Winter Fun

Winters are hard and long in Rexburg, but I think that they are especially difficult in an apartment because we get CABIN FEVER!

Good thing we like to play with toys...

and boxes (I think for Christmas this year Matthew will get presents and Hailey will get the packaging. She'll be overjoyed haha)!

When it's warm enough to step outside for a few minutes we sure do make the most of it!

And even when we can't go out there's not much that is more fun than sitting in the windowsill watching a snowstorm!

Friends

some things that I am REALLY going to miss about Rexburg when Curt graduates and we get wherever we're going are the friends and being so near to my family. We have been so blessed to have such great friends and family here to take care of us :)

This is Hailey's future boyfriend, Emmett. They already like to play footsie and hold hands!

Matthew and Bridger are really good friends! They like to wrestle, ride bikes, and they have been spending the month defeating all the bad guys of West Tisbury as Batman and Spiderman.

We love having friends that are as goofy as we are and that actually like us!! haha

Friendship's Flower
Helen Steiner Rice

Life is like a garden
And friendship like a flower,
That blooms and grows in beauty
With the sunshine and the shower.

And lovely are the blossoms
That are tended with great care,
By those who work unselfishly
To make the place more fair.

And, like the garden blossoms,
Friendship's flower grows more sweet
When watched and tended carefully
By those we know and meet.

And, if the seed of friendship
Is planted deep and true
And watched with understanding,
Friendship's flower will bloom for you.

We are so thankful for our dear and cherished friends (both old and new, near and far) and our wonderful family. We are so blessed.

Now that Matthew is one of the older kids in the complex he's expected to pull his weight a little more (actually pull the other kids' weight!) We're not sure where this sled came from. It's been outside since last winter! But it sure has been a fun all-season toy for the kids. It even made for a great makeshift swimming pool in the summer.

Chocolate milk holds a special place in our hearts.

And faces!

9 months?!!!!

I can't believe that my baby girl is going to be 9 months on Thursday!!! This time has gone by so fast! Hailey is such a doll and a treasure. She has got us all wrapped around her fingers and I hope it doesn't warp her future and make her become a manipulative, spoiled diva. :)

Hailey is teething. She has one tooth and the second one will cut through soon. She is also crawling like a demon and getting into EVERYTHING. Especially cords, outlets, and vents. So funny to see us try to get mad at her for doing something she shouldn't (because we really have a hard time getting serious with the angel face). Instead of "No. That is a no no Hailey." It's "Sweetie, don't play with that. It's an owie you cute little munchkin *giggle giggle*." ahhh, that will have to change.

BEST.HALLOWEEN.EVER.

What dolls!! We had such a fun Halloween this year! Matthew has been so excited; every day when he wakes up he asks me if it's Halloween starting five weeks ago! I would always say "five more saturdays...10 more days...tomorrow..." and then this morning I surprised him by saying it before he could even ask "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!" (and we know it's not Halloween today but we are celebrating it today because Sunday is just not a day for that for us. That's just us.) He was so excited! And about every 20 minutes he asked if we were going trick-or-treating. So finally when 5:30 came we were ready (even with last minute thrown together-but still fun-costumes for Curt and I!) :)

Curt made Matthew's mask out of paper machey (I have no clue how to spell that) and then I hot glued the black fabric on it. It was really hard to make! But I think it turned out ok. I sewed Hailey's caterpillar costume. It originally was going to be for Matthew. A couple of months ago he decided he wanted to be a caterpillar so I started working on it and then he changed his mind with the whole batman deal so I just downsized it to be a baby costume. Easier anyway.

HE WAS SO PROUD :)

She just wished this costume would let her crawl. Good thing she's a content baby!

If you can't tell (You'll have to wait until you see the full body shot) I was a troll. It took over a can of hairspray and a lot of blow drying and time. I'm not sure my hair will ever be the same!

Curt was a zombie. I should have gotten a close-up of his face DANG! It was sooo cool! He used glue to make the rotting flesh. It was amazing and all of the kids couldn't stop staring. so funny!

Our complex had a little trunkrtreating and then we went over to the ward one and then to my parents' chili contest ward party. We go to that every year and every year it's awesome.

There see, I even had a little gem on my belly button. hahaha Matthew kept telling me I was so pretty. Oh boy. What kind of taste does he have?! Should I fear for what his future crushes will be like? Green hair? Ripped clothing?

Always happy

such a beautiful child

Get up and go!

Preferred means of mobility: rolling like crazy

Figuring this crawling thing out.

Crawls, but doesn't go very far for the amount of kicking, flailing and wiggling around that she puts into it!!

All Month Long

I picked up this Halloween costume about a week ago. At first Matthew was not interested whatsoever in wearing it. Then we went to my parents' house and my dad pulled up the good old batman cartoons from when I was little on Hulu. Matthew watched a few episodes with Grandpa and the rest is history. He has wanted to wear his batman shirt and cape all day every day since! Good thing I do a lot of laundry at night after the kids go to bed so I have a chance to wash it! (and no, I don't let him actually wear it all day every day. there have been 2 days now that I told him it's dirty, and I of course didn't let him wear it to church. But he would wear it all the time if he could!)

I think he's adorable in it!

Matthew

such a stud!

Pumpkins 2010

Our annual pumpkin carving took place on Thursday at my parents' house. That is one of the things I look forward to the most about Halloween (that and the candy, of course. But now that I'm the mommy I get to eat that any time I want to anyway!) This year we even let Matthew hold a butter knife and pretend he was carving. haha SCARY.

Hailey watched for a bit and then it got too cold so Grandma spent some time with her.

The completed (almost, curt had to take his home to finish) lot of them.

We didn't carve Hailey's because I figured she would just want to roll it around and play with it and I didn't really want her eating raw, rotten pumpkin guts the rest of the month....

Grandpa Kit drew the face for Matthew's pumpkin. I think he did a good job making a little matthew replica :)

And this is mine with a light in it. Matthew picked out the pattern. I'm not nearly as artistic as Curt!

The family shot. And there you have it. Pumpkin carving 2010. Woohoo! I can't wait to put them on our doorstep... to get rolled, kicked, and ultimately mashed up by neighboring toddlers. YIPEE! (that's the part I DON'T like about pumpkins; or rather about living in apartments.)

But I love carving them still the same and will always look forward to it!!!!!

lunchtime

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This video is really long! Hailey is trying so hard to talk! It's way cute. She doesn't have words yet, but it reminds me of those yup yup monsters on sesame street from when I was little.

Why do I even bother putting bibs on this little girl?! The food gets everywhere.

I told Matthew to put his "face up in the window" so I could take a picture of him with his halloween decorations. This is what I got :)

Curt's "notes"

If this is what he studies....

how does he get such good grades?!

Halloween family home evening

I am a window decorating kind of girl. Even if I didn't have kids I would do it anyway.

But it is all that much more fun to do with with my family!

Conference weekend

We spent a lot of time bugging my parents this weekend :)

It was prime weather for worm hunting

My favorite part was all of the Curt time we got!

My parents got a really nice new sectional couch!! It is absolutely dreamy.

and they were so kind to let us use their old ones so now I have a matching couch set!! Thanks again mom and dad! I'll have to put pictures up.