Vertuccio Farms

Yesterday we celebrated the end of Fall Break at Vertuccio Farms with Mike, Mecca, Oliver & Poppy (Tyler was busy with school work and didn't come).

 I had been there when I was a teenager for their giant corn maze and didn't realize they had other fun stuff for the kids. It was WAY cheaper than Schneph Farms and I think it was just as fun for the kids. 

Highlights: 

-Ben going down a giant tube slide over and over again by himself with a huge grin plastered on his face! I was so proud of how brave he was. 

-Poppy & Lucy taking a ride on the barrel train- so precious!

- Getting to hang out with my handsome nephew and his parents:

- Steven and Ben having a blast on the air trampoline- it's like a giant unenclosed bounce house. Way too much fun! Ben would lay on his back on the side of it and let the bouncing of everyone else slide him down.

- Steven showing Poppy how he's mastered the monkey bars and all of us having some fun on a huge teeter totter.

-Steven also got to ride on a pedal car, the boys got to go through a ridiculously small & easy maze and there were some fun farm animals. 

We ended up not entering the giant corn maze because we were all to afraid of getting lost in it- plus the sun was out and pretty warm. But all in all lots of fun memories were made and it was the perfect end to a perfect Fall Break.

Fall Break Fun

The weather has continued to wow us with it's amazingness and with Steven out of school, we've had way too much fun this week. Prepare yourself for a picture OVERLOAD!

On Monday we took a trip down to the ASU Campus after dinner, to meet Tyler for some ice cream and cookies. After chowing down our yummy dessert, we took a walk around campus. It was so fun to reminisce, I have such good memories of going to school there.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent a lot of time outside- we went to the Riparian Preserve, Freestone Park and Tumble Weed Park (with my mom). The boys and Lucy are at their happiest when they are out in nature.

On Tuesday, Steven also took some time to draw some spooky Halloween pictures on a small whiteboard I have:

And on Thursday we had our biggest adventure, we went to visit my friend, Katrin, and her daughter, Anika, in Tucson. The drive up was HORRIBLE :( It got super rainy and there were lots of big trucks and my windows got foggy and I just got freaked out. I HATE driving in yucky weather, I'm not sure what I'm going to do if we move somewhere where it actually snows! 

Once we were there though, the rain had cleared up and all was well. We packed a lunch and headed to the Tucson Zoo. Lucy hadn't taken a afternoon nap but she was super fun and happy the whole time. And the boys overall did pretty good.

Ben had gotten an owie the day before and insisted on holding up his pant leg much of the time because he didn't want it to touch the Band-Aide. So weird:

Some highlights were picnicking in the grass, the kids chasing around the random Peacocks that strolled the grounds, a Grizzly Bear resting by the glass of it's cage and then eating, some Lemurs having a screaming contest and a Giraffe munching on some food by the fence...

Can you tell that I am having way to much fun with photo apps?

After the zoo it was nap time for Ben & Lucy & Anika. While they slept me & Steven had some fun taking pictures:

And when they woke up they had some fun too:

Then it was time for some yummy dinner of baked potatoes and chili cheese hot dogs. After that we took a walk over to a nearby Jr. High and let the boys get some wiggles out before we headed home. I was amazed by how many laps (Benny included!) they made around that track.

The drive home was TERRIBLE again. My night vision isn't so fabulous and once again--lots of trucks! And these trucks feel this constant need to pass each other and hang out in the middle and left lanes instead of the far right one. OI! But we survived and at least the kids behaved for me.

So although having Steven home to constantly fight with his brother can make me a little crazy, we have had fun and it's been nice not having to follow a strict schedule with waking up and naps and other such things. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate our last day of Fall Break by going to Vertuccio Farms with my family- super excited :)

The Liar Monster

For FHE this past week we read a story about a kid who told some lies, and each time he lied the Liar Monster grew. I forgot to take my own pic so here is the pic of the Liar Monster from the website I got it from:

After the lesson Steven kept asking if the Liar Monster was in our house and what other monsters were in our house. I felt very much like the whole point of the lesson was missed BUT in the end I have found their belief in the Liar Monster to be very useful. For example....

We were at the park and the boys were climbing up the slide and I heard Ben cry and then saw Steven ascending the slide. I asked Steven what happened and he said, "Ben just fell." So I said, "Come closer so I can see if the Liar Monster is behind you." And then, suddenly he said, "I only pushed him a little." (genuine fear in his voice). And then he asked for confirmation that the truth had destroyed the Liar Monster.

Later on that same day we had another incidence of dishonesty where he told me that the bowl on the table was not his. I told him the Liar Monster was back and he quickly amended his lie. And then, because I am evil, as he turned around I growled at him. I have never seen that kid jump so high!

Anyways, I'm not sure if using fear is really the best way to get Steven to be more truthful but I will say it has been quite successful, regardless.

