The Babies

"Licking the beaters"- This is their favorite job when we cook!

The newest addition (it doesn't have an official name yet but Garret likes "Tag")

Tyler holds the TITLE

We went to the "Great Pumpkin Farm" on Saturday. We went last year and had fun so we decided to go back. Here is how it went-

The kids loved feeding the animals (they had lots of farm animals as well as some more exotic animals like camels), they did a little art project (always fun), then Garret was in the kids pie eating competition- He couldn't take the pressure and backed out (actually he just got scared with all the people he didn't know watching him...he says he will do it next year). Then we decided to take him to the little kids "boo barn". Spencer thought it was fun, Garret started crying saying "I don't like it". He was scared. Then every time we walked by the building he would say "I wish I not go in there...I don't like it in there". (It is a good thing we went in though because that was where Josh found his date...he even got a little fresh with her).

Then it was time for Tyler to redeem himself after last years second place finish in the pie eating competition. This year he not only won but he had some very proud fans. There was this "mullet man" (if you watch the very long video I think you can see him) who thought Tyler was so awesome. He was crazy. He started saying "TTT...Totally Terrific Tyler" then cheering and laughing. It was funny! Tyler says he won't compete next year but I have a feeling he will want to defend his title. Plus they give you twenty dollars to their store if you win. Here are the before and afters....and the long video (I don't think the video worked.

Then the guys went and ate from the BBQ cook off and I took Garret on a hayride. He loved it...at one point you go under a covered bridge and it is decorated to look like Santa's workshop. He thought that was pretty neat. We saw jugglers and more animals and called it a day. The kids were so tired they went to bed before six and slept until seven thirty this morning.

Some other random things- Spencer has learned to dance and it is so cute. He does a little head bob. If you sing Nephi's courage he starts shaking his arms around in the air. Tyler got his bike. He has been wanting a road bike and so he sold some left over dental supplies and he got it! He was so funny waiting for it to come. He would listen for the cars to go by and perk up every time (I guess it's good that he was excited because it's his Christmas present!)

Random

Garret loves his preschool class at the library. It's just one hour a week and he looks forward to it all week long. Last week he was misinformed that he could get his own library card. We have been talking about it and he has been so excited. Today they told us that he had to be five. He got all teary eyed. It was a sweet little moment. He was sad but we talked about it and then he was fine. I was just so happy that he loves books.

I have been sick all week and sleep deprived and wishing I could use a sick day. I am anxiously looking forward to the weekend!

Some of The girls (one of the reasons I have been sleep deprived).

Random comments-
At the grocery store Tyler noticed someone forgot their groceries so he ran after them and returned them. The cashier turned to me and said "tell your daddy thanks for me". I looked at him funny and he said "tell your daddy thanks for returning groceries" (I think he thought my confused look was because I didn't know what I was thanking him for not because he had just called my husband my daddy).

Three strangers have asked me if my boys were twins...they are almost two years apart!

The Spoon

We had pudding with FHE tonight...Spencer enjoyed it!

Grandpa's Cabin

I stole this picture off of my sister Heather's blog. Look how good the cabin looks! This is the cabin we all worked on this summer...

As far as other news we had a nice weekend- finished our book (we both cried), went to a birthday party, Tyler went to a priesthood meeting, played some tennis and enjoyed the kids.

Preschool and Bottoms

Garret went to Preschool hour for the first time last night. Its just once a week for an hour. I have been giving him pep talks all week about it. He cried for a minute then went right in, then came back for a kiss and went in again! He loved it and said he only missed me a little.

I went to book club last night for "the Brother's K". It was an interesting book (I am only 400 of 650 through it). It has made me think about a lot of different things (family, religion, redemption...). Book club was fun as usual I got home around 12:40 and went in to look at my boys. Spencer was laying in bed with his bum up in the air and he had no pants and no diaper on. They were thrown on the floor. I wish I would have taken a picture but I was more worried about getting him covered up then capturing the moment. He stayed asleep while I got him diapered and amazingly enough he had not even gone all those hours with no diaper!

Lately...

GARRET has been saying the most entertaining prayers. Thank you for the upstairs and the downstairs, Josh and Kandis's balls (referring to their toys), his blanket, the angels, everything in our house (he lists anything he can think of), his friends and their mommy's and daddy's, anyone he can think of from the scriptures, that he is not in time out....etc.

SPENCER has decided he likes to give kisses, wrestle, scream and he too is infatuated with his blanket (he doesn't tickle his nose with it but wads it up and puts it by his face).

WE have participated in some fun and special events. (Baby blessings, time with friends and family, I got to go to a swanky baby shower that was tons of fun...).

I have learned even more that Tyler is my absolute favorite person to hang out with. Not because we are always out doing exciting things but because even the little things are fun together. We have been reading a book together and I love it. I could sit in his arms and listen to him read to me forever. I made him commit to reading to me all day long if I am ever bedridden.

GARRET has made me laugh. He was in his room separating his toys and when I went in to ask what he was doing he said "just getting the stuff I don't use to sell on Ebay". (Tyler sold stuff on Ebay to get his new bike).

I have been exhausted. I don't know if it is from lack of sleep or that fact that my kids not only play together more but fight more. Spencer knows how to scream and Garret knows how to make him scream and I am already tired of playing referee. (They really do play well most of the time but they get in evil moods and then things are out of control).

I have had this weird back ache that won't go away and I am so sick of it. It started in Toronto and when I bend in the wrong direction I have to stand up real quick because it hurts so bad...I just don't know what to do about it.

