A Christmas Wreath

Last year I found some fun sparkly paper at Hobby Lobby and I knew I had to make something with it.  I thought and thought and then I came up with the idea of making paper wreaths with my kids hands.  Well, last year my hands were a little too full with a newborn so it didn't happen until this year.  I love how they turned out and it was so easy to do.  I just traced a hand from each of my boys and then used that as a pattern to cut out a bunch more.  I cut out a circle from a 12x12 piece of card stock and then lined the hands up around it till it looked good.  Then I glued it together, added the berries and a nice red bow.  Whalah!  We gave one to each set of grandparents.  They loved it!

On a windy day a few weeks ago

We had a lovely windy day a few weekends ago and luckily we had our fish kite in the car with us.  So we went to the park and flew that thing.  Grant always begs to go fly the kite, but really it's hardly ever windy enough here.  He was so excited!  Brett thought it was pretty cool too.

We went all out and even rode the train afterwards.  I love Grant's crooked little smile.  It's so him.  I probably have a hundred pictures of him making that face.  He's such a goof ball.  And Brett.  I probably have a hundred pictures of him sucking that thumb!

We had such a nice day together.  I just love it when we can spend a whole Saturday together as a family.

Sunday and today

This past Sunday Keith & Grant dressed like twins.  Aren't they cute?  They went to regional conference while Brett & I stayed home.  Brett had woken up Sunday morning with a burning fever.

Today Grant was so cute before he went to school.  I just had to take some pictures.  Isn't he looking so grown up?!

Today we were supposed to have our family pictures taken, but this is Brett:

Still sick, and not very photogenic today (Plus it looks like his hand is missing.  Oh dear!).  I took him to the doctor last night and he has an ear infection.  That explains the high fevers.  He started a prescription last night and this morning I accidentally spilled the whole thing all over my kitchen floor.  Oh boy, we are both ready for a new day.  Until then, we will continue with lots of snuggles and lots of other things not getting done around here.  And we will have our pictures taken next week.

Pumpkin Pancakes

For Halloween dinner we enjoyed some yummy pumpkin pancakes under our spooky bat light.  We topped them with pure maple syrup and roasted pecans.  They were so good!  Here's the recipe if you feel like trying it.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flour

3 TBS packed brown sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 3/4 cups milk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup cooking oil (I used coconut oil and it was really good!)

1. In large bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients.  In a second bowl combine eggs and remaining ingredients.  Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until slightly lumpy.
2. Heat a lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat.  Pour batter in circles onto griddle.  Cook until golden; turn when tops are bubbly and edges are slightly dry (1-2 minutes per side).

Halloween 2012

We started off this years festivities in style.  Last Friday night we went to a costume party at Keith's sister's house.  Keith repeated his Man In The Yellow Hat costume from last year.  Grant was Super Why, thanks to this birthday party he went to in August.  Brett was an adorable turtle just like Grant was when he was a baby.  And I was a hippy/70's sort of person.  I wore my mom's dress that she actually made in high school and wore to her senior dance.  So cool Mom!  With the super long wig, super long eyelashes and cream colored lipgloss I was set.

Here's a better shot of Grant since he's kind of cut off above:

It was way too hard to try to catch our cute little turtle holding still, so here are some action shots:

 Keith got 3rd place in the costume contest.  I'll have you know that he actually made everything about his costume except the tie.  He got the clothes and dyed them himself and spray painted the hat.  So proud of him!  Aren't those other costumes great?  The caveman won and Cruella Deville was the runner up.

On Halloween day Brett was so excited to go trick-or-treating that he was climbing the walls.  Literally.  This goober has been climbing everything lately.  I found him standing on top after he moved the seat over there himself.

Handsome Halloweeners ready to go trick-or treating.  Grant decided at the last minute to be this cute Dalmatian.  He loved having his nose painted black.  My mom made this costume for my sister when she was a little girl.  So glad it's still around and glad we got to use it before we send it to my sister!

I was so excited for our pumpkins this year.  We usually carve them really quick at the last minute, or sometimes not at all.  This year we carved them for Family Home Evening so they were ready to go.  The funny part was that Grant just didn't understand why we put them outside.  He was so concerned about them, and he kept wanting to blow out the candles.  

It was really fun to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood area this year.  We sure walked a lot!  After visiting my parents we went to Keith's parents.  Grant went straight to this fun train table that Grandma Jackson just got.  He couldn't get enough of it.

Little Brett still isn't feeling so well and staying up late last night didn't help.  He was so tired when I went to run errands this morning with my mom.  He fell asleep on the way home and took a really long nap when we got home.  And then Grant got home from school and he was tired too.  I convinced him to take a nap too (which hardly ever happens) and then ran to my bed and took a nap too!  Oh those precious and few naps that I get!  It was great!

Hope you had a fun Halloween to!

Halloween flowers

I took Grant & Brett to Costco last Saturday.  After making a b-line to the bathrooms for Grant a few minutes after we arrived, he saw the flower section and said, "Let's get some flowers!"  Okay!  So on our way out we picked out some Halloween flowers.  I really like his pick.  I think they look super cool for Halloween.  They are just heavy.  But luckily I had this sturdier vase I could put them in.

And I picked out some orange tulips.  I think our trip was a success!

This boy is sick today

Brett woke up screaming last night.  I went in and he was all stuffy and had a runny nose.  It took him a while to calm down, but then he fell asleep on me while we sat in his chair.  If I didn't need sleep myself I would have sat there all night.  Don't you just love holding a sleeping baby?

