Be Smart

This is Stanford University. Josh wanted to take me to see it this weekend. Now I know why.

It is the most beautiful, impressive campus. I lifted those two pictures above from Google.We drove to the Bay Area yesterday for a couple of touristy things. It was Josh's birthday this weekend and this is how he wanted to celebrate. We went to the computer museum and drove through the G*oogle and A*pple office campuses. Josh loved being around all of that creativity and said he learned a few things about trips with kids: make a list of all the things you'd like to do. Cut the list in half. Add two hours to your estimated time. Then cut two more things off of your list. He was a good sport!

We left Stanford wanting to be smarter. I would love to sit in a big chair and read all of the books I saw through the windows in neat little rows on bookcase after bookcase. Then I would need to discuss them with a professor, and then probably hire someone to explain what they just said to me. These people are smart.

Wouldn't you want to walk there on your way to class? It just inspires learning.

There was a wedding going on inside this chapel so I couldn't peek my head inside but its exterior is beautiful. There were two other brides having pictures taken around campus - it's that beautiful.

Maybe if I'd gone to school there I would have been smart enough to wait for that man to stand up before taking a picture of the church! Sorry who ever you are!
We asked Anna if she wants to go there someday and she seemed excited about it. Michael is set on the blue school - BYU, and Sam the red school - the University of Utah. I hear they're more affordable anyway.
It was fun to go out on an outing. It's been a few months. It was hard to stop and nurse Anna so often and she didn't get long enough naps, but she can recover tomorrow. We live so close to San Francisco and the Bay Area is so full of things to do. We'd like to get out and see more of it.

Tonight Josh is at a church meeting and I put the boys to bed. They do so many precious things every day and I forget them so fast. This morning while I was getting ready for church Michael heard Anna crying in her crib on the nursery monitor. He turned off the monitor and went in and played with her until I could go pick her up to feed her. Tonight he cleaned up all of the legos even though "Sam made the mess."

We had our monthly ward dinner group tonight at the home of a Mexican couple. They made chicken enchiladas, rice and beans with pork that would make your mouth water. After dinner Michael he said his tummy was "just the perfect coziness." I think that was the best compliment the chef could have received.

Ahh. Gearing up for another week. Goodnight friends and family.

Sir Michael and Sir Sam

We had such a fun Halloween! Michael and Sam designed these jack-o-lanterns and we carved them while Josh was at work. They were on the front porch when he came home, as a surprise. He said they are the happiest he'd ever seen. I agree! We gave them bottom teeth, like Anna's! The boys didn't want to help me scoop out the goo, very Josh-like of them. They like to stay clean!Almost ready for the trunk-or-treat.
Although they both look like knights, they would tell you that Michael was a Valiant Knight King
while Sam was a Warrior King. That's what the labels said. I went the easy route this year and just bought their costumes at Target one day. Michael's didn't come with a crown, though, so I had to make one. Not bad, eh? Cardboard covered with aluminum foil - shinny side up. I traded a dilapidated foam crown from the toy closet.

We borrowed this bee costume for Anna. She only wore it one night to the trunk-or-treat and was especially snugly in it.

The activity at church was so fun. It was more of a carnival. It was stake wide and each ward had five booths. Here's Michael eating a donut off the string.
And an action shot of the bean bag toss.

The boys' best friend was a knight in shining armor. After costume day at preschool we took them to this "dragon park" playground to let them fight the dragon in costume!
They discovered that it was a smiling dragon, so they decided not to fight it but to make it a pet.
Love this one!

Climbing the drawbridge into the castle!


Michael named his horse Chippy-paserad. Difficult name, loyal horse. Sam kept running back to the car to get some candy from his preschool loot. Very like me!

Anna snuggled up in a blanket the whole time and let the boys play.
This was taken after the trunk-or-treat. She has her second bottom tooth now but is still working on others. She's been biting me and I think I scared her by screaming so now she's afraid to nurse. Hopefully it won't last too long! She sure is a keeper!

