Family Photo Shoot

I am finally posting the pictures that we had taken this fall by the Mazin' Mandy! The others she took are posted around my blog in different places! Thanks Mandy!

Sorry About The Stealing!

Another Wally adventure, and learning opportunity for all has come our way! Yesterday a couple of hours after we got home from the store Wally came to me with a blue mouth and we had a conversation that went a little like this...

Wally: "That was really good mom."
Me: "What was good, and why is your mouth blue?"
Wally: "From the blue candy that I put in my pocket at the store."

Me telling Wally to go get the wrapper and staring in disbelief as I realized it must really have been something that my four year old stole from the store.

Me: "Wally, when you don't pay for something before you take it from the store that is called stealing and it is really not good to steal."
Wally: "But I was getting hungry."
Me: "It doesn't matter. When you don't give the lady money for the candy you can't have it. That is stealing.
Wally: " But I didn't have any money."

I told him that we were going to have to go back to the store and give the lady money and say that we were sorry for stealing because Jesus has told us not to steal.

Wally, "How about YOU go back and tell the lady we are sorry, and I stay home with dad."

I know that all of this is not funny considering my four year old was a petty thief yesterday, and I don't want this to lead to a life of crime, but he was honestly so innocent about his stealing! If that makes any sense. So when Del got home, he drove Wally back to the store and made him say sorry and pay. Wally hid behind Del's legs and was really embarrassed, but did say sorry. Del said as they left the store Wally yelled, "Merry Christmas!"

I really hope that it all sunk in. I don't know how many more times we can say, "You are never going to do that again, right?" But when he got home he did come up to me and say, "Sorry about the stealing mom." Lesson learned by all.

Merry Christmas!

When we were at Del's parent's house over Thanksgiving, I noticed the pictures they had of our kids where either super out-dated, or didn't fit in the frame. So I decided I better get on the ball and send some new ones. I hope these won't look to pitiful on the picture wall! Anything is better than what is there now! I have neglected my picture providing job.

Georgia

Georgia woke up this morning with two little teeth peeking through!

Our Thanksgiving Utah Trip

We just got back from Utah lat last night and I can't figure out how to post more than five pictures at a time on my computer, so the post below also includes pictures of the trip.

Del and I ran a 5K on the morning of Thanksgiving along with Del's nephew Dallin. We had so much fun! Dallin finished quite a bit ahead of me and Del, but out of just under 900 people running, we came in around 380Th place! We are counting that a victory!

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with my family first, and then ate again with Del's family! We were some stuffed turkeys by the end of the day! My parents made two turkeys cooked in two different ways. Both were YUM!

We also got our fill of loving some cute little babies! Four babies under the age of 7 months makes for lots of kisses, bouncing, feeding, changing and yes, some crying. But they are little sweeties and it was so good to meet my sisters babies at last!


Del surprised me with a surprise party on my birthday. (Me being surprised was kind of the point I guess, right?) Lots of friends that I haven't seen for so long were there, and while I was a little overwhelmed at first, it was so nice to talk and catch up! Thanks Del, and my mom and sisters for all you did for my Birthday!

Eating, talking, shopping... Pretty much the good things in life. That is what this trip was made of and we are very THANKFUL, for all we have! Besides a 3 hour layover, holding pattern, oh, and the small incident of leaving my suitcase with just about every nice pair of shoes, pants, all my makeup and Ipod, sitting in a parking lot in the middle of the night on our way home, ( the police picked it up for us because we didn't realize this until we were home. They just told us to come and get it before 6:30 in the morning or it would be put into evidence,) we had a lovely trip!

Pics.

Me and Del just before the run

We had a little crowd of Del's family on the sideline just before the finish. That is my foot, leg and hand in the left corner.

After the 5K.

Georgia tried to sneak a sample of my mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner.

The head cooks at our first dinner, my mom and dad! They did so much work and it was DELICIOUS!

Welcome Owen!

I just wanted to congratulate Shelley and Adam on the arrival of Owen Curtis! 7Lbs.13oz. and 21 inches long. If Shelley and Adam send a picture for me to post I will. We are happy for you guys! Love you all!

Edit: Okay, Mike and Emily have got the first pictures of the little guy on their blog. So check him out! Cutie! He has Shelley's eyes!

Some Funny Stuff

I told Wally to stay at the table and eat his dinner. He had been playing so hard outside, and when I came back upstairs, I found one exhausted little boy, asleep on the chair!

This is just a funny picture of Will

Wally "decorated" Georgia's crib with wrapping paper.

She seemed to enjoy it!

Memories...

