Halloleafpers

Addie was really excited about her find: a huge sloppy leaf. I asked this kid how old she is the other day and she replied, "Two." Then I asked her how old I am and she said, "Six." Apparently daddy is "six", too. I think it's the biggest number she knows, and she knows we are old. I love asking her questions with no idea how she'll answer. 2 year-olds are the best.

Addie has been really into eyeballs lately. We had a book from the library about a ghost that takes his eyeball out to look at stuff. We read it million times. She tried to take her own eyeball out and we had to explain that only ghosts can do that. Then grandma took us out for a day of fun, which included lunch, and she got a ghost cookie with frosting eyes. All she could talk about was how she ate "ghost eyes", she thought it was so hilarious. Then Aunt Clare made the above Oreo eyeballs and Addie just loved them. She has one in her mouth in the photo. Also, if you ask her what her favorite animal is she'll tell you, "Ghost!"

Addie went as grapes this year and had an awesome glow-in-the-dark pumpkin bag. This was on the way out the door to Trunk-or-Treat. I was a Frenchman, meaning I wore a beret and had a mustache. Addie wanted one too, but grapes don't usually have facial hair. I was glad our French neighbor didn't see me, although he probably would've gotten a kick out of it. Addie had a tricky time reaching for candy around the balloons and then dropping it in her bag. She caught on quickly to saying, "Trick or Treat!" and, "Thank you!", but not so quickly on the "one piece" part, although most people were giving two anyway.

A little boy in our ward ran up to me to tell me he had the same trick-or-treat bag. He took it to school and "got booed." I thought maybe he was informing me that our bag was social suicide. When I asked him why he got "booed" he said, "because there were ghosts there." Oh, okay. Not really related to the bag, but he just happened to be holding it when a ghost said, "Boo!" Phew, I'd hate for my 2 year-old to already be uncool to elementary kids.


The Thursday before Halloween we were lucky enough to have Uncle Eric and Aunt Megann, and Uncle Tyler and Aunt Clare come to our house for dinner and pumpkin carving. Our Jack-o-Latern was a ghost with eyes, per Addie's request. Addie didn't really want to help carve pumpkins, she just wanted to play in her house with Clare.

It was a lot of fun having all of us together! Addie got a little pumpkin at the store earlier that day because she was being whiny right next to the manager who happened to be stocking little pumpkins. He gave her one and she immediately devoted her entire attention to it instead of whining. Thank you, Jacob! She carried it around the rest of the day.

Every year, due to our giant 100 year old tree in our backyard, we spend about 2-3 days raking up leaves. Addie, still into hiding, found the perfect spot to hide from daddy.

Surprise! I am so amazed by her ability to lay so still for so long, although she was the only breathing pile of leaves so she wasn't to hard to find.

She was the designated Leaf Cruncher, which meant her job was to sit in the garbage can and smash down all the leaves by stomping on them. Jason was the Leaf Blower Operator and I was the Raker/ Shoveler. Usually we put our leaves in bags but this year they gave us a can. Too bad we have to borrow the neighbor's can and still not have enough room for all our leaves. We can easily fill another two cans with the leaves still out there.

Another awesome hiding spot. It took Jason a good fifteen minutes to find her.

I made Addie (and her doll, Molly) some slippers this year because I couldn't find any that I liked well enough or that would stay on her feet. These were so easy to make and custom fit, so I thought I would share my source in case anyone else out there is having slipper dilemmas.

I went to this blog: Making it Fun and clicked on the Cloth Shoe Tutorial on the right side. I used this pattern but made the slippers out of fleece, adding an extra layer of fleece on the bottom for cushion. I also put a layer of jiffy grip (the stuff on the bottom of footie pajamas) as the sole so she won't slip. You can find it at most fabric stores, you just have to ask. I traced Addie's foot and made up a new pattern since the ones on the tutorial were too small. I added the ears and face from an idea I found on flickr somewhere, I wish I knew where. Anyway, they cost me all of 80 cents to make since I owned some of the materials already, and I made them in one evening (plus the doll slippers).

