Pumpkins and the Ward Halloween Party

This year Jensen chose his costume and it was a pirate(of course) which made it really easy for me because I just got us all matching pirate costumes. Jensen was thrilled and would ask everyone if they were going to be a pirate and insisted that they should if the answer was anything but yes. Cree also carved pumpkins with the boys and he gave one of them a pirate eye patch. Cree is so creative which is why I delegated the carving to him. Our ward party was on Friday night and we were the pirate family. Jensen and Tyler got to play games and trick or treat and Jensen now thinks that he needs a treat after every meal especially breakfast! I wonder how I am going to survive actual Halloween!

How To Host A Murder

For those of you who have not heard of How to Host a Murder, it is, in my opinion, one of the most fun games that a group of people can play. It is a dinner party with eight people that all come as a different character that they have been assigned before hand. Then the night of, you come, eat dinner and be "in character" as you all talk and discuss and try to figure out who the murderer is. It is great fun and I have been playing these games for many years. This one particular group that we play with have been doing one a year for a little while. We had to skip last year because Tyler was new so we were back on track this year. The game this time was titled "Archaeologically Speaking, it's the Pits." In this particular episode, my character was the murderer. We had a fun dinner(thanks girls for all of your help!) and a nice time catching up with everyone. Mark your calendars for next year!

The boys showing off their costumes. Notice the hats in particular!
The girls really can't compete especially in the hat department!

Tyler's 1st Haircut

I am sorely behind on this blog. Perhaps having no computer at my house is a contributing factor. Or perhaps it is that my time management skills still need a little work. Whatever the reason here goes. We took Jensen to get a haircut and Tyler really needed one, but he is so wiggly I wasn't sure it would work. But he was so good. He loved the cape and he sat still and had no problem with the clippers. We love haircuts at our house, which is a good thing since we need to have them so often!

The Catch Up

Ok, so I have been extremely negligent about posting on the blog so I have missed quite a few important things. I will try a quick recap of the past three months. (whew 3 months, that is like a lifetime!)

The following pictures will help explain some of our activities:

Grandpa Ernie passed away on June 27, 3 days before his 60th wedding anniversary

We go swimming at great grandma Mitzi's everyday Mon-Fri and have dinner with our cousins

Jensen has been honing his cooking skills

We have all been getting ready to go on tour with our Guitar Hero for Wii

Jensen and Tyler are getting ready for a wet winter

Jensen and Tyler are finding new places to play hide and seek at the grandparent's Speirs house

Jensen and Tyler are continuing a next generation of bathing in the blue tub that their mom and uncles and grandma Celia before them bathed in.

We hang out with our cousins, (ok really our second cousins)

Jensen is getting ready for preschool by only reading the best books

We watch Justin cutting apart a 30 year old tree that fell over at grandpa Roy's house

Tiffany got called to be the Young Women's President of Duarte 2nd Ward(wasn't I just a young woman myself!)

Cree got a new Dodge Mega cab truck for work that so far Tiffany has been driving 85% of the time

Tiff gets to be involved with Girls Camp this year

Cree gets to be home with the boys more often now that Tiff is gone more with the Young Women

We have missed having a big summer party,(but not to fear, summer isn't quite over)

And we have been having so much fun that somehow 3 more months of our lives have flown by!

Tagged

Okay, so I didn't realize that tagging can be very big in the blogging world. My friend Jilynn tagged me and I am sitting here on a Friday night at my mom's house, my boys are asleep upstairs and my dad and Justin are at work and my mom and Cree are chaperoning the LDS prom so I have decided it is time to answer the tag.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was just a few weeks home from my freshman year at BYU

5 Things on Today's To Do List

1. Laundry
2. Treats for the LDS Prom
3. Transportation for the LDS Prom
4. Pay my bills and balance my checkbook
5. Friday, get my nails done!
   

5 Snacks I Enjoy

1. Oreos
2. Pretzels
3. Anything baked, cookies, cakes etc.
4. Cheese and crackers
5. Anything chocolate

5 Things I would do if I was a Billionaire

1. Buy a House
2. Fill my savings account
3. Go to Hawaii
4. Go to various concerts and shows (Cirque du Soleil, Michael Buble, Celtic Thunder etc)
5. Have diamond jewelry

5 Bad Habits I Have

1. Being bossy
2. Procrastinating
3. Never saying no to anyone
4. Not getting right up in the morning
5. Not making my bed every day

5 Places I Have Lived

1. Duarte, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Duarte, CA
4. Arcadia, CA
5. Monrovia, CA

5 Jobs I've Had

1. Babysitting
2. Franklin Covey
3. Dental Receptionist
4. Motherhood

6 Quirky Things About Me

1. I always use words that people think I've made up
2. I do the LA Times Sunday crossword each week
3. I don't load the dishwasher until I have rinsed all of the dishes first
4. I have to have my checkbook balanced to the penny
5. I love watching Sesame Street just as much as Jensen (maybe more!)
6. I have to have a list for almost everything in my life

So now that you all know a bit more useless information about me I must get back to that laundry on my to do list. Actually this was a fun exercise for me to get me thinking about things I don't always have the luxury to just sit and dwell on. Audieu for now!

