Halloween is coming!!

I LOVE Halloween...apparently Lincoln doesn't. The other day we were at Sam's and of course we had to take a walk down the Halloween aisle. My kids love to push all the buttons to make the scary things talk. We pushed the button on the above guy, who is life sized, by the way. He started to talk and then proceeded to rip his face off. Well, Lincoln about lost it. He freaked out like I have never seen before. It absolutely terrorized him. We had to leave the aisle quickly. It was really funny (in a pathetic sort of way--I'm not that horrible that I didn't feel sorry for him.) It didn't even occur to me that he would get scared--how does he even know what to be scared of? Then today, we were at Michael's and we walked past their Halloween display. He glanced over and saw the display below and had a look of sheer horror on his face and burst into tears before the kids even had the chance to push the button and make it talk! I'm starting to wonder how he is going to fare on Halloween night...
Well, looking at it, I can see how he thinks it is somewhat disconcerting.

Happy Nine Months!!

Isn't it strange that the nine months that they are inside of you go so much slower than the first nine months of their lives? Sweet little Lincoln is nine months old today and the poor little guy has a horrible cold (again) and is cutting SIX teeth!! He is still such a happy baby. He knows how to crawl, but prefers his army crawl and he is sooooo fast. He says Mama and Dada, but we still don't know if he knows who he is talking about. He has been pulling himself up on things so it is only a matter of time until he is getting around in other ways. He is very curious and always exploring. Mainly he is just so happy and we all love having him in our family!!

Look at his sweet smile and his weepy eyes. He is so sick right now. :(




I don't post a lot of video clips because, let's face it, I rarely watch other people's clips, so I doubt that you guys watch mine. But this was so cute I thought I would share. Don't worry--it's short.

World War III

Oh yes, folks, it was quite a war zone at our house this morning. I don't know what caused the battle...I was in the other room as things escalated. All I know is that I suddenly heard a high pitched scream like no other and Isaac came running in to me, covered from head to toe in hot Cream of Wheat. I guess he learned that if you push Chloe a little too far, she will not hesitate to hit below the belt. She dumped her entire bowl of Cream of Wheat all over him. And yes, he was dressed and ready to go to school. Luckily he didn't get get burned! I didn't take a picture, because it didn't really seem appropriate at the time, and besides I had to spend the next few minutes scraping the sticky stuff off of his arms, legs, neck and picking it out of his hair. Fun times at our house! Honestly, I didn't laugh at the time, but I think the whole situation was pretty funny. Sometimes I wish I had the guts to do stuff like that when he pushes me too far!

Bike Ride

I took the girls on a bike ride this morning, which I rarely do, mainly because there are two of them and one of me. Not only that, but we live at the bottom of a hill. So today they were determined to ride their bikes to a park at the top of the hill. It took us 35 minutes to get to the park. They played for ten minutes, and it took us about five minutes to get home. The whole way there it was me trying to push the stroller and both girls up the hill. Hey, at least it was exercise for all of us!

Just starting out...(they had to bring their babies. Audrey has named hers Juan. But it's a girl. Interesting.)
Finally here we are at the top of the hill!

This is why I always have my camera with me...

So this evening we were driving back from Colorado Springs when the clouds started to roll in. I looked ahead and saw what seemed to be a funnel cloud in the distance. As we got closer it went back up into the clouds. We started listening to the radio to hear what they had to say. The announcer guy had just said, "There have been some unconfirmed reports of funnel clouds in the area of Castle Rock" when we looked over and saw this...

Well, I can confirm it! It wasn't just any little funnel cloud, it was a full on tornado! Just right there on the side of the road. Tons of people had stopped and everyone had their cell phones out taking pictures, but I had my trusty Nikon right there in my purse and got a few shots as we drove by. I have never seen anything like that before and I was glad when we saw clear skies again!

Fun with the Fam

Well, we have had such a fun weekend! Yesterday we had a grand total of 29 members of Ryan's family at our house for a mini family reunion. Ryan's brother, Brad, and his family came all the way from Michigan to visit and when the Utah family members heard that Brad was coming, they all decided to come too. We started off with a big breakfast kick off at our house, then headed over to the Aurora Reservoir to spend the afternoon at the beach. It was so much fun!!! (Note to those of you who live around here--we have an awesome beach like ten minutes away!!) The kids spent the whole time building things in the sand and swimming with their cousins. We came back to our house and had a barbecue and spent the rest of the evening just having fun, playing games, talking and enjoying each others company...all while staying up way too late!! (P.S. Not to say "I told you so" or anything...there were 13 kids at our house all day yesterday. It would have been unbearable without the trampoline!) Here are some pictures from the lake.

