A Snickerdoodle Kind of Day

Yesterday I had my 36 week appointment! Whew... the new baby is getting so close! I have been thinking about all the things I need to do to be ready, all of a sudden they just seem to do be banging down my door! 

Finish with Christmas Shopping, 

wash all the baby clothes, 

organize the baby's room, 

deep clean the house so its ready, 

hang all my pictures on the wall (yes I STILL haven't done that, and we moved in almost 3 months ago:) 

make frozen dinners for after I have the baby,

finish reading my birthing books,

pack my hospital bag, 

finish the boys blankets (I am STILL working on that project too:)

and lots more I have yet to think of....

So with all of that on my mind my stomach started complaining! And I realized I NEEDED a treat... not just any treat! A SNICKERDOODLE!

The boys and I got right to business! (Who needs to work on the mile long list of IMPORTANT things to do, when cookies are calling) Both the boys wanted to help so they each sat on the counter and took turns adding ingredients! I WISH I could have gotten a picture of them taking turns but I didn't want to push my luck! 

The boys enjoying a little dough after we were finished mixing everything together!

Isn't licking the beaters the best part of baking cookies?

Cooper was so proud of his role in the mixing! He clapped after each ingredient he added and was FASCINATED with the mixer! I think he might become a chef! He just loves to help cook and when I am not cooking he is pretending HE IS, with ALL MY DISHES! 

After we made the dough it had to chill in the fridge so we watched Charlotte's Web, the one with Dakota Fanning! The kids loved it! It is a really funny cute movie! ANYWAY both the boys helped make the dough into balls and LOVED rolling it in the cinnamon sugar! We wont be sharing these cookies with the neighbors, little boy germs in every bite :)

It was just what I needed to get my mind of my ever growing TO DO LIST! 

I love baking with my BOYS! 

Turkey and Stuffing and Pie.....

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with BJ's family! It was such a fun day! BJ and the boys went and did some jeeping and four wheeling in the morning! While Kristie and I got things ready around the house! In the afternoon I went over to Mindy's and helped her set up her Christmas tree! Its kinda become a tradition for me to help her with her tree! She has a TON of things and so its kinda like setting up a show tree! Its SO SO fun! 

When dinner was ready we set out the special place mats that Spencer made and all the kids sat around the table patiently waiting! They were so excited to have a table all to themselves! Kristie and I had laid out a bunch of plastic under the kids table so we wouldn't have to worry about clean up! The kids thought it was really cool to have a new floor, just for THEM! 

Cooper, Ryker, Spencer, Kally, Brylee and Shay

We each brought different dishes so that dinner wasn't too much for anybody! It worked out so well! All the food was gut bustingly yummy! The boys loved the stuffing, turkey and jello! Cooper was obsessed with the green beans! He is kind of addicted to them:) 

All of BJ's brothers and sisters and their families were able to come! Including BJ's uncle Jess and Aunt Liz! There was a big turn out! 

Lance and Cadie, Liz and Mindy, Kristie and Brent, and Bristi and her boyfriend Matt!

Jess, Alex, Ammon, Brandon, Brent and BJ!

All the guys congregated down stairs to watch TV! Or maybe they just wanted to be able to eat as much as they could without being noticed :) 

I managed to get one picture of a few of us too!

All the cousins have so much fun together! Brylee is the oldest and she is 6 then the youngest (for another month anyway) is Cooper and and he is 20 months! Because they are all so close in age they have a lot of fun goofing off and chasing after one another! 

This picture is of all of them tickling each other while cuddling on Nana and Papas bed! (Their bed is one of the favorite hang outs at Nana and Papas!)

After everyone left we hung out for a little while longer and the kids started jumping around on the couches downstairs! The boys seem to be able to make anything into a Jungle Gym! 

Thanksgiving Early.....

BJ's family is doing Thanksgiving a week early because his Mom is having to go in for surgery on Monday! So the boys and I made some fun place mats and name cards for all the cousins! They were really REALLY simple and FUN! I found them on Parents.com!

