crazy bucket head...

I don't know why all of my kids have found this so amusing -

She walked around bumping into walls on purpose too!

halloween...

There are always so many activities for Halloween. This year Zane wanted to be Dracula, Lily chose Eeyore, and Evan was a Lion. So, I only had to make the Dracula costume. I made the cape - complete with stand-up collar and cumberbund. I think he looked pretty spiffy. The medallion he is wearing was from John's TTU graduation. I made the Eeyore when Zane was 2 1/2 and the Lion is store bought. Aren't we so "green" with our re-use!

We had the Halloween Parade at school Friday. I helped out with Zane's Halloween party in his class afterwards. It was cute and fun to see all the 1st graders in their costumes.

I told Zane that I wanted to get a picture of his full costume, so he started walking backwards and didn't stop. I think he looks pretty SPOOKY!

I LOVE this picture!!(drinking the Halloween staple of dry ice root beer)

We stopped by John's work to trick or treat (an annual tradition), even though we are probably the only ones that do this.

Then on Halloween Saturday, it was the usual hot dog and chili neighborhood party, a quick stop at Great-Grandma and Grandpa's house, and off to trick or treat! We let Zane and Lily walk up to the doors by themselves with us in "watching" distance. Lily was into the trick or treating this year and very excited - until we visited the neighbor's house that had made a spook alley out front. She went through with John and Zane, but was absolutely terrified to go to anymore doors with Zane by herself. I went with her a few times, and she finally was feeling ok about it again. (I didn't want to leave her thinking that trick or treating was scary). Then, we got to our last house - and of course... they had a scary guy spooking the kids. Poor Lily! We had to go to a couple more houses just to make sure she was going to be 'ok'.

When Lily was still happy to trick or treat! (and we went plastic pumpkins this year because I couldn't find the pillowcase sacks I made last year that the kids decorated, ugh!)

super scholar...

Each month at the school, they hold a hero hunt assembly. Three kids from each class are picked by their teachers to receive a special award. Zane was chosen as the Super Scholar in his class for the month of October. (They messed up and gave him the Super Citizen certificate instead.) I think he was most excited about the "smelly" pencil he got too. Way to go Zane!!!! So awesome!!

pumpkin carving...

We got one of those pumpkin carving kits this year. I've always wanted to try it, because I know that people have done some awesome pumpkins with them. I figured they can't be that hard. Plus, my knife skills are not all that great. It seems much safer to use those little "saws" around the little kids too.

So here are our creations!

This is Lily's. She picked the design, I carved it.

Zane's pick. John did it with some help from him.

7 months old today...

Here he is! Sweetie!

(and I'm back - prepare for a lot of posts!)

needing to blog...

So much to blog about - but my good computer is down. I don't really want to take the pictures off of my camera and put them on this computer. So - I haven't blogged, because let's face it - blogs without pictures are super boring. So, coming soon (I hope) - flag football, hero hunt assembly, stuff I've made, halloween!!, funny kid pictures, zane's solo in the primary program and I have even have a couple of videos! Ergh. So much going on - hopefully I'll get it blogged before the holidays.

red ribbon week...

At school they dedicate a week to saying "no" to drugs. Each day the kids dress up differently - backwards clothes, pj's, etc. Zane was in need of a haircut, so for crazy hair day - we cut his hair - only didn't quite finish.



I cut it in an arrow (like Avatar - a cartoon character). We left it all day, and for football practice that night. I wonder what the other parents thought of us! (who cares!) =)

Pine Valley Reservoir...

A couple weekends ago, the weather was beautiful so we headed up to Pine Valley Reservoir. It was a nice little drive, and a nice little walk around the lake.

6 months...

I have all these posts that I want to do, but haven't gotten around to them. But, I figured I do this short one to say that Evan is six months old (yesterday)! He is really such a happy easy baby - and adorably chubby. He is my smiley baby, which I just love. He is just barely starting to open his mouth a little for cereal, so we will see how that goes. He loves the saucer, which we just started putting him a few weeks ago. This is seriously the best toy for babies 4-9 months. All my kids have loved it.

