Quiet?? NEVER a Good Thing!!

I think the "experts" call this LEARNING! I find it kind of aggravating!

Optimus Prime: A DIVINE toy?????

Ethan is playing with his transformer:

Ethan: ...you little (some name that sounded a lot like "Jerk")!

Mommy: What did you say, Ethan?

Ethan: (pause w/guilty look in his eye) ...the transformer said a bad word!

Mommy: no Ethan, YOU said it. Can your transformer talk?

Ethan: ...Yes

Mommy: Ok, Ethan...(think, think, think) who MAKES your transformer talk?

Ethan: (pause)... GOD

Long Pause - Start the discussion again from the top

Baby Bottoms... and other things!

This last weekend, our family went to the mall for no reason at all except to window shop, enjoy the premature Christmas decor, and let the kiddos play in the great play area there. We had a great time. Daddy, mommy were in great spirits, the boys were obedient and cooperative, and Kate rode in the stroller with no clawing to get out. These kinds of outings are rare and I cherish them when they happen. We were casually watching the kids play amongst the bazillion other children trying to keep tabs on our own. A great place for people watching - cute little toddling babies, mean kids that try to bully all the other kids into moving out of "their" spot, the spaced out little girl dressed in her Tinker-Bell Halloween costume singing and twirling amongst the craziness as if she were the only one there. Then there are the parents - even more entertaining! Some there just for a place to sit down so they can rest and wonder why they decided to bring their kid to the mall in the first place. Others busy on the phone or texting (all the while some bad guy comes and takes off with their kid knowing the parent won't even notice for a good 5 minutes!) Then there are my personal favorites: the hyper moms! Not 3 inches separates mother from child. Her hands always poised out and ready to catch her child from taking the deadly 2 foot fall from the plastic banana. Ben and I were enjoying our time and each others humorous comments about these goings-on. I looked up and the hyper mom was walking straight toward me (hands still poised) with a hysterical look on her face. All she could say was "POOP"!!!! She pointed to sweet little baby Kate who, by the way, was so pretty that day still dressed in her outfit that we had her pictures taken in earlier that evening. Kate was happily playing at the foot of plastic snoopy with a volcano of hot poop rolling up and out of her new velor pants. The poop volcano could not be stopped and was spilling out onto the floor. Ben and I looked at each other knowing that we were now the topic of everyone else's people watching. We both jumped up and ran over there. At least that is what I thought. When I got to her I realized that I was going to need some major wet wipes, so I looked to Ben who was now back where we were sitting trying to sit down. He had his mouth wide open and a look of pure disgust on his face (much like every other parent in the place). I looked at him and had to snap him back to the reality that this was HIS baby and HE needed to bring me the diaper bag. I scooped up the pile of poo and scrubbed down the crime scene, trying to be as discreet, quick, and thorough as possible -trying to act as if this was "no big deal... how funny...this happens all the time...silly baby! I tucked a few wipes down her back to try to contain the "lava" and rushed her off to save HER from HER embarrassing moment. We directly left the mall, this being the final memory of our cherished family outing. I congratulated Ben on the way out for all of his quick help in our poop crisis. What a memory! I hope all you readers got a little chuckle at baby Kate's expense! I thought I would spare you a picture and let your imaginations do the work!

Happy Birthday to the man I love!

I love you because:

you are my protector

you are my provider

you are my friend

you help me see myself in a true light

you make me laugh

(even at times when you should

not be trying to make me laugh!)

you gently lead me in the life God has given us together

Happy Birthday to the BEST daddy EVER

We love you because:

you are our favorite playmate

you are our example

you are our guide

you are our provider

you are our "best friend in the whole world"

you are our teacher

you are our fan

you are the best bug catcher

Happy Birthday from your family!

We love you!

OCTOBER FAMILY FESTIVITIES! Ben drove the bus for a field trip to the pumpkin patch and took Ethan along!

Fun day with daddy!

Another pumpkin patch trip with daddy!

Time to carve our pumpkins!

side note on the word "OUR" pumpkins:

RIP Smith family pumpkin vine!

Better luck next year (or never again!)

We BOUGHT our pumpkins like everyone else this year.

