Big mouth baby

This is Saya's new trick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our three little turkeys

Chani, Saya, & Emery

Do you like my hat?

Do you like my party hat?

Saya has an excellent car seat snuggler (Thanks Shelly!) but unless the flannel is over her face, then her head is exposed. *I found this tutorial, and I have to say I'm pleased with how well it turned out. We like that party hat!

*The tutorial was super easy, and can be made for babies, kids, or adults.

Clint had a birthday too!

I'm a slacker.  Clint had a birthday on November 13.  It was a Sunday and it's harder to celebrate on Sunday (at least if all you do is go out to dinner like us).  So, we were able to sneak away for lunch on Monday, and on Saturday he had most of the day to relax and do whatever he wanted (except that it was too windy to go out shooting).  He's gotten several new toys this year (a big Angus pad, a couple of new guns, and a puppy) so he didn't really get a present.  But if anyone has some great ideas for him for Christmas, please send them my way, I'm hoping for a true surprise for the first time in 11 years!

The Bumbo

Saya has started to love the bumbo seat! It helps me get some things done. Tonight I planted her on the table so that I could do the dishes while the kids were eating dinner. I turned my back and when I turned back around she was decorated. Chani added a little bling. Love it! And, I'm so in love with those tiny piggy toes.

Emery turned 6!

On Friday, November 18, Emery turned 6. We had planned to take him out of school for his birthday, so I planned on taking birthday cupcakes to school on Thursday. I was just finishing up the frosting when the school called. Emery had a cruddy cough and a slight fever, and could I come get him. Ugh! Poor kid. We dropped the cupcakes off for his class and headed home to nurse his sickness with chicken pot pie and rest. The cupcakes turned out pretty cute from our favorite show), and everyone had one after dinner.

Iron Man costume, Atlantis Lego Set, coolest Lego box, and remember the sand box.

Friday was the main event. After presents and pancakes, we went to Denver and our first stop was the Lego Store. Emery picked out a new Lego set (the dinos are pretty cool) and wandered around with his mouth open for at least an hour.

After that, we ate lunch at Emery's favorite place. Can I just say that offering apples and a little tiny french fry in the Happy Meal made my kids so very happy!

After lunch we headed to Dinosaur Ridge. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful (60 degrees) day. We didn't even wear jackets. We first went on a bus tour of the ridge. 100 million years ago it was the edge of an ocean. Now it's a mountain, and as the layers of rock come away, they are finding cool things like dinosaur footprints.

We were also able to see large boulders that break away from the mountain and roll down. They are FULL of fossils. They can take years to excavate, so they just leave them there for people to see.

We also saw where a brontosaurus was walking, and left a bulge in the layer of mud. It's now a fossilized layer that hangs down. Because of the shape, they can tell which way the dinosaur was walking. Emery was so quiet and listened so well to the guide. She was so good with him, and the other people on the tour just gushed about how great our kids were. Moments like this make me feel like I might be doing something right.

There was a geologist who was taking the tour with us (he works there), and he gave Emery the coolest birthday present. I can't find it tonight to take a picture of it, but it's awesome. It's a gastrolith. It can also be called a gizzard stone or a stomach stone. Birds, like chickens, eat rocks to help grind up the grains and other foods they eat since they have no teeth. Some dinosaurs did the same thing. When they find fossils, they sometimes find these gastroliths with them. It's about the size of Emery's fist and beautifully polished. We need to write Mr. Morrison a thank you note.

A few random shots at the end of the day. On the way home we stopped for dinner. It was a great day and so much fun!

the last 10

pounds that is. I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm thrilled to be there, but I feel like I still have a ways to go. I know that with the holidays approaching and the weather being too crummy to run, I've got to be mindful of what I'm eating.

I was probably the most diligent when I was running with Heidi (hi, Heidi, I sure miss you!) and I looked pretty good then too (not that there are a lot of pictures...I'm usually behind the camera).

I know what my problem is. I like food....a lot. I like to eat and I don't have a lot of willpower. I need to work out and eat less. I know exactly what I need to do. Why then is it so difficult? Sigh.

So, I just needed to document this, at less than 3 months post baby, I'm below baby weight, and I have 10 pounds to go to before I'm done nursing and my metabolism freaks out. Slim in 6, here I come!

a food storage post

This is more for my notes than anything. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't read on.

I purchased 2 boxes of chicken from this company. It came in on Wednesday and the delivery man told me the chickens were alive on Tuesday in Mississippi. Talk about fresh. Here's what I did with 80 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breasts. The breasts were huge, about 1 lb. each.

72 pints of bottled chicken. Perfect for things like chicken salad, sandwiches, and casseroles that call for precooked chicken.

13 pkg. of 1 inch chunks of chicken, frozen.

15 pkg. of chicken cut into 4 large pieces, perfect for grilling, stir-fry or sweet and sour chicken.

Approximately 100 meals worth of chicken. Phew, I'm tired.

Two of my friends wanted a chicken canning lesson, so in addition to my 2 batches, we canned 7 quarts for one and 18 pints for the other. Thanks Bri and KaLee, it was fun.

$30

Sometimes, I feel like I'm unimportant. Now, I know I'm important, but sometimes, I feel like my life isn't important to anyone but those of us living it, and even then, I don't think my kids realize what the mom does.

SIDE STORY: Emery was telling me the other day that I didn't have a real job. I just looked at him with my mouth hanging open. Clint pointed out some of the things I do (laundry, dinner, running the kids to various things, buying groceries, etc.) which was good for Emery to realize. He knows I do stuff, but I don't "go to work" like his dad and his kindergarten teacher.

Anyways, back to the post at hand. I told Clint one day last week that I really wanted to open up the mailbox and find some cash in there. We paid a lot of big bills this month so our budget is pretty tight and there's not a lot of extra cash to go around. But Saya was worth every penny! I get a little bit of cash from preschool funds (after I pay tithing and buy supplies), and I wanted to take Clint out to dinner. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough for that after I got the tithing paid on Sunday and got some ink for printing preschool worksheets. On Monday, when I got the mail. There was a survey from these people. The first one I got came with $2. I filled it out and sent it back, so I guess they decided I was good for a second. This one came with $30. Enough to take my husband on a birthday date. It makes me feel like I'm not so unimportant.

Hacienda Guadalajara here we come.....when I find a new babysitter..........

Genes

We've had a few people comment or ask who Saya looks like. Just for kicks, I took these pictures last night. The quality isn't great, but you can get the idea.

While Saya looks like Chani, she acts more like Emery. It's obvious that she belongs to the family. Those genes are strong!

Halloween

Hope you all had a Spooky Day!

Love,
the witch, the Lego, and the monster in disguise.

When I'm gone....

....they love their dad.

I had to run dinner to a family in the ward. I came home to this cuteness on the couch. It made me smile!