And also this week, the weather has been wonderful! That has meant lots of outdoor time for the kids: playing in the driveway, walks in the neighborhood and playdates in the park. 

We also entered the month of October this week which has made the kids SUPER excited for Halloween. The decorations are up and the dressing up is officially ok to do:

And with the beginning of October, we've had the blessing of watching General Conference this weekend. And we had a fun lunch date with my family in between conference sessions Saturday. Here is Lucy with her cute cousin, Oliver:

Growing up

Sometimes I get taken aback when I look at my kids and realize how quickly time has passed and how much they've grown.  As we prepare for the upcoming holiday season, I have moments where I feel like all this just happened. As I walked through Ross this past week and watched Ben get totally thrilled by all the Halloween things, I was taken back to last year. Back to being very pregnant and walking through that same store and having Ben (or maybe it was Steven?) lose one of his "guys" among the Halloween decorations. And the very tired me had no desire to search for it but did anyways. Only to have him lose it again less than 30 minutes later in Target....All moments that are still clear and feel so recent. 

And then I'm brought back to the reality of the present with things like this picture:

A picture of my Kindergartner who looks so grown up and confident. And I can't believe that it was just last year he was tagging along with me on errands and driving his brother absolutely bonkers. Not that that has really changed, except that we do that on weekends now instead of weekdays. But he is older and learning things and maturing in small ways. 2 weeks in a row he has gotten "shows good character" on his weekly progress report instead of notes about the reminders he needed. And today during the primary program he sat and stood with reverence. And when it was his turn to speak he confidently told the Primary President he knew his part and then recited it--twice-- 2 feet away from the microphone---all blurred into one big word--- but he did it! Even if no one else knew what he was saying, I did and I was proud.

Then there's this cutie patootie:

Everyday she acts more and more like a toddler. She gets faster and faster with the crawling, more confident with the standing and she has even taken 1 or 2 little steps. She is a mommy's girl and will stalk me faithfully. She puts any sort of towel or clothing on her head like she's trying to dress herself. Sometimes she sounds like she is trying so hard to say what we are saying and she has been successful with saying "hi" and today I swear she told my mother "up!" I love watching her personality develop but at the same time it means she's growing up and she is no longer the little baby that I took home from the hospital and dressed in a million different extremely girly outfits just because I could.

And check out the boy on the left:

This boy used to look so tiny in his twin bed and now I can't believe how much he has stretched out. I watch as he tries to imitate his brother-- singing the songs he does, drawing pictures like him, counting everything too, and even trying to write like his big brother. Before I know it he'll be in Kindergarten too and I will be missing my little buddy who keeps me company all day and gives out hugs and cuddles freely. The boy that every adult loves because he dishes out sweetness in heaping spoonfuls. 

Sometimes I feel like the mundane tasks of motherhood are going to overwhelm me. I get consumed with frustration over the constant cleaning...toys, dishes, laundry, food....and the constant feeling that despite all I do things will never be clean. NEVER. Sometimes I get tired of having all the responsibility of caring for the kids. I have to wake up with them, make sure they get dressed, feed them, make sure teeth are brushed, pack Steven's lunch, help Steven with his homework, get them all bathed and ready for bed, etc. I have low moments where I just wish I had a husband that could help me so I could just be relieved of 1 or 2 of these duties every once in awhile. 

BUT, I know how blessed I am to have these 3 beautiful children. And how blessed I am to be at home with them. And just as I stood in the store remembering moments that seemed like only yesterday, I sit here knowing that these rough moments will pass quickly. And before I know it I will be reminiscing and missing the sweet hugs and kisses from my kids and the times they sat on my lap or held my hand and wishing they hadn't grown so fast.

Goodbye dumb phone

Yesterday something wonderful happened! I finally got smart! I know you're all thinking, "It's about time", and I feel the same way. It's hard to live life when you're missing something so important and vital to living. Wait a minute...did you just say brains? I was talking about a smart phone here!

Ok so I really was probably better off without this phone because I'm already spending way too much time on it. But I must admit I was smitten with it as soon as I discovered the Swype keyboard. And then getting free Minion ring tones was just the icing on the cake. I am super pleased with my new phone and feeling grateful that my hubby finally let me have one and Mike let us on his plan so it'd be affordable.

Another great thing this week happened at the mall of all places. Steven was mourning the loss of a quarter that was eaten by a gum ball machine as a teenager walked by. This teenager looked a little rough around the edges but he did something super nice at that moment. He threw a dollar at my boys and said, " Take this." They immediately put it in the change machine and my boys were so happy, 4 free quarters! The teenager took off before we could properly thank him but what a kind thing he did! His mom would be proud!

And to close off this week of goodness, Tyler gave a talk in church and it was wonderful. It's the only time I get to see him be emotional and I love it. So as you can see, life is fabulous. And Ben's face shows that perfectly!