I also sewed Addie some mittens from a tutorial I found here: ikat bag: mittens. I knitted her mittens last year and they took so long and she never kept them on. These mittens are much warmer and she actually asks to wear them, which is good. If only she would keep her pajamas on like that. These were pretty easy to make too, but I recommend making your own pattern instead of using hers because I think the patterns show up smaller than they are supposed to be.

All in all, a fantastic October and a pretty swell outlook for November, too. Especially if it stays in the 60's or warmer.

Silly Addie Pie and The House

Here's my Pumpkin Doll, Addie, riding a little bike that's supposed to be a decoration but she likes to take it for a spin every now and then. Here's a few things I want to remember about my two-year old Addie:

1. She likes gross stuff. She thinks stinky things are funny. Anything slimy, dirty, or icky she thinks is great entertainment. I guess Halloween will be right up her alley this year.

2. She still loves games and puzzles. She's already gotten a 26 piece alphabet puzzle (with no coordinating pictures underneath the puzzle piece) down flat. Right now she's into playing "Don't Eat Frank!" Which is a Halloween game you can find out more about right here: The Idea Room.

3. I used to be able to read books to her every night, but now she insists that she reads them all herself, meaning puts the book on her lap upside-down and flips through all the pages. She wants to do everything herself. She'll even get herself something to eat. The other day I walked into the kitchen and found her lying on her belly on the kitchen counter eating out of a bag of potato chips that was lying next to her. I wish I would've been quick enough to get a photo.

4. She says, "Woohoo!" a lot.

5. Her favorite song is, "Hooray it's my birthday!" which I found randomly here: Ohdeedoh. She knows the words to the chorus and likes to run around in circles while pumping her fists in the air and sing along with this song. It is a good one. The whole CD is pretty good, actually.

6. She's really into ice. She's not a band-aid kid when it comes to owies, she's an ice girl. She also just likes to have one of those ice bricks for coolers to carry around the house or go to sleep with. She asks for at least one every day, and every night I collect her ices and return them to the freezer for the next day. Since it's now cold I'm trying to convince her to switch to a warmed-up rice bag.

7. She loves to hide, and she's patient enough to hide for a really long time. Sometimes she'll ask to be covered up with a blanket and she lay there for a good ten minutes before she comes out. Whenever Jason comes home from work she hurries and hides and then says, "Da-dee! Come fine us!" Her favorite spots to hide are: behind a door, in the closet, or under a blanket. She also likes to hide from Jason whenever he leaves the room. He'll come in and say, "Where's Addie? Is she behind the door?" And Addie will say, "Nooope!" "Is she in this shoe?" "Nooope!" "Is she under the blanket?" "Yes! Boo! Boo! Boo!" Sometimes if she's feeling really sneaky she whispers all of her responses...except for the Boo's. Those are always "really big".

8. Her favorite color is white. I don't know why. She does tend to pick white things over other colors when she gets a choice, and if you ask her what her favorite color is she'll say, "Hite." She's just a funny kid.

9. She likes to play doctor on all her animals and me, and she gives everyone shots regardless of what they are being seen for. And they all have to go to bed, too.

10. She's been talking a lot lately, although not really saying the first part of words, which apparently is unusual for kids. She had her last speech therapy visit yesterday and now gets to be on tracking for a few more months to see how she progresses on her own. I think she's catching up pretty quick, especially since she said, "goat guts" the other day. That's progression, if you ask me. It's fun to hear her little voice and the silly things she says. This age is the most fun age so far.

And now for a tour of my year-long house project. I only hope that this house long outlives me and is enjoyed by generations of my posterity because I plan on never ever ever making another one. Not unless I am thrown into a block cell for a year with nothing but a sewing machine, all the necessary materials and a PVC pipe frame. Don't get me wrong, I love this house and I'm glad I made it but it was a good amount of work. Oh, and before we get started, let me credit my inspiration for the house: ikat bag. Also, my dad made the PVC pipe frame, which was really fantastic, and I owe the awesomeness of this house all to him. The frame breaks down into pieces for storage or transportation, which is pretty fabulous. I should've taken photos of the frame too to show the ingenuity of it all. If anyone is really interested I will set it up and take pictures of it. On with the tour:

Okay, there are two sides to this house: the house side...


and the restaurant/ shop side.

