Treats aplenty, treats galore!

We enjoyed helping the boys carve thier pumpkins this year, but neither one of them was the least bit interested in touching the pumpkin guts (they get that from thier father). The boys were so excited about thier costumes, and have asked to try them on daily and for anyone new who comes over to the house. Easton was "Captain Hook" and Luke was "Peter Pan" although some have confused him as Robin Hood, oh well. My mom and I had a good trade: I substituted for her class, and she sewed the costumes all day. She did a great job, because Luke won 1st prize at the ward Trunk or Treat party.

Luke was hilarious at the Trunk or Treat. I have never seen a kid more excited about getting candy! He sprinted from one car to the next, running right up to the candy-giver and screaming at the top of his lungs "TRICK OR TREAT" or "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" or "I'M PETER PAN!" We kept have to reign him back in because he was so excited, he had no idea where to go next and was just running frantically through the parking lot.

Easton of course, was his usual timid self, and would not let go of my hand if his life depended on it. I had to push him forward a few times so he could retrieve his candy.

And of course Max, just enjoyed the scenery and got honorable mentions for the costume contest, when everyone in front was yelling "give something to the Tootsie Roll, he's so cute!"

We had a great time, and mom and dad have been enjoying all of the delicious Halloween treats that thier kids brought home for them.

Pumpkin Patch

Scott has been able to play Mr. Mom lately while I substitute teach, and he does an awesome job! On Thursday, he was able to take Luke and Max on Easton's field trip to the pumpkin patch with his preschool. They had an awesome time! Luke just ran up to the group as they unloaded from the bus and acted as if he was part of the class. The teacher was so nice and even had a bag for Luke so he could pick out a pumpkin too. I think Luke thought it was so cool to come to "school" for a day and be with Easton and all of his friends. Easton thought it was cool that Dad came, and also thought riding the school bus was the best thing since sliced bread! (Which is really good, because he starts taking the bus to school next week. Mom and Dad are tired of the 1/2 hour round trip drive to the school twice a day). Easton was also really excited to show Dad all of his friends at school, and I'm actually surprised to say that he knew all of their names. It was a great day at the Pumpkin Patch; I'm just sad I missed it!

Washington is to apples, like Idaho is to potatoes

There is nothing like a Washington apple. When I lived in Utah, I would go to the grocery store and buy these little dinky apples, the size of the unmatured, unripened ones that would fall off the trees in Washington, and there would be a sticker on it saying it was from California! It was so sad! The apples in Washington are almost the size of grapefruits and are so delicious and fresh.

My mom and I decided to take advantage of the fall harvest season, and went to go get a box of apples from one of Kennewick's many orchards to make homemade applesauce. We got about 30 pounds of apples for $12. We also had other apples that we bought from someone's fundraiser, and another dozen of wonderful Honeycrisp apples that my mom got from someone at her school. All together we had about 45 pounds of apples. We only cooked about half of them, before my hands started to get pruned and blistered, and we were able to get 7 quarts of applesauce. Hopefully, we'll do the rest of the apples, but this time we'll can apple pie filling. I was so glad that my mom took on this project along with me so she could teach me how to can.

Birthday Boy 3 times over!

Lucas turned 3 today. He was so excited about his elephant cake and presents. It was a pretty normal day for him, but Mom and Dad took him to lunch after dropping Easton off at school. He got pizza for dinner and then we opened presents and had cake. He ate the trunk of the elephant. Luke is such a good brother. By the time we were done and Luke and Easton were playing with all the lute, Easton had effectively split the toys evenly. Luke, as always, went right along with it and was excited to have his share. Mom and Dad were so happy about his excitement for the gift we got him. He has been obsessed with elephants lately, and, as you can see from the video, he was pretty excited to get new elephant toys.

Doctor Updates

Luke and Max had doctor appts. today and this is thier latest info:

*Luke-3 years old
Height: 39 inches (85%)
Weight: 34.6 lbs. (75%)

*Max-6 months old
Height: 26.25 inches (45%)
Weight: 17 lbs. 9 oz. (60%)
Head Circ.: 43.5 cm. (45%)

The doctor warned us about people starting to make comments about Luke and his behavior because of how big he is; people will think he is older and expect more out of him. Also, Max, surprisingly, isn't that big! His looks are just decieving, even the nurse thought he would be a 20 pounder before we took his weight. The more he is able to move around, the more that weight percentile goes down. And Max's head is still the smallest of all my boys, even though it looks so big and round. But, all in all, they are very happy and healthy! (And I'm sure Easton was glad to be at school instead of the doctor!) Easton and Luke now weigh the exact same, if Luke isn't by chance even heavier than Easton, and thier height gap has now closed to only 1/4 of an inch. By New Years they will be the exact same size, I am sure!

Seis Meses!

Our ever-growing Max is now six months old!

Max at 6 months:
Enjoys blowing raspberries with a mouthful of food
Loves eating and trys to bite off the end of the spoon
Likes sucking and chewing on his fingers and toes, and just about anything he can get in his mouth
Screams until someone just looks at him and then gives a big smile
Is learning how to sit, and can hold steady for a good minute or two
Rolls over to his tummy all the time, but has somehow forgotten how to roll back and gets very mad at this fact!
Loves it when his brothers play with him
Still is very quiet and gives us his "silent laugh" all the time
Loves being outside, the fresh air always calms him down
Is still teething! (None have popped up yet, but we swear he is getting about 8-10 teeth all at once!)

General Conference Experiment

Usually, since we've had kids, we watch conference and listen to it while our kids are running around doing the usual things kids do, or we've taken turns going to the church to listen to it and left the kiddos behind with the other adult so we can pay more attention.
This year, since we're in a place where it is televised (go Tri-Cities!) we decided to actually get our kids to listen to it this time.
We prepared last week with an FHE lesson on prophets and then told them that we get to listen to our prophet on TV soon.
When the time came I had a bunch of supplies. We had a chart of all the General Authorities and Auxillary Presidencies so that they could find the speaker on the chart and put a star sticker on them. We had the usual General Conference Bingo and lots of yummy treats and candy. We also had a coloring page of Pres. Monson, a Conference booklet with all the 1st Pres. and the 12 and a space to write what they were talking about (our kids don't write, but they drew a picture of what they talked about and Easton's illustrations were pretty good!). And we also had a fun game of Memory using the pictures of the First Pres. and 12 Apostles.
It was a pretty good experiment and turned out to be quite successful. Our kids will be even more prepared for the next Conference and for all the ones in years to come. Hopefully, someday they'll be able to get a whole lot more out of conference and apply it to thier own lives, but for now I'll be happy that they are at least quiet, in the room, and sort of paying attention to what is being said.