My Favorite "Toys"

Yea! A successful portrait session at the Picture People! The kids did so good! I went in to just get a group shot done (I wanted my free 8x10), but of course the photographer wanted to take individual shots as well, and they turned out so cute that I had to buy some of those too! The hardest part was picking which ones to buy because there were so many cute ones. I HATE it when I have to leave behind cute pictures of my kids! I'm happy with what I got, though! The photographer did such a good job, especially considering the fact that Emma kept running away (notice that Isaac is holding her in place?). When it was Emma's turn to be photographed alone, she literally ran back and forth across the backdrop and danced. I was amazed that the photographer was able to get anything of her alone. Isaac and Noah were champs and smiled and laughed the whole time (especially when the photographer said, "mommy has stinky feet". I guess that's pretty funny when you're 6 and 3)!

By the way, the scans aren't that great (I need a new scanner one of these days), but you still get the point.

Fire!

We felt kind of left out because we're not in California to experience the fires first hand this time, so we decided to make some fire of our own. Not really.

Actually, it was just finally cool enough to justify turning on the fireplace for a little while. The kids were so excited! Fire is pretty neat to watch, and our fireplace is pretty cool. Once the pilot light is lit, we just have to flip a switch on the wall to turn on the fire. Of course, since our kids aren't old enough to be trusted, we have decided to turn off the gas and pilot light after each use. Otherwise I'd just be too scared that Noah would decide to have a fire while I'm in the shower or something. :)

So, my favorite part about these pictures is all the fingerprints and guck on the glass (highly visible in the second picture). I guess maybe I should clean it every once in a while . . . And, oh yeah, I also love how Emma's pants are rolled up with a HUGE cuff on the bottom (without shoes on, she just kept tripping on them) - it makes for a great fashion statement.

Pumpkin Patch!

I invited Stefani and Haley to accompany Noah, Emma and me to the Pumpkin Patch today. It was actually an Enrichment Activity, but the Pumpkin Patch was so crowded that it was just too hard for eveyone to stay together. We tried to get some "great" pictures again, but the kids were much more interested in playing! :) We had a good time, though. They had all sorts of fun stuff for the kids to do and cute places to try and take pictures. There were even all sorts of character cutouts sitting all over the place. Emma and Noah were excited to see "The Little Mermaid" and Haley's favorite was "the Backyardigans". Noah had a great time sliding down the big slide, and jumping in the bounce house. We wore ourselves out so much with all the activities, that we didn't have enough energy left at the end to pick out pumpkins. Pretty silly!

Failed Photo Shoot

Seriously, sometimes I wonder why I even try! I have this huge desire to take great pictures of my kids, and it NEVER works out that way. Last Sunday the three of them looked so cute in their church clothes, that I decided to take them outside and attempt to get at least ONE good picture. With all the effort of both David and I, and constant snapping of the camera, this picture is the winner:

Not too successful. For some reason, Noah is leaning forward in every single picture and neither David or I noticed (so we could have told him to sit up straighter). That's probably because we were using all our efforts to keep Emma from standing up and walking away! Oh well, the good news is that I didn't yell or cry or get extrememly frustrated during the photo shoot. A couple of years ago, on Easter, I got so frustrated with the boys because they wouldn't look at the camera and smile, that I completely broke down into tears and had a major meltdown (I was pregnant with Emma at the time, so maybe that explains it). It was so bad that we missed the better part of Sacrament Meeting while I tried to pull myself together and get over the guilt of being a "picture nazi" (as David calls it). So, I guess maybe this photo shoot wasn't a complete failure, because at least everyone stayed happy (including me). It's actually pretty entertaining to see the progression of pictures. It's just darn near impossible to get 3 kids to look good at the same time! What do people with 4, 5, 6, or more kids do???

Target!!

The new Super Target near my house is now open! I actually shopped there today! Now I don't have to drive all the way across town to go to Target! I feel just as excited as I was when they opened the Moorpark Target. I love Target!! Yay!!!

Math and Science Night at Carroll Elementary

Last night Isaac, Noah, and I went to the Math and Science Night at Isaac's school. It was a lot of fun! They had tables set up in the cafeteria and the gym with all kinds of math and science activities for the kids to do. There were tables where the kids could measure, do puzzles, sort, work on fractions, count money, look through microscopes, experiment with water and bubbles, and much more! The highlight of the evening was when Noah and Isaac each got to stand inside a bubble. It was really cool.