Feed Yourself Why Don't You!

So lately Ian has been wanting to use his own utinsels while eating.  So today I decided to let him try to feed himself some yogurt! 

Here is how it turned out:

Holiday Fun!

We had a blast today!  A good friend of ours invited us over to decorate Gingerbread Houses!!  The boys had a lot of fun with their friends and the end results were great!

Matt did such a great job!!

Landon didn't hold back on the frosting! 

All in all we came home with two fabulous Gingerbread Houses!!

Dried Mangoes and Challenges

I don't know how many of you have ever had dried mangoes, but they have to be one of my all time favorite snacks.  If you ever get the chance try them!  They are fabulous!!!

Thanksgiving went well.  The turkies came out great!  We ate a ton of food and had a lot of fun.  I did do the black Friday sales and boy was that a rush!  I love shopping... probably a little too much, and it was so much fun!  I was able to get a lot of stuff that I absolutely didn't need.  I did get a lot of things that are totally un-neccessary, but I will not be giving them everything all at once.  I am going to keep most of it for random good-job surprises for the kids to get throughout the next year. 

I have two weeks before I leave for Texas.  I am getting excited, but I will miss my boys so much!  I haven't been gone from them for 2 years!  I have never been away from Ian.  It will be a crazy five days full of fun and relaxation, with one of my best friends! 

As I look toward the Christmas season this year, I am finding that the magic isn't quite here yet.  My boys don't seem to understand that Christmas is about the birth of our Savior.  That the ultimate gift was given to us by our loving Heavenly Father.  We have been blessed with so much in our life together as a family.  Joe has been able to have and keep a steady job, have his education paid for by the Marine Corps.  I have been able to stay at home with my children and try to nurture them and cultivate my skills as a mother and wife.  My kids have been able to live and experience many places and traditions.  We have so much to be thankful for and it seems to me I need to do a better job of teaching them and instructing them on how to be better and more grateful for what we have. 

I want to challenge anyone who reads this, to do the same with their families!  Our ward is also challenged to read the book of mormon by April Conference.  We started last Sunday and we are supposed to read about 4 pages a day.  So far Joe and I are doing this, together, and are keeping up with it.  It's a great challenge for us.  It helps me keep in mind that I have a goal and I need to accomplish it.  I am extending this challenge to you all as well.  Good luck! 

T'was the night before Thanksgiving

T'was the night before Thanksgiving and Chelle didn't want to cook.  So she hatched a sneaky plan!  She talked her oldest son into wanting to go out for dinner and to ask his wonderful dad if they could.  Her son did as she asked without letting it be known that it was her idea in the first place.  It worked like a charm!  So out to dinner they went!

Chinese anyone?

Then on the way home, she convinced her second son into asking their dad to go to the blessed land of Baskin Robins for ice cream!  It worked again! 

Ice cream anyone?

The night before Thanksgiving was a success!  Happy Holidays!

Turkey Day Prep

Many of you are in the same mode that I am in... Getting ready for the BIG Thanksgiving feast!  This year we are celebrating with our neighbors.  The assignments were divvied out and my portion of the meal is the Turkey, Apple Pies, Gravy and Green Bean Casserole!  Yesterday I made the pies today I am making the turkies (yest two of them) and Tomorrow will be the gravy and casserole. 

I make my turkey in a brown paper bag.  Yes this sounds a little weird, but it's the only way I know how to make a turkey.  So, I thought it would be fantastic to document it this year!  Hear are some pics! 

 

Yumm! Turkey is in the air!

Apple Pies!!! YUMMY!!!!!

 

Daily Devotional

So many of you know that we have our family daily devotionals.  We sing songs and read the scriptures and say our family prayer.  We do this almost daily.  There are days here and there that we miss, but most days we do this.  Now don't worry we do this amidst all sorts of craziness.  Our kids are not always the most reverent nor do they act remotely interested.  But we do this nontheless so they can understand the importance of having a moment everyday devoted to our heavenly father as a family.  So for those of you who don't believe me... here is a picture of today's devotional!

So I was informed that I need to post more on my blog, so here I am with a little update! 

Saturday, November 21:  Happy Birthday Joe!  For Joe's Birthday he and I went to breakfast at a cute little diner called Grandma's Kitchen.  We had a great Breakfast just the two of us.  The kids were excited to go to their friends house and spend the day with them so we had the whole morning to each other.  After breakfast we went to the movie theater to watch The Twilight Saga:  New Moon!!!!  It was awesome!  Then we rushed home and the kids were there waiting for us.  Our friends then took off to go see the movie too.  Joe had to do some studying so I let him and I ran to the store to get some stuff for dinner.  When our friends got back, we all settled down to watch the BYU vs. Air Force football game.  We ate Teriyaki burgers and hotdogs, then ate Joe's birthday cake.  (yellow cake with cool whip and strawberries)  It was a great day!

