Halloween part I

Our Halloween festivities started at the church Trunk or Treat Friday night. I was one of the people in charge, so it was a little stressful for me, but the evening was a great success. Luke was so sick that after 15 minutes there Steve took him home (which added to my stress, but what can you do?) Carson had wanted to be Buzz Lightyear for months, so I found a costume at the Goodwill, score I know, then out of the blue he changed his mind. He got a Halloween Go Diego, Go book from the library where Diego was a bat and decided he wanted to be a bat, ugh... Not just any type of bat, but the exact bat from the book. See picture:

So I go the the fabric store and do my best to replicate. It is a pretty stupid costume anyway, and my rendition didn't turn out great. Right before the Trunk or Treat he tried it on and realized it wasn't great and after a little bribing with candy he decided to go back to Buzz. I know he is glad he did because he felt so cool that night. He are a few pictures I snapped before. I didn't get any of Steve though. He went disco and looked amazing. Imagine the tightest pants you've ever seen on a guy, or maybe don't. =)

Don't you love this face? "That's right, I'm Buzz. Try to contain yourself."

Luke, the cutest little chunky monkey you've ever seen!

Poor Luke, you can tell he doesn't feel great. The costume stayed on all of 2 minutes.

 Carson had the time of his life at the Trunk or Treat. I love this age because they don't remember Halloween last year and don't fully realize what they are in for. When all the sudden it clicks that all these people are JUST GIVING AWAY CANDY! I think he thought he'd died and gone to Heaven. It's so great re-living my life through the eyes of a two-year-old.  Because the night was so crazy I wasn't able to take any pictures. Here are a few my friends took. 

Ty, O.G. and Carson

Me (as Lucy) and Carrie holding Jillian (Jenny Wesley)

Today Carson had a little party that his Speech pathologist practice threw at an ice cream parlor. This is the best picture I could get of him and his speech teacher Nicole. We love Nicole. You might ask yourself is his costume different? Well, yes. My darling cousin Andrea mailed me her son's old Buzz costume on Saturday, which is way cooler then the one I had. Complete with gloves, wings and a head cap. Hopefully I can get him to put it all on tonight so I can get a picture. Anyway, I'm sure that is more than you wanted to know. Happy trick or treating tonight! 

Lake Berryessa

We spent a beautiful day on Saturday at Berryessa with the Gorings. Mike and Steve skied the course, while the boys, Diane, and I stayed nice and dry in the boat. I don't get into water that cold, and wouldn't let Carson get in either, mean Mom I know. Carson loved helping out with the rope and driving the boat. Every time Steve or Mike fell Carson was very concerned and would yell "you okay Dad/Mike?" So funny. Luke was a very good boy and couldn't help falling asleep every time the boat moved. We are so lucky to live 45 min away from this amazing lake! Not the best pictures, but I thought I'd post them anyway.

Ricks Forever!

Do you see me???

I got something in the mail from Ricks (I refuse to call it BYU-I) saying that it's been 10 years since they changed it to BYU-I. That  means it's been 10 years since I received my associates from there and left darling Rexburg and haven't been back, so sad I know. Anyway, it is UNBELIEVABLE how much has changed! It seems like every singe building has been remodeled and they've added so many new buildings. The student population has doubled.

Looking at all the before's made me so nostalgic for my Ricks days. I loved my time at BYU in Provo, I mean I met Steve there for Pete sake, and made life long friends, but my Ricks years were just special, you know? Anyone who went there back when it was smaller and there were only freshman and sophomores there knows what I'm talking about... I was lucky enough to have my sister Regan there with me and we were neighbors both years. I was also lucky enough to be roomies with Amanda Crane both years and she is still one of my favorite people, even though we don't see each other nearly enough anymore.

There isn't much to do in Rexburg, but because of that we created so many things to do! A few of my YW are there right now and I am trying to re-live the college days through them and it makes me so excited that they are experiencing what I did. Okay, enough of this I guess. If you want to check out all the changes over the past 10 years check out this link.

http://www.byui.edu/magazine/fall2011/features/The_Changing_Face_of_Campus/

Toy Chest Makeover

I friend of mine gave us this cool treasure chest looking toy chest. I decided it needed a little refreshing.

