Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very thankful day today. We spent the day at home together, and enjoyed our rest. At the beginning of the week we started a kitchen remodel, so cooking dinner was an interesting feat today. Caleb took advantage of having the many disgusting part of a turkey in the house to have a little anatomy lesson with Gavin. I was totally grossed out by a bag full of vital organs, but Gavin loved it. And both boys enjoyed watching Caleb carve the turkey. There were a lot of comments like, "What da heck?" and "Gross, it that the bone?"

ignore the partly finished state of the kitchen... hopefully more completed pics will be ready by Monday.

Henry woke up about 4 am with what turned out to be a 101 fever, and though he seemed better off and on during the day. He just nodded when we asked him if he was having a Grumpy Thanksgiving.

We did get this little smile out of him before it was all over, though the eyes closed.

Gavin was all Thanksgiving spirit this year, thanks to preschool and a few Thankful talks at home. He enjoyed listing things he was thankful for all week, and tried to encourage Henry to do the same. He also gathered a pretty nice bouquet of twigs from our friend Caryn's yard, and we created a center-piece for our Thanksgiving spread. He was so proud of it he had a hard time focusing on eating with it nearby.Earlier this afternoon, while Caleb and I were cooking in the kitchen we heard Gavin yell, "Henry! Get over by me, I am trying to tell you that I love you!" Nothing like forcing the spirit of family on your little brother.

Snowball Fight!

What we expect to be the first of many.

I not Goofball. I Henry.

Happy Halloween 2009

We were all pretty excited for Halloween this year. There was lots and lots of talk about costumes, which finally led to these fabulous ensembles yesterday morning.
Once Gavin spotted this Captain America get-up, there was no going back. We just had to find the time to make a shield out of cardboard to go along with it. Henry on the other hand was a different story entirely. He insisted that he did not actually dress up for Halloween, and he rejected every costume we suggested. I finally resolved to just let him choose something from the dress-up box when Halloween came around and it could go with this black outfit underneath. In the morning he choose to be a night... though we never left the house.

By the time he and Caleb showed up at the church for out party... He was Batman! Complete with deep grouchy voice and scowl to scare villains.

Since Caleb came as himself, he didn't get to be in our little group photo. ;-)

Gav looked so cute on the way over to help me decorate the church that I just couldn't help, but take a picture. At 5:30am Halloween morning he woke up and when I took him back to his bed he started talking about how excited he was for the party and what he thought I should do with my costume so that people would know that I was really the devil.

Of course there was lots of superhero style posing from Captain America. Quite impressive.

Hauling the loot at the end of the night... Batman was too worried about someone finding out his true identity to do any posing. And he just wanted to stay near his Dad and eat a lot of candy.

It goes without saying that at least one person in our house is glad that Halloween is over, and one person is already planning their costume for next year.

Lost in Translation

This was my conversation over dinner tonight with Gavin and Henry.

G: Mom, what song is this?
M: 'Be Still, My Soul.'
G: What kind of music is it?
M: Kind of like church music.
H: Dis song beauful, Mom.
G: Henry, it's called 'They Steal My Skull.'

Oh Goodness. It's going to be a long night of explaining the english language.

Ready for Winter Yet?

During my trip to Mesa, Heidi and worked on making this super cute guy! Since he couldn't be completely finished and still ride home in a suitcase, I finally just finished him today. And I must say that he looks super fun. I love it!The other thing that is super fun... these two crazies. Even cuter in their hats and gloves on a chilly day. Or in Henry's case, the matching sweatsuit. He's ready for a brisk jog around the park.

Punkin Carving

Sunday night we set to work carving our Jack-O-Lanterns. The boys had picked out their pumpkins, though Gavin ended up wanting to carve the big one that I bought just because Halloween requires at least one large pumpkin at the house. They were pretty excited and drew the faces on the pumpkins and then left the carving to the parents.

Henry did help scoop out the pumpkin guts.

Gavin was all excited about helping until...

... he smelled the pumpkin guts... yes, he is plugging his nose. geesch.

I am so delicately carving Henry's little pumpkin.

The end results weren't too shabby.

When we finished Henry kept saying, "I don't want to eat my Jack-O-Lantern." Not sure where he got the idea that we were going to make him eat it, but he was quite relieved when we told he didn't have to.

Primary Program

Yesterday was every one's favorite church meeting of the year. When the Primary kids (ages 3-12) put on their program. This year was just a fabulous as we could have hoped. Gavin had 2 speaking parts and did a great job. While he did have them memorized, he chose to wait for some help from his primary teachers, but spoke them with great poise. He knew almost all of the songs, and sang out loudly most of the time. He did do some complaining before hand that if the program took too long, his mouth would be hurting from all of that singing. Somehow he survived, and with only minimal nose-picking while sitting in the choir seats at the front of the church for 70 minutes. We were proud of how well he did in his first program.

Henry's nursery class did go up at one point and sing a song, but he sat down in the aisle and refused to be coerced into going up to the front with his friends, so he sat this one out. Maybe next year. And regardless he did look pretty handsome for church.

Antelope Island

Last weekend, while I went to Arizona for a weekend with my mom and sisters, Caleb took the boys to Antelope Island. For some reason we have never been to the Great Salt Lake, so it was a first for them. Gavin was disappointed that they didn't see any antelope, but they did see quite a few buffalo.

And they got to climb on a lot of rocks.

This little guy looks just the right size for Henry.

This is as close as they got to the water, and Gavin was covering his nose and mouth "because it smelled Desgusting."

They seemed to have enjoy themselves and survived the weekend without me. I was actually very glad to get back to them after a few days away, so I guess it was good for all of us.

Red Butte Gardens

Saturday we spent one of the last warm mornings of the year at Red Butte Gardens. It was really beautiful. We had a great time wandering around and checking out the giant goldfish and collecting acorns. There weren't many flowers in bloom, but the color were still nice.

The boys had so much fun running and climbing and exploring the place. Inside the adobe house.

It was amazing that we found something new to do in town. We will definitely have to go back again.

weekly project

Here is my cute project that I did last week. Just had to show it off.Thanks Stacy for helping me make it look great.

7 years of Wedded Bliss

Even though this isn't the most monumental or most celebrated anniversary we have ever had. It is nice to mark another year together. We were having fun when we started, and I think we are still having fun now.

Here is what 7 years will do to ya... not too shabby.

Looking forward to many more.

Highland High Little Rams Preschool

This week Gavin started his first year of preschool away from the comfort of home (and the homes of close friends). He was super excited for his first day, though a little nervous about the undefined idea of "making new friends." He has done great. He loves his teachers and especially thinks that Miss Colleen is so so funny. It is great to see him adjusting well and ready to learn new things in new places. We are looking forward to a fun year.

One more pose outside the school.

Another great part about this year is that his friend Lexi is going to preschool with him. They are finally starting to realize that girls and boys like a lot of different things, so they have both been able to adjust to doing things with other kids in the class. Though it is always nice to have a friendly face and a great friend to share all of those learning moments with... even if you do have to decide that one of you wants to play with the doll house and the other the rocket ships.And look who gets to spend 3 mornings a week with his Mommy... I am lovin' that face.