Quite a Date

We needed a date.  Jeremy and I needed a date.  Jeremy and Nichole needed a Daddy-daughter date.  Jeremy and Jr. needed a Daddy-son date.  Jeremy and Jr. Jr. needed a Daddy-son date.  Nichole and I needed a Mommy-daughter date.  Jr. and I needed a Mommy-son date.  Jr. Jr. and I needed a Mommy-son date.
So we had them.  This evening we had a special Daddy-daughter, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Mommy-daughter, Mommy-son, Mommy-son, Mommy-son date (and Mommy-Daddy date).  Lucky wasn't to be left out, even if he wasn't particularly needing a date.
We went to Brick Oven Pizza in Provo.  Haven't been there in years.  We hadn't been there since Jeremy was doing balloons there- way before I was even pregnant with Lucky.  He hasn't done restaurant work in a while.
So we went this evening.  And had pizza.  And root beer.  And a great time.  But no balloons.

It was made so much better by everyone talking about it being a Daddy-daughter, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Mommy-daughter, Mommy-son, Mommy-son, Mommy-son date.  Don't you agree that that's just fun?  Try it some time.  Don't go out for a family outing.  Go on a date.  That includes the whole family.  And call it something fun that includes everyone.


It was a fun family date.

Happy Goose Day 2014

For Family Home Evening, we celebrated Happy Goose Day, September 29th.  We went to a park and one of our activities was playing "Duck Duck Goose."

It was fun and Lucky's first experience with the game.  He got a kick out of it.  Everyone was a happy goose.

Harvest Festival Pumpkin

We went up to the Harvest Festival at Thanksgiving Point this morning.  Whoa.  Some people grow some BIG pumpkins.
We went especially to see the BIG walk-in pumpkin, though.  It turned out really well.  It was neat to see so many people going in and taking pictures.

Jeremy built a balloon chair around an actual chair that people could sit on.  Beside that was a table with a bowl of apples.  There was a stove with a chimney that actually went up and you could see the top of the chimney on the outside of the pumpkin.  The stove had a pot with some corn in it.  Hanging up were herbs and on a shelf were some vegetables.  And a pumpkin seed chandelier hung from the stem.

It is amazing what you can do with balloons.
 
I'm glad we went in the morning because it got rainy a little later.

The KAT's Meow

It's a normal thing.  When we're going on a picnic or something and family members have specific things on their sandwiches, I label the bag with the person's name.
When I put leftovers in the fridge, I write on the container what is in it.  Makes sense.
We had hamburgers for lunch so I put the leftover lettuce, onions, and burgers in their own bags and labeled them.  "Lettuce," "Onions," etc.  Then I noticed that Jr. Jr. hadn't finished his burger.  So I put it in a bag and labeled it with his name since it was his.  I looked at it for a moment, realized what I had done, and added " 's burger " after his name.

Harvest Festival Sneak Peak

This coming Saturday is Thanksgiving Point's Harvest Festival.  Jeremy is building a large walk-in pumpkin for it.
The kids and I got to go up to see the progress today.

They were really nice to pose for pictures for me.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

The Harvest Festival is free and will be at the Water Tower Plaza at Thanksgiving Point this Saturday from 10am-4pm.

Favorite Character Day

It was "favorite character day" at school.  Nichole decided to dress up like Angelina Ballerina.

Jr. decided to dress up like Daddy.

 Well, he's definitely a character.

Lucky Boy

Family Time- Fall Colors

After the kids and I got home from a stake primary activity this morning and after our friend picked up her little girl who we were watching, we were able to have some family time.
We really wanted to get out to see some fall colors, so we headed to our favorite fall colors spot, Big Springs.

This was not our best trip to Big Springs.  We hiked just a little bit before heading back to the van because somebody would not follow directions (it wasn't me, in case you were wondering).  Oh well.  We still got to see some of changes of the leaves.  I mentioned before how cool it was to see a variety of colors on the same tree.
This time I noticed the variety (green, yellow, orange, and red) on the same leaf.

We had to cut our hiking short but we still drove around for a while and it was much more fun in the van.  The kids kept asking Daddy to tell them stories about the heroine, Jackerina, who lives in the dark blue van in the yellow pine forest (that smells like vanilla).  The Telfords don't realize it, but she often saves them when they're out and about.  She saves them from the dead tree spirits which come out when the leaves change color and fall from the trees.  She has to take her tiny sword and poke them in the nose so they don't fall asleep.  She also saves them from the moose who is going around singing "Give Said the Little Stream," and from the Purple Turtle which is actually a real giant turtle trying to snap people up.  There was once when the Telfords actually saved Jackerina from "tunnel vision" by holding their breath and holding their hands up while going through a tunnel.  They didn't even know they had saved her, but she knew.
After so many of these stories, the kids started making up their own- even the 3-year old.  They were pretty good stories.  Love their creativity.  And my husband's.

And because September 20 is National Punch Day, after our family time we had tropical punch color flavored sugar water with our dinner.

National Play-Doh Day 2014

September 18th is National Play-doh Day.  Earlier this week, Nichole made play-doh at Activity Days.  How is that for timing?  I made sure to publicly thank her Activity Days Leader on facebook (and by publicly I mean for my facebook friends to see).

The KAT's Meow

Mommy (to Jr. Jr.):  We've got two stores to go to, so we need to get going ASAP.
Daddy (with a big grin on his face):  Mommy just called you a sap.
(Mommy and Daddy silently laughing)
Jr. Jr.:  I am not a sap.
(Mommy and Daddy silently laughing)
Jr. Jr.:  You're making a joke.
Daddy:  I'm just teasing.