We cut out the plates and pockets and taped them onto the place mats! Then we picked out and painted some rocks for our name cards! Spencer made sure the boys and girls had their own colors! Cooper got to paint the boy rocks and Spencer painted all the red girl rocks! 

Cooper did SUCH a good job painting! He didn't try to eat the paint or get the paint on me or the table! It was AWESOME! He had such a good time getting to be big like his brother! 

Spencer had a lot of fun too and was really good at encouraging Cooper! 

After the paint was dry we added the alphabet noodles to every ones rock! Spencer did a good job searching for each letter! I LOVE how they turned out I hope the kids like them as much as I do! Happy EARLY Thanksgiving! 

I LOVE Thursdays.....

Thursday is BJ's day off work so after he gets out of class he spends the afternoon and evening with us! Its safe to say I count down all week waiting for my favorite day to come!!! This Thursday BJ was really tired so we had a quiet afternoon so he could rest and then in the evening he treated us to some INTENSE DADDY time! :)

He rough housed with the boys so I could relax! They played baseball and wrestled! Check out my 3 boys....

Then in the evening he surprised EVERYONE and took us out to eat! (we have been saving up for the holidays by trying to eat at home as much as possible!:) We had "heard" that there was a great Chinese restaurant in town so we thought we would give it a try! BJ and I both love Chinese food so we were a little sceptical but thought it was worth a shot, maybe we would LOVE it! ???????

Spencer was goofy all night, and yes that's Woody on the chair! Spencer has a toy backpack we take out to eat to the doctors so he has something to do! I tell myself it helps! :)

Cooper LOVED the soup! What a good little eater!

Yea, it sucked! I think its hard to compare Cedar City Chinese to Hong Kong Chinese and so nothing really compares! We had a great time out together EVEN if the food was BAD! The boys were relatively well behaved and it was SO nice to get out as a family! So THANK YOU BJ for taking us out and for another wonderful THURSDAY! I look forward to NEXT week! 

Only 6 more days to go......

Leaf Hunting

This afternoon we decided to do a fun fall craft! The weather was nice and the boys and I wanted to get out and go on a walk! We decided to go 

LEAF HUNTING 

to get what we needed to make out pictures! 

On our walk we saw lots of exciting things! We walked less then 2 block and were gone for an hour! :) We saw a MAC truck just like the one who is friends with Lighting Mcween! So we had to stop and play around on it! That is until his family got home.... oops! We saw a LOT of fire hydrants!! And Cooper found a very exciting stick, which became a fun thing to HIT EVERYTHING around us! 

When we got to the church the kids collected as many leaves as they could and we headed home! The sun was setting and Spencer started to worry he said "Mom I don't think we are EVER going to make it home! I sure miss my Dad!!" It was so funny and so matter of fact! I assured him we would make it home! And distracted him with the cool stick! I think thats what we are getting the kids for Christmas! They sure loved that thing!

Once we got home the kids had a ball crunching the leaves and helping me pick out what to draw! Spencer was REALLY good at tracing the pictures with the glue! And when it came time to dump the leaves on there was NOT a shortage of little hands wanting to spread those leaves around! When we cleared off the extra leaves Spencer let out a little yelp and said "Wow its magic Mom, we made a leaf picture!!" 

The finished "magical" pictures turned out great! Spencer was so proud of them he wanted to put them on his door! A real place of HONOR! 

HELP..... Sewing is Tricky!

So about 2 months ago I started working on new blankets for the boys to have once the bunk beds came! I started working on them, the bunk beds arrived and then I kinda quit.... for a while! So my sweet friend Amber asked me how it was coming the other day and I told her....it wasn't really coming at all! So she offered to come over and help! She is so GREAT! 

So yesterday we worked on them a little before FHE! I am almost ready to start sewing now! Which FREAKS me out, I don't want to screw it up! 

