So proud of my Girl

Ashlyn got "Valiant Viking" for the week. I think her teacher picks her, but it's basically an award from the Principal for being an AWESOME student....which she is! When I drove through valet to pick her up yesterday and saw the sign with her name on it, my first thought was "YAY!" and then my second thought was, "oh no, she probably hated having to go up to the Principal's office to get her award". 

She got in the car and said to me, "I got the Valiant Viking award". I told her I saw it and was SO proud of her. To which she said, "yeah, but when they announced it I was thinking, please don't say my name, please don't say my name". I had to crack up. She's SO incredibly shy. I know she loves to get awards but dreads "receiving" them. She told me she had to walk up to the office by herself and that she was so embarrassed. Funny little thing! But we are SUPER happy for her so I made her pose in front of the sign to take her picture. Then I made her look excited about it (see the second picture). 

Thanksgiving Weekend

I will admit....this was a "weird" Thanksgiving weekend for us. I'm not entirely sure why. Paul had off from Wednesday through Sunday, so I had lots of help, but for some reason we all just seemed kind of off. I guess there have just been some weird stresses going on around here. Nothing major, but enough to tweak the mood a bit. Maybe it was because we were all at some stage of not feeling great. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep (because of not feeling great). Who knows. I really shouldn't complain though. Over all, it was fine!

Sometimes I like to take pictures of my kids sleeping. Brandon of course has swords and a light saber in bed with him. He has his own bed but doesn't like it and has adopted the guest bed (which is in his room) as his own. Whatever! I guess a toddler bed is too small for him. He likes the twin. 

Ashlyn doesn't usually sleep with this on her face, so I thought it was cute that she was this night. 

Leah's my rock solid sleeper. Likes to go to bed early and wake up early. She pops out of bed ready to go! Hope she stays that way come seminary.

We went to the park on Wednesday to let the kids run around. It was a nice day. Carter loves the swing and then mostly hung out in the wood chips after that.

For some reason this is the only picture I got on Thanksgiving. I guess we know where my priorities are....on the rolls!

Well, I take that back. At the end of the evening, two seconds before I walked out the door, I snapped a picture of Tyler and Heather. We spent the afternoon at their house eating and chatting and hanging out. Paul and I followed Carter around like a hawk (their house isn't exactly baby proof and he likes to get into EVERYTHING). It was quite exhausting. And despite the fact that at one point Paul and I were both less than two feet from the little guy, he still managed to knock over a ceramic decorative piece and smash it on one side. Sheesh! Last time he broke something over there, it was a family heirloom that I can't replace. Yeah, I pretty much felt like garbage!

Friday night was SUPER fun! I went to see Breaking Dawn with some of my favorite peeps ( I have lots of favorite peeps, so if you aren't in this picture, don't be offended. I'm a lucky girl in the friend department). It was SO fun and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, we went for ice cream at Cold Stone (since we didn't already eat enough with all the popcorn, soda and candy we had at the movies). Then we headed over (in the dark) to see Tina's new house that is totally awesome. I'm SO SO SO excited for her. A five bedroom with a big backyard. 

I want this Christmas tree from Sam's Club. It's nothing special. Just a slim 7 foot tree, but I like it. I'm still debating. Christmas time always has my money going to other things so we'll see.

And even though this kid was most of the reason for the "off" weekend, he's still super cute. He's just in a really difficult stage. Literally can't take my eyes off him or he's into something. It might be the end of me to see him through this next year. Hopefully I'll survive it. 

Paul is Super Dad (despite all the other things he has going on) and is always thinking of fun things to do with the kids. I swear I can't compete with him. He's too fun and creative. He built a block tower with the kids and then they all raced their cars to knock it down. He's so good at keeping them happy. I hope they realize how lucky they are!

On Saturday Paul took the kids to the Griffith Observatory. Ashlyn was SO excited that she could hardly sleep the night before. I was going to go also, but made a last minute decision to stay home with Carter since he was up for three hours the night before because he was so congested. Paul took some pictures there, but they are on his phone so I will have to get them later. They had lots of fun. I was sad to miss it, but I am sure I will go again some other time. 

