Happy Halloween

Some of you may remember that Colby thinks that Halloween should be celebrated only one day a year, on October 31st.  I, on the other hand, think it should be celebrated the entire month of October.  Apparently, Iowans agree with me.  As a general rule, Iowans are party animals when it comes to Halloween celebrations.  Here is a summary of our festivities (and I have to add,  because of my lack of energy this year, there were actually two events that we had planned to go to and didn't- party on Iowa)

Fall Festival

The local elementary school held their annual fall festival last Saturday.  Cambells and Fluhmans joined us for carnival games, cookie decorating and dinner.  The kids got to dress up in their Halloween costumes and had a great time.

Carter decorating his cookie.

Waiting in line to play carnival games.

Still more waiting in line (but all that waiting was worth all the candy and prizes).

Pumpkin Carving

For F.H.E. we carved Jack O 'Lanterns.  The boys designed their own faces, and both wanted "really scary" pumpkins.  As you can see, they were thrilled with the results.

Colby did most of our pumpkin carving this year...

With a little help from the boys cleaning out the pumpkin "guts."

Trunk or Treat

Our ward had a trunk or treat on the night before Beggars Night.  It was a fun night, with lots of candy!  We loved seeing all of the cute costumes.

There was some miscommunication about what time the trunk or treat started, you will be amazed to hear that we showed up at 5:50 and the trunk or treat didn't start until 6:30.  Ammon waited very patiently.

Beggar's Night

Iowans don't trick or treat on Halloween,  they actually go trick or treating on Oct. 30- or Beggar's night.  I think it's a strange tradition, but the kids didn't seem to mind (it's candy either way, right?)  The Nance's came and joined us for dinner, then we headed out for some serious trick or treating.  We lucked out and had beautiful weather this year for Beggar's night (I am hoping this nice weather continues for a couple more weeks!)

Our little spider.

Ironically enough,  Oct 31st was the only night this past week that we didn't celebrate Halloween.   I guess we know who wears the pants in this family!  We hope you all had a wonderful October and a great Halloween.  I, for one, am excited that it is finally November!

Crazy Eights

I've been tagged by my friend Sara:

Eight TV shows I like to watch:

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. The Office

3. CSI

4. Law and Order

5. The King of Queens

6. Seinfield

7. Super Why

8. Sid the Science Kid

Eight Resturaunts where I like to eat:

1. Costa Vida

2. Wingers

3. Cool Basil

4. Texas Roadhouse

5. Mimi's Cafe

6. Sweet Tomatoes

7. Applebees

8. Panera Bread

Eight Things that happened today (this will be boring, because it's only 1 pm)

1. Made breakfast

2. Walked Ammon to the bus stop

3. Learned how to make eggrolls at cooking club (and they were awesome, by the way)

4. Ate lunch with Colby (he actually authorized a visit to the school, which happens about once a year!)

5. Took Carter to Preschool

6. Reattached the velcro to Carter's Halloween costume

7. Read my email

8. Did the dishes

Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. Halloween (and Beggar's night)

2. November 7th

3. Colby's parents to visit

4. My parents to visit

5. Thanksgiving

6. Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving

7. Christmas

8. Colby's graduation

Eight things on my wish list:

1. A foot massage (hint, hint, Colb)

2. A healthy baby 

3. Not to have to go back to work

4. Healthy kids

5. A house

6. A yard

7. To be able to be with family for Christmas

8. To be able to be with Colby his fourth year of school

Eight people I tag:

1. Kristen

2. Kami

3. Melanie

4. Lisa

5. Jen

6. Michelle

7. Marcie

8. Crystal

Fall Fun

Last night, Nances invited us over to continue the tradition of making haunted houses.  We had a great chili/soup/bread dinner and had a blast decorating our houses.  Thanks Zack and Lisa!  We got great pictures of the Paynes, Ellis and Pinegres, but somehow didn't get a picture of our great hosts (I think they were keeping busy preparing frosting and cleaning!)

This week, Carter got to ride on a school bus for the first time! We went to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class, and he had so much fun!  The highlights of the trip were seeing the farm animals, playing in the corn and on the pile of hay and picking out his own little pumpkin.

We love fall!  We are enjoying every minute of this fun season.

Day Thirty

Last night I had a dream that I went to the doctor (a normal occurence) and she asked me if I was having any problems or complications.  I told her I was having severe heartburn and she told me she needed to run a couple of tests.  After running the tests,  the doctor returned to the exam room and announced,  "your heartburn levels are dangerously high,  I'm going to have to admit you to the hospital and do a c-section today."   I woke up a little bit panicked (even though I seriously doubt my doctor would do an early c-section due to "high" hearburn levels) and decided that it was time to clean out the nursery (just in case).  I spent the day washing baby clothes,  cleaning out the closet and making a weak attempt at decorating.  It is a work in progress, but it finally looks like a nursery rather than an "everything else" room.

Day Twenty Nine

Today was the Des Moines Marathon, I was bummed that I wasn't participating in it.  It's hard to believe that a year ago I was running a marathon and today I got winded walking into church.  Oh, the things we do for kids!  It's a good thing they are so worth it.

Day Twenty Eight

Date Night. Not the best picture of us, but it was great to go out.

Day Twenty Seven

Today Ammon had his first official "sick day."  He had a fever and told us,  "my brain hurts." After a trip to the doctor,  we discovered that he has strep throat.  Poor little guy. The worst part is,  he had to miss his first field trip.  Bummer.

