Fall has arrived....it's Forest Festival week.

Bethany's allergies are going wild, hence the red, puffy eyes....mums are aplenty.....and the weather is bouncing around like a basketball. Warm and windy days, cold and windy nights, and then cold days, then more warm days.....that's okay. We are enjoying it. I took this first picture last night because it was our first night out to the Forest Festival carnival area. We walked downtown and rode carnival rides for a couple of hours, raced the piggies which is a carnival game, and had carnival food....yum. Their caramel apples are on the counter right now, and it's taking tremendous will power for me to not eat them while they are unattended. :) Hopefully, I'll get some better pictures this week and I'll share. We went to the Buckwheat Festival on Saturday, in the rain, but it was still fun. Mallory's new favorite thing is "harades" -- yep, parades with an h. She is excited for the parades this weekend, and she wants to see the "ween" - queen. We are going to have a week jam-packed with carnival, food, parades, crafts, park activities, and more. Wish you all could be here to enjoy it with us!

Mallory is wearing her new backpack in preparation for church Sunday. She LOVES this thing..thank you, Aunt Shannon. "Little Miss Sunshine"....do you all remember those characters from when some of us were young? There is a whole page of them on my Facebook Photos of Me page. The names aren't right, but there were little books with these characters named for their personalities and moods. Notice in a post below that Jaxson got a backpack that has "Mr. Strong" on it....very appropriate.

Because I took Mal's picture, Bethany posed for one, too. Doesn't she look like a little lady? Where has the time gone?

I loved this one....Game Day cheerleader.

Soccer

Fall soccer started in mid-September for Bethany. She really enjoys soccer. This is her first season in the U8 league, so she's playing on a bigger field with more soccer rules and even a goalie. It's so different from U6. But, they do still tend to just all follow the ball instead of passing. It's a lot of fun to watch, and the kids are getting a great workout. Since Bethany enjoys running, this is a great sport for her.

I know this one is blurry, but I like the action. See what I mean, though.....three kids from the same team going after the ball.

I like that the kids are still friendly about the competition at this level. Friends on opposite teams are still friendly.

She's so cute in this one....I just wanna squeeze her!

Jaxson's 2nd BDay

My nephew, Jaxson, turned 2 in September. These are some photos from his birthday celebration in the park.

Happy Fall!

I think I used this background last year, but I had to use it again because IT'S FALL today!! I love fall.....you all know that. I'll try to take some better pictures this year of the leaves as they change. Some trees have already started, the nights are getting darker earlier, and it's cool in the evening and morning. I love it! Jackets, sweatshirts, soccer games, and football, too. Festivals are coming up....this weekend and next week. It's time to buy some mums. :)

My last 36 hours.....

In the last 36 hours......

• Mallory and I walked to and from Montessori yesterday, which meant about 40 minutes for me and I loved it! I felt so good I did yoga in-between walks, too. Yay me!
• I went to WalMart -- twice! Ugh. It feels like I need to get better about combining my trips, but I'm forgetful these days, and it's so close to my house.
• I put away most of Mallory's birthday gifts and sorted out some baby/not-played-with-so-much toys to make room.
• Had Bethany's best friend, Brynna, come over after school yesterday and before school today because her mom was working....no problem, she's a sweet girl.
• Went to Bethany's soccer field AGAIN, this time to do team pictures.
• Went to the church to meet with the Bishop to turn in names for counselors to serve with me in Primary, and assorted other names were discussed for the many needs of our primary.....whew. Pray for me people - this is a first for me - always the counselor, never the president, which has always worked out nicely for me. :)
• Put the kids to bed without Brad 2 nights in a row (two more nights this week to come, too)....argh, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? It's nothing compared to my Army wife friends. (Young Men/ Scouts and work)
• Went to the school THREE times today -- meetings with the principal and pick-up.
• Had Girls' Movie/Livingroom Picnic Night......"Bolt", not finished yet - kinda cute.
• Was stalked by an angry primary parent because of family feuding between her and her sister and their daughters, which played out in primary on Sunday......(seriously, she came to my house looking for me, but thankfully I was gone-- Are you praying for me yet? :)
• Played Memory with Mallory, and she kicked my hiney!
• Let my heart sing when Mallory opened her Barbie Happy Meal toy and said, "Mommy, I wuv it! Iss so pwitty! I WUV it! Tank you!"
• Had a proud Mommy moment when Bethany's soccer coach said, "She is so good! She is the best listener on the team. How do you do it?!" She came to me a sweetie, so I just got lucky. :)

Mallory is 3!

