Pumpkins!

On Saturday we went to Long's Farm to pick out our pumpkins. We did the picking quickly, took our abnormally big pumpkins back to the car and then we went back for some fun and doughnuts.

Not only did Long's Farm have big pumpkins but they also had this large rocking chair:

Or maybe it wasn't the chair that was large, maybe someone had shrunk our kids! Just to make sure they were still the same size, we measured each of them using this handy sign the farm provided:

After being reassured that our kids hadn't shrunk, we enjoyed some yummy doughnuts using these handy pumpkins as chairs:

After eating tasty doughnuts we headed home and got dressed in our costumes. Then we met up with the neighbors so we could go trick or treating at the shops in Downtown Milford.

There was a large turn out for this event (probably because of the beautiful weather that day) which meant walking very slowly in a line to get from store to store. Not quite what we expected but the kids were happy with their loot and I fun chatting with the neighbors. 

Monday was the day we had decided would be our pumpkin carving day. Unfortunately Tyler had forgotten that Steven had a scout meeting that night (that's right my Steven is a Tiger Cub these days)so that meant we had less time to carve them which meant that Tyler did most of the grunt work. Who am I kidding? This meant that Tyler did ALL of the work. But at least he enjoyed it: 

The boys drew pictures to show what they wanted their pumpkins to look like. They're kind of hard to see but here are there designs:

Considering how small Ben's design was, we thought it best that one of us convey his ideas onto a pumpkin but Steven was allowed to draw out his design on his pumpkin:

Then Tyler cut out their designs and quickly rushed off to Scouts before I could get a picture. SO Ben got to pose with Steven's pumpkin:

And then his:

Tyler has a pumpkin too but due to the rushing off, he didn't get a chance to do his own. Hopefully he'll get to it before Halloween!

Kid Updates

Penny got her 2 month check up this week and I still can't believe how tiny she is! She weighs just 9lb 7oz! I'm pretty sure all my other kids weighed that by the time they were 2 weeks old. The doctor wasn't hugely worried about her smallness (at least she is gaining weight, even if it's only a little bit) but the doctor also thinks Reflux is probably to blame. She prescribed Penny a different medicine to try out and recommended adding some probiotics to some bottles. I am not loving drugging up my baby so much but I really do want her to feel better and be happier. She is still really trying my patience with her frequent crying spells- lucky for her, she is adorable!

Lucy is apparently going to like guys with a beard. When Tyler starts getting stubble, she likes to sit in his lap and stroke it. It's pretty darn cute! Also, she is getting super chatty these days. Here is a list of some words/phrases she's been using lately:

"Want it" (exclaimed often)

"Benny did it" (said whenever Ben or Steven upset her)

"That funny" (usually in reference to something on TV)

"Pwetty" (she said this when she found one of Penny's hairbows)

"TT" (that's what she calls the TV)

"Treat" (snacks are called this as well)

"Please" (when she is desperate for something)

"Yuck" (often said during diaper changes)

This week I had a conference with Steven's teacher, Mrs. Rupp. I really like his teacher and maybe because she had so many good things to say about him!? He is right on target in all subjects and he is excited to learn. I love to hear that! He even wrote a book about tornadoes and was able to read it to his whole class. Now I tease him that he's a famous author. 

Of course he isn't perfect, and he struggles with talking to friends during carpet time and silent reading time but at least that means he has friends right!?

Yesterday he taped up some paper on the kitchen wall and then wrote out his daily schedule. It was pretty cute, too bad he used highlighter so its super hard to see:

Benny has been major fighting with Lucy lately, it's almost enough to tempt me to pay the high price and put him in preschool. Almost... Recently we've been working on identifying and writing numbers. We've also been working on letter sounds. He is always a bit slow to catch on but once it clicks he does well. It's fun to see him progress and the fact that he is progressing makes me not want to pay a bazillion dollars for him to go to preschool. But it would be nice to not have to listen to him fighting with Lucy all day.

