Primary Program 2007

Matthew had a part in his very first Primary program. He did so good! His speaking part was, "Faith is trust. I trust in Jesus Christ." He said it loud and clear. What a cute boy! I think his favorite part was singing Scripture Power. He loves that song, we sing it all the time at home.

It was so fun to see him so grown up.

It's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!

We had an early Halloween party at Martha and Ted's house tonight.

We were told to come dressed up and we had a ghoulish meal.

My family dressed up from Spider-Man. As you can see, Matthew is Spidey (and I honestly think that when he puts the costume on, he believes he is Spider-Man), Tim is Peter Parker (he's way more good looking than ol' Tobey), James is J. Jonah Jameson (the boss at the newspaper), and I am Betty Brant, the secretary (in the comic book, she and Peter Parker had a thing. Scandalous!). We had lots of fun dressing up.

Kristen is a deranged bride and Donavon is Melaleuca Man.
Amy is Sleepy Girl and Colin is a preppy Frat boy.
Ted is a newspaper printer and Martha and her tiny pooch are "Best in Show."
Here is a close up of J. Jonah Jameson. We colored in his eyebrows and drew on a mustache. Unfortunately, he slobbers a lot and has a runny nose, so the mustache was slowly fading away. They don't show that in the movies.

We love Summer...Wait, isn't it Fall?

We went to play in the water fountain today with Matthew and James' cousin, Colin. He's visiting from smoky California (they came here to get away from the fire, fortunately they and their house are safe). We had so much fun. And contrary to the pictures, we do feed Matthew, he just has the metabolism I wish I had.

New York, New York!

My parents went to New England a while back and sent us these fun New York shirts. Matthew loved his, especially because his grandma sent it to him. Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

Charge It!

Whenever I get junk mail, I let Matthew open it. He likes to get mail. I got a credit card offer in the mail the other day, and it had one of those paper credit cards in it. Well, Matthew was so excited the mailman had left it for him. He knows just how to use it and what to use it for.

Old MacDonald had a farm...

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch at Schnepf's Farm. It was so much fun. We went with our friends Tyler and Kristen and their two kids, Cooper and Ella. First we went on the giant bumble bee ride. And I think if that was the only thing we did, the kids would have been fine. It was the one thing that they all talked about over and over. In this picture, if you look really close, you can see Tim and James in another bee.
Matthew and Cooper loved the airplane rides. They went on it a few times. I think they really thought they were flying the plane.
Tim and Tyler raced in the road rally. Tim won!
Then the whole fam got to go on the carts. I kept forgetting to help Tim pedal. I was too busy making sure our kids wouldn't fall out or that Tim wouldn't get us too close to the low branches.
They also had pig races at the farm. It was so funny. This isn't a great picture, but you get the idea.
Matthew was handpicked as a Junior Pig Leader. He was paid in plastic cow (he thinks it's a pig, which would make more sense, if you think about it).
Matthew loves riding horses.

Here are the handsome boys in the petting zoo.

You can't really see in this picture, but just moments before, Matthew clocked Tim just below his eyebrow with his club. It was gushing blood. Poor Tim. I wasn't any help to Tim at all. I just laughed at him. And he still loves me. Amazing.

Matthew and Cooper had a lot of fun together. Look at all those dust particles in the air. We are sure feeling all the dust inhalation today.

Here's the cute Blood family. Look at all that dust. We were covered in it.

Here is the one casualty from the pumpkin patch. Matthew's checking it out like it was the first time he had seen it. It really disturbed him.

I might be a little biased, but I think those are the cutest boys ever.

And by the end of the night, the kids were done. They didn't want to walk anymore, so they all piled into the stroller and minutes later were sound asleep in their cars.

We had so much fun. When you live in Arizona, you have to do activities that remind you it's Fall, like going to the pumpkin patch. Even then it can be hard, especially when it's 95 out.

Halloween and Pumpkin Patches from the Past...

Pumpkin Patch 2004

Our first visit to a pumpkin patch, and we've been going ever since. Halloween 2005

"Git along lil' doggies" I can't believe how little he was! What a cutie!

Pumpkin Patch 2005

We ended up in the hospital later that night. Matthew was coming down with pneumonia and a temp of 106 (YIKES). After a blessing and a few tests and a big shot, he was good by the next day.

Halloween 2006

I am Angelina Jolie holding Zahara, James (in vitro) is Shiloh (we didn't know what we were having yet, but then again, that wouldn't have mattered anyway), Matthew is Maddox dressed as a white pirate, and Tim is Brad Pitt.

Pumpkin Patch 2006

Matthew loved his pumpkins. Note the small green pumpkin. We made him get the other one. And here I am pregnant with James.
Stay tuned for our 2007 Edition!

I Can't Take This Anymore!

