Our November

A big highlight of November for Hudson (and mom) was that our co-op preschool is no longer at our house! He was thrilled to go to preschool at Mari's house and it's been fun for mom to have a little time two mornings a week to herself!

 We had "Friendsgiving" with our dear friends, the Bennetts. They are expecting their third boy too, so we are just a general mass of little boys running around. We made a turkey, pies and sweet potatoes and Bennetts brought delicious rolls and salad and we had a wonderful feast! Thanksgiving food is too good to only enjoy once! The boys had a blast running around together and playing and we had a great time chatting with Chad and Alyse. I had to laugh, at one point after dinner, Alyse and I were each laying on a couch, pregnant and exhausted while the men did the dishes.

 Daylight savings time has been rough around here- hence for the first time in probably three years, Hudson cuddled up on my lap and fell asleep right at the first of church! He stayed asleep the whole meeting, it was so sweet!

We had Chase's first parent teacher conference and it was great. We love Mrs. Miller, and she loves Chase. Her first question to me was, "Where did the tractor obsession come from?" He is (obviously) doing really really well in class. He's well behaved, learning a lot, and we've been able to see that growth at home. He's already acting more responsible and often responds when I ask him to do something, "I can do it, I'm in kindergarten now." He's reading well above kindergarten reading level, his handwriting and motor skills are improving every day, and he's learning so much about life and interacting with others. Chase is just an awesome kid and is thriving in school- just like we knew he would!

The day of his conference also ended up being election Tuesday, we went out to ice cream to celebrate a good conference (not the election) and had to laugh when Hudson wouldn't take his eyes off his ice cream for one second for a picture. Then we put the boys to bed and watched the results of the election roll in. The results were surprising, since almost every poll had Hillary easily winning the election, but in the end, state after state came in for Trump. We were pretty shocked. This whole election process has been ugly in America this year, worse than I can ever remember. People on both sides sharing intolerant, hateful, and close-minded comments, and social media allows it all to spread like wildfire. In the aftermath, it was a good reminder to me that 1. everyone has a reason they voted why they did- and just because the "issue" that draws them to a specific candidate doesn't appeal to everyone, doesn't mean it isn't valid. We live different lives and have different needs and we should all respect everyone, regardless of who they voted for and 2. This world just needs kindness- and really it is everywhere if we look for it. But this was a good reminder to me to be a little extra kind. There are a lot of people struggling, and they need kindness. That was kind of a tangent from our normal activities on the blog, but it's been on our minds and in our conversations a lot these last few months. Ben and I actually voted for a third party candidate for president, because we didn't feel like either major candidate represented us well. But now it's time to just pull together, support the people around us, do what we can to make our community a great place, and teach our children to be kind. 

 Chase started feeling sad that fall was almost over and we hadn't jumped in the leaves enough. So we made that happen.

 November was so warm, we played at the park with no jackets frequently! This was probably our last warm day and the boys were running around the park (at sunset) as happy as can be. It was a really fun evening. And then two days later we woke up to snow! Just a tiny amount of snow, but it was suddenly cold and definitely different! The boys wanted to play in it so badly, I let them "shovel" for just a minute before school. Luckily, right after Thanksgiving a huge snowstorm came in and covered us in a thick blanket of snow. The boys have already spent many happy hours out playing in it!

As a final part of our November, we did another thankful tree. I love doing this and helping the boys understand the spirit of gratitude. Hudson didn't quite get it this year- he mostly kept being "thankful" for things he wants, but doesn't actually have. But I feel like we are getting there! 

Thanksgiving in San Diego

We took off the weekend before Thanksgiving for our much anticipated trip to San Diego, California! My parents generously treated us to a week there and it was amazing to be all together, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery, in such a fun area! Our week was packed full of activities! We took our new van on it's maiden road trip, and I think we all give the van two thumbs up! The DVD player saved us- as did all the additional packing space! We split the road trip up with a night in St. George- and you should have seen how giddy the boys were about our hotel in St. George. These boys love to travel (and apparently aren't that hard to impress!) After another six hours of driving on Saturday we were so happy to be out of the car and at our resort. We didn't have much time before sunset, but the boys were anxious to hit the pool, so we did!

Sunday after church we headed out to La Jolla to see the beautiful San Diego temple. Then we headed to the beach to see the seals and sea lions- they did not disappoint! Hudson loved seeing the animals up close, and Chase was much more interested in playing in the sand, discussing the architecture of the wall and how it was possibly built. True to their natural personalities! 

 We paid a little money to go tour this sea cave- it was pretty cool! 145 steps down and you end up with this view! The boys thought it was a grand adventure and worth the short stop.