PJ's and rocket ships

I always love comparisons of kids at the same age.  Here's Grant and Brett wearing their cute striped pajamas.  I think Grant is actually a little older here than Brett, but really close size-wise.  It's so funny to me that Grant was running around like wild at Brett's age, and Brett is content to cruise around holding the furniture still.  I love how different they are from each other.

Grant (left) and Brett (right)

No day is complete without building something out of the couch cushions.  This is Grant's rocket ship.  He has a GREAT imagination.  :)

Happy Friday!  We have a costume party tonight and a ward chili party tomorrow night.  I'm so excited to dress up tonight.  Pictures of that to come.

These little guys

Sometimes I just can't get over how much I love my two little boys.  They are both so unique and special to me.  Yesterday they both got flu shots.  Grant went knowing what was going to happen.  He was so brave.  Just knowing he was going to get a sticker afterwards was enough to get him to hold still and get it done.  He tried to not cry, but then he reached out for me and wouldn't let go.  His little chin quivered and he had the saddest face I've ever seen.  Like he'd been totally betrayed.  It made my eyes water.  In fact the nurse was on the edge of tears too.  Seriously.  And she does this all day long.  I said to her, "This is worse than when they scream, isn't it?"  And she said, "Ya, this is absolutely heart-braking."  After Grant calmed down he asked for his sticker.  Oh how glad I was for those stickers.  Brett screamed for maybe 10 seconds and then was fine after his shot.  Both boys got stickers and Grant got an ice cream cone at Sonic.

Then Grant and I rode our bikes out front while Brett napped.  (See Grant's sticker on his shirt?)  I had so much fun just riding around in circles following Grant.  I just love being on a bike.  I felt like a kid for those 20 minutes.

Later on Grant played with my boots his fireman boots.  Can't get over how cute his little legs are in those things.

It was just another day full of moments where my heart was so full that I get to be a mom to these two kiddos.  I love that I get to spend every day with them.  Tonight when Keith asked Grant what he did today, Grant quickly said, "Played with Mom!"  I'm so glad that's his answer.

Time with Grandma

We had Keith's mom over yesterday to watch Grant get off the bus and have lunch with us.  Grant was so excited!  He came home wearing his cool spider hat that they made at school.  Isn't it too cute?  He's been coming home with lots of different hats from school lately.  I'll have to take pics and post them so you can see the variety.  We had lunch together and then Grant and Grandma watched a movie together and played while I caught up on things.  It was so fun for them and it was so nice for me to have a little break.  Thank you Grandma Jackson!

A white desk

We've been looking on craigslist for a white desk for my computer.  We found this one on Saturday and picked it up.  The price was right.  It has some flaws, but nothing major.  And if I decide to replace it someday I won't feel bad.  I love how bright and clean it looks.  

Funny story about picking it up.  The craigslist add said that the guy selling it had an injury so he wouldn't be able to help move it from his second story apartment.  It really didn't look that heavy, but when we got there and Keith and I started to move it, it soon became apparent that there was NO WAY I would be able to help get that thing down those stairs!  The guy we bought it from took pity on me.  He had a hurt shoulder that he'd been having therapy on for a while, but he took over on my side and he and Keith got it down the stairs.  I hope he didn't ruin his shoulder!  So Keith and I still had to get it to our van.  We made it.  Barely.  We called our home teacher to help unload it when we got home.

Things from last week

Baby Brett loving tub time.

Grant showing something to my grandparents on the iPad.
He kept calling them, "My NEW grandparents!"

We always look forward to talking with my grandparents and asking them lots of questions when we're together.  Here's the adults chatting after dinner last Sunday.  My grandparents were in town for my nephew's baptism.

Keith pitched in another baseball game.  He really let the other team have it!

Brett played in the grass and looked cute.

Grant with his cousins at the game.  (My parents are just behind Grant.)

Trying to get the kids to all hold still at  once.  Ha! 

Beautiful sis-in-law with baby Brody.  Brody was rock'n his super cute hooded PJ's.  They're a crowd favorite.

Keith's still pitching.  He was really sore the next day!

Grant kicked around the soccer ball with cousins and then with another kid while we watched the ball game.  He was dribbling the ball really good all over the grass.  We're excited for him to do soccer this next season.  I think this year he'll really get it.

Cute matching brothers.  Love Brett's face, "Oh!"

Now they both have a ball!  Love how Grant is looking at Brett.

Chatting with Grandma Jackson.

Hamming it up!

New car seat for Brett.  He loves facing forward.  It's so fun to look back there and see him looking around.

Cutest thing ever.  Keith & Grant sang songs to me one night.

Brett's Birthday at Schnepf Farms

We made our annual trip to Schnepf Farms Pumpkin & Chili Party this year on Brett's Birthday.  We checked out the big pumpkins, enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, and then had fun doing all the activities there: pig races, BMX bike show, giant jumpy thing, rides, mini golf, kettle corn, and a hay ride.  We all had a great time, like we do every year.

Super excited to fly! 

Our boys were selected to cheer for the pig races.  The "farmer" was kind enough to have everyone sing Happy Birthday to Brett.

Grant's pig won the race.  His prize?  This adorable pig nose!

Watching Grant get his pig nose.  Looks like Brett may have wanted one too.

Wearing his new nose with pride.  Seriously, this is probably the only age he'd actually really wear it around the rest of the time.  Ha!  So cute!