On Sunday we went out to Agoura Hills to hear my cousin Chad's mission homecoming talk. It was great to see him and listen to him talk about his mission. He's the first in our family to serve a mission. We are all very proud of him!

This Saturday is Paul's big 34th Birthday. How did we get so old? I'm excited for our date night. I think we both need it! 

Well, my baby is crying and it's time to pick up the girls from school...so I'm off. Good timing!

Leah's Thanksgiving Fun

I got lucky again and got to be in Leah's class for her Thanksgiving party today. They all got to choose to be either a pilgrim or an indian. They made their costumes and then went on a "hunt for food" where they gathered berries (raisins), fish (goldfish) and corn (popcorn). Then they came back to their classroom and made turkeys out of rice cakes, peanut butter and candies.

Then this afternoon after taking our babysitter home, my friend texted me and asked me if we wanted to meet her at the park. So we did. Leah was all excited because she is "Top Dog" (it's like being star student or something similar) all next week in her class so she got to bring Top Dog with her to the park. I would say it was QUITE the exciting day for our little miss Leah Peah!

Crashed out

I guess my boys have been sleepy lately.

Here's Carter at McDonald's. It was SO incredibly loud and he just totally fell asleep. Foot propped up and all.

Brandon wasn't feeling well last week and totally fell asleep on his Daddy's chest. So Daddy took a nap too.

We went out for a quick trip to the store and Carter fell asleep again. We brought him inside and laid him in his pack and play thinking he would wake up, but he slept there for almost 30 minutes before we finally got him to wake up. 

SO not like him to stay asleep after getting out of the car. 

And on an unrelated note: Brandon builds some pretty cool block towers and buildings. It's amazing how different boys and girls imaginations are. The girls might build something like this now, but never that elaborate when they were Brandon's age. 

He does this all the time. And they are always totally different. It's amazing to me. I build the same tower every time I play with him. Haha...

Went to blog....

I went to blog about something....anything, and this was all I found on my camera AND on my phone. A few pictures from the zoo last Friday when the kids had the day off and a couple of random shots of the boys playing at home.  Not too exciting. But it's not because nothing has been going on. Quite the opposite. I guess it just hasn't been the picture taking kind of things though. I've been pretty darn busy. So much so that a couple of weeks ago I lost TWO pounds in one week without even trying or realizing it. I just didn't have much time to eat I guess. So I didn't. That is SO not like me. I quickly remedied that though and those two pounds managed to come right back. Haha... Can't say I missed them. 

Our ward's primary program was the last Sunday in October. That definitely kept me busy and now I have sharing time all month so I'm busy with that too. Girl Scouts fundraising, kids, school, activities, who knows what I've been doing, but time has been speeding by. 

Ashlyn's been doing great in school and met her AR goal (after a little prodding on my part to get her to be brave enough to tell her teacher she needed to take some tests on the books she's been reading). Leah is LOVING school and is always sad when there is a day off. She writes letters to her friends ALL the time. I feel like I spend half my day spelling words for her. Brandon is doing great in preschool too. He still loves going and comes home talking about what friend he played with that day.

And let's not forget Carter. He's walking all over the place now and starting to get faster. He's definitely not a little guy anymore. He had his one year check up and weighs 22.3 pounds and is almost 30 inches tall. Both put him right about in the 40-50th percentile. OH, and I'm afraid the dreaded day is arriving. He is starting to realize how totally fun his Daddy is. He literally preferred him over me the other day. Probably the first time that has ever happened. Just about broke my heart. But I knew it was coming. I blame Paul for being such an awesome Dad (wink, wink). Can't blame the little guy for wanting to be with him. I'm still not too happy about it. 

