Today is Good

Today finds me in northern Arizona with my parents & younger brother. After a L O N G day, we pulled in about 9:15pm on Saturday. Mom had some yummy taco soup waiting and so we ate and visited and laughed at Lane squeezing his arms around my neck every time someone would look at him. We enjoyed a relaxing Sabbath day. I did feel a little bit like a teenager when we sat on the 3rd row at church with my dad's stern eyes looking down at us from the stand if we were misbehaving. Only this time we were on the 2nd row and it was my children misbehaving. And Dad's eyes weren't quite so stern. It was good to see some of the good people I know so well, to sit in on Jerry Brewer's SS lesson, and to visit YW with my mom. We spent the evening at Granddad Kenneth & Grandma Hope's house. It was great visiting with them and listening to some stories. I need to go back sometime and record a bunch of stuff so we can always remember.

Today has been spent doing chores to earn some money, visiting Grandpa's store so we could spend our earned money, and making 6-grain sunflower bread in the solar oven. Maddie has been at a "lunch date" with her friend Hunter who lives here and the boys are getting ready to go out to do some shooting and I'll be hanging out at the store with Mom. Uncle Lincoln is going to do some Pilates with me later this evening - maybe we'll be able to limber that boy up.

I love being here. It's been a good day.

Happy Halloween!

Cade still refused to dress up in his costume...but he sure enjoyed getting the loot! After one house, he came running to me and said, "Mom! I got millions!" Later on, he was searching in his bucket for his "millions". I discovered he had gotten "M&M's". Haha. Funny boy.

Cole was the perfect Batman. Except he saw a little boy at our ward's trunk-or-treat who had a purchased Batman costume, muscles included, and so he told me that he wanted to be a "real" Batman, 'cause Batman is strong.

Maddie was the cutest witch ever. My kids must be much better than me at this whole Halloween thing 'cause she informed me as we were finishing up trick-or-treating last night that she really wanted a green face and to be a real witch 'cause witches are ugly. I told her I thought she wanted to be a cute witch. I guess not:)

I just love this picture.

This is about the best picture we got of Lane in his costume - it does not do his cuteness justice. I think I might dress him up later and try some more pictures. No, he really was cute. He didn't actually get candy of his own but he made sure everyone else shared - and he loved it! So cute!

It was such a fun day - I'll have to tell you more about it (with more pics, of course) when I have some more time. I just wanted the grandparents to see the Halloween costumes.

Halloween Preview

We had a little Playgroup Halloween Party today at the church for the younger kids. I stayed up late last night and woke up early this morning to make some capes for the boys (Batman for Cole, Superman for Cade). Cade refused to wear his so whatever but Cole has been wearing his nonstop since I finished it around 9 this morning.

While I was doing this project, I decided a few things...#1, I am not a seamstress. #2, it is pretty awesome that I tried it anyways even though I knew very well that I wouldn't be extremely successful. #3, it's OK if it's not done perfectly because Cole loves it anyway and he feels loved because I made it for him. #4, it's also OK to simplify and not feel like I need to do everything perfectly all the time. I have other talents that don't include sewing & crafting and it's OK to focus on them a little more instead of wishing I had someone else's talents.

Wish me luck - I still have to make Madlyn's cape for her witch costume (see how I made it easy - capes for everyone). I don't have to make anything for Lane because he will be sporting the same giraffe costume the other 3 have worn. He sure looks darling in it and I will make sure to post pictures of him & Maddie after this weekend's festivities.

Hope everyone has a happy & safe Halloween weekend!

Kaska Family Farm & Other Bits

We checked out a semi-local pumpkin patch/fun farm yesterday. No pictures though so don't get your hopes up:) Instead, you got to hear my chatter for a few minutes. At least I'd like to think you can hear me talking when you read.

We shot ears of corn out of a cannon. We didn't hit any targets. We played 'garden golf' and did awesome. We played in the sandbox...a few times. We ran around on a big hay playground and slid down it and got hay stuck in our clothes. We rode a little cow train that was 50-lb. barrels decorated like cows. Well, the oldest 3 children did that. I went up to check on them before they left for the ride and Cade was pretty stoked about it. "Mom, we are going on a cow train!" (imagine Cade's excited voice getting higher with each word). "The cow says, Moooooo!" We raced rubber ducks. We liked that part. We tried the corn maze. We never found the exit. In fact, we let the kids choose the route and after about 15-20 minutes, they led us right back out the entrance. We didn't complain. We went on a hay ride. I was a little worried we might get stuck in the mud there for a minute. But we didn't (Phew)! And that was Kaska Family Farm.

We Czeched out the small town of West, Texas and bought some kolaches. It was a first for the kids & me (Jeff's coworkers are loving introducing him to all kinds of new tastes - like chicken fried steak and kolaches). We tried a few meat ones for dinner and then some dessert ones. I don't think we tried the very best ones we could have (bakery inside a gas station - not such a grand idea) but the potential was there. I think I'll have to google kolaches and see what kind of recipes I can find. For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about: West, Texas is a town with lots of Czech history and apparently kolaches are Czech cuisine. ("Czech out our kolaches" - nice catch phrase, huh?)

