The Star Wars Siblings

So Halloween being on Sunday this year and being out of the "Utah Saturday super festivities loop" I was sorely disappointed that I couldn't rake in more candy from my kids trudging a real trick or treating route. :( Ok not really, I'm a grown up and can buy my own candy now right? True...but I'm not gonna lie, the rich assortment collected through trick or treating is always nice! But just cause Halloween fell on Sunday, we still made sure to get these kids dazzled up for the event. Last year our family was a set of condiments, and this year if I'd had two adult Ewalk costumes, we could have done a whole ensemble again. But as it was I procrastinated long enough that I was lucky to finish up two costumes by 4pm on Saturday evening. Pathetic... But all in all I was fairly proud of my non sewing skills and what they were able to produce. The really nice thing is that when its a Halloween costume no one really looks to see the quality of the work...just whether or not the clothing stays on and is discernible into a specific character. Which I think we scored big on. So here are a couple shots of our lovely Luke and Leia.
P.S. This was all inspired by Ephraim's love of Star Wars and his constant requests to play "Star Wars" which consists of light saber fighting via a spatula and wooden spoon. :)

Pumpkin Patch

So my darling Adam got a surprise date set up for the whole family. Only problem was week after week it couldn't be done so eventually it wasn't much of a surprise! But it was the thought that counted. So he bought an online coupon to a pumpkin patch ensuring us two caramel apples, two fire roasted corns, two pumpkins under 20lbs, and two tickets to the corn maze all for a low $16 dollars! Not bad!Especially considering caramel apples are $3, Corn $2.50, Pumpkins at least $5 each, and the maze was $5 as well. Only catch is it had to be on a Saturday in the month of October. Not so impossible...right? Well by the time we purchased it we had 4 attempts left. 1st attempt foiled by Portland Rain. Next week I had to teach a class at a R.S. Super Saturday, and low and behold Ephraim had thrown up the night before thwarting any plans of making it happen in the afternoon. The next week rolled around and although the weather was less than favorable, our chances of it improving in a week were slim...and who knew what random issue could still arise to keep us from going. So with only an hour before it closed we packed up the kids, and zipped over to Sauvie Island to make the most of our October festivities before the weather turned. (There had been a 4 hr window of no rain...) Well after pulling up and hopping on the wagon the sprinkling began. Luckily we were able to get our pumpkins and slip through the muddy maze for 5 min before it was too cold and wet to endure much more. So in the end not the $16 dollar deal we'd dreamed of...but at least not utterly wasted. Oh and Ephraim loved the carving/lighting of the pumpkin too. He broke into singing happy birthday when we killed the light and lit the jack-o-lantern.

Ahhhh Walmart

So today was Emeri's 8 month birthday and a couple firsts occurred in commemoration of such a day. First the kids and I drove over into Washington just to find a real SUPER WAL-MART. Its the first one we've been to since we moved here three months ago. And I'll just say upon walking in I don't know who felt more at home, me or Natalie Portman when she played the role of Wal-Mart-baby-mama in Where the Heart Is. Unfortunately our glorious reunion with Wal-Mart was tainted by my darling daughter throwing up for the first time all over herself as we drove there. Poor thing. She coughed and hacked and got it all out and then was so exhausted she fell asleep in the remaining 5 min of the drive. So I had to strip her down and take her in shirtless. Only to go grab one out of the baby section, put it on her and pay for it at check out. :) Hey that's why ill prepared mothers like me LOVE Wal-Mart! So it was all in all a grand day with a small sad moment for my 8 month birthday baby. But she is definitely on the mend as you can see from this pic right before bed...

Peg Leg

Ephraim's random entertainment...still learning how to embed a youtube clip...so just copy and paste this site to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXH8uoy7DQQ

Beautiful Babies

So the past month or so I have just loved being a mom more than ever. My children are so beautiful, and so fun. They are both at stages of new expression. Ephraim with his words, and Emeri with her faces, giggles, and constant determination to reach and grab anything and everything. We had a lot of different outings lately and earlier this summer that I'm just gonna throw all together into one blog. Enjoy!Emeri and her lovely tongue
Baby Sister chewing the table...mmmmm, musta been some spilled applesauce that never got cleaned up.
Ephraim and his friend Sadey riding a cow train at the pumpkin patch
Emeri content to chew on hay and a cracker
Ephraim being helped up the haystack by his friend Wabby
Making the best of the swing resources available
She gets her Mommy's crinkly nose when she smiles big
Ephraim on the Max Train for his birthday
And I thought Ephraim's head was big before...
A little amusement park with star wars ships and guns that go beep. I will add there was a rollercoaster that Ephraim REALLY wanted to go on, so we waited the 18 min in line, and what does his mommy do? She jumps in the back cart, thinking...."If I'm gonna ride this, we're gonna get the best ride out of it possible" Yeah well Ephraim cried, and mommy got tossed good...lesson learned
Emeri's first teeter totter
Ice cream is summer's best friend