Junior Firefighters

Last Friday was a special day at preschool. The fire truck came. The kids, and parents, waited out on the lawn for the arrival of the huge red engine and three friendly fire fighters. Michael loved it. Sam, as seen below biting his fingernails, not so much. He spent the entire time holding onto my leg or twenty feet away.The fire men were so nice. They taught the kids what to do if they're trapped in a burning house and the fire fighters are coming to look for them. It's scary but it's nice to know what they should do. We talked about smoke detectors, practiced stop, drop, and roll, and saw a fireman in full uniform with his oxygen mask on so they hopefully won't be afraid to go to him if he ever needs to rescue them.

It's a common problem that small children hide when there's a fire and are afraid to go to the strangers in "Darth Vadar" masks. It really does make the same sound as Darth Vadar when they breath through their masks. This fireman took off his mask so we could all see that it was a smiling, nice man underneath it. The most important thing we learned is not to hide from the firemen. Instead, say, "Here I am!" until someone gets you out. Typing that makes me cry, but I am glad they know that now. I pray they never ever have to do that.
Michael was as brave as could be and stepped right up to have a turn with the fire hose. He turned it on and sprayed a traffic cone on the grass.
That deed earned him a Junior Firefighter badge sticker which he VERY proudly wears on his jacket. He really had to raise his right hand and swear to do something fire-related in order to get his badge.
Here it is!
Junior firefighter Michael! Way to go buddy!
The truck left with lights and signals blazing and the kids were dumb struck. Needless to say, they've been playing firemen ever since!

Pumpkins for the Pumpkins

The preschool had our field trip to the Pumpkin Farm today! I am loving the preschool world. Crafts, outings, projects, show and tell, birthdays. It is so fun.
We brought our friends along and listened as we learned that pumpkins are squash and corn is part of the grass family. I never knew that.

They had goats, pigs, chickens and turkeys to feed. AND hand sanitizer for afterward!There was a hayride, a corn maze, and this pyramid of hay. Can you find Michael in there?
There was a long line for this slide and it was pretty steep but the boys liked it. I pulled out their jackets for the first time this morning and put them in their jeans from last winter. They are too short! They are growing like weeds!
Sam was one of the tallest preschoolers there.
"Make a silly face!"
My pumpkins. Happy Fall!

Baby Toother

Proudly presenting Anna's first tooth!

Michael has been calling her "Toother." She's had a cold and I felt a little bump on her gums, but I didn't know it would come so fast. She is the most cheerful baby I've ever met. She laughs when I clean out her nose! She brings a smile to our faces all day long. I've had her to the doctor twice to check for ear infections but I guess she's been pulling at here ears because she's been teething. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

In other news, here we are making acorn men last Saturday. The boys got the idea out of a book about Autumn and have been asking to make them since last winter. We had to wait for the acorns to grow, make a trip to the craft store for pipe cleaners and Styrofoam, and F I N A L L Y they were ready to make! They have pin-heads because the only acorns I could find here are these tall, skinny ones.

And this video is just the boys being fun. Please don't listen to me trying to get Anna to smile. It's just embarrassing.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hot Wheels

Look who's got a hot new ride! We found this bike on Craigs*list. It's one size too big but I think it's' going to work anyway. Josh put the training wheels on this morning before work and the boys are having so much fun! They are looking WAY too big on it. There are a few bike paths around here that they've been riding on their tricycles but Sam's knees are about hitting the handle bars on his trike and they go so slowly for how fast they pedal so we're on to the exciting world of two-wheelers!

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Guess Who's * Coming To Dinner!

On Sunday Anna reached five months. She's been acting a pit peckish lately, especially at dinner time when she won't nurse but is hungry. She reaches for our food and leans forward toward our plates! I decided to give her some cereal last week to see what she would do. She loved it! We moved on to bananas yesterday which has me in hysterics saying all variations of "Anna Banana." Cheap thrills, you know.

It's so cute to watch her little bird-like mouth open up for the next bite. She is much daintier than her brothers were at eating. And cleaner. And she eats less.
I put her in the booster seat today and now it feels like she's really growing up. Sam enjoyed helping her take a drink from her sippie cup. He's been wanting to help feed her since she was born and had fun holding the cup for her.
She can hold it herself, but not tip it up the right way. Next on the menu, avocados, sweet potatoes, the world is our . . . well, maybe not oysters just yet!