Pumpkin Carving 08

Letting each of the children color with a washable marker on their pumpkins kept everyone busy as I tried to spread my attention between the three. They practiced drawing the faces they wanted to carve and could easily wipe off their drawings with a wet paper towel when they changed their mind. Then I tried to help them carve exactly the face they had drawn on with marker which was fun.

Kohen passed some time coloring a little pumpkin- he really loves to color and draw.

You don't want to know what Mom was doing to get this picture....

My favorite part about carving pumpkins this year is was how Kennedy kept asking when we were going to "shave our pumpkins" and Kohen kept asking if he could help "scarve his pumpkin". But the Quote of the Day came when we drove past a house whose Halloween decorations were pretty awesome. Trying to find the words to describe what he'd just seen Kohen excitedly says, "Mom!? I just saw...A GHOST CITY!"

Nanny Diarie's

So my sisters Ashley and Natalie were the life savers for Nathan and I's trip. Ashley ran the ship until Natalie arrived a day or so later and they had a great time with the kids all week long. I arrived home to find my kids clean and happy, my house clean and rearranged for the better, the laundry done- and Ashley had done it all in heels. Heels! She amazes me. Both of my sisters do really. My kids couldn't have had a better week, {the proof is in the pictures} they literally did not care that Nathan and I were gone. Thank you so much girls, I love you both.

Kennedy's 6th Birthday

Kennedy turned 6 this week. (Didn't I just write this blog about her turning 5???) This was the first Birthday we've celebrated without any extended family and although you were all missed, it really was a fun night.

Kenna really wanted a pinata so that was a first order of business. Since it was just Kennedy, Kohen and Aly they all had ample time to hack away at it. In the end of course I got to finish it off- it's tradition. And I was only mildly anal when I kind of made them spread around the wealth after- there was only 3 of some of the more fun things, I wasn't just being a control nazi.

The firecracker poppers were a big hit.

And that was it. She huffed and she puffed...and officially turned 6.

Just one question. Seriously. When did she become this...

When it seems like she was just this...

Catch De Jour (mmm that sounds good, I'll have that)

So our Cabo story actually started 7 years ago when we vacationed there with the Furni- in a previous life before either of us had children. The highlight of our trip was supposed to be Deep Sea Fishing but after spending all of hard earned (Pronto Pup) money to charter a boat we spent all day out on the ocean and caught nothing. Our friends went again on a little boat, caught some beautiful Tuna and we all went one last time on a little boat and again...nothing.

So when we got off the cruise ship and headed on shore in Cabo this time we had no definite plans since we had seen many of the tourist attractions on our previous trip. After making our way through the gauntlet that is the street vendors we were walking past the harbor. Nathan starts making conversation (in a sudden burst of clear Spanish) with a guy who had just come in from a morning fishing trip. Next thing I know the guy is taking us out deep sea fishing for only $25/hour.

So first things first I run and go spend a few pesos on this less than fashion forward hat because I had to have some protection being in the sun for however long we were about to be. My favorite part was the really classy elastic band. But, it did the job. As we were pulling out of the harbor all of Juan's friends were snickering at us and cheering Juan on because he had landed 4 suckers off a cruise ship. We knew it was late in the morning to head out but we didn't care.
Especially when we got our first bite! 7 years later Nathan got to reel in his first deep sea catch.
It happened before we had even been out an hour and the fish full on flew out of the air just like you see in movies. It was great. He caught a Dorado or Mahi Mahi- it was huge.

Since we were going to have to get back on the cruise in a few hours Juan cleaned the fish right there and we took one fillet and let him have the rest so as not to waste. I couldn't believe how much meat was on there. (sorry Jessie, the next few pics may not be your favorite)

When we got back to shore- absolutely proud of ourselves because we caught something against the odds- we went over to one of the restaurants that will cook what you catch. They made us Mexican Sashimi first -which everyone who tried it loved- I was not about to go there.

And then cooked it up two different ways. It took me a bit to get over how I was eating what we had just caught (cuz it was grossing me out for whatever reason) but once I did it was actually very good and really the perfect ending to a story 7 years in the making.

"Won't Cha Let Me Take Ya On a Sea Cruise!"

Dang it we are back already. Our cruise last week with 'the Furni' went by entirely too fast. It was Nathan and I's first cruise and through a series of unfortunate events it almost didn't happen for any of us. Last minute here is a list of what happened:
*Injured Grandma who was to watch our friends children
*Our favorite overnight sitter had a death in the family at the last minute and legitimately had to cancel
*The morning we left the Furni got a call that their flight to San Diego was cancelled
*Our metro was late to the airport and they wouldn't check our bags which were too large for carry on
Let's just say MANY prayers were answered to work things out. My sisters were somehow available to come babysit. Nathan scrambled and found an executive car in LA (where they found a flight to instead) to drive our friends to the docks in San Diego. And unbelievably a lady walked us past the line at security and though we had tons of "liquids and gels" in our luggage they only made Nathan trash his shaving cream and we made the flight. When we finally made it to the ship with Eric and H. we laughed and said that if the ship went down we certainly couldn't say we hadn't been warned!