Paul has been as busy as ever with work. He's working on the remodel of Stoic. The Dad of Hiccup on How to Train your Dragon 2. His modeling supervisor has been saving this project for Paul so there's a lot of pressure on Paul to get it just right! But it could open the door for lots more character modeling, which Paul would love to do (I think. Maybe he's changing his mind about that now.) He renegotiates his contract this week and/or next, and while I am EXTREMELY grateful for his job and the money it provides us and that it enables me to stay home with our kids, I would be lying if I said I didn't care about him getting a raise. Having four kids in CA is not cheap! But we are so very blessed, so I really can't complain. 

So that's about all for now. We are anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving. I just love that holiday. I know it kind of gets forgotten between Halloween and Christmas, and while I do have Christmas tunes playing in the car, I definitely don't let this wonderful holiday pass by unnoticed. I have way too many blessings to allow that to happen. 

Gratitude

November always gets me thinking about all the many things I have and all that I am grateful for. I just love this time of year. I know most people do too. The weather is cooling off, there is an excitement in the air. Yummy foods, gift buying, family traditions, vacations or visits. It's all so much fun. 

Here are some things I am grateful for. It is of course not everything. But some of the bigger ones that I'm especially grateful for right now.

1. My body. It has it's flaws. It's definitely getting older and doesn't look as good as it use to, but every time I exercise, I remember how grateful I am that I CAN. For the most part, my body can do what I want it to do. That is such a blessing that I am afraid I sometimes take for granted. 

2. My Health. Similar to the first. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I can get up and take care of my kids and family and do the things I want and need to. 

3. My husband. He is nice, sweet, warm, caring, fun, spiritual, willing, patient and helpful. And much more. I didn't realize what a good choice I was making when I said "YES" to him. I'm glad I did. 

4. My children. They are my life. My everything. Sure I sometimes yell too much. I make mistakes. But the older they get, the more I realize how wonderful and special they are. I'm so glad they're mine. 

5.  My home. What a blessing having this house has been. It was a miracle how we got, a miracle that we could afford it, and it continues to bless me every day by giving us the space we need to grow. 

6. Paul's job!!!! Enough said.

7. The church. I don't get real preachy or emotional on my blog. It's not really me. But my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sure. I love the church. It has helped me throughout my entire life and will continue to as I try to live by it's teachings. It's not always easy. Sundays can be difficult wrangling four little kids during Sacrament. But that time will come to a close before I know it. And hopefully, in the mean time, my children will grow to love the Gospel as much as I do.

8. The town we live in. It's no secret that moving to CA a little over 8 years ago, was probably at the bottom of my list. But we have found a nice little area to settle into and raise our children. And for that, I am very grateful!

9. My family. I have a wonderful sister and brother, great parents (and in-laws) and lots of aunt, uncles, cousins, bro and sis in-laws, nieces and nephews that I just adore. And of course, I could never forget my one remaining Grandma that I am so lucky to have.

Pumpkins

Just when I thought I was done posting about Halloween, Paul emailed me pictures of all the pumpkins he carved with the kids. 

He's a nice Daddy and let the kids design their own pumpkins and he carved them. 

Here's Leah's. It was suppose to be a cat but she didn't want help positioning the stickers in the right spots. She said she could do it "HERSELF"! 

Paul's pumpkin.

Ashlyn's design. Simple and uncomplicated.

Paul embellished on Brandon's design. This one was carved a couple days earlier that's why it's looking shriveled already.

And then for fun, he quickly carved a little pumpkin with one eye. 

Halloween DAY!

It was a good thing we celebrated Carter's birthday the day before because Halloween Day was JAMMED PACKED! The morning started like normal with getting the girls off to school. Brandon had a preschool party at 10. It was his teachers birthday over the weekend, so I went to the store after dropping off the girls to get a gift and flowers for his teacher (it was a group gift from the whole preschool). Luckily Paul was able to take the day off so we got to enjoy it all together. 

The original plan was for Paul to stay home with Carter while I took Brandon to his preschool party, but Brandon wanted his Daddy to come, so we all went together. I'm glad we did. It was fun to stick together. 