I have felt absolutely disorganized and out of my mind. I can't seem to get much done and yet I feel busy all the time. I go to the store and can't remember everything I was going to pick up....

TYLER has been obsessed with his triathlon goal. It's cute he is always reading about it, exercising or talking about it. I am excited for him....if only I were in better shape I could do it with him...

LIFE has been moving forward and we are enjoying it!

Number 3

No we are not having baby number 3.....Garret got his third haircut tonight! There was very little humidity today and so his hair didn't really curl, it was hanging in his eyes and he was constantly brushing it out of his face- I realized with winter quickly approaching that there would be less humidity/less curl for quite a while. I didn't want to trim it and have to keep it trimmed up every couple weeks so off it came (I hope he has cute curls again by next summer). He was so excited in the beginning. He wanted to "look like Daddy". Then he started saying "I don't wanna cut my hair" but it was too late. I miss his curls already but I still think he is a handsome little man and he will enjoy having it out of his eyes. We straightened it so we could see how long it really was!The Mullet!Tyler misses the curls!

Garret loves looking like Daddy!

Sleepy Heads

Spencer asleep in his chair!

Garret asleep in his "blanket fort" (he had been begging to go camping so I let him camp in the living room for his nap)!

Vinegar

Nothing overly exciting has happened recently.  We went on a fun date last night and have enjoyed our weekend together.  Our kids are cute as ever and the nursery is going to be split (not much of an update but there is little to report right now!)  

The only significant thing I can write about tonight is VINEGAR.  Am I the only one that sometimes has smelly towels?  If any of you have the same problem keep reading...otherwise stop now and go read someone else's blog because this won't excite you.  Well sometimes it doesn't matter how often we wash our towels (especially our kitchen towels) they smell...a friend of mine told me to wash them in hot water with vinegar.  It totally neutralized the smell and now they are fresh once again!  I thought I should pass this on just in case someone else has the same problem....who knows maybe it's just me.

Night Out

In a couple weeks Garret is going to start going to a one hour a week class at the library (I think this will be good for him since he is never away from us even on Sunday). One of us will take him to his class and the other one will spend time with Spencer. We decided to start our one on one time early with the kids. I took Garret out to run errands tonight. We had so much fun and he called it a "doughnut date" because I got him a doughnut. He said "Thank you very much for taking me on a doughnut date" - so sweet. I did realize that if he had been adult some of the comments he made would not have gone over so smoothly.

For example- at aldi's he very excitedly said "Look Mom those two match" (It was a man and a woman that looked nothing alike except that they were both very overweight). Then when he saw a woman in a shirt that was little more than a bra, he loudly said "Why doesn't she have to wear a shirt?" (the woman turned around) I said "She is wearing a shirt", he said "That's a bra".

He was a very entertaining little date! I am very excited to spend one on one time with my kids. Spencer had a great time with his Dad. They played Doctor and read stories and was rocked and sung too.

He Walks

I have video of Spencer taking eight or so steps a couple months ago but he never really cared for it. This last week he has gone from walking when he was in the mood to walking most of the time. It's the cute wobble walk that makes you hold your breath and smile and laugh all at the same time. He has changed a lot recently and it's adorable. He loves blowing on my stomach, wrestling, getting into everything, trying to do whatever Garret does, dancing and playing.

Garret turns three in a month and I have been telling him he has to stop sucking on his fingers when he turns three. I know it will be good for his teeth and for him to stop but I think I am going to miss it as much as him. He has done it since he was around six months old and it's like his trademark. Why can't they just stay little?....

"Ronto"

We decided to work on our "to do" list and headed to Toronto (or Ronto as Garret called it). Toronto was a lot less busy than I expected (maybe because it was a holiday), it was nice not having to worry about traffic. We got to be together and see a lot of the city. Here's how the day went....

We decided to eat breakfast at the St. Lawrence Market. So we parked and started hoofing it over there....it was closed. So we began making our way towards the Dundas/Yonge square (Yonge is the longest street in the world- just a bit of trivia). On the way we saw the world's tallest building (it is about to be the second tallest- I think there is one in India that is in the works that will be much taller),we stopped at a little Garden park (there were a lot of beautiful little parks there) and peaked inside an old episcopal church. I don't think I will ever be sick of looking at the beautiful architecture out here.

Dundas/Yonge square was pretty cool. We just kind of looked at all the stores- there were some huge shopping stores here. I think the sears was seven stories. We tried to go to the underground shopping district but the entrance we went to was closed so we skipped it. If we ever go again we will check it out. I guess its like 16 miles (maybe km) of underground shopping...so nice for winter.

Then we walked down to the ferry and took the little ferry to the islands. The kids loved the boat ride and the island was really awesome. Next time I will be more prepared. We didn't bring our swimsuits or lunch and food was so expensive there . We kept saying that someday we need to bring all our friends and spend the whole day there. It is like the all inclusive park- Frisbee golf, a maze, lots of beaches (even an optional clothing beach- we skipped that), a petting zoo, an amusement park (for little kids), boats, science building, lighthouse, trails, bike paths, baseball, tennis, volleyball, children's garden, children's theater, the spot where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run and Toronto as a back drop. We only got to do a few of the things there but we had a lot of fun. The kids were exhausted by the end!

Then we drove around Chinatown and Little Italy. They were not too impressive but we went through them fast and may have missed the best part. We were so hungry by this point in the day that we wanted the perfect restaurant. We drove around looking for one (we had some serious trouble finding a good one), finally we settled on one and it was so disappointing. We talked about how gross it was forever...seriously sick. It was the worst end to a great day...next time we will pick better. I am so glad we went though, it was fun seeing it and just getting out!