Good Grief Charlie Brown

Happy Halloween! We had a happy and fun Halloween. I'll post more about our costume parties and pumpkin carving, but Grandma just couldn't wait to see pictures. So here you go mom. Love you. Am I back on the nice list?

Explosion

This little guy has finally decided that books are cool for reading as well as eating. It's been a struggle with him from the beginning. Hailee, from day one, has enjoyed reading. James on the other hand thought eating books were more exciting. We finally did find texture books that he would sit long enough for me to finish. Now, however, he can't get enough of reading. I almost regret getting him to like reading because he now wants to do it for hours at a time. It's been so great to see him enjoying it. When coming home from getting pictures I turned around to see this (picture above), Hailee sure is a great example to her baby brother.

Since Hailee went back to school and James and I have had more time together he has also decided talking would be a good idea.  It seems like his vocabulary has just exploded. He is now asking for things and talking in sentences. One day when we were going to Hailee's soccer class James got down and started running towards the field. On his way he calls back to his sister "Let's go Sissy." It's too cute to hear him finally start using words. I think the main reason for his interest in talking is his sister is gone and therefore no longer talking for him. That and now he's mastered running around and getting into everything the next logical step would be talking.

 Just in case you're thinking with the new strides made in reading and talking that he is calming down a little bit, I'm including the picture taken just this past Monday. I was busy getting dinner ready so we could get ready for FHE with some friends. I grabbed a few bowls when James came running around the corner completely undressed (he was fully dressed when I started dinner). I told him to go get me his diaper and he started going back around the corner. I turned around to fill the bowls and when I turned back around he had the baking soda in his hands and dumping it all over the floor. My first thought is, phew at least it wasn't the sugar. I really hate cleaning up sticky sugar. Then next thought is, I need to get the camera...even though he'll probably kill me later. Then I thought well it's already a mess and I have things to do so I let him go ahead and play while I finished dinner. After all baking soda can be used as a cleaning product. This little guy sure keeps me on my toes. Most days I have to ask Todd, "Is that normal?" Because I'm still not sure what exactly is normal for a little boy, he still surprises me.

Tis the Season

Last year was the first time I tried fresh pumpkin, we got several in our farm share. We all fell in love with fresh pumpkin pie. There really is nothing like it. As you can see by one of Hailee's journal entries: Pumpkin pie = a good day. This year with the weird weather the sugar pumpkins ripened a little later than last year.We only got one pumpkin from our farm share. Fearing that we would not get quite enough pumpkin treats this year we decided to drive out to a farm on Friday to pick up a few more (or 10 more).

Since the farm store closed at 5:00 we decided to kidnap Todd a little early from work and take a quick trip a farm. It worked out perfectly. Todd's boss was on a plane flying home from CA, once his boss got home there would be work for him to do, but in the meantime he was just waiting. A quick trip to the farm was just the perfect thing.

The kids had a great time. Hailee loved helping me pick out pumpkins for our yummy pie and James loved running around wild. They had a little play structure for the kids. They both enjoyed playing on it. James continues to show no fear. In the picture below you can see him going down head first. He landed right on his chin and got a little scraped up, you would think that would slow him down but instead he just yelled "wheeee" and jumped up to do it again.

 

 We are all looking forward to yummy pumpkin treats for the next little while.

Little Brothers

Hailee has a little friend on our street whose mom just had a little boy. Their family is a lot like ours, there are about 5 years difference between Lilly and her new little brother and it's just the two of them. Hailee told me, "I'm going to have to tell Lilly all about little brothers." 

Hailee is an amazing big sister, she loves her brother so much and is so good with him. You might be asking yourself why Hailee decided to wear her swimming goggles one evening when we weren't going swimming. I know Todd and I did. But then we saw her little brother and could guess as to why she was wearing them.

James has a new fascination with sticks. He isn't necessarily using them as a weapon, but he really does love to swing them around. Hailee was playing with him while I was making dinner and decided to take the necessary precaution to protect her eyes. I guess one stick got dangerously (according to Hailee) close to her eye.

She really is such a great big sister. James is one lucky little boy and he knows it too. When dropping her off he always blows kisses to her and counts down the minutes until it's time to pick her up. He gets the biggest smile on his face as soon as he sees the school bus coming.

I am a little worried about what she would tell her friend about little brothers. I don't want her to scare her little friend. She has at least a few months before her little brother starts driving her crazy.

