Our Leaves Have Finally Fallen

Now that it's almost December, our leaves have finally decided to fall... And, all at once I might add! So Laron decided it was a prime opportunity for leaf jumping!

He was hoping to make the pile taller than him, but he just couldn't quite make it! We called it "Leaf Mountain" though, in memory of the "Snow Mountain" that his family always made growing up.

Laron moved the trampoline over for better jumping opportunities, which proved to be just the trick...  Kimberly was a little nervous at first & looked at that edge for a LONG time, but once she figured it out, there was no stopping that girl!

Eventually they even talked ME into jumping in as well... Laron did too good of a job at making it look TEMPTING to jump into!

What fun memories!

And by the way, thanks again Laron for raking up all those leaves!

I'm Thankful For...

So, after having kids for a few years now, it's hard to remember what life was like before them... It just seems like we've always had them. Although it seems like I'd be able to get SO many more things accomplished during the day without them, I think it would also seem a lot more boring & pointless. And why buy this great house with a fabulous yard to play in, if not for our kids to play in & run around in? We live in kind-of a crazy world nowadays that often views children as a hassle, but now that I've experienced it myself (hassles included!), I know I wouldn't want it any other way. Many women out there are still hoping & dreaming for this day, & sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm living my dream! And so, I'd just like to say how thankful I am for the opportunity I have to be a MOTHER.
The other thing I'm extremely grateful for this year is a new DISHWASHER! Almost exactly a year ago our old one leaked all over, ruining an area of our kitchen floor, & we have now finally saved up enough to replace it! We decided to hold off on buying it until the Black Friday sales & are sure glad we did because we got a great model at a great deal! We're still getting used to the LED lights, but overall we love it! And thank-you Heavenly Father for helping our old dishwasher to last over the last year until we could save up the money for a new one. Now on to saving up for a new kitchen floor...

Bailey's 5 months old

Well, Bailey is officially 5 months old now & fun as ever.  We started her on rice cereal, but she just seems to want to lick it off the spoon instead of eat it, so we might try waiting a little longer before really pushing the issue.  She's finally starting to try rolling over, but would much rather just hang out on her tummy most of the time.  She's got very expressive eyebrows nowadays & is by far my most snuggily baby, so I'm loving that!  Thanks for all the lovin'!

Canning Projects

Well, we've been busy around here the last few weeks with different canning projects... I now have a whole new appreciation for the phrase, "Harvest Time". Mainly, we've had apples & grapes coming out of our ears, which my mom says is a terrible trial to have. :) I've also been trying my hand at making homemade babyfood, while I've had neighbors giving us free squash to use up too (which unfortunately I learned the hard way that you can't BOTTLE homemade squash babyfood, or it will form botulism because you can't heat it up enough with home canning methods). We've learned a few things the hard way, but all in all, our hard work has been worth it!

I got smart by the end & enlisted Skyler's help to help fill up the juicer with grapes each time. Right away, he came up with a funner way to do it, by sliding the grapes over the cardboard's edge.

When all was said & done, we ended up with7 quarts apple pie filling, 37 quarts of applesauce (I think that's what Bailey's staple babyfood is going to be!) & 84 quarts of grape juice (counting the couple I gave away & the one I spilled all over the floor! What a mess!). We still have a few more apples to do something with, but I'm glad that the majority of the work is over with. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all these bottles...

Halloween Costumes

So for Halloween this year, we kind-of ended up with a Winnie-the-Pooh theme...

We borrowed a Tigger costume for Skyler from a neighbor & that kind-of started it all.  Then we found Kimberly some simple rabbit-ears so she could be an easy Rabbit.  Then I found this adorable Piglet costume (after searching high & low!) for Bailey that really added the perfect touch to our little trio, so that sealed the deal of our theme for the year!


Kimberly also had a secondary cotume that we also borrowed from a neighbor that she actually used for Trick-or-Treating (because let's face it, rabbit-ears aren't very warm & for some reason she just liked this costume better). She made a pretty cute looking flower as well (even though it didn't go along with our Winnie-the-Pooh theme).
A few days later we visited my parents to show off the kid's costumes to them... Always fun to get Grandma's & Papa's approval!


And Piglet was being extra smiley that night, so that was fun!  Skyler & Kimberly are such great friends.  I love it!


Well, Happy Halloween!
I can't guarentee a theme again next year
but it's sure fun when it works out that way!

Preschool for Skyler

So Skyler is "Preschool age" this year, but we haven't had him actually enrolled in a Preschool (because let's face it, $65 a month for Preschool is a little pricey!) until last week... It's kind-of a crazy story, but my ward did a "Service Auction" thing for a Relief Society activity a couple weeks ago, & one lady's service she offered was for "3 months of 3x's/week preschool for one child". Uh, wow! What an offer! So I saved up all my points, bid them all on it & amazingly I won it! It's especially amazing because I'm not really a bidding/auction kind-of person, but I knew Skyler would just LOVE being able to go to school, and so I went for it.

For some reason, learning your letters & how to spell your name at home with Mom & two crying siblings just isn't the same thing. And no one in my ward was really interested in doing a "joy-school" this year, so he was just stuck with Mom. Which had been actually really good for us to have that one-on-one time together everyday, but we kind-of went in spurts of doing it daily & then forgetting about it for awhile.
So, without further ado, meet the big preschooler on the block! He is SO excited about it! And even though I know I can teach my child about numbers & colors & such, Skyler really needs the sociality of learning to interact with other kids his age & not being too shy to answer the teacher's question when she calls on him. This'll be so good for him. Can't believe that Kindergarten is right around the corner...

