Boo at the Zoo

Yesterday we took the boys to our little zoo for a Halloween gathering. It was so much fun. It's a very small zoo and they had trick or treating throughout it and all the kids were dressed up. It was a great time.

Here is our little pirate. This isn't his full pirate costume, but I'll have more official Halloween photos when it's Halloween. Isn't he cute?

And our little vampire. I decided to not take out the red eye, he looks much more menacing that way.

They had a lot of bounce house toys for the kids to play on and big slides for them to go down. The great thing is that it was all free, and they were even passing out free ice cream.

And here is Collin going down the slide.

He almost did a flip over himself, the kid is a nut, nothing he does is conventional.

This slide was huge, I'm still shocked that my children went down it on their own. I don't think I would have been that brave. You can see the hesitation with each of them as they start to go down, they practically fell down. This is Collin.

Here is Talin, he was a little unsure as well. And I'm still so surprised that Tom and I didn't have to go up there and get them.

But it was a fun Saturday to spend as a family, especially fun to have Tom around, the boys loved it.

Mandi's Visit

Well, it's over, and I'm exhausted! But it was so much fun to have Mandi come and visit, we had a blast. It was so dejavu for me. Having Mandi come was so similar to when JoDee came, she arrived on a Thursday like Jo, even around the same time. We did the WalMart thing that afternoon to have food for the zoo on Friday. Yeah, totally dejavu. The only difference is that Mandi is a picture girl, we had the camera out all weekend snapping shots in various places. We even had Talin and Collin take our pictures so we could have some sister shots. They turned out surprisingly good, especially Collin's camera skills, I was impressed with my three year old.

Well here is Mandi and I at the Omaha Zoo, in the jungle. Humidity and all.

With the pot bellies, we're at that awkward stage of are you fat or pregnant? I hate that!

Me and my boys.

They're getting to know this zoo like home they've been so many times. But they were so good. Mandi claims she will never let me complain about my children again after this weekend, but I swear they were on special behavior for her visit.
This is at the underwater aquarium. It's way cool. A long tunnel where sting rays and sharks swim over and around you. It's supposedly the longest underwater tunnel in the country. Woo hoo, Omaha does have some claim to fame!
You can see the shark right above their heads.

We had to snap a shot of a sting ray. They look like they're smiling, and their little mouths open and close as they swim along.

Happy little fish.

The cool jellyfish, they had a big tank of them. So amazing to watch how they move.

Once again, the momma and her babies. Love these tigers.

But it stresses me out that they are on display all the time. The mother constantly looks like a nervous wreck with the cameras flashing and the crowds. I feel bad for her.

I really think this is the daddy. Doesn't he look like he should be the dad?

Mandi loved this gorilla. They had a complete photo session together. Quite amusing.

One of the few albino crocodiles in captivity. This guys a monster.

Here is another wild animal found at the zoo.

How unsafe is this?

They should definitely put this one in a cage!

Here is another dejavu moment. After the zoo we drove over to winter quarters. This time we passed on the tour and wandered on our own.

Aren't our little pioneers adorable!

It's so easy to get Mandi to do anything.

Me: Mandi put on this bonnet and let me take your picture.

Mandi: No, I'm not doing that.
Me: Just do it!
Mandi: Alright.

Me: And pose with the wagon!

So easy...

At the grave site of Winter Quarters.

This was a fun day. I'll have to do a second post on the Covered Bridge Festival that we went to on Saturday. That was a lot of fun as well.

Happy Birthday Mandi

Today is Mandi's birthday. I'm really excited because she gets to come and visit me in two days, woohoo!
Being the two youngest in the family we were always dubbed the M&M's and spent a lot of time with each other growing up. She's always been someone that I've looked up to and that's been a really great example to me throughout my life. So I hope you have a great b-day, and we'll party hard this weekend!

Probably one of the few people in my life that could convince me to bow to them in a photo. This was truly an exception, but someone had to play the role of King Arthur.