BOO HOO!!Back to the carving!

Ethan helped Kate get the seeds out!

YUM!

Ethan's favorite part was carving (stabbing) the "hair".

Ben's Spider Man creation!

Random picture of sweet Kate her cool, flashing Halloween shirt from granny Hatch!

ETHAN'S FIRST SHINER!

collision: Ethan's eye meets the back of Luke's head!

Making rice crispy treat pumpkins (and friends)!

TRICK or TREAT!

Meet Optimus Prime, Bumble Bee, and...green bug of some sort!

Whatever she is, she sure is cute!

TORTURE, this is TORTURE!

Do I feel bad? How can I? Do you see how cute she is???

She won't remember, right?!

Pounding the door down!

The Loot!

WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?? Really, like I am going to let my 3, 2, and 1 year olds eat all this?? No, of course not. I will give them all the kiddy, yuck candy and eat all the chocolate right out of their bags as soon as they go to sleep at night! Why?? Why, I ask??

Is it bedtime yet??

A job well done!!

Sunday School Lesson in

Every Day Life

Ben and I laugh at how the boys apply the lessons they learn in Sunday School. Tonight the boys were playing on a toy we have in our basement. Ethan was sitting on it, and as expected, pesky little brother Luke pushed his way on pushing Ethan off. This made Ethan mad. Trying to diffuse the situation, I said to Ethan that maybe he needed to wait and give Luke a turn. Ethan responded with much

frustration and disgust:

"I waited 40 days and 40 nights and he still won't get down!"

So...

About those really cool chunky crayons... Apparently Kate thinks they are edible. The BEST crayons EVER!! We can't keep these out of her mouth - I keep catching her with RED, GREEN, BLUE teeth!! YUMMY!!

Making NEW from the OLD

The boys were coloring yesterday morning with these little broken crayons they could hardly hold on to. I had seen somewhere how to make these great chunky crayons. So we gave it a try!

Step one: peel off the paper

I resorted to running a razor blade down the length of each little crayon

which let the paper just peel off in one piece

Step 2: line a muffin pan with foil liners or find one at a thrift store to devote to melting crayons down and skip the liners. You can also use candy or soap molds to make fun little shapes - I'll be keeping an eye out for some molds at thrift stores and garage sales for sure now!Step 3: Break and sort the crayons. We sorted the colors to make some pretty combos.

Step 4: Bake @ 200 degrees in the oven and watch as they melt into your new crayons. The boys liked this part. It took a good 20-25 minutes.

Step 5: Let the new crayons harden and pop them out of the liners. After we unveiled them, they sat for a few hours before the boys used them to make sure they were nice and hard.

Step 6: Smooth off all the "sharp" edges - mommy's job because it makes a huge mess!

Our new crayons!!

Genesis 1:1

"...God created the heavens and the earth"

Cubbie verse for the week

Mommy: Ethan, to create something means to make something out of nothing. If you wanted strawberries, you could say "strawberries" but would they just appear??

Ethan: STRAWBERRIES!

Mommy: Did they appear? No! You could make some strawberries by planting a plant and taking good care of it. Strawberries would grow. But God can just say "strawberries" and they would be made and appear right now!!

Ethan: I want a kitty

Ethan: KITTY!

Mommy: Where is the kitty? You can't make a kitty. Only God can do that!

Ethan: I'm going to ask Jesus for a kitty!

THE BASH

Birthday time!!

Birthdays should always begin with a few french fries!

Pretty birthday girl!

...and supportive brother who is always willing to join in on the fun!

Dinner is over and I'm comin' for that cake!

Flowers always have little lady bug friends that hang around.

What a perfect little cake for Kate to rip into!!One handed taste testTwo hands!All in now!

Time for a little ice cream!

Ethan was feeding her HUGE bites that she could barely keep up with!

You can see the brain freeze setting in!

Will we ever be able to get off all that frosting?!

We were headed for Awana in about 40 minutes at this point.

Time for PRESENTS!!

Her chubby middle finger wearing her sweet new baby ring!

She loved it (actually she never noticed it, but I loved it!)

She made out pretty good!! Surprise, Surprise!