Pumpkin Patch

This fall, we went back to the farm to pick out our pumpkins and have a fun family night. We had a blast going through the corn maze and the petting zoo. The kids love being outside and getting dirty. I love taking my family to the farm each fall.

I told the kids that we were going to the pumpkin patch later that night. When I went to Walmart that day, Tristan got so excited when he saw the pumpkins and started yellin PUMPKIN PATCH! He has been calling every pumpkin he sees since then, a pumpkin patch.

Preschool

Lilly has started preschool and is loving it. She instantly made friends, which was my main concern, while we waited for class to start. I was afraid she was becoming shy, but it didn't affect her. She wasn't nervous at all to start school. In fact, when we went through the gate to go to her class room, she ran ahead and didn't even say goodbye to me. I'm not much of an emotional person, so I was fine. Plus, it's only for 2 hours, 4 days a week. I think I will be more emotional when she goes to all day school. I am just really excited for her to learn new things and have new experiences and make new friends. She has been going for a few weeks now and has the Pledge of Allegiance memorized. I love it when we get home and talk about what she did today and she gets really excited to tell me about something.

I can't believe she went to her first day of school with a missing tooth. She lost it a couple of weeks before school started. And she has two other loose ones. She is so excited to be such a big girl and goes around telling everyone that the dentist said she has the mouth of a 6 year old.

Some fun things we have been up to.

I took the kids to their first Home Depot kid's workshop. They all loved to hammer and build things. Especially Tristan. He was getting so mad when I was helping Lilly build hers. I think we are going to go to many more of these things.

One day it rained so much here that it filled up this ditch on the side of our house. So Clifford took them out and let them splash around in it and have such a fun time.

Walmart is having Baby Days and they were doing cake decorating. I forgot my camera but I took some pics of their finished products when we got home. They had so much fun. I love doing fun things with my kids.

Olympics Fun

It turns out that all my kids love watching the Olympics. They all got so excited when I would turn it on. I bought them gold medals and they love wearing them. I did a couple activities with Lilly which she enjoyed. She got to sort the M&M's and then put them on the ring order. I tried to have Bella and Tristan participate, but they were only concerned with eating them. Lilly also made a fruit-loop necklace with a gold medal. It was a fun time in our house, getting to introduce the kids to different sports. Now Lilly can't wait till the winter Olympics so she can watch the figure skating. And she says she wants to be in the Olympics someday. She is going to be very busy when she grows up, she just keeps adding to the list of what she wants to do.

Our Dog Buster

After my whole life of wanting a pet, my dream finally came true. On a total spur of the moment thing, we were looking on Craig's List at pets for sale and came across this little guy and his siblings. We made an appointment to meet them, not sure we would bring one home. But once we got there, how could we not take one. But they were all so cute and friendly, so choosing was a little hard. One was roly-poly and had stubby legs and I just loved him, but the owner thought he would make a better lap dog and we wanted a playful one for the kids. Buster was playful but also comfortable around us because he lay down right by us and fell asleep. We just knew he was for us. The kids love having a dog and love to chase him around and play with his toys. They even try to feed him their food at the dinner table.

Fun Project

A woman in my ward just had twin boys and I volunteered to make a meal for her family. I also decided to crochet her some Dino hats. These are one of my favorite crochet projects. They loved them and I am glad a took an opportunity to serve others and get to know someone knew in the ward.

Our Little Clowns are Growing Up

These last two years have been filled with so much joy and laughter with our little clowns in our family. This second year went even faster than the first. Some days I try to remember what it was like before Bella and Tristan were here and I can't think of what it was like. They bring so much energy into our home. I admit, it must have been a lot quieter and more mellow, but I would never want to go back and miss out on the joy of watching my children play together and enjoy each other. They have sibling fights and a little competition that we have to work through, but they also have a lot of love for each other. Bella is still our drama queen and lets you know she isn't happy with a high pitched shriek. She often gets into fights over toys because she wants what others have. Lilly has had a hard time getting along with her for this reason and tends to drift towards Tristan and his more easy going nature. This leads to her trying to leave Bella out and we have had to talk with her about being nice to Bella even when it is hard to. She is little and cries a lot now, but some day she will feel really badly that she is left out, and if Lilly puts the work and patience into getting along with her now, Bella will be happier and they will develop a strong relationship. Bella can also be so sweet and considerate of others when she isn't thinking of herself. She loves to help others to be happy. Tristan is full of energy and giggles. He is adventurous and sweet and loves to sing. He is still my mamma's boy and loves to be near me. I love to tickle him to hear his infectious laugh. He is also a scaredy cat. He is often heard saying "ah, scary". I sometimes growl at him pretending to be a lion, and it scared him pretty badly as he backed away from me. Meanwhile, Bella was in the background laughing at me. Which is funny because Bella is more nervous about climbing and other adventurous things and Tristan is more nervous of sounds and objects. But he loves lightning and thunder. One night when he was sick and couldn't sleep, we stood for a little bit and watched the lightning through the window and he was getting so excited when he heard the thunder. I love these kids so much and I'm so grateful every day for the gift of raising them. Their sweet personalities are so fun to watch develop and evolve. Just knowing I have their unconditional love helps me make it through any tough day. And seeing their faces and expressions lifts my spirits.

They got these bikes for their birthday from us. They didn't arrive until the day after their birthday party, but when they came down the stairs after naps, they were so excited to see and ride them around the house.

Circus Party Bash

We combined Bella and Tristan's party with my 2 nephew's. We did a super fun circus theme and had games, and popcorn & cotton candy and had a photo booth. We invited some of their little friends and they all played and ran around and had fun. We made popcorn cupcakes and cotton candy and pop rock topped ones to look like concession stand items. I thought it all turned out really well. We even did face painting.

Bella wanted to play pin the nose on the clown over and over again. I think I am going to have a photo booth to go with each theme for every party. I think they are so much fun. I just love planning and throwing birthday parties for my kids.

Bella and Tristan Turn 2

On Bella and Tristan's birthday, we took them and a little friend to Jumpin Jacks. They all had a blast bouncing around everywhere all day. They got really good at climbing up and we slid down a million times.

Later, we had a yummy poke cake which they loved. The look on Tristan's face after the candles were blown out is awesome. I was trying to teach them how to blow them out and I don't think he realized the flame was supposed to disappear.

They picked out their own gift and Bella chose a Minnie Mouse toy and Tristan picked out a Spider-man one. He is really into Spider-man right now. They seemed to really enjoy the day and for two weeks now, Tristan goes around singing Happy Birthday to you. It is the cutest thing.