When Mandi went to BYU London for a semester I went over there to travel and visit, it was so much fun to hang out with each other.

Here we are, it's really sad that I have so few modern day pictures of us together, or even of just her. But I love the pictures when we're little, so much fun.

Just want to say thanks for everything Mandi, thanks for always listening to me complain and offering good advice and being a good role model for me to emulate (although I didn't always do a good job at emulating!). You really are one of the few people I know that is always trying to do the right thing, always trying to make others happy and always trying to keep the peace. Which wasn't the easiest thing in a house full of four girls with intense personalities!

Love ya!

Soccer

We signed the boys up to play soccer awhile back and two Saturdays ago was their first soccer practice/game. It was so much fun. I didn't go to the very first one because JoDee was in town and we had limited time to play, so we did other things while the boys went to soccer, so this past Saturday was their second time playing and I went to watch with Tom. It was so amusing to watch a bunch of four and five year olds play soccer. They are so uncoordinated and hilarious. I wish I would have brought a video camera.

Talin actually did a really good job trying to keep up and follow the rules. Collin on the other hand is such a goon. When someone would try to kick his ball away from him, his solution was to lay on top of it in a fetal position and stay there in the middle of the field. I was embarrassed to claim him as my child after an hour of this. And he wore out a lot quicker than Talin, which was shocking, and would often just sit down on the field and quit.

Here is Collin all worn out and exhausted.
Talin is working hard, sorry for the blurry pic.

The boys being taught what to do.

They were having trouble holding the ball so I guess they were suppose to put their hand behind their back, this was at the first practice so I wasn't there for these pictures.

Typical scene right here. Playing their roles to perfection.

So Collin had a little trouble holding the ball as well as laying on it.

I'm thinking next year might be better, Collin was a little young to start off, he's still only three. I actually had to convince them to let him on the team with Talin, now I'm thinking that might have been a mistake. But at this age I figure they're just out there to have fun anyway.

Have to Vent.

I just need a few minutes to vent some thoughts.
First of all, after three days of trying to get a hold of this travel agent lady to figure out if our flight is paid for or not for our Cancun trip that we won, she finally decides to call me back today. Um yeah, the flight is not paid for. What in the samhill is the point in giving someone a free trip to Mexico if you don't pay for the airfare? I'm irritated, I can't even afford to buy a stick of gum right now, nonetheless pay for two round trip tickets to Cancun so that I might redeem my "free" trip. GRRRR!!!

And on another note, I've been thrown into such a depression since JoDee left. I mean yeah, she's my sister and I miss her, but this is ridiculous, have to get on with life. I think I just spent so much time anticipating this visit and then it was here and over so quickly that I'm a little shocked that it ever happened. Was I there? I'm sure I was, but it's blurry.

Then Collin is having trouble in school. I have had his teacher pull me aside twice this week to talk to me about his behavior, and he only attends four days a week, so he has managed to be disruptive enough half of this week for me to clearly hear about it.
I guess he's having trouble listening which isn't shocking, we struggle with the same things at home, and he interrupts and shouts out whatever comes into his head at any moment during the day, well yeah we have the same trouble with that as well at home. Then at lunchtime I guess he was being very unmannerly and kept blowing bubbles in his milk and things like that, we don't have a problem like that at home. I'm just wondering what to do with him?? How do I discipline him without breaking his little spirit. The yelling out loud and over exuberance is a part of his personality, he has a lot of it, and I somehow have to teach him how to temper that excitement while at school, and at home wouldn't be too bad either. Help! I'm just afraid in a year or so some teacher is going to try to get him diagnosed as ADHD or something like that. He's just a wild boy with a lot of personality, isn't that how most boys are?

So anyway, hopefully tomorrow is better and I'm a little happier about life.

Pregnancy

Well, it seems to have happened.

The belly has popped.

Talin informed me kindly yesterday that I'm starting to get quite big.

Thank you.