Teddy Bears, Writing & Productiveness

This week Steven had his Teddy Bear Parade at school. For Steven's float I borrowed a small red wagon from my parent's and then gave him some random things to decorate it with. He had a pirate skull paper plate in the front, a frog on one side, a heart monster on another... And then he "artfully" tore some streamers and taped them in random places. When done, he picked out the tiniest bear you could imagine and plopped it in on top of a pillow. There were some parents---note, parents not kids--- that went all out on their floats. One was a replica of a bus, I swear. I was impressed with the parent's talent. But I still loved Steven's float the most.

Anyways, it was fun to watch Steven pull his little wagon with the sun shining in his eyes and his bear flopped over in the corner of his wagon. Kindergartners are cute :)

Also this week, Steven decided he loves to write-- a huge change from his attitude towards writing this summer. One night he started copying words from an ABC book & did not want to go to bed because he "needed to finish his work!" I left him on the floor of his room copying words in the glow of the hallway light. I'm not sure what time he finally gave up but he did make it to the letter 'L'. Below if a picture of him holding all the words he wrote--- too bad you can't see the words but that page is literally filled with them.

Right now he is making a story- having me write the words on a white board and then copying them down in his book. Here are some excerpts: " The guy put the treasure in his house and then ran away" "The guy eats popcorn, has candy and washes his hands twice."The man's cup got knocked over and sprayed water in the air." 

And because I know my children are going to want to know this stuff when they read this in the future, I have been super productive this week (see isn't that an exciting fact ;) ) It is only mid-September and I already have all costumes planned and purchased. Steven will be Calvin (red striped shirt & black shorts & shoes), Lucy will be Hobbes (adorable tiger costume) & Ben will be Frankenstein (Steven's old costume). Also this week, I have purchased Lucy's birthday gifts and a Christmas present (used play kitchen in great shape & super cheap). I am so ridiculously on top of things which although, I think that makes me awesome, Tyler thinks that is embarrassing. Whatever ;) !

Sickness

It's been a week of sickness in our house. Wednesday night I was awakened to the sound of vomiting. I thought it was one of the kids because it sounded distant but upon further investigation I discovered that the culprit was Tyler- who I had thought was lying in bed with me- but he was in the downstairs bathroom, making an awful noise that reverberated throughout the whole house. Ugh. I was not a sweet and comforting wife but rather I looked at him with disgust and retreated back to bed.

Tyler attempted to go to school (mind you he left to school right after having another bout in the bathroom) but he was home soon after- no big surprise. 

And that same day, Ben woke up from his nap with a gunked up eyes. I wanted to chalk it up to just being allergies because I swear we just had pink eye run rampant through our house. But in the 10 minutes is took us to pick Steven up from school, I could no longer be in denial. I looked at him and it was crazy eye central- swollen and pink. 

And Lucy of course had hopped on the sick boat, her nose had been running like a faucet all that day and she was super fussy. That night she reached the peak of fussiness, like monster baby fussy, and I actually put her down at 6:30 (normally she goes down at 8) and believe it or not, she slept until 6:30 the next day. That was a crazy amount of sleep for her.

The next day, Lucy awoke with gunk in her eye. In need of eye drops for 2 children now I called my doctor's office and made a fatal mistake- I admitted that Lucy had pink eye too. So instead of avoiding a visit, I essentially asked for one- if they're under one they won't order eye drops without a doctor's visit because apparently many babies get ear infections along with pink eye.

So in we went & out we went--$35 spent to be told it's just pink eye. Ugh. Off I went with 2 gross children to pick up eye drops at Target. Once there we had to wait a half hour for the medicine so I got to push my 2 noticeably germy kids through the store.

When we finally got home and I pulled out the drops I noticed a strange picture on them- it looked like an ear. Looking through the info sheet, I soon realized it was an ear. The pharmacist had given me the wrong medicine- good thing I noticed before putting them in the kids' eyes! So for a moment I wallowed in self pity, knowing that I needed to get this fixed but NOT wanting to. I had already made an unnecessary trip to the doctors, and at this point nap time was overdue and I did NOT want to schlep Ben & Lucy to Target again. 

BUT the kid's needed their medicine SO... a phone call was made, apologies were given (along with refunds) and again I drug Ben & Lucy to Target to pick up our now free eye drops. Lesson learned from that day- ALWAYS check your medicine! 

And now, a couple days later, Ben's eyes look normal, Tyler is still feeling funky and though Lucy's eyes look great, she still has a bad cold. And Steven, our normally sick and afflicted child, has remained unscathed through it all :)

Here's some pictures of the boys with their finds from Goodwill & the Dollar Store- they still haven't grasped the concept of saving their money for something big....

And cutie pie Lucy: