Thanksgiving- short version.

Okay, so it feels like it's been a while between posts. I'm usually a once a weeker, so 20 days in a long stretch, but until this past weekend there was nothing interesting to report. Last Wedensday we took off before the crack of dawn and made the 12 hour trek to Albuquerque NM where my sister and her family live. It was a LONG day, but the kids did really well. We stopped every couple hours to let them out and run around, and they were pretty happy with their snacks and movies most of the day. The last hour however Sammy was beyond done. Nothing was going to make him happy and he made sure we knew it. Once we got out of the car at Kelsies you would have thought we had been pumping him full of caffeine all day cos he was totally nuts running around her house. And then after a while we had to get back in the car to drive to the base where we were staying, and he cried the whole 5 minutes over and kept saying "help, help, out!" By the way, the base accommodations are pretty sweet. We basically had our own fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment for $40 a night. We decided from here on out, all travel plans must be arranged with Kelsie and Cameron. No more room sharing with the kids!
Thursday was thanksgiving and we made way way way too much food. I have no pictures of the day, but you can look at kelsies blog for those. We seriously made so much food that Friday's lunch and dinner for all 24 of us was leftovers, and when we left, there was still food in their fridge. Friday was Porters blessing, and family picture attempts, which turned out pretty cute, and a ride on the "famous" Tram, which we knew nothing about till we got there. Here are the kids enjoying their view on the tram.

Saturday we hit up old town ABQ, and I have to say I was impressed. It was super cute and had fun shops, and was just a pretty little place. We saw several families wandering around in matchy outfits with camera equipment, so it must be a popular place to take Christmas card pictures. Then we headed out to beat the storm, which we did for the most part. The only place we had snow was Tehachapi! Her are the kids after a few hours into the drive home. Pretty gross.

 

And this is yesterday, so happy to be home and out of the car!

We have so much to be Thankful for this year that If I started listing, this post would never end. But Thankful we are, and excited that it's time to put up the Christmas decorations am I!

non-visual documentation

I have no pictures of the two things I am writing about, but I wanted to document these things so I would not forget. Sunday we had family dinner at Walter & Stefs and the kids were running around doing their thing. As all the adults were eating cake we heard screaming coming from Walters bedroom. So I walk in to find Sammy and Ellie holding down the lid of the toy box, with Andi and Walter inside screaming to get out. Andi was totally hysterical about being trapped in the box, but all I could do is laugh because the babies finally got their revenge. Seriously, they thought it was a good idea to empty the toy box and climb inside with the two little ones watching, waiting to make their move. The best part is I know Sammy knew exactly what he was doing because when I walked in he looked at me, then smiled at Ellie, then looked at me again and tried to wipe the grin off his face. Busted.
Last night after work Thad decided to jump up in the attic to make sure the ducts are all sealed for the winter. He asked Andi if she wanted to go help him. I assumed that meant sitting in the garage, or maybe on the ladder while he worked and fetch things for him. I went in the garage to check on them after a little while, and I could hear them, but couldn't see them. Andi really was in the attic crawling around after Thad, up to her elbows in insulation, and loving it.

Seriously?!

So the first week or so of Sammy being in a big boy bed went really well. He never got out of bed, just went to sleep. The last few weeks however are a different story. He get's out of bed to play, we had to unscrew the light bulb in the lamp because he turns it on, he can open the door even with the child lock handle cover thing. It's at least an hour if not more from the time we put him to bed to the time he actually goes to sleep. And I hit him in the head with the door a few nights ago because he was asleep right in front of it, and Thad could only get an arm through to nudge him out of the way so we could get in. Last night however tops it I think. I went in at 10 to tuck him in and I couldn't find him. I could hear him, but he wasn't in bed, he wasn't on the floor with the toys, he wasn't in the closet with the other toys. He was right here.

