Little things from a Saturday morning.

Austin's been waking up like 4+ times a night lately. But last night he only woke up once at 4:30 . He woke up at 6:30 and we nursed/dozed in our big comfy chair for about a half hour before waking up for real and coming downstairs. When Lydia woke up around 7:30 (yelling, "Mom! It's morning-time!") Austin looked to the stairs and said "Ya-ya", which was obviously him saying "Lydia". Melt my heart.

There is a layer of frost on the grass outside and Lydia was so excited that we all had to go outside and touch it. It was cold and cruchy and exciting, but then we had to run back inside because we weren't wearing shoes and our feet were freezing.

We finally turned out heater on and although it's not necessarily toasty, it is warm and with the frost outside, it's making me feel all wintery. I'm almost tempted to make David pull our Christmas tree out of the basement and turn on some Christmas tunes. Maybe a Christmas Hallmark movie with hot chocolate tonight?

Lydia knows that if she asks for a Daniel Tiger on Netflix, I can almost never resist. (She's discovered that all the other pictures that pop up on the TV are actually shows themselves and gone are the days that I can tell her that there is only Daniel Tiger or SuperWhy.) She wants to watch something else, like Jake and the Neverland Pirates - but if she asks for that I have a much easier time saying no. So she'll ask for a Daniel Tiger because she knows I can't resist his fluffy goodness and happy songs, but then after one show she'll ask to switch to a different show. Should I be worried about her skills at manipulation at such a young age? It melts away when she asks me to cuddle her on the couch while she watches a "scary" witch show. (Room on the Broom.)

I super-cleaned the downstairs last night because David was working late. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to lock the children upstairs and not let them come downstairs for the next three days. (PB sandwiches in the bathtub? It's been done before!)

It's our Primary Program practice this morning and I'm heading over to set up in just a bit. I'm a little nervous as to how it will all go, because although this is almost my third year of being in the Primary - I've never done a program before. (Got called right after the first one, and Austin was born right before the second.)


I'm feeling grateful for this early, cold, tired, happy Saturday morning.



(For a realistic picture/transparency, here is a list of things that I didn't blog about: the pink lipstick smeared into my carpet and onto my favorite Austin-outfit that I can't get out, the toy that I had to pull out of the toilet because Austin put it in while Lydia going this morning, the crying fit that Lydia had when I wouldn't let her eat her bagel in the family room while watching TV and then because I wouldn't let her eat a candy bar. Annnnd... it's only 8:30.)

Treehouse Progress

While we were in West Jordan for Halloween, the kids went outside and were helping Cal on his latest project: a Treehouse. There used to be a tree in the backyard, but Cal cut off all the branches and is building this awesome treehouse on top. It's decked out with two fire poles and a soon-to-be slide. The kids are SO excited for it to be done.

Halloween 2015

Oh, Halloween, how I love thee. It's so festive and fun and there is so much delicious candy everywhere. This year Lydia got a witch costume from her cousin Aubrey, months and months before Halloween and decided right then and there that a witch is what she wanted to be. I really wanted to do a themed family costume (I thought I'd have at least one more year of being able to influence what Lydia wanted to be), but every time I asked her if she wanted to be this or that she'd just give me the look and say "Mooom, I already have a costume." So a witch it was. I still reaaaaaaaly wanted Austin and Lydia to match. I know it's silly and doesn't really matter but I just wanted it, okay? But what goes with a witch? A cat? But I couldn't find anything cat-ish that I liked. I finally came across this Bat costume and I fell in love! It had the same purple and orange from Lydia's costume and the costumes coordinated great. I ordered it immediately, even though it was more than we usually spend on costumes. (I mean, it was only $20, but we are more like "make up your own costumes for under $10 kind of people.) I justified by saying that I wouldn't dress up and that we didn't have to buy Lydia's costume anyway. I'm SO glad we did because they looked darling together. And, even though it didn't arrive until after we'd already left for David's work trick-or-treating, it was still worth it just for Saturday. 

Friday we went to David's office for their annual trick-or-treating. Austin really started figuring out the "pick a candy and put it into your bucker" but didn't quite grasp the "only take one then move on to the next cubicle". He kept pointing like "Hey, I know there's more candy in there, why are we leaving? I can just get more there." (Also, we borrowed a bat costume from a friend who saved the day. It was still cute and Austin was more focused on the candy than anything else.) 

Friday night David and I hosted a "How to Host a Murder Mystery" Dinner. We love them and our group was awesome. It was a Vampire themed game, which was fitting, although it got a little out there sometimes. It was fun to do some adult Halloween partying, too. 

(Peadens, Perkins, Gotfredsons, Middletons.)

(Two things: The Middleton's came early and just put Henry and Andi down to sleep. We let the kids eat and then decorate sugar cookies before bed. And 2: I loooooove these glasses and pull them out every fall/Halloween. We inherited them from David's Grandma McAllister and I loooooove them. Oh yeah. I already said that.) 

Then Saturday we started the day by visiting Grandma and Grandpa Peaden in West Jordan. Wendy and Sam were at a competition for Josh's Marching Band and their kids were staying with Cal and Sue. Melissa and Zachary came over to visit and so it was quite the party. We are lucky to have this family of ours. 

This was the first time Austin tried on his costume (remember, it didn't come in time for the EB party) and he wasn't sure. But as soon as we pulled out the candy he remembered exactly what he was supposed to do. 

That night my mom came down to spend the evening with us and so did Jenna and Kevin. There was also a special appearance by Matthew and his girlfriend Brooklyn. We got the kids ready and took them trick or treating around our neighborhood. I love our neighborhood, from about 5-7 there were kids everywhere. One of our neighbors even rigged his ranger/4wheeler thing up to a trailer stacked with haybales and gave kids a ride around the neighborhood. It's just a really young- really fun- place to live. Lydia liked it, but Austin loved it. He wasn't as fast as the other kids, but he'd always walk right up to the door, climb up on the little step, then knock on the door. He's actually really good at knocking, now. Camille was a Burrito, which was so cute and fun.  

 

After we finished with our little loop (which took up almost an hour probably) we ran over to the Perkins before they left to go trick or treating with their nieces and nephews. Derek is Lydia's nursery leader and Amy teaches nursery music. Lydia loves them both, but she has a special place in her heart for Derek. She calls him Brother Perkins and she pretty much adores him. 

We put the kids to bed then played games and ate delicious food. 

A wonderful Halloween if I do say so myself!