Happy Birthday Nick!!

These last couple weeks I have spent alot of time thinking about Nick and the fact that he is getting baptized.

Last week in Relief Society we were singing the closing song when it really hit me. Not only do I have deep grattitude for the atonement in my life , but now I am so thankful that it is there for Nicholas as he turns eight and becomes accountable for his sins. I am so thankful for the good boy that Nick is and his decision to be baptized. I really wanted to focus our family home evenings on baptism to make sure that Nick knew exactly what he was doing and that it was his choice and that makes me so happy to know that he is choosing to be baptized for himself.

I can still remember the day we brought Nick home from the hospital as if it were yesterday. I was in heaven. There isn't a day that has gone by in these last 8 years that he hasn't brought a smile to my face. He is a sweet boy with a good heart. He is such a great helper for me and his dad. I love that he is so bashful, I could just smile at him all day such to see his little smile in return as he turns away from me. I love that he still lets me call him Nicky-Poo. I love that his little brothers won't sleep without him and that he won't sleep without his little brothers. I love the way that he plays with Aubrey. I love that he wants to be just like his dad. I am so proud that he is my boy!!

Happy Birthday Nicholas Ryan!!

I love you!!

All dressed up!

Aubrey- My little, black cat
Cooper- red Iron Man
Alex- grey Iron Man

Chloe- My little witch

Nick- bloody ninja guy??

I usually start thinking about Halloween costumes in July or August. I love matching and themed costumes, so I was trying to get all my kids to do something together. No luck!! Chloe was easy, but the boys, mostly Nick wouldn't go for it. I was trying to go for the traditional Halloween costumes, a witch, a black cat, a pumpkin, a skeleton, a mummy and a vampire. Cooper was going to be a pumpkin for a while and then changed his mind with Alex a million times and finally ended with Iron Man right after the movie came out and they were watching it every day. And Nick just has to be plain stubborn just to make me mad! He was Jango Fett for our trunk or treat and then 3 days later he didn't even want to dress up. But when I told him he couldn't have any candy then, he said he just wanted to wear black and have bloody make up and carry an ax. Easy enough! At this point he kind of wanted to be a vampire. But I wasn't buying anymore costumes my themed days weren't going to be happening this year.

So Nick and I had a talk. I asked him what he would be because I have already tried what I thought were some good ones (Pirates, Super Heroes, The Incredibles) but he shut me down every time. He said how about we all carry axes. Okay. NO!! My one year old baby girl is NOT carrying around an ax next year. Then how about we all have some kind of weapon. UMm. NO!!So we talked about if for a while longer and I guess we will see if I get what I want next year!!

Anyways...

Last Friday we got the kids all dressed up and went to my dad's office Halloween party.

I think that is their favorite holiday in their office. They go all out! They decorate their cubicles into themes for the trick or treating. This year there was a reptile area where they had a real snake, a huge desert tortoise, and a couple of other huge lizard things on leashes that the kids could pet. They had a Nihao Kailan area, an Avatar area and a Night at the Museum 2 area. My dad was dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt for the Night at the Museum one. The kids get a total kick out of it and get so much candy!!

After they do trick or treating inside they come outside for some pony and horse rides.

Cooper rode too, but he got off before I could get a picture and wouldn't get back on again!

My dad loves showing off all of his grand kids!

They also had a bounce house.

And of course the kids got to be with all of their cousins, so you know they were in heaven!!

This was our attempt to get a picture of all the kids together.

Ben- a baseball player, Makaylin- Minnie Mouse, Aubrey- a cat, Alex-IronMan, Lucy- a pig, Hailey- a vampire, Chloe- a witch, Mavrik- Buzz, Everett- an astronaut, Cooper- IronMan, Nick- a ninja, Jordyn- a ballerina, and Will- a cowboy

So after having our ward trunk or treat, each kid having a party at school and then my dad's party I was all Halloween'd out!!