 Monday was a full day in San Diego- the boys started by touring the USS Midway, a retired air-craft carrier that is in now permanently in port in the San Diego Harbor. The boys loved it! After lunch at a delicious place Ben found we headed out to Coronado to play on the beach for a little while. We ended the day in Old Town, toured the Mormon Battalion Museum and had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

 Tuesday we had a "chill at the resort" type day. The men golfed, I napped (a lot- all this traveling took a tole on my pregnant, tired body) and in the afternoon we entered cupcake wars! We let the kiddos have a lot of creative license and ended up with a Martian-Dolphin cupcake- that was mostly covered in sprinkles.

Wednesday was our big day at the San Diego Zoo! It was such a fun day. The whole family was there and we had a great time. The panda was so active, just sitting there eating bamboo right in front of us! Hudson said his favorite was the elephants, bears, and lions (they were huge!). We were there for almost the whole day and still only saw about 2/3 of the zoo.

I don't actually have any pictures from our Thanksgiving day, but it was maybe my favorite day of the trip. We hung out at the resort, swam and enjoyed the pools (and Chase used the waterslides a lot). We had a good afternoon nap and then all congregated at my parent's condo for dinner. Our dinner was mostly bought at Costco and included very little preparation, and it was still delicious. After dinner we played a hilarious game of Taboo and some Apples to Apples (Chase's favorite game these days). We have a lot to be thankful for, and this trip was a good reminder of the things most important, our healthy, happy family!

Friday was our last full day in San Diego and we spent it at Legoland! It was pretty crowded, but the boys had a great time nonetheless. Chase is so obsessed with all things building related, so this place was great for him.

And then our trip was over! We took two days driving home, stopping in St. George again. Although there was a little traffic that slowed us down, the drive was otherwise uneventful. We laughed pretty hard when we finally pulled into Kaysville, to my parents house to drop them off and Hudson suddenly burst out in angry protest "NO! I don't want to go home! I want to go back to San Diego!!!! Vacations are supposed to be long! That was short!" It apparently did not occur to him during our entire two day drive that we were going back home. He's since adjusted, but it was very obvious that both boys loved our trip just as much (if not more) than Ben and I did. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving full of wonderful memories.

Halloween

 I know I say this every year, but Halloween with little ones is just the best. We really love that they have so many opportunities to dress up and I feel like we've fully embraced the holiday by the time actual trick or treating happens! This year the real Halloween festivities started on Thursday with a carnival at Kaysville Elementary, where Nana teaches. Since I was still feeling sickish from the flu, my mom and Pam took the boys to the carnival and they had a great time!

 On Friday they celebrated at school. First there was a costume parade. Each kindergartener was paired with a 6th grader and Chase got lucky to be paired with cute Averee (who was in our old ward). Apparently he didn't want to hold her hand because "my hands get too sweaty!" and compromised on just holding one finger. After the parade the 6th graders put on a spook alley and party for the kindergarteners! Needless to say, Chase had a blast!

Friday night (when Ben was finally back in town!) we had our ward Halloween party! It was amazing! They had a delicious dinner, the whole church decorated, and lots of fun games and activities for the kids. Our boys had a great time. The only picture I got was Chase and his buddy Porter, who was wearing the same costume (thanks Costco!).

 I loved how cute they looked in their costumes this year! Chase saw this costume at Costco back in August and he loved it so we bought it. I've only now bought a grand total of 3 costumes EVER for my kids (all for Chase actually) and then each costume has been worn multiple years, by both kids! Hudson, magically and happily, has always been excited about wearing the hand-me-down costume, and this year was no exception. He was thrilled to be a fire-fighter!

 Saturday night we went to the trunk-or-treat in my parents ward, which is also our old ward. It was so fun. Chase loved running around with all his buddies and it was a beautiful, warm night!

 I love this picture with their cousins. Nora is super into Monsters Inc these days, so she was thrilled with the idea of wearing the old blue monster costume both my boys have worn and loved. So Anna was a tiny Mike Wizowski, Kate was Roz and Will was Mr. Waternoose. These boys love their cousins and it's so cute to see their bond grow!

 Monday, finally it was Halloween. We finally got our pumpkins carved. Ben figured out last year that it's easiest and fastest to use a drill, which is how we did most of their pumpkins which delights the boys. The boys picked out their pumpkins weeks ago with their grandparents, Hudson grabbed the first one he saw, and Chase carefully searched the pumpkin patch for the biggest one.

I decided to try to make "dinner in a pumpkin" for our Halloween dinner. When I explained it to Chase he gave me a huge hug and told me that I was the best mom in the whole world! And it was actually tasty and we all enjoyed it. I was also glad to get a good, healthy dinner in them before the deluge of candy. 

