Halloween Party

All right, so it has taken me almost a week to write about our family Halloween Party. First off I have to say that it was great! Ever since Ben and I got married we have wanted to throw a Halloween party. We sort of threw one a few years ago, but not really. So this year I decided to bite the bullet and just do it. So we did. We ended up inviting about 100 people. Neighbors, family and other friends. Adn about 65 people came, so we had a pretty good turnout I thought. We had a few activities for the kids. They made pumkpin masks, did a ghost walk where they won ghost suckers, and then a bean bag toss into a cauldron or plastic pumpkin. And then there were cupcakes and homemade rootbeer as well as about a 100 other treats people brought. There was plenty to eat that is for sure. Ben and I had spent the entire week decorating our house for the party. We had the funnest time making the decorations. We made paper mache pumpkins, we made little jack o lanterns out of a bunch of tin cans and painted them. Ben cut out about 50 paper bats and about 25 paper pumpkins to hang from the ceiling. We made 30 paper Jack O lanterns to hang on the wall...okay you get the idea, we made a ton of decorations and the place looked freaking awesome if I do say so myself. In the ghost walk room (our Master bedroom, we moved the bed and everything else out besides 2 dressers for the party) We coverd the 2 dressers with white sheets and put black eyes on them and then we had ghosts hanging from the ceiling all over and gave out ghost suckers to the winners of the game. A lot of the kids said that this room was their favorite. We had another room for kids to make pumpkin masks in, I think the kids liked that as well. And then downstairs we had treats, treats, treats, and homemade rootbeer. James was so excited for the party, each day this week he asked if it was the day of the party yet. So he was excited to finally have his friends come and have some Halloween fun. I think everyone who came had a pretty good time, we enjoyed it and we will for sure do this next year. I have posted just a few pictures from the party, I have pictures of each of the guests and will be printing those off and taking them to their owners. Can you tell we love Halloween?

Lagoon

I never know what to get Ben for his birthday. I always ask what he wants, and unfortunately the things he wants are several thousand dollars, so I can never really get him what he wants. This means that he always ends up with what I like to get him....clothes. Yep, I always get him clothes for his b-day and maybe a toy. Seriously, a toy. Anyways, so this year i decided to get him something completely frivolous and I got him 2 tickets to Lagoon. They have just put in a new roller coaster there and we have been dying to try it out, so I thought he would enjoy it. Well, here it is more than 2 months later, and we finally used the Lagoon tickets. Susan watched the kids and we went off to lagoon. We had the funnest time. I don't even know why, I mean the rides were fun, but we had to wait at least an hour for each ride, so we actually didn't get to go on that many rides. I guess it was just so nice to be together, without kids. We love our kids, but everyone needs a break now and again. Anyways, we started off with the white roller coaster. I forgto how much I like that ride. It is just a good old fashioned coaster, but I still totally love it. Then it was off to the spider, which I 100% enjoy every time. I love that it flips you around as you ride. And then we went on the new coaster, Wicked. yeah that was pretty darn fun. I was absolutely terrified the first time and pretty much screamed the whole way. I couldn't stop shaking after either, but for some strange reason I really enjoyed it. And we went on it again. The second time around I just enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun. after that we went on Colossus a couple times and then to one of the haunted houses. I was surprised that I actually got a little scared in their haunted house. I thought they would be totally lame, but the did a pretty good job. Maybe I am just more of a wimp these days. That is most likely. Anyways, after all the fun was over we went to Wendy's and got frostys, fries, and onion rings. I am such a sucker for onion rings. They are delicious though, who can turn them down?

Uh, Knock?

I can't think of anything to write about for the day because it was the usual day of cleaning, cooking, cleaning, errands, and then more cleaning. However, we did get to go see Jeremy and Rosanne's baby, Ada. She is a cutie, and a chubs, which I love. I love chubby babies. Anyways, so today I remembered something James did once and it made me laugh so I am going to write down so I won't forget it.
James has never been a very good sleeper. He didn't sleep through the night until he was one, even though we spent several nights of trying to let him cry himself to sleep, often 3,4,5 hours at a time. He finally slept okay from about age one to just before he turned 2, when we moved him into the toddler bed. Harrison was due soon and we needed the crib for him. At first James was excited about his new bed and did just fine sleeping in it. However, after the new bed lost its charm, we were back to sleepless nights. James didn't want to stay in bed...ever. We tried just about everything we could possibly think of. It finally came to shutting and locking his door. Yes, he would scream and cry but after a few moments he would go back to bed or fall asleep by the door. It made me sad, but it was the only way he ever went to sleep. Wel I don't remember what really happened, but for some reason we couldn't lock/shut his door. I think the handle was broken or something. Oh here is a little background info, I had taught him that when he wanted to go into a room when the door was shut he needed to knock on the door to see if he could go in or not. Okay, now back to the story. Well we put him in bed, he absolutely would not stay, we tried letting him sleep in our room, that didn't work out either He would just not sleep. So we put him in his bed, and then went in our room and locked our door shut, in hopes that he would wander back to his own bed. He came to our door crying, sreaming, hitting the door, 100% tantrum. Well he is screaming at the top of his lungs when he suddenly stops and says, "uh.....Knock?" We started laughing so hard. It was the funniest and cutest thing ever. I don't even remember how he ever went to sleep that night or what happened, but I still laugh whenever I think about him saying "uh...knock?"