Sunday, November 22:  Crazy morning!  The kids dawdled and Joe and I seemed to be running in slow motion!  But we made it to church just in time.  The kids had their primary program and they did fantastic!  It was great to see them stand so tall and recite their parts and they sang loud!  After church, Joe had to go home teaching and he took Landon!  Matt and I worked on making sure the TV functioned properly and Ian slept.  Joe and Landon got home and Joe went back to studying.  We had a great day!

Monday:  Need I say more?  it has been a crazy morning.  I woke up with a sinus infection.  So I am trying to do something, but it's hard to get motivated when I just don't feel good. 

We look forward to this weekend!  Thanksgiving is upon us and we love to share it with our friends and family.  This year we are sharing it with our friends and neighbors.  I will post pictures of it all!  (just remind me to get my camera out!)

Trick or Treat! Smell our Feet!

Halloween was kind of a dud this year.  But the ward Trunk or Treat was a blast!  Mommy took 3rd place in the Chili Cook Off!  No one recognized her in her witch costume and Joe wore an affro!  It was a lot of fun!

We of course didn't get pics from the Trunk or Treak, but we did manage to get a few pic before heading out on our short and not so fun adventure of Trick or Treating. 

In case you couldn't tell, Landon was Eragon the Dragon Rider, Matthew was Storm Shadow from GI Joe, and Ian was a Dragon Hatchling.  They all had fun and looked so cute!

After about 7 houses, Matthew was done, and after noticing that there were more houses that didn't give out candy (yes they answered the door and told us "We don't have candy.") or didn't answer the door, we were done.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very exciting.  Ian kept his Dragon hat on for all of 5 minutes...long enough to get the picture and start out the door. 

Vomit anyone?

Has anyone ever been so embarrassed that they just start laughing?  That was my Sunday.  We woke up to a crying Ian (normal morning) who was very congested and not feeling so well.  The rule with Nursery is that if your kid is sick, keep them out.  So I asked Joe who was going to stay home since we shouldn't take him in with us today.  He offered but said he would do his homework while at home.  Last week he had decided he would do homework on Sunday so I reminded him of that and he said Ian would be fine and we will all go.  (Okay but I didn't think it was too smart of an idea)  So we all get up and get ready. 
We make it to church and almost miss the opening song and prayer.  So then as we start the meeting, Ian is coughing and being rather wrestless.  I figure let's give him his bottle and maybe he will fall asleep.  (okay not so great an idea for a congested baby)  So the Sacrament protion of the meeting starts and we get the bread and Ian finishes his milk, then the water is starting to be passed and Ian starts to cough a little then turns to my chest and starts vomitting.  Yes that is right!  Vomit all down the front and side of me.  It was rather gross. 
Joe stared for about a good 30 seconds before kicking in and starting the clean up what we can process.  It was so gross and embarassing.  So I scoop up Ian grab the keys from Joe and try to exit the chapel as quietly as possible.  But wait!  There are the young men still passesing the sacrament and standing between me and the door.  So I quietly say excuse me and they just stand there.  So what do I do?  I barrel right through them in hopes that they don't feel too bad and that I can excape without too much notice.  I almost thought I'd gotten away with it until this morning when a friend from church asked how I was and if I was able to get home with Ian and all the throw up.  I just had to laugh.  I was laughing so hard.  Only me... Only me... So that was our fun adventure for the day.  Ian was fine after that and even took a really good nap.  Joe and the boys snagged a ride home from church and all was well. 

Update

Sigh, October is almost over and I have mixed feelings about it. First I am glad! That means Landon's birthday will be here and so will his baptism! Then New Moon comes out and Joe's birthday, Thanksgiving and on to Christmas time. But if October ends, then Landon grows up! I can't believe my oldest is going to be baptized. He is so intellegent and ready for it, but I am not so sure I am ready for this new step. With baptism come cubscouts. Then before we know it he will be all grown up. Am I old enough for all this? Yep!

I am so happy that Landon has made the decision to be baptized. He was so excited to have his Bishop's interview he could barely get his church clothes on! He told me he needed to wear a tie and then turned to Joe and said he needed Dad's best tie! So we put a tie on him and he wore his white shirt and a nice vest. He was pleased as punch when he was all ready. It was so cute and so fun. I stayed home to put Ian to bed and Dad and Matt went with Landon. I guess it went well since Landon was still in a good mood when he came home. I should have taken a picture of it, but I always forget to until the next day and it's too late.

We have had some good weather lately and the kids have been outside as much as they can. Matt's favorite past-time is to make mud puddles in the back yard. We still don't have grass back there, so it's not like he is is ruining anything. The only down side to this is the mess that comes along with it. Ian thinks the mess is great! He goes out and get's all muddy and then crawls back in the house and sprinkles mud and dirt behind him. It is AWESOME! I did think to get a picture of this ...

