Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! I didn't do Christmas cards (or much of anything) this year! Hope you had a great Christmas!

Laughing In Leaves

I just going to post some of the pictures of us playing in the leaves!!! I'm so far behind!!! The kids and I had lots of fun playing in the leaves multiple times. They helped me rake a big pile.

Cooper didn't love the leaves. He hated them on his head or face.

He would not lay down in them!

Cadence loved to throw the leaves on Cooper. Sometimes, that didn't go over too well with Mr. Cooper.

One day while I was passing out fliers for elections, we walked to a park to break up the monotomy. Cooper wanted to wear his gorilla coat and pants! The area by the river was so beautiful!

Cadence has natural talent for strinking a pose and smiling (when she wants too!)
Cooper, on the other hand, won't look at the camera! That's why there are fewer pictures of him!
This one of them kissing is precious!!!

You gotta love the falling leaves in fall!

Advertising Pumpkin Walk

We went to the pumpkin walk with Cadence's pre-school class. Dad wasn't able to make it. The theme this year was advertisements. This definitely wasn't my favorite year. There seemed to be quite a few scenes less normal. However, here are some of my favorites scenes.

M&M's. There was a hidden M&M pumpkin in every scene. It was fun to find it!!! Star Wars! Love these sheep. The heads were pumpkins. The bodies were tumbleweeds.

Michael Jackson and Co. dancing in a Pepsi commercial.
Where the Wild Things Are.

Isn't Max (Cadence) so scary?

This veggie garden was adorable. The peas, corn, cabbage, radishes! I loved them all! I dressed Cooper in his gorilla outfit to keep him warm! Such a cute gorilla!

Cadence was snacking on cheese from a local cheese plant and gingerbread cookie from the Pepperidge Farm plant while getting their picture with the witch who felt like she was Santa. Yummy!

At the end of the walk, there are a whole bunch of these "put your head in these peoples/characters face" things. Anybody know what you call them? Cooper as a runny-nosed Yoda!

Cadence is a princess. She looked beautiful as Cinderella!

A very smart looking Harry Potter.We will be back next year. I hope they have a better theme!

Gardner's Village Witch Festival

On our way to Grammy's house, we had a little it of time to blow. I remember reading blogs about Gardner Village at Halloween. We decided to stop. There definitely was something going on. I think it was called the Witch Festival. We all had fun spoting the witches throughout the village.
Can you believe a witch tried to kiss me?

Of course, there were a TON of cute photo opportunities.

The biggest thrill was Cadence getting her face painted. She looked so cute and became such an amazing tiger. Here she is getting it painted.

When she say herself in the mirror, she broke out in a huge smile and then a growl. She growled at people we passed and even made a little boy cry. She loved being a tiger!!!
On the way home, we passed the Jordan River Temple and got a picture of the tiger in front of it!

Washing her face, Cadence looked... interesting!
Of maybe she looked like a thug!
We had a lot of fun with all the women at Gardner Village. Chris was definitely in the minority!

Goats and The Horse

In the pasture behind our neighbors' house were put goats and a horse a couple of months ago. Cooper wants to see them almost every day. If we are outside and he hears the goats make their sound, he turns to where they are and says, "goos."

During the fall, we fed them the plums and apples that had fallen on the neighbors' laws. The kids love doing this (although Cadence is scared they will bit her hand.) The goats' names are Jack and Jill. We took our downstairs friends over to see the goats. Andrew is such a cute boy. We love it when he plays with us.Unfortunately, the miniature horse is behind the goats pen and so we only look at him from afar. I throw her apples and she appreciates it. Visiting the goats will become a weekly thing when the snow falls! Justin, our neighbor, carves bears out of tree stumps/logs using a chain saw. Cooper loves the two little bears in the backyard right now. He gives them hugs and kisses when we walk pass.

I just wanted to include this picture of the kids with Jack and Piper in their favorite place in the kitchen. Taking the big bins out was a good idea!!! Too bad the garbage cans can't go there anymore!!!

Harvesting (Potatoes)

This year, I decided to plant red tomatoes in the garden. I love red potatoes. They grew well and the kids had fun digging them up and playing with them.
This is my favorite red potato recipe (from memory. Hopefully, I am remembering it correctly.) It is so yummy!!! You HAVE to try it!!!

A bunch of red potatoes (maybe 2 lbs?)
1/2 stick of melted butter
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 t. marjoram
1 t. thyme leaves
1/4 t. black pepper

Combine first six ingredients. After cutting the potatoes into fourths or smaller, coat the pieces in the mixture. The potatoes should be at least two layers high in the dish. Place in a cake pan size dish, pouring the excess mixture over the top. Bake covered at 450 for 50-55 minutes (until potatoes are finished.) You may want to take them out once and stir/mix the potatoes up once while cooking to recoat them. ENJOY!!!!

Painting the Outside of the House

***We have A LOT of firewood! If you are interested in buying some, Chris is charging $100 for a truckload. Contact one of us, if you are interested.***

The beginning of Sept., we started painting the outside of the house. It has been a long time coming. I guy who lived here a long time ago would buy some random paint and paint PART of the house. When we bought it, the people who owned it before us tried to give it a decent looking paint job. Their problem was they only painted as high as they could reach on a short ladder. When we bought it there were 7 different colors on the outside of the house (dark blue, light brown, white, pink, mint green, purple orange). We are trying to only make it the first three.

Our neighbors had a tall ladder and Chris borrowed it to reach the highest points! I'm so nice to let him do the high parts!!! While he painted, the kids sat on the roof of the car or in the trunk.

Cooper loves to put keys/pencils/tools in holes/keyholes/outlets to pretend like he fixing or unlocking things.
Cadence liked helping to paint on the little ladder. She is getting to be such a big girl!!!

Here are the before and after pictures.
The East side of the house!


The West side of the house.


The Back of the house.


We did our best to match the paint, but you can see where the new paint is. Oh Well! Painting brick and that cottage cheese texture stinks. Next year we will work on painting the trim white! It will take us a long time to scrap it down and re-paint it, but at least it looks a better for now!

Big Boy Bed

About a month ago, we took down Cooper's crib because he hated it. I think he feels like he is in....PRISON!!! Behind bars! Locked Away! Since he was a horrible sleeper his first year (waking up 4, 5, 6 times a night!!!), he didn't sleep in it much anyway. He kept trying to climb out and I just knew it wouldn't be good to keep him in there. He is a climber.

Instead of putting up the toddler bed, we went straight t0 a bunkbed some neighbors down the street gave us last year. Cooper won't stay in bed if one of us doesn't lay next to him until he falls asleep. Of course, the bunk beds are officially cool and have become a source of play. Many adventures will be had on that top bunk!!! The kids love to bonk their heads on the ceiling since we put it where the ceiling slants in Cooper's room. He almost sleeps through the night now. It is so nice for me!!!! Now, I just wish he was lay in his bed and fall asleep by himself:)