But I have run into a CREATIVE SNAG! You see Spencer's blanket has a race car on it, and it turned out really cute! But Coopers dump truck looks a little DEFORMED! I was hoping someone out there had an idea of how to make it look a little less...... cheesy!????? 

Here is the update since I talked to my Mom! But its still not right.....

Remember I am made up the pattern from a blanket I saw on Pottery Barn Kids so I am kinda on my own! ANY THOUGHTS or advice would be GREAT! I am not a good sewer and am WISHING I had paid more attention when my Mom tried to teach me all of this! :(

Thankful FHE

SO.... WOW I think at the end of this FHE I need to remember what I have to be thankful for because it was a little tiresome! We had 2 families over for a total of 5 kids  here for FHE! They were ALL over the place! The last month we have just had quiet FHE's and I think with such a drastic change Spencer kinda had a hard time calming down!! (kinda is a nice way to put it!)

First we talked about being thankful for what we have and what others do for us then I did a little Puppet Show with the story of the 10 lepers! I ended up using these SILLY cartoons because I couldn't find any good drawings or pictures ANYWHERE online! ANYWAY the kids kinda thought my lepers were MONSTERS! It was kinda funny!

Then we colored a picture of some things we can be grateful for! After coloring we made a "Thankful TURKEY!" And added feathers that had things the kids were thankful for! Some of the feathers are things like Backyardigins and Puppet Shows! But it turned out pretty cute! We played a fun round of Musical Chairs! The kids kinda chased each other around and then would get distracted and fall down or run ALL over the house and completely forget about the chairs! 

In the end it was exhausting! But I AM THANKFUL for the promise that if I try to do FHE the Lord will bless my boys! I HOPE that I am helping them to understand Heavenly Fathers Plan even on nights where things DON'T go as planned! :) 

Princess Party

This weekend we went to St George for Tippy's Birthday Party! Spencer and Tippy have a really cute friendship! Spencer is such a rough and tumble boy and Tippy is a sweet girly girl; so its been funny to watch their relationship grow! He calls her Princess and has gotten better at not scaring her with bats and swords! I think (?) he is starting to understand that girls like to play differently then boys!

Anyway we went down for 

Tippys Princess Party 

this Saturday! Spencer picked out a princess gift after lots of looking! At first he said she wanted a princess motorcycle or a pink race car but then we started looking at the dolls and he got the hang of it! It was so funny!

The party was over at Noah's so the kids could run around the backyard! It was 70 degress and almost HOT outside! 

Noah and Spencer had a great time together, as we were leaving Spencer said "Mom, I sure like playing with Noah he is my super friend!"

The Birthday cake was ADORABLE! 

Cooper had fun outside but he was FOCUSED on one thing the whole party.... the FOOD! Megan had made some adorable pink cupcakes and Cooper was constantly trying to get into them! I gave him one outside, thinking it would be no big deal for him to dig in out there.....and DIG IN he did! 

He also made MULTIPLE other attempts at more cupcakes! He only succeeded one other time and managed to get a spoon in the cupcake and run into the living room! Face planting onto Megan's couch! Frosting EVERYWHERE!! I think its safe to say Cooper loves CUPCAKES!  SORRY AGAIN MEGAN! 

Pregnancy Woes :(

This specific PREGNANCY COMPLAINT has been bothering me for SOME TIME! I keep trying to look past it and get over it but... it keeps coming up! So its time to get it off my chest! 

It really UPSETS and HURTS me when people comment on my belly! A little bit of teasing could be brushed off as something that comes with the territory but ALL THE TIME? 

I cant understand why it isn't a COMMON RULE OF SOCIETY that you NEVER say anything to a pregnant girl about the size of her tummy! Don't people understand that there is a little person in there and that you cant exactly GO ON A DIET! No one EVER says anything to someone who is overweight, because it would be CRAZY RUDE! But to a PREGNANT girl who isn't large because of bad eating habits or not exercising people feel entitled to comment and ask about how big you are! COME ON, we are OVERLY HORMONAL! THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! 

