Trunk or Treat

On Friday night we had a ward trunk-or-treat/chili cook-off. It was combined with the Glen Carbon ward and it was lots of fun. Kenny and I dressed up as construction workers because we couldn't come up with anything else that was free. We are so cheap. He just brought everything home from work, and an extra set of everything for me: FRC's, hard hats, safety goggles, and vests with reflectors on them. We looked pretty legit. Tyler was a skeleton (that's as close as we could get to a monster, which is what he kept requesting to be) and Brynlee was a puppy, which was Tyler's costume exactly two halloweens ago haha. For our trunk we decorated it with caution tape, posters, flashing lights, and little orange cones. It was great. We won "most creative" and had a great time. Tyler thinks trick-or-treating is the best and keeps asking to go again. He loves candy!! It was really cold and really windy outside, but at least it wasn't raining. Sorry some of these pics are so dark.

She's chowin down on a hot dog bun. good stuff.

Saturday night we went to our friends, the Pearsons' house for another round of Hand and Foot. It's a super fun card game that we had never heard of until we met them. They have lots of couples from our ward over once a month and we all bring something and do a big dinner, then play cards for the next few hours. It's a blast and we love going. Someday we'll even be able to go without our children. Last time we didn't bring Ty, and Brynlee fell asleep not long after we got there and slept the rest of the time. But last night we weren't so lucky. Tyler played with Elijah (their little boy who's a little older than Ty) and he went to bed there. Brynlee screamed her head off anytime we tried to lay her down so we gave up. Of course she fell asleep the second we got in the car. All I'm going to say is I look forward to going on a date with Kenny again someday. :) We are lucky to have such good friends here.

Week 2 of potty training and Tyler is doing fantastic. He is still so scared to go on a regular-sized toilet, but we have zero problems at home. Today at church he said he needed to go so I took him in the bathroom (even though we had put a diaper on him for church) and he walked in the stall and said "oh no mom this is way too big. I'm gonna fall in!!" haha So he went in his diaper. But I am so proud of him and how fast he picked it up. He's such a happy boy and I love having him around all the time.

Fall Photos

Earlier this week while I was running with the kids I thought, this weather is so beautiful and the leaves are absolutely gorgeous. Why haven't I taken pictures yet? So we got home, and I got the kids dressed up all cute in their fall clothes. I stayed in my stinky, sweaty clothes and we went to two different spots around the lake to take pics. Our two favorites; the first (where we saw the snake) we call "the one with the dock and the rocks" and the second we just call, "the beach". Taking pictures of these two by myself was quite possibly the worst idea I've had all week, because my kids may or may not be the least cooperative subjects in the world.
After the first few minutes I gave up on trying to keep the leaves out of Bryn's mouth and boy did she love that. I just hope there are no serious side effects from leaf-eating.
I did not get a single picture of either one of them looking at the camera and smiling at the same time, or just both of them looking period at the same time. AND I was bribing them with dum-dums. Nevertheless I happen to have the most adorable children, and I managed to get some cute ones even without their smiles. Now I just need to find someone to snap a few of all of us together as a family!!

He's chasing a yellow butterfly; he chased it for quite a while, it was so cute.

We don't need a puppy

Some people don't have children because they have a dog. I don't have a dog, because I have Brynlee. She is somewhat similar to a puppy in some of the things she does:

-She crawls over and sits at my feet and begs.

-She chews on everything

-Bites and tugs on my pants with her teeth

-Bites me

-Whines when she gets hungry or wants attention

-She occasionally growls

-When she gets excited while crawling, she pants and her tongue hangs out of her mouth. :)

See what I mean? Obviously, the comparison of human baby to dog stops there, but I think it's pretty funny.

Here's a little thing I've been working on.

