Dinner is in the oven, and Mike is playing with the boys, so I have about three seconds to do whatever I want. We had a crazy December and a great Christmas. I have tons to catch up on, but for now, here are two of my favorite Samisms:
I bought gas today for $1.31 a gallon.
It's been snowing all day, so after Will went down for his nap, Sam and I went outside to play! It hasn't snowed for a month, so Sam was excited that it's finally winter!
He made snow angels...
and helped me shovel the walks. And threw snowballs at me. And made me throw snow at him.
If anyone is looking for toddler snow bibs, Target carries them for $12.99 (regular price). They're pretty decent too. Kept Sam warm and dry.
I'm trying to remember to take more pictures. Pregnancy just makes me such a slacker in pretty much every respect.
We played a rousing game of Roll Ball before bed the other night.
Mike was at welding class, so the boys and I had a quiet dinner of grilled cheese. Or maybe this was when he was working late. That's probably it, because Katie usually comes over on welding class nights when her husband is out of town.
"Mom, take a picture of me like this!"
Such a cheeser! That was about all he would eat of his grilled cheese. This boy and his picky eating. It's a miracle he gains any weight at all. My friend's baby is 9 months old and weighs slightly more than Will. Will's checkup was today and he is growing. He weighs 22 lbs. 13 oz. That puts him in the 25th percentile for weight, but he's in the 50th percentile for height. I'll have to remeasure him because I don't think they told me his inches.
"Mom, if you really love me, you'll give me a haircut."
Sam stuffed two tennis balls and a mini football in his shirt and said, "Mom, look! I have three babies in my tummy!"
Sam was so proud of himself as he announced, "I took all the decorations off the tree that I could reach!"
Wednesday was a pretty crazy day for me. It was our first Enrichment Activity since I called to Relief Society. Not just that, it was the Christmas dinner and program. Talk about pressure. I have a fabulous enrichment leader (and we have a very small committee), and we actually pulled it off! Luckily, it was also Mike's day off, so I went and set up in the morning, went home for a shower, went to a stake RS luncheon, took the boys to the park with Mike, and then went back to the church for the rest of the night. The food was good, the program was great, and I was home by 9:00 with everything totally cleaned up and done. Whew! I was a complete zombie on Thursday, but we won't have another major activity until March. I'll have a newborn, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
These boys love their daddy!
They had tons of fun. Mommy and Daddy got a little break when a minivan full of kids stopped by.
Sam always makes new friends when we go places. It's great, everyone is his friend before he even meets them. These kids were lots of fun too. They made trains going down the slide. This time around Sam lost his shoe. He was pretty bummed when they had to go. They all had "A" names...there was Austin, Alec, Aspen, and Alta. Mike and I have so much trouble naming our kids anyway, we'd never be able to stick with one letter. And no, we have not picked a name for the baby. We're not trying to be coy, and we're not waiting until we see what she looks like. We just can't decide. Same as with Sam and Will. We just need a deadline, and signing the birth certificate seems to be pretty motivating.Mike would probably be mad if he knew Sam tried my boots on...but Sam was pretending to be Puss in Boots from Shrek. Not quite right style of boot, but whatever. I went shoe shopping the other night and I finally got my black boots. It's really hard to find cute boots for a good price, but I found some!
And I got these shoes too...so fun! I really like them. The boots were normally $70, but I got the boots and shoes for $50 (for both). Yay for double sales plus a coupon!
5 of my neighbors within a block of me are pregnant. That makes 6 of us total. Just found out about the other one tonight. I think another one will probably be pregnant soon too. Just a guess. We must have one of the most hormonal blocks in the state, and that's saying a lot for Utah!
Food always looks better in person, especially when you're eating it. This is a cinnamon roll caramel apple pecan pie. Pretty good. I'll post the recipe on the food blog some day...when I have some time (ha!).
Climbs. On. Everything.
We let Sam watch movies after we ate so everyone would be happy. Will didn't want to watch the show, he just wanted to hang out with his brother on the amazing green chair. I love that thing.