We did lot's of stuff: Ping Pong, Naps, Spa trip for the girls, Naps, and the boys played in a volleyball tournament and spanked everyone, woot woot!

They were given real Gold trophies, of course...

In Ensenada we went out to one of 3 natural Blow Holes in the world. I don't know if the Blow Hole just wasn't in the mood that day or what but it was only mildly impressive. It looked much cooler on post cards we saw.

And of course the meals were a major highlight. As many of you know the cement that binds this friendship together really comes down to food. :) Needless to say we all enjoyed soft serve ice cream cones whenever we wanted.
But probably our favorite part of the trip really we could have done anywhere. Our cabins were right next to each others and at the end of the day we would all go to one of our cabins and watch episodes of Arrested Development on a laptop and laugh our heads off. If you have never been around Eric when something strikes him funny you are really missing out. His laugh alone keeps all of us rolling, it's very contagious. I'm pretty sure you could record it and sell it as an Abs Work Out. This trip it was "Franklin" that had him going ("I ain't goin to no tight a. country club.....")

The real story from our trip is when we got into Cabo San Lucas... Stay tuned!!!!

How To Make Kohen's Life.

What is the easiest way to make Kohen's life you ask? Pretty simple. Take him to a Fire station for a tour. We did this the other day with an outings playgroup and in spite of one of the worst mornings I've had in a while we made it and Kohen was ridiculously into the tour. We got to see a short fire safety video, where the Firemen sleep, the trucks and a full tour of one of them. It was interesting how all the boys were enthralled but the little girls could have cared less what was going on. At one point the Fireman opened a door of the truck to reveal an ax and a chainsaw (aka: jaws of life) and Kohen asks me in a voice barely able to keep it's excitement under control, "What did he say they do to cars with that one?" pointing to the Chainsaw...and the highlight of Kohen's life was when his turn came to spray water out of the fire hose. He got so into it all crouched down and making his best 'Man Working Hard' face- even the Fireman got a kick out of him. It was awesome.

Pumpkin Patch 08'

We found the most quaint little Pumpkin Patch about 15 minutes from our house. They had a great area for children and we had so much fun exploring. First there was this cool maze/tunnel made out of bales of hay that we could find our way through. It was pretty dark in some parts and Kennedy was kind of spooking herself out. At one point Kohen and Kenna were ahead of us and I could see it was blocked up ahead. I asked, "Hmm, is that maybe a dead end?" Kennedy whips around with a very nervous look on her face and repeats, "DEAD???" I got a picture of it below.

Then they had these bales of hay set up with big plastic tubing in them so the kids would take a ball and put it in the top of the tube and it would roll down and out by their feet. This area was a big hit. Kohen was busy keeping the balls running down and out of the tubes and Nathan sat down and started picking up the balls that would roll over and tossing them back to the kids. Kennedy figured out how to catch a ball being tossed to her and was really doing quite well with that, at one point telling me how she could tell now she was going to be "really good at basketball". But the quote of the night came when Kohen paused before dropping another ball down the shoot and asked, "Mom, is this Disneyland?!"

Another cool thing was these giant bins full of beans for the kids to play in. I think I was more excited about them then the trio ended up being but they did play in it some and thought it was funny when we got home and emptied out their boots and out flew some beans. There were also animals, a train you could pay to ride (we passed) and pumpkins to buy- thankfully our kiddos were happy to pick out a small one for now. It really was a relatively inexpensive activity that turned out to be so much fun.

New Park

So this weekend was great. General Conference -at least the parts I could make out above the dull roar of my children being "reverent"- were uplifting and great. I got so many thumps on the head about things I need to do or could be doing better and yet I come away feeling like to pick up the slack in these areas is totally do-able. And the children were actually pretty good though at one point I had Nathan go get Aly's carseat and we buckled her in in front of the tv with her colorings. Sit Aly. Stay. Good Girl!
Before Nathan went to Priesthood session we went and found this new park that several friends had recommended. We were not disappointed. The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was great and the kids had an awesome time playing on the nice, clean equipment. Okay, I'm the only one who noticed/cared it was clean but still.

When Nathan had to go the kids and I stayed and played a while more. At one point Kohen wanted to go clear up this massive hill and say "hi" to the cows who were drinking at the top. After warning him not to touch the fence (barbed) or the cows I let him head up the trail. He got to the top and you could tell even from where we were that he was pretty proud of himself. Kennedy and another little boy followed soon after and at the top they are playing around and eventually Kenna and Kohen pick up dirt clods and begin chucking them down the hill. I call them back down and the other little kid makes it down first and reports to his mom that 'they' were throwing cow poop.

When Kenna and Kohen arrive back down I inform them of what they had been throwing and poor Kennedy...my clean clean girl. She looked slowly down at her hands and totally looked like she was going to be sick. Then there's Kohen whose only comment was, "That was cow poop?...it was BIG!"

