Will LOVES his feet now, and they're even more fun with socks. Every diaper change starts out with feet in the mouth as soon as I put him on the changing table. He's almost 5 months old, I can't believe it! We're going to start solids pretty soon. It will be fun to give him something in addition to his drink (as Sam calls it), but I'm still in mild shock that he's old enough for rice cereal. It's going so fast, I wish it would just slow down a little bit. Maybe it's because he's such a happy baby, but I just wish he'd stay like this forever. (Okay...not forever, but a little longer)

Last Friday Sam went trick-or-treating at my sister's office. Eric took him (furnace guys were still installing the furnace) and they met up with Adelle and Lilly (cutest fairies I've ever seen!). Sam will soon have lots more girl cousins than boy cousins since the girl count is nearly doubling this winter (on the Clayton side).
Emily came over that night and carved a pumpkin while Sam and I watched. She didn't tell me until she was done that she's allergic to pumpkin. I toasted the seeds in some sugar and spice, and they were really yummy! I've never really had pumpkin seeds (that I can remember anyway), so I'll be making them again!
We finally did it...something we've wanted to do for three years now. We got a new furnace!! The old one was about 30 years old and the motor was really squeaky, so we're happy to be warm and quiet at the same time.
The new furnace is pretty high tech. We also got a humidifier because I don't like severely dry air. Plus it had a rebate, as did the furnace. It should also pay for itself in 4.5 years. So far everything seems to be working (knock on wood). The installers were here from 10-6, so I imagine they were thorough. We don't always have great luck after workmen leave (it took 5 repairmen for the fridge, and we had to have the plumber come back once).

And I've started reading again! A few weeks ago I read Austenland (fun), and I'm currently working on Twilight. So far I'm really enjoying it. I started reading another book, but it was so dumb I had to take it back without finishing it. I still have several other books I've started but won't finish until I'm done with Twilight. So...Life of Pi just hasn't grabbed me. Right now he's in the boat (the ship just sank). Is my mind just too used to constant entertainment? I've heard it's a fabulous book, but thus far I find it only mildly interesting. Is it worth finishing?

itsy bitsy spider

I finally figured out why the vacuum (my new one) wasn't releasing from the upright position. The range of motion is severely restricted when 23 cents are mysteriously deposited into the release button. I guess I should show Sam where I keep his piggy bank.

Will loves his fingers more than ever, but I think he's teaching himself to whistle (sans sound).
No distraction, not even dad, is enough to get the fingers out of the mouth. What a face. It still just makes me melt.
The most exciting moment of the day came when I was walking out the door to my YW activity. For our combined activity each class was performing a dance (type thing) to music from The Singles Ward movie. Ironically, my girls chose the itsy bitsy spider. So, as I'm walking out the door I see something black and spidery moving across the floor. At first I thought maybe I dropped a spider ring, but spider rings don't walk. It was a gigantic black widow. By far, the biggest one I've ever seen.
Mike flicked it out onto the garage floor. It landed on it's back so we got a nice shot of it's red hourglass. This was moments before it met its fate. Spiders never look as big in pictures as they really are. This spider was enormous!

Cold Pillow

Mike has a funny habit of flipping his pillow over before he goes to sleep because he likes the cold side on his face. Last night Mike was putting Sam to bed and he (Sam) flipped his pillow over and said, "I want it on the cold side." Mike's genes are beginning to shine through.

My good friend Tami had her baby early Saturday morning. He's a beautiful baby. I know I have a four month old, but it still made me miss holding a newborn. They're just so sweet and fun to hold. She's going to be such a great mom!

Sam brought three pieces of sidewalk chalk to the table at lunchtime and played with them while I brought his food over. He put them together in the shape of an I and told me that's what it was. Then he took the bottom piece away and told me to look at his T. I think he'll like preschool next year. I got him into a preschool that I've heard is the best (just a cute lady that loves kids). There was one spot left and four people that wanted it...and I got it! Sam will be in the same class as a cute little girl in our ward, so it should be a lot of fun.