Day Twenty Six

I am having a hard time keeping up with this "picture a day for 30 days" thing,  I guess our lives just aren't that exciting.  Because I don't want to give up on the final stretch,  I am reaching for things to post.  I saw this quote on my friend Sara's blog and I loved it!  It is actually part of one of my favorite October conference talks, given by President Thomas S. Monson.  He eloquently describes raising young children,  and advises us to cherish it.

"...we should make the most of today, of the here and now...doing all that we can to provide pleasant memories for the future. If you're still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon, and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."
*President Thomas S. Monson*

Day Twenty Five

Bitey, the wonderfish.

Bitey, our Beta is a wonderfish for a couple of reasons.

1. He has survived for over a month, which in our fish tank is a long time (ask the twenty or so fish that we had before Bitey)

2. He frequently looks like he's dead.  He doesn't really swim, he just floats in the plants.  At least once a day I will tap on the glass to make sure he is still alive.

Day Twenty Four

I've been tagged!  Post five things about your kids that others may or may not know.

 Kid #1:  Ammon

1. After twelve hours of labor,  Ammon was born via c-section.

2. Ammon was mobile at an early age,  he started crawling at 7 months and walking at 10 months. He is still always on the go.

3. Ammon loves fruit,  he considers fruit cups, mandarin oranges and strawberries a treat.  A couple of months ago we took the boys to Mcdonalds for icecream and Ammon asked if he could have a yogurt parfait instead.

4. Ammon loves Science.  He knows more about sharks, snakes and other reptiles than I do. He loves reading books about animals and watching the Discovery channel.  He especially enjoyed watching "shark week."

5. Ammon loves to swim!  He recently started "diving" for dive sticks at the pool and swimming on his own  (without a life jacket!) This Summer,  he got swimmer's ear and it was miserable. He now reminds me that we have to blow dry his ears after we swim.

Kid #2:  Carter

1. Carter spent his first week in the NICU,  he recovered quickly and has not been sick very often since then. 

2. If you ask Carter to do something that he doesn't want to do,   he will tell you that he is sick. I don't know where he learned this- but it only took a couple of times for me to figure out that he was "crying wolf."

3. Carter loves to play soccer.  He learned to dribble a soccer ball about the same time that he learned how to walk.  He loves to go to soccer practice with Colby and Ammon, and although he's not officially part of the team he got to play in the game on Saturday (we didn't have enough subs). I guess that's the benefit of having daddy be the coach.  He was grinning from ear to ear.

4.  Carter likes to play with my hair when he's tired.  This started when he was just a couple of weeks old and he still plays with my hair when he's sitting on my lap or laying next to me.

5. Thanks to a state puzzle,  Carter knows the location of many of the U.S. states.  He can also tell you which states you have to drive through to get from Iowa to Utah (to visit Grandma and Grandpa),  from Iowa to Michigan (to visit Cannon), and from Iowa to California (to see Lightning McQueen race).  He also knows which states Isaac and Megan live in.

Day Twenty Three

Sidewalk chalk and ladybugs.   We are so grateful that it's still warm outside!

Day Twenty Two

Playing catch with daddy.

Day Twenty One

What do you do with an excess of apples fresh from the orchard?

Make homemade apple pie.

Widget disclaimer:  I have had a couple of people comment that my widget is showing me at 40 weeks (I wish).  On my computer it is correct (36 weeks) and I'm not sure how to fix it.  I am going to try a different widget, but I'd like to know if it is correct for you.  Let me know!

Day Twenty

School lunch with big brother.

Day Nineteen

I was looking through some of our old pictures today and I came across this one of Colby and Carter.  It was a nice reminder to me that pregnancy is worth it.

It also made me so grateful for Colby, he is such a great guy.  I am so glad he puts up with me. While we were watching conference on Sunday I was trying to paint my toenails and no matter how I tried to bend, I couldn't quite reach them.  Without me even asking him, Colb came over and clipped and painted my toenails for me  (and he did a great job!)  Later that night,  I was beat and all the energy I could muster was only enough to make grilled cheese sandwiches for Sunday dinner.  Colby didn't even complain, he actually even said,  "that sounds good."  (Anyone who knows how much Colby loves food knows that this is a big deal).  I am so blessed to have Colby in my life and babe, hopefully in a month or so I will be back to normal (or at least closer to normal).

Day Eighteen

Not the greatest picture, but I was so excited about this "breakthrough" I had to post it.  After picking his own apples at the apple orchard,  Carter decided he wanted to try one.  (This is big for him because he usually refuses to eat fruit).  I let Carter pick the apple, sliced it for him and watched in awe as HE ATE IT!  He ate the whole apple,  he liked it, and he asked if he could have another one.  Three (small) apples later,  Cart declared, "mmm, I love apples." HURRAY! What else can we go harvest?

Day Seventeen- The Apple Orchard

While Colby was busy having a "man day" (i.e. golfing, going to dinner and attending Priesthood session), the boys and I decided to have some fun of our own.  So, we headed to Cambridge, IA to the apple orchard with the Nances. 

It was a beautiful Fall day, perfect weather for our outing.

We were surprised how many other people had the same idea.  The apple orchard was VERY crowded, we had to wait in line to buy tickets and get snacks at the country store.

The kids had a blast playing in the corn pool (something I'm convinced you could only find in Iowa).

Carter loved feeding the animals, but he fed them one corn kernel at a time.  Some of the animals got frustrated by his slow pace and wouldn't come back over to eat.  He ended up yelling, "hey pigs, over here, I have some food."

Of course, we also had to pick apples (which I went to great lengths to help the kids reach, doing acrobatics no pregnant woman should do).

We also went on a hay ride, let the kids jump on the giant "jumping pillow" and got apple donuts and cider to snack on.  Thanks Lisa and kids for joining us, we had a great day!