I have had SO many rude people say mean things this time! For example on Halloween a total stranger at the gas station asked " Is that your costume?" I was wearing NORMAL clothes!! Who says that? Then at church on Sunday the nursery leader commented "Wow you look like you are ready to explode!!" Oh that one just hurt! And SERIOUSLY WHO SAYS THAT? THINK IT ALL YOU WANT; BUT DON'T SAY THAT! COME ON! 

I also think comments like "Wow you must be getting close" and "Looks like you are about to have that baby!" Are completely off limits! It is such a weird phenomenon and I think that it needs to become unacceptable to say ANYTHING to pregnant women about their size! We are already WELL aware of how big the baby is getting we don't need ANYONE to point it out or ask about it!! 

I am sorry to go off the deep end but I have been complaining to BJ long enough its time I said something! Next time someone says something I am not going to try and cover up their rude comment by saying something nice, I AM GOING  TO LET THEM KNOW ITS RUDE TO SAY THINGS! AND ITS HURTFUL! I am going to start standing up for all those other pregnant girls who are tired of people being rude! Maybe people will start to take the hint? I HOPE SO! 

Deck the Halls

I love the Christmas Season! 

I love all the decorations and the traditions that come with Christmas time! When the house is in full Christmas glory it feels so warm and welcoming! It makes me just want to cuddle up under a blanket with some hot chocolate and wait to Santa come! 

Every year there is a list about a foot long of all the new decorations I want to add for the house to give that "Christmasy feel!" But THIS year I am holding back and trying to be creative with what I have! The Lord has blessed us with so much and its time I use a little restraint and show my gratitude by NOT asking for MORE MORE MORE! (BJ is currently breathing a HUGE sigh of RELIEF!)

Even though I am not getting any new decorations the kids and I had a GREAT time setting up the tree (which I kinda do all by myself cause I like to make it kinda funky but I try and make them feel included:) Cooper loved the lights and kept asking me if they were too hot to touch! Silly boy! And Spencer was fascinated by all the big balls I was putting on! I did have to explain AGAIN this year that the Christmas ornaments that are round are not the same KIND of balls you through around and play catch with! HOPEFULLY that little bit of difference sticks with them! :)

Spencer was SO excited to put the star on the top when the tree was all done! 

Then we got out all the nativities! YEA! I have collected a few over the years and the boys LOVE to play with all their little parts! Spencer calls them the "Jesus Houses" Most of them get put up out of reach but there are 2 the kids love to play with! The new Veggie Tales one is a BIG hit this year! And very durable! THANKS MOM!

We put up some cheesy Micky Mouse stickers on the windows because Cooper is infatuated with Mickey right now! And Spencer was fascinated with the idea that Mickey was dressed up as Santa! (It took a little bit of explaining :)

Anyway I am SURE as the season continues we will make a few fun CHRISTMAS CRAFTS and homemade decorations to help fill the house with that warm cheery feeling! If you have any ideas SEND THEM MY WAY! 

MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS

Tis' the (Almost) Season....

So if you hate those people that love to set up Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving,
SKIP THIS POST!
Cause I LOVE CHRISTMAS and I want to enjoy it AS LONG as I can! Oh and I am having a baby in 4 weeks so I thought I should jump the gun and get everything set up, JUST IN CASE!

We started setting up for Christmas today, ITS NOT FINISHED so I am just going to share my
ADORABLE little helpers!

Spencer was ALMOST as excited as me to be getting ready for SANTA!
These silly Santa hats are curtisy of my Mom few years ago, but who doesnt love a CRAZY SANTA hat? Spencer does, he wants as many as he can get on!
Cooper isn't as sure about this whole "Santa hat" thing! But he sure loved the spring in the hat, as long as it wasn't on HIS head!

Stay tuned for all the Christmas Cheer, I am hoping to be all done tomorrow! We'll see........

I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus FHE

Yesterday was a super busy day, but somehow I managed to pull an FHE together! I had found a simple idea and just expanded it a little!

