Sunday, October 30, 2011

Don't let the pigeon drive the bus, but a pony ride may be ok

It's not even Halloween yet, but we have been busy, busy, busy with Halloween happenings.  Creed has an amazing memory and kept asking me when he'd be able to go to Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point to ride a pony.  This was not a wear your costume kind of event, but Creed insisted and who can resist a pigeon on a pony?
 This year instead of having a punch-pass, you could do any activities you wanted and I though tit was much better.  Creed loved all the not so spooky games.
 On the way there he asked me if I knew there was a real witch who was not pretend, and I figured out he was talking about a witch who did storytime last year and talked about growing up as a witch with Glenda as her best friend.  He really believes she is a witch and he was so excited to see her again.

 Ollie on the other hand, just loved running free and checking out all the animals.
 He loved the wagon ride and kept pointing to the horses with a big grin.

 We also headed up to Red Butte Gardens After Dark again this year.  We arrived just at dusk.

 We learned the hard way in the past to paint your pumpkin first so it's dry when you take it home at the end of the night.
 I love that they have a different theme every year so never know what to expect.  This year's theme was "Light up the Dark" and they had glow-in-the-dark decorations and blacklights all over the garden.  You tour around the garden to do different activities and crafts.  Creed loved coloring an owl mask with a highlighter so it would glow.
 Creed would have stayed in the snake maze in the children's garden all night.
 Since everything was glowing in the dark it was hard to take many pictures so I gave up after a few like this.
 One really cool thing Creed loved was this sheet they covered with glow-in-the-dark paint and then let the kids "color" on it with little pen lights.
If you have the chance to go next year, I recommend it.  Maybe we'll see you there!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Simple joy

Yesterday, I let the boys play in our sweet neighbor's leaves for a few minutes, but I had to hurry them inside with promises to come back the next day because I had to get ready for my book club to come over.  Creed did not forget.  He woke up and dressed himself for the occasion (no surprise, he decided to wear solid yellow from head to toe) then he patiently waited through breakfast for his friend Lydia to arrive so we could head back across the street.
 I think the wait was worth it.


 Notice how disgruntled Lydia is in this next picture.  She is the youngest in her family so she isn't used to being around little ones and Ollie makes her so uncomfortable. She panics every time he comes near her.  She stayed as still as can be in those leaves while she whispered, "Ollie, don't come any closer to me! hurry, somebody come get Ollie, he's getting close to me!"

 I bet you can't even spot them in this next picture.


Oh, the joy a big pile of yellow leaves can bring.

Picture Perfect

I think I mentioned that we are just getting around to hanging up some artwork around here (I really should admit, I just convinced my mom to help me hang up some artwork around here).

I commissioned family portraits from our favorite seven-year-old friend, and I think they were a bargain at a quarter a piece.  We hung them up in the hallway between the boys' bedrooms.
 I bought the frame from Target, and the sizes are odd and they aren't the greatest quality, BUT they have hinges and a magnetic closure so you can open them up and swap out artwork without taking them down, and they have a pocket inside to store extra artwork.
 The plan was to swap the artwork in these frames out once in a while to showcase whatever the boys have been working on, but I don't know if I will be able to take the family portraits down.  How great is this picture of Larry?
 And I'm partial to the freckles on mine.
 You can just get a glimpse of them when you look across the entryway from the library.  They make me so happy and Ollie loves to name the person in each picture.  I think they'll be around for a while.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

If you see a monster, call the police

Creed was giving me some advice to stay safe this halloween season and he asked me to film it and send his advice to all the neighbors so they'll be safe too. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you so here you go!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Falling for Fall

Fall in Utah is heavenly while it lasts.  The mountain that we live on has been covered in patches of bright orange and red so a week ago, when we had no plans for our Sunday afternoon, we made a spur of the moment decision to drive the Alpine Loop and even convinced my grandma to join us.
 These pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.  Even Ollie was mesmerized.
 I'm so glad that we caught the fall eaves at just the right time.
 We also drove over to Cascade Springs (how have i never been there before?)
 Ollie gave going for a plunge his best effort

 I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Sundays with the boys are magical

It seems likes we're so busy during the week that Sundays are a chance to relax and take a breath.  I treasure Sundays with these boys.
 We're never ready for church early enough to take pictures, but I managed to take a few when we got home for our post church wild rumpus.






These boys are magnificent

Thursday, October 13, 2011

While the Cat's Away

There are always so many things that I would love to do that are a little bit hard to manage with two little ones in tow, and it's surprisingly difficult to work around preschool schedules and Ollie's naptime and the fact that I can't leave Ollie with the average babysitter.  When I realized that it would just be Ollie and me for the morning, I convinced my friend we were meeting at the park to check out the 'Matter of Words" exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art first.
 The book sculpture by Adam Bateman was pretty incredible

 But truth be told, the boys were probably more excited to drop grass into this hole outside in the sculpture garden, but I think a good time was had by all.

We couldn't resist stopping at the Museum gift shop on our way out (what is it about museum gift shops?  They are always so great, I find myself wanting one of everything).  As an added bonus, it was the first time I've walked into a store and seen my own cards for sale (look close at the top row) so it was a pretty exciting morning (and that's not counting when I locked me keys inside my car with my cell phone and had to call the campus auto-shop and beg them to come to my rescue.  He said it was his fourth call to unlock a car that day so I shouldn't be too embarrassed, but let me tell you, I was.)

He's Gonna Party Like a Rock Star

Long story short, Creed is on a 24 hour adventure going solo with my parents to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn in Southern Utah.  I was supposed to go along and stay at my uncle's house with Ollie so my parents really only had to take Creed to see the play and then we'd all stay the rest of the week to play.  There was a change of plans and they graciously (and maybe a little reluctantly) agreed to take Creed and bring him back the next day.

Creed's been couped up in the house all week with a cold and he was so EXCITED to go!
 I took this picture of him while we waited in the driveway for my parents to pick him up.  He asked me if I knew what he was thinking when I took the picture, and he explained, "I was thinking, New York, I'm on my way!"
 My mom has been sending me pictures of their adventures and he looks like he is having the time of his life.  He called me after the play to tell me, "Mom, the play was a million billion good!"



I can't wait to hear all about it this afternoon.