The other day, I packed the kids in the car and then ran back inside to grab something. When I got back in the car I caught Ben singing along to a song in the radio. It is so impressive how kids retain lyrics and it makes me realize how careful I need to screen my music. I'm not sure "Animal" by Maroon 5 is the best song for a 4 year old to sing.

And we'll end with an embarrassing story about me. Yesterday while Lucy was napping I thought I might go sit on the porch with Penny for a bit and Benny followed me out. The only problem was I shut the door behind us. I should not have shut that door. Our side door can only be opened from the inside and our front and back door were locked so I essentially locked us out. I called Tyler to save us but he wasn't close by and really couldn't. He suggested using a credit card to jimmy open the side door but of course I didn't have one. I ended up at our neighbor's house (one I don't know well) asking for help. It was awkward and embarrassing and in the end he was no help- apparently he doesn't pick locks for a living. But by some miracle, one of the back windows ended up opening and he hoisted Benny in and all was well. Ugh, apparently shutting doors behind you is a bad habit to have. Who knew!?

Leaves and other things

Fall is officially at its peak here in Milford. Everywhere I go my eyes are assaulted by shades of red, orange, and yellow. It makes every drive a scenic drive, even the drive in our own neighborhood. Here is a picture of the tree in our front yard, fully changed now:

And with that change in color comes leaves! Lots and lots of leaves!! I though that we had quite a bit of leaves before but is nothing compared to what it is now:

The funny thing is that Tyler and the boys had just picked up leaves 4 days before these pictures were taken (there is a sidewalk under these leaves!): 

But the best part of all these leaves is the piles that they make. That night the kids had a major leaf jumping and throwing party- it was so fun! And then they had another one with the neighbor's kids the next night. And through all that fun we met a boy from Steven's classroom who lives just down the street. Apparently playing in leaves encourages socialness so we must do it often! And thankfully the weather listened to me and the 40's stayed away for the week making it possible for lots of outside leaf playing and friend making! 

Here are some other pictures of our outside time:

Of course this week hasn't just been leaf playing fun. Here are some other things that happened: 

-We turned our door into a monster. The boys have dubbed him Bob the Zombie:

-Miss Penny remained undecided about whether to be a well behaved baby or very fussy baby. For half the week she cried and cried until I went a bit nutty and then for the other half of the week she was a perfect Saint. Can you tell which half of the week each picture was taken in?

-Miss Lucy has become very opinionated about what she wears. She insists on picking out her own outfits and occasionally these outfits include  her brother's shirts:

-I got my annual haircut (and Lucy got her mullet cut as well if you can tell in all the above pictures of her). I hate taking selfies but here it is, I got an A line cut with some bangs:

This week was a very, very crazy week. Apparently I jinked the boy's  behavior when I said in my last post they were doing much better. I can honestly say that I am very glad to say goodbye to this week. This long, crazy week that included a zillion Lucy tantrums, lots of back talk from a certain 6 year old, lots of fighting, Lucy throwing up all over herself in the car, a broken side mirror on my van, and other equally fun events. On the bright side, only 33 days until we go to Arizona! So excited!

My Girls & My Boys

The other morning after dropping Steven off at school these hideous numbers showed up in my van:

It's been awhile since I've seen those numbers at 9 in the morning and I am less than pleased. I hope they go away and don't come back until at least December because I was just starting to like Fall- all the pretty colored leaves dancing around the streets!

But this face can make up for cold temperatures right!?:

Penny still gives me grief but she is having longer periods of happiness and smaller periods of fussiness so maybe the Reflux medicine is working!? But I'm not going to jinx it, she's still our worst, most fussiest baby yet. See look at this crabby face:

PS: Do her eyebrows and hair look red to you? I'm starting to think we may have our first genuine red headed kid but it's a bit hard to tell since she is sort of lacking in the hair department..