And I guess my kids were too. Because when I told them we would NOT be trick or treating on Sunday there was no whining!! So we went to my mom's for dinner and some Halloween treats and then came home and handed out candy for the first time since we have been married.

Trunk-or-Treat

Last night was our ward's annual trunk-or-treat. We made a pot of chili and headed over to the church for dinner and treats. I was barely able to stuff a few bites of food into my kids' mouths because they were so excited to go trick-or-treating. It was a really good turn out and there were so many people that I didn't even recognize too. Of course the kids had a blast running around like crazy with their friends and getting tons of candy.
On the way home Nick asked why some kids were saying "smell my feet". Chris and I both looked at each other and smiled. We then taught them "Trick or treat, smell my feet. Give me something good to eat, if you don't I don't care I'll pull down your underwear". Not that I really want my kids singing it, but it was just fun that that is what we used to sing. They got a real kick out of it!!

28

Sunday was Chris' 28th Birthday, but since he and his younger brother share the day we celebrated on Saturday night with a UFC Fight Party.

We had some family and friends over to my mom's for pizza, cake and ice cream and to watch the fight.
I am so thankful for Chris and the good guy that he is. I am thankful for all his hard work to support our family. He is such a good dad and husband!!
Happy Birthday Babe, I love you!!!

Halloween Party

My little monkey and ballerina

Last Friday Cooper, Aubrey and I were invited to a little Halloween party at a friend's house. My BIG kids missed out because they had school.
The kids made popcorn hands and played with home made play dough (I think that was their favorite part!)

The whole crew working on some play dough master pieces. I wish I would have got a shot of all the kids in their costumes before some had to be changed and others took them off. It was a little crazy! There were 10 kids 4 and under. Cooper had such a great time with his little friends, he is still telling the other kids about "Madi's Party".

Aubrey and Macy, matching ballerinas
The Moms!

Me, Janeen, Whitney, Chelsea, and Staci

Another month has come and gone and are baby girl is another month older!
When she woke up on Saturday I told her, "Happy Birthday!!" and Cooper asked me, "Can she have cake now?!". It was too cute!
Although I really don't want her to get any bigger I love seeing the new things that she is doing and watching her little personality emerge. She is still pretty easy going. She is still sleeping through the night (knock on wood!). She is starting to arch her back when we put her in her car seat. I am not a fan of this! And she is no longer my little snuggle baby. I really enjoyed that she fell asleep on my chest every night, but that is definitely a thing of the past. She wants to see everything, she does not want to lay down, stand her up so she can see what is going on! She doesn't sleep as well for nap time unless she can be in her bed, which is good and bad. But she is still such a happy girl. Always smiling and talking a lot more now too.
She also started pulling the blankets over her face when she sleeps. Alex and Cooper did this too. The first couple of times it is kind os scary when you leave them they have the blanket covering them and you come back to it over their face, but this is how she loves to sleep.
Aubrey has yet to rollover, but that doesn't mean it is safe to leave her on the couch either. She is pretty strong and can scoot herself. I did leave her on the couch the other day to do somethng in the kitchen. I heard some movement so messy hands and all I decided I better check on her. She was laying with her feet towards the back of the couch pushing off and her head was already hanging off as she was watching cartoons upside down. It was pretty funny to see, but kind of scary that she was so close to falling on her little noggin!

Pumpkin Patch

This last weekend we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. My kids have been asking ever since they saw it begin set-up, so when some friends invited us we were all on board!

We all went to eat at Cafe Rio and then headed up the street for some fun. Of course, before anybody could have any fun, we had to have a little photo shoot!

All the kiddos! It is crazy that we have 10 kids between the 2 families.

And then the kids were off! Riding the rides, going down the slide, jumping in the bounce house, and begging for more tickets!

I am sure my kids will talk me into going to the pumpkin patch at least one more time before Halloween. I love that it is fall and we have all these fun traditions to do during the holidays!