The ice cream cone on the sign has little sparkly yellow sprinkles on it. Just a detail that I love but isn't visible in the photos.

Each side wall has two windows, each with a little window box.

The window boxes have little slots for putting flowers in or, if you own a candy shoppe, lollipops or candy canes...basically anything with a stick.

Inside the house there are a total of eight pockets sewn onto the side walls for storage of toys, play food, play money, etc.

The service window on the restaurant sign has a curtain for when the place is closed, complete with a little "closed" sign. When the place is open for business the curtain tucks up inside behind a PVC pipe and orders can now be taken.

The house side has a little window with eyelet curtains that slide open and close and a mail slot for receiving party invitations.

Even though I just recently finished this house it has been played in for a year already (since I left it up in the front room for that long, haphazardly pinned together and hanging off the frame. Half of it was just a sheet for a long time) and it has been much loved. Addie likes to sit in it and do puzzles or make pretend cookies to hand out the window. It's big enough that all three of us can sit in it and almost tall enough for me to stand in it. Oh, I should mention for those of you feeling brave enough to attempt a project like this, I made it almost entirely from bedsheets purchased at the D.I. for $2 a sheet. There are bits of purchased fabrics from JoAnn's here and there and a bit of felt, but that's about it. Anyway, it's fun to have it finished and ready to play in. It's entirely handmade which is painfully obvious if you look close, but I think it will serve it's purpose well. Merry Christmas last year, Addie! Your present is finally done!

Chaotic Fun (from which we need a vacation)

We are alive. After a month without the internet, and three months of no possible time to post anything (so long naps. Addie rarely takes them anymore.) I have at last found a minute where Addie is crashed on the couch I have no other things I need to do (besides laundry and five things for my church calling). Last Saturday a group of us (Walkers, Thompsons and us) went to the Great Salt Lake for what I thought was free admission day. Whoops. Apparently that was only for National Parks. Anyway, after a paying a small fee and driving across a long causeway we found ourselves in the magical tree-less land of roaming buffaloes, bounding antelope, and salty air. We spent somewhere around four hours stalking the wildlife and taking pictures. We also took a tour of the old ranch. We followed it up with a kicked-back BBQ in our backyard.

As soon as Addie saw this buffalo she knew it needed a hug. I would too if I had to sit in the corner of a visitors' center and collect dust my entire existence.

This is a watering hole filled with diving beetles, weird white larva worms that squirm on the surface, and bird skulls. I don't know what Addie is standing on, but its job is to float around and be danced upon by brave/unaware toddlers. That's right, she danced on it. At the time of this photo she had become distracted by a " huge hoop" or, in adult human terms, a huge poop. Which, having been left there by a buffalo, was indeed a huge poop. Good call, Addie.


Shortly after the dancing and classification of droppings, this big bull wandered over for a drink while we were standing there. Buffaloes are very noisy drinkers and I would not recommend inviting them to dinner at fancy restaurants (unless of course its one that does not serve soup).

Don't get too close to wild animals because they are unpredictable and may charge? Pshaw, I don't believe that. Get closer honey, I want everyone in this shot! Shoulders touching!

The creature for which Antelope Island got its
namesake. We had to take a picture, even if we will never look at it again.

As soon as Addie saw this "giraffe" she ran for it and was determined to tame it.

After a successful horse taming, she turned her focus to the escaping cattle. They didn't stand a chance and they knew it. They froze in their tracks, afraid of what Addie was capable of.

I think this is the first tree Addie has ever been in. It was a pretty good tree for a first climb, a tree she can be proud of for the rest of her life.

