Free Zoo Day

We went to free zoo day again this year.  The weather was awesome!  50-60 degrees at the end of November - we'll take it!  We went with our neighbors and the kids had a blast.

Colette, Easton, Madeline, Callan, Emmett

 The new bear exhibit was probably the favorite.  Easton loved watching the polar bear and was so proud to be as tall as a grizzly.

Before we left I told Easton to get his shoes (which were inches away from him) and get in the car while I woke up Cal.  He got in the car, but didn't get his shoes.  When we got to the zoo I searched the car and all I could come up with was the liners from his snow boots.  The boots weren't there, only the liners.  He always takes them out because he hates them.  He looked so white trash.  I for sure got the mother of the year award that day!

They Make Me Smile:)

Sunday snooze.  So cute when Callan says, "Yay!  Football!"

 Family Oreo dipping party.

Life doesn't get any better!

Thankful Things

We had a great Thanksgiving!  Tyson forgot that he had to work that day.  We planned on spending the day in Payson, but since he had to work I decided to spend the morning at my parents'.  It was nice to get to see some of the Idaho family.  Easton loves playing with his cousins (who are actually my cousins... :)

We picked Tyson up in Orem and headed to Payson around 2.  Steve and Arlene had a huge spread of food!  Everything was great!  We brought these rolls and printed out things we are thankful for on parchment paper to roll up inside them.  It's safe to say Easton and I ate most of them and we enjoyed finding all the "thankful things."

 We spend the afternoon sifting through Black Friday ads trying to decide if we were going to head out.  We found a few things at Walmart and since they opened at 8PM on Thursday we decided to go.  Hayden, Arlene, Tyson, Callan, and I all went while Easton and Steve watched Shrek.  We got everything we were after!  Memory foam bath mats, batman pjs and slippers, and a memory foam mattress pad.  The deals started at 8 and we were out of there within 10 minutes!  It was great!

Friday morning Tyson had to work, but when I woke up at 7 I ran over to Smith's Marketplace to see if I could pick up a few other things.  Even though they opened at 5 AM, I got everything I was after there, too!  A TV wall mount, play kitchen, legos, and fur lined kids crocs.  (My neighbor mentioned the other day that we are such a "Croc family."  She is so right!  Never realized it before...)  So glad the Pages got me into this Black Friday stuff!

{Some of these things are obviously gifts so be careful what you say!}

That night, the boys and I went to dinner at Noodles & Co. with my family from Idaho and California.   From there we went downtown to see the first night of the Temple Square lights.  The boys enjoyed the nativity outside thanks to grandpa holding them up over the enormous crowds.

All the grandkids (+my kids - the greats)

 My fam minus a few

We have so much to be thankful for!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Daddy Shoot Duck Ducks

I'm still working on a Thanksgiving post, but I don't have the pictures with me right now.  

In the mean time, Tyson has been doing a lot of duck hunting.  It's definitely safe to say it's his latest obsession.  He even  made Max a blind to lay in.  Made it.  Like went to Lowe's and got PVC pipe and went to Walmart for fabric.  He's a dedicated hunter I guess.  And he has spent several nights training Max to stay in the blind.  He sets up the blind in the garage and Max stays in it while Tyson hides a frozen duck.  Yep, that's right.  My outside freezer is filled with fully intact waterfowl.  Ugh.

Max stays in the blind until Tyson tells him to go find the bird and he actually does a pretty good job.

 Tyson and Casey - his most frequent accomplice

 It took forever to get this picture.  Max looks all sorts of obedient, but it's a lie!

 Tyson gave him a bath the other night.  We let him stay inside until he dried since it was freezing outside.  Boy was that a mistake!  Now he thinks he owns the place!  Runs inside every chance he gets!

Feeling Thankful

I have been feeling so thankful lately, I can't even explain.  I'm sure it's the Thanksgiving season kicking in, but I feel so blessed. 

I'm so thankful for my sweet family.  Tyson had one full day off yesterday and I totally took advantage of him.  I went tanning, got my nails done, and went shopping at the new outlets.  While I was gone he got the boys all ready for the day, cleaned the house, and took them out running errands.  He went to Lowe's to get a few things for a project and let Easton bring home 2 pieces of PVC pipes for swords.  While Easton was stalling before his nap, he thought it would be a good idea to put them together with "duck tape" and make Buzz Lightyear wings.

Tyson whipped him up some Buzz Lightyear wings and they mean SO much to Easton.

 I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for my boys.  They have been making me smile all the time lately and I'm so glad I get to spend my days with them.  Easton is so funny and so smart and creative.  He wakes up SO early!  He came into our bed between 4 and 5 this morning and laid there as long as he could stand.  He finally tried to start making conversation and asked, "Dad? Would you like your back scratched?"  He scratched Tyson's back and said, "That was sure good of me to scratch your back huh dad."  Needing a little more sleep, we sent him downstairs to watch TV.  We heard something scraping against the walls and realized he was coming upstairs with his wings on.  We told him to take off the wings so they wouldn't wake up Callan, but he promised to just walk sideways.  He went back down and came back up in 5 minutes with a jar of nuts and whispered,  "Hey mom.  I just thought you might like some cashews."  Hmm I was definitely not thinking about Cashews at 5:30 in the morning, but thanks.