I Get Around

Jensen got a red battery powered truck from grandma Kim and he rides it all around the backyard. His favorite thing is to put Tyler in the seat beside him and drive him all over the yard. As you can see, Tyler loves it. The other picture is Jensen wearing Cree's hat. He just put it on one day as we were heading out the door and he kept it on most of the day. I thought it was too funny.

Arizona

Makaelee, Tyler and Jensen
Jensen enjoying grandma Kim's pool
Tyler in the swing in the backyard
Jensen and daddy in the much warmer spa
Jensen being the acrobat on the trampoline (or the tramp as he says)

During conference weekend in April, Cree and I and the boys drove out to Mesa to see grandma Kim and grandpa Dave. We had a really great time and Jensen and Tyler got to enjoy the huge backyard and the brand new pool. They love being outside and fortunately the weather was really quite good. The boys also got to see their cousin, Makaelee and we were able to get nice pictures of the three of them.

Lucy and Jensen sharing goldfish crackers.
Tyler and Jensen happy and dazed to be out of the car.

Maddie, Lucy, Sophie,( being held by Riley), Tyler and Jensen.

On General Conference weekend Cree and the boys and I drove out to Arizona to see Cree's mom. She lives in Mesa and on the way we stopped for about 20 minutes to see my friend Julie who had just had a baby. She also has a little girl who is just 6 days younger than Jensen. We were able to get a couple of quick pictures of Julie's girls and my boys all together. It was fun to see them and hopefully next time we make it to Arizona I will be able to catch up with all of my friends who live there.

Daily Constitutional

 Two summers ago Cree inherited a John Deere wagon set from his Kofford grandparents and he spent that summer fixing and repainting and refinishing it. Now it is lovely and Jensen and Tyler love to go in the wagon for rides. So this spring Cree started taking the wagon out each afternoon and putting Jensen and Tyler in it for a walk through the park and on the bike trail in Duarte. Jensen came back after the first walk and talked about seeing lizards and horses and birds. Now when they go he comes back and says he saw lizards and horses and birds even when they did not. Funny how a kids mind grabs onto something and it sticks forever.   

Face Your Fears!

This is terrible to admit, but I have just not had the patience or courage to sit and put new posts on the blog. I have lots of cute pictures and I have really been wanting to post them, but then I let everything else be used as my excuse to not spend any time updating. I like the computer but I also live in a little bit of fear of it. It is kind of my same attitude about the ocean. I love the beach and the ocean, but I also have a healthy respect(and yes fear) of it as well. So I am now in the repentant mode and need sit down and look at what has been going on this last month and find some fun moments to share. 

Easter Morning

On Easter morning, we got up and got ready for church and then went to my parents house to see if the Easter bunny had come. He had, and so Jensen had an easter egg hunt, which he loved! He helped Tyler find his eggs too, but he really just cared about looking for them and slamming them into his basket. Most of the real eggs ended up cracked but the plastic eggs were more durable. Of course, once Jensen figured out there was candy in the plastic eggs, he opened them all as he went. At the end of the hunt, he ran from room to room saying, "more, momma, more." Needless to say easter was a big hit!  We went to church and Jensen brought easter eggs to all of his nursery friends and then later we went to my grandma's house for dinner. We really had a lovely time being with family and having such nice weather. 

Coloring Easter Eggs

On Saturday Jensen and Tyler and Grandpa Chris and Grandma Celia and Cree and I all went down to Aliso Viejo to Uncle Cory and Aunt Christina's house to dye our Easter eggs. The boys had a great time and Cory and Christina have a cat that Jensen loved! I wasn't sure that Jensen would take to the cat but it was not Jensen I should have been worried about. I don't think that Charlie kitty will ever be the same. 

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We really didn't do anything special, but I was so proud that I managed to remember to put us all in festive green for the occasion. So I just wanted to showcase my two little leprechauns!

Tyler the Tongue

I am a few days behind, but this is  Tyler's 5 month picture. He has less hair than Jensen did and his eyes are blue as compared to Jensen's brown eyes. He is up to 11 or so pounds and he has started on rice cereal and loves it! My mom calls him Tyler the tongue because he usually sticks it out when he smiles. He is a happy baby, with a bit of his daddy's temper, but overall a very good baby. We love having him add so much to our family!

The Ball Pit

So the boys got an inflatable ball pit from grandma Kim for Christmas and they both love it. We are up to 300 plastic balls that, fortunately for us, live at grandma Celia's house. (Sorry grandma Celia!) Jensen loves to dive into it and Tyler, at his whopping 11 pounds, likes to just sit in it and let his dad and Jensen bury him.