Emily and Isaac working on their hole.
Cute little Grace.
The girls test out the water.

Working on their sand river.
Crashed babies! Seth...
Lincoln...
We meant to take a group picture of everyone, but somehow forgot! Oh well...It was really great to see everyone and just spend time together. I feel so lucky to have such great sisters-in-law on both sides of the family!

Trip to the Firehouse

Today after school we went with some friends to tour the local fire station. It was a lot of fun to see the kids learn about fire safety, explore the fire engine and the ambulance and try on the firefighters' gear. It also made me realize that we need to teach our kids more about what to do if the house catches on fire! Here are the boys practicing the "stop, drop and roll" maneuver.

Here they are inside the ambulance. Our family actually has a lot of experience with ambulances, as both of the girls have taken rides in them as the patients on different occasions...Isaac as the firefighter.

Audrey's turn--nice face, huh? The girls were both being extremely shy and were hesitant to participate in any of it. But Audrey did make sure to show the fireman her necklace and bracelet. Chloe wasn't interested in putting on the coat, but she did seem concerned about Audrey in this picture.
Lincoln loved it all, too!

The Great Trampoline War

Today I did a bad thing...but I really don't feel too horribly guilty about it. Since we moved in to this house almost a year ago, Ryan and I have disagreed about one thing--the trampoline. We have redecorated and remodeled and painted and added to or done something with just about every room in this house with not a single problem, but our trampoline seemed to be a major source of well, not contention, because Ryan is incapable of that particular sentiment--but a major disagreement nonetheless. I wanted to put it up; Ryan didn't. He thinks the backyard is too small. I totally agree, but I am the stay-at-home mom who has to put up with the kids bouncing off the walls day in and day out. I have begged and pleaded with him to put the thing up but he has totally refused me for months and months now. I was lamenting about this to my friend yesterday and she said, "Why don't we just put it up?" I said, "Is that even possible?" She assured me that we could do it (despite the fact that she is five months pregnant) and we deviously hatched our secret plan. This morning as soon as Ryan left for work I dragged the boxes out of the garage and to the backyard (no small feat, let me assure you.) After taking Isaac to school, I started setting it up and Kayla arrived soon after. It was hard work, but we did it! It took a bit longer than the hour and a half Kayla predicted--but that was partly my fault for not looking closer at the picture of how the net was supposed to be so we screwed the legs on wrong. But we did it!! So Ryan came home from work to a bit of a surprise. He doesn't seem mad, so I guess that is a good sign. Yes, I may be the worst wife in the world, but I guarantee this will make me a better mother. The kids were out there all evening and the sounds of pure, unadulterated joy were wafting through the windows. We had to beg them to come in to eat dinner. They played and had so much fun and got a ton of exercise and will sleep well tonight and they were out of my way while I made dinner. How could this possibly be a bad thing? Yes, the trampoline is large and unsightly in our smallish backyard, but I DON'T CARE!! Sorry Ryan, I guess my sanity is more important to me than your views of our planter in the back yard. I love you!!

Final Score...Lindsay-1 Ryan-0


Here is Lincoln tasting the grass...

When Fashion meets Four-year-olds...

The girls got themselves dressed this morning. "It matches, Mommy!" Well, I can't disagree with that...

My New Room

Well, this is what I have been up to for the past week or so. Our bedroom was a green color when we moved in...done in flat paint (what were they thinking?!) The color itself wasn't too bad, but it was too dark for the space and I wanted to go neutral so I could change out the bedding more easily. So here is the result...I not only painted the walls, but all the furniture. I love the bedding I found!! I just the love the whole room now. Now on to the master bath...



The color of the walls is called "Natural Taupe" but it looks really gray. I like it--it is very light by my standards, but I still think it looks great.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

We made it! The girls are at preschool right this very minute. I have been waiting for this day for four years, nine months and 22 days. I love those girls to death, but there is too much of a good thing sometimes!! And having three kids at home with me is too much. Preschool is only twice a week but I will savor these moments--it is quiet! I can clean (at least for these three hours) without anyone messing it up again! No one is complaining to me about the food I have given them. No one is locking me in the garage. No one is announcing that they need to go potty. No one is hitting their sibling (well, if they are, I'm not the one dealing with it!! Ha, ha!!) Lincoln is asleep and I am on the computer in peace! What a marvelous day. Here are the girls all ready to go. I told them not to pose...you can see how well they listen to me. They had to wear different clothes so their teacher could tell them apart.

