Has the suspense been killing you too??

The long awaited day arrived!! The "mean guys" (Luke seriously called the guys that were out there working on his blessed playground "mean guys"!! I honestly think that he is a little racist :)) finally finished "our" playground!!! We're so happy :) We saw the big pile of wood chips out there this morning when we went to take the girls to school, so we knew it was probably going to be up and running by this afternoon.....the kids' excitement has seriously been building up ever since they started digging and finally just peaked today! It was intense :) We saw the huge pile of woodchips out there when we took the girls to school, and then they were shoveling it in by the time we picked up Kelly. Then during rest time Kelly's friend Abby came over and we saw that the playground was all done!! No more caution tape, and the wood chips were set!!! So I let everyone end rest time early to go out and take her out for a spin! They were so thrilled. I have to admit I think that most of the moms there were pretty thrilled as well. People were coming from miles around (jk) just to test it out. Pretty fun stuff. Kelly, Brad and Luke played on it for about an hour and a half before they were bored and started wandering around elsewhere. I actually made a couple new friends today from the forbidden territory of the other ward. So I stood there talking to them for a couple of hours before I realized it was time to pick up Charity from school (not a moment too soon). Then once Charity got home, she spent a good 45 minutes out there before deciding it was too cold. But what fun!! We're so excited :) Thank you Eagle Mountain for forking out the dough to get us a playground- now we don't have to :)

Kelly calls this the "Dinosaur wall"

One of my favorite things about having kids is the getting so excited for such little things. I don't know how people can survive without that! (I know Aimee was feeling it!!) It's so fun to let your excitement build up for a month and get all jittery about every single step that is taken to the end result. And then to be able to enjoy the fruits of your anticipation!! It's just so awesome!! A PLAYGROUND! Who would have thought this could be so thrilling :)

Lukey was in heaven :) He just kept going down the big slide and then marching his way back up there to go back down again. Not letting anyone slow him down. (just to see how close it is to our house- that is our white garage you can see in the background. Our garage is on the side of our house- this park is our next door neighbor :))

A HANGING BAR!!! YAY!!!! (see what I mean!)

Noah enjoyed my camera case immensely I'm sure :) And he did go down the smaller slide a few times with Lukey, but obviously no pictures of that.

Check out the crowd!

Here's Isabel and Abby. They're our cute little friends from down the street.

awww.

Good thing Lukey wears diapers! That could've been a killer of a wedgie.

I just took this one to capture the aroma of the freshly laid wood chips. They aren't my favorite thing to have in playgrounds (so unsanitary- don't get me started on the kid we would see peeing in them at our park in Taylorsville- like EVERY TIME we were there!!! and they are kinda messy, Kelly had them all over her when she came inside, but anyway, enough complaining, sorry), but they sure smelled good today! AND it was all soft and bouncy under our feet. Give it a few days I guess :) HA! jk. I'm so negative!

And here's one of the few shots I got of Charity on the playground. She didn't slow down long enough. She found a friend out there and she was off. But I'm glad she likes it :) It was like an early Christmas for all of us :)

In the Holly Boutique

This is my cute sister-in-law's photography flier that she will be handing out at the "In the Holly" Boutique this week!! I meant to put this on here sooner but anyway- she says it's going to be pretty big! She also said to bring cash. But even if you can't go to the boutique you should still check out her blog and see what a great job she does, not only on photography, but photo improvements as well!! So anyway :) Just a little plug for my sil!

she took most of these on their trip in Europe!!

Kelly was NOT adopted!!

