Our Happy Halloween!

What a day!

I had to work on Halloween so these sweet boys waited all day for me to get home. Not only that but right before I got off of work I picked up a 911 call that I had to stay on the line for, so I got out of work late.

The good thing about this is that Halloween is right after their birthdays. They have lots of new toys to play with. Ryan said they all played games the whole day.

When I got home Ryan was at the door giving hand fulls of candy to trick or treaters and the boys were in their costumes waiting for Mom.

As soon as they saw me they ran out the door with their pumpkins and right past me.

"Let's go!"

So I turned back around and walked out the door. Ryan left the candy on the porch for kids to grab and we were off. Ryan had everyone all ready.

Now, this was a new experience for us. Ryan grew up on a farm and told me he would have to bike to places to trick or treat. I spent a good portion of my child hood south of BYU campus. Most students weren't thinking about trick or treaters so we had to spend most of our time finding the people in our ward who were home and who were elderly-and who made homemade apple cider and made you spend several minutes of your trick or treating time inside their house while you sipped cider and talked to them. I didn't mind usually but it did take a good portion of the night... and I am pretty sure Sister Hay didn't wash the plastic cups...We were always pretty sure they were used by everyone...

SO, this was a big deal and a new experience for all of us. Trick or treating in the subdivision.

While waiting for me the boys were able to figure out pretty quickly how the whole thing worked. They handed out candy with Ryan and watched all of the other kids come to the door so they were on it.

I have to tell you, it was such a blast!

There was such an energy in the subdivision! People were everywhere. Trick or treat was being yelled, parents were talking out on the street. People at the door were so nice and so willing to say hi to spider man and the black spider man
the kids felt it too. They literally RAN to every door.
I tried to take pictures of all of the people everywhere trying to show you a feel for how the night went. The picture didn't turn out well though and I heard people saying throughout the rest of the night..."Mom, that's the lady who was taking pictures of us" like I was a weirdo-and come on! I am not old enough to be called lady yet!
This house was way spooky. There were about 6 kids standing on the street because they didn't dare to go to the door. They had an old lady walking out front and a "dead" girl on the lawn. Some other guy was walking around with a chain saw too.
Nothing would keep our kids from their candy. They didn't even think twice about it. They ran up to the door while all of the other kids watched!

Ryan and I looked at each other a few different times and smiled. It was such a fun experience. I have never known Halloween to be like that-besides church parties which usually didn't happen the night of Hallowen anyway.

When we got back the boys were pooped! They are such cute kids. They asked for permission to go through their candy and kept it in their pumpkins. Ryan and I showed them how to dump it out and check out what they scored.

I think we did pretty well! Next year we will have another kid running around so hopefully we will score a lot more!

We hope you all had a great Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!

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my Little Big Kid

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAUGE!

This one turned 3 today.

As soon as we could get out of the house we were gone! Ryan and I knew of a corn maze that looked pretty cool out in Caldwell so we headed that direction. The boys are getting a little bored of drives these days since we have had to go on so many to get to know the area, especially in Canyon county for my job. So they were really not thrilled when we got to the maze and it was closed. We turned around and headed for Meridian it is the other direction. (Both cities are on either side of the city we live in)

When we got to the Farmstead it was closed. So Ryan went and did some finagling since I had to be making a cake later and since it was Gauge's birthday. The woman said that we could come in and hang out only because there were some groups already there, and we were off!

Look at this kid, did I mention he is three? This slide was super fast and Gauge is a little weary of slides anyway. That's where his big brother comes in

When Paxton gets up there, Gauge will usually get his confidence. Either that or Paxton will push him down for us :)
Next we hit the big balloon trampoline.
I know, your all thinking it looks like Thanksgiving point but we are in the Country baby! It looks like that everywhere!

Gauge talks in the third person lately. He calls himself Gauger and he introduces himself that way. We will also find him talking to people and telling them what Gauger likes or doesn't like. Its pretty cute!

They made friends with everyone on the trampoline.

Next we hit the go carts. They were kind of weak...No one lasted on these things for longer than about a minute.

except Pax

They had logs with saddles on them. You could pick up a rope and try to lasso a plastic cow head. Paxton tried really hard

Gauge just walked up to the cow head and lassoed it. Then he pulled.

We hit a mini maze in preparation for the corn maze. The rule here was "no left turn" I couldn't figure it out...until I started walking backwards. They start you on the right and you are somehow supposed to exit left of you.. If you turn around you can do it. I thought I was pretty smart until the boys just jumped on top of the bales and ran.

They had a petting zoo. Somehow I think the animals knew the place was closed...it was kind of a poor showing.

Then we hit the corn maze.

Ryan and I tried to get lost. The picture from an aerial view was of President Lincoln on a penny.

Shelby just hung out. She smiled almost the whole time. I think she just loved to be outside.

I had to hold up Gauge

On this one I had to hold up Shelby...she is a little heavier than you would think. I realized today, that I am really strong, and Shelby has bigger boobs than me.

Look at that sweet smile!

He was upset that he wasn't up to the five, because he is five now.

We found the wagon's at the END of the park-so the boys had to go for a ride.

