Happy Halloween!

My friend Suzy invited us to go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood just up the street from us, which we decided would be great since we live on a main road.  We called our friends the Swintons and they met us there with their two cute boys.  Thatcher and Clark are friends and they are quintessential boys together.  They run around together, they push each other, they fight over toys, and when it's all over, they ask when they can play together again.  Thatcher's mom Jenna and I started a little preschool with just the two boys and we switch off teaching them every other week...and it's great.  They were so cute going around trick-or-treating together while the other little pumpkins, Andrew and Sterling, kicked it in their strollers.  The neighborhood we were in is really nice, and the yards are HUGE and a lot of the houses are up on hills, so those boys had to WORK for their candy.  Sometimes our little lightening McQueen would stall out, and I would have to go tow him up the rest of the way.  They were exhausted by the end of the night...which was perfect since he went to bed right when we got home, and then Tanner and I raided his candy.  It was a really fun night!

Mickey and Lightening waiting patiently for someone to answer the door

Running down the hills was fun!

 Two little pumpkins along for the ride

Halloween Eve!

So, we forgot to carve our pumpkins for FHE at the beginning of the week, but we hurried and got them carved the night before Halloween.  It was also our first night having a real live wood burning fire in our fireplace.  I know I felt like we were living in olden times turning off our central heat and watching Tanner head out the door to the forest in our backyard with ax in hand.  Clark just had to get in on this action.

   While Tanner and Clark created the inferno...Andrew was trying out some of his new skills he has recently acquired.  

He eventually stood up on that chair and started rocking back and forth while stabilizing himself with his hands on the wall.   Are all boys this fearless?  Or am I just particularly blessed in that area?

Eventually we got around to carving our two pumpkins.  I let Clark peruse online through some options of faces for me to copy, and he chose the happy face.  He thought it turned out pretty cute, and he decided that Daddy's mean face was pretty scary!

Truck or Trunk?

So I published the last post titled Truck-Or-Treat instead of Trunk-Or-Treat...and not only did I mess up on the title...I also messed up the spelling every time I used it in the blog for a total of three times. In my defense, it is 12:30am...so I guess it's time for bed.

Trunk-Or-Treat!

Saturday was our ward's Trunk-Or-Treat party, and we spent half the day trying to decide if we were going to venture out since it was cold and rainy ALL day. In the end, we decided to give it a go, and got the kids dressed in their costumes and headed to the church. There was a huge turnout, and Clark went kind of nutso when we first got there, but after a quick time out, he mellowed. I played with him and his friend Preston and while we were hitting a balloon back and forth to each other, Andrew was making friends with the other pumpkins.

I thought they all looked ADORABLE.

I originally wasn't sure if Andrew was going to carry on the tradition of being a pumpkin for the first Halloween because Clark was so big for his age, I didn't think the costume would fit Andrew, but it did! It actually brought back a lot of memories, and I kept calling Andrew, Clark, all night long even though they don't look that much alike to me.
Here is Clark in 2006 (11 months old):Here is Andrew in 2008 (9 months old):

Meanwhile, after about 20 minutes, Clark went from this:

To this:

Hmmm...It must be time for ice cream and candy!! First Tanner tried to take him through "Spook Ally," but Clark came out the entrance crying since the Young Men were put in charge of that activity and it didn't really cater to the Really Young Men. Tanner almost got stuck in it...so I guess it didn't really cater to the Old Young Men either ;-). There was also a raffle for activity games as prizes, and we won twice! We only took one prize, but seriously, I never win anything, so it must be Tanner's luck. I'm glad I married him! Once all the parents' eyes who have children under the age of 4 began to glaze over, they announced that we would head outside for the Trunk-Or-Treating portion of the evening. This ended up being my favorite part of the night, and not because Clark scored some good candy, but because Clark was adorable going from car to car politely saying "Trick or Treat!" and then when he would get his candy given to him in his awesome vintage Target plastic bag, he would always say "THANK YOU!" It's nice to know that some things sink in, even if tomorrow it starts to drain out again. It was a fun night...and yes, Tanner and I totally stole candy from Clark after he went to bed.