Singing

Ever since James was born I have sung "I am a Child of God" to him. I have sung it every night to him before he goes to sleep, and then we often sing it during the day as well. He never sang it along with me or showed any sign that he even recognized the song until he was 2. It was a little while after Harrison was born. We were over at mom and dad's and had gathered around to sing. All the little kids were sitting in their chairs and had hymn books they were looking. I remember seeing James sit there with the Hymn book and thinking he was so cute all dressed in his Sunday clothes. We finally sang "I am a Child of God" and to my great surprise James sang the entire song. He knew every word and he just belted it out. I was bursting with pride and was of course sobbing at the same time. I will never forget that moment. Since then we have sung that song at least 1,000 times. And still every night when I ask him what song he wants us to sing, that is the one e picks (he often picks a second song as well, but his first choice is always I am a Child of God). James is a funny little singer. He loves to sing. He will switch tunes in the middle of any song, but he tries really hard to get it all right. When he has to go to the bathroom he always shuts the door, and, thinking we can't hear him, sings at the top of his lungs for about 15-20 minutes. It always makes me laugh. As soon as he opens the bathroom door he is as quiet as a mouse and acts as if nothing had happened. We really need to record it sometime. James also often sings himself to sleep. I will hear him in his room singing a song to himself and slowly the song gets slower and quieter, and then he is asleep. He did that the other night in the car singing "Snape, snape, severus snape" until you could barely understand what he was saying anymore. I then asked him if he was tired, he insisted that he was not, continued singing, and in a few moments was sleeping soundly. I love my little boys.

Running

I would not consider myself a "runner" exactly, but I do go running a few times each week. I run at least 3 miles each time and if I am feeling extra good I will do another mile and a half. I always run in the morning, around 7 am. At first it was really hot outside and I would be dripping in the first few minutes. Now it is starting to get cold and I bundle up and only start to get warm in the last mile. I started running in April. I have always gone for walks and did a little running but nothing really. I did some 5K's this summer. I love the races, I think that is why I run mostly. I love to be out there in the early morning, runners everywhere getting ready for the race, your adrenaline gets going as the anticipation mounts. And then everyone takes off. Pretty much everyone is going faster than me, but I don't mind. Slow and steady wins the race. In fact, in my first race this summer we ran up the hill that leads to the provo temple. it is quite a hill when you are running it. I felt pretty darn good as I ran the entire way and passed several college students, including guys who had decided to walk up the hill. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself. My time on that race was disappointing 30 min. But with each run I improved my time. My running partner and I did our last 5K in 26 min. Not amazing, but I was proud of it. It is funny, before I run I always think "oh man, I really don't feel like running today" and I really don't want to go. But I am always glad when I return from the run and tell Ben how well or bad I did. My favorite part about running is when I am about done with my route and I just run as fast as I can the rest of the way. I love to run fast. When I am going as fast as I possibly can I seriously feel like I am on top of the world. I feel like I am some super hero or something. Yeah that is pretty lame and cheesy, but that's the truth. Sometimes I dream about running races and I am unbelievably fast. I always wake up and think "man if I could ever really run like that" My goal is to one day win one of these races. (be the first woman across the finish line, or in my age division at least) that might not happen until I am 95 and the only reason I win is because everyone else my age is dead, but still, I win. I have recently committed to doing the Ogden Marathon. That is another one of my goals, to finish a marathon, running the entire way. My neighbor and I are training for it. I am sure it will be the death of me, but I am really excited to finish the thing. As I was running tonight I was paying more attention to my running than I was to the music I was listening to. I was running at my neighbors house and there was a mirror right in front of the treadmill, so I couldn't help but see what I looked like as I ran. First off, why didn't anyone tell me that my thighs jiggled as I ran, ugh. But I will say this, I felt powerful as I ran. I love the feeling of my heel hitting the ground and my leg reaching as far forward as it could and carrying me on to the next step. As I watched myself run, I didn't think that I looked like a "runner", but maybe one day I will.