This is Tyler's paternal line. Dad, Grandpa (his dad), and his dad, and on for 5 generations. Pretty cool eh? I wanted to inculde Tyler's picture in the line, but they don't sell frames like this with 6 holes. I found one for 7, but we can't find another picture to go one more generation back. Anyway, i'm workin on Brynlee's maternal line right now. We're also trying to collect pictures of all ancestors because we love them and think it's fun to have their pictures up all over our house. We sure do have a rich heritage in all lines.

Sun and Halloween Poem

Oh boy we are enjoying the sunshine today!! It has been so cloudy, cold, and rainy for the last couple weeks that we are just soakin up this sun.

I love her in her new outfit. Question: What's better than super-tight, pink pants?

Answer: Brynlee's chubby thighs and ghetto bootie in super-tight, pink pants! I love watching her crawl around in these haha.

Two things about this picture: 1. Tyler is hitting the football with a bat. Hmm... 2. Brynlee is about to pick up something and put it in her mouth. Yuck. oh, and the third child in this pic. is the neighbor boy I'm babysitting today.

My mom did pre-school at home with all of us kids and I remembered this cute little poem about pumpkins sitting on a gate. I called her up and asked her to e-mail it to me and she did. I have taught it to Tyler and he absolutely loves it. We say it all the time. Today we even cut out and glued together an illustration for it which he thought was pretty cool. So here's for any of you with toddlers or little kids that want a fun poem:

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said, "It's getting mighty late"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"

The third one said, "I really don't care"

The fourth one said, "Let's run, run, run!"

The fifth one said, "It's Halloween fun!"

"Wooooo" went the wind, and OUT went the lights (clap your hands on out)

and 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Funny conversation with Tyler:

Me: Come on kiddos!

Tyler: Mom, we not kiddos, we are mans! (referring to him and his friend, Ryan)

Me: Oh I thought you were a big boy.

Ty: No, I'm a man, and daddy's a man, and you're a woman. Don't call me a big boy. I'm a man!

Oh this week

There have been so many times this week when I wanted to blog about something or other, but time kept getting away from me and I never did it. Here we are at the end of the week and so now I'll just catch up.

Potty-training: Monday morning Tyler woke up to a new routine. We went full-force potty training and it has been quite a ride. I put him in underwear all day every day (except sleeping, naps and at night) and he is doing SO well. I just about threw the towel in and said forget it a couple times. I just got so sick of cleaning up pee all over me, him, the bathroom, and OH the excess laundry was so not fun. But we're getting there. He really has made so much progress in the last 6 days that I can't complain at all. Like yesterday, we didn't have to change his pants even once. He told me every time and ran into the bathroom and I ran after him and he'd go in the potty. He is so cute about it too, he cracks me up. I decided all in all that I still do hate potty-training. I was scared of it before we started, I guess fear of the unknown. But now that we've been doing it, I am still scared--fear of the known I suppose haha.

Cars: We got a new car!!! We've been looking/shopping them out for weeks and I was getting so sick of it. We finally found one and it was a great deal. It's a 2005 Buick Terraza. We love having a mini-van and this one is like a luxury car for us. I swear I've never had so many bells and whistles on a car. Tyler loves the DVD player we have, and we catch brynlee crankin her little head around trying to see it too haha. Kenny flew to Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday cuz that's where the car was. His plane left at 5:45 a.m. and he got there, test-drove the car, bought it, then drove it all the way back here. He got home a little after 9 Sat. night. It was a long day for him but it was the only way. When he got back we all loaded up in the car and drove the 45 minutes down to St. Louis airport to pick up his car from that morning (because I didn't want to get the kids up at 3:30 a.m. to take him to the airport). We got all the way down there and he realized he forgot his keys!!! OOhh boy I was so frustrated inside, but what can ya do? On top of that there was a huge wreck that shut down freeway entrances for a while and caused a big detour. Anyway. So we got home at 11:30 and put our ornery, tired kids to bed. We had to go back tonight and we finally got the car.