Well, I just got back from Kohl's. While I was there, I lost Will. He just disappeared! It may sound hard to believe, but that has never happened to me. My first mistake was letting him get out of the stroller. So after running around yelling,"Will!" for about a minute, I went to customer service and asked if there was anything they could do. This resulted in a monitoring situation at all doors and the store being combed by the managers. It ended, in Will being found on the other side of the store, in Men's Coats and me and Will running to each other. He had a huge smile and yelled, "Mommy!" Feewww!! What a relief!

Okay, so now to the Memories thing. Shelley is due with her baby boy today. So I was talking to her and she hadn't heard, to my disbelief, the story of how I went into labor with Georgia. It is the greatest and I haven't written it down anywhere, so here goes...
I took my kids to McDonald's as a last hoorah before the baby back in May. They played in the play land forever while I sat watching, extremely uncomfortable. There were about a million people there that day. After forever I told Wally it was time to go as he cruised by in a tunnel. Well, he went and dug in up there for the long haul or something, because I didn't see him again. So I started yelling up slides that I better see him down here ASAP or he was going to sit in his room at home. I could hear other children telling him that his mom wanted him. Then, after another ten minutes, I asked an older little girl to go up and tell him that his mom wanted him to come down NOW! She came down a minute later and reported that he not only pushed her, but he had no clothes on!
Finally I decided enough was enough. I asked a big scary lady to watch Will and I headed for the mesh enclosed play land opening. When scary lady saw my intention she volunteered to go for me, but I saw that ending worse than me going. So up I went, moving small children aside as politely as possible to squeeze my ample middle and back side up the play place. I found him in a little plastic room area in his underwear. He tried to get away, and catching him about did me in, but I dragged him on my hands and knees back down the way we came. Again moving small children aside. Maybe I should have used a slide, I don't know, I would probably have gotten stuck. So out we emerged, and found that everyone in the place was watching to see the outcome. I dragged Will and an almost naked Wally out to the car. I then bawled my head off in embarrassment and pain, and called Del hyperventilating. He actually left work and came home after the call. On the way home Wally asked me why I was crying! I told him not to talk right now.
Then he said," Mom, you're too big to go in the play land."
So I cried harder and went home and put my kids and myself in bed. I woke up later with labor pains!

So there you go. If anyone is looking, this is tried and true. Shelley just didn't think Adam would be willing to strip down and let her drag him out of McDonald's. So I guess she'll just have to wait for labor a little longer. But it is definitely a memory maker! Good luck Shell, Love ya!

Wally, even though I wasn't happy about this incident, you keep me running and on my toes. I know it is good for me. I love you SO much!

Door -to-door Salesman

Today my doorbell rang. When I answered, it was Wally. He had been playing in the backyard, but I guess he went around the house. He had a plastic toy tool case that looks like a suitcase, with rocks in it. He said that he needed to come in and talk to me while I sat on the couch, and he sat on the other couch. And then, he would leave again. So I invited him in and we both took a seat. He held up the case and showed me the rocks, and told me about where he got them outside.Then he told me he was going to fill up the plastic pool when he left. Considering the temperature, I told him he wasn't. It felt just like I was haggling with a mini rock salesman. Kind of scary that he may have found his calling at age four.

Thanks

Just a great, big THANKS to Mandy for the new pictures, (example at right.) We love them. I'll post more sometime. They are pretty, pretty.

Halloween

Another Halloween, another battle to hide the candy in a place where Wally won't find it, and eat it all in five minutes flat. Behind dishes, in my closet under purses, on top of the washing machine, under my bed. He will discover it at some point. I woke up crying in my sleep last night because I dreamed Wally got hurt, and I kept saying, "I just should have let him eat all the Halloween candy!" But we did have fun this year. Wally was a firefighter. Will WAS a night in shinning armor, until I lost the armor. So we had a last minute costume change. I rummaged through the costume box, and two minutes before trick-or-treat, Wallah! A doctor. Georgia, well, refer to pictures below for her costume. Will ended up becoming not just the doctor, but the patient by the end of the night when later, at a Halloween party he had an accident and split his eyebrow open. It is all covered with Dora and, or Spiderman band aides so he won't pick at it. It is ALWAYS an adventure! On to Thanksgiving!

Wally the firefighter and Will the doctor.

Georgia was a bunny, and she hated it!

I mean, really hated it!!

Wally enjoying some of his "goody bag" as he calls it.

Will and his latest battle wound.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Sorry I am a day late. Yesterday, my amazing mom had a birthday! I love you and hope you had a great day! You are such a good woman and mom. My mom gave me confidence and never left me needing for anything. What a blessing she is! Emily, Shelley, Lauren and I know we are all lucky girls. And dad knows he is a lucky guy! Happy Birthday!

