Reading the Comics with Dad

I ordered the paper to attempt to "coupon"- so far its going pretty well. Reading the comics with Dad is quickly becoming a custom. Zac has picked up on saying, "get it?" at the end and then laughing-which is pretty funny in itself. Even though Jon tried to explain the pictures and reads the bubbles, Zac has no idea why its funny.



I just look at this and laugh! Max is total smothering Jon, but that doesn't stop them.


Half way through a comic Zac starts to get this concerned look on his face. I haven't figured out why yet . . .perhaps he is getting ready for the punchline :)

Miscellaneous

This is Zac illustrating and asking me, "why does a fly do this with his arms?" (why do they rub their arms together?)


Any answers?? I told him that's how they taste things to see if they are sweet. Is that right? Does anyone know why flies do that?

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Papa came into town one night to drive his car home to WI. It was a lot of fun to see him! Since it was his birthday that week and he'd be driving during it, we did a little birthday celebration. We're glad he got home safe and sound, especially making it through the first and huge snow storm in the Denver area.


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Max wanted to wear these

Halloween Night

Halloween was on a Saturday, so it was a little tricky to know when to start trick-or-treating. When was too early? The first people to our door came at 6p. I would have liked to gone at 3 or 4...but is that acceptable??

We had Dan, Amy and Jack over for Halloween. It was fun to see them again, without several months passing first ;) We ate pizza and got ready to hit the streets. . . or street (singular).


Max had fallen asleep in the car at 4:45p. I was able to transfer him to his crib where he slept for another hour or so. When I woke him to eat dinner he was grumpy but still ate-a miracle. He was still grumpy when getting his costume on. But when he realized he was going to get candy his mood slowly changed.


The finished product: Marvel's Batman and Robin



I love how the cape came out


This was Max's first year to understand trick-or-treating. He was in a great mood once we went to a few houses and got some candy. It was pretty cute. He has been doing so good with his speech lately-picking more approximations (which are words/sounds he says that mean an actual word), and pronouncing things better. He tried to say trick or treat. I love that he tried it at each house-it was so cute. And as long as the person at the door held the bowl out Max kept taking a treat.

The little superheros


We checked out the loot and unloaded, our bowl of candy, got the kids ready for bed, then we watched "Cloverfield". It was a fun, low-key night-that how I like em'.

Halloween Fun

My parents were awesome and took the boys during our Halloween party. The boys got to spend the night and do fun Halloween activities. It was perfect. There was no way we were going to fit these in with the costume mayhem.

Festive sugar cookies with lots of sprinkles!



In the spring the boys got to go over and help plant pumpkin seeds in Nani and Papi's garden. Then they got to pick a pumpkin when they got big.

They also got to carve them.

This is Max's "Blue's clue's". So cute! I didn't even know they had patterns like this!



And of course Zac's Batman!



Thanks Mom and Dad the boys had so much fun!! And it was such a nice break for us!

Halloween Prep

This year I did too much for costumes. I thought that I had given myself enough time . . . well I did have enough-everything got done. But it was so annoying that it felt never ending!

We had a cool Batman mask (Lori, we still need to get that back to you), and Batman cape that my little brother Jacob had when he was a kid. I have been wanting to make another superhero cape just like it for Max. So all these came together to implement Zac and Max being Batman and Robin for Halloween. Zac was soooo excited!

I wanted to find plain pj's that were gray and bright green-no luck. So I decided to make them. This is the first time using a pattern with out my mom assisting or me assisting her. I didn't realize that patterns were sooo much bigger that what you would want. I resewed the seam where the pins are, and cut off all the rest!

I did the same on the shirt too. The neck was still big, but I wasn't going to redo it. Overall I think it worked out fine.

I couldn't find a pattern for a Robin mask that was the right era, so I just free handed this one. It looks less cat like when its on.



Zac's school had a Halloween party so he got to dress up!


We went to a ward Halloween party too. But Zac's costume wasn't complete and Max's wasn't even close. He was a Monkey for that party. I'll get a picture later.

Then Jon and I were going to a Halloween party and wanted to do costumes. It took a while to decide what we wanted to be, and then it took a few days to figure out how in the world we were going to make it happen. Luckily, the internet is a great resource.

Jon:


Me:


How'd we do?

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, we took our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The Grossen's came with us this year. The Barn seems to have changed things a bit with when they make hayride runs so it was more busy and I think we came at a pretty slow time.


Traditional Family picture 2009

(Love the big rig in the back! :)

Traditional Family Picture 2006

I love to see these time changed pictures. This was the first year we went. We didn't go in 2007 and I forgot my camera last year.

When the tractor pulled up to the patch and Max saw all the pumpkins he was soo excited, and started saying "pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin" over and over! He LOVES pumpkins. One of his books has a pumpkin in it and he learned to recognize it pretty quickly. He calls it a "bundin". As soon as I got the pumpkin candy buckets out he puts things in them and carries them around.

My strong man, unloading the kiddos. Two looks like a handful. I can't imagine 3! And, NO I am not implying anything!

Max was totally into venturing out to explore. He just took off. Although navigating the terrain gave him some trouble.


Zac looking for just the right one. (It was a beautiful day!)


Max wanted to stand and sit on the pumpkins most of all.




I grabbed a few pumpkins for me for my porch. I am not so into carving pumpkins. I am going to try something else this year. Inspired by my friend, Shelly. Now, if we can just fit pumpkin activities in with costume making ;)

Then we all went back to get some fantastic doughnuts and AMAZING apple juice...I am craving it right now! It was soooo good. I'm not a fan of biting into an apple (weird childhood dislike caused by crooked teeth, that has stuck with me). So the juice is like drinking delicious crisp apples. I wish we had bought another gallon!

Then we went to a friends and enjoyed a victorious BYU game (obviously, not yesterdays . . . :(

Kitchen Repainted

Here are the before and after pictures of our kitchen and family room. We finished the kitchen back in October.


Before (Summer 2007)


Mid


After


(Jon got these great stools from work. The office was getting rid of them. I really like how they look and the style. But they aren't the most practical for little kids and their messes.)


Jon also installed hardware on the cabinets and drawers. There was none before. It was a very detailed project and Jon did great! And it was just what we needed for the finishing touch.


The kitchen was inspired by: http://lifeongrace.blogspot.com/2009/04/retro-cottage-kitchen-and-painted-wood.html

This is what the family room looked like right after we moved in. We painted it last year.


We finished this room in the fall.

(Back posted on Jan 17, 2010)