Gardner Village

Last night Ben returned from a several day business trip. So today he took the day off, and we went to Gardner Village. I have never been there before, but people had told me it was pretty fun, and that it was all decorated for Halloween. We, being the Halloween crazies we are, wanted to go check it out. We were not disappointed. First off, the candy shop had the yummiest pumpkin fudge ever, I want more now! The boys got little pumpkin suckers, that kept them happy for quite a while. It was really cool there though. There were pumpkins and witches EVERYWHERE. There was a witch in a boat in the pond. A witch peddling on a bike in the air, some witches playing baseball. Witches on the roof, at every doorway, and around every corner. It was so fun. James said he liked the ones playing baseball the most. Ben liked the bike one, and I liked the one in the pond, although the one on the bike was pretty cool looking. That place really did have the coolest Halloween decorations ever. I wanted to buy everything, but I am proud to say that we only got a couple little treats and a pony ride for James. There was a petting zoo and pony rides. Harrison loved the sheep, he liked their wool. He laughed really hard, chased the thing down and then grabbed it with both hands and rubbed his face on them. It was really cute. He has always liked fuzzy things on his face, so I am not too surprised. James got to ride one of the ponies. He was a little afraid of the animals when he got up close to them, but from a distance he loved them and said "Oh look, how cute!" He was so excited to ride the pony, but he was a little afraid while riding it. I was sad we didn't take a camera with us. Probably James' and Harrison's favorite place was the bakery, where we got cookies and donuts, and the toy store where they had a Thomas train set that they could play with, and they did. I liked just about every store, but there was a Christmas store there and me being the Christmas crazy that I am, could have spent all day there. I have always loved the little miniature villages people have at Christmas time and have always wanted to get one. This place had every Christmas village set you could imagine. They were all over. They also had Halloween villages and I thought they were just as fun. After all of our Gardner Village fun, we went to Carl's Jr, and ate like pigs. Harrison found a new love, Fry sauce. At first he just dipped the fry in and sucked off the sauce, then he just grabbed the entire container of fry sauce and drank it up, I later found him with the paper container in his mouth ( I guess he was just getting every last drop). It made me laugh pretty darn hard though. All in all, I think we had a pretty fun day.

Surprises

I am often surprised by my kids. Surprised at what they could do. I have found on several occasions that they can do way more or understand more than I thought they could. For instance, we have a FHE wall. We are currently learning about different people in the Book of Mormon and what they did. We then put up a picture and a little phrase to help us remember something about them. Like Nephi " I will Go and Do". Well I was moving stuff to another wall and James just started telling me all the stories that we had been going over and I was so surprised that he actually remembered them so well. It made me happy to think that he was actually listening. Also, When he was a baby he had a pacifier. And took it everywhere with him. He woke up in the night when he lost it and wouldn't go back to sleep until you found it for him. He was getting older and older and i kept thinking that I needed to take it away but I was so worried about the tantrums to follow and the crying all night and everything without a pacifier. When James was almost 18 mos old we lost his last one. And I had said when he lost that one we were not going to replace it. I was shocked when James could not have cared less that it was gone. He slept all night long and never missed it for a moment. Once again today James surprised me. Church always seems to be somewhat of a struggle with baby and toddler and trying to keep the noise level down. I always brought a bag of snacks sippy cups, crayons, quiet books, and other stuff to keep them entertained. But once again I have been thinking that James is getting too old for this and should be sitting without all the extra stuff to entertain himself. I was really worried 2 weeks ago when I explained to him that he woudl have to be a big boy and just sit reverently the entire time. It was stake conference and so it was 2 hrs instead of the 1 hr sacrament meeting. I was absolutely shocked at how well he did. He asked a few times for things but when I reminded him that he was a big boy now he didn't complain. The nest week when we went into church he said "If I be reverent we can go to grandma's tonight?" I of course said yes. And he sat on the chair with his arms folded the entire time. I was absolutely shocked. We went to gma's right after church, he definitely had earned it. Again this week he was unbelievably good. Ben was gone today, so i had harrison on my lap and could not give the sacrament to the people at the end of the row, so James very carefully carried it to the family sitting at the end of the row. He was so good, I was just beaming. Now, I realize that there are many a rowdy days ahead of us and that the novelty of being a good boy will probably wear off and all that stuff. But I am once again surprised by my kids abilities and realize that I hold them back sometimes because I am too afraid of how they will do. Kids are a lot tougher and more capable than we give them credit for.