Will's Drawing

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.

Good Times

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.

Samisms

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.

• Yesterday Sam's uncle and cousin were over. I was doing dishes or something, so all I heard of the conversation was: (Sam) "Heavenly Father built me to be strong!" (Uncle) "Your father built you?" (Sam) "No! Heavenly Father!"
• Tonight we went to my mom's to watch the UofU v BYU game with a few of our brothers and sisters (some from each of our families). On the way home Sam said, "We have to call Osie! I have to tell her that I'm my father's son!" We have no idea where that came from. (We were so glad Osie was there...she and Sam played together the whole game. Awesome.)
• Right after he said the father's son thing, we were stopped at an intersection and Sam pointed and said he wanted to go there. I saw a branch of our credit union and a Walgreen's. I didn't know where he meant, so I turned around and he pointed harder at the credit union and said, "I want to go there and get a lollipop!" Not that he's ever been to that branch, he just recognized the sign.

Utah has always had crazy weather, and this is a fun example. Halloween

5 days after Halloween

I think we had 15 inches total, and it stopped in the early afternoon. It started early morning and dumped for hours. I couldn't shovel either, so poor Mike had to do it in the dark when he got home from work. This week we've had awesome Autumn weather, and I've even been baking again. Haven't done much of that since June. I have a yummy sweet roll recipe I'll be posting on my food blog soon.

Sam's Angel

Pretzels

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.

California! Again!

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!

Halloween

This is pretty much how Halloween went this year. Will running around like crazy. He was Batman, but he couldn't wear the pants because they were 5 inches too long. That was only weird because the shirt fit fine.

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.

Candy Clay

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)

It's not like I said, "Here Will, this is edible so I hope you just start shoving it in your mouth without playing with it or even asking if it's okay to eat." But that's what he did. He doesn't do this with play-doh. How do they know? (He didn't see Sam eating it, Sam played with his during Will's naptime)

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.

Preschool Halloween Parade

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!

Sunday Fun

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.

3-D Squeeze Chalk

1/2 c cornstarch

2 Tbs flour

1/4 c water

4-6 drops food coloring

medium zip bag

Mix cornstarch and flour together in a small bowl. Add water and food coloring. Mix until the consistency of a thick paste. If it's too dry, sprinkle with a little water and stir. Pour into the zip bag and seal. Snip a small hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze the chalk out of the bag and on the sidewalk.

I used a sandwich bag, but one of the seams opened a little. Next time I'll use a quart freezer bag.

This came out of a book my sister has...something about cool kid concoctions. I don't know the name, but it's full of awesome stuff. Tons of great stuff for object lessons too. I can't wait to try Jennifer's favorite Treasure Stones. And the candy glass.

Miracle

Yes, Will ate a few bites of a pb&j. I still can't believe it. Something I hope to repeat soon.

Animals

We went to a fun animal presentation at the library one night for FHE. They had all sorts of animals: a hedgehog, parrot, snake, african chicken, rabbits (some cool new breed), lizards, and lots of other things. The last animal was this dog, which they got to pet.

Will couldn't have cared less about the animals. He just wanted to run around the library and wreak havoc. He's totally the accessory kid. If he finds shoes, socks, hats, gloves, or even a tie, he wants to wear it. Right now. If you take something off and he's not done with it (tonight, for instance, his shoes), he'll insist you put it back on. In California he discovered after one of his baths that he really likes to run around in a towel. Today he even brought me one of the kitchen towels so I could put it around his shoulders. Such a funny kid.

Halloween Activities

Sam and I did some fun Halloween activities with some friends. I found a great blog with all sorts of kid activities, and I didn't put up a link for it before I closed it. I'll put it up when I find it again, it had tons of fun stuff. I found this coloring page/puzzle.

We also made some spooky ghosties, which were much more entertaining than the puzzles. I got this idea from Steph when we went to Baltimore 2 years ago. Will and another kid were there too, and all of them loved these ghosts. Sam and Max had a blast scaring each other.

We hung a few of the survivors on the front door.