School Pictures

When school picture day came around Hailee was so excited. That evening before we put curlers in her hair, picked out her outfit, and filled out the envelope. In the morning when I was doing her hair I told her that she needed to not run around like crazy at recess (ie, no playing tackle football) until after her pictures were taken. I sent her off looking so adorable and then when I picked her up she looked a little wild. She was thrilled because they took her pictures at the very beginning of the day so she could be as wild as she wanted at recess.

Can you tell she is super pleased with her missing teeth? Lately she has been "smiling" so you can see her missing bottom teeth. I love it that she did it for her school picture. That is my little girl, she is just growing up way too fast.

Saturday Adventures

Todd has been really busy at work lately, early morning meetings and late nights working have become somewhat of a regular thing lately. Since he has been so busy we have tried to make Saturday special family time. After two weekends on farms we decided to switch it up a bit and go to the zoo. It's been a while since we've been to the zoo.  Portland Zoo isn't very big, but it's perfect for our little kids, and you don't feel like you need to spend all day there to enjoy it. Every time we go it seems like there is something different to enjoy.

 The trip started off with a fun trip on the Max. When going to the zoo it's the only way to travel. Parking can be a nightmare at the zoo and the kids really enjoy riding the train.

 This little white Gibbon was really fun to watch. It was so crazy to see him swing all around. His arms were so long.

James really enjoyed watching him swing from ring to ring. I was a little worried about how James would do at the zoo, I wasn't too sure that he was old enough to enjoy it. He surprised us all by really enjoying everything he saw. 

 We met up with some our friends at the zoo. Their oldest is just a year younger than Hailee and their next little girl is just one month older than James. Of course the girls were so nice about getting their pictures taken. James was too busy to be bothered.

Hailee had such a great time running around with Anna.

 
James' favorite part of the zoo was the petting zoo. We've been to the zoo quite a few times, but they have never had animals in the petting zoo. From now on we're going to have to make sure it's a petting zoo day. James was in heaven. I have never seen such calm goats before. They just sat there quietly as the kids ran around touching them. James could have stayed there all day. 

 One of our other favorites at the zoo is the Lorikeet landing. You can buy nectar and go inside to feed them. This time we got there in the afternoon and the Lorikeets weren't so excited about the nectar. (Other times we've been they have been crazy about it.) Not to be discouraged, Todd went to the other side to see if he could coax one down, so the kids could see them. Pretty soon two landed on his shoulders. We soon discovered that they were more excited about biting Todd's ears than enjoying some nectar. After a few pictures the zoo employee came to the rescue. Todd was trying to gently get them to leave, but they were having none of it.

 After we left I was surprised to see the marks the little birds left. (I'm not sure whey his hair came out blue looking....weird lighting I guess.)

James loved all the animals, but he especially enjoyed the animals that growled. It was so cute to watch him stand at glass and growl at them.

After a fun day at the zoo it was time to go home. James was so exhausted he fell asleep on the train home. We had such a good day.

Pumpkin Patch

We have been planning our trip to the pumpkin patch for a few weeks. We went with some friends of ours and had a great time. Our Saturday, however, did not start so well. We woke up to the rain the weatherman had been warning us about. After talking to our friends we decided to wait a little while to see if the rain would let up. Since we were all looking forward to the pumpkin patch it was hard to wait. All of us got a little stir-crazy, but by early afternoon it started to slow down and we decided we would just go ahead and try, even if we got soaked in the process. As it turned out the rain stopped on our way there and didn't start again until we were in the car headed home. We also discovered that Hailee is the only one really prepared for Oregon weather and James definitely needs some rain boots. Other than having to deal with a little mud we had a great time, enjoyed time with friends, picked out two great pumpkins, and ate lots of yummy food.

 We started of the day with fresh roasted corn. Hailee loves corn on the cob, I love the fact you can see her missing bottom teeth. She lost her second tooth at soccer, but we didn't realize it until soccer was over. She wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining what happened. Luckily the tooth fairy still came, Hailee was a little worried the tooth fairy wouldn't believe her.

 Hailee and Spencer on their way to the corn maze. The weather couldn't have been nicer, cloudy weather makes for nice pictures.

 Hailee was our fearless leader. It's our first corn maze as a family and we didn't realize there were maps. We had a fun time any way and didn't get too muddy or lost.

 James, however, was very annoyed we didn't let him run wild in the corn maze. The mud was so sticky and slippery I didn't think it would be a great idea.

 Alan, Spencer, Hailee, James and Todd

 I wish I would have taken pictures of her boots when we were all done. They got quite a bit muddier after finding her perfect pumpkin.

 Hailee, James, and Spencer off to find the perfect pumpkin. We finally had to let James have his fun too. He loved running around and getting completely filthy. The first thing he did after I put him down was go and jump into a puddle.