I'm Back...I Promise

I can't believe it has been three months since I last blogged. Where does the time go people? A LOT changes in 3 months...especially when you have a 9 month old...that's 1/3 of his life! Poor Andrew. As I pick up blogging again today going forward, I am also going to try to insert some blogs from the last 3 months in an attempt to fill in the gap in time so that Andrew doesn't have any future evidence of past neglect. Childline anyone? (family joke)

Clark is two going on three next month...and IS his stereotypical age in practically every way, shape, and form. He's not so cute when he is throwing a royal fit at my friend's house or when he is talking back to me in the exact same tone as I talk to him, but as long as he still looks cute to me in his footie pj's when I put him to bed at night, I feel like I am doing okay. Someday we will laugh at all of his antics just like we laugh at how Tanner kicked his mom in the shins and peed on the wheel of a car. Sometimes it's just hard to maintain that level of perspective, but I am going to try harder. I love his car noises. I love that when we go walking in the woods, he picks out the biggest and best looking leaves and gives them to me to hold for him. I love that some of his favorite words are "Mommy, LOOK!" and "Mom, guess what?!" I love that whenever I hurt myself or when Andrew falls, he says "Are you okay?" I love that he has started saying "Thanks Mom!" without being prompted. I love that he calls anyone and EVERYONE "friend". If he doesn't know your name, you automatically get dubbed as "friend". This age is such a mixed bag, and it is really easy to only focus on the bad things that need to change rather than the good things I want to encourage to stick around. I am going to be better.

Andrew is the get along guy. He lets Clark beat up on him (to a certain point) and he even sometimes will fight back which makes me laugh. I am sure this is all just a prelude to the many fights, good nature brotherly fights as well as full on brawls, that are sure to come in the years ahead. He has one tooth and melts me with every smile he flashes my way. He started crawling and is already pulling himself up. He coos in his crib (Clark never cooed), and he comes to find me when I leave the room. He is skinny, but tall. He is such a different kid than Clark, and before I had him people would tell me how different every kid is, and it always has made me nervous thinking about how much I would have to learn and grow in order to meet each child's needs and parent each one in the individual way they need. It is still daunting to think about, but it makes life way more fun and exciting this way. As my mom and sisters keep reminding me...parenthood is not for sissies.

As Tanner and I continue to try not to be sissies, we have also spent a lot of time reading, listening, and watching the political and economic happenings of each day. It is interesting yet oftentime tiresome and depressing. I am glad the election is almost here. I don't think I could have taken one more month of it. I have also started a twice a week preschool with my friend Jenna and her little boy Thatcher. We take turns each week teaching the boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far, it has been good for me and good for Clark to do this. I feel like we are both learning and it is also nice having a break on the days when he goes to Jenna's house.

I have found a forest/park that I love to take a walk in with my boys in the evenings. Families of deer watch us from afar as we walk along the path. Fall is finally here and the colors of the leaves on the trees are so vibrant, they take your breath away. Our friends Dave and Jenn came and stayed with us last week and will be moving here next month. They are the best and truest kind of friends. Speaking of the best and truest kind of friends...my sisters are amazing. I wish I could tell you everything that my sister Melanie and her husband Spencer have been doing in support of Proposition 8 in California, but I just wouldn't be able to do it justice. I am in awe of their service and dedication to this important issue. Tricia has had the uncanny ability to be able to say exactly what I have needed and wanted to hear over the past few weeks in our conversations. She's got some kind of 6th sense...ESP maybe? ;-)

There is a lot we can be depressed about, but there is more that we can be grateful and happy about. I said to my friend today after venting about politics that I needed to "go to my happy place."

So here I am.