I'm not sure what's growing faster, my boobs or my belly or my butt, it's a tie right now. One things for certain, I'm almost embarrassed to tell people that I'm only fifteen weeks along.
I know it's my third and I'm suppose to be monstrous, I'm just terrified of another repeat of how I carried Talin. It was scary, people were worried, there were whispered comments behind my back at how large my stomach was for only being seven months along. Hopefully I can keep the belly under control for this pregnancy.

See below pic for example. Yes, I really am only seven months there.

Mandi, now I'm waiting for you to post a tummy picture for us, I don't believe you've popped until I've seen it!

Happy B-Day Jo & Last Weekend

Okay JoDee, I know you're going to not be pleased by this picture, but I seriously have NO pictures of you. My attempt to take pictures of us this weekend was met with hostility and threatenings of throwing the camera out the window. I love my camera so I let it go. But here you are in one of my favorite moments with you, the crazy silly side coming out, when anything goes and we usually get sore cheeks from laughing so much.
You're a great sister and we've always had so much fun together, it was a blast having you come and visit this past weekend. I appreciate more than anything all that you and your family have done for my family, we have always loved coming to visit and stay. I think that's one of the harder things about living so far away, I can't just take off and come for a visit whenever I like!
I hope you have a great Birthday and this year is a good one for you!
On another note, this weekend was a ton of fun having JoDee and Madalyn come to visit. We went to the Omaha Zoo on Friday and the kids had a blast. The Omaha Zoo is seriously one of the coolest zoos I've ever been too. I think they really enjoyed going and seeing all the animals. They have a ton of cool exhibits.

Here is Madalyn with Collin and Talin. They LOVED Madalyn and she was so sweet with them and helped out a lot with keeping an eye on them over the weekend.

I had to add in the seahorse. Madalyn took this picture, she was loving the seahorses, they had some really neat species of fish, but it was hard to get pictures of them in their tanks.

The cat exhibit was one of the neatest and the kids were really excited to see all the big cats. This tiger was gorgeous, as you can well see. She just had two baby cubs and they were on display with her that day. We were lucky to see them.

Here she is with one of her babies. So cute!

Um yeah, she only had three legs, that's a real mom for you. And she got really ticked at my flash and was growling at me, it made for a cool picture though!

So after the zoo we drove over to winter quarters and did the tour. It was a really neat experience. The only thing was that we had a difficult time getting into it and feeling the spirit because Talin and Collin kept farting during the Sister missionaries presentation. We were dying. I kept trying not to laugh, but I would glance over at JoDee and just looking at each other would almost send me into hysterics again.

Our little pioneers. The kids loved dressing up and looking like pioneers. They look adorable too.

Pulling a handcart is a lot harder than it looks, and this one was about empty! It really makes you appreciate the sacrifice and dedication the pioneers made to make it to Zion.

Well I'm bummed the weekend is over and they had to go home, but it was such a good time having visitors and spending time with my sister. Can't wait to see them again.

8 Random Things About Me

1. I'm really bummed out right now that JoDee and Madalyn have gone home, it was so much fun to have them visit this past weekend. I'll post on their visit later.

2. I won a three day/two night trip to Cancun, Mexico through Gold Canyon. But just now when I called to place the reservations I was told that airfare wasn't included. That could be wrong, but I have to get a hold of another lady to find out, because the letter says to call a separate agent for airfare. I would think it's provided, because what's the point of winning a trip if you have to pay for your airfare? So I'll keep you updated on that.

3. My obsession with food has calmed down considerably over the past little while, which I'm grateful for. So I'm trying to eat a little better with this pregnancy and keep working out, but already I have the flat tire around my midsection, where in the &*#$#* did that come from?? I'm not pleased.

4. I'm frustrated by blogging because it's in the back of my head that I should write a post, yet I don't want to sit down and write anything, and I can't think of anything to write, and I really just don't want to. And I'm kind of overwhelmed that I have to come up with four more random things! I really think it's that I'm losing my mind, like just this afternoon I asked Tom if Mexico had different money than us. He found that quite amusing and asked me if I'd ever heard of a pesos. Duh. I tell you, it's my mind, slipping away slowly.