 Hailee and Spencer looking at the pumpkins. Hailee found a perfect pumpkin that she can't wait to carve.

 I just love the lighting on rainy days.

 Todd found the craziest pumpkin that he can't wait to carve. His pumpkin is smaller on the bottom than the top so I'm not sure how it will work, but he is very excited about it.

 All finished at the pumpkin patch. Now we just need to figure out how to get two muddy kids home.

 On our way out we enjoyed caramel apples that were so delicious. It was Hailee and James first time trying them. They were a hit. It was a perfect day to go to the pumpkin patch. Thanks to Kristin, Alan and Spencer for going with us, that made it so much more fun.

Addiction

They say the first step to recovering from an addiction is to recognize you have a problem. I just realized I've taken 960 pictures since I got my new camera the middle of August. So now that I recognize I have a problem, but I'm not sure I want to stop. I love having so many pictures of what we are up to. Is it possible to have too many pictures?

This summer I finished my first blog to book, family book for 2008. I was so pleased to finally finish it. I did it though blurb.com because they offered the most pages. In the end my 2008 book turned out to be 450 pages, the maximum numbered allowed. It turned out better than I could have imagined. Now I am busy working on other years.


As pleased as I was with the printing, I could not have imagined how excited Hailee would be. I still find her looking through it and reading the stories. She loves it. The only reason I blog is for my kids (I hope that isn't too disappointing to the 3 people who actually ready my blog). It's an easy way for me to keep track of all the things we do as a family, funny things they say, and cute picture pictures I take. The best part of turning your blog into a book is you can just print a couple of copies...one for each kid and my scrapbooking is all taken care of.

So for now I'll skip the 12-step program and keep my picture addiction. I have an external hard drive that has 1 terabyte of memory. I think it will take me at least a little while to fill that up.

Funny conversations with Hailee

H: Dad- have you seen this figurine that my Grammy gave me?  It's for big girls.  We bought it at the dollar store with Cambria.
T: That does look like fun.
H: Guess which grammy bought it for me.
After some teasing I guess Grandma Mortensen
H: Dad! How did you know?
T: Maybe, just maybe your dad is a smart guy.
H: No dad, it's because I said she bought it with Cambria and Cambria is Stacie's daughter and Stacie is Grandma Mortensen's daughter.

----

One evening James was up to his normal tricks. He had gotten into some yarn and was stringing it all around. I was trying get it wound back up, but James had wrapped the other end around himself and was doing his best to pull the ball of yarn out of my hands.  This soon developed into royal tug of war which Todd thought was hilarious.  We battled back and forth until I realized James was getting the upper hand.
N: Todd! Help me!
T: Just cut it and let him play with some string.
N: I don't have scissors!  Find some scissors, quick!
As he rummages around for scissors
T: Just nibble it with your teeth, nibble it right off.
N: I am not a rat!
T: Nibble, nibble, nibble
N: (emphatically) I am not a rat!
H: (consolingly) He teases me too.

---

A few days ago we were on our way to visit some friends that have moved to Vancouver, WA. It's not too far of a drive, but I made sure I had snacks for car. The one thing I forgot to get was a few books for Hailee. She has taken a liking to reading when we're in the car, even if we're just running errands. She was a little bit sad once she realized that she didn't have any reading material. After a quick search of the car it was determined that the only book in the car was the car's owners manual. She decided that it was better than nothing and began reading. She actually enjoyed reading it and learned many new things. She even learned what a cassette tape was, something people used to listen to before we had an cd's and ipods. (I officially feel old.) The next day on the way to school she continued reading the owner's manual. While driving she told me...

H: Mom, did you know that we can rock this vehicle if it gets stuck in snow, sand or mud?
N: Oh really
H: yeah...(small pause)....or you can just get a tow truck if that doesn't work.

I checked the owners manual when we got home and sure enough on page 98 I learned all about how to get our car unstuck. Now if we ever have car problems, I know who I need to call. She has such a wealth of information in her little head.

---

As parents we're still trying to figure out the routine of school. At Hailee's school they have a passport club. For Hailee's grade level they are learning the states. The second week of school she got a paper sent home with a few states on it: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. I knew they did a passport club and figured these were the states they were going over, but I wasn't sure when or how they did the testing. One day when coming home from soccer Hailee said....

H: Can I eat my laffy-taffy when we get home?
N: Sure, when did you get a laffy taffy?
H: Oh they asked me about the states today and I only missed one.
N: (feeling really bad for not even going over them with her) Which one did you miss?
H: Oregon.
N: (laughing) Oregon! That is too funny my girl.
H: Mom, it does looks a lot like Washington.

