Halloween

It's probably time I post on Halloween.  Suffice it to say my kids were cute.  You might recognize the boys' costumes.  That's because they wore the same ones last year but switched.  Handy that way.  Jane was the cutest mouse ever.

Luke and Jacob carved their pumpkins (with help) but did great.  Luke had a pirate and Jacob's had a huge smiley face.  And to top it off, those pumpkins are from our garden.  Highly recommend planting your own.  We got 6 big pumpkins off one plant although the plant did take over the garden.  Worth it.

 The loot.

I agonized whether or not to go trick or treating on Sunday this year.  I heard lots of people were going on Saturday (living in UT I guess) but I decided that was a bit too presumptuous for me to assume my neighbors would be ready and cater to our needs.  So I figured we'd go on the day and go as a family for a family event and make sure and meet the neighbors and say hi.  Turns out we only saw a couple people trick or treating.  It was slightly embarrassing to be the only ones out.  We weren't expecting that.  However, lots of people emptied their candy into my kids' sacks, not that we needed it but we got a lot which is always fun for the kids.

Oh well, Happy Halloween!

Baby, It's cold outside

Did I mention that Adam and I love to cook.  Adam is actually the better cook but since I do most of the cooking, I must say, I'm getting better.

We found this book at DI.  Love it.  Risotto takes awhile to make but it's soo good (at least the recipies we've tried.)  If you want to try it, i'll give you a recipe we like.

Here is our first fire of the season.  One of the things I love about it getting cold.  I much rather prefer summer but if it has to be cold, I like it when the fireplace is going, my kids are running around like crazies or reading a book, and I get to read a book snuggled next to my cute husband.

We inventoried our snow stuff last night.  Good thing.  It snowed this morning.  As suspected, the cheap gloves aren't that good for making snowballs.  The kids kept changing gloves cause they kept getting wet.

We made a snowman before 9AM so the snow was still there.  I think it's funny we have a snowman but no snow. 

I don't actually like winter that much. I used to but with kids, it's much different. All of my kids have hated the snow with a passion when they're little. I got Jane all dressed up in warm clothes this morning and took her outside with us and she just stands there and crys uncontrollably until we go inside.  Snow is fun I tell her.  I even try to get her to eat some.  She will have nothing of it.  All of my kids have done this.  Luckily Luke and Jacob have grown out of it.  Maybe next year.

Liberation Vacation

You might be wondering where I've been.  Or maybe not.  I'm not the most diligent of bloggers. 

But we did go somewhere.  Just Adam and I.  We took the most wonderful, fun, free (I'm not talking about money), educational vacation ever.  Can you guess?

We flew to Washington D.C., rented a car, and saw almost every historical (mostly revolutionary war stuff) between D.C. and Boston.  We were gone 8 days.  So wonderful!  My mom watched the kids (who got sick the night we left and passed everything to her.  2nd time this has happened.)

Day 0.  Flew in late at night to stay with our great friends the Inmans. (in MD)

Day 1.  D.C. memorials, library of congress, congress building, botanical gardens,

Day 2. Church at my old ward (grew up mostly in Maryland).  They changed the stake presidency which was great to be at because we new he and his family really well.  Also visited my old home teacher who is just so great.  Adam loved him.  He's a 79 year old Englishman and still working as a landscaper (with no hip I might add) who has lots of spunk.  and, he's got a great family we just love.  Also played the Wii so much this day I was extremely sore the next.  Who needs to go to the gym.  And I got to take Adam around to all the places I grew up and play more with the Inmans.  So fun.

Day 3.  More D.C.  Holocaust museum, Air and space museum, White house, tour of the Washington Monument.

Day 4.  Drive to Gettysburg, PA and see all that (Civil war battle).  Very great.  Bought a CD for the car so we'd know what we were looking at.  Drive to Philadelphia and stayed at a bed and breakfast.  Breakfast was frosted flakes in our room.  Made us laugh.