Love you little guy!

bucket baby and the yard sale...

Evan is at that stage where he doesn't fit in the baby bath anymore, yet he can't sit up to take a bath in the regular tub. I saw a video about these baths awhile ago and thought they looked really fun (or funny!). I was at Target the other day picking up diapers (I really like their brand- they are similar to Costco, but cheaper!), and I walked by a clearance shelf, and there was one of those baths. It was WAY on sale since it was a returned item bought online. I really really really debated getting it, since it's not a necessity (just makes things a little easier for a baby Evan's size) and we are low on funds. (Sorry, I felt the need to justify the purchase to the blog readers for some reason, even though I really can't.) Despite that - LOOK HOW STINKIN' CUTE HE IS! And he loves it too...




It was time for a yard sale at our house. It was our first one ever, and I have to say it was a success. I was actually amazed at the amount of people that came. We lucked out since there were quite a few yard sales in our area. We sold a couple of big ticket items, got quite a bit of interest in our car, and got rid of a bunch of our JUNK! Yay! With the help of the D.I., I was able to reduce 4 tables of stuff to 1. Zane had fun selling some old toys and water, and we told him he could keep the money he made. He immediately wanted to go spend it, but that was ok with us. We appreciate Chardell and her daughter for coming and "hangin'" with us and being there to help out with the kiddos.

We got a lot of comments about our "all sales final" sign. That's what you get when you have a lawyer throw a yard sale. Actually - if you asked him - he would have put a lot more "fine print".

diagnoses...

Today was the big day. We traveled up to Salt Lake to have a psychiatric evaluation for Zane. He has been struggling (as have we) for awhile, and we finally decided we had to go this route. We filled out mounds of papers/behavioral questionnaires, and his teacher did one as well. The Dr. met with Zane first and then we all met with him. He asked us a few questions, and then announced that he fits the criteria for ADHD and probably Oppositional Defiant Disorder but it could possibly be a mood disorder (i.e. depression) given family genetics. He also said that the regular behavioral things are not going to work, and he figured we had probably already tried it all anyways. (so true!). He told us to really focus on the positive reward techniques like the marble jar we started recently. You earn a marble for positive things and those can be turned in for privelages - instead of focusing on taking away privelages. Then, the rest of the hour was spent talking about medication. I started out feeling really good, like ok, I have some validation that it's not "normal". But, it's really still sinking in, and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by it all. Of course, my personality is to research and read everything I can about it. I've already been to the library and checked out every book they had. We don't have to make a decision about medication today, tomorrow, or next week. I am not against medication if that is what is best, but I also don't want to start throwing pills at him. Our course of action right now is to read, research, and lots and lots of praying. I welcome those with experience in this to offer support and wisdom.

good deals...

This week I have had fun doing some bargain shopping. And I do mean BARGAIN. I've been to the DI twice, and to Kid-to-Kid twice. We are "financially challenged" right now, and I've needed to get some clothes for my little ones for fall. I have fallen in love with these stores! It feels REALLY good to be frugal. Next stop: yard sales or dare I say, coupon clipping! Here is what my little model will be wearing this fall:

labor day and the little stinker...

Labor Day weekend was a little rough, but we made it through. On Monday we headed to a park nearby to have some fun in the water. It's actually a pretty neat park with some different kinds of equipment than most parks have. It's great for toddler kids too. Lily actually got in the water at the splash pad - usually she is too scared. Very fun!

This little stinker.....

(love this face!)

will not eat cereal. We have been trying for a few weeks now. Almost every night. We've tried it with breastmilk, formula, and water. He sure doesn't seem interested.

This is the face he makes, and he won't really even open his mouth. I'm going to start trying during the day to see if that makes a difference. No worries. He is a cute cute little stinker though!

oh, to REALLY have a day off...