I guess I ate too much...I look so full! I'm seriously starting to get a complex. 4 of my neighbors within a block of me are pregnant. One of them is due any day, and the other three are all about two months behind me. Except for the 9-monther, none of them show yet. At all. And it's starting to make me feel bad. I was already in maternity clothes two months ago, and this is my smallest pregnancy yet! But I'm 30 weeks now...just 10 more to go!
We went home and put the kids in bed. Correction, I put the kids in bed because Mike had a migraine coming on. But then I went and saw Twilight with Melissa and Renee. I have to say...I liked it! I thought it was going to be really bad, but it wasn't. Some of the casting and acting left something to be desired, but I was so glad the movie wasn't awful! It was fun to have a girls night too, it's been a while! Now I can't wait for the next one...Life has been so busy lately! Back at the beginning of October I was released from teaching Mia Maids in our ward and called to be the 2nd counselor (enrichment) in the Relief Society. Even before I was sustained and set apart, I had already been to two meetings. It hasn't slowed down a whole lot since, especially with Christmas. And our Christmas dinner is on Wednesday. Yikes! More than half of the enrichment committee has been released since I was put in, and we've only called one more person. Plus our enrichment leader is brand new too...so we're all new, and we're all trying to figure out what we're doing! I guess as long as everyone shows up with their food assignment, we can't go wrong. I hope.
Will had a blast running around with Sam's backpack on one day after preschool.
And Sam had his first homework assignment! He had to put together a city plan using these shapes. I made a couple of suggestions when he got stuck, but he thought of pretty much all of it by himself. Down in the corner is a monster truck. My artistic skills are pretty much non-existent, obviously. And that's him flying the kite.
A cute girl in our ward drew this picture of Will yesterday during Sacrament Meeting. He wanders around and visits everyone sitting around us, playing with their toys, eating their snacks, etc. He spends more time with other people than he does with us.
I had just brought up a bunch of freshly ironed clothes from the laundry room. I think Will could sense it...the time I had just taken to iron 10 shirts (with more to do). He grabbed one of my maternity shirts and pulled it all around the house by the tie. Super fun.
Sam says the most hilarious stuff all the time, but when I go to write it down, I usually can't remember what he said. I finally remember a few.
Halloween
5 days after Halloween
We made some yummy pretzels the other day. I really like my sister's book, there's tons of fun stuff, activities and recipes. Sam even loves to flip through the pages just to look at the pictures. Check out the food blog for details. We had our last family vacation for a very long time. I won't be traveling again until after the baby comes. We drove to California to spend a week in Huntington Beach. The drive down was actually really good. We left pretty late in the day so the boys could sleep on the way to St. George, slept for a few hours at the Mulberry house, and then woke up early to finish the drive. We did the same thing on the way home, and it was great. The boys really needed the break. Who am I kidding? So did we. I'm a sleepy driver anyway, but when I'm pregnant I don't have a chance...so Mike did all the driving. The whole way, both ways, 11 or 12 hours each way. (The other day I got super sleepy driving home from Costco. It's 6 miles.)
We went to Disneyland the day after we got there, and it was really hot. We spent quite a bit of time in Mickey and Minnie's houses. They were air conditioned, and Will loved them.
This is Sam with his flushed cheeks because he was so hot, and not happy about having to be in a picture.
Will had a hard day. The front bar wasn't snapped into place because we kept popping it out to get him in and out more easily. We didn't realize that it wasn't secure and he leaned on it too hard and fell out. He hit his head pretty hard, so we took him to the first aid station to get some ice. Sam didn't fare any better. He got hit in the face with a hydraulic gate and had two huge red spots on his face by the time I saw him.
Sam's been into this Buzz Lightyear phase, so meeting him was pretty awesome. This was right after we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride (I scored 91,000 points, thank you). I've been to Disneyland twice this year, and this is the only ride I went on both times. Most of the rides have a sign saying expectant mothers shouldn't ride. So really, I paid $35 for each time around on Buzz Lightyear.
