Catch up -- August

So I'm behind in blogging. Like waaaay behind. It's mid November, but I'm going all the way back to August. That's cool, right?

In August we spent one last fun summer day playing in the river and taking a family selfie before...

It was the first day of school! 

Liam and Emma ride the bus this year. They love it! I'm still not sure what I think of it. They leave earlier and get home later, but I don't have to drive anywhere to get them. It's a love/hate relationship. They ride with their friends Daisy and Lily (pictured).

We went to the Des Moines Botanical Garden. It was pretty sweet. 

Bridge in Des Moines

Liam's teacher is in charge of the school garden, so we got free fresh veggies for a month or two. 

Emma lost her first tooth! And then like 6 more in the month after that. She still has a hole where she's waiting for them to come back in.

And here's Ander at the park. Just because he's cute. 

Christmas lists 2014

So, I should scan in the kids' Christmas lists but my computer is acting kinda funky. And besides, Emma's list is 3 pages long... I do tell them that they can put on anything they want, but I think they went a little over board this year ;) They each designed their own and on Liam and Emma's they have check mark boxes with good, bad, and I really tried to. They both marked I really tried to. The crazies.

Liam--
1. D.S.
2. Legos
3. Lego people
4. I pad
5. Candy cane
6. Nerf gun
7. nerf sword
8. nerf bullets
9. new video game (PS3)
10. New movie
11. New markers
12. more legos
13. board game
14 origami paper
15. minecraft books
16. GI joes/ vehicles
17. crafting materials
18. 20 dollars
19. BB gun
20. Santa hat
21. White board
22. lego city set
23. violin
24. remote control helicopter
25. or car or boat
26. 7-up
27. minecraft PE update
28. laser pointer

Liam also has lately asked for a microscope.
Shirt/pant size-10ish

Emma-
1. Pajamas
2. I pad
3. DS
4. Lego people
5. Santa hat
6. paper
7. giant candy cane
8. Prank book
9.clothes
10. Roller skates (she already has some. What a weirdo)
11. real gun (that's great.)
12. Monster high
(around here she loses track of numbers)
White board and markers
canvas
sea green paint
new swimming suit
orange
CANDY
printer ink (X-ed out)
Homework (X-ed out)
Wonder woman costume
Clay
markers
drawing stuff
puppy (don't you dare)
lego city
lego set
(oh, numbers again)
33. Blanket
34. Bag
Extra. Fake glasses
35. picture
36. Book (X-ed out)
37. Not book (seriously, she's crazy.)
38. Game
39. Fake santa
40. piggy bank
41. pillow
42. paint
35 (again). Chapter book
35 (and again). Stuffed animal
37. shirt
38. movies
39. barbie house
40. Hammer
41. 10 stuffed animals
42. chair
43. purse
44. shoes
(numbers disappear again)
origami paper
small tv
sewing machine
string
basket
icecream
53 (and they're back!). bow and arrows
59. hair things
60. Light up pillow pet
61. 10 head bands
62. lamp

Emma is crazy ;), but she would love anything girly, crafty, artsy....basically she would love anything.
shirt pant size-7/8

Fox-
toy dinosaur (I didn't even tell him to say that, Tom. It's all on his own)
real Thor phone
lego set
"rest of my batman suit" (evidently the mask and cape weren't enough)
soft blanket with Thor on it
cool picture
really good hero suit
Any super hero weapons
nerf gun
own box of markers with cool colors
super hero lego
hands and feet of hulk suit
nerf gun
golden and green ninjago
nerf gun bullets
Lego hulk
super hero game
chocolate bat

notes of Fox- He loves  anything super hero, dressing up, building things and anything manly and tough. ;)
Shirt/pant- 5/6


Ander-
Anders a baby. Whatever you get him he will play with the packaging more than the gift ;)
As far as clothing goes he's currently size 18 month :)


Tony and Kira-
Coming soon....
:)
(I'll update it after Tony gets home and I can talk to him...some of the things I have on my list are serger sewing machine, kitchen aid, crockpot,  good water bottle, unpicker, photoshop, long cute necklaces. Haha! I'm not pricey at all, am I :) )

Diary Logs of the Little No-Sleeper

Below are the diary logs of the Little No-Sleeper, an adorable munchkin known to scoot around the floor and gobble up anything and everything he finds on the floor. Lately it has been discovered that the little No-Sleeper has developed the habit of no sleeping in his mom and dad's bed; a habit which, because of some type of sleep-deprived, delirium, has been allowed by the mother and father, but will no longer be allowed.