Nichole:  I'm not a fan of the taste of broccoli.
Mommy:  I'll admit I prefer steamed broccoli.
Nichole:  I prefer no broccoli.
(Mommy and Daddy laughing)

Collect Rocks Day 2014

Well, we were one day off.  Today, September 16, is Collect Rocks Day.  Yesterday for Family Home Evening, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.  Paleontologists definitely collect rocks.

But that's okay.  Today, Jr. Jr., Lucky, and I went for a walk along the Murdock Canal Trail.  We went from the trailhead in Pleasant Grove

to the trailhead in Lindon,

about 4 miles.

It was so great.  I didn't know if we would be able to make it all the way.  That's quite a walk for a 3-year old.  It started out pretty well then not long after, Jr. Jr. started asking, "When will we get to Lindon?  When will we get to Lindon?  How long will it take?"  There were a few shaded pavilions along the way where we could take a break, sit down, and eat snacks.  And of course we brought water bottles to keep us hydrated.  When we finally made it to the edge of Lindon, there was only about a mile left.  I happened to mention it was Collect Rocks Day and that started something.  At first Jr. Jr. collected one rock, then two, then three.  Then he asked for a bag to put the rocks in.  He had some circus animal cookies at the beginning of the trip, so we used that bag (snack size, thank goodness).  Once that was full, I told him no more.
When Jeremy came to pick us up, Jr. Jr. was able to show him the rocks he collected, then Jeremy had him dump them out so they could stay with the trail.  Phew.

We went home for lunch and then went out again to play at a park for a little while.  Twice on our walk we crossed roads that led up to that park, so we planned to go to it after lunch.

It was some good exercise and I'm proud of how well Jr. Jr. did going those 4 miles.  And how well Lucky slept through most of it in the stroller.
Way to go, boys.

Proof That They Do Work

Yesterday morning, I informed the children that in order to watch "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," they had to help me clean the kitchen.  It started off slowly with some whining and "poor me"s.  But after a while we got on a roll and the kids got to working really hard.  I did, too. 

It was interesting to see how they found things they wanted to do, not just what I assigned them to do.  Jr. Jr. especially would see someone working on something and decide he wanted to do that, too.  It was good.
So of course they earned "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and to celebrate International Chocolate Day and National Peanut Day, both on September 13, Jeremy made us some peanut butter chocolate woo-woo during a break in the movie.

Because there was room on our nice clean counter next to our nice clean microwave.
Woo Woo!

Sleepy Party and Video Games

Yesterday, September 11, was Make Your Bed Day.  While the older kids were at school, Jr. Jr. took a comforter and pillow and made a bed for us on the living room floor.  The plan was for he, Lucky, and I to have a "sleepy party" since we were all a little tired.  The sleepy party quickly turned into a "tickle party" and later became a "toy party" with the baby toys around.  We continued the toy party by watching Toy Story 2 then Toy Story.
I didn't get any pictures of the festivities since I was too busy tickling and playing.

Today, for National Video Games Day on September 12, a friend came over to play the Wii with the kids to help us celebrate.
I did take pictures of that.

Happy celebrating.

Wonderful Weirdos Day 2014

Wonderful Weirdos Day, September 9th.  Of course we always celebrate the wonderful weirdos that we are.  Because of the holiday, today is a great day to talk about something that happened at dinner.
At dinner tonight, Jeremy and Nichole were discussing options for what they might do for a Daddy-Daughter date.  At one point, Jeremy mentioned that he could teach Nichole how to draw because believe it or not, Daddy can draw well.  Joshua piped up with his opinion and said, "You could draw a buffalo that's fighting a moose that's fighting a snake that's fighting a moose... and a buffalo." 
That about sums it up.  What a wonderful weirdo.

Grandparents Day 2014

This year, Grandparents Day was on September 7th.  We sat down with the kids and read some things my parents wrote to them about their childhood.
Then the kids got to enjoy hugs and kisses from Jeremy's parents.

And some leftover LEGO candy that Grandpa gave them during the Summer.

The kids enjoyed the things they heard and tasted.  Their parents did, too.
Thanks to both sets of parents.  We love you.

Taking Turns

It's so great that our boys know how to take turns.

Creative Reading

September 6 is Read a Book Day.  You should read a book... in whatever way works for you.

Better Late Than Never

We did it!  We survived the day!  We're still dealing with colds but we've been putting off running errands all week.  Today was our last chance to do some things that needed to be done.  It was appropriate, too, since September 5th is Be Late For Something Day.  We were definitely late in running those errands since we meant to get them done earlier in the week.  But we did it.  We got them done.  We're very worn out, but we did them.

This evening, I had a little bit of Me Time (Thanks, Jeremy) and started working on some projects I meant to work on over the summer.  Better late than never, right?

While I was working, I watched the Pompeii episode of Doctor Who, since I didn't watch it on Vesuvius Day, August 24th. 
So there was actually a lot of celebrating of Be Late For Something Day. 
And we still need rest.

The Things I Sacrifice To Celebrate

It's Eat an Extra Dessert Day, September 4.  We all have colds so I don't feel a lot like putting effort into making desserts.  But I want to celebrate.  But I just want to rest.  Sigh. 
So I decided.  After the kids went to bed, I got out some ice cream from the freezer and had some with toppings.  A little later, Jeremy made some popcorn for us.

So I may not be getting a ton of rest right away, but at least I didn't have to put too much effort into celebrating.
I'll still get some rest.

Catch of the Day

That's one happy boy.

You WILL Like Winnie-the-Pooh

In a family of Winnie-the-Pooh fans, this little guy doesn't stand a chance.
"Join us, Lucky.  Join us."

Lucky Family Pictures

I haven't shared any really nice family pictures with Lucky in them.

Now I have.