Making Cake

Last night when we asked Lucy what we should have for dinner she quietly said, "cake?" 

We both laughed, but decided that it would be okay to have cake AFTER dinner. 

The kids helped Daddy to mix and stir the cake together, then we made frosting and the kids got to stir in their choice of food coloring. 

Here are the picture of their cakes

 Lucy's cake - the color looked a lot more neon-y green than the picture shows

 Cole's cake, they had a lot of fun with the sprinkles

 Lucy (and my 32 week belly!)

 Cole kept trying to lick his cake while Devin got a picture

Best smile we could get, he wouldn't take his eyes off of the cake to smile for the camera.

It was such a fun night, I love spending time together as a family!

Things that make me Smile

Got out of the shower yesterday to find my kids doing this :)

I cannot get over Cole's dancing. Cracks me up every time I watch this video! And I just love how creative Lucy is. She loves singing and pretending, this song was for/about the babies sitting on the chair holding the dog :)

Tonight after dinner Devin and Cole were sitting in front of the computer listening to music, they were making the EXACT same face while watching,

by the time I got back with the camera Cole had decided to dance so here is a video since I stink at capturing the 'moment' 

And because only my family can look so stinkin' cute while dressed up here is this picture :D

 Last but not least Cole took this picture of me :) i'm bent all funny because I was trying to make sure he got my face

Nov 2nd: Having a hard time being Thankful

Today I do not have a thankful heart. 

It's one of those days where everything seems to be wrong or drive me crazy. 

SO, 

here is my attempt at kicking my attitude into gear. 

~ Today I am grateful for how forgiving my children are of my moodiness. That they will love me unconditionally because I am their mother. 

~I am grateful for their hugs and kisses. 

~I am grateful that they love to be near me (yes, even when I don't want them at my feet all the time), and they want me to be involved in their lives, and see the new things they can do. 

~The phrase, "Be as a little child," just came into my head. Sometimes I don't see what the Savior meant by that phrase, but today I do. Children are so Christlike in their love. 

Halloween

This year Gina and I decided to make the kids costumes matching! We saw a picture (on pinterest) of two little kids dressed up as Fred and Wilma Flinstone (from The Flinstones) and thought it was so cute we should do that for Lucy and Aiden, and have Cole be Bam Bam. It was SO fun! We got together and made the costumes one day (a little crazy but it was fun!). Lucy got so excited when she saw she was wearing a dress. Put Lucy in a dress and she is in heaven (usually).  Anyways, Cole wouldn't even try on his costume (or Aiden either for that matter---what's wrong with little boys??) so it wasn't really 'fitted' but it still turned out and he even wore it TWICE! 

After hearing about other people's fun festive dinner ideas I was feeling a little lame with mine. So I dyed our chicken orange (with this cool seasoning called Sazon) and mixed it with black beans and put it all over rice! Get it...black, orange..halloween colors!!

 Here it is all cooking

Steamy Rice

And the finished product. I know it doesn't look like anything amazingly tasty, but I have to say this is one of my favorite meals. I LOVE chicken with black beans and rice. 

Devin's pre-tasting face....

AND I have to point out that the rice turned greenish-brown...more halloween-y -ness :D...I know I'm stretching it but I was pretty excited about how it all turned out. 

Lucy was NOT this excited about the food...just her picture.

Cole did love the food though!

 Our ward had a Trunk or Treat (which actually had an AMAZING turn out!). Since our trunk is faulty and won't stay up (and the fact that we live a block from our church) we carved a pumpkin and put our candy inside! Here is our amazing pumpkin!

 It was all Devin's idea, that guy is a genius. I really wish I was as creative as he is. He even pinned a grocery bag so the candy wouldn't get all slimy. I thought it was pretty cool. 

 Here is Bam-Bam by the candy pumpkin (little mister sticky fingers couldn't wait for the candy)

 Devin was a bug-catcher and I was a ladybug!

 Little Miss Wilma

 Wilma, Bug-Catcher, Bam Bam

 My kids love suckers! Cole kept holding his in front of his teeth and sucking it with his lips....it was hilarious!

 Whenever there were suckers in a bowl Lucy would grab one! She has a TON of suckers in her bag.

 Here we all are!

 Like my antenae? I sure did!

 And here are the happy couple :) 

Gina &Tyson & Aiden were late due to traffic so we got pictures together after the Trunk or Treat. 

November: I am Thankful

It is November 1st today! 

Today I am grateful for Friends.

I have been blessed with great friends over the years. We had a few good friends move this year and I have missed them so much! It is hard to see them go. It is even harder to make the effort to make new friends! We moved for the summer, then moved closer to campus, and although we didn't move far I feel like moving at all separates you from friends. It is just harder to get together with people when you can't walk down the street to see them. 

Recently I have felt the importance of having friends.  Not just for me but for my little ones as well. We were not sent to this earth to be hermits and stick to ourselves (though somedays that is all I want to do).  I am not the best at putting myself out there to make new friends, but I am trying to be better. 

I am thankful for the friends I have that have stuck with me and become so dear.  I am trying to be a better friend and really care about others around me.

Family Pictures

We are not the best at getting family pictures taken. I'm not a fan of 'pose for the camera' pictures. I feel awkward and have a hard time looking natural. 

Anyways, we got them before Lucy was a year old

, and then an unofficial one last Halloween  

Now that it has been a year and we are 10 weeks away from baby #3 coming I felt we really needed to get a family picture!

Last week we went to a park a few block from here to play in the leaves and it was a BLAST! but sadly we forgot our camera. So yesterday we went again because a bunch more leaves had fallen. We invited Devin's parents to come down too! Last minute I decided this would be a good time for family pictures....well, here are the results :)

 At least Devin was looking at the camera!

2 out of 4.  :)

 We tried so hard to get the kids to look --Lucy absolutly refused and Cole just looked everywhere else!

 LOVED his face on this one :) Those big leaves were so much fun!

 Lucy still refusing to look. And no smiles from Cole

 Last one before we gave up! :)

I think these next ones are the best, becuase they are not posed and everyone is just having fun :)

And this one is my favorite!!!! Because it is just so cute. Lucy loves her Daddy. They were just lying there. Devin told me later they were talking about the trees. 

After we stopped taking pictures Oma and Opa (Devin's parents) were smiling and laughing. Something about how Devin used to refuse to smile for pictures when he was a little boy. 

Ahh, the joys of family pictures :) At least we did it! And there are a few good ones in there after all.

Carving Pumpkins!

We carved our pumpkins last week! It was so much fun. Last year the kids loved the goop and had fun playing in it...This year as soon as Lucy saw what we had to scoop out she opted to wait until they were ready to carve! :) 

  Everyone at work!            

 Cole was on one that night! He was jabbering at everyone! Telling everyone what they were supposed to be doing, and just talking non-stop -- for almost two hours! It was hilarious!

 Devin gave him a butter knife because it wasn't sharp and Cole just wanted to use a knife like everyone else! Well, carve he did and stab he did! We were amazed at how many hole he put in his pumpkin!

 Once we got all the innerds out Lucy wanted to carve the pumpkin. It was definitely a joint effort. We had a very THICK pumpkin and it was really hard to carve through.

 Cole going to town with his knife again

 Figuring out how to fit the top on -- love Cole's face!

 Celecta and Ryan working on theirs 

 Devin and Cole's pumpkin on top; Celecta's (very cute) pumpkin on the bottom

Ryan's pumpkin on top and Lucy's 'spooky mulan face' on bottom

 (i'm pretty sure the black paint cooked the pumpkin a bit, because carving through that part was really hard!)

Here they are without the flash!

These pictures were kind of cool!!