Yep, asleep under the bed. I did managed to drag him out and get him back in bed without waking him.
Sammy had his 2 year check up this week. He weighed in at 35 lbs and 37.5 inches and is above the 97th percentile for both. He's a beast, but he's still pretty behind verbally. I guess 2 year olds are supposed to have a vocabulary of around 50 words and start putting two words together. Sammy has about 30 words but only uses them when forced(he doesn't get his sippy until he says sip, etc.) He just does not want to talk. So we are going to keep working with him for the next few months and if he doesn't make some big improvements we are going to have to look into speech therapy for him. HE still seems too young to me to be starting speech class, but when I compare him to the other little kids in nursery, it's obvious he's behind. What makes it worse is that he's so big, everyone thinks he's four and retarded instead of 2 and a little behind. 

Halloween & Birthday Fun

I know it's actually still Halloween, but our celebrations ended yesterday. We had a party with the playgroup on Thursday morning, Andi got to wear her costume to dance on Friday, and a ward party/trunk-or-treat on Saturday afternoon. Here are the kiddos before the first party. I know, Sammy's not really dressed up, but that's as good as it got with him this year. Andi loved being a fairy, because she got to wear "dust". Jeni, remember those glitter brushes we bought each other for Christmas back in the day. That was Andi's sparkly fairy dust ;)

I didn't even get a picture of Andi & Thad in their costumes together, and I took zero pictures at the ward party. I was busy chasing Sammy away from the cupcake walk, and trying to keep track of Andi who was running around like she owned the place, while Thad was being mobbed for pictures. Everyone wanted a picture with Jack.
Friday was also Sammy's birthday, but we waited till Sunday evening to celebrate. We had both sides of the family over at my parents house for cake & presents. 

The birthday boy and his airplane cake.

Enjoying the cake ;)

The first toy he opened was a top that we bought him, and that was all he was interested in the rest of the night. I let Andi open his other presents and try to entice him with them, but he was glued to the top.

It was a very fun evening, and we feel very grateful to have so many of our family members around us to celebrate with.
This is just a picture of the kids and Thad playing out back. They both attack him when he gets home and demand his attention. So playtime becomes creative, trying to play with them both.

Today was also the primary program at church and Andi did really well. She said her parts with no help, and sang. . . very loudly. . . maybe too loudly, but what are you gonna do? It was a success, but as I am in the primary presidency, I am glad it's over.

Halloween Prep

Yesterday was one of those days that makes me feel accomplished. Not that we did anything grand, but we got a lot done. Two Dr.'s appointments for Sammy(the finger Dr said everything was perfect), two store's, made cookies with Andi after school time, carved pumpkins, and made fairy wings. Like I said, nothing grand. The carving was interesting this year as Andi wanted a princess pumpkin and wanted to do it all by herself; and Sammy was interested for about 3 seconds, and then would run off and come back a few minutes later to check out the progress Thad was making.

No this is not Sammy rolling up his sleeves to get to work. This is Sammy trying to pull his sleeve down because he was not going to stick his arm in that thing.

 

Andi hard at work, she actually did pretty well.

Sammy inspecting the final product.

He only really became interested in the pumpkin when Thad put the candle in it.

Andi with her pumpkin. Can you see the eye lashes? and no that isn't a mustache it's lips!

Close up of the princess pumpkin so you can see the crown I helped Andi glue on.

Thad has been working on his Halloween costume for about two months now. It took a while to get all the parts and paints ordered. His company has a costume contest every year with a prize and all, so of course Thad has to win. So here is this years home made costume.

Pretty sweet right?! He can see through the eyes and mouth, and he actually has a hard hat mounted up inside the head to keep it stable.

Finishing Touches

Okay, now the room is done for reals. I had one picture I wanted to hang in the wall, but knew it would look odd if I didn't have anything else, so I spent the last few days coming up with more wall decor. My very talented friend Callie makes these great signs(and bows),but I wanted something with a little more dimension, so I got those little wooden letters to spell out Sammy on the wall and modge-podged some cute patterned paper on to them.

 Cute, but too bland on the tan wall. Then I got to thinking of the stripes Callie has been using on her boards, and I painted over the paper. Love it!

So then I re-discovered this quote that is in his baby book that I just love, and decided to frame it. So I painted an old frame, found some cute paper and a mat and voila!