First we sang the song "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus," which I really love! I think we are going to have to listen to it a lot more! Then we played a game! The game starts with a set of foot prints and then Spencer JUMPED to each new set of footprints! First I set out a picture of Jesus and asked Spencer what Jesus was doing in the picture? Then I set down a picture of how he could do something JUST LIKE JESUS!

For example, Jesus went to the temple when he was a boy, you can go to the temple and to Church! Or Jesus helped people, you can help Mom and Brother! He had a lot of fun JUMPING, and asked to play it 3 times! He knew all the pictures by the end!Then we played musical chairs, on each chair I put one of the pictures of things HE could do to BE LIKE JESUS! And when the music stopped we said what each of us could do to be more like Him! The kids LOVED musical chairs! Even Cooper got in on the action and chased us around!
We had a coloring page and talked a little bit more about what kind of things Jesus would and WOULDN'T do! Afterwards Spencer asked me to if he could play the "Jesus feet game" again! We had a lot of fun, and it was really simple! HURRAY!!!
AND I made DESSERT! And I NEVER make dessert! But I saw this recipe on Rachel's blog and I couldn't stop thinking about it! Its called Turtle Pumpkin Pie! And it is INCREDIBLE! It was very simple and only took me 15 minutes MAX to make! It chills in the fridge so you don't even have to bake it! I loved it, and ALL the boys loved it! THANKS RACHEL! I am totally making it for Thanksgiving!I love his expression, he is trying to figure out what this is and why its SO YUMMY!

SILLY WINKS

I have been meaning to catch the boys playing on MSN Messenger for a while now! We spend a lot of time talking to my parents with our web cam! The boys love being able to see Gramzie and Grandad! And lately they have found the fun little "Winks" that you can send back and forth!
THEY ARE OBSESSED!

Cooper loves the blue monster that growls at you after he comes out of the door! He would watch it OVER AND OVER! He has just started growling BACK at the monster which is the CUTEST thing in the world! Spencer loves to click on the images, he has gotten really good at the mouse! My favorite is the dancing pig!

(Sorry about the angles on the video I was holding the camera and holding Cooper in my lap!!:)


The really funny part of this whole game is that they could play the SAME winks over and over and NEVER get sick of it! If you can see it in this video the ENTIRE messenger screen is full of winks! I am SURE my parents have long closed it down so they can ignore the friendly little cartoons! While my boys are laughing up a storm!

You can tell Cooper has his favorites and gets a little impatient with Spencer if he clicks on a cartoon he doesn't like or takes too long between winks!
Oh my silly silly boys!
Whatever keeps them from beating on each other and makes them laugh!

I hope everyone can see how much they love it and how funny it is to watch their fascination with such a simple little WINK! ;)

Hurray for Visitors!!

Today we had a few family visitors! BJ's Parents, Brother and Sister came through Cedar on their up to Wyoming! We all went out to Breakfast for Kristie's Birthday! Spencer made her the CUTEST card (which I forgot to get a pictures of, darnit) Spencer was so excited to see Nana and Papa he really wanted to leave with them!
He loves NANA and PAPA! Then this afternoon Jenise came up for a quick visit! BJ went into work and so we thought it would be fun to just have some sister, nephew time! We got some take-out from the GREAT Hawaiian restaurant that has amazingly yummy Kahlua Pork, stopped at the grocery store for some chocolates and headed home to relax!Jenise had stopped at Old Navy on her way up and picked up some hats and mittens for the kids! They were having a big winter clothing sale and all the hats and mittens were a dollar today! YEA! We also got Cooper a warm winter coat!! BUT..... I tried to get away with getting the bigger size so that it would FOR SURE fit him next year! AND my plan didn't really work! He looked like Randy from A Christmas Story! He could barely walk and his arms wouldn't lay at his side! I guess sometimes you really have to get them the RIGHT size! Oh well, the whole thing made for a fun evening! THANKS SO MUCH for coming up J we all had a such a blast! It would have been sad and lonley WITHOUT YOU! We LOVE YOU!