Sooo excited!

Wally can't focus on anything else! He is so excited for Halloween. He carries a pumpkin bucket with him everywhere he goes. Including church. On Saturday, I found him out with the bucket trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. I don't know how many houses he knocked at, but I found him at a neighbor's door. Hopefully all his expectations are fulfilled tomorrow night, and then he forgets all about it until next year! I might go crazy if he asks me for an entire year if he can go trick-or-treating every night!

Pumpkin Carving

Farm Day

This weekend we went to Farm Day. Some local farms open their doors to the public and let everyone walk around their beautiful land and enjoy the festivities. We had a great time on the hayride, the huge, really cool playground that one of the farms had, and walking through the big red barn. The truth is, it was just so nice to be together as a family for something on a Saturday. Ever since the beginning of Del's company, those are far and few between!


The family on the hayride.

Some "Wallyisms..."

Wally told us that when he is a superhero he is "Yuckyman." His super power is getting goo in his hands. And he lives in the "tower of power" So have no fear folks, Yuckyman is here!

He also made Del think long and hard about his career choice and attitude when after Del told me a work story at the dinner table Wally said, "I have so much "stressration" from my work." I am guessing that is a cross between stress, and frustration. It kind of sums it all up in one word, instead of two! Now I guess Wally just makes up his own language. Way to go Shakespeare!

Cool Kid

False Prophets

Will is so funny. He is more observant than one might think at first. He is always happy to sing a primary song and he remembers very well what he learns during Family Home Evening. Examples:

We were at Subway grabbing some lunch and he kept yelling, "It's time to say Dear, Heavenly Father!" I guess he didn't like that we were not blessing the food.

But the best is that last night we got new phone books and they were sitting out. He brought the yellow pages to me and Del and kept saying, "Prophet, daddy." So we looked at what he was pointing at. There was an advertisement for an injury lawyer on the back of the book. He was dressed in a white shirt, suite and tie! It was so funny!

I knew he was paying attention during conference! Just a little off the mark!

Camping and Conference

We went down to Naperville on Sunday to watch session of conference with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Scott, and got to enjoy Brian's 18Th Birthday dinner. It was so nice to see some family and be uplifted by conference. The talk given by Julie B. Beck, "Mothers Who Know" was the most powerful talk on motherhood I have ever heard. I was given such a boost by the words of encouragement she gave to mothers. In a world that places less and less value on the role of motherhood, it is nice to hear the firm reminder that it is a call from God, and the most influential position a woman can hold in this life. Some days I wake up and think, "I have three kids? When did that happen?" And then all the doubts and feelings of being overwhelmed can creep in. I have a testimony of motherhood. It was just so nice to hear someone articulate it for me as nicely as Julie B. Beck did. This woman is obviously being guided by the spirit to know what women need to hear. It was nice to have an affirmation that this really is where I need to be!

Camping and Conference Continued

Last weekend was packed with fun! On Friday, we went up to Wisconsin for some camping with the Tyson family. Our boys LOVE Sam, and I am sure that Georgia and Ella will be aware of one another one day, and be fast friends. We packed all our warm clothes and were surprised to find some almost 90% weather! Del and Jared spent a lot of time on the canoe Jared made, which is beautiful. And Leslie and I spent a lot of time (only slightly embarrassed) watching our crazy kids on the beach. They stripped down and ran out in the water in their underwear. At first it was just us, but slowly tons of people started going out in the water. The boys must have made it look like a lot of fun! Too bad Jared and Del didn't even get ONE BITE from those fish! That is okay, being with good friends makes up for it!

Okay

So, I guess you know you have listened to a C.D. a few too many times, when your two year old sings along in the car to lyrics that say, "Why arn't you sorry, why? Uh, oh, oh."

Georgia is on a roll!

Yesterday, Georgia rolled over for the first time! We are very excited because in our house a baby rolling before 9 or 10 months is momentous! Wally only rolled because he was forced to by a physical therapist, and Will was pretty much happy to hang out, lying on his back, watching the world go by.

So we took some pictures of the big day! Now I am sure we will be finding Georgia under strange things and in corners.

Yesterday was also the primary program! Yeah, it all went well! Wally even sat nicely up on the stand the whole time. One of his little three year old friends, our Bishop's son, just really likes me for some reason, and the whole time, he kept yelling, "I want Wally's mom!" So funny! I like you too Caden!



Georiga looks almost as big as Wally in this picture!

The kids, (Will in his standart outfit, NO Pants!)