Gobble gobble

Two major holidays down and one more to go!

We spent Thanksgiving like everyone else. We stuffed our faces with family just as the Pilgrims and Indians of old would have wanted us to. The kids had fun visiting with their cousins, and Corinne survived the day without a nap while only being half as crabby as I predicted she'd be. Holidays are brutal with a two-year-old, but we made do.

We're thankful for a lot, around here. I don't want to jinx us, but I'm EXTREMELY thankful we haven't been sick since May. A true milestone for my kids. The kids even made a list of things they're grateful for....because I forced them.

Taylor was watching some stupid Disney channel show and a commercial came on about a little girl who had her bedroom made over and got a ton of presents. Taylor suddenly had a case of the gimmies and I quickly sat her butt down to take some inventory of all the things she's lucky to have. We made a paper turkey and wrote the things we were thankful for on the feathers. It did the trick and it was nice to hear the girls show a little gratitude.

Their grateful list in no particular order:
Mommy (I'm pretty sure I was first on the list because I probably looked like I was going to flip a lid after Taylor's little gimmie attack.)
Daddy
Andi (Corinne's friend)
Gunnar Cory (The boy Taylor is "in love" with at school)
Nana
Grandma
Grandpa
Mrs. Evans
Grandpa Bruce
Aunt Sue
Cooper
Logan, and that his arm is better
Aunt JJ
Uncle Jimmy
Aunt Ashley
Uncle Bobby
Zero (He was mentioned about five times, dumb dog)
Clothes
Food
Not being sick
Kaelyn (Taylor's friend)
Heavenly Father
Jesus
Our house

15 popular gifts for kids young and old | ksl.com

15 popular gifts for kids young and old ksl.com

And another one....

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Getting Taylor to sleep is a piece of cake. Corinne, being two, is a whole other story. Although not half as bad as some toddlers, she had a tendency to get out of bed once tucked in. I'd go in there and reason with her (pah!), and eventually I'd give in and lay down with her to get her to sleep. This got old. Fast.

One night about two weeks ago, I was fed up with the whole bed time routine that involved me, bent like a pretzel, on the lower bunk with Corinne for 30 minutes while she played with my ears to fall asleep. So Wes took things into his own hands. He walked into the room after I had stormed out, said something to Corinne that I couldn't hear, and left the room with a smug look on his face. Corinne was silent and I was impressed. She has stayed in her bed at bedtime without a peep from then on.

Wes' secret trick? Well, he scares her into staying put. That's right. He told her that if she got out, the Big Bad Wolf was going to come. Yup, friends. Parenting at it's finest! But I'm not complaining. This little trick works for getting her to do ANYTHING. If she refuses to pick up her messes, Wes picks up the phone and threatens to call Mr. Wolf. You've never seen a kid jump so fast.

And in case you're wondering, Taylor is totally unphased by these threats and enjoys seeing Corinne scared over a fictional character. It's a win/win for everyone....except Corinne.

Feel free to try this little trick on your little one. Corinne might be scarred for life but I still think Wes is a genius!

Above are some pictures from Wes' 32nd birthday. I surprised him with indoor skydiving at City Walk, along with a dinner with our friends. He was very surprised and had a great time. We were horrible skydivers and not half as graceful as our friends.

And a word about our friends...When we lost our house and moved into this area, I questioned why we had to go through something like that. But it taught us SO much and on top of that, we have made some incredible friends that have really become like family. When we were sitting down to Wes' birthday dinner, I was getting choked up just looking at everyone. I am incredibly thankful for each of them and feel like they've been plopped down into my life at exactly the right time. If we hadn't gone through such a tough experience, we would never have met these wonderful families that we love so much. Who knew we'd be so lucky?

Went on a fun scavenger hunt for Rachel's birthday. We ran around the mall doing stunts and taking pictures. Some of us dressed in 80's garb in honor of Rachel being a child of the 80's.

Spooky cuteness

It's over. We've celebrated the heck out of Halloween. We hit up four parties in four days and by the time Halloween night rolled around, the kids were content to visit 8 houses before calling it quits and passing out candy from home.

I maxed out my memory card on my camera this month. There was just too much cuteness going on. Taylor was Daphne from Scooby Doo, and Corinne was Strawberry Shortcake for four parties and Cinderella for Halloween night. They were both adorable and we got our money's worth from those costumes.

Now that Halloween is over, I bet the rest of the year is going to fly by!


Here's me and Taylor singing "Monster Boogy", their favorite Halloween song this year. "King Tut" was last year's favorite.