Naptime..

Can you guess how Naptime is going at our house this week??? Grady has decided that naps just aren't his thing and that destroying his room is more like it. Oh, and around 5:00pm is when the "fun" really begins - maybe this is just a phase(fingers crossed and eyes rolling)!!!

Should I LEASH??

Does this picture make you cringe like it does me?? Ugh, I never wanted to be "the parent who couldn't handle their kid", and I know that is a total judgement and a rude one at that, but this is how I have always felt. I would see these parents and their wild little "animals" at Disneyland and think "seriously, just WATCH them"!!

And then I had Grady... Now I totally get it.

We are headed down to that Magical Place soon - SHHHHH... it's a SURPRISE - and I can't decide if I can live without this Leash for Grady. I mean, sure we'll keep a good eye on him at all times, but what if...??? I don't want to just leave it to chance - so what do you think?? Leash or no Leash? And, what kind and where do I get them?? I need thoughts y'all!!!

Halloween Hoopla

WARNING - Picture OVERLOAD Below -


The always popular "Pumpkin Carving" night turned out great and we got some cute pumpkins out of it. Grady just loved squishing the pumpkin and seeds in his pumpkin and Kendalyn designed her's and Grady's pumpkins. Adri changed her mind about 10 times and finally came up with a "fun, but not too scary" face..









Our Halloween was yet again a success and finally over. I swear, it builds up for SO long and when it finally gets to the actual day - I'm so over it! But, the kiddos LOVE it and if I am really honest - I love the actual trick or treat part and hearing Grady say "hank u" - his version of thank you - too cute!! The girls got to go with their friends and so Grady and I took our sweet time (thanks to Grady getting super distracted at everything) and went by ourselves. Spence took care of the candy part and I didn't know why he was so adamant that it was my turn to take them, until I came home and saw that the Utes and USC were playing - nice Spence!
We had a good one and our costumes seemed great until I saw amazingly creative and hand-made ones walking all over - come on people, can't you just forget your talents for a bit and shop at Target with me???

Pumpkin Pickin'

This year instead of paying money for pumpkins, (ours NEVER grow in the garden - it's weird) which Spence absolutely hates to do, we went to JandJ Nursery and got it all for free!  All we had to do was bring some canned food in and we got a free hayride and free pumpkins to boot - all for some green beans!!  The kids had a blast and they didn't even miss all the slides and mazes that we usually do - thanks JandJ...

The Hay Ride - a Big Tractor was pulling the wagon and Grady was thrilled!

I know, can you believe how darling this is...

Adri's Pick

Grady's Pick

Kendalyn's Pick

Another cutie...

The smell of the dirt reminded me of Idaho - loved it...

Luv Notes..

On Sunday after church, we came home and found these on our bed! 

One for me,

and one for Spence.

Adri was the culprit and she was SO happy to give them to us and for us to find them.  They don't actually say anything on them in writing, but I read LOVE.. Thanks sweet Adri girl - luv you too...

THANKS!!!

WOW - you all really came through with the Potty advice - THANKS SO MUCH!!! I have decided to do the "sit down" approach at first and then later, Spence can do the "stand-up-aim-at-cheerios" approach! We are starting slow though - I can't do the 3-day thing - I would go stir CRAZY being home and not going ANYWHERE. I am letting him set the pace and so far, he has gone poop in the potty 3 times in 4 days (unfortunately, today wasn't one of them) - WOO HOO! I am not celebrating too much yet, but we are SO proud and he knows it:) Thanks again...

Potty Training 101

I think I may need to take a class on how to Potty Train little boys - I REALLY have no idea how to do this. I bought the Elmo Potty Movie, but it doesn't explain HOW. Is there a book or something? I mean, I have done the girls, but this is totally baffling to me. How do you have them learn? Do they sit, do they stand? I don't get it!! Will you all PUUUULEASE help me out on this (I'm sure the 5 of you who read this will do this for me:) THANKS!!!

Yuck...

I have no idea why I get conned into buying these blasted things - my kids beg and beg and I cave. Here is the reason I hate them: they turn your fingers and mouth an icky orange color and then it smells. Ewww - I hate that Cheetos smell on Grady's little fingers - I can't get it off easily at all. I used to actually like the taste of these - I'm sure I get that from my Grandma (I think she still likes them), but now when I try to eat one, all I can smell is the icky orange fingers and I just can't bring myself to do it - so I guess that's a good thing right???

I'll Miss...

Grady's Crib... It's down and packed away for good - well, at least until we have grandkids and that is WAY off. He has finally decided that he can sleep in a big boy toddler bed and he is SO proud. I am too. We have had it up for months, but I was too worried that he would be walking around and playing at night, and I couldn't sleep - but not anymore. He has stayed in it and slept great! It was super sad for me to take it down - not because I want more babies (no way), but because of the memories. I remember when I was pregnant with Kendalyn and we were out looking for cribs and we finally found "the" crib up at Babinsky's in SLC. We both LOVED it!! I am not sentimental about most things, but sometimes a little button goes off and I become a little emotional. I'm okay now, but I am going to miss that thing - besides the fact that it made for a very "cute" room...

Arms of STEEL

Okay, I may be a bit obsessed with Kelly Ripa's arms lately - I mean have you seen them - they are amazing. I know there is this whole whoopdi doo about Michelle Obama's arms, and while they are lovely, they are not Kelly's. I watch Regis and Kelly pretty much everyday, and I just love looking at her arms - she ALWAYS has them showing - well, I would too if I had them:)
Anyway, she has been endorsing this new workout DVD called Physique 57 http://physique57.com/shop/products/ which is actually a studio that she works out in, in NYC. Well, of course I bought it and my first day trying it was yesterday - it was SO hard and I only did the 30 minute DVD, there is a 60 minute one (can you say OUCH?)and an Ab and Arm Booster - woo hoo! So, I can barely move today and the sides of my bum KILL - it was a great workout and I can't wait to try the rest - wish me luck with those arms!!!

Bye Bye Binky

Well, it is that time again - time to get rid of that retched binky! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the binky from the time they are born until about 2, after that it just becomes a BIG, FAT, PAIN - which is precisely why it was time to dispose of it. Grady kept getting this rash around his mouth from putting the binky on the side of his mouth and letting it hang out there with his lovely saliva - and, frankly, I had been debating on the timeline of the binky disposal anyway, so it worked out perfect!

With each of our kids, we have had a "Binky Party" to get rid of it. We give them ice cream and make a HUGE deal out of the whole thing. THEY get to use the "big" scissors and cut it themselves and we take pictures and get the whole thing on camera - it really is quite the production, but it WORKS!! It has been gone for over a week now and although naps are a bit harder(at least he IS still having them - YEA) he is doing GREAT!!! Sometimes he says "binky, bye-bye" with a bit of sadness in his voice, but we just clap and tell him what a BIG boy he is and talk about the "party" - and just like that, he moves on...