Before...

After...

Don't you just love the color? (Thanks Tammy!)

Low-fat Pumpkin Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

My sister-in-law sent me this recipe and if you love pumpkin and chocolate you'll love these. It says servings 12, but I made 24 smaller cookies instead and they are still a good size. FYI  If you are doing WW Pointsplus I think about 2 cookies is 3 points. 

Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 12 • Size: 2 cookies • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 171.4 • Fat: 5.0 g • Protein: 1.4 g • Carb: 34.7 g • Fiber: 1.5 g • Sugar:25.4 g
Sodium: 113 mg

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.  Line two cookie sheets with non-stick silicone baking liners such as Silpats (I highly recommend for best results) or lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. 

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice; stir to blend. In another bowl, whisk the sugars, butter, egg white, pumpkin puree and vanilla together until light and fluffy.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions until the batter is very well blended. If the batter looks more “crumbly” than smooth, add just a drop of water at a time (ONLY if needed) until it smooths out.

Drop by level spoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto baking sheets.  

Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let them stand 5 minutes before removing the cookies from the pans to cool on wire racks.

My etsy store

I'm pretty late on the etsy bandwagon, but I've now finally opened a store. I've thought of putting my vinyl on it for quite a while, but the vinyl lettering market is pretty overly saturated so I held off. I recently started making these cute diaper/wipe holders and decided to open up a shop with those and my vinyl. It's too much work to put individual vinyl sayings on there, so I am just doing custom orders for the lettering. I'm not sure if I'll get much traffic, but I needed some sort of online ordering for my vinyl because whenever I do craft fairs people ask for it. Anyway, take a look at Loveybumpkins!

Oh, fall...Don't you just love it?

We went to Larry's produce for playgroup today. It was a glorious day! It had rained before so everything looked so bright and clean. We bought way too many pumpkins. In the photo above: Ty, O.G., Luke and Carson.

P.S. Isn't the first picture of the post to die for? I RARELY get a picture with both boys not only looking at the camera, but somewhat smiling too. Actually, this could quite possibly be the first.

Book Review #2 The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

All I can say is fantastic. The story takes place in the late 1700/early 1800s in Virgina. It is a vivid and interesting perspective from not only the slaves of a tobacco plantation but a young white girl who because an indentured servant there. Overall  if you want a heartwarming, lighthearted read, this isn't the book for you, although it does have moments of humor and happiness. The first quarter of it was a little slow, but I couldn't read the last half fast enough. I'm glad it's over because now I can get some stuff done! **Read it!

Luke Nine-Month Update

My first tooth has arrived! I’ve had it for almost a month now, but so far it’s all by itself. I feel really grown-up with one tooth. I’m still not crawling. I get on my hands and knees and rock, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I can scoot backwards and roll to get what I want most of the time. I LOVE big kid food, and am not very interested in baby food anymore. My favorites are; bananas, cheerios, avocados, veggie sticks, pears, and pretzels.

I am such a love bug. I love to snuggle and kiss. I LOVE hair, other people’s hair. I will pull and suck on anyone’s hair when I get a chance. I am a pretty good sleeper. I wake up between 6:30-7:00 and take a morning nap at 8:30. Then I go down again when Carson takes a nap around 1:00. Lately I’ve been testing Mom to see if she is willing to come and get me at anytime during the night. She has been showing me that she won’t, so I’ve been starting to give up that endeavor. 


I really love my Mom. I’ll still go to anyone who wants to hold me, but If I could choose I want Mom! I really love my brother too. He comes into my room every morning and I smile at him from ear-to-ear. He works hard to make me laugh and smile all day and it works! I love when Dad gets home from work. I love to listen to him talk and I watch him very intently. I like to watch whatever TV shows my brother is watching. I love to eat sand at the beach. I like to swim (as long as the water isn’t too cold). I love baths with my brother. I love when people smile and talk to me. I am a happy, delightful nine month old!



Weight: 19 lbs. 10 oz. (41%)
Height: 2feet 4 inches (49%)

check out my bottom tooth!!