TV= Taking oVer: I was at the dentist on Wed. (getting a crown put on my tooth) and noticed how every one of the little rooms and patient chairs has a big TV hooked up to it now. I started thinking how funny that is that we have tv's bombarding our lives everywhere we go. Restaurants, airports, airplanes, our cars, our homes, and now our dentist offices...you name it, it's got a tv. Why are we so desperate for constant noise and entertainment? It's insane how we can't just be left to our own thoughts for 5 minutes. We don't just make conversation with people next to us, or read books, or just ponder anything. We just watch tv. It made me think of a talk that Sis. Hawks (a really awesome senior couple missionary in our ward that just went home last week) gave in church. She talked about un-plugging from the world, and plugging into God. I want to try and be better at that. So many distractions! We could waste our lives away completely if we let ourselves.

Edible paper: I think it is imperative that someone come up with books and notebooks full of edible paper. It's Brynlee's favorite thing and frankly I'm tired of taking it away from her. Maybe she likes the taste of paper? Oh that girl. She sure keeps me on my toes too. She crawls everywhere so quickly and sticks E-VER-Y-THING in her mouth. It's pretty gross, and I'm having a heck of a time trying to keep all the floors clean, constantly. Her favorite room is the bathroom and she tries to sneak in there when she thinks no one is watching her. We try to keep the door closed but we go in and out so much with Ty's potty-training and all that sometimes we slip up. She gets hurt a lot lately because she gets into everything and pulls herself up to stand by things, but still falls sometimes. anyways. She's such a doll and I'm glad she's figuring everything in this big world out.

Ok well I need to go to bed so whatever else I wanted to say will have to wait. Good night.

Dinner Idea

Need something new to make for dinner this week? I would suggest homemade chicken pot pie. It is perfect for these cold fall days. It warms me up from the inside out, and it makes great leftovers. I will tell you that this is not a "throw together last-minute meal". But it's worth it. Go here for the recipe. But you should also know that the amount of food this recipe calls for makes 2 pies worth. So unless you're having friends over for dinner, cut the recipe in half. It is so yummy you won't regret it.

This one's for you, Steph Magoo

Stephanie and Lindsay at Kim's wedding: May 2009

Steph's always been the ring leader in our family. She's the oldest of 8 children so whether it's her personality, or she just grew into it, we always just listened and followed whatever crazy idea she came up with. And she did indeed come up with crazy ideas :).

Back in 1997 (I think) when our Grandma Backus was dying, we all went over to say goodbye to her one last time. We went out in the backyard afterwards and I was so sad. Steph put her arm around me and told me everything was going to be ok. We walked together and cried together, and I have never forgotten that moment.

Steph convinced me to do my first rebellious act: buy a two-piece swimming suit. She drove the two of us to Old Navy and we tried on, and even bought 2-pieces. Mine was only a tankini, and it just showed like an inch of my stomach when I had it on. But at the time, dad was strictly opposed to ANY kind of 2-piece, whether you were covered or not. So I felt SO guilty that I never even took it out of the bag. I bought it and hid it at the top of my closet! A few years later I found it while cleaning out my closet and laughed so hard at the fun memory.

For a while, in Utah, we shared a room in the downstairs room. Remember Steph, the one with all those TACKY, colorful hand prints all over it? Well we would stand on our bed and climb/sneak out our window at night all the time to go toilet-papering with our cousins and friends. I don't think mom and dad ever knew (well now they do!! haha) We were so mischievous!

When Steph got back from doing a semester abroad at Nauvoo, IL she gave a little intimate devotional on her experiences there to our family. She was so passionate about church history (as she is with so many things) and I gained a stronger testimony just from listening to her.

We were married 5 weeks apart, and our first children are born 5 weeks apart. How cool is that?