Hopefully I can be more on the ball as a parent for the next 6 states.

-----

I believe that unicorns have wings and corns.

----

Tonight while looking at old pictures Hailee found one of Deneille and I. She figured out that I was older than aunt Deneille based on how we looked in the picture.

H: How old is aunt Deneille
N: She is about 10 months old in this picture
H: No I mean how old is she now
N; She is almost 30
H: That means she is 29
N: You're right, good job figuring it out
H: It's called subtraction mom. I have to do it at school, but I don't know why. I'm already wonderful at it.

Conference Weekend

 (James thought he needed a better look at Elder Bednar)

We had such a great conference weekend. I felt like we got so much accomplished. We got to watch conference, spend time together as a family and get ready for the coming week. For some reason all those things don't always happen on a normal weekend.

There really isn't another weekend I like better than Conference Weekend.  The only thing that would make it better is if they did it quarterly instead of bi-annually. Our favorite announcement was for the new temples. Lisbon and Tijuana. My grandparents were called to serve in the Tijuana mission and were out the same time I was on my mission in Lisbon. We were all so excited that both of our missions are getting a temple. Now it's time to start saving up for a trip to Lisbon for the open house. I am so excited for the members in Portugal. They have been waiting for so long to have a temple. I can't wait to hear more information so I can start planning. I always thought it would be fun to go back to one of our missions for our 10 year wedding anniversary.

 (Since Hailee was using the shovel, James got a little creative and found my wooden spoon.)

It really felt like I had about 6 extra hours on Sunday. It was such a great day. We made pancakes for breakfast, enjoyed Indian food for lunch, ate pot roast for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. The kids had a great time playing together, they got enjoy the beautiful fall weather outside. After dinner we got the kids bathed and Hailee ready for picture day tomorrow. Hailee was in bed by 6:15 p.m., she was thrilled to be getting to bed early so she could "read as long as I want." Both kids were asleep by 7:30 p.m. and Todd and I got to watch a movie together (ALL BY OURSELVES). I also went to bed at a decent time with my house fairly cleaned-up and the dishwasher loaded. Miracles of miracles. Evenings are typically crazy at our house, so it was a nice change of pace. Even with Todd needing to be at work early this morning and it was so easy to get out the door.

(Hailee getting ready for school picture day. She doesn't love wearing curlers in her hair, but she humors her mom.)

Oregon Heritage Farm

Saturday in between conference sessions we decided to check out an apple farm. The kids and I have enjoyed going to so many different farms, I thought it would be fun to go with Todd. It was so much fun. We got to enjoy fall at an apple farm. It reminded me of home. This farm wasn't a u-pick farm, but we did get to enjoy a hay ride to see the apple trees. The kids enjoyed the hay maze and apple bounce house. And we all enjoyed the fresh apple juice. Overall it was fun to get out with the family and spend some time together.

 Hailee enjoying the bounce house. It was so hard to get her to stop so I could take her pictures.

 James fell asleep on the way 20 minute drive to the farm. I was a little worried he would be grumpy when he woke up. He slept the first little while after we got there and when he woke up he started being a little cranky until he saw where we were. Thankfully he perked right up and was super pleasant until we were making him go home at the end.

 A nice shady hay ride. I loved seeing the apple trees completely loaded with fruit. Todd was amazed at how many apples there were on the trees.

 The kids and I. This was taken before the ride started and James just really wanted to run around.

 Todd and James. You can see the apple trees in the background.

 

 They had two hay mazes. One was for little kids and one was a little hard, but still meant for kids. Both kids loved the first one. I was a little nervous to send them in the second one because it was dark and the roof was a little short for me to stand up. Hailee really wanted to go (I really thought she wouldn't want to go into the dark maze, but she surprised me.) We let her go in and it wasn't long before James wanted to go in. I couldn't really send him in by himself and Hailee was already gone, so I went in with him. They both absolutely loved it. James and I ran into Hailee who had already figured out the maze and helped us out. I was thankful to get out of the hot hay maze, but the kids wanted to keep doing it. They had so much fun playing in it.

 The other really exciting thing they had at the farm were farm animals. They had two pigs and two goats. James climbed up the fence to get a better look at the pigs. He kept making an "oink-oink" sound to get their attention.

The goats, he decided, must growl since all of his favorite animals growl. He growled and growled at the goats. I'm a little worried for when he gets a little bigger, I'm afraid he'll be able to figure out a way to get in the pen with them. He wanted to get in and touch them so badly. The kids would love to live on a farm, but since that isn't possible right now, we thankfully live close enough to a farm for lots of visits.