So now everything is on the walls and I realized I completely ignored my airplane theme, but I still love it.

And this week it hit me how close the holidays are. I had a mini panic attack when I realized I had NOTHING planned yet. Not even a single gift idea. For some people that is not a huge problem, but Thad and I like to make the gifts we give to our siblings and parents and usually by now we've got it at least half done. Luckily, inspiration hit after some blog browsing, and we have a plan, and supplies, and the kids room are done so now I begin the Christmas projects.

Sammy's Big Boy Room

The room is done, and Sammy has slept in the big bed twice with minimal issues. Thad was convinced that it was going to take us hours to get Sammy to stay in the bed and that it would be a huge ordeal, just because that is the way Sammy is. But Sam surprised us. He didn't come out of the room at all, just stood at the door knocking and calling "Dada!" but once I put him back in bed he cried for a minute and then went to sleep. Nap time today was a little more eventful, it took about 40 minutes to get him to go to sleep, but overall I am surprised and impressed with how well he is adjusting.

Corky came over today and painted the airplanes on the wall, and I love how they turned out. There was  a bit of a  fiasco when Sammy got a paint can open all by himself and dumped it on the carpet in the front room. In case anyone want's to know, goof-off in the yellow aerosol can get's paint out of carpet. It does leave a greasy film, but that can be removed by resolve carpet cleaning foam. Write that down, it might happen to you one day. Anyway, I love the planes.

You might have notice there is no dresser in the pictures, and that's because Sammy has the smallest room in the world, and it wouldn't fit. So now it's in the closet, and the toys that were previously stored in baskets in the closet are now under the bed where he has easy access to them. There are a few finishing touches to do, like hanging a couple of pictures, but other than that I think I'm done with my projects in the kids room for a while.
phew!

Forgotten Pictures

When Thad takes pictures on his camera, they usually sit there for a while before I ever see them on the computer, and then I forget to blog about the events that go along with them. So here are a few I found on his camera this weekend from the last few weeks. We took the kids out to feed the ducks at hart park a few weeks ago. This was Sammy's first time and it was all we could to keep him out of the water. Apparently this is his excited face.And yes, he's eating the bread he was supposed to be feeding to the ducks.

Thad also had a fishing trip last weekend and as he was preparing, he decided to let Andi in on the fun. Here she is fishing in the water feature in the back yard. As you can see from the line tangled in the palm fronds, it went well.

I think we can officially say that Andi can read, and I mean more than just two letter words. She reads all the books that came with her homeschooling kit, and the Dr. Seuss books, and tries to read every sign in every store or along the road. Last night I found her reading stories to Sammy and Pokey in her room.

Sammy's big boy room make-over should be finished this week. Exciting pictures to come!

Still Sprucing

 Check off another project on the list! Thad made the bed I have been wanting for Andi's room a few weeks ago, and then I painted it, and then it sat in the garage for a while. . . but it is in her room now! The sick part is that now that she has this big girl furniture it makes me want to re-paint and make a new, more grown up quilt. But I'll resist, especially since I now have to re-finish her old bed for Sammy's room and find a dresser and finish his room. 

Sammy's finger has had this massive scab on it that we have had to keep bandaged since they took the cast of several weeks ago. Well, Sammy yanks the band-aids off a couple times a day and Saturday the scab came off with the band-aid. I was totally freaked out because I wasn't sure if he had yanked it, or if it was just time for it to fall off, but the finger looks really good, and he is glad to not have to have the band-aids anymore.

Thad went fishing this weekend, we had two brithday parties to attend, general conference was on, I started making a small quilt for a friend out of her old team t-shirts, and today I really really need to just forget the projects and activities and clean!

This is why. . .

when we can't see or hear Sammy it's best to go find him immediately.