 And my other girl might be trying to compete with Penny for most fussiest award. She has periods of intense personality cuteness. Like when she put on her daddy's safety glasses and screamed "CHEE!!" and then made this face when I took the picture she had requested:

Then there was that time she let me pile her mullet hair into something that resembled an antennae and she loved every moment of it:

But she also has moments of intense "I want it!!!" and she will scream and cry because she ain't getting it. And it seems like there are a lot of moments lately. And no, I have not taken pictures of these moments because her screaming is much louder than Penny's and the goal is to stay as far away as possible from the loudness during these awful moments.

My boys on the other hand have been doing a lot better behavior wise- thanks to my awesome clip chart! Benny finally earned his first rewards (lunch with Tyler) and Steven earned his second reward, a toy at 5&Below (like the dollar store only everything is $5 or less). And on top of that, they worked super hard cleaning up leaves with Tyler today and finally earned enough money to buy LEGO's (they've been saving their pennies for months now):

 I hope the good behavior keeps up! And while we're talking positively, I discovered some delicious pizza that is only a few minutes away! Fresco Pizza Cafe is SO SO good!

And I will end by sharing something that is only for journaling purposes. Men (ahem *Mike* *Dad*)I highly recommend you stop reading because this will be too much info for you. Just end at the picture of the delicious pizza. It's delicious looking isn't it?

This week I got an IUD (a form of birth control) because after this last traumatizing c-section and this very crazy baby that has come into our lives, I DO NOT want more kids right now. I really think I am done but an IUD is less permanent than getting my tubes tied and can last 5 years. So if for some crazy reason in 5 years (or less) I change my mind I can still have another baby. BUT, the process of getting an IUD is TERRIBLE! The doctor was like "it might hurt some but most people don't feel a thing" and then she went about messing with my cervix and I was like "sweet mother or pearl, kill me now!" and yes that awful pain lasted less than a minute but it was awful! And having to sit there and relax your open legs like everything is hunky dory is a terrible thing. And now I am feeling traumatized again. But at least it's in (and hopefully it doesn't fall out, I should really stop googling things on the internet) and all the painful cramping and side effects are done. SO yeah, now I have 5 years before I actually have to be decisive. And you have 5 years before I have to share this TMI with you again...unless of course it falls out....

October

I really wanted to go pick some apples and buy some fresh doughnuts and cider because how often did I get to do that in AZ!? But I did not want to have to deal with crowds because Penny doesn't stay happy very long in public. So we decided to avoid the weekend rush and went for Family Home Evening instead. It meant missing the hayride to the orchards (that only runs on the weekends) but it worked effectively- we missed the crowds!And we still had fun picking a peck of apples:

Tyler driving from the Red Delicious apples to the Golden Delicious apples while feeding Penny in her carrier- now that's talent!

Lucy was really determined to pick the apples on her own:

Me showing of my peck of apples (and my crazy children):

After picking our apples, we went into the store at Spicer's Orchard and got some fresh doughnuts and cider and then headed back home. We decided to stop at a nearby "waterfall" (because it was conveniently located next to a Chinese Food place) and eat our doughnuts there (so yummy!):

 This week (before the weather got freezing cold again) we went on a walk with the purpose of gathering our favorite fall leaves. Here's what we ended up with:

Penelope seemed to enjoy the walk too- well at least she didn't cry:

We love getting packages and we were lucky enough to get one this week from Grandma. Inside was this cute dress up outfit, minus the red eyes, Lucy looks exceptionally adorable in it:

I'm considering having her wear it for Halloween. The only problem will be keeping her warm in it...

I'm amazed out how quickly time seems to pass by- especially since the addition of Penny. October is here already! Penny is 6 weeks old (and still a fussy little peanut). Lucy adds more real words to her gibberish everyday (like "treat" and "see"). Steven is becoming quite the reader and doing really well with his Math addition & subtraction facts. And Ben is finally learning how to use a pair of scissors! Some days I feel like it's a miracle I'm still alive at the end of the day (or more so a miracle that my kids are still alive) and others are surprisingly easy. But the one thing I am grateful for is that I get to be home, and I get to be the one raising my crazy kids and trying to teach them good behavior (PS the behavior clip chart seems to be helping, at least for Steven). I am truly blessed!