Back By Popular Demand...

Alright, my apologies for the air headed move of filming a video sideways...send your chiropractic bill directly to me...But this is Aly singing her latest favorite song, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. She can sing much of the song but in this clip at one point she gets distracted to tell Nathan it is her favorite song- but I promise it's at least worth a slight kink in the neck to watch.

Then we have one of Aly Jota's (think Spanish people- the J sounds like an H) hamming-it-up techniques which Kenna and Kohen call the "Scary Shakes". She will do it on demand which can be funny cuz say she is upset about something -you just ask her to do the Scary Shakes and all of a sudden the spotlight is on her, she can't resist and voila! a meltdown has been averted. That my friends, is a win, win...win.

Aly and the Jose' Song

Just a little back story for ya, the guy whose home we are renting is named Jose'. He is the friendliest guy and has come over several times to fix things (they should've before they moved) or to pick up his mail. The children all know him by name and are always pleased to see him and Aly especially took a liking to his name. As of late she has become the Family Ham and will do anything for a laugh. She was standing up on a stool one day dangerously marching in place repeating "Jose" with vigor and when everyone laughed the "Jose' song" was born. She usually does stand on something to sing it and also goes on forever but she must have known her time was short here.

*And I had to have her say her "frustrated" because she says it both with feeling and an extra syllable.

*And finally we have the "Ay Bee See Bees"

Kohen lately

Oh my dear Kohen. He is already a pretty funny kid but combined with his age, right now it seems like every time he opens his mouth he is saying something that I need to write down. The other day I was upstairs at the desk and Kohen had been out back playing when he mossies upstairs and loiters around me for a few minutes. Not catching on to his behavior he finally leans against the desk casually and offers with a sigh, "Well. I'm sorry. but I did pee outside...I did." while shaking his head like he couldn't believe it himself. This was one of those moments where you try your hardest not to laugh because you have to try and teach -not easy with my seemingly repentant pee-er in front of me. We had a talk blah blah blah we move on. Later that afternoon all three are out back when Kennedy comes racing into the house, sirens blaring "KOHEN JUST PEED OUTSIDE! KOHEN JUST PEED OUTSIDE!" And as I head to the back door to investigate I hear Kohen shouting his innocence and I turn the corner to find one of the funniest sights in recent history. Picture Kohen with his favorite rain galoshes on, his shorts around his ankles and underwear around his knees as he tests the limit of his restricted 2 inch stride trying to catch up to Kenna and yelling over and over, "I didn't do it!"- oh man, Nathan and I laughed about this until we about cried. Poor Kohen. He hasn't really learned about lying yet and so my conclusion was that Kohen was about to pee until his sister went and rang the alarm. I hope his desire for outdoor peeing passes quickly but even as I write the words I know my hope is futile...

Just since we have moved Kohen has started to be afraid of Randall, a creepy character from Monsters Inc. I got to hand to the boy, he picked a great thing to be afraid of because as many of you know, Randall becomes invisible by changing his skin to match whatever background he is against. Perfect. Just perfect. I can't even prove Randall isn't there by turning the light on. The other night Kohen woke me up just screaming "RANDALL'S HERE!!! RANDALL'S HERE!!!". I race blindly and still half asleep to his room and find Kohen completely beside himself and pulling at the back of his neck. When he sees me he tells me in sheer terror, "Randall just licked my neck!!" Eew. That is creepy. I had to get him to fully wake up before I could get him to settle down. It took a while. That darn Randall.

About twice a year in our church during Sacrament meeting the Sunday School children will do a program. This usually consists of the kids singing songs and taking turns speaking short lines and then more singing. They sit up front on the stand and since we are in such a small ward it turns out Kohen is the youngest kid in primary...not really so unbelievable seeing as there are only two Sunbeams (3 yr olds). Anyway, Kohen started off the program with a good, long digging session...in his nose. Oh yeah, Nathan and I both were sitting down in the pews trying to catch his attention and make it STOP! He finally did as they began to sing a few songs. After a song they'd sit down and all of a sudden Kohen disappears. About 60 seconds later he reappears as everyone stands up again to sing. He holds up his new found Hymnal, opens it up to a random page and starts singing as if from the book. Okay, it doesn't sound that funny right now but it had lot's of people chuckling I swear. Then for the last song the kids all had bells that they were supposed to ring at certain times. Unbelievably Kohen raises up his own bell and I am thinking *oh no* as the song starts and he begins going to town ringing that bell. It only took a few seconds to realize the Sun. School Pres. was on top of things...Kohen's bell was taped. He could 'ring' to his hearts content and he wasn't going to make a sound, unbeknownst to him of course.

When I came in his room after quiet time the other day he had a blanket over this little work of art which he unveiled for me telling me it was simply himself.

Lastly he got his official Big Boy Bed last night. He was pretty darn excited about it. But fairly irritated we won't let him up on top though. Right, like I want to see what injuries this boy could inflict on himself from the height of the top bunk!