Oct 23nd

2:34 am--the call of the No-Sleeper rings out across the land. The mother answers.

3:06 am--after a feeding, the mother has decided that the No-Sleeper is way past full (and way chunky enough, for that matter) and refuses to feed any more.

3:07 am--No-Sleeper is angry. His war cry can be heard for miles.

3:16 am--Mother's standing and rocking has no affect on angry No-Sleeper.

3:22 am-- No-Sleeper as finally settled down and is doing that sad, sharp breath in-take thing.

3:28 am--Mother tried to sit and rock No-Sleeper. No-Sleeper's anger returns.

3:45 am--After many attempts No-Sleeper finally will allow mother to sit and rock without fits of protest.

3:57 am-- No-Sleeper is asleep. Operation "Put In Bed" is underway.

3:58 am-- No-Sleeper is an excellent faker. Rocking ensues.

4:08 am-- Operation "Put In Bed" take 2.

4:09 am-- After further investigation it is discovered the No-Sleeper may have developed some sort of sixth sense to know when he is near his bed.  Operation "Put in bed whether No-Sleeper is asleep or not" is underway.

4:30 am-- Mother checks for wet diaper, No-Sleeper is dry. No-Sleepers angry cries ring out across the land again.

4:45 am--No-Sleeper finally is asleep...sort of...propped up, kneeling against crib side.

5:06 am--Mother kisses No-Sleeper and lays him down. A few pitiful whines escape No-Sleepers mouth before he drifts off to sleep.

6:45 am--No-Sleeper is awake, because clearly an hour and a half of sleep is enough.


10:15 am--No-Sleeper sleeps for 6 minutes in the car and then is awake again.

12:04 pm--Operation "Nap Time" is under way.

12:25 pm--No-Sleeper is well fed and drowsy.

12:25 1/2 pm--No-Sleepers six sense seems to still function.

12:26 pm--No-Sleeper's screams grate against mothers brain.

12:31 pm-- No-Sleeper says, "Mama,"  for the first time. All is forgiven.

12:37 pm-- Mother and No-Sleeper eat cheese crackers and watch tv.

12:52 pm-- No-Sleeper flips out when cheese crackers are gone. Operation "Nap Time" take 2 is under way.

Last Leg Home

The rest of our road trip home, we stopped whenever we saw something "interesting." Like the worlds biggest corn palace and a Native American archeological dig site. The corn palace had pictures on the sides all made of thousands of ears of corn. The inside was a gym. Not quite as cool as the outside. 

The dig site was pretty interesting although it helped me to realize how much I don't want to be an archeologist. That stuff would be soooo boring. :) After seeing the dig site they had a sandbox the kids could dig through to find an plastic arrowhead that they could trade in for a real arrowhead. it was pretty cool.  

This is Liam and Fox trying to look like a fat guy like in the drawing. 

Storybook Island

Another place we stopped at on the way home was Storybook Island in South Dakota. This was another place I remembered fondly from my childhood family vacation and it didn't disappoint. There were so many fun characters to see, and things to play on and in. They even had a magic show that Fox got to participate in! Such a fun time.  

Mount Rushmore 2014

A few days after Sierra and Erik's wedding we made the long trip back home to Iowa. Luckily, this time, we decided not to rush through it, like we usually do, but decided to make it a fun experience for us. First we decided to hit Mount Rushmore. It added about 2 hours onto our trip, but was well worth it. The black hills are amazing, and it was something new to see and do. The best part is that when I was younger around Liam and Emma's age I still remember going on a family trip to see Mount Rushmore and some of the other things we did on our way home, so I know that there's a chance my kids will remember this trip :)

Here's the Thing

Alright, here's the thing, friends,

I have to vent for two seconds before I go on with trying to catch up on this blog.

