halloween 2011

what a day!

there was a parade at noah's school

that we all went to

 trick or treating at the mall

 and noah's kindergarten teacher invited

everyone to trick or treat her house

so we did that, too

along with a few more houses

turns out real trick or treating is way fun
the kids loved it and

i especially liked doing it from our warm car..

following behind in the van with the hazards on :)

now i'm excited for a break until next year

our yo gabba gabba halloween

we decided last halloween 

to be characters from the show

yo gabba gabba

with our friends the livelys

and tonight was our ward trunk or treat

so we got to put it all together

noah is plex the yellow robot

 hazel's foofa with the pretty flower

olive is toodee a mix between a cat and a dinosaur

 all happy to finally be dressed up for halloween

 i love noah's cocked leg

 here's the crew

big brooks is dj lance rock

isla is muno

and little brooks is brobee

everyone got to be their favorite characters

hooray!

 here we all are

my shirt says "there's a party in my tummy"

heather's says "so yummy so yummy"

and michael's says "yo gabba gabba"

it doesn't mean much if you haven't seen the show

but we all love it
so...

let the halloween weekend begin!

not great

monday morning was like any other morning

and, though we were tired from traveling,

we hurried and got noah on the bus

only to have the school call 45 minutes later

and ask us to pick him up since there is no school 

for kindergartners all week due to conferences

which i knew

but i'm spacey when i'm pregnant

and never know the date

noah was mad at us until we told him

he didn't have school all week

then he was super happy

but we still suck

today hazel had ballet

and they could wear their halloween costumes

just for fun

but of course, i forgot

hazel had to wear regular ballet clothes

and wonder why the other girls were dressed up

poor girl

also today

i was popping pop corn

for the kids

about to unplug the popcorn popper

when a kernel flew down my shirt

yep, in my cleavage

a burning hot kernel

it was almost impossible to get it out

without burning myself worse

needless to say this is not my week

i was not planning on having noah home from school

since in my mind that was still a week away

3 kids at home all day is harder than 

it used to be

 and i'm a little sad

to be constantly letting my kids down

i hope the rest of the week improves.. 

hilarious

when noah and hazel are playing

she likes to run into our room

and lock noah out

just for fun

so he pretends he's everyone else in our family

to try to convince her to let him in

he'll say, "it's mom. let me in"

in a high pitched voice

or "it's dad, i have a surprise for you"

just now i heard him say,

"it's grandpa kelly, i have some gum for you"

my dad's signature bribe for grandchildren

too funny!

a visit with family

 we had a fun visit at my brother's house

with his family

and my parents

one specific memory i have to document

is my mom playing sorry with hazel and miriam

my mom hates nothing more than games

but she played this more than once

this weekend just to be a nice grandma

so sweet

good little mamas

one of my favorite things about being a mom 

is watching my girls act like mommies

hazel started really young

and now just this week olive has walked around

with a purse over her shoulder

and today fed a baby her own bottle

nothing is sweeter

maybe it's because all i can remember

was wanting to be a mom when i was little

or maybe it's because i think it's so special

that even at 15 months old olive knows her role

heavenly father made us this way

mothers

even from the time we're babies

i think it's so special

baby number four

i am 17 weeks along

and we've decided to find out what we're having

i went through all of our baby clothes

it's like 98% girl and 2 % boy

and since my suspicion is that i'm carrying a boy

we want to find out if i'm right

so in 3 weeks we'll find out

and have a little party to do so

we're also about to start on our first project

for this little baby

we were thinking of getting a cradle 

since i don't like our portacrib/bassinet combo

that we've used for the other 3

when we were visiting my grandma last

she and my aunt asked if we'd like the cradle

that was my oldest brother and cousin's

when they were babies

it's perfect 

it needs all new hardware because it's rusted

and we'll either paint it white, gray

or just stain it

any suggestions?

i'm excited!!

poor hazel

she was telling me that her ear hurt today

so michael took her to the doctor

turns out she has a double ear infection

i'm so glad she is old enough and aware enough

to tell me what hurt

poor girl!!

our fall festival

last night instead of date night

we had a family night

that included

treats and pumpkin carving

 our 4 little pumpkins

we only bought 3 pumpkins

one for each kid

but noah was so sweet

and brought the baby a pumpkin home

from his field trip to the pumpkin patch

now we have a ghost, a kitty, a pumpkin face

and a tiny little baby bat

a slide

we've been considering a slide for some time now

so when we saw one at the thrift store for $4.50 

we had to get it

no matter how long we keep it

it's worth the fun they'll have

and it is perfect for our kids

all three of them can use it unassisted

and completely love it

here are some action shots

for your viewing pleasure

our saturday

highlights of our day have included

but are not limited to:

delicious breakfast made by michael

noah's soccer game

trip to the farmers market

toy store

out to lunch

and thrifting

it's only 5:30 and we're all wiped

good thing we didn't try to go on a bike ride

like we talked about

three years ago

i started this little blog

a lot has happened in three years

good, bad, and ugly

i'm glad i have it recorded

our day in pictures

noah rocked his soccer game today

 olive being cute

 hazel appearing to be run over by a steam roller

 fun at hank's birthday party

 noah's awesome batman pose

don't mind his too big costume

 i bought on clearance

last year and sized down for him yesterday

everywhere except the crotch area..

hazel's sweet super girl pose

15.5 weeks

is it just me or do i look giant?

yesterday my stomach even felt heavy to carry

i suppose it is my 4th

but still

i'm only 15 weeks

general conference weekend

we really enjoyed conference

we ate yummy food and

i printed some conference activities 

that i found online

so the kids played along and won candy

they enjoyed that

 we all enjoyed that olive napped exactly

during each session

it was perfect

 after conference ended today

the kids decided to play dress up outside

 they're pretty cute

the overlying message that i gained from conference

was that we have to choose now

whether we want eternal happiness

or worldliness

so that's something i will be working on

i also enjoyed that i had just been complaining

about being pregnant and

saying this is our last one

(which we both know is not the case)

right before the saturday afternoon

talk on families and procreation

i thought it was funny

and michael kept giving me the eye during it

i'm grateful that sister dalton said that daughters

will know what they're worth

and how men should treat them

based on how their fathers treat their mothers

hazel and olive will be juuuust fine

michael treats me like a queen

he's an awesome dad and husband