A few weeks ago (September 11th) the plans we've been so carefully and so sneakily working on since January of this year finally came into fruition: a smashing surprise 50th birthday luau for Tricia (Jason's mom). I spent most of my time throwing a party instead of taking pictures, but I know they exist because we put disposable cameras on all the tables. And my sister's-in-law took pictures. I will steal them and post the loot here.

As soon as we secretly arrived in St. George Addie let the party animal out and took a screamin' ride on this baby. It goes up to 70 mph and belongs to Aunt Megann's sister. Good thing Addie didn't know that, so she was content to just sit on it in the living room.

This is what I found Addie doing just before the party started. The nerve! Didn't she know we had a lot to do?! Notice her big girl panties. I thought, "Yeah, I can throw a party and potty train at the same time!" I spent Saturday running in and out of the house, taking phone calls, making cupcakes and wiping up numerous accidents. Awesome. Shortly after we got home we decided to take a long break from potty training and try again when she's more ready and willing.

For some reason all the pictures I took (which was about 4) came out blurry. In this case I think it looks cool because they were dancing fast...although not fast enough to become blurs. We had six dancers that performed dances from all the different Polynesian Islands. They put on an awesome show and even taught me how to dance the Hukilau. Just ask me next time you see me and I'll gladly show you.

This picture is awesome because it looks like flames are coming out of her hands, like she has super powers. Yeah, we hired mutant dancers. (Okay, there was a tiki torch in the background.)

Please enjoy the following photos of party madness (and a large thank you to Megann for taking them):

(I just wanted to point out the dog rump. I know you wouldn't want to miss that.)

This is a complete photo of the Original Eight Utleys.

Okay, the third to last photo is the only one that looks like party madness. But it was all party madness...I guess you just had to be there.

It seems a little weird that I have a picture of everyone but the birthday girl, huh? She was too busy dancing on the tables and throwing cupcakes around to be in any photos. (Actually, if she was doing that there would be many many photos of it.) I will get a picture of her at the party and post it here to prove that she was invited to her own party. It was a fabulous party, if I'm allowed to say so, and I think it served it's purpose: to make Tricia feel special and loved (which she is). And it was a lot of fun planning it, too (not that I am offering to plan any more, though.)

A few more weeks before that we went camping with my family at Strawberry reservoir where it rained like a monsoon and I ate my first crawdad. I forgot my camera at home and so I used my dad's camera to take pictures. I guess I will need to obtain some of those to post them here.

The weekend before that we went to Lagoon where Addie drove a car by herself. And a boat. And a plane. And a horse while asleep.

She was so excited to go on all the rides and showed absolutely no hesitation or fear in going on any of the rides, even the ones by herself. "What? A stranger is going to take me and buckle me into a small car that will then take off to who knows where? And my mom isn't coming? Okay, I'm in." (Just and example of a thought she may or may not have had).

She rode a few rides with Luke, the son of one of Jason's co-workers. He was nervous to go on the rides by himself but felt much better about it all if Addie was there. And Addie didn't really care, so they made great ride buddies. They are pretty cute kids, if you ask me.

Addie is waving goodbye just before the ride started and just before Luke started crying.

Addie rode these cars twice, once to drive by herself and then again just to look at the scenery.

The line for the carousel was so long that Addie actually fell asleep. So what do we do? No way we are just going to get out of line after being in it for that long! We decided she was riding it, whether she knew it or not. I'm sure we left an impression on everyone who watched us buckle our sleeping kid onto a horse.


This is the moment when she woke up and found herself going around and around and up and down on a brightly painted pony. This is another one of those wake-up moments that I wish I could experience once in awhile. Why doesn't anyone transport me around while I am asleep so I can wake up in cool places? I'm telling you I'm up for it.

We rode the train at Lagoon and a large tiger roared right at us. I think it was saying, "This is an amusement park, not a zoo! It's ridiculous of them to think they have the resources to take care of me properly! Look at me, for crying out loud: I pace day in and day out in a small cage that has a cement floor! This is no where near my natural habitat!" Or something like that.

After Lagoon, as is becoming tradition, we headed across the street for the county fair.

