Thumbs Up!

Michael isn't a big fan of this but Aaden is a major thumb sucker. I wasn't a big fan until I realized how much it helps him cope with sleepiness, hunger, and boredom. He's such a content baby in the first place, but this makes him much more accepting of all of the craziness we throw at him. Plus, it's so cute!!!! The cutest part of it is that he HAS to be holding a piece of cloth while he sucks his thumb. For some reason he doesn't think about putting it in his mouth unless he has something soft to hold onto. He could be screaming up a storm and all I have to do is hand him anything soft and the thumb goes in the mouth. It could be anything but most of the time the quickest things to hand him are his own sock, a wash cloth, and his personal favorite a micro-fiber eyeglass cleaner. Oh, but the easiest thing for him to grab is my hair. Sooths him but hurts me. It's just so neat to see when I put him in his bed to sleep. In one smooth motion he grabs the blanket sticks his thumb in his mouth and turns to his side. Such an angel!

I So Called It!!

I had been planning for a while to write a blog updating the ridiculousness that is the newest restaurant in Rock Springs named Tetakawi. In August I wrote a blog reviewing this absurd restaurant, not only questioning it's foolish name but how bad, in total, the restaurant really was. When it opened, which we believe was in May, Michael and I predicted it would last a year, or even 6 months. Our prediction was solidified when we visited it in July which prompted the afore mentioned blog. And so began the Tetakawi demise watch. In October, the restaurant's marque advertised an all-you-can-eat salad bar for $6.99 which made me laugh cause I have seen their salad bar and $6.99 is WAY too much. Soon after they hung a banner outside that read, "Come in for our special, only $7.99!" Was I supposed to just know by that sign what the special was exactly? Was vague advertising suppose to intrigue me enough to go in and eat? If anything it deterred me from going in! Then they posted on the marque a reminder of the restaurants hours and I knew then it would only be a matter of weeks until the place closed. And a couple of weeks ago it happened. As I drove by, in mid-afternoon, I notice there was no cars in the parking lot and no lights on in the restaurant. And on the door there is a paper posted declaring it's offical closing. 6 months! I wonder what will go in that building now? 2 failed businesses in less than a year. My intrigue has peaked once again!

WOW!

This happened a couple of weeks ago and I took a picture of it with my phone and just figured out how to get pics off my phone onto the computer. We got the good ol' Maxima we have lovingly named Shelby in our first year of marriage. It had 29,000 miles on it then and was only 3 years old. Shelby replaced my beloved '91 Ford Ranger my roommate had named Leonard. THe Maxima was the fanciest car I had ever driven. It had a cd player, automatic chair adjustment, power everything, and cruise control. I panicked when we made the deal cause I felt I didn't deserve something so nice. It took me a couple of months to feel comfortable driving it. Now, 5 1/2 years later, I reflect on everything that has changed in our lives since buying it and It makes me smile. Shelby has been a good car for us.

Sibling Love

Aaden just hit the 5 month mark last week and it still amazes me how well these 2 get along! I've been waiting for Abbie to get sick of being a big sister and dislike all the attention her little brother gets or for her to get tired of me asking her for help with him, but she has not gotten tired of it at all! She LOVES being a big sister and she LOVES her little brother whom she has nicknamed Buddy and almost refuses to call him anything other than that. And Aaden can't get enough of his big sister. He lights up whenever she walks into the room and is totally entertained by her even when she just runs in circles. I know this won't last forever but I am totally cherishing this as long as it lasts!

"F" for Frosting

This week Abbie learned the letter F. She learned it quickly and was anxious to do the activities I had planned which involved making a cake and frosting it. Since Michael was home yesterday for Veterans Day, a bank holiday, we got him involved by mixing, baking, helping Abbie frost the cake. I handed him the large can of frosting assuming they would only use half of the can, but I was so wrong! Somehow, the two of them managed to use the whole, very large, can of frosting on the cake. Now, I like, no, I LOVE this Duncan Hines Whipped Chocolate Frosting. But, oh my! It's a definite sugar rush when you eat a piece of this cake!

Definitely Siblings

From collages

Happy Jack

Mike asked if we should carve a pumpkin this year with Abbie and I said no cause I didn't think she even knew what it was, but one day as we were walking through the grocery store Abbie saw a pumpkin and said, "Mom I want to buy a pumpkin and make a face on it!" That night Mike and Abbie went out and picked out a pumpkin. The next day I drew a face on and Abbie and Mike did the cutting.

From collages

Happy Halloween 2009!

From collages

This year was a really fun year because Abbie was old enough to truely enjoy the trick or treating experience. She chose her costume and we did all the Halloween fun that Rock Springs provided. We trick or treated along the store fronts of Rock Spring's downtown in the morning, we went to a Halloween carnival at the library, We trick or treated at the mall in the afternoon, and finally we went to our ward Halloween party and took part in a trunk or treat with all our friends. I don't think our bunch could have had anymore fun and I don't think our kids could have looked any cuter!!

Scare Everyone!!!

At our last playgroup Abbie was given a Halloween gift bag with a pair of vampire teeth, candy, a pencil, and these lovely halloween glasses. Abbie could not put either the teeth or these glasses down for days. So, the other day Abbie puts the glasses on and tells me, "Mom, I'm going to where these everywhere and scare everyone in town." Then she sat and thought for a minute and then said, "Then I wouldn't have any friends! Nevermind."

Welcome Back Autumn

for a couple of weeks Abbie has been begging us to please let her go out and play in the leaves in our yard and we finally broke down and let her this past Monday. I was bold enough to go out and rake them all up while she played and it took 8 big trash bags and 4 trips to the dumpster to clean them all up. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun spending that one on one time with Abbie.

Our Pathetic Results

This is it! This is what our cucumber plants produced before it got too cold. It only took 7 months to grow these things! The sad thing is because we had so much going on, these went bad before we could even eat them.

Pajama Party!

When Stephanie, John, and Wesley came to visit we had Wesley and Abbie share her room and told her she was having a slumber party with her cousin. She had so much fun having her cousin sleep over and was sad when they left. She wanted to have more slumber parties and wanted US to sleep in her room. That didn't seem fun for us so we created pajama party where we get her ready for bed an hour early and then we go into her room and watch a movie with her while we eat ice cream and/or a fun treat. This was our first go at it and we had a lot of fun! Michael and I take turns and every time she asks that brother comes in too. She's a really good big sister!

From collages