Okay, so this has been bothering me for a while now- back on Halloween when I was helping out in Kelly's class, I was talking to another mom and we were introducing ourselves. She asked me which kid was mine, and when I pointed to Kelly she acted all confused, and had to have me point her out more clearly and then she said, "WOW! She doesn't look a thing like you, was she adopted?" Who says that?!! I'm sure she didn't mean it to be rude, and I didn't take it that way, I just couldn't believe someone would actually say that. Don't get me wrong, I personally have nothing against adopting, so please don't think that, I was just annoyed that she would say that Kelly looks nothing like me :) Mainly because I DO think she looks like my kid pictures. But anyway. It's probably the hair- you know how if the mom has dark brown hair (with natural gray highlights), and the kid has lighter hair- that can throw you off. I don't know. Maybe I'm just lame, but I went and found some of my old pics (I would have found better ones of both of us, but there are just so many to go through) that I think we look similar in. Clearly I take the cake when it comes to the chubbiest cheeks (how's that for a pun- not intended), but you tell me- does it look like Kelly was adopted??

So, then while I was going through all my old pictures I realized how much ALL of my kids look like my baby pictures!! Even my boys which I consider spitting images of their Daddy. I'll have to post those another day- since I know you're all just dying to see them :) HA! jk.

Just a few things that brightened my day

Yesterday was a very interesting day. Not one I would like to repeat, but LOTS of cute things happened that I want to remember. And it's been a while since I posted about Sunday :)

Noah had been sick for a few days, but Sunday morning Bradley and I both woke up not feeling well either, so the three of us opted out of church for the day. Bradley was really cute about missing church and told Daddy to "tell my teacher that I am sick, and that's why I'm not at church". He didn't want them to wonder where he was :) I thought it was cute. So all day Bradley was the cutest, sweetest kid ever. I know this is bad, but I love how my kids are when they're sick- they're really sweet! Bradley thanked me for his medicine, and cuddled up in bed with me, and then everytime he woke up he would rest his hand on me until he fell back asleep. He was really just so sweet!! He slept a LOT.
Noah on the other hand was not drugged up and really wasn't acting too sick for most of the day, but he needed my constant attention and had to be held EVERY SECOND! It was okay of course since I was just sitting in bed. We had some good Noah/Mommy bonding time. I tried to get him to say "Ma-Ma" most of the day.
My sweet husband came home from church and didn't even sit down when he came in and got right to making dinner. I couldn't tell you what a huge relief that was. He's so good at taking care of our family- even when he has to do it on his own. Which, making dinner isn't a big deal until you combine it with not feeling well, so I was just glad I didn't even have to ask him. He's my hero. (and he hugged me lots which is always a bonus). And actually now that I think about it he made breakfast and lunch too, and got all the kids ready to go....boy, the good things he does sure get overlooked sometimes!
Sweet little Kelly had become part of her teacher's "Secret Service Club" and had made some cute little hearts that she was to leave for people when she did a service for them. Then they were supposed to do something for someone else and leave the heart for them. Very cute idea!! It totally got Kelly in the service mode! She was running around the house doing things for everyone and then getting them all excited about it too- it was adorable. Charity and Bradley were excited to be in the Secret Service Club. I was grateful for that. It's not always easy to get them excited about serving others- this one worked so well. She's even carrying it on today and taking something for her friend at school....very sweet.
SO THEN!!! This is my favorite part, I think. While Noah, Nate and I were laying in bed watching a movie, cute little Noah turned his head around and looked at me and said, "MA MA MA!" I was SO EXCITED!!! (All my hard work had paid off, and he was finally saying my name :)) I just cheered for him and he clapped for himself, and then Nate and I proceeded to try to get him to say it again, to which Noah would clap for us when we said it :) He's such a stud.
I'm so grateful for the little things my family does to make my life so enjoyable....even when I was sick!

Noah, you must have a 2 year old for a big brother

mommy doing email + permanent marker = need I say more?

Shoulda voted for Charity!

"Date 11/4/08 Name Charity
If I were president I would give people more money. I would be famas and I would live in a white house. I would have six kids. I would change things."