Here Carter is with his newly discovered toy (that Uncle Steve gave to Brandon when he was about this age, or a little younger actually). He loves it and thinks it's hilarious to watch the balls pop up out of it over and over.

I'm lucky to have Brandon go to preschool with so many of my friends kids. Pictured here from left to right is Natalie, Sarah (who you can hardly see, but is holding her little boy), Becky, Brooke (sitting down with her baby), Kristina (who is behind Brooke), and Mindee. Most of these moms have kids in the 4 year old class, but it's still fun to know our kids are all doing and learning the same things.

Paul with our little Superman!

Don't know why my hand is almost in Carter's face?? But at least I managed to get in one shot.

The kids sang a few Halloween songs for all the parents.

This is what Brandon did while the rest of the kids sang. Notice still no costume on the boy. Seems to be a recurring theme with him.

Paul went inside to hang out with Carter and Brandon for a while and quickly drew a crowd with his fun reading of "There's a Monster at the end of this Book". 

After Brandon's party, we rushed home, got Carter down for a nap and I headed out to Leah's school Halloween party. I'm lucky to get to go to her class from time to time. I wish I could go more. She's actually excited to see me. I love Kindergartener's. They think Volunteers are the funnest thing ever. I get hugs from all the kids and they love to tell me how they remember me and even know my name and that I'm "Leah S's" mom (since there are TWO Leah's in class). 

Leah with her BFF Gracie, who happens to be the daughter of the teacher that is next door to them. She's a sweet little girl and kind of spunky. Reminds me a lot of Leah. No wonder they get along so well.

I just LOVE Leah's teacher and couldn't be happier that I finagled Leah into her class this year. She is so good with the kids and is so thoughtful. She even had a little gift for all the parents who came to volunteer for the party. Everyone else got spiced coffee, but she knew I was Mormon and didn't drink coffee, so she got me some cider. I thought that was just so nice of her. 

Leah's class with their witch hats.

Decorating sugar cookies with Gracie.

Eating those yummy cookies. Most of the kids had put SO many decorations and candies on their cookies that they literally were melting in the heat of the sun.

After the party, it was the end of the school day and I came home with Ashlyn and Leah. We hung out for a bit and then got ready for trick or treating. Carter was NOT too happy to be forced into this picture. This was the best I could get. And of course, STILL no costume on Brandon. I had given up by this point. 

I love the look on Ashlyn's face in these next two photos. It's like she's saying, Do I really have to keep trying to hold him still for the picture?

Seriously mom, I can't do it anymore!

HELP! 

That girl cracks me up.

Our little gated street is kind of dead on Halloween, so we usually drive somewhere else to trick or treat. We like to head to the neighborhood just down the street from us. It's also gated, but is much bigger and a lot of the people that live there really go all out. It's a fun place to go.

This house has music and lights and everything. They do a fun Christmas show in December too. I do feel bad for their next door neighbors though. It is VERY loud.

SO many of the home owners decorate a bunch.  I had to snap some pictures.

This is what Brandon did most of the night. Hung behind or followed the girls up to the door. But if someone tried to give him any candy, he ran away. 

A little blurry, but I'll take what I can get. I think Paul might need new glasses. Haha...Love ya honey.

And this is what Carter did. Hung in his stroller in his Tigger costume that we borrowed from Aunt Heather. He didn't mind wearing it, but definitely wouldn't let me put the hood up.

There were so many awesome houses. This was just one of the more amazing ones. They turned their garage into Pizza Planet from Toy Story. The kids got to spin a wheel to see what prize they would get. Ashlyn got a really nice Toy Story hat and Leah won some candy and glow bracelets. There were even photo ops with characters from the movie and pumpkins carved like Woody and Buzz. 

We walked the loop for almost an hour and then called it a night when the girls buckets started overflowing (in their defense they did have small buckets, but I was glad about that). We still came home with MORE than enough candy.