HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS & PUMPKINS

Jill and Tyler enjoyed the annual preschool field trip to the pumpkin farm.

Oh Baby Baby!

IT'S A BOY!

Oh Baby Baby! It has now been seven months.

Seven weeks to go.

I had this desire to take a picture of what I looked like pregnant. I do not really have many pictures from the last three. I have wanted to compare how big I was now to the others, but there are no pictures. So here it is. It will be fun to remeber as this might be the last.

And oh yea it's another boy. I guess it is not in the plan to have a girl. I was a little sad. Tyler will have a little buddy. Now on to the naming another boy.

Imagination vs. Truth

Yesterday, September 22 Jaden lost a tooth at school and a tooth during that night's FHE treat. Two in one day! He looks so cute. We have never talked about the tooth fairy, but Jaden has heard about her at school. We just did Santa for the first time this year. Mike had a worry about lying to the children. We are still winging it, I guess on what we should do about the holidays. I am all about just enjoying the holidays and using the imagination. Mike's not totally against it either, but because of this indescion we did not know what to do about the Tooth Fairy last night. As we were putting Jaden to bed he talked about the tooth fairy not being real, because he knows fairies are not real. I agreed with him, as he still put his teeth under his pillow. =) So Mike and I put some money and a note from Mom and Dad with his teeth. When I went to get him in the morning he looked sad. I had a guess as to why. He said nothing was wrong, but as he was in the bathroom I heard him say in a sad voice. I knew it was just Mom and Dad. I went up to talk to Mike and cried. I felt sad for him too. He knew fairies were not really, but still wanted to experience his teeth being gone and money there from the tooth fairy. He wanted that experience with his childhood imagination. I too wanted to pretend and to let him enjoy childhood imaginations, but we did it the boring, as a matter of fact way. Mike talked to him and he opened up and was fine about it all. We expressed that our love for him was there which is real and stonger than the tooth fairy. He went off to school happy to take his teeth to show and tell, as the tooth fairy did not have them. So what do you think... does imagination make an effect on truth later on a child?

MY TWO FRONT TEETH.

Jaden came home from school with one tooth lost and the other one barely hanging on. He thought this was so cool.

Later that night as he ate some cookie dough the other tooth fell out. Two teeth in one night. What Luck.

IT'S A BIRTHDAY!

Happy 7th Birthday Jaden! We love you.

This year I told Jaden we were not doing a friend party and he was so sad. He said what about all my gifts. Isn't that what it is all about. We did have a lot of fun that day and he was happy. It was nice for me. I was too tired that day to do a party of boys.


The day started with his own box of cereal.


For lunch we surprised him at school with a Happy Meal.

For Jaden's favorite dinner he choose pizza!

It's a Pokemon Birthday!

Jaden loved his toys. He put the Lego's together all by himself. He did not leave his task of building for over an hour. I wished he could apply this concentration to school. That is not as much fun as Lego's.

THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW

Yes! Living in Chicago has paid off. I went to the Oprah Show! My dear friend Amy was able to get tickets and I was excited to go with her. I found at least four places for my children to stay for the day, and I was off to Chicago. Finally an adventure for me! Being pregnant was a bonus as we sat and waited for the taping for 3 hours, instead of standing. It was so exciting and Amy and I were on the fourth row from the Couch! Oprah was beautiful, and so kind. We were a part of a show on Overwhelmed Moms. Isn't that all of us at times. It ended up being a sad show, so you walk away glad you went, but sad. I will let you all know when it airs. It will be fun to watch and see if I made it on the camera.

Security Guard... No! No! No!

I guess we were not supposed to take pictures while the doors were open.

As you can see I am also O so Pregnant!

O so Exciting!

My friend Amy just moved here 5 months ago. We have known each other since college at SUU and then we had our first homes around the corner from each other in Syracuse, Utah. Now she lives close by again, and We are amazed at how our paths have crossed over the years.

Thanks Amy for the tickets and a great day out!

SCHOOL DAYS

I was able to go to school with Jaden his first day. We received a tour of the school and then attended his class room to meet his teacher. We had a lot of fun. It is hard to see them go. I miss being a part of his life all day.









The Super First Grader!

Jill had to wait another week to start Pre-K! She asked me everyday if it was her day to go to school. That day finally came and she was so excited. When she came home she said. "Can I do my homework now?" Not quite like her older brother who does well on home work, but has no desire to do it.

The Mighty Preschooler

THE HAIR CUT

As much as I loved his long hair, it was time to
go. It was getting crazy.

He sat really still as long as I kept toothpaste on his brush.

The end result..... The Big Boy!

He would not stand still for a picture, so this is the best I could get as I chased him around the house.

SPLASH COUNTRY

BLACKBERRY FARM

Mike took the day off of work and we spent a family day at Blackberry Farm and Splash Country to finish up our last days of Summertime. These are two of our favorite places to go. The kids can visit the animals, ride the tractors, train, carousel, and ponies as many times as they would like. Then we are off across the street to the water park to splash in the pool, ride the lazy river and slide down the slides. We had a fun, fun day.

SUMMER CAMPOUT

Summer is not summer without a family Camp Out. So we packed up and drove to the Mississippi Palisades State Park. It was very different from Utah camping, as it was very green and there was grass everywhere instead of dirt. We had the best time. I love getting away.

Mike and the kids made a fire and we enjoyed roasting

hot dogs and marshmellows for Smores.

The Flying Hot Dog

Finally after hours of making the fire we get to eat.

Smores... Our favorite camping treat.

We love playing in the tent. Playing in the puppy door was their favorite part.

Jaden said his favorite part of the trip was Sleeping.

He never likes to sleep at home,

so we clarified that sleeping in the tent was his favorite part.

Yes, those are the roasting sticks they are twirling.
We had fun playing at the camp ground.

We took a great hike to the overlooks of the Mississippi river. It was beautiful. We even made it through all of the poison ivy with none of us getting any itches.

The Caves



Now this is the way to hike!

This way!

Under.......Over.........Jump

Jaden jumped over the logs as fast as he could,

because there were Bugs on the Logs.

M .I. S .S .I .S .S .I. P. P. I

RIVER

We ended the day going to Galena Illinois. This is the oldest town in Illinois. We visited the home of President Ulysses S. Grant and the downtown shopping area. There are streets of shops and resturaunts. The kids loved the fairytale store and the ice cream shop.

YUMMY!