And then it was time for actual trick-or-treating. We stopped up at Nana's first, and did a few of their neighbors who love the boys. This Halloween was super fun because Aunt Heidi flew in for a few days, so she came trick or treating with us! Then we hit up our neighborhood and the boys pumpkins quickly filled up! Some of our neighbors really go all out- our favorite is the house that does homemade scones and hot chocolate! After trick-or-treating we snuggled up at home and watched "The Great Pumpkin" just like we did last year. It surprises me with how old that movie is, but our boys LOVE it. They think it's hilarious. It was a wonderful Halloween! 

Oh, and Hudson had me draw a mustache on his face for trick or treating because "I just need one, okay!"

Fall Break

Fall Break was so much fun this year! Originally we thought about going somewhere or camping this weekend, but when it came down to it to much other stuff was scheduled during this time. So we decided to stay at home and it was great! We kicked off the fun with a fun afternoon at the Treehouse Museum. My sweet friend Katie gets us in for free and we always love it! Hudson got to be in the "partici-play" and really fulfilled his role as monkey well! They also had a little panda hospital where both boys loved taking care of the baby pandas as part of their temporary China exhibit. 

 One night my parents stopped by so I could cut my dad's hair, after we put the boys to bed. Of course, they hopped right out of bed and immediately hit up Nana for stories. I'm not sure why they are sitting ON the table though...

 Then school was actually out and we planned a whole day of fun! We started off by going to Discovery Gateway. They have a Syd the Science Kid exhibit right now that I knew Chase would love- Hudson had already been once. Chase did love it! This boy loves science and doing experiments. He loved the magnets, microscopes, and other experiments they had. He's an inquisitive kid.

After the museum we headed down to Springville (we spent a lot of time in the van that day!) and met Ashley and her four girls at a beautiful park! We picnicked in the sunny, crisp fall weather and had a great time. I got to hold sweet new baby Sophie, and see the boys interact so sweetly with her (they will be the best big brothers when our little guy comes!). It's always so much fun to hang out with them and we stayed for a good four hours- and I didn't take a single picture! Sometimes you are just having too much fun to take pictures. We even rounded out the trip home with a Costco trip and somehow we all held it together despite none of us getting naps and being gone from home for a solid 10 hours. Luckily, Ben had a delicious dinner waiting for us when we got home that night!

Friday we took much slower. We did a bunch of cleaning around the house and then joined some friends at our neighborhood park for a little fresh air. The boys loved playing in the leaves and sand with Jazz.

 Saturday morning Ben left for a week long work trip to Washington DC. It's good fortune that his company headquarters are just a few hours from where his parents live, so we was able to just fly out a few days early and spend the weekend visiting his parents and grandparents. I don't love having him gone for long spurts of time, but it's worth it, especially when the company pays for it!

We had Chase's last soccer game of this season! Soccer has been such a great experience for him. He's loved every game and he even scored a goal on his last game! We were so proud of him, mostly for his good attitude and how hard he works, even though he frequently has to play the whole game without ever getting a break to sit-out.

 Papa and Nana came to his game- and Papa always brings them donuts and chocolate milk for after. These boys are always happy about donuts!

 Sunday we had a regional conference for church- meaning it's just two hours, but that's with the boys sitting (supposedly quietly) with me the whole time. I wasn't sure we would make it through, but with the help of lots of snacks, quiet toys, and nice people sitting by us, we made it through! I even got a few good gems of wisdom from the talks- which always feels like a bonus when you are trying to manage small children at church!

 Sunday night we went to my parents house and Nana had sugar cookies all cut out and ready to decorate! I was thankful since I'd been meaning to do this with the boys and hadn't gotten around to it. They loved frosting and sprinkling their cookies. They both definitely have a "more is more" philosophy when it comes to cookie decor!

 Then we started the normal school week. I was ready to rock this week as a single parent. I had plans to do lots of fun activities with the boys and our schedule was packed. And it was going fairly well- Chase had red ribbon week at school, but a few of the activities felt a little too weird for him, like mustache day. Hudson, however, DID want a mustache so he sported one for a day or so. Crazy sock day was also too weird for Chase, so we settled on him wearing one black and one white sock, while Hudson wore a pair he stole from Nana that had baby chicks on them all day. Chase was on board with pajama day and hat day though!

So anyway, things were going well until Tuesday night. I caught a nasty flu bug (that had gone through Nora, Will and Kate earlier that weekend) and it was terrible- like up-all-night-can't-keep-even-water-down kind of terrible. I texted my mom early in the morning and she saved my bacon by coming to help get the boys breakfast and settled for the day, and then came back after work to get them dinner, some playtime, bathed and to bed! And I mostly just laid in bed, completely despondent, all day long. And the kids watched lots of TV and stayed out of trouble in the time in between. They even got their own snacks, chocolate chips and regular chips. I'm was so thankful for my mom's rescue, and that my boys were good sports- otherwise it could have been even worse.