Yesterday, while getting out of the car all by himself, Matthew fell. He landed on his hands and knees, scraping his knee a little bit. But he such a big boy that he didn't even cry. When we got home I told him I needed to clean all the germs out of his "owie." He didn't cry again. I was so proud. And then the band aids were put on. For some reason this made walking diificult. After a few moments, Matthew began crying, "I can't take this anymore!" Here are pictures of the offending bandages.

Ewww...Gross!

This is pretty cute. We have AWFUL lighting in our family room, so please excuse the darkness. I hope you can see the video clearly enough. Matthew's reaction is priceless.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

We went to a pumpkin patch with Martha. We met Martha's sister-in-law, Gail, and her grandkids, Betsy and Cannon. They are such cute little kids. We had lots of fun seeing them. Matthew and Betsy always have a good time when they get together.

Matthew LOVES green, tiny pumpkins. Every year we go on a family outing to a pumpkin patch and we send him off to find the perfect pumpkin. He always comes back with the smallest, greenest pumpkin. And don't even try to talk him into anything else. His mom can be a little over-the-top when it comes to things being done a certain way, but even I have learned to embrace the green pumpkin. Just look how happy it makes him. Awwww.
He got to decorate his pumpkin at the farm. How fun.
This is Betsy. Isn't she cute? I love the flowers in her pigtails. She's a sassy little thing.
Matthew's workin' it lounge singer-style. That's cute little Cannon on Betsy's lap.

BOO!

Tonight we went "booing" for FHE. It was a ton of fun. We left yummy treats and a fun little poem on the doorstep of some friends. Then we rang the doorbell and ran as fast as anyone can carrying a 3 year old. Matthew loved it, but after our last house he said, "Daddy, will you do the next house by yourself?" And a few minutes later, he was out cold in the backseat. So if you're having trouble putting your kids to sleep, booing is a great plan. I would also like to add that if you are reading this post and got "Boo'ed" tonight, that it is purely coincidental.

Here are our little spooks. I think James looks heavier than Matthew in the bottom picture. Don't you love Matthew's sweatshirt? It even glows in the dark.

Yummy Treats...

Here are the delicious treats we left. I decided to also post the recipes because they are just that good.

Sugar Cookies

1 3/4 cups sugar, 1 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening), 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 eggs. Cream these ingredients together.

1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 Tablespoon vanilla, and 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water. Dissolve these ingredients together. Add to the creamed mixture.

4 cups flour and 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder. Mix these together and then add to other ingredients.

Roll dough out on floured surface and cut. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Frosting

Cream together 1/2 package cream cheese and 1/2 stick butter. Add 1-2 Tablespoons milk, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Add as much powdered sugar is needed to make the frosting the right consistency and is good to taste.

Pumpkin BreadPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 4 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2/3 cup water, and 2 cups pumpkin pie filling together. Then combine 3 cups flour, 3 cups, sugar, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp nutmeg together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Then stir in 2 cups chocolate chips. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake for 1 hour or until center is set. This bread is the best! It is one reason I love the Fall!

Caramel Apples

1 14 oz bag of caramels, 5 apples, 2 Tbs. water

On medium-low heat, melt caramels in water, stirring constantly. When caramel is completely melted, dip apples into caramel. Cover the apples completely and allow for excess caramel to drip off. Scrape caramel off of bottom of the apples (this is very important, if you do not scrape bottom, apples will stick to wax paper). Set on a buttered (I used cooking spray) piece of wax paper that is over a plate. Put in fridge for at least an hour. Take out of fridge 15 minutes before serving.

So there you have it, some delicious and super easy treats for your Halloween season. Bon appetit!

Can you see what doesn't belong in this picture?

While I was putting up the last post, I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hall. Then I felt sneaky, little eyes watching me. So I slowly got my camera ready and caught the little stinker red-handed. Who can go to bed when they're all hopped up on sugar?

Roasting Marshmallows...

Since the weather is cooling down, we decided to enjoy our backyard. One of our favorite things to do is sit back and enjoy a fire. Matthew loves roasting marshmallows, so we thought it would be fun.

Here's James enjoying his first taste of pure sugar.

Mmmm...I'm all about giving my children the healthiest food possible.

Tim's showing wary Matthew how it's done. Here are their messy, but cute faces. They ain't got nothin' on me.

Oooh, she's cute. Why would I ever post a picture of myself like this, you might ask. Because this is how you should look with a marshmallow shoved in your mouth, not like the wimpy boys above. You can't be afraid to get dirty when it comes to things like fires and marshmallows. And things like worrying that you might not look cute just don't matter at times like these. It's a serious business and I can handle it.

Matthew didn't think I was too hot either. He wouldn't even give me a kiss.
James just thinks it's all craziness.