Apparently Charity's class talked about the election (this was on election day). I just LOVED what she wrote for what she would do if she were President. My Dad seems to think that she is really going to be President of the United States some day, so we are saving this for that day :) I can't get over how cute she is. The "white house" part is my favorite. And I LOVE that she adds "having 6 six kids" :) she always talks about how many kids she's going to have. She and Kelly try to top each other with who will have the most :) Must run in the genes. HA! jk. Too bad we couldn't have voted for Charity- more money sounds really nice. (and look at that nice NICE handwriting!! I think this is the best we've seen of Charity's. She's been working on that too. It's nice to see that she's slowed down and taken her time :))

A Happy Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year!! I couldn't believe how well it all went. I am really grateful that everyone was so happy and so well-behaved all day- it made it that much more enjoyable for me as a Mom. To know that all the extra time, energy and effort was well worth it. So anyway- here's to another Halloween! And here's how ours went:

For Breakfast we had orange pancakes which nobody ate. I think because they were so excited for Halloween. I really couldn't believe how excited they all were. Brad woke up saying, "wet's go trick-or-treating! wet's go trick-or-treating!" They were bouncing off the walls (and this is BEFORE all the sugar).

Then, I had the privilege of watching Kelly's cute little morning Kindergarten Parade. As you can see my camera was giving me trouble again. It wouldn't zoom!!! So I did have to crop some, but they just don't look good at all- anyway.... there's cute little Kelly at the front of her line. She was a pink cowgirl, riding a pink unicorn/horse. Kelly remembered the unicorn that Charity used last year and thought it would go perfectly with her cowgirl costume- what a cutie- she looked so cute.

I took this one so you could see how well done her teacher's costume was!! HOLY MOLY she looked just like the evil Queen on Snow White- it was kinda creepy!

After the parade I got to stay at the school and help with her class party. Special thanks to Leah for watching the boys so that I could. It was so neat to be able to see Kelly in her classroom element. (if only I'd had a second to take a picture!) She's such a good little girl. She told me afterward that she loved the party and had so much fun and that the reason she had so much fun was because I was there!! How cute is that! I do wish I could help out in my girls' classes more, this was a neat experience.

Charity wore her costume to school, but her class was unable to participate in the school parade because there are 2 people (yes, 2 out of 28 people can change Halloween for the whole class!) who don't celebrate Halloween. Charity's teacher was really bummed about it for the class, so she sneakily "walked them down the hall to do something" while the Kindergartners were having their parade :) (again, my camera was not functioning properly or I could have gotten a picture of her too!) Funny enough, Charity had no idea that this was equivalent to a parade, and frankly wasn't all that put out that they didn't get to do the parade or a "Halloween" Party. Hats off to Miss Groom who pulled that one off. She managed to convince those cute little First Graders that it was only fair that they not celebrate Halloween since those 2 kids don't. I think I had a harder time with it than Charity did. It really bummed me out for her- this is the 2nd year in a row. But all in all it wasn't that big a deal. Even Miss Groom still dressed up in her Cow Costume, and they did have a "Fall" Party, so I'm really trying to figure out what the difference is :) Whatever :) Like I said- she did a great job at convincing Charity that it wasn't a big deal- too bad she couldn't have done a better job on me :) Just wait till Christmas- that's gonna drive me up the wall I think :) HA! jk. (sort of)

So then, for lunch, we had these cute little Mummy Dogs. Which I totally just did for me since my kids NEVER eat the breaded dogs, but sure enough, they surprised me and actually ate it all! Guess we just needed them to have eyes and in Luke's words "hats" and they are suddenly appealing :) I thought they were kinda cute :)

I made homemade chili bowls for dinner thinking it would be the perfect pre-trick-or-treating dinner, but of course everyone was so excited they really didn't even touch them (what a WASTE!), but who can blame them really :) They were so quick to get their costumes on. I am really starting to love Halloween. This was a really fun year for me.

Luke was a Pirate

Noah was Batman

Charity was a witch

Kelly was a cowgirl

Bradley was a Lion

Charity and I had a lot of fun trying to dye her hair the night before and the morning of. (I totally didn't even think about it until then and didn't want to have to drive all the way to the store, so we looked into some homemade ideas) Just so you know Kool-Aid does not work on brown hair, and if you get crazy enough to try food coloring- it's VERY MESSY and you should definitely use gloves :) But it was really a lot of fun. Felt like back when Wendy and I made our honey and peanut butter face masks :) Who thinks of this stuff :) It did wash right out with the dish soap though- thanks for that idea Big Charity. Fun fun fun. Thanks again Paulette for the cute witch costume!