I took this picture just before sunset (this is the view from the back of our house), and less than 12 hours later we had 3 inches of snow. Most of it's gone now, and today was pretty warm. I can't decide which season we're in. The mountains (mostly covered with clouds) are gorgeous, so we have an incredible view all year. It sure makes doing the dishes a lot more pleasant!

Before and After

This is a lot of pictures, but don't worry...it's easy reading.




I had to repaint the whole ceiling too, since they painted around the shop light.

I'm embarrassed to show this. My closet was my dumping ground. In my defense, Mike made a lot of that pile in the middle while making room for the shelves. This had to be repainted too, it looked terrible...the ceiling was pale green.
Just finished today! I love the new closet, and Mike can even put his stuff in it too!

More parking!

This was taken after all the junipers were removed. Except for the asphalt, they literally covered the entire front yard.
After three years of very hard work, we finally have a front yard!




I'll stop saying I had to repaint. Just assume that if there's a picture with a wall in it, it had to be repainted (even if it's the same color, it was repainted).



My Tai Pan bathroom. Well, the vanity and mirrors at least.


The fastest redo so far! The hardest part was painting it.

This was our first project (okay, second. No pics of the 1st one, just ripped wood off a wall and fixed & painted it) after we moved in, and it's still not done. It's close enough that it's hard to get motivated to finish. We just need to put up new crown moulding and do some painting and wall texturing.

Mike asked me what I wanted to do for our winter project this year. I told him I want to read a book!

Tender Moments

Sometimes it's the one tender moment that makes a hard day worth the effort. I put Sam to bed last night (Mike usually does, but he was at the gym). I was tucking him in and out of nowhere Sam asked, "Where does Jesus live?" I told him in Heaven with Heavenly Father. He said, "With Heavenly Father and Father (Pres) Hinckley?" He made that connection on his own, it's so fun to see his thought process.

It's also fun when Sam takes a phrase we use all the time and uses it himself. Yesterday he knocked something to the floor where my "to organize" pile was, so we ran to see what happened. When we saw Sam standing over the item that fell, Mike asked what he was doing. Sam's response was, "Just hanging out."

Sam asked Mike to help him put the safety glasses on, and then started playing on the saw table like he knew exactly what to do (Mike lowered the blade and watched closely).

We went to our favorite spot in the canyon, but we didn't get any great shots. Above would have been a lot better if we could have gotten the tripod a few feet higher. That's what we get for finding a cool log on a hill.
This was the best shot of Sam and Will. Sam was really not into the pictures, so we took what we could get. We love this little place, and it's always deserted on Tuesdays. Some time we'll have to bring someone up with us to take pictures.

Mike is getting the last shelf put up in our closet, so I'll have pictures soon. I'm so excited to have a real closet!

Duh...

This morning I was getting Sam dressed and I picked out his new thermal shirt. I told him it would make him warm and cozy, and as soon as it was on he said, "Now I'm warm and cozy!"
Sam's cute aunts Emily and Jane came over to visit us the other night. Sam told Emily he had a shot and that shots hurt. Emily asked where he got it, and looking a bit bewildered at such a question said, "At the doctor's office!"

Will helped me organize some of my junk today wearing his cute new slippers. We don't keep the house super warm in the winter, so these will help keep his feet toasty.
You gotta love the classic Spiderman onsie, especially when the neck is particularly large and easy to grab.

Giant

At RC Willey yesterday we walked past a salesman who was very tall and large around the middle. After we were out of earshot (thank goodness) Sam asked, "Mom, was that a great big giant?"

Both of the boys went to the doctor today. Will had a checkup and immunizations (4), and Sam got a flu shot. Will cried for maybe 20 seconds. Sam cried a little longer. I still really hate shots for the boys. Quadruple band-aids are sad. Will does great with vaccines though. With his first round I gave him tylenol once. This time I haven't given him any and he's been his happy little self. He's also gone from the 50th to the 75th percentile for height. He's skinny though, down to the 30th percentile for weight. But, he's still growing, so the doctor's very happy with his progress.

