Halloween!

We've never really 'celebrated' halloween before, we've done (borrowed) costumes for playgroup and stuff, but this year, with Jeremiah getting older, I wanted to do a little more. We didn't trick or treat, there's almost no one in the houses around our neighborhood, but we still had fun!

We started off the morning at Bill Johnson's Big Apple, a locally owned restaurant chain. I saw online that they were offering a free kids meal if the kids were in costume, so of course, off we went!


Our little knight. He was protecting us from dragons and a 'scary witch' that was working at the restaurant.



The fairy princess, who the knight was in charge of protecting.


In the evening, we headed to Laveen Baptist Church, (where we go to Mops and Jeremiah goes to Cubbies), for a Harvest Festival.

Sarah actually crawled in the bouncy house and cried when we made her get out! Jeremiah had a great time being crazy.



We had to stop for a snack break!



The kids also got their faces painted by my friend Heather (who shot photos of Sarah's first birthday party)


We ended the evening at Scooptacular, our favorite locally owned ice cream shop here in Laveen. (You cannot consume enough sugar on Halloween!)

Too into Toy Story on the flatscreen to let me take a good photo. Still cute.



I'm thankful because this is how we started the weekend off - with Jeremiah sleeping on the couch with strep throat! We got him into the doctor, on antibiotics, and now he's much, much better.

Halloween Playgroup

It all started (for me, anyways) when I was having a difficult day as a stay at home mom with a 6 week old screaming Jeremiah. I emailed Kim, who I didn't know that well, and she called me almost immediately to commiserate and offer advice and invite me to a little playgroup that she and her friend Mariann had every week. It was the beginning of not only great friendships for my son, but for me, as well. I looked forward to those weekly togethers so much! At the time, the kids didn't do much but drool and stare, but it was so nice to get together with other moms. Soon, more moms joined us and so did more little ones!

Sadly, this fall marked the ending of our little group. The older kids (Lily, Karson and Holden) all started preschool so we had to stop meeting. Then, with the sheer number of kids and how big they've gotten, it makes it hard to meetup at houses...it gets so crazy! I'm sad that for the time being, we're not getting together, but I'm so thankful for this group of women (and kids) that have been such a blessing for our family!!



2008...J was just over a year old, I was still in my first trimester with Sarah, Brit was barely pregnant with Archie. So surreal to look back!



2009...


It's amazing we got this photo with only one kid in it!!



2010...the kids...12 of them! It's also amazing this photo turned out as good as it did!

Busy, busy weekend!

We were very busy this weekend but it was so fun!

Saturday:

There was a free event put on by PBS Kids at The Challenger Space Center, so we decided to go. Normally, I run as far away from "free events" as possible, but this one sounded interesting. We arrived right when they opened and it wasn't too crowded. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but I think they had more fun running around on the grass outside!


J the astronaut


Sarah the astronaut. That face...I don't even know..it cracks me up!



Lunch at Margaritaville...they kids had a cheeseburger (in paradise, of course) and Shawn and I shared the nachos. If you go there, you can just get the 'appetizer' nachos and share them with another person and it's a meal.


Relaxing after a big lunch.

Sunday:

We are so lucky that our church has a little (fenced in!) garden area on the property, so after service on Sunday there was a cookout. The kids ran around so much!



They were so flushed!



Sarah running...no photos but she was redder than J!



There was a water balloon tossing contest. J and I were eliminated early, when ours exploded at my feet.

Monday:

Woods Canyon Lake! The lake is about 30 minutes outside of Payson, and fun fact: when Shawn and I were much younger, we actually walked around the whole thing! It took us 4 hours.



The guys



The gals



Hiking through the forest!



I SAID CHEESE!


I was trying to get a cute (candid) photo of Sarah and Shawn by the water, but look closely at Sarah...



She's posing! She just saw the camera and did this. I have NO IDEA where she gets it from.



Ohhh...



Throwing rocks. The weather was a little chilly, but it felt great after walking a little bit.



The trees are starting to turn...



This looks slightly hazardous...



The day isn't complete without a family photo!



Picnic lunch by the lake!



Ronnie started coughing and J was patting him on the back. It was so sweet!



J and Grandma sat in the back.



Next stop - a cute little park in Payson! Sarah is FINALLY warming up to Grandma and Grandpa. YAY!



Running down the hill...



We saw "Elvis Duck"



Rolling down the hill..



A great shot with Grandpa



Silliness on the ride home



We had so much fun, that J not only fell asleep in the car (rare), but went back to sleep after I carried him in and laid him on the couch. To give you an idea, he hasn't slept anywhere besides his crib or carseat since he was an infant. He actually stayed asleep while Shawn and I talked, Sarah played and hollered...it was weird!

Sorry for the picture overload, but we had so much fun, I can't help but documenting all of it!

Busy, busy weekend!

Superheroes!

Is it a bird? Or a plane? Nope. Super J!


And here comes Super Sarah!



Bottom toes are Sarah, top are J's - he wanted his toes painted too, so we compromised and I painted one.

Kid Update

Sarah's officially 18 months! She likes doing her own thing - picked out this outfit herself.


What?

At her visit she was 28lbs and they measured her at 35 inches tall, which when I measured her at home, she was more like 34. So she's tall (off the charts still) but not as tall as they think. She easily fits into 3T clothing! (J, on the other hand, is comfortable in his 18mo shorts!)

She is talking like crazy! It's amazing. She recently learned "no" and uses it A LOT with her big brother. And it sounds like this: "NoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!" Pretty funny. She also says: wow, uh-oh, bubble, puppy, apple, mama, dada, grandma, up, go, 'da', ice, and more that I can't remember. I'm pretty sure she's talking more than J did at this age, but I can't remember that, either! She funny, she loves the water, loves her daddy, her blanket, her thumb, eating food (except for french toast, weird!), climbing, jumping, running races, and SHOES. We took her shoe shopping (she's in a size 7) and she cried every time I'd take a pair of shoes off her. I hope she stays that way, I would love to have a little shopping partner!


My little fish.

Jeremiah - what can I say about him? He's definitely asserting his independence more - the other day he was upset about being told to take a nap and told me to 'go away' and that he wanted me to leave him alone. This was the first time he'd said something like that when he was upset - normally he wants hugs and cuddles - but not this time!

He tells great stories, starting with "once upon a time" or randomly he'll say "Ladies and Gentleman!" Shawn and I crack up a lot, but he really dislikes it when we laugh at what he's doing. He also likes to sing, but you can't look at him, laugh or smile at him while he's doing it. The other day he told me that when he grew up, he wanted to be a moon, then a fireman. I love his imagination.


Cubbies!!

He really likes Cubbies and he picks up on the memorization verses really quickly! It's amazing. He also loves his preschool class at church and at Mops. I'm so proud of him - last year he cried all the time, and now it seems he's outgrown it and is embracing being away from me and making friends.