I've decided having little boys is a whole different experience than having little girls. My friend Cindy in AZ has 3 girls, and my friend Lindsey in TX just found out she's having her 3rd girl. I tell you what, I'm pretty sure raising my 3 boys is quite a bit different than their girls. Granted, I do have one girl (for which I'm very grateful) but I don't feel like I can focus on all the girly stuff because I'm so busy doing things like this:

unwrapping Cole's hands from Cade's throat
unwrapping Cade's hands from Lane's throat
listening to dinosaur facts
listening to lion roars
being told "I want to hit you, Mom"
cleaning up messes

You get the picture. Today I was getting set apart for some callings (yes, I said some) and Cade spent the entire blessing playing with the basketball he found in the Bishop's office and Cole spent the blessing praying out loud that Cade would stop playing with the basketball. Sigh. I feel tired.

While I'm sure the girls have their drama and difficulties (just as my boys have their sweetness and funniness and all the other positive things I love about them) sometimes I wish for 4 children that would go play quietly in their bedroom, make discipline charts, and plan activities for the entire family to play. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Haha. I love my boys and I love my little girl. I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. I am the luckiest mom alive because all of my children love me and their dad. They like to play with each other and for the most part are very good to each other. They are stinkin' hilarious in the things they do and say. They are smart and creative and coordinated and have good memories. They are generally well-behaved in public places. They are beautiful and handsome and charming. I love them.

I'll just leave you with a mental picture: Lane has learned to nod his head in the affirmative. Imagine that sweet face with his eyebrows lifted, his mouth open, his head tipping back ever so slowly, and then dropping down very deliberately and just a little bit awkwardly. I think I could watch him do this all day.

Life is a Never-ending Lesson

Things I have learned (or been reminded of) in recent days:

it is always a good idea to have hot cocoa on hand, just in case the missionaries knock on your door dripping wet and ask if you have anything warm they can drink. it's ok if they have to sit on the front porch to drink it, they probably still appreciate it. it also helps to have plenty of leftovers so they can come back for lunch (when your hubby is home) and refuel themselves.

(according to Mads) "girls rool and boys grool"

me without sleep + those nasty hormones = not a pleasant combination

every moment with my children is a treasure

4-yr. olds are a lot of fun, especially in large groups. they do like to run a lot and scream and if they're boys, growl as loud as humanly possible

smoothies need lots of liquid so that your blender doesn't burn out

if i lose my patience with my children during bedtime, i feel guilty and can't sleep

my husband is as close to perfect as they come

it doesn't really matter what color your cell phone is or how nifty it is

chocolate chip cookies are awesome

children are the best teachers

if you are prepared, you really don't need to fear

laundry should always be folded & put away when it is fresh from the dryer

A Little Bathtub Surprise

This morning I was busy getting Maddie ready for school and to have Cole's preschool class at 9. Cole was in the bath and I hear, "Mom, we have a problem." Uh-oh. I had an inkling of what I might find when I ventured into the bathroom:

The bad thing about all of this is that I had not yet changed his diaper and yep, you guessed it! It was a lovely mess I got to clean up. And then he ran away from me before I could get his diaper on so I just let him go while I finished the mess. Not a big deal but then...we couldn't find him! The little stinker had run all the way into my room - bare bum & everything!!

Never a dull moment at our house!

Happy Birthday Lane!!

Lane celebrated his 1st birthday on Saturday - it is hard to believe he has only been in our family for a year, yet it seems like yesterday that he looked like this:

The Birthday Boy now:

just waiting for his cake

shoveling it in

Man, this is yummy!

don't want to miss a crumb:)

We were all laughing so hard because it literally took the boy about 30 seconds to down his entire cupcake! And then he begged another few bites off of me! I guess he knows what he likes!

We had a fun birthday for Lane. On Friday night, Jeff's sister and her family came down from Dallas and we got to hang out with them for a few hours. They brought him a fun basketball hoop for the bathtub and a puzzle. Of course, Lane is not the only one who liked that gift - the hoop has been suctioned to the bathtub, the sliding door, and the television while the brothers have been practicing their jump shots. It was so fun to have Lyssa, Sean, & kiddos here and we only wish it could have been longer!

Saturday was busy for Jeff, lazy for me. Jeff did a service project and then took Mads & Cole to a gun show, McDonald's and then to run some errands. I hung out with Cade & Lane (who was not feeling well). We lounged around for hours and then finally decided to make a party! We made cupcakes, ate pizza, did a birthday roast and then headed off for our traditional "let the 1-yr. old pick out their own gift" trip to the store (there are some members of the family who think 1-yr. olds don't even need gifts so this is our compromise). Lane picked out a big squishy baseball. Nice. We needed another ball. Cade has been very protective of Lane and makes sure that no one else steals his ball from him.

Things we love about Lane:

Maddie: I love Lane because he is funny and makes me laugh.
Cole: I love Lane because I like his silly faces.
Cade: no comment.
Mom: I love Lane because he is such an easy-going little guy and is happy to just go with the flow.
Dad: I love Lane because he always gives me a smile and his smile is so contagious.

Things Lane loves:

playing with his brothers and sister
hair
his mommy (and her hair)
balls
cars
pulling things behind him
grapes
having "real" conversations
telephones
TV remote
playing outside
cuddles
wrestling with Daddy

Things Lane doesn't love:

when Cade sits on him
getting in his high chair
being left behind

We sure love Lane and are so extremely grateful to have him in our family and that he is healthy and happy. We love you, Laners!!!