Crazy Hair Day

Crazy hair day for drug free week was the day after Halloween.  The kids wanted their hair spray painted.  I had other plans for Allie's hair, but she insisted on the spray paint.

 You can tell it's the day after Halloween when Nate is eating 2 suckers for breakfast...

Trick or Treat

I finally loaded all the Halloween pictures onto the computer, so you'll be getting a few posts about Halloween.  Allie and Jake got dressed up in their costumes for school and Nate didn't want to be left out.  He was insisting on wearing the dinosaur one trick or treating, but agreed that it would be hard to sit in his car seat in the costume so he said he'd wear the rooster when we went to Allie's class party.

 Cute little rooster...

Allie was a minion.  The principal at the school was Gru and he gathered all the little minions in for a picture.  She was pretty excited about that.

 I helped at both their class parties and was in charge of a pin the face on a pumpkin game.

We got home from school and got ready for our annual neighborhood Halloween parade.

Jason wasn't a fan of his costume...but oh! what a cutie!

The group seems to grow each year.
My little dinosaur didn't really want to sit still for the pictures.  Imagine that...

 The trick or treating part was a success.  The kids came home with piles.

The day did not disappoint.

Art

 Allie made this beauty with Mike for her leaf project at school.  She was having a melt down because the leaves weren't working to form the cute bunny that she had in her head.  We searched out more leaves and this is what came of the new project...

Teeth

Jake got two teeth extracted at the dentist and then was able to come home with me for the rest of the day.  Both boys fell asleep on the way home, so the house was quiet and I got to sit down and eat lunch with my pal Jake.  He can be pretty funny.  He is also pretty funny looking :)

Lunchtime!

Sometimes lunchtime around here is pretty awesome.

Payback...

Sometimes when I complain to my mom about Allie's stubborn behavior, she laughs and reminds me of some of the stubborn irrational things I did as a kid.

I have also been lamenting about the new Jason to anyone who will listen.  The new Jason follows me around crying.  He has radar that lets him know when I am busy and that's when he turns on the real tears.  We've been working through it, but it's still really tough around dinner time.

My mom e-mailed these pictures...

I laughed.  We've seen this scene at my house many times.  Same scene, different flooring.  In truth, I even have some very similar pants :).

The thing is, I don't remember acting like this.  It's not my fault I was a cry baby (or is it?)...so when she says "what comes around goes around", is that really fair?  

I decided to re-create the scene.  I made Jake take some pictures, and Jason sort of quit throwing a fit and started to "cheese" it for the camera.  He probably didn't want someone to throw "crying fit" pictures back in his face 35 years from now :).

 

I'm going to admit it though, if Jason comes to me in 35 years and says he is tired of all the crying that goes on in his house, I'm going to say "Payback!"

Lunch

 Nate, Jason and I went to Jake and Allie's school to eat lunch with them.  Unlike every single day of Nate's life, it was super easy to get him dressed and out the door.  He is always excited to go to the school.  He loved carrying his own lunch box and could hardly wait to be with Allie and Jake.

 

Eating lunch with Allie went well.  There were a few episodes of floor crawling, but just a few.

 

 Then Allie showed Nate around the playground.  He was in heaven.

She's a good sister.

Things went a bit down hill when we ate with Jake.  There wasn't any room at the table for us to sit, but I wouldn't have been able to sit anyway because Nate was all over the place.  He didn't want to sit in a lunch room when he could be out at the play ground.  Jason wasn't happy sitting in the stroller anymore either.
We survived lunch and went back out to play.

 It was a sad, sad Nate who had to leave when the time was up.  I ended up carrying both kids kicking and screaming out of the school (while I pushed an empty stroller). 
* As a side note, I weighed Nate when we were at Jason's well child visit.  He weighs 31 pounds.  Jason is 22.  So, when they are throwing fits and I am carrying them both, it's over 50 pounds.  I'm a tough girl and 50 pounds really isn't that much weight.  What gets me are the squirming arms and legs.  I have to stop frequently to re-arrange their bodies...not cool.  Plus, it seems like I am always carrying my camera, or some sort of bag with me too.  I feel like such a spectacle as I leave, and the car always feels like it's a mile away.
I want to be a good mom and do fun things for the kids.  I wanted to visit the kids at lunch and have it be a fun experience for all of us.  It just didn't work out that way.
I've even been listening to a parenting book to try and learn better ways to deal with my friend Nate.  Some of the ideas are laughable when I imagine implementing them in my life.  He marches to the beat of his own drum and he doesn't want me to mess with his parade.  According to the book, if I don't teach him to understand "no" now, he will not be able to say "no" to drugs later on in life...I guess we'll know in about 15 years how that pans out.

For now, life is easier when we stay at home. 
I hope Allie and Jake appreciated me coming to their school.  Maybe next year will be better?

Leaves

When I was asking the kids what they wanted to get Mike for his birthday, they said a leaf blower.  Really?  We didn't have a leaf blower, and I have always wanted one (I used to mow lawns during the summers and thought it would be fun).  So we got him one.  I don't think Mike was nearly as excited about it as all of us. 

 

 It didn't take long for him to find the joy in it...

The leaves are all off the trees now and the yard looks pretty bare.  Fall is so beautiful and it seems so short.

Wyoming

We went to Wyoming for a rock picking party last weekend.  Mike's dad plowed the field and decided the grandkids would have fun picking rocks.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had so much fun it didn't feel like work.

 

 I remember when my dad lifted me in the bucket of a front loader when I was a kid.  It's better than any ride at Lagoon.

A trip to Star Valley isn't complete without some sort of motorized vehicle ride.  We were able to leave Jason sleeping and go for a good ride up the canyon.  The leaves had all fallen so it wasn't as pretty as it would have been a few weeks ago, but it was still a beautiful ride.  I loved the crisp fall air and the sun shining on my face as we rode.  We are lucky for sure.

That boy loves his "saki" rides.  I put him on with me for part of it and he just kept asking to get back on the saki.  I guess it's more adventurous for him to be on that.  Cute boy. 

Ever sleep in a box?

Allie has...