Jack O'Lanterns

The kids were big helpers with the jack o'lanterns this year. In fact, Lexi did her own all by herself! And I am NOT complaining. That just means one less pumpkin for me to carve!

Okay, fine. I don't actually carve the pumpkins. I make Ryan.

Bleh! Goo!

Kyson could barely fit his hand in his "widdle pumpkin". But he managed to shove it in there and pull out some seeds!

Happy Haunting!

Exploratorium

I took the kids for a fun trip to San Francisco over our Fall Break. We went to the Exploratorium where we did nothing but explore!


There was a ton of things to do. We didn't even make it to the second level. It was rather challenging keeping up with all three of them when they each took off in different directions!

We went with some friends and that made it less stressful since everyone stuck with a buddy.

Here we are in the parking lot after eating our picnic lunch. The parking lot for the Exploratorium shares with the Yacht Club. I pretended I was headed to lunch with the rest of ritzy wives. And then I got honked at by some old man who wanted me to close my door so he could park his pricey car next to my Highlander. Not a good idea. (I have one word for him. Ding.) But since there were a hundred other parking spaces staring him in the face and he could obviously see my brood unloading, I decided it was his own demise. I closed my door and smiled.

This was at the end our day. Just about ready to head back home.

But before we left........this was one of my favorites. I don't need to tell you that I only saw kids drinking out of this drinking fountain. For obvious reasons.

Ever wonder why the smoke follows you at a campfire? Well, this particular discovery showed how smoke will circle around you if you stand still long enough. Here's Kyson, in awe of it. Over all, it was a fun way to kick start our vacation!

Halloween Party

We were invited to Halloween party a couple of weeks ago. It was a blast, filled with good food, candy, apple-bobbing, and pumpkin decorating!
Took some will power, but Lexi finally managed to get her apple!

Pumpkin decorating. Notice the large "L" for Lexi?

Kendri thought it was a good idea so she added a "K" at the last minute.

And Kyson just liked the small pins that were used to stick the buttons on.

Ribbit-ribbit! What a cute little froggy!

Responsibility

Kendri received her first award at school this month. The theme was "responsibility".

She does awesome and her teacher loves her! We are proud of you, Kendri!

Kyson Goes To The Dentist

Kyson had his first dentist appointment. He was a rockstar! He had been looking forward to his appointment for a week. He even practiced opening his mouth BIG and kept talking about how the dentist would be "proud" of him.

Scrub-a-dub-dub! And good news......no cavities! Whoo hoooo!

Lots of Love

Do you think we love our new baby?

Well, we do. Shayli has been showered with love for her first two months of life. She has been sleeping in a cradle by my side at night and we just started putting her in her bedroom this past week. Milestone. I was so anxious to get Kendri and Kyson in their own rooms. Mainly because I didn't sleep well with all the snorting, grunting and flailing that they did. But Shayli is pretty quiet.

And I have a secret.

I bring her back to bed with me in the wee morning hours. I pretend it's because Kyson will wake up and climb in her crib with her. But really it's because I like to listen to her quiet breathing next to me. Without fail, she'll reach out her little hand and lay it on my arm and her squirming will stop. And I'll breathe her in. Then we'll both fall asleep. Warm and toasty and snuggly. I like to think it's because, for now at least, I am her world. And I love it!

School Memories.....

Happy Back-to-School.....here is my tribute to the new school year. A quick stroll down memory lane.

Hope you enjoy!

I was taking a health class at BYU my senior year. It was a large classroom in an auditorium. It started in the morning and I liked sitting in the upper portion of the room. And so I did every class period. And every class period I would nod off. Without fail. I had a notebook full of scribbles......literally. My pen would dutifully start the sentence and by the third or fourth word there would be a squiggle mark that would cross the lines of my notebook and finally take a nose dive off the paper. My hand falling from my desk would jolt me awake. I would then crack open an eye and realize what had happened and once again start a new sentence and the vicious cycle would continue. I couldn't stay awake. And it wasn't from lack of effort. It was from lack of sleep.






So this particular morning, I had decided to take good notes. I did want a good grade after all. I sat in my usual seat. Things went well for the first part of the morning, but after 15 minutes I felt the usual lethargy setting in. NO! I would not succomb. My resolve lasted a mere 60 seconds before it was shattered. Lulled into dreamland by my professors soothing voice I allowed myself to drift.........and was rudely awakened by a loud question. The problem with drifting in and out of consciousness is that you have no idea what is going on. I frantically tried make sense of my jumbled notes. When that didn't work, I tried to string together a few of the words that were floating through my subconcience. Nada.








Some know-it-all was trying to answer the question but the professor was cutting him off saying he wanted someone else to answer. The girl up there wearing the yellow shirt. Huh? Was the professor actually looking at me? In this huge classroom full of students and did he say "yellow"? Hard to tell, sitting clear up in the nose bleed section. Surely not. I hadn't heard him ever call on a student before unless their hand was raised and mine was safely taking "notes". I glanced down at my bright yellow Dole Hawaii shirt. Neon. Perhaps a bad choice for the day. I looked up in time to hear a girl a few rows in front of me answering the question. She was wearing a pale buttercup shirt. He, he, he. Saved. I silently thanked my lucky stars because deep down I knew it was me the professor had wanted to stump.







But Professor I-Forgot-His-Name wasn't finished with me yet. He asked another question followed by, "Let's let the girl up there answer this one. Wearing the bright yellow shirt." I looked around me hoping someone else would mistakenly answer the question again. No such luck. I stared at him, mutely. Because I had no idea what to say. I couldn't even come up with a guess. He politely repeated the question and stared back at me. After an eternity, he turned it into a simple multiple choice question.






"Yes or no?"



I ventured a guess...."Yes."






At this point, classmates were turning around to snicker at the dumb girl in the yellow shirt.






"How many of you think the answer is 'yes'?" says Professor I-want-to-humiliate-you.



I looked around the classroom. Not a single hand was raised. I felt like I should've repeated kindergarten.







"How many of you think the answer is 'no'?"






I don't need to tell you the entire class raised their hands. An auditorium full of smart, attentive students. Minus one.





Me.





Ah, the memories. I vowed right then and there to mend my ways. I don't remember if I did. But I think I tried. ;)