This was such a cute costume- thanks Paulette- he was so attached to it by the end of the day!

This is Noah saying goodbye to the big kids- he and I got to pass out the candy to the trick-or-treaters. What fun that is! It was really fun to be back in a neighborhood where it is safe to go trick-or-treating door-to-door. And fun to hear the doorbell ring every two minutes. It kind of drove Noah nuts while he was trying to eat though :) I had to keep getting up :)

Nate took the older 4 all trick-or-treating, and they all had a lot of fun- including Nate, I think he loves that more than most dads. He comes home and tells me all the cute things our kids did while begging for candy.

And now to dump out your candy and stare at it all in awe.

They really should change the name of Halloween to "Free Candy Night" then they wouldn't need to change the name of the party to a "Fall" Party, it could be "Free Candy Night" Party!! That's all it really is right?? I just kept thinking that this is probably the last year that Charity would not be into tricking her younger siblings out of their candy- I could see her eyeballing everyone else's stash :) I remember those days so well!! Brent and I convincing Heidi and Steve to trade something like a tootsie roll for a king size candy bar!! Those were the days....

(snickers....mmmmmmmm)

Lukey was thrilled with the Playdoh! Luke is a funny little creature when he is trick-or-treating (and at the trunk-or treat as well) he's very slow. He has to look at every single pumpkin/decoration/candy bowl that makes noise. Touch it, admire it, talk about it over and over, just whatever to slow him down. Then, when he is given a candy that he knows he likes, he makes sure he keeps it in his hand. This slows down the walking, and the getting of more candy. If someone hands him something he likes better than the one in his hand though, he will replace it and put the old one in his bag. It's quite the system. He's the great candy connoisseur. He might like candy more than me- if that's possible.

Bradley was way cute with his candy. He is SO SWEET and SO GENEROUS. He kept giving Grandma Hatch candy. Whenever I would say that I liked a kind that he had in his pile, he would give it to me. It was really just sweet of him. He likes everyone to be able to enjoy Free Candy Night as much as him I think. It really made it hard for me to want to steal his candy when he went to sleep like I usually do :)

I think Kelly really is in it just for the dressing up :) As much as she likes the candy- she doesn't really seem to care a whole lot about it after Free Candy Night is over. She enjoys all the nice compliments she gets on her costume the most. She kept telling me how much everyone liked her costume :) And she deserves all the credit for it too- it was mostly her idea- thanks again Meg, for the cute hat and boots!!

I think they all got plenty of candy this year!! What a fun night!

Then we all headed over to (and met Grandma Hatch at) the ward Trunk-or-treat at 8:00. The kids were pretty tired when they got home from only an hour and a half of trick-or-treating so I wasn't sure they would even want to go to the TRUNK-or-treat, but they sure showed me. They were EVERYWHERE at Trunk-or-Treat, it was so hard to keep track of them all. We all enjoyed donuts and hot chocolate, and finally got home around 10:00 pm.

Luke and Bradley sitting on the back bumper

Charity and her friend at the Trunk-or-treat

What a night! It took a while to wind down, but they all had a good night's sleep! I say "they" because I ended up staying up until 3:00 with my night owl mom who works nights and is used to staying up all night. We did Yogalates at 3:00 in the morning!! It's been a while since I did anything that crazy!! And I think the last time I did that, it was me keeping her up against her will. But it was actually kinda fun (until I woke up 6 hours later and couldn't even think straight all day!). But anyway :) Good times!!

Noah fell asleep while we were doing Yogalates- he looked so stinkin cute.

Hope you all had as nice of a Halloween as we did!!

Now on to Thanksgiving!!!