Opinions Needed

One project at a time we are giving Sammy's room a big boy make-over. Quilt is done, bookcase refinished, curtains made, and accent wall painted. I painted it yesterday actually and now that I have I'm thinking about painting more of the walls blue. So I need opinions. Keep in mind that I am having an artist friend paint dark blue airplanes on the walls, and that the bed and dresser will not be the dark stuff that is in there, but whitewashed like the bookcase, and the rocker will be gone. So should I paint the wall on the right blue as well, or all the walls? Or will the blue planes look okay flying on tan walls? (Don't judge the drapes, I'm still messing with them to lay just right.)

Fall Sprucing ??

So the weather has begun to change around here finally and the cooler weather has me in the mood for projects. This week I worked on a bookcase and dresser that were new to me like 15 years ago, and which my parents donated to my kids bedrooms a while back. Originally the whole set was whitewashed. . . 15 years ago, so all the pieces need new finishes. The bed, which Andi sleeps on is going to be moved to the Dudes room soon, and Thad will be making Andi a new bed. . . see, project mood. I re-whitewashed the bookcase for Sam's room and found these cute little blue baskets to organize with. And since I had leftover fabric from his quilt, I made some liners to match! I want to do something cool with the backing of the bookcase, but haven't figures out what. So for now, here it is.Oh, and that green wall will soon be history.

Then I painted the old dresser white, because the new bed is going to be white. I found a sort of before, at least before of half the dresser.

And here is the after. Much better!

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cake

As requested by several of you, here is the recipe for the Oreo cake. Just don't think about the calories, it's totally worth it.

Cake
1 pkg. devils food cake(baked in two rounds as directed on box) cool completely before adding filling.

Filling
1 pkg. cream cheese(8oz)
1/2 C. sugar
2 C. thawed cool whip
12 crushed oreo cookies
Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until well blended.Stir in whipped topping and oreos. Spread on top of cake layer, and cover with remaining layer.

Glaze
4 squares Bakers semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 C. butter
Melt chocolate in a bowl in microwave 1-2 minutes, blend in butter. Let thicken slightly(5 minutes). Spoon over top layer of cake.

It does not say to refrigerate before serving, but we do, and it's much better straight out of the fridge.

Birthday's Blessings and more

What a great week! Sunday we were able to go to church with Thad's family and see Baby Easton blessed. Sammy behaved just long enough so that I was able to hear the blessing, but then we spent the next hour roaming the halls as usual and by the time everyone gathered for pictures he was out cold.

After naps we headed to Thad's parent and had dinner with Thad's & Matt's families to celebrate the baby blessing, and Thad's birthday.  Yes, I made two Oreo cakes because Thad wanted to make sure he had plenty left over to eat this week.

Andi has been talking about what to get Daddy for his birthday for a month now, and this is what she kept talking about, so I let her get it. Needless to say, they've both been enjoying it this week.

The kids were in the pool off an on this week at G&G Bulkeley's and poor Sammy could not join in the fun, but we found a place he likes even better than the pool.

Yes, the inside of the old Toyota. It might be his favorite thing ever.  Okay maybe the Toyota ties with Oreo's.  This is what happens when Daddy is snacking in the front room.

While we are still talking about Sammy he got his cast off on Friday. The finger still looks pretty gross because it's still healing, but we just have to keep band aids on it now. Although the first couple of times Sammy bumped it or grabbed something too quickly with that hand, he was definitely missing the protection of the cast.

Andi has had a lot of new things going on this week. We started homeschooling Monday and she has loved it. She sped through everything this week and kept asking for more school work. She also went back to dance this week and loved that as well. She does NOT love putting her tights on. Her eczema is pretty bad right now from all the swimming so the tights were driving her crazy, but she did great. She is in Cathy's class this year and there are a ton of girls, but it's going to be a good class. We also brought home Andi's first pet. A desert tortoise that she has named Slow Poke, Pokey for short. If that poor thing survives all the love, it will be a miracle. You wouldn't think a tortoise would be a very exciting pet, but Andi watched that little guy all day long. We made a little "Tortoise run" area in the flower bed for him to roam during the day. Thad bricked in a section and dug a little burrow, and it's cute.