And I have to admit that I've been enjoying just hanging out with the GIRLS around here... A little bit of a different feel to it, but I'm loving it!

More than your average Pumpkin Patch

So last week, the kids & I went to a local pumpkin patch with some friends from our ward...
As soon as we got on the trailer to tow us out to the pumpkin patch, Skyler immediantly choose a seat next to his friends, with no obvious spot for Mommy next to him... My heart broke for a moment, but then I just tried to enjoy the view of my little Skyler growing up on me & making friends.  But at least I still had my girls to sit by me!

Skyler found the perfect pumpkin... Small, yet cute.

Kimberly had to show him up though... Bigger obviously means better!

So, besides the pumkin patch, there was also this cool slide/playground made out of bales of hay,

a "train" pulled around by a tractor, a corn "sand-box",

tunnels to climb through, hidden from view by cornstalks, a corn maze,

farm animals to pet & admire, and LOTS of picture opportunities!

All in all, we totally recommend "Black Island Farms" in Syracuse to everyone (just make sure you find a school group to get a discounted rate with so you don't have to pay $15 per person!).

Welcome Home Robert!

Well, we can't believe our wait is finally up... My brother Robert just got home from his mission to the Philippines!

While he was gone, Kimberly was born, Bailey was born, AND we bought a house, so we've changed a little since he left. And so has HE... He grew another inch or so on his mission (but my dad's still got him by a millimeter or two!).  It was a good thing we had our cousin Rachel Belle to play with at the airport & at the Stake President's office, or the kids might not have made it through the night!

Well, the kids were a little nervous about Uncle Robert right at first, even though we had his picture up on our fridge & we'd practiced saying "Welcome Home Robert!" over & over again. It probably didn't help that he kept breaking out in Tagolog when he talked to them, or that Skyler was only 2 when he left, but we're super excited to have you home with us again. So as Kimberly keeps saying at random times throughout the day, "Welcome Home Robert!"

Fall Fun

 One of my favorite memories this fall was watching the kids run around like crazy in the rain.  It's one of those things that makes you want to be a kid again!

 The kids have also been finding random "hiding places" around the house to hide in.  Suddenly the house will be all too quiet & I'll go and find them hiding in a hall closet or under a bed, just waiting for me to find them!  The only problem was that one time I heard some giggling when I was outside & I found them hiding under Laron's car!  We had a BIG talk after that about not going underneath cars...

 As soon as the kids go outside lately, they almost always head straight for the grapevines.  They've been eating them for weeks, even BEFORE they were quite ready.  They love that they can just help themselves to a snack that's right at their height!

 Lately, as soon as Kimberly wakes up in the morning, she comes out loaded up with toys already.  Ready to play the day away!

 The kids have been LOVING feeding the horses our rotten apples from our trees... They're both getting braver & braver around them, and the horses are loving the treats as well!

 Kimberly taking out the lint from between Bailey's toes...

Silly kid!

One day after making a big pile of leaves in the front yard, Skyler used his little rake as a baseball bat & batted for leaves... He loved seeing them smash out everywhere!  

Fun memories & fun times!

A Close Call

So, a couple of weeks ago, we had kind-of a scary incident with Skyler... He was playing with a little stuffed animal Elmo, who was pretending to hold a set of keys at the time. Well, he made Elmo jump up on our nightlight in the hallway, which pushed it down a little, exposing the 2 prongs, which then came in contact with one of the metal keys, which completed the circuit & kind-of sparked or caught on fire or something. It ended up charring our wall, the outlet, burning a hole in Elmo & melting 2 spots on the keys & the prongs of the nightlight where they touched. My first reaction was to be mad at Skyler for playing with the outlet, but once I figured out exactly what happened, I realized that it was just an accident, but still, it was an accident that could have been a lot more fatal, had Skyler been the one holding the keys instead of Elmo. Anyway, we knelt down & said a prayer right then and there in the hallway, thanking Heavenly Father for protecting Skyler. It's one of those experiences that makes you realize how frail mortality is & that God is ultimately in charge.

We're sure lucky to have YOU in our lives Skyler!

We're sure glad you're okay!

Snowbird

Last week we had the chance to have a couple days vacation up at my Grandpa Erickson's condo at Snowbird.  My Grandpa joined us for the first night & then we had the place all to ourselves for the next couple days.  And it was SO much fun!  Skyler's finally figured out how to be a little more confident in the water & we hardly could keep Kimberly from jumping in!  Kimberly would have jumped in the pool to Laron all day long if we'd let her!  The kids also really loved just walking around in the mountains, exploring & creating our own pathways.  After our really great week of family time, I really felt like we had more love in our home & could feel the Spirit more... I can really see now how powerful of a thing it is to leave behind the worries of the world & the demands of work & the home & just take time to enjoy each other.  We've got to make sure we continue making family vacations a priority, for sure!

Bailey's Getting Bigger...

Wow, it's so fun to watch these little ones grow!  We've officially decided that Bailey looks like Laron did when he was a baby & she loves to sleep on her tummy.  She's always been a good-sized baby & at her 2 month appointment a little while back she weighed 12 lbs 6 oz, which is in the 76%.  Way to go Bailey!  We just love the sweet spirit that this little girl brings into our house!

"It is not a slight thing

when they who are so

fresh from God

love us."

                                  -Dickens