The girls were very excited to go, by the way. They have been wearing their new backpacks around the house for days now and took great care in choosing what they were going to bring for show and tell and what special outfit they were going to wear. They sat in the car waiting patiently for a full ten minutes before it was even time to leave because they were so excited. I am excited to hear what they think of it. They seem so young still--at least a lot younger than Isaac seemed when he was in preschool. I guess that is the way it always is--Isaac seems so much older and more mature just because he is the first. Here are the girls making their way up to the door...
Oh, happy day.

Brothers

My mom called me tonight for our weekly chat and asked if I was doing okay because she noticed I hadn't posted anything since Wednesday! Yes, I am fine, I have just been busy with a number of projects around the house. I will post pictures soon.

I do have this cute one to share--Isaac's hair is getting really long and he has been wearing it in a Mohawk for fun. We thought Lincoln should try the style too. I love this picture--they are six and a half years apart, but their heads are the same size!

We are nothing if not polite...

Today on the way home from the store, Lincoln was making lots of loud babbling noises and Chloe couldn't hear the music. Finally, she had had enough and turned to him and said, "Shut up, Lincoln!" I immediately reacted, telling her not to say that, it was not a nice thing to say. She then calmly turned to him and said, "Lincoln, will you please shut up."

Had a bad day?

Yesterday was really not so great...

Poor Audrey has this wart on her nose. It is in a particularly unfortunate location--right on the inner edge of her nostril, so it always looks like she's got something hanging out of her nose. This is the third time it has reared it's ugly head and this time the pediatrician suggested we take her to a pediatric dermatologist at the Children's Hospital. Yesterday was the big appointment. The doctor came at her with tweezers that were shaped like scissors that she had dipped in liquid nitrogen (so they were smoking.) I can only imagine how that looked to her. She grabbed hold of the little bugger and attempted to freeze it off. Audrey was very brave, but not thrilled about the whole situation (what with me and the resident holding her down as the doctor held onto the wart with the smoking scissors.) The doctor gave me a special prescription to get filled. That has been the whole issue with this wart--because of its location, we can't use normal medicines. Well, I went to get it filled last night and the pharmacist informed me that my co-pay was going to be $150.00. Um, for wart medicine??! He said I should be glad I have insurance--the entire cost for this medicine is over $1800.00--and (surprise, surprise) there is no generic version. Well, I just about burst into tears and left (it had been a really, really long day at that point.) Sorry, Audrey, hopefully the freezing thing worked. Otherwise, I might just fly to Mexico and pick some meds up across the border. It would probably be cheaper.

Now on to poor Lincoln. He caught this cold in Utah that has been hanging on forever. Between that and his very disturbed nap schedule yesterday (due to doctor's appointments and preschool orientation), he was a very cranky little boy. Finally, around 4:00, Isaac just looked at me and said in a pleading voice, "Mom, can you please just put Lincoln to bed now?" You know it had to be really bad if the fussing was annoying Isaac.

School Daze

Today we went to the girls' preschool orientation. I have been talking about it for at least a week now--trying to get the girls prepared for what it would entail. Things went pretty well, I guess. The girls were very excited. However, when we got there and they met their teacher, Miss Jen, they both clammed up and wouldn't say a word. Audrey looked scared to death the entire 30 minutes and Chloe just laid on the floor of the preschool, inert, with her eyes closed, as if she was thinking, "If I don't move, they can't see me." We went downstairs for cookies at the end and I snapped a picture of Miss Jen with Lincoln and the girls. I hope they perk up a bit next Tuesday--I have been telling them over and over that mommies don't go to preschool and I will be dropping them off from now on. It could be quite a scene...


On the way home we were listening to the cd she gave us of songs they are going to be singing. "Where is Thumbkin?" came on and the girls were asking, "Why do they run away? Who is pinkie?" Yes, I am a horrible mother--they have never heard that song before!!! Oops. Well, I guess that is why I am paying someone so that they can go to preschool and get caught up on all the things I have neglected!

Chloe-isms

Today, on her way to the bathroom, Chloe said, "I have to go PBS."