Mallory woke up at 6:30 yesterday in anticipation of her birthday. She got to go to "school" where she blew out the birthday candle and they sang Happy Birthday to her in sign language. Then she chose to go to the Steer Steakhouse with me for lunch where she overtook my BLT sandwich, and as a super-special treat got a teeny-tiny Diet Coke of her own. The people we ate lunch with, including Brad's parents, sang Happy Birthday to her and she smiled very shyly and jumped into my arms and said, "Thank you, Mommy. That was reawy nice." When she got to our house, I had decorated a little bit with Disney princess stuff and she said, "Mommy! I wuv it! I wuv my party!" She then attempted to nap, or at least pretend to nap while I baked more cake -- but most of that time she yelled for me. For the rest of the day she kept talking about and preparing for her party which wasn't scheduled until after dinner. When it was time to get Burger King for dinner, she refused to leave the house..where her party was, see. "No, I stay here." "We'll have to leave without you Mal -- Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for us." "Okay, bye Dad! Bye Mom!" I had a moment then that is not parenting perfection, but I didn't know how to get her out of the house without being really hard on her on her birthday, so I said "Oh, no, Mallory! The police are going to come and get Daddy and Mommy because little girls can't be home all by themselves!!! You have to come RIGHT NOW!" She was like, "oh! ok." And out the door we went. Don't worry....I then proceeded to tell her how police officers protect people and if they think parents aren't protecting their kids, the parents can get in big trouble...etc.etc.etc. so that she wouldn't think police are bad or scary.

Then, BK.....remember my post about Brad's experience a couple of months ago at a BK? It was worse this time! This play area was tiny and Mallory was afraid to come down. My sister went up first, but Mallory still wouldn't come out. Brad had to crawl up again and rescue her. I WILL remember to never let her go into these again...at least not for another 6 months or so.

So, we were almost late for our own party. Presents were opened, cake and ice cream were eaten, and little Mallory was celebrated!!! Good day!

I wasn't planning this cake, but Mallory kept telling people she was going to have a pink cake. What? I make cupcakes - Betty Crocker - nothing fancy, no decorating except for maybe some lettering and sprinkles. I had already made chocolate cupcakes, but I pulled out a flower mold and did another batch of cupcakes - went to Walmart again looking for pink icing and voila! She was happy and I tried something new. Tasty, too. Maybe someday I'll learn cake decorating like so many of my friends. It looks like fun.

Our weekend...

We spent a couple of nights at Snowshoe Resort with my brother and his family this weekend. I wasn't sure what activities would be available since it's a ski resort, but I was pleasantly surprised. They have a shopping village right in the middle of some of the condo areas, and they run the ski lift down to the lake where there are lots of activities like paddle boats, canoes, a swimming area with beach and chairs with umbrellas, playgrounds, hammocks hanging in the trees, climbing walls, bungee jump things, volleyball, shuffleboard, etc. It was really nice. And, of course, swimming pools with slides which we had to visit even though it was around 70 degrees up on the mountain. In fact the difference in temperature from our condo on top of the mountain to the lake at the bottom of the lift was about 7 degrees.

We're now catching up on sleep because Mallory continued to keep us awake with her yelling, fussing fits at the condo, too. She did sleep all the way through the night last night...woohoo!!

(I didn't think I'd ever say that again after she turned 18 months old. ugh.)

the Pirate Ship was a big hit

Elizabeth, Jaxson, Daniel, and Matt

This is a picture of the girls wearing their "My Aunt Rides and So Will I" National Motorcycle Museum t-shirts that my sister, Shannon, bought for them. I will email some more to you, Shan. :)

My tired Mallory....

Some background.....the night before last, Mallory cried, yelled, and screamed for her Daddy from about 1 am until 4:30 am, THEN she would not fall asleep during her naptime yesterday, THEN she would not fall asleep for her naptime today....( and yes, I'm scared that she is a. growing out of naps or b. growing out of her crib comfort and we're not ready for a big girl bed or c. both) ....So, imagine what kind of mood she was in for the rest of today.

(In the car this evening)

Bethany - "Mallory, did you miss me today when I was at school?"

Mallory - huffy "NO! I di naw misshu."

Bethany - "What?"

Mallory - extra loud "I DI NAW MISSHU!"

Bethany - "But, Mallory, my school was farther away from home than yours."

(whatever that has to do with this ??)

Mallory - very snooty "I know!"

Bethany - "Well, I love you and I missed you, Mallory. That wasn't very nice."

Mallory - with humility "I sorry, Betany."

But, the whole evening went this way....AND she cried and fussed for an hour after I put her to bed tonight.....seriously?!? How is she staying awake?! I had to rock her like a baby to get her to sleep....which was kind of sweet, but we don't want to make a habit of it. Hopefully, our Labor Day weekend away at a nearby resort won't be like this.

Oh, yeah -- Mallory started Montessori preschool today. She will be going 2 mornings a week, sometimes 3, and is super excited. She did not have any trouble leaving me, and I convinced myself to stay busy and do chores while she was gone to keep my mind and body occupied. It worked and my floors are shiny. :)