So other than that yucky virus, our fall break (and time afterward) was excellent! I sure am ready to get my husband back tomorrow though! Then we can start with the Halloween fun!

Thank Goodness for Octobers

Every year I look forward to October with such anticipation, it is such a beautiful month! And every year I vow that we will thoroughly enjoy it and not take it for granted. It's been a great month for our family, full of lots of fun activities and the beauties of fall. We started it off with Creekside Elementary's Fall Festival, which was so fun! It is their big fundraiser for the year and it was huge and so well planned and attended. The kids looked forward to it all week, and the night of the festival I showed up at 5:00 when it started imagining we would be there for an hour or so. Three hours later we were still going strong! They had so many fun activities to do and Chase loved running into all his friends from school and our ward. This fell on the day after we'd told the boys about the baby, so Chase was quickly spreading the word and telling EVERYONE we saw about his new baby brother.

 Over Conference weekend Papa Ray came to visit! It's been so nice this year to have him visit us twice just about six weeks apart! He had to take an OSHA class and since one was offered in Utah he took it here so he could visit with us! He treated us to a Mexican Restaurant one night, got in some good quality time with the boys, and was able to walk Chase to school his last morning here before he flew out. It was a short, but great visit!

 Soccer! Chase started soccer this fall and it's been a blast to watch! He loves it. He runs around like a little puppy the whole time, just so excited to be part of things. He even high-fives his own teammates when the other team scores (he has such a good attitude!). And when he gets to kick-off he starts clear back at the goal and runs the whole half-field in winding up for his big kick! At this age they only play three kids on the field at a time, but his little team frequently only has three players there and he does great running around and playing the whole game. His coach has been darling with them and it's been a great experience for him- and us too. We love watching his games!

 Since we discovered the beauty of fernwood, just 10 minutes from home, we've been back for another night of picnicking and hiking. The beauty of the leaves right now is just the best. I love my enthusiastic little hikers!

 Chase had a field trip! I got to go with him to chaperone and it was great. They went to Black Island Farms- a super fun pumpkin patch we've been to before. It has lots of fun activities, and then they took the kids on a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch and let them each choose a pumpkin. The real highlight for Chase was riding the school bus- a first for him!

 Since I wanted to go on the field trip, I asked my dad if Hudson could go to work with him for the morning. My sweet dad willingly agreed, but said he'd need to pick Hudson up at 7:00 am. Well I had Hudson up early and he was thrilled to be going to work with Papa! When the field trip was over I called my dad to coordinate getting Hudson back, but he asked to keep him longer since they were having so much fun together. He didn't end up bringing him home until 6:30 that evening- and they were both so happy! I think it's so great that they could spend a whole day together- working- and both be so happy with it. These two have a pretty strong bond- they just get each other. Hudson's favorite parts of the day were the 2 bottles of chocolate milk Papa bought him, the donut he got, and riding on the tractor with Papa. He also told me, "I gave all the farmer's high-fives, and Papa knows all their names." Apparently he didn't stop talking all day long (which wasn't surprising to me at all), but on the way home he got really quiet. My dad asked him why he was quiet and Hudson replied, "I'm just thinking about my day."

 Ben and I had a fabulous date night to the temple and Zucca- one of our favorite restaurants. It had been a busy week and we needed some time to reconnect and just be adults for a night! Since I actually did my hair (which has been a rare occurrence lately) I had him take a picture of my growing baby bump. Here are baby boy and I at 17 weeks.

 And then Hudson wanted to be in a picture. He hugged me so tight, I love the joy this little one brings to our lives!

 This was huge. We did something we said we'd never do. We bought a van. We have been talking and saving and discussing, researching and weighing our options for months. It was finally time (because our lease on our CR-V was about to expire). We sold the CR-V and the next night went to Salt Lake and bought the Odyssey. Really, I think with adding another baby it's the right car for our family and it already feels so comfortable and convenient with the kids. So Ben and I are swallowing our pride and owning that we are now officially a mini-van family! The boys, however, are super ecstatic about the purchase!

 This sweet kid- we checked a book out of the library illustrated completely with stamps made from potatoes. He obviously wanted to try it out. One Saturday night (before a delicious dinner and camp fire at my parents house) Ben and I cut up some potatoes and made stamps for him- a ghost, a pumpkin, and two different shaped leaves. Nana supplied us with some paint and Chase went to town stamping masterpieces! It held Hudson's interest for a few minutes, and then Chase went on to make about 4 more pieces of art! I love these little things that make life so fun and full with little ones.