Day 5.  Independence hall (where the declaration of independence, articles of confederation, and constitution were signed).  Liberty bell, and lots of artifacts of the area.  Drove to NY City afterward (and found a parking spot).  Then walked a really long way through Central Park and saw a show off-broadway.  Attempted the Subway for the 1st time.  Really not that hard.  Slept at my old roommates apt (lovely Reb).

Day 6.  Slept in and then took the Subway to Statue of Liberty.  Someone fell on the tracks and we had to get off and were really running late anyway.  Made it to the end of Manhattan island for a look at the Statue of liberty.  Had our caricatures made.  We look crazy.  Drove to CT to see a friend (QB), then off to another part of CT to see another roommate (Nicole) and sleep with them.  So fun.  Getting tired.

Day 7.  Drive to Boston and do the Freedom trail (2.5 mile walk around Boston).  Saw Paul Revere's house, Tea Party site, Old north church ("One if by land, 2 if by sea"), and lots of old graves of really famous people.  Slept at a hotel.

Day 8.  Got up and went to the Boston temple.  Very difficult to get to.  Then went drove by the Lexington Green (where the 1st shot was fired of the Revolutionary war).  Then, to the airport and off.

There's the short rundown.  I was going to put lots of pictures up but they're all on a thumb drive and the kids think it's a mini-sword and like to run away and stab each other with it.  The last one was found beneath Jacob's bed.  More pictures to come I guess.

Suffice it to say it was a much needed vacation.  And so fun.  I smile just thinking about it.

Now we're back into the swing of things and I'm on this cooking kick.  I've stocked the deep freezer with meats and about 25lbs of squash and lots of homemade bread.  This is our 3rd year with a garden and we're getting good.  The harder part is using everything.  That's my goal this year.  I have all sorts of zucchini recipes and spinach and try to use lots of corn.  That's what a garden is for, right.

What a blustery day

And the grass seed is down!  Now, all I have to do is keep 3500 sq feet of dirt wet for the next week.  No problem.

And after the seed was down (which happened this morning), Luke had his first day of preschool in his 4 year old class.  He was a champ.  Then we came home and I quizzed Jacob with flashcards.  He's smarter than I thought.  Not that I don't think he's smart but I tend to focus more on Luke than Jacob and Jacob is coming along.

Oh yeah, and Jane said her name for the first time last night.  Jane talks a lot.  She can say almost anything you tell her, if she feels like it.  I think she has a stubborn streak :)

Lovely Jane

Don't you just love Jane's hair in the morning.  She reminds me of me in the morning, except that my hair is brown.  I didn't take a picture of me though.  Just try to picture it.

We love summer!

Just so you know, we're doing great!  Don't they look great.  I think they were fighting bears in this picture and being super heros.  (Thanks for the capes Gloria and James!)

We've been camping a few times in July.  Did I mention we love camping.  It's so great.  You get to leave almost all responsibility at your house and go have fun.  Then come back and clean out all the dirt.  My kids actually slept in their own tent.  I was thinking they were a little small but they wanted to.  Adam and I have our own tent again.  The big one :)

And here is Adam's hammock.  He actually slept in this a lot on his mission.  Kids loved it.  Jacob would sleep in it if we left him there. 

Adam also taught the kids how to shoot on one of our camping trips.  I'm still not sure how I feel about that but it's already happened.  They had fun. We also taught them safety at the same time so dont' worry.

We also went to the zoo with my mom and grandpa (her dad).  So fun.  My kids love the bird show the most.  And the owl in the bird show is their favorite animal they say.  Although it changes every time I ask so it's kinda hard to tell.

Jane had a blow-out mid zoo experience.  Luckily when a kid started making fun of her, her self esteem is high enough she didn't even blink an eye.  :)

I also forgot the stroller (in addition to the extra clothes).  It wasn't so bad.  My kids are troopers.  They took a long nap that day.

This is my brother (one of them) and sis and me in a homstead in Thompson Canyon, UT (near moab).  It's a ghost town.  My great grandma lived here.  Isn't that cool.  There was an 8 car caravan taking the tour (our family reunion).  It was so cool.

Oh yeah, and we've been doing yard work.  Again.  Don't I have a buff husband.