5. If you couldn't tell already, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I just don't feel on top of my game, I'm tired and grumpy and wish I could crawl back into bed, but it just won't happen.

6. I'm excited to watch TV tonight because the House premiere is on and The Biggest Loser. I love House, he's so evil and hilarious at the same time, and the Biggest Loser is just so inspirational, every time I watch it I want to sit in front of the TV and do leg raises or something because it gets me so energized.

7. I love this time of year, the fall is the gorgeous, especially here in Iowa. The leaves changing and the crisp coolness in the air is the best, and I love seeing all the Halloween decorations and planning with the kids what they want to dress up as. It's so much fun. My favorite is when they want to do a costume that I can create instead of buy for them.

8. I really want to throw a Halloween party, but I really don't want to do it by myself. I'm hoping to rope in my friend Betsy to get excited and want to do it as well. There are just so many fun foods and desserts you can make for Halloween.

Peanut People

Yesterday was one of those days. I was tired, irritable, and no longer interested in fulfilling my role of helpful, sweet mother. Talin had been harassing me ever since I picked him up from school that he wanted to do an activity with the family. I kept putting him off; after I clean the kitchen, after I vacuum, after I sweep, after I fix dinner, after dinner is in the oven, after we eat dinner, and on and on. What a patient child I have to listen to all my excuses. I know it sounds evil, but some days I really just don't have it in me by the afternoon.

So when Tom walked in the door I immediately informed him that I was done for the evening and no longer a mother. I informed my group of boys to please ignore me from that point on, that I didn't exist, I could not get drinks of water or answer questions, I was done. So they did, they ignored me.

Curiosity always gets the better of me. I went upstairs to see what they could be doing while ignoring me, and the three of them were laying on the floor drawing. They were drawing peanut people. (Although today I was informed by Talin that dad wanted to draw and color peanut people not him, and he wants to do a different activity tonight, because he didn't get to do the one he wanted last night. Lovely.) So here are the finished masterpieces of the peanut people.

This one is Tom's drawing. Isn't he good?

This one is Collin's but he's insisting he didn't draw it. Okay???

Here is Talin's. You can tell who the artist is, I think he's better than his dad!

Tom might have enjoyed this more than his boys. Here's another of his creations.

And here is Collin's, but he's quite upset about this drawing as well. Saying Talin colored a pink diaper on his peanut, and he hates diapers. I told him not to say hate, but he's pretty passionate about this. Once again, okay???

Confessions

I just have to come clean and confess. Maybe confessing about this will make me feel better, maybe not.

Here it is:

I'm obsessed with food lately.

Seriously obsessed, like a disease. I think about it constantly and I want the oddest things to eat. Things I would have cringed at a few months ago. Macaroni and cheese, bagels with cream cheese, corn dog nuggets, McDonald's snack wraps, deep fried chicken and fish from Long John Silvers, caramels, ice cream sundaes, and scrambled eggs, just to name a few.

And the things that have turned me off horribly and I've refused to eat, are your entire vegetable and fruit group.

Why am I confessing?

I don't know, I think I'm hoping I can start to eat better if I share my weakness.

Last week I made Collin and I an ice cream sundae with hot fudge and oreos, at 10:30 in the morning.

Shameful.

I blame this all on one little person. One little person that has taken over my existence and isn't even three inches long yet.

This one.

SPT: Childhood Memories

Believe it or not, this is the one picture I have of my first day of kindergarten. The back of my head. But I'm pretty sure I know what my mom was going for, my crowning glory, the long blond hair. Who knows, maybe my face was dirty? Which is a pity, cause kindergarten was my most attractive year.
School started off great. That first year of kindergarten was the best ever. I remember being popular, I joke that the only time I've ever been popular has been in kindergarten, but it's really true. The kids used to fight over who could sit next to me at lunch. It was great.
Things just got worse from there on.

