Fall Farm Fun

When are we going to go do something?

This is more like it!

I'm just happy no matter what.

I found Pumpkin Bob!

Fall Farm Fun Part 2

Pumpkin Bob is going home.

Donkey petting

Cow train

This was the biggest hit with my kids. Instead of a sandbox, they had a cornbox.

Sam liked it too.

Cardboard Box Robot Costume

Step 1: Take a milk jug and cut out the back part. Add eye holes.

Step 2: Hot glue two milk lids (with the backs cut out) to the eye holes for depth. Add plastic circles with hole punched circles. Cut out mouth.

Step 3: Glue some plastic from the jugs to form the details of the face. I used another jug to make the head taller. I also pinched the plastic to make a nose.

Step 4: Paint gold and then forget to document the rest of the process. Let's just say there's boxes, crepe paper, paper plates, bubble wrap, and straps involved. Can you tell what robot he's supposed to be?

6 Month Sam

"Don't mind me, I'm just helping dad fix the faucet."

"ZZZZZ... downward dog....zzzzzz."

"The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain! To see his Mommy!"

Liz's party

We decided to have a friend party this year for Liz. We invited kids from sunbeams and preschool. Liz wanted a rainbow cake we had seen on Pinterest, so I went with rainbows. This is how it turned out.

I've been on this blog many many times, yet I always forget that the order I upload the photos is the opposite of what it will post it as. Anyway, these are the balloon decorations we did. It was really fun and looked awesome from the top of our stairs. The balloons looked like they were floating in midair. However, tape was not enough to hold the strands and they kept coming down, so now all of the balloons are hanging out in Liz's room. I don't have a picture of it, but I think the best part of the party was when we gave the kids their own balloons and they just ran around with them.

We made some mini pizzas with toasted hamburger buns. The kids loved making their own pizzas.

The kids loved these rainbow kabobs.

My first real birthday cake. It turned out good. We normally don't really eat cake, and this was gone in a week!

We did some crafts and played some games. We had lots of games, and just had a blast. Liz loves being 4.

Waz up Msam? (Mirror Sam)

http://youtu.be/CkJ6UClcK1o

To the tune of What a Wonderful World

I see geese at the pond...

Ripe strawberries too... I put them in a bowl... for me and me.
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.

I see daddies snuggle... on the couch.
It's Father's Day... lucky guy. (grouch rhymes but he's not a grouch.)
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.

The noodles on the counter... whole wheat yes indeed.
Are also made with cookie cutters to help my Liz Liz feed.
I see days at the park...with rain boots on...
I forgot the camera... and our phone was gone.

...And you thought I was done talking about Sam and Liz

Sad (also note the crutch in the background. Tiny tim is gone to work.)

"Ho ho ho... green giant."

Some people get a puppy that their children grow up with. I have a sunflower.


Sam had his 2 month appointment.

Weight 90th percentile.
Height 90th percentile. (It was easy to remember.)
Head 42nd percentile. (He takes after his dad. :)

Sam

I didn't post my second child's birth info or anything like that. Mostly because it all got posted on Facebook. Sometimes when you have to prioritize, you have to make decisions about what gets your attention and what doesn't.

Samuel Victor Hirschi
Born April 13, 2011 Mckay Dee Hospital
8 lbs 11 oz
20.5 in.

What can I say about his labor and delivery. It was pretty good actually. The only pain that I felt was when I was changing positions and wasn't relaxed. He came out en caul, that is to say he had the sac still on him, when he was born. I talked with my doctor about it, and she says that it is extremely rare for a larger baby to be born this way. They try to get smaller babies out like that because it's a cushion for them, but with the big babies, the pressure from pushing usually pops the sac and sprays the dr and nurses. :) It isn't pushing per se in Hypnobirthing, but more of a breathing technique, so it didn't pop.

Sam's been a good baby. He loves to be touched and held.

Perception

Wants the kibitzing and negativity to end soon. Please!

Wintertime's Fun! Follow Me!

Our magic hat this year was provided by Geneva Rock.

He's worried because he knows his fate. (Yes, he melted that day.)

We took the train one weekend to SLC. We had lots of fun together seeing the lights and listening to choirs singing.

Liz loved the train rides.

This is shot that was the least blurry from Benson's baby blessing. This little one kept going back for more and more cookies. Before we left, she had started to feel what it was like to eat too many cookies. Poor mom and dad.

Thanksgiving at our house

Here are a few pictures of the holiday.

Josh and I were working on getting parts of the house painted before Thanksgiving. I asked him to read Liz a story before naptime. Half an hour later, I went upstairs to see what had happened and this is what I saw. I guess Josh fell asleep first.

Snowball fights happen when the snow isn't of good enough quality for snowmen or when the silliness strikes. This is post snowball fight with a few volleys yet that didn't make it to the release.

Happy grandma.

Our thespians showed off their acting talents in their own rendition of Rapunzel. It was received well and critics agreed that they would return for another performance.

I'm not sure who he is... he just showed up.

This is Don getting mauled by strangers in disguise. A pirate, a butterfly, and an afro.

I didn't get any pictures of the yummy food. I was too busy eating.

Halloween 2010

A typical sunset near our house. Let the door knocking begin!

Liz in her costume. I think she wanted to show off her spider ring rather than her costume. We got her wings and wand from a dollar store, and Josh had found the princess dress at one of the many garage sales he and his brother went to this summer. I just had to fix the hem a bit and the dress was good. (She's wearing a green jacket underneath the dress.)

This was waiting in line at a Halloween/we finished a two year road construction project! party. Note the construction cones. The costumes that we saw were great and Josh got to race a riding lawn mower. (For never driving one before, he did pretty good.)

Then we went to a library party where Liz met her friend. Liz was a butterfly princess. She wore that dress the next day for church too.

Perry the Platypus came home for Halloween this year. Oh, and yes, that is Barney the Dinosaur in the background. Josh entered a pumpkin carving contest under the category, "Most likely to get smashed". Unfortunately, someone was more clever and made their pumpkin a pinata with a sign that said, "Candy Inside". It was fun anyway.

This was my first pumpkin that wasn't a generic face. I'm kinda proud of the way it turned out.

This is Liz's Cool Awesome Pumpkin. She used paint and cotton balls.

Learn something new...

You can learn something new every day.

During our weekly shopping trips, I try to encourage Liz to choose something in the produce eisles that she sees that looks interesting. It gets me to learn how to cook something new and we always come away with a different experience. Well, she choose purple cabbage this week. I thought that I could cook up a Russian dish that we like called (forgive my spelling) Galupsie. It's basically a cabbage roll. I stuck the cabbage in the pot and boiled it like usual, and then found to my horror that it had changed to a weird blue color. I thought, oh no! I ruined another dinner! I asked Josh about it and after a quick Wikipedia search he found that it's actually a normal thing. When purple cabbage is exposed to alkaline, or basic solutions, it will turn a white or blue color. When it is exposed to acid, it will turn red. A homemade litmus test! This is thanks to a chemical called anthocyanin. It's a really cool chemical that's also good for you. Well, it was a good dinner and I learned something new.

This could also be used as a science fair project with household acids and bases to turn the lettuce color. (i.e. vinegar)

Here's some pictures, but it's kind of hard to tell.