FALL HAS COME... and almost gone!

Well I finally gave in. I turned on the pellet stove this week. At first the smell of the burning wood was exciting and nostalgic... but now its just giving me a headache. lol. I'm hoping now that Ty cleaned out the flue pipe (while he was replacing the gasket and fixing the knob so I can turn it on without tools again ... LOVE my handy husband!) that the smell isn't so strong. I feel like we are choking in it! Haha. Jay is fascinated by it. Don't worry he keeps his distance, but he likes to sit in front of it and watch it at work!

We also went for a drive to see the fall leaves this week but most of the leaves had already fallen. Sad I know, but the view was still pretty and we enjoyed some family time together... well aside from the whining and fighting and the "this is taking too long" comments! lol.

For preschool we had a lesson on harvest and pumpkins. We opened up a pumpkin to look inside... and feel inside, and smell inside. The kids had fun... even though not all of them liked the pumpkin guts. haha. We pulled out the seeds so we could dry them! We also had our second field trip! We went to the pumpkin patch where we went through a hay maze, rode a train, played with the kittens in the barn, played in a mountain of hay/straw... and oh yeah there were pumpkins too! We had a blast!

We carved pumpkins Saturday night. By 'we' I mean Ty. lol. I carved half of Jay's but Ty finished that one too. He made Crystal's into a pirate, Lily's a princess, and Jay's a happy pumpkin (all per request).

I made Ty go out tonight to take this.  Glad he loves me cuz he had to move them so they would show up in the picture! 

WELL CHECKS

Crystal and Lily had their well checks this week. I love that they have fall birthdays, so we always have a doctors appointment when its time to get a flu shot/mist. Otherwise I don't think it would happen!

Crystal (7) is 53 lbs 60%ile and 49 inches tall 75%ile. Other than some minor seasonal allergies she's doing great! Crystal has such a sweet spirit about her. She is always concerned for others and wants to be friends with everyone. She's very emotional which leads to meltdowns over small things occasionally (she is SO her mother's child. lol), but it also allows her to feel empathy for those around her. She is the peacemaker in the home and we love her with all our hearts!

Lily (5) is 42 lbs 60%ile and 44 inches tall 80%ile. She's tall enough for Disneyland rides!!! Wahoo! It must be time to go again!!! Haha! She is also doing well health wise and growing like a weed! Lily is very passionate about everything she does! This includes when she is angry! Haha. She is the sweetest cuddly angel, and her contagious smile brightens the room, but watch out when she doesn't get her way! Haha. She loves her dolls and barbies and can spend hours playing pretend with them. I love listening to the worlds her imagination creates! It fascinates me! Her passionate energy and confidence, though difficult to manage at times, is such a blessing in our home. We love her dearly! 

We have a new doctor and the kids just LOVE him! They didn't want to leave the doctors office when it was time to go! Even Jay and he had to get the flu shot instead of the flu mist! Haha! When it was time to go, he gave them each a quarter to put in a vending machine full of prizes. I only got a picture of Crystal and her prize (basically a make your own Gak kit), but Lily chose finger puppets and Jay got bubbles!

 FAMILY TIME
Friday night we sat down with treats and watched a Halloween movie together. The kids' treats were bats on a stick (made out of pretzels and an oreo)! They were fun but very messy!!! 
And Saturday we tried out Cafe Sabor. We got a free spinach artichoke dip appetizer that lasted about 2 minutes before it was gone! These kids can be picky so its nice to see them eat like that occasionally!

THE KIDS

The girls had their primary program today. While they were all dressed up and matching I thought I'd try to get some pictures! 

 RANDOM PICTURES

Goodbye hugs and kisses! 

We love rainbows and sunsets!!!

Lily's 5th Birthday

LILY'S BIRTHDAY

Lily's birthday was today! She turned 5 years old! The day after her birthday last year she informed me that she was going to have a Spiderman birthday party next year. She stuck with it for a whole year, so yesterday we had a Spiderman birthday party! We caught villains by web slinging (silly string), played pin the spider on the web, and had a web walk for prizes! And of course we had cake and ice cream!!!! 

After the party we went out to eat as a family at the place of Lily's choice! She narrowed it down to mac n cheese at Chuckarama or pancakes at Perkins. She ultimately decided pancakes sounded best! They sang to her after we ate and her eyes just lit up! I didn't pull the camera out in time of course, but it was adorable!

Today was her actual birthday so we celebrated some more!!! We had cake and ice cream with family! She was able to play with cousins for hours and opened a few more presents. When we finally made it back home tonight she opened her present from us. She got a video camera to put on her bike just like her sister has. I have a feeling we have a lot of bike rides in our near future ... hopefully before the cold hits! (Speaking of weather... it was so nice to have her party outside! LOVING the nice weather we've been having!)

REED'S DAIRY
Crystal and Lily both got free cake cone at Reed's Dairy coupons in the mail for their birthdays, so this week for family night we got some yummy dessert!!!! 

JAY

Seriously! I took this picture of him before church today and almost cried when I looked at it! Where is my baby boy going?!?!?!? He's growing up so fast! 

He was so proud of his 'pikey' hair. lol. Unfortunately that means he kept rubbing it to tell me how spikey it was so it didn't make it through sacrament meeting today. lol. Oh well. It was cute while it lasted. Haha.

JAY AND ROSCOE

I looked up from my work and Jay was looking at a book with his arm gently over Roscoe. And Roscoe was napping. These two love each other! I'm not sure why because Jay is pretty rough with him sometimes, but Roscoe follows him around where ever he goes!

FINISHED PROJECTS

First, we got the deck stained! It has needed it since we bought the house 8 years ago! Oy! We also added lattice on the front to kind of separate the flowerbed from under the deck. It looked great! BUT the wind blew really hard last Sunday and the lattice blew off. lol. We finally have a finished project and it blows away! lol. We need to figure out a way to secure it better before we put it back on. Hopefully it happens before the snow comes!!!!

I have also been busy finishing up (starting in some cases) projects from the past ... well... 3 years. lol. I started by pulling out the sewing machine and mending my massive pile of clothes that needed some work! It was about a year in the making so I figured it was about time I got around to it! lol. The girls were pretty happy to have some of their stuff back after so long!
I also painted the Frozen letters I bought last year to decorate the girls room, then some Halloween decorations that I bought 2 years ago, then I started on a nativity set from 3 years ago. I'm still working on those and have a few more projects after that. I guess this is what I get when I stop crafting for two years! I went through a phase where I just didn't feel like I ever had time for it. I'm not sure how, but I'm glad I am finding the time again! I've missed it!