First Grade.

I think this is where it started to go down hill. Kids are mean, I had no front teeth, and the ones that eventually came in to replace my unsightly gap were insanely large and stuck out to create an unsightly overbite. It was the bane of my existence. And to top it all off I had a horrible speech delay, I couldn't say my 'R's' and people often did not understand what I was saying.
So school was never great for me, except for high school when I got braces and a bit more confidence, then it got better.
But I have a terrible fear of school, and I fear for my children. How do you protect them from being bullied or terrorized? I guess you can't, but I hope to give them enough confidence and self-worth to not let the negative things affect them deeply.
On a more positive note, the one thing I do remember well about grade school is the fashion. I have three sisters, so there were a lot of curled banged and large cans of aerosol hairspray around the house. If your bangs were not stiff and high, they were not looking good. I also remember wearing jeans, but I would roll them over and then roll them up my calf, and take my socks and roll them down like a doughnut around my ankle. I thought this was cool. Maybe it was, I mean it was the eighties.

Another First Day

He was in my room at 6:45 this morning insisting it was time to go to school. I had thought Talin was excited for his first day of kindergarten, well Collin has been insane with impatience for his first day of preschool. Today it finally arrived. He was so thrilled to go. Most of the children in his class had mom and dad's drop them off and fuss over them and I saw a few cry as they walked back to their cars. I could hardly contain myself from skipping, I'm free all morning, with no babies!! I can do whatever I please without someone to drag along or complain at me. It's a nice feeling. And it's even better when both of your kids love going to school and really enjoy the socialization of being out of their own home. I could really get used to this.

Talin needed to get into the photography session I was having with Collin this morning. The best thing is that their classrooms are right next door to each other and I won't be surprised if they catch a glimpse of one another during the morning. It's just comforting to know they are both right there.

On a completely different note, I threw a baby shower on Saturday for my friend Betsy. She had a little girl while I was gone over the summer and two months later I finally got around to the shower. This is a picture of her (on the right) and her sister Katrina who was in town visiting from Arizona.

The shower was fun. I had a lot of stress and anxiety going into it, I don't like being in charge of things and I'm not super great at social events with a lot of people. But it turned out great and I'm glad I was able to do this for her.

Here is her little girl Hannah. I wish I would have gotten a better picture, she is the cutest thing ever.

Not a very good picture of the food, there were constantly people standing in front of it and as you can see, some people even just decided to camp out at the table entirely! But the food was really good, and I got a lot of help making it so I wasn't on my own. Overall a great time.

Randomness

I have a few things to mention right now and they're random, so I'll number them.

1. Collin is doing better, the rash looks the same if not worse, but has been diagnosed as poison oak. We are lotioning every two hours with calamine and hoping the redness and bumps and all around crustiness goes away by Monday for his first day of preschool.

2. Talin asked me loudly in WalMart when dad was going to put a baby in my tummy. I kind of groaned and started wishing that five year olds could talk in a voice that was anything but yelling with each statement. Is that smirks I see from fellow shoppers or my imagination? Tom would say it's my imagination, everything is when I ask him.

3. I had the best compliment in the world today. Someone thought I was eighteen years old. Isn't that fabulous? Eighteen! I'm going to hang onto that for awhile, especially the surprised face when I told her I was really twenty-seven. This is a treasured moment and I can't stop smiling when I think about it. Eighteen... :)

4. My cousin Rachel started a blog and I'm really excited about that. She has made it private, so email her if you want to read it. I hope she doesn't care that I'm announcing this, but I'm really thrilled to read about her everyday.

Any Idea??

Okay, this is how my little boy woke up this morning, looking like this. What??? Is it a rash, is it a fungus, is it some kind of weird skin disease??

I'm at a loss. Tom is at a loss. Help.

Obviously he can't go to the doctor until Tuesday, if it's even like this till then, which I would die if it is. But has anyone had their children come down with mysterious skin problems? Does it look like something obvious that I'm not seeing?

Help!