Well, I've been meaning to blog - so this is going to be a long one. My sisters, my mom, and I all got together this past weekend in Phoenix. It was so much fun to just hang out and shop (sorta). Little Evan got to come too of course. So I didn't get to do much sleeping in, but other than that - it was relaxing. We got a pedicure (my first real one ever!) and our nails done. We went to a fun movie, played jewelry/beads, and of course, lots of eating out. What we girls do best! I brought my camera, but managed to not take pictures, duh. Oh yeah and I turned 29 again last Sunday too! John made me a great cake - that yummy toffee chocolate one - when I got back. What a great guy!

This week was parent teacher conference and of course Zane is crazy ahead. Of course she talked about how smart he is, and that he makes her laugh every day. She also said he is having trouble finishing his work - staying on task, is inattentive quite a bit, talks a lot, and easily distracted. Yup. That would sum up Zane! He scored a 64 on a spelling test they gave him. She said that by the end of last year, she had a few of her students score as high as a 74. So - yeah that is WAY up there. There is one other kid in first grade that scored super high too, so they will most likely make up their own spelling group. He is also reading at an end of 2nd-beg. of 3rd grade level. She is pretty sure he can read at an even higher level - just isn't sure about the comprehension. (Zane really doesn't like to answer questions about his reading - who knows why).

We are having an evaluation done in a couple of weeks up in Salt Lake - so we are hoping to find out if there is any underlying condition that we need to know about concerning his behavior at school (not staying on task) or home (the aggression and anger as well as the poor attention). I'm extremely nervous about it. I guess mostly because I'm afraid I won't be taken seriously, or that I will over or under play the situation. Also - I just don't know what to expect.

Today was a day off of school - so things quickly got out of hand at our house, from the get go. Unfortunate. So - I decided I have to get the kids out of the house for a bit, and we headed to the library. Zane picked up quite a few books about Hurricanes, and one about Taiwan (?) and a couple of stories. We came home and put up the play tent with some blankets and pillows and had a reading tent. The kids enjoyed that (even if it was for only 20 minutes). I'm already tired, and we still have Labor Day too. Ugh.

just what I need...

After school yesterday, the neighbor boy was outside driving his golf cart up and down a dirt hill. Zane begged me to see if he could have a ride. I told him he could go outside and ask. As soon as he got out there, 3 other boys from the neighborhood arrived. All 4 of the boys jumped on the golf cart, and the 5 of them took off going up and down the hill. The boy driving was very careful and made Zane sit in the front, so he wouldn't fall off. Zane had so much fun!


After he got back - he ended up having a little bit of a melt down. While I was in the kitchen, making dinner, trying to calm down - and Zane was in his room cooling off - Lily comes running in, grabs the dish towel off the oven, throws it over her shoulder and starts running around saying "Super Bunny!". I died laughing. It was just what I needed. Thanks cutie!

you want me to eat what?...

You've been waiting, I know it...

Evan has embarked on new food tasting adventures! Still not sure he is into it. Most of the time his face looked like this:

But, I still got lots of smiles out of him!

update...

Now I remember why you put crib bumpers on a crib. We woke up last night at 3 am to a screaming Evan. He had his leg stuck in between the slats on the crib. Awww, poor thing! And btw, he didn't slept any better last night in his own room than he did in ours. I had to get up twice before 3 am to get him back to sleep! Oh well, it's a work in progress. But I am going to put a crib bumper on the crib - even if it won't match.

We had a great time last night in Pine Valley at a work party for the families at John's office. One of the attorney's family owns a place there. It was so nice to be up there away from the heat. I quite enjoy it there, and if we ever have a ton of money to own a cabin and we stay here in St. George - that is where it would be. It's only about 45 minutes away - but 15-20 degrees cooler. There were some stray cats that the kids had a good time feeding hamburgers and they had fun playing on the swingset. Lily walked around the whole time barefoot (she has taken a real dislike to shoes lately). Thanks for letting us share your cabin!