This is their scary picture. They wouldn't put down their maps either.

We had a great time at the Farmstead. Next year I think we will have to go when things are open, we didn't have a whole lot of options.

After we got home it was time to get started on the cake. Gauge was pretty excited. In fact, so was Paxton. I think I am starting to get used to baking these bad boys. Its starting to just be fun!

I didn't want Gauge to have to have a cake that was already done. Paxton had Spider man when he turned three so this time I decided that I had to find a different pose, a different cake altogether. Ryan thinks this one is more cool. I think I liked the other one better.

But I have to admit, I thought this one was pretty cool...so did Gauge.

He absolutely LOVED it!

Dan and Sarah came over for a second day in a row. Its a big deal that they did that too. I gave Sarah the option, tried to give her a way out and she wouldn't take it. She knew it was important to the boys that they were there so they came over for both parties and hung out all night. I know the boys appreciated it.

Gauge didn't have any problems blowing out his candles.

In fact he did it so quickly, that we lit them again and let him do it twice

He ate it up!

I can't believe Number 2 is three!

We ate the cake...Gauge got to eat the head

We opened presents

This time both of the boys got remote control race cars. They were a big hit. I swear I usually don't spoil these kids like this, but it was really fun to do!

This smile melts me every time!

So Dan and Ryan took the boys into the kitchen to show them how to use their race cars. They also got them hooked up with the batteries, which was a big deal.

Look at those two. I love seeing Ryan with the boys.

Shelby likes the cars too. Her eyes were so wide!

The party was great. After Paxton's big day the boys were already tired so we said our good nights and put the kids to bed. Then Dan and Ryan hit the kitchen and played with the remote control cars. Its a big deal to Paxton and Gauge that Dan and Ryan are brothers. It means a lot to them because brothers is something that they understand. They love Dan! Whenever Gauge sees him especially he gets a huge smile and he says "Mom, uncle Dan!!" in his little falsetto voice. Its nice to have the boys around Dan and Ryan, who are both great examples of how to be men. And yes, I am saying this as I am showing you pictures of them playing with toy cars...but you get what I mean!

Oh Gauger!

My little man with those baby blue eyes. They turn heads!

He is already such a man and he makes me so happy!

These pictures do a good job of portraying this little boy. He is a little bit crazy! He climbs, runs, jumps, laughs and is so much fun. But he is also my little lover. He loves to cuddle with Ryan and me. He can make you feel so special! When he does slow down enough to cuddle with me, I might even get lucky enough that he will feel sentimental and will grab my face, look me straight in the eyes and say "Mommy, I love you" and kiss my cheeck. It is the most special thing ever. He has a falsetto voice like I said. Sometimes we wonder whether or not his voice will ever lower. Shelby's voice is lower than his.

He loves the park. He loves to play. He is a total tough guy. In fact when we were at the park today, when they would be approached by any other kid he would puff out his chest and put his head up as if to let them know that he was a tough guy. But he would always be sweet.

He is a really good big brother. He adores Shelby. He loves to touch her face, to crawl around with her and to talk to her. He also watches out for her and will try to help if she needs ANYTHING. Between Paxton and Gauge, Shelby will always be safe!

Gauge is also a great little brother! He follows Paxton everywhere. When Paxton sits down, he sits down right next to him. He copies things that Paxton says and the two laugh their heads off when they play games. He usually calls Paxton Brother...but when he calls him by name it's Pax.

Gauge has a mind of his own. He knows what he wants and he is very independent. While Paxton tries to do everything the way that he thinks we would like it, Gauge does everything the way that he thinks it should be done. He is very independent, which has made his terrible two's a huge deal. A huge deal that Ryan and I are very happy-are over.

At three years old Gauge is doing everything by himself. He puts his own clothes on. Sometimes inside out and backwards (usually that's just his underwear) and usually it takes him a few times to get it right but he doesn't give up and it is very important to him that he does it himself.

Gauge loves bubble gum suckers. I wish I could spell it the way that he says it. Everything that he says is cute. I have never loved to Mommy the way that I love to hear him say it. He is very partial to me too, which makes the time that I am with him very special. When I sit on the couch he goes out of his way to make sure that someone moves so that he can sit next to me. Right now as I write this, he is cuddled up to Ryan's arm.

Gauge loves Super man and he loves Spider man. If he HAS to choose one, he will choose Spider Man but he loves them both. You will usually find him carrying some sort of superhero action figure around when he is out and about. When he is in character he takes it very seriously, something that I think he has learned from Paxton. He gets very serious, looks down at his body, makes his arms stiff, slowly looks towards the sky and then he yells SUPER MAN as he sticks his arms out into the air.

Gauge, I am so in love with you. I love to watch you as you become the little boy and the little man that you are going to be. You get excited about everything and you are ALWAYS trying to play games. I made a little Monster video of the family for Halloween, you have watched it at least a hundred times. You point out scary Mommy and Scary Daddy and you smile the whole way through it. That is how you are. You make everything fun!

Gauge, we love you. We are so proud of you and what you have become. You are such a special little boy. You always make us smile!

Happy Birthday Gauger!