Addie rode a horse all by herself (she really is such a brave kid) and she made horse sounds the entire time, which was about three minutes. She may have actually had a conversation with her horse .

After the horse ride we went to the petting zoo section where she wasn't afraid to touch anything...apparently not even goat bums. Or the bums of headless goats. ( Just kidding, it had a head.)


I swear if they had a starving polar bear that was foaming at the mouth in there she would run up to pet it. Fortunately they only had a few goats, pigs, and a tortoise.


"Stop petting me, little girl, and help me find a way out of here! Crikey!" (The tortoise's thought, with an Australian accent, of course.)

Pretty much any pig in a movie looks more appealing than any pig in real life. This one was friendly and clean, however.


The weekend before that (we are now back to August 7th. Stay with me!) was our 6 year anniversary for which we celebrated by a high five in passing. It was also the day Caitie was baptized. Woohoo!

And then, intermixed somewhere between all the previously listed events are some other moments: a new haircut for Addie, lunch with aggressive turkeys, a fire station visit, and instructions for a DIY greased pig chase (or child chase if no pig is available).

Just being cool while waiting to go get some dinner. She cracks me up.

I took Addie to the fire station for a look-around a few weeks ago, which may have confused her into thinking that she was now a fire fighter. We see and hear fire trucks just about everyday since we live by a station, so she was pretty excited to get a grand tour. She sat in the driver's seat of a fire engine and refused to get out so other kids could have a turn. It didn't help that the seat is about 5 feet 2 inches high and so made it very difficult for me to make her come out. In this photo she's staring at a firefighter wondering why he's not getting in so they can get on with the job.

Then the kids took turns hosing down the other kids with a fire hose. Addie didn't want to hold the hose, but she did carefully consider all the pros and cons of running under the water stream...

...and then decided it was an opportunity she should embrace. She was the only kid out there for awhile...even after the hose was turned off. Yeah, she's hardcore.

We went to the Ogden Nature Center one Saturday (because it was free) and found that the most exciting thing to do there was to try and eat lunch. The turkeys there were really friendly aggressive. Sitting down I found myself eye-to-eye with gross brain-covered bird heads. They have a weird little soft horn on their heads that they can inflate and deflate at will. It scares me. And I can speak for Clare on that, too. As for the boys, they enjoyed sharing their chips and grapes and making them feel like part of the family.

Addie didn't seem too bothered by birds bigger than she is and happily threw grapes for them to eat. We didn't find much else there to entertain us (except for some exciting birds of prey and memorable facts about ravens), but I will always remember the scariest lunch I ever had.

Addie got her second haircut of her life a few weeks ago. I wanted a haircut that didn't need much more than combing to make it look good and would stay out of her eyes, so we went with a bob. I thought it was cute but Jason's first comment was that she looked like a little prince boy.
The picture below is pre-haircut and looks like an 80's rock band 'do, so even a prince haircut is improvement, I think. And I still think its cute.

And as promised, the instructions for your very own all-out family fun greased pig (or child) chase.

Step 1: Make sure pig or child is undressed except for a diaper.

Step 2: Leave a large tub of vaseline somewhere in view and reach of pig or child.

Step 3: Leave pig or child unattended for five minutes. That's it! Simply sit back, wait and voila! Your pig or child will soon wander into the room having completely greased himself/herself.

This is where you get the family together and the camera out and let the fun begin. In this case, Addie had greased even the bottoms of her feet, so she was easy to catch. She had globs of it in her armpits and on her knees. We wiped off the gunks as best we could and then put her in a bath. Three times. And then cleaned the tub. Three times. And then scrubbed the carpet violently and despaired repeatedly that it will not ever ever ever come off. She looks so guilty. I think she was turning herself in when she came and found us.

Whoa! I almost forgot the most exciting news of all! I FINISHED THE HOUSE! What? You don't remember hearing about the house that I posted all about a year ago because that's when I started that project? The house that has sat half-finished in my front room for a year crying at me to please finish it already? That's okay, I'll post more pictures to remind you...in the next post though, because this one is way too long already.