Callan is learning sooooo much so fast.  He is starting to talk like crazy.  He says "love you mom" which melts my heart and won't go to bed until he gives "brother muah."  He loves to count how many binks he has in his crib and LOVES to clean (today he stained the carpet blue with Windex and pulled out every single wipe in a Clorox bottle.)  He will eat anything if you clap and cheer for him and is still such a lover.

This week I have noticed so many little moments where Tyson and I just look at each other and smile because we think our kids are so cute.  We can't even stand it, we just love them so much. 

Happy Birthday Mr. E!

On Easton's actual birthday we gave him a new outfit and tickets to "The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley" at the Scera Center.  We felt bad leaving Cal, but it was nice to spend some time with Easton.  He loved the play!  He thought it was pretty funny.  It was only one hour long so it was perfect for his attention span.  We just might have to make birthday dates with  mom and dad a tradition.

 (PS He threw a HUGE tantrum before we left because he hated the shirt I got him so bad.  He is rebelling against button-ups.  Grrr.)

 Saturday was probably the longest day of Easton's life!  His party was that night and he could not wait!  It was a Batman party, of course.  I spent all day getting food ready and I thought I could make cream filled cupcakes with marshmallow fondant.  The cupcakes were good but fondant is NOT my friend!  It was so hard to make and especially hard to color.  Not worth the effort!  Luckily Kelsey beautified the cupcakes a little before everyone saw:)

(Aunt Kate and Uncle Trace simultaneously smelling their hands?)

 Aunt Amanda, Uncle Thomas, & Uncle Hayden 

 Grandpa's Page & Cook

 Kennedi, Kate, Trace, Grama Cook - Collette, somehow I missed you!

 Aunt Kels and Grama Page

Cal and Crew definitely thought the toys were for them!  Two more months boys! 

Easton cleaned up on the Batman loot!  He loves all his presents so much and they have provided hours of entertainment!  Thanks everyone!

We sure love you Easton!  Can't believe you're four! He went to the doctor for a check up today and told everyone he encountered that he is four now.  

Here are his 4 year old stats:

36.16 lbs 53.43%ile

40.75 inches 62%ile

The Callanator

People have been wondering about Callan.  Well don't worry, he's fine!  I worked on Halloween so the boys were at my mom's.  I was able to get off work early at 4:00 to get ready for trick or treating.  When I got home the boys were exhausted!  Callan was being so ornery so I put that boy straight to bed until dinner.  It was only a 30 minute or so nap so I didn't expect him to wake up bubbly, but there was definitely something wrong!  He was just crying and clinging to me and yelling.  He would not be set down.  I took him up to his room and read him some books and sang him some songs but he just wouldn't snap out of it.  So I put him in his pjs and decided he was done for the night.  We had done enough trunk or treating that I didn't feel too bad. 

Right when I was about to put him to bed he started cheering up a bit so I thought I'd try taking him downstairs for a while again.  He freaked out whenever we put him on the ground and that's when one of my sisters mentioned that he had fallen off the trampoline earlier that day.  We called Kelsey who saw it happen and she said that he was trying to get off the tramp and was hanging on the bar (so maybe a foot off the ground, if that) and his feet went out from under him and he fell flat on his back.  So it didn't make sense why he was acting like he had a hurt leg.  We thought maybe it was his hip or something?  He was collapsing and screaming every time he tried to walk.

So we decided to take him to the Instacare at Riverton Hospital.  Aunties took Easton trick or treating and Kelsey stayed here to put him to bed.  When we got to the Instacare, Cal still wouldn't walk.  Still cried and looked at us like something was painful whenever we tried to set him down.  By the time we got back to the exam room he was climbing up on the step to the bed and jumping off!  He's a fake!  

I'm very sure there was something wrong with the boy.  I'm sure something hurt, but luckily it wasn't a bone.  They x-rayed his left leg from hip to ankle and I guess it was fine.  The next morning I could tell his left leg was still hurting since he cried right at first, but it wore off quickly.  Maybe just a sore muscle?  

Side note - he is at that stage where he is into EVERYTHING!  Always in my make-up, toothpaste, and lotions.  Those are his favorites.

 He had already taken off his diaper at this point so it took a while to get a decent pic!  Loves to put things on his lips.  Mascara in this picture, currently there is green nail polish staining his lips and forehead... How do they even figure out how to unscrew things???

It really is out of control.  If I leave his door open he finds the diaper cream and just lathers it on.  My room it's make-up, toothpaste, nail polish oh and DEODERANT.  Loves the stuff.

He fills toilets with toilet paper and who knows what else.  And he LOVES to get the bag of finely shredded cheese out of the fridge and eat it by the handfuls while spreading it around the house.  His newest trick is to open the dishwasher and climb up it to get what he wants on the counter.  The other day he redecorated the kitchen with Ovaltine.  He also painted the garage floor black.  Found the paint brush, pried open the paint bucket, the whole bit.  

You're probably wondering why he is left unsupervised so often... I swear it happens so quick!