So things are great.  I like summer much more than winter.  Adam and I have been running on our treadmill and are getting better.  Adam is going to run his first 5k in a couple weeks.  I am going to be his best cheerleader with a few sidekicks. 

I'll try and update more often.  It sure is difficult to keep up when I don't write very often.

Update

I guess it's about time i gave everyone an update.  Nothing spectatular, just busy.

Here are the kiddos on a hike.  For Adam's b-day, we went hiking up little cottonwood canyon, the day before the "creek" doubled in size and flooded further down.  And it was so fast paced, I wouldn't even let my kids near it.  Anyway, we love hiking together.

In the meantime, we have been working on the yard.  We got two dump truck loads (26 tons) of rock to make a rock wall.  It was exciting.  We had to take down some parts of the fence to get the dump truck in.  The rocks were much bigger than expected so we had to get a tractor to move them.  One fell on a tomato plant but surprisingly, it's still alive and kickin.

Then, at the peak of yardwork, the kiddos and I went to CA.  They got their first cousin!  Congrats J and G.  Here she is.  Jane and Jacob love her.  Luke is still warming up.  I asked them if they wanted another baby in our family and Jacob told me he doesn't want a new baby, he wants their baby.

While in CA, we visited Disneyland for the 1st time.  Lots of fun!  Kids loved it.  Thanks G and G.  I'm not going to put a ton of pictures but we had so much fun.

While we were in CA, Adam made us a rock wall.  Thank you Adam.  The slide is just one of those perks.  Today we're going to till the whole yard and fill in between rocks.

Oh yeah, and the garden is in and doing pretty well.  Wish we had better soil but oh well.  When I went to the IFA, the guy there said that we only have about 7% organic matter and the midwest has about 70% in the soil.  No wonder it's more diffucult to grow things here.

And here are some random pictures.

The kids get ready for church and then we fix them up.

Jacob's B-day

Out spunky Jacob turned 3 on Monday.  It's been a joy to have him in our family.  He always quick with a smile or just the right outburst.  He tends to be very loud.  He and Luke are best friends.  Luke calls him "my boy".  We call him that sometimes too and everyone knows who we're talking about.

Happy Birthday My Boy!  We love you!

Treadmill

We just bought this treadmill for 60% off the online price!  We have been looking a long time and we're super excited.  It was at a scratch and dent warehouse and is brand new. 

Behold, the Sole F80.

Specs are:

Motor:3.0 HP Continuous Duty (Ultra High Torque)
Rollers: 2 3/4"
Weight: 250 lbs
Belt Size: 55 " x 20"
Incline: 0 - 15.0 %
Speed: 0.5 to 11 mph
User weight: 350 lbs

Did I mention we're really excited.  We just have never been able to fit in the exercise very well because the kids are so little.  If we want to go out and excercise, the other one has to be home and it's just a little too sketchy for scheduling.  With the treadmill, we can exercise at night or early morning or I can even run during naptime.  I plan on getting in shape.  It's been a long time.

the screamer

Jane is a screamer.  She can say ma, eye, and lately she says "more".  We've been working hard on that one.  Whenever she wants something, she screams for it.  The last two Sunday's she's had to leave during sacrament so other people can hear.  Adam reminds me I have to be patient and that she's still just a baby.  It would be nice if she would stop screaming.  Dinnertime used to be a great family time.  Now it's just chaos.  No one will voluntarily eat what I cook, except adam of course, and Jane screams the whole time.  It's a good thing she's so cute and gives such good kisses.  At least she's balanced.

On another note, for those of you that live near me, I tested my soil and thought you might be interested in the results.  The results are:

Slightly basic soil.  About 7.3 or so I'd say.  Supposedly most plants do better in slightly acidic.  For soils that are too alkaline, add powdered agricultural sulfur, aluminum sulfate or iron sulfate to the soil for a quick fix. For a long term solution, continually add acidic organic matter to the soil, such as peat moss, pine needles and oak tree leaves until the pH level is correct. 

We also tested nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.  Nitrogen was really really low.  Like off the chart low.  The phosphorus and potassium were medium to high so no problems there.