2 yr old Bliss

Well I now have a little two year old boy. And he is my best friend during the day! I absolutely LOVE that boy! He is talking so so much now. If asked he’ll repeat any word you say, and with decent clarity too. Granted he doesn’t pronounce any F, L, R, or V sounds. But he will attempt the R sound. And after knowing that the F is pronounced with an S it’s not too hard to decipher what he’s getting at. For example “Was that fun Ephraim?” “Sun” with a nod... I can’t even put into words how much I adore my children. For Ephraim’s birthday we took him on the light rail train to down town Portland. Uncle Samuel was here so he got to party with us. And Ephraim seemed to really enjoy having him around. Along with the train ride Ephraim got to spray mommy down with the hose. Something he’s tried multiple times and I’ve successfully avoided. Which after letting him soak me, I think he probably liked the chase more. So since he likes to chase and I like to stay dry I think we’ll stick to that routine more often. I just figured since I always spray him good he ought to get a fair chance to do the same. Along with the fun festivities Ephraim got a saweet birthday cake that his mother slaved over. Don’t ask why because somehow the last minute decision of letting him have at it won through and my beautiful Thomas the Train was macerated in 1/100 of the time it took to make. Might I say that I’ve always been a fan of watching cake competitions on Food Network, but this experience brought me to a whole new level of appreciation for what they do. Granted I did all my work with a butter knife, and a toothpick dipped into ground up Oreo with milk to try and get black frosting. But nevertheless a cake decorating business is nowhere in my near future. Nor is making a fancy pants cake for any of my succeeding children. :)

So besides being an adorable communicator, and a quite polite one, I might add, Ephraim has some favorites at this stage of life which I’ll list for his amusement 10 years from now.
#1 Favorite game: Pillow fights with the whole family. Yes Emeri included. Daddy usually carries her around helping her grip a pillow and swings with surprising accuracy to put her bigger tougher brother in his place. Anytime Ephraim thinks to have one of these fights he grabs a pillow and says “Set Go!” and proceeds to whollop me in the head.
#1 Favorite Food: Pizza (I think this love surfaced when we were in Nauvoo for Jacob’s wedding and two nights in a row we got Pizza Hut at 10pm and Ephraim ate two whole pieces on his own cause he basically hadn’t eaten all day)
#1 Favorite Movie: Unfortunately none that we own. I rented some Thomas the Train movies from the Library and he was HOOKED! He could watch them over and over again. No really if Mommy wasn’t paying attention the DVD has auto play and would just repeat when it was done. So if I was caught up doing other things he would watch it 3 times in a row, straight through, without making a peep, or blinking an eye.
#1 Favorite Friend: Emeri. Whenever he’s doing something fun he desperately wants Emeri to come join in with him. Whether it’s going down a slide, swinging at the park, or just watching a movie on the couch. He wants her beside him. And he loves pushing his face into hers, and she just squeals and squawks and grabs his hair and cheeks and loves every minute of it. I’m so glad they are such good friends and hope that continues for the years to come.
#1 Toy: His tractor trailer, which he more commonly calles: “Choo Choo” Although I might say he does love his new soccer ball and “BIG Truck” that he got for his birthday.
So that’s my gem of a son in a wrap. He is such a good boy and is very willing to help. He is reverent in prayers, and he always tells baby that we’re gonna say prayers and tries to fold her arms and says “Eyes baby” indicating that she needs to close them. He recently picked up a shooting sound/action from some kids in nursery, which we dislike. And his sound effects quickly mutated into a spray of spit which we wouldn’t allow. So he’s backed off from doing it quite a bit. In fact the other night Adam caught him doing it and said “Are you spitting? Do you need to go in timeout?” and to that Ephraim said “Yes.” So Adam said “K, go to your room” and he dropped his head and walked away quietly to time out. Does it get any cuter? I think not!

My doll Emeri

Just some pics of my lil' lady at her finest!