As we walked to pick up Isaac from school this afternoon, it was unusually quiet. There were no cars driving by, no people walking near us and the girls weren't talking. I asked them why they thought it was so quiet and Chloe said, "Because we are trying to let you focus." I asked her what she thought I was focusing on and she said, "Walking."

Our quick trip to Utah

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Utah that was over way too soon. My brother and his family are moving to England in about a month where he is going to start the MBA program at Oxford, so we all met up at my parents' house in Park City for one last get together. We had such a fun time. I love my family so much and it is so rare that we all get to be together--and it is about to become even more rare! We don't know when we will get to see Kristian, Amy, Dylanie and Lucas again so we are so grateful that we were able to spend these last few days with them. We love you guys and we will miss you so much!
(This is a partial family picture--we were testing out our pose before the photographer came. I will post the real thing when we get it.)

We returned tonight to 12 voice mails, 54 e-mails, a huge stack of mail, a huge pile of laundry, 64 new posts in my google reader (I love you, fellow bloggers, but AYE CARAMBA!) and 281 pictures in the camera to sort through and blog!!! So be prepared--there are a lot of posts coming your way, but remember--at least I didn't post all 281 pictures!!

Also, there are so many friends and family members living in Utah that we would have loved to have visited with, but this short trip was devoted entirely to spending time with my brother and his family. Sorry we didn't see you this time--maybe next time!!

Lincoln, Royal and Isaac play with a new toy.

Uncle Kristian with Lincoln.Am I getting really good at this photography thing or what? My niece Dylanie is such a sweetheart. Every night she let me brush her hair. I am not used to girls letting me do that.

Me and Amy in the mountains. I feel so blessed to have her as my sister-in-law (even though she is so beautiful and skinny! ;) )
A rousing game of Speed Scrabble. It gets really interesting playing with Kristian who likes to make up words, complete with elaborate definitions.Happy Royal.

My cute kids (minus Lincoln, who caught a nasty cold and was unavailable for many pictures.)Grammie and Papa with all of their grandkids.

Chloe, Dylanie, Royal, Grammie, Lucas (not liking it), Grandpa, Lincoln, Audrey and Isaac.

p.s. If you love me enough to want to read all of my posts for this trip, you will have to look in the "older posts". I did so many that they don't all show up on this page!!!

Day with family

On our first day in Utah, we traveled down to Orem to spend some time with some of Ryan's side of the family. We had fun with Grandma and Amy and Hannah (who we hadn't seen in over a year!) She has grown up a lot and the kids had a lot of fun with their cousin. We also loved going over to Grandpa's restaurant for a tasty lunch! (Shameless plug--those of you in Utah who haven't yet been to Wallaby's in Lindon on State street are missing out!!!)

Grandpa, Isaac and Uncle Jeff
Chloe feeding goldfish to Hannah

Park City Mountain Resort

On Thursday we went to the Park City Mountain Resort for some fun in the sun. The kids loved all the carnival-type rides. Grammie and Isaac went in the human maze while the girls and Lucas tried out the carousel. All the kids went on the little airplanes and rocket ship "coaster." We then took the lift up the mountain to ride the Alpine Slide. That is when disaster struck. While getting off the ski lift, Dylanie kind of went the wrong way and got hit in the ear with the lift. Her ear got this huge purple welt thing sticking off of it and it was bleeding on the other side. There was a medical type man that gave her some oxygen to calm her down and basically put a large band-aid on her ear and told us to be concerned if it got any bigger than it already was. They had called to have a car come pick her up and drive her down the mountain, but she was a trooper and decided to ride the slide down instead. I don't know what it is about my family and the Alpine slides--a couple of years ago we went on them and my brother in law fell off of it and got "slide burn" on his leg that ended up getting so infected I think he had to get IV antibiotics! Anyway, we slid on down and then some of us went over to try out the Alpine Coaster--which was really fun until I got really nauseous on it. The highlight of the day was watching the kids do the bungee trampoline (after waiting in line in the sun for well over an hour.) They loved it!!

Here are Audrey, Dylanie and Isaac when we first got there.
Kristian takes Lucas on the merry-go-round.

The girls found a little backhoe to play on.
Dang, he is a cute kid!
Chloe and I at the end of the Alpine Slide.Here is what Lincoln was doing while the rest of the family was on the slide...

Poor little Lanie's ear--the picture doesn't even do it justice. It looked awful.
The bungee trampoline--look at Isaac fly!

Dylanie was a natural--hurt ear and all.
Chloe is getting the hang of it.Audrey loved it!