Sam and I made more sugar cookies today. I got the best recipe from Steph, everyone devours these cookies! I was very naughty and had a few bites of one. I've gotten back into baking. After Will was born I didn't have time to do much but survive. It's kind of nice to be settled enough to want to bake again. I also started a couple of books, so I'm currently reading 4. It's a terrible habit, but I'm either reading nothing or more than I can finish in a reasonable amount of time. I love the library.

But Daaaad!

Mike made cookies last night (finally figured out how to make fluffy cookies at our elevation!) and Sam was excited to eat them. He'd already had one or two and asked Mike for another one. Mike told him no, and from the other room I heard, "But Dad, all my friends are going to be there!" He watched Jimmy Neutron in St. George, which is where that comes from. We laughed for about 5 minutes. What would we do without our Sam?

Sam was curious about stop lights. We taught him that green means go and red means stop. When we stopped at an intersection with a stop sign instead of a light we had to explain that as well (he was confused when he didn't see a red light). The next day in the car we came to a stop sign, and when we started going again he asked where the "go sign" was. He pays attention to everything, especially in the car. He'll ask if we're going to certain places depending on the direction we drive. I don't drive with a lot of kids, but I've never seen one so aware of their surroundings.

I never shop at Albertson's unless they're having an incredible sale. The last few weeks they've been having amazing sales. I went last night and got over $200 worth of food for $66. I can't pass up 70 cents for a box of cereal. Or 35 cents for cream of mushroom soup. Or free yogurt. Or free quaker granola bars. My food storage room is close to overflowing, but it's all stuff we eat (I'm not just buying things we'll never use and storing it). I paid attention to how my mom grocery shopped when I was growing up, and it sure has saved us a lot of money. Hooray for smart moms!

A few more

I couldn't resist putting a few more on. For anyone who knows Scott, this will make a lot of sense. The Foutz kids were crazy sleepers, but Scott and I were more creative than the other siblings.













A little plastic bowl and a German roll.

We're home!

Where to begin? Mike did great at the marathon. He wasn't able to train the three weeks before because of an injury, but he still did awesome! He wasn't walking fast enough for Sam, so Sam tried to help him to the car. You can see on Mike's face how much he appreciated it. At the race I saw a guy in our ward finish, and a guy named Michael Foutz (my maiden name...we're somehow related, I'm sure). We also saw a guy that used to be in our ward, and we met some people that were in Jeff & Brooke's ward in Cleveland (also at dental school). He just graduated in May and is practicing in St. George (we were at the park and the guy saw Mike and knew he had to be Jeff's twin). The Stewart cousins were down for the marathon too, so we went to dinner with them Saturday night and had lunch with them at the condo on Sunday. The girls are planning on running St. George in 2011. 4 years should be long enough to train.

This is Uncle Nick and Mike the day after the race. Nick has done 15 or 16 marathons now, Mike has run 3.

This is Kaitlin the day after her first marathon. She is one tough cookie!

This was definitely the highlight of the trip for Sam. Uncle Nick (Grandma Grace's brother) is the best!
Since all the men were resting, Sam helped the girls load the car. (The girl in this picture is a friend of a cousin) Sam loves the Stewarts, but then I guess we all love the Stewarts!

This picture demonstrates two of Sam's quirks. The obvious one: sleeping with random, strange objects. It's a sewing basket, complete with 5 pairs of scissors inside. This is most likely a Foutz trait, as illustrated by the pictures below. One is me, the other is my brother Scott.

The not-so-obvious quirk: jumping. All the time. If you look closely you'll see a little scab next to Sam's eye. On Thursday we were at dinner with Mike's family to meet Emily's future in-laws (who are wonderful!). Jane was sitting on the floor holding Will and Sam decided to jump to her. It's pretty tough to hold a little one and catch a big one, so Sam ended up hitting his face on the corner of a table. His eye has looked worse every day since. It ended up turning into a black eye. Hope it goes away soon, it makes me cringe to see it.