 

update

We went to the Dr on thursday to get Sammy's bandages changed and the Dr said his finger looks good. We go in again this coming Friday when the stitches should be dissolved and he should be able to get the cast off. In the meantime this whole incident has not slowed him down a bit. He figured out very quickly how best to utilize the cast hand and runs around like nothing is different. It has been ridiculously hot this week and since we could not take Sammy in the pool we hid inside for several days, which gave me some time to finish Sams quilt for his big boy bed. He loves it, though we won't be letting him out of the crib for a few more months. This is what he does now when you tell him to smile for a picture.

Tenille has been in town this week and we have been able to spend some time with her and Easton, who is a super mellow baby. Andi has loved all the cousin time. More festivities are planned for today, so there will be pictures of that to come.

Like Father Like Son

Oh, what a day. I woke up this morning thinking I need to get the house cleaned top to bottom so that when the mockingjay comes out tomorrow I wouldn't feel so guilty for just sitting down and reading for hours. I did get some of the cleaning done and errands run, but I'm pretty sure there will be no mockingjay for me for a few more days.
The kids and I headed to my moms about 10 this morning to pick up some dishes I had left over there. Mom and I were talking in the living room, and the kids were out back playing when we heard Sammy crying. We both went out back and saw them sitting by the tandem bike and heard Andi screaming "He's stuck, he's stuck."
Sure enough 3 of Sammy's fingers were stuck in between the gear and chain. I'll spare you all the details because just thinking about it is making me nauseous, but in the end we were only able to get 2 of the fingers out unscathed. His left ring finger was actually severed from the nail bed up.
Andi was screaming, Sammy was screaming, mom and I were crying, we ran in the house, I wrapped up Sammy's hand while mom called Renee, who for the one millionth time(no exaggeration) saved the day. She happens to have a sister who works for an ambulatory surgeon who would see Sammy right then. We had already called 911 and the firemen were there wrapping his hand a little better, but before the ambulance got there we were already on our way to the surgery center, and Renee's girls took care of Andi all afternoon. My dad was able to give Sam a blessing in the car on the way, and Thad met us there.
The Dr was able to re-attach his finger and says he doesn't think there will be any permanent damage. He did wrap the hand and arm pretty high up, not out of medical necessity, but to keep Sam from getting the bandages off. It was a terrible, traumatic day, but this evening Sammy was running around playing like nothing happened. The whole thing from finger severing to taking him in to surgery took less than an hour, and while it felt like it was taking forever at the time, I can't help but feel like it was a miracle that things went so quickly and smoothly.The Lord was definitely taking care of Sammy today.
Thad would like to point out that today's incident beats his record of limb breaking at 2. Yay.
Here are pictures of Sammy tonight. Like I said, he's doing great and you would never know he had such a hard day. And yes, he will be shirtless for a few days, the wrapping is a little big to get through the shirt sleeves.

Seriously?! She's 4!

Sometimes my conversations with Andi are funny, sometimes embarrassing, and this one went from sweet to PG-13 in a matter of seconds. It all started because she put on her pink BYU t-shirt for the day and I was doing her hair.

A:"Mommy, am I a cougar?"
M:"Sort of, you are a little cougar because Daddy and I went to BYU. When you grow up and go to college you will be a real cougar."
A:"What do you mean college?"
M:"You know how uncle Bobby goes to school far away. He's in college."

Cue water works. Seriously, real tears and sobs.

A:"I don't want to go away, I will miss you."
M:"You don't have to go to college for a long long time, and you don't have to go away if you don't want to."

Once I got her calmed down. . . .

A:"It takes a long time to grow up."
M:" Yes it does."
A:"Did it take you a long time to grow up?"
M:" It sure did."

Starts tearing up again. . .

A:"Mommy, I don't want to have a baby."
M:"You are much to little to have a baby, so don't worry about it."
A:"Are there babies in my tummy right now."
M:"No, like I said you are much too little."
A:"How do babies get in your tummy?"

REALLY!?!?! And then she proceeded to ask how the baby comes out, and if it hurts when the baby comes out. When I explained the how(and where) in a way a 4 year old would understand she just started laughing.

A:"Mommy, that's gross, and silly."

Andi, this whole conversation was gross and silly.