It Was Just A Suggestion

Carmen and I were talking about different costume ideas. Lately she has been into Nacho Libre, so I suggested she be him. Her response was too funny not to post. She said, "No, he shows his nipples too much."

Halloween Sneak Peek

After seeing the costume that is in the works, Graham decided that he looks more like Sasquatch than a monster. He was slowly swinging his arms as he took large steps around the living room. I think he's got the character down! Stay tuned for the full out costume. I still have a lot of touch-ups to do.

It's a.....

BOY!!

I was very nervous going into the ultrasound today, but quickly learned that there was nothing to be worried about at all. Everything was great. The machine was new and so clear to see everything. He was so active in there and the ultrasound tech was so funny. She kept saying, "I am in love with your baby! He's giving me the best shots!" She would say, "Oh look! He's doing this or that." She made it really fun. She was so impressed with the shots that she got of his heart and other organs. At the end she asked if she could use one of her pictures she took of his heart to use as a guide for all the techs. The second picture is of him patting himself on his back. We could actually see his hand moving back and forth patting his back! So funny.

We are very excited for this new little boy to join our family. It's crazy how much more connected I feel to him after seeing him today. Almost like I could feel his little personality shining through. The girls are excited and Graham will learn the news after school today. Now we've got to start thinking about names.....

Best Friend or Beggar?

You could look at it two ways:

1. Harvey can't wait for Morgan to come and play

-OR-

2. Harvey can't wait for Morgan to toss him some food. My vote is for #2. I caught him smelling the ketchup on her face when she got down from the table. He still looks a little guilty here:

I Didn't Teach Them That

Red Ribbon Week. Wear Sporty Clothes Day. Time for a picture. Say cheese! They pose like this:

One question: Where do they learn these gestures?

Toothless

While at the copy center I gave the kids a quarter for a treat in the machine so I could make copies. As we were leaving Graham said, "Um Mom...look!" Pinched in between his fingers was his front tooth! Thank you jelly bean. He has been waiting for it to come out for some time now. He was on cloud 9 all the way to the church, where I had to set up for Enrichment. Once inside he took off down the hall toward the bathroom to get a better look. The next time I saw him he said this:

"I went to the Men's Room and I look AWESOME!!"

I've never heard him use the term "Men's Room" before. It was funny to hear him say that in all of his excitement. It's been fun to see how his smile changes as he becomes toothless.

Flashback Friday

Look how much these little guys have grown since October 2006! As a mother I know that I have to enjoy every single moment with these guys because before we know it they will be all grown up.

It's Time To Go!

We've been potty training Morgan for a long time it seems. There have been a lot of accidents and I blame myself entirely because I just haven't been consistent. The other day while out, I came across a potty watch that has a little timer that goes off every 30 minutes. We decided to try it out with my watch that I use when I go running. So every hour her little wrist will beep with excitement and she gets really excited as well. It has been going great today so far. Hopefully this will get her into a little bit of a routine and then we can move on from there. Here she is posing with her watch. Her birthday pin was part of her playing house with Carmen. There aren't birthday celebrations today, just potty ones.

The More They Can Do, The More I Get To Relax...

Graham is getting to that age where he likes to do everything by himself. One main thing that he is into is cooking. About 6 months ago I taught him how to make quesadillas on the griddle. Since then he can microwave pretty much anything. Today he wanted to make eggs on the griddle along with some toast. My firstborn is growing up to be a little cook and I'm not opposing it. It's one less thing I have to do.

HOORAY!!!......

......IT'S FALL BREAK!!!

Thanks Jay!

My brother-in-law Jay is the master at finding great deals everywhere he goes. He found a food saver at DI for $15, so who got his old one? Us! That was something that was on our list of things to get for preserving food.
He just found a new digital SLR camera at a pawn shop for $450, so who inhereted their old one? We did! We are so excited to have a great camera to take pictures of the kids. Thanks Jay for the deals that were steals! We have been taking a few pictures with it, trying to get used to it. Here are a few:

Carmen's new favorite toy is our duster.
Carmen's newest friend, Mr. Grasshopper.
The kids early Sunday morning. They had a whole set-up for the grasshopper. We figured that since it's getting cold outside and he will die anyway, he might as well become a little pet before he leaves this world.

David had a little break between meetings Sunday morning. So we got to see him for a little bit. I got him to pose with the kids. They sure do love their daddy.