My four year old...almost 5....(wow. hu. really close to five. sad face.) talks non-stop. No. But for reals. NON-STOP. And he doesn't really care most of the time if anyone is listening. Like, as in, I tune him out a fair percentage of time, which kind of makes me a bad mom, unless you were around it 24/7 then you would understand. The thing is when I do listen to him, he's hilarious. But, really, it starts to give me a headache after an hour or two of listening.

Anywho, here are some gems just from today--
(Oh, and let me add in that for some reason he uses a drawl with a lot of his words. I'm not sure how or why, but he does, and it makes his stuff that make funnier. Words like hair and well become two syllables Ha-yir and We-yellll and real drawn out)

"Moosestache. Moosestache. You get a moosestache by eating mooses....You get a cowstache by eating cows. You get a pigstache by eating pigs...."

"Mom, here's my other lego. Why didn't you give it to me?"
"I didn't see it, Fox."
"Yeah, but it was here all along!"
"Ugh, I'm going to sell you to the circus." (great parenting, I know.)
"Then drive me there, Mom."
"....."
"And I'll go and sleep in the lion's ha-yir, but I'll get out before he wakes up and tries to eat me. I would want to live at the circus...."
(Let me note here that very little of this was said snottily or punkish (except the "it was here all along"). The rest very matter of fact/nonchalant.)

After "exercising" for a bit he grabs his water bottle and breathing heavily says
"Mom, I have to drink this to get more en-ner-gee" he takes a swig, "Mom I can fe-yel it turning hot in my stomach. It's turning to blood! Blood gives you en-ner-gee."

If you think I write all of his sentences starting with "Mom," just to show who he's talking to or whatever, you're wrong. He literally starts 75% of his sentences with that word.

And as for "We-yell." I have started to use the phrase, "No. No We-yell. You can't We-yell your way out of this." He's going to be a lawyer or something, 'cause he has an argument for everything.

Its like this ALL DAY LONG. Okay, that's all the venting time I have. My little piranha, ten month old needs me. Teething. eck. (Or whatever it is because no teeth are actually showing up...)  

Sierra and Erik's Wedding

I keep thinking, 'Wait, I know I have other pictures, where are they?' They're on Tony's phone. So sometime, probably 3 or 4 months down the road, I'll be doing a post of "random pictures from Tony's phone"...again. 

Sierra and Erik's wedding was pretty great. Lots of stress and craziness planning it, but lots of fun and happiness when it was going on. 

 First off let me say that I LOVE this first picture and the last picture. I want them both hanging on my wall somewhere. This first one melts my heart. I love my Grammy. And the last one the kids have touched many temples and they wanted to add Timp to their list. 

Second off Sierra had grilled cheese, tomato soup, cupcakes and cotton candy at her "Snow White-ish" themed reception. What could be cooler. 

It was an exciting time at the temple with all of my siblings. One of those things that makes you super grateful and joyful. We were all there!  And it was fantastic. 

I'm real glad that Sierra is happy. And I'm real happy that Erik is part of our family. 

Grammy Pugh's Carnival 2014

I swear I'm going to get caught up one day. Any who,

Once again, while we were in Utah we put on Grammy Pugh's carnival. It was crazy because we were also trying to plan and prepare Sierra and Erik's wedding, but after it was all over and done, I was tired and sore, but it was good, just like every other year. Hey, at least this year I didn't cry. Others did, but I didn't, so it's all good. :)

It was a hoopla of a good time. We had face painting (which the black stained my kids' face which was actually pretty sweet, because Fox had tiger stripes and a blackish-blue nose for like a week), and all the other usual games and food and treats. We had SO many people. Seriously the pictures don't even do it justice. The place was packed and there were large lines at almost every game. It was crazy, but everyone loved it and Grammy got to be the bell of the ball, so it was all well worth it.