loved it, that the blessing her Dad gave her last night helped, she met a few kids and spilled her chocolate milk on herself- Overall a great day! I took pictures of her before we left at our house which was a good thing since she told me she was embarrassed and that I could not take her picture at the school.

Daddy, We Miss You

My wonderful husband has been gone for 10 days helping re-roof my Mom's house and other projects in California- leaving me in single mom mode- We are slowly establishing a routine, but we definitely miss him!

Summer Fun

I love my backyard- we have spent so much time in it this summer with the kids, the sprinklers and just having fun. Unfortunately much of our fun has not been captured on film, so I grabbed the camera to capture at least one of our backyard days of fun-

NOW OKKKKK

Cash's vocabulary is increasing daily as he learns more words and puts them together to form simple sentences. I love his little voice and the way he puckers his lips when he talks- that he calls Sydney "Ne" (originally he called her Nydney and recently shortened it) however lately Cash has tacked on the words Now Ok to his sentences which is not ok! For example "I waters NOW OKKKK" translation I want water NOW! Gone is the cute squinlty eye "Peez" and the accompanying "Tank cu". I realize I am to blame because when I ask him to do something, typically it takes a few times and with each request, the level of annoyance in my voice can be felt and I add the words Now ok? While I am trying to nip this new catch phrase in the bud if you happen to have my sweet bowl cut boy ask/demand something Now okkk- just remind him to say please- ok?

Sidenote: I am able to blog right now because both he and Jane are napping, I have been trying to push Cash to a 1pm nap instead of a 12pm nap, but at 12pm he looked at me and said "Nap NOW OKKK" and I smiled and said Ok and tucked him in

Wheeler Farm

One of my favorite kid places in SLC is Wheeler Farm, it is free, never feels crowded, educational, and I feel safe there with my kids. So as Johnny is still in California, the kids and I headed to the farm in coolness of the morning to burn some energy (which worked by the way ALL of us tooks naps!)

We walked around-saw animals and feed the ducks/geese. Just a tip, I like to have the bread all ready to feed the ducks before I head to the park
1. It gives the kids something to do while I get the rest of the stuuf ready
2. It eliminates Cash from throwing an entire piece at a duck
3. Each kid has their own container of bread-which cuts down on the fighting

Good Baby?

So I ventured with the 3 kids to church Sunday (by myself and we were on time!) and while I was sitting with my "good baby" in the foyer because her little noises were distracting to a silent room of teenagers who were supposed to be feeling the spirit and bearing their testimonies. Multiple people stopped by to see Jane (and thankfully not touch her) and I was asked the same question at least 3x is she a good baby? to which I replied she's great, but it made me think how can a baby not be good? how can a baby be considered good or then its opposite of bad? Babies are babies- if they are fussy it does not make them bad- up at night? again par for the course they are babies! So I am not sure exactly why when people see a new baby they rely on the fall back question of is she a good baby? only second to assuming that every baby is a boy- that one is less annoying to me- I will have to bear Jane being referred to as a boy until her hair comes in around the age of 2 especially since I live in the hairbow capital of the world.

SO to the world at large Yes SHE is a good baby- and I love her very much

Medicine Man

So in typical Cash fashion he took a dive off of a stool and ended up with a pretty good size goose egg on the back of his head. I poured some Motrin into the the cup and gave it to Cash who asked,"whats dis? (this)" I told him it was medicine for his head- Cash said, "ok Mom" and then he proceeded to pour it on his head! He has had medicine before- so I was completely taken by suprise and then had to clean up the medicine and get him some more which he drank this time.

Uintahs

July has been a non stop whirlwind- so we decided to head up to the Uintah's with Johnny since he needed to finish some work on a frined's cabin and escape the heat of Salt Lake.

Blessing Jane

With Cash we took advantage of family in town and he was blessed in our Relief Society room, instead of the traditional sacrament meeting. The results: I loved it and will not go back to the traditional way! So with all of my family in town for the reunion, I knew I wanted to get Jane blessed-then we lucked out and Johnny's brother, Stan, was in twon for 48 hours-so Jane was blessed with a private family and close friends in attendance, then back to our house for a BBQ. Thank you everyone who came!

Sidenote: I bought her dress when I was pregnant-hoping for a girl

Happy Birthday Johnny

Johnny and I took advantage of the last day our older kids were in day care and left Jane with grandma and we headed to lunch at a little Italian place (that did not have kids menus!) called Canellas and then to a moive- Grownups. It was really fun to be out just the two of us. Because it is so hot Johnny requested a No Bake Cheesecake so we did not have to turn to oven on to bake a cake. Happy Birthday Hon!