Scenic Drive

• We went for a scenic drive today
• Mt. Nebo Loop
• Em, Jay, and the boys came along
• Beautiful views
• Stopped along the way for our viewing pleasure
• The kids had fun playing
• I didn't have fun watching the kids play too close to the edge
• David wants to camp there soon
• Harvey had a great time exploring
• It was a great drive

They've Still Got It

I've been a fan of Pearl Jam for years. My brother gave me their newest album and I just love this song. It's called Just Breathe. It's been years and they are still producing music that I love! How could you not love Eddie's voice in this song? Truly amazing.

He's At It Again

You might remember last year for Halloween Graham designed his own costume and super hero character. He was Electrode. A super hero that can zap anyone with lightening bolts that shoot out of his fingers. Quite intense.

Here he is as Electrode last year. I tried my best to make the costume just the way he wanted it. Well, he's at it again. He came to me last night with a picture of his costume for this year. This:

I looked at it and said, "Cool! Big Foot!" He said, "No, just a furry monster." So I set out today looking for long faux fur so I can get started on this monster. I found black and white. We want brown. We don't want anyone mistaking him for a gorilla or the abominable snowman. Wish us luck!

Adding to Our Food Storage

Last month for our ward enrichment night we learned about getting prepared by a really unique way to get your one year supply of food storage. One of the main ideas was that you can your own meat in a pressure canner. I was fascinated by this and got really excited thinking that I could add so much more substance to the basics that I had in my food storage. You mean, I can actually feed my family real meat instead of dehydrated meat in a #10 can? I was way excited. I came home and talked to David about it that night and he said that we could budget it in to get what we needed a little at a time.

A few weeks later I came home after running errands and I saw a big box on the porch from Amazon. David had purchased a pressure canner. So sweet. :) I opened it up and ready the instructions booklet and left it at that for a few more weeks and thought I would get to it sometime soon. I have always had a phobia of pressure canners because I have heard the horror stories of them blowing. (thanks mom for the "Packer Paranoia").

But it all started yesterday after I water bathed some of the apples that we picked on Monday night. I began to realize that it shouldn't be too scary to use the pressure canner and I would just have to get a little courage and try it. So I did it! After trimming, washing, many phone calls with questions(thanks Mom and Becky), a trip to The Mending Shed to test my pressure gauge (a free service), and a visit from the sweet lady in the stake that was our guest speaker at enrichment to show me a few last minor details (she insisted on coming over), I got it working. Here is a before and after shot of my chicken in jars. Beware it really looks like a science experiment, although Graham thought it looked like ice cream. I guess it's all how you look at it.

I can't wait to try salsa, and other types of sauces to drizzle over my meat. If you would like to check out Wendy DeWitt and her awesome food storage idea you can watch the 9 short clips on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGaTlwYs-s It really won't waste your time at all!

A Bushel From Granny

Granny (David's mom) works as a nurse for the state hospital. On their grounds they have a huge apple orchard. All the state hospital employees were able to go and pick a bushel of apples for themselves. Granny asked if we wanted her bushel and she would come and pick them with us. I jumped on it. Of course we wanted them. So for FHE last night, we picked apples. The kids had a great time and I can't wait to get canning! We're excited for the applesauce, apple pie filling, and fresh apple juice. Thanks Mom for the bushel!

Yep, It's Broken

Yesterday Morgan was rough housing with Carmen when she got hurt. I could tell by the sound of her cry that she was in pain. I gave her a warm bath to try to calm her down. It wasn't until David came come from work that she felt a little better and actually calmed down and ate some dinner. We thought that maybe something happened to her collar bone, but thought we would wait it out through the night. She slept in our bed crying and moaning most of the night. It wasn't until we switched from the cold pack to the hot pad that she slept well.
This morning it wasn't getting any better. So I called my doctor and he was booked all day long. So we headed to Insta Care. And sure enough, it was a broken collar bone. Poor thing can't do anything about it. It will just heal and she can wear the sling. Right when we put on the sling, her spirits lifted. Here are the before and after pictures while I was in the office.

Before:
After:

This picture was taken while she was watching Spongebob over my shoulder. So intriguing. Here we go on a hopefully-not-too-long journey to recovery.

Lunch With Kristen

We had a great visit with Kristen and her new baby, Linden. It's always fun to get together with old friends and reminisce about the past and talk about our lives at the present time. And it's always a plus to look at and hold a newborn baby. Congrats Kristen!