When I was in labor and driving to the hospital to deliver my first-born son, Steph called me on the phone. She taught me how to breathe through contractions, since she was due in a month and had attended those birthing classes that I had neglected to go to. I was so nervous and it felt good to talk to her. We were also still debating whether to name our son Tyler, or Kevin. In this same phone call Steph said, "I like Tyler because then you can call him Ty. Ty Weston sounds like the name of a hot football player." I agreed, and he was named Tyler.

She is so bold. In the way she speaks, to how she decorates. I love her style.

The older we get the more I realize how much we have in common. Or maybe it's just that we are getting more things in common as we get older. Either way, I like it.

I can always call her when I want to read a good book because she was an English major and is always reading something. We both dapple in a lot of different areas, and have similar interests so I can always talk to her about something; crafts, kids, husbands, church, TV, cooking, politics, scrap booking, photography, people, homeschooling, the gospel, homemaking, etc. I am so lucky to have such great sisters as my best friends! I've just been thinking about Stephanie lately because she's got like a month or so left until her husband gets home. She is such a trooper and does an amazing job while Andrew's been deployed. I wish so bad that I could come out to visit you in the beautiful Washington state. Maybe someday... just wanted you to know that I've been thinking about you and praying for you guys. Good luck on this last stretch!! You're almost there.

p.s. Remember in the picture up top we were wearing corsets to hide our "baby fat"? Or at least we like to blame our fat on our babies, for as long as people let us use it as an excuse!! :) Hooray for matching dresses--just like the good ol' days.

Shoe boxes, sick, and stuff

I never throw away shoe boxes because I seem to always find a use for them. I've had my eye on these kind of boxes for a while.

I'm trying to get all of our pictures organized and sorted so that I can catch up on scrapbooking. But these types of boxes were a little too pricy for just a box. So I decided to cover my shoe boxes with cute paper and call it good. They didn't turn out too bad. They're not all uniform and cool-looking, but they were free so I'll take it.

I did do some scrapbooking this weekend, by the way. I wasn't feeling up to much else. Friday morning I woke up feeling pretty lousy. I thought it would go away so I dropped my kids off at my friend Heather's house and went to the dentist.

*Side note: It was my first dentist appt. since I've been married, or even since I left for college I think. WOW. They took a bunch of pictures and did a bunch of other stuff, including cleaning. I have to go back this next week to get a crown because one of my fillings has cracks in it and stuff is leaking in. Anyways...*

By the time I got out of the dentists office I was feeling so miserable, and feverish and shivering like crazy. So I picked up my kids *Another side note: Heather is the best ever because Brynlee screamed more than half the time and she still was nice to me when I came back to get them. She even made me peppermint tea for the ride home! She's pretty much the greatest.*

I took some drugs (Ibuprofen) when I got home and turned on a movie for the kids. Too bad Brynlee's not old enough to care about movies. I was so grateful when they both took a nap at the same time, cuz i did too. Kenny came home from work an hour or two early and saved the day. He sent me to bed to sleep some more and made me some chicken noodle soup. True to his non-recipe/throw in whatever you find in the kitchen style, it turned out great. What a guy. Saturday was a lazy day for me too. Tyler went to a birthday party for our next door neighbor, Laura. She turned 4 and he was more than thrilled to be part of another birthday. He loves them and thinks presents are the coolest.

Here we are Saturday night. Me, still in my sweats. We're enjoying popcorn and hot chocolate on the living room floor (because my scrapbooking was taking over the table) and just hanging out.

I was pretty bummed that I got randomly sick because I was going to run a 10K on Saturday morning. Hopefully I can find another race soon. Today I'm feeling much better and went to church and everything. And I wore my sassy, new, red, peep-toe heels (that was a lot of adjectives), that I love.

I thought the kids looked so cute today in their church clothes. Looking forward to another great week.

