Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I have so many things to update on, but I couldn't wait to get my little (and big) ninja turtles up! So much work for so little time, but they loved them, so that's all that matters, right?

We started out the morning with Grandma Cindy's Halloween package. The kids love their special holiday surprises they receive in the mail. Thanks Grandma!

Here are the studmuffins in all their glory! Carter was Leonardo, Ashlyn was Donatello, Eric was Raphael, and Isaac was Michaelangelo. Carter managed to lose his and Eric's weapons before the big day, so poor Eric was awfully disappointed, but I think they still looked awesome! Turtle Power!

Here's the backside.

The boys were pretty excited as we headed to the Ward Chili dinner and Trick or Treating!

This little turtle pooped out on the way home. Too much excitement!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween! We did!

Rules of the Sky

When we were driving home from taking Isaac to school the sun was rising and it must have inspired Carter because as soon as he took note of it, he began telling me the "rules of the sky."

"Mom, these are the rules of the sky -

Rule #1 - Don't touch the sun.

Rule #2 - Don't ever, EVER get on a cloud if you don't have good springs to get down with.

Rule #3 - (I can't remember this one - it didn't make much sense!)

Rule #4 - If you don't have wings, don't flap.

Rule # 5 - Don't EVER stop flapping."

Learn them. Memorize them. You never know when you might need them!

She's starting to get it!

I love when babies start to understand things and figure out the world around them. It always amazes me and usually cracks me up. Ashlyn had a few of those moments this morning. Small, but I still love them.

Whenever I get within a foot of Ashlyn's hair with a comb, she starts to yell "OW!". This morning was no different and as the comb actually touched her hair she yelled "Ow! Hurt!" And I said "Oh, it doesn't hurt that bad." - to which she replied, next time the comb grazed by, "Ow! Hurt BAD!" - to which I laughed and said "Hmmm" and finished her hair.

After we take Isaac to school, I usually swoop up Ashlyn, and Carter and I race to the door. This morning Carter was being pokey and Ashlyn rushed on ahead. We caught up to her right as she slammed her back to the door and yelled "I won!" I never realized she even paid attention!

Later this morning I was unloading the dishwasher and Ashlyn was yelling at me for something (She's really good at throwing fits for no good reason lately).

Me: Do you remember how this morning Isaac prayed that you wouldn't be grumpy all day?

Ashlyn: Yeah.

Me: Well, do you think you could do your part?

Ashlyn: SCREAM!!!

So maybe she doesn't quite get it all yet, but we're getting there!

"George" the Baptist

This evening I was asking Carter who baptized Jesus. His first guess was "Joseph" and then he tried "Jonah." I knew he knew the answer because he was telling me about it earlier today, so I was trying to sound out the beginning when his whole face lit up and he yelled out "George!" "George the Baptist!" I love that kid!

four...then FIVE...then four again..

Eric gave me the BEST day-after-our-anniversary gift EVER! He called and said that he had half of a day on Thursday and they gave him Friday off, so he was coming HOME before he headed off to Missouri. Hooray! That even topped the day-after-our-anniversary flowers! :) He surprised us again when he showed up at 2:00p when we were expecting him at dinner time. It was so great to have him home! As soon as he got here, he engaged in an hour long wrestling match with Carter. "Finally!" - Carter says - "Someone to wrestle with!" Am I neglectful or what? Isaac was equally excited to see dad when he got home from school. We decided to take the kids to the park to feed the ducks and as we were about to head out, we grabbed the fishing poles. If we were going to a pond, we might as well fish! The duck feeding was a big success. A whole army of ducks met us a hundred yards from the pond. They came running as soon as we pulled up. Eric, Isaac and Ashlyn had fun feeding them out of their hands. I tried once, and that was enough for me, and Carter wasn't going to have anything to do with it!

We took hotdogs for bait, but the only things we attracted were a turtle, a rag, plenty of sticks, and Ashlyn. She, herself, cut our bait supply in half!

Born fisherwoman!

We thought Carter had caught a fish, but instead he reeled in a big ol' turtle. It's kind of hard to see him, but he was pretty big. Look for the brown spot in the water!


Friday we played with the kids more and then when Isaac got home from school, we took them to a babysitter and Eric and I went shotgun shooting. I felt kind of guilty stealing the kids' time with their dad, but I got over it quick. I need him, too! We failed to assemble our clay pigeon launcher before we left, so that took half of our time and the other half was spent trying to figure out why it was breaking our clay pigeons before they got in the air. We finally got it fixed and got off a few shots. Nothing would stand a chance against us! We made it up to the kids by finishing the night with some pizza and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoons.

Saturday was the lamest day of all. Eric woke up with serious issues that kept him tethered to the bathroom all day. I, of course, was the sympathetic wife and pouted all day. We had had plans! This was our last day! At least he got to be sick at home in his own bed. I think he felt worse about it than I did. Fortunately, he felt better this morning, so we sent him packing to Missouri. We're down to four of us again, but we're halfway there. One more month and then Eric SWEARS life will be great. I can't wait!