Doesn't he look just as happy as can be? It's so hard to get upset about the mess when you see them looking so happy and content. He would be out there doing this all day everyday if I let him. If everyday was warm I probably would let him.

Life is good and moving fast. I hope it's as well for everyone else. Happy day!

Happy Friday

Okay so the last few weeks we have been having BYU parties as we get to watch BYU play. We love having people over and for our kids to have the chance to play with all their friends. As this day get underway we get to also set out our few halloween decorations. Our decorations have dwindled since last year because they either broke or were in some way damaged in our move. But, we look forward to putting up what items we have. We also look forward to this weekend. Our youngest little Hooligan turns ONE!!! And we get to watch General Conference. I look forward to this upcoming month and the Holiday Season to get underway. Happy Friday!

Strep

Hey everyone, Sorry it's been a while since I have posted, I have been super busy with the boys in school and taking care of our little Ian. And now, I have strep thoat. I am totally bored and quarentined to my bed room. I feel aweful and hate being sick. Hopefully this week I will be able to catch up on things and get some fabulous pics posted.

First Day of School!!

Today was Landon's and Matthew's first day at their new school. Like a dork, I didn't take pics at the school, but we did get some of before they left. So, with out further adu...

Matt's Lost Tooth!

It's official! Matthew "lost" his first loose tooth. Now, to clarify for those of you who know matthew has had his top tooth missing for some time now, it was never loose. We had to have it pulled. So yesterday before church, Matthew came to me and said, "MOM!!!!! My tooth is really really loose!!!!" I looked at it and sure enough it was hanging by a thread. So after a few unsuccessful tries by Mom, Daddy took over and in one swift tug, the tooth popped right out!

After we put the tooth in a specially designed airplane envelope, and put it under his pillow, we tucked the boys in for the night and left the room. When we went in later to check in on them to make sure they were asleep, we noticed the airplane envelope out on the dresser. We noticed the tooth was missing! So we thought frantically about how to launch a rescue opperation so the tooth fairy could leave the treasure that awaited our sleeping boy. We found the tooth on the floor by the closet, tucked it safely inside a new envelope that was a little more secure and went to sleep ourselves.

This morning to Matthew's great suprise the toothfairy left him a dollar! He thought he had lost the tooth and when we told him how we saved the day by finding it an puting it in a better envelope, he and Landon concocted a better story of how the toothfairy had a machine that can detect where the tooth is in the room and to whom it belongs. So now we all know how the tooth fairy finds missing teeth!

Ian's new toy!

Just had to share this one with everyone! Ian found that he can reach the toilet paper! How fun is that!

He also discovered just how fun it is to play with dirt!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!!!

Monday was Matthew's 6th Birthday! He wanted a lemon Star Wars cake, so that's what he got. He opened he present from Grandma and Grandpa Abbott earlier in the day, and put on the outfit they bought him as soon as we got the tags off! He has wanted to wear them ever since. Good thing I have plenty of laundry to do so I can wash them! We will have a big friend party on Friday and that will be when he gets the rest of his presents. But the best part of his day was right before bed, He got a phone call from his cousin Brekken! It was the perfect way to end his day!

Happy Birthday Matt! We love you buddy!

Food

So we have been introducing new foods for Ian to try and we have found that he really likes Cheetos Natural Cheese Puffs, Oreos, Licorice, and Beans. (just to name a few) He is such a good little eater! But boy is he messy! Here's what it looks like just from breakfast!

Totally Lame Posting

Okay so I am such a loser sometimes. I have neglected my role as Blogger. I apologize and hope all will be forgiven.

Our garden is growing! We have achieved vegetation and in the coming months we will see the progress of our labors. Our Corn, unfortunately, suffered a monstrous blow by getting their roots eaten by gophers. But we have the square-foot boxes that are holding up nicely and we look forward to more growth and prosperity!






We really have not done much here in Monterey yet. We did, however, go to Brea CA and were able to visit Joe's brother Ron and his family. Of course like a doo-doo head, I forgot the camera so sorry folks no pictures there, so you will have to use your imaginations to visualize the experience! We made it to the beach and Ian ate most of the beach. There is some sand left, but not much! (he he he) His diaper ended up with most of the sand the next day. We also went to an awesome little amusement park called Adventure City, and boy did we have fun! We went to the pool almost every day, if not everyday and had a great time. Thank you Ron and Hillary for your hospitality and showing us a good time.

When we got home from Brea, Ian got really sick. It lasted over a week and in the midst of his illness, the rest of us were sick as well.



It was not a fun week. But we are all better now, and look forward to getting out more. Until we do, here are some funny photo's of the boys.