Love These

I found these cute little loaf pans at Michael's for $1.00 each! They are my favorite. I think they are the perfect size. I love to make different kinds of bread: zucchini, banana, pumpkin-chocolate chip, cranberry-nut (next on my list), etc. These are great to wrap and store in your freezer then pull them out when you need to. Visiting teaching? New neighbors? Visit a friend and want to bring a treat? Pull out one of these mini-loaves and you're set. They are also great for Kenny to take to work and snack on. With one recipe I can get two loaves of bread, and one pan (12) muffins, which are great for kids.

It is raining like crazy here this morning. We woke up to it, and I love waking up to rain. I love these slow, rainy mornings. And Ty's new lightning mcqueen, fleece pajamas. I bought them for christmas originally, but when they came in the mail yesterday I couldn't help but let him put them on. Plus he doesn't have any warm pajamas that fit him. He says "I like em". They are so warm he doesn't want to take them off.

Pumpkin Carvin

Last night for our FHE activity we carved pumpkins. Tyler really didn't enjoy the feeling of pumpkin innerds on his hands, and tried to avoid it at all costs, so he wasn't much help. But he sure did get excited when they were finished and we put the lights in them! We had a fun time!

She made things a little more difficult this year, crawling all over the place and smearing the mess around. But she sure looks innocent with that little smile.

He would occassionally stick a spoon down in there, but he never dug anything out.

I love the gourds we used as noses. It was a martha stewart idea and it turned out cute. I've got some other ideas I want to do with pumpkins so we'll have to get a couple more. I love this time of year! :)

Weekend

Oh I love General Conference. It rocks my world. It always helps me re-evaluate my life and set some new goals for myself. My favorite talk was probably Elder Holland's powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. I was like frozen the whole time it was so impactful. Tyler asked for juice, but I couldn't get up and get it. Brynlee woke up from her nap and started whining, but I couldn't get up and get her. I sat there blown away by it and couldn't move until he said "Amen". It was awesome. I loved the rest too, except we didn't get Saturday sessions because our internet freaked out and broke down. We'll watch it sometime this week.
Another thing I like about conference is it's like a weekend food-fest. I swear we're always snacking on something. I feel like I never take my apron off because I'm always making more food! It's wonderful :).
Speaking of things breaking down, my phone is also out of order. I have ordered a new one, so hopefully it will get here soon.
We went and test-drove a mini-van. We're in the market for one, you know. But we didn't like it after all.
Kenny and Brynlee are still sick. I think the stupidest thing in the world, is that there is no way to de-congest babies. They can't blow their nose, those syringe bulb things can only do so much, and medicines are all a big no-no. Our room (and probably house) reeks of Eucalyptus oil that I put in the humidifier by her bed in hopes of helping her breathe. AS IF she needed any other excuse to wake up at night. And I can't just let her cry when she's sick because then I feel heartless. oh bah. I am grateful though, that I have still not caught anything.
Anyway, my bathroom is a mess and the laundry is calling my name too. Guess I better get on it.

Party On Your Lips

It is starting to get cold here. And do you know what happens to me in the winter? Everything gets dry and chapped. My skin and lips need extra extra moisturizing. It's just another part of winter for me; sweaters, chapstick, coats, lotion. The other day I was at Wal-mart with the kids and as we were checking out, I looked to my side where they've got all those last minute things to suck you in. Their final attempts at making you buy things you don't need, but might decide you want right before you swipe your card. I saw something I not only wanted, but really do need now that it's getting cold--chapstick. Not just any kind of chapstick. Burt's Bees!!!

As soon as I bought it, I put some on and oh how those memories flooded in. It took me back to my college days where Burt got me through those horrible Rexburg winters. I didn't go anywhere without that stick of beeswax in my pocket. As soon as that chapstick touched my lips I could taste Kenny's kisses too. You see, we both used this chapstick (generally sharing) while we were dating and engaged. Every time he used it he would say, "it's like a party on your lips every time". And Kenny and I sure did (and do) have parties on our lips' :).

Welcome back to my life, Burt. I'm just so glad I get to continue to have this chapstick, and Kenny's kisses, on my lips.