I think I overexerted at Disneyland because I spent the entire next day sick in bed. I finally threw up that night, and eventually started feeling better the next day. And Mike and Will also shared a little cold. It's not fun if someone's not sick, right? That's our family vacation mantra. We didn't go on one trip this year where someone didn't throw up. Plus Will got hand-foot-and-mouth disease last time we were down (in addition to teething and diaper rash). We're just lucky I guess.
The boys went to Disneyland again, but Will had to stay home with me. He was absolutely heartbroken at being left behind. That sad face makes me feel a little guilty. But there was no way I was going again, and there's not much at Disneyland for a kid his age anyway.
My uncle and aunt rent a beach house every year on Capistrano Beach, and my mom usually goes down for a few days to be with them. This year my sister, brother, and sister-in-law went too, so we drove down on Sunday to have dinner with everyone. Mike had never met my Aunt Katherine, or my cousin Don (on either side of me). Don is my first cousin. He's 9 years younger than my mom and has children my age. All of my cousins are a lot older than me, but it's still weird to me that my first cousin is old enough to be my dad. Don lives about 35 minutes away from the condo in Huntington Beach, so we'll be able so visit family when we go out! It was really fun to see them. I've seen my uncle Lynn once since I got married, and I have no idea the last time I saw the other two. One of Don's kids (whom I've never met...of his three, I've met one) might be moving to Salt Lake soon, so it will be fun to have more family around. I've never lived very close to my extended family. That's one reason Mike's family is so neat. Most of his cousins live in Utah, so we get to see them a lot.
We had a great trip, but I think I'm all relaxed out for a while. Now I'm going to try to catch up on getting my house in order...or at least get the laundry put away!
We made a stop at Grandma's to say hi, and then had to go see LaRae. It just isn't Halloween if we don't visit LaRae. Mike's known her his whole life (she lives up the street from his parents). She's so sweet, she makes you feel like she's your grandma. Mike doesn't even go with us (because he's still at work), but she's always thrilled when we come. I love this lady!
We went trick-or-treating with Osie (Sam's cousin) and Ryan this year. It was rainy, I was exhausted, and Will was a little monkey the whole time. But I did my yearly duty. I've taken the kids out every year because of various reasons, so I'm hoping next year it's Mike's turn.
The kids loved the vampire teeth. A lot. 
Mike was Mr. Clean, and Will thought the earring was hilarious. Probably one of my favorite costumes ever. 
I just really love this picture. The hand...the neck...the eyes...it's all so fitting.
Another fun kid concoction from my sister's book. It's a good consistency for playing with, and pretty tasty too. I love that it's not just non-toxic, but it's actually fine to eat it (if you don't mind the kids eating pure sugar and butter). Sam loves this stuff:
Sam: (holding it and taking bites)
Mom: Sam, you need to make something before you eat it.
Sam: (twisting the clay) It's a rocket. (resumes eating)
Candy Clay 1 lb. powdered sugar
1/3 c corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c margarine (softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
5-7 drops food coloring
Mix all ingredients until blended. If the mixture is too sticky, add more powdered sugar.
I used unsalted butter because that's what I had. I started out mixing it by hand, but I could tell it was going to take forever. I dumped it into my mixer and it was perfect in seconds.
We were going to do Batman this year, but Sam changed his mind and went with Thomas. Good thing too, since two of the three other boys were Batman.
Check out the awesome wings on Batman. It looked like he was wearing a backpack, but then he pushed a button and his wings spread out. It was hilarious. Almost wished I had some.
Sam's class with their fabulous teacher Miss Chris. She has the quietest voice I think I've ever heard, and she seems to have endless patience. She's been great for Sam, I'm so glad we got him in! Her waitlist is always a year out, and we got the last spot in his class. Yay for preschool!Sam and I made 3-D squeeze chalk! It took 2 minutes and a couple of pantry staples.
It was thick enough to pick it up and play with it, so Sam made a bunch of snakes. He made me do the trains. That would be Thomas and Diesel 10. But I'm sure you could tell.
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