Blankie love.

I have had a really hard time getting the girls to clean up their toys. Finally, after telling the girls ALL morning to clean up the play room and their room, I grabbed a bin and starting putting everything that they left on the floor in the bin. Among the things that were on the floor was Claire's blankie! I put this bin the in garage, and you would have thought that I cut Claire's finger off. She was hysterical. She was SO mad that I took her blankie away. She didnt care one bit about the toys that were in the bin.  I let her do some extra chores to earn her blankie back, but the rest of her toys are still in the garage, for now.

So today, before church I warned Claire that I would put her blankie in time out, and not let her sleep with it, if she didnt behave at church. Well, today in class, (I teach the twins primary class) she was getting a little antsy, and I reminded her of our agreement, and the rest of the class GASP'd at the thought of me taking away her blankie! So, I asked how many of the kids still had a blankie that they sleep with, and almost every one of them raised their hands! They ALL looked like they would have cried if they got their blankies taken away! I thought it was hillarious! Also thought it was good to know that the twins arent the only ones who still have blankies!

Soccer

This girls played fall soccer, and had such a great experience! This was their first time playing, and they had such great coaches, who taught them so many great things! All of the girls that were on their team, are in our ward, so that was fun as well! I really enjoyed watching the girls learn, and progress with each practice and game. Carlie is very passionate when it comes to sports I guess! She would get SO frustrated with the other team when they would score a goal. So upset that she starting crying, and couldnt stop to go back in the game. (i was so embarrassed) Claire loved winning too, but didnt seem to mind so much when they lost. I cant wait till next season!

Other things Colton says

When I am on the phone, Colton will say "Who is it?" as soon as I get off the phone. So cute!

Colton 16 Months

Oh Colton boy! 
I just LOVE this kid! Seriously.
He is 16 months old now.
Weighs 21.2lbs 
31.5 inches tall
He is still such a mamas boy.
Say, Hello, Bye, See you, Mom, Dad, Car-ee (Carlie), Care (Claire), Rixie (trixie, our dog) Banana, No no no! (while shaking his finger at you. usually he says it to the dog when she barks) Shush! (again, to the dog)
He loves to eat, and will run up to his chair when I tell him its time to eat.
Loves to take a bath. He will run to the bathroom when I tell him its time for a bath.

He honks your nose and says honk honk!
Still loves watching Airplanes fly above.
Has quite the stink face.
Has 6 teeth. He is getting his 7th and 8th teeth right now. (both on the bottom)
He takes off his shoes the second we get in the car.
Colton is still a great sleeper. He goes to bed at 6:30pm, wakes up around 6:30am, and takes a nap at 9:00am, and sometimes if he is super cranky, i'll make him take an afternoon nap.
He loves to eat and isnt picky about what he eats.
Colton is still such a happy little kid! And I just totally love him!

All I Want for Christmas is my TWO Front Teeth!

Carlie lost her other top tooth Tuesday night. She was eating crackers, and it started to bleed a little, so Aaron just pulled it right out! She looks so stinking cute with those top teeth missing!

Feeling Crafty

I have been in a crafting mood lately. It started last week, when I needed to paint a table that was given to us. It was white, but we have all black wood in the house. I have been in a teal kick for a while, so I went a little crazy and painted the legs of the table teal. Looking at it now, I should probably paint the top black. (right now its a darker wood) And I also need to re paint our old chairs! So that started my crafting mood.

Then I saw this on Pinterest. It was really easy to do. I bought 3 tomato stands at Lowes for under $3 a piece. Then I wrapped a strand of white lights around each cage. I'll probably go back and wrap another strand of lights around each one.

Then, I found these (unfinished) blocks in one of our Christmas decorations bins. I bought these last year at Super Saturday, and I never made them! So I painted, applied scrap book paper, stuck on some vinyl numbers, and called it good! I wish the numbers/letters were black, but I think they turned out cute!

Here are a few other projects that I want to do soon!

November 26

We have started decorating for Christmas! I love this time of year, and I love having so much red in the house!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week, Claires class and another 1st Grade class put on a Thanksgiving play! It was too cute!

Claire's part was "I is for Inside where were warm as toast!"  She had it memorized, and did a great job!

Wednesday both girls had a Pizza party for lunch in both of their classes.  My friend Sarah made these super cute Turkeys for their hair!

I cant believe how grown up these two are!

Last night (Wednesday) we had Aarons family over for a Thanksgiving feast. We smoked the turkey in the smoker and I think it turned out awesome! We also had, homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, Amy brought rolls and her amazing stuffing, Carey brought asparagus and green bean casserole, and I made traditional pumpkin pies, a pumpkin cream pie, and a chocolate cream pie! Everything was so delicious!   Tonight we are stopping by Grandma/Grandpa Valentines, then heading over to my Grandparents house to have dinner with my family.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Over the long weekend last week, we went to Hemmingway Park in Boulder City, with some friends! We love seeing the sheep down in the grassy area. When we got there, we didnt see any sheep at all. Then after an hour a small group came down the mountain to graze in the grass. The kids were so excited to finally see the sheep! Carlie kept calling the biggest sheep, the "boss". it was pretty funny.

Halloween

I just realized I didnt get any pictures of Colton! Oops. This year we went Trick or Treating with the Barlows again. The girls had so much fun with their cousins! Claire was Snow White, and Carlie was Repunzel. I am so ok with the girls still wanting to be princesses! I love that they act their age, and arent trying to be/act older than they are. I wish they could stay 6 forever! Looks like I found a picture of Colton boy! He LOVES Lizzie, and was attached to her almost the entire night! Colton was a Skeleton. Aaron made him his costume. He had black sweat pants, with bones on them. Super cute!

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch by our house. The girls had been begging for us to take them ever since it was set up! I told them if they did good on their spelling tests, we would take them. And so we went! I love the stage that the girls are at. They are old enough to do things by themselves, and they actually ENJOY trying new things! Colton was stuck in his stroller the entire time, but im sure he enjoyed watching the girls!

Pumpkin Carving!

We FINALLY got around to carving pumpkins tonight! Well, Aaron carved one, and the girls painted the others. Claire painted a face, and a spider (that I traced for her) and Carlie painted a face, and a zombie. I painted the bat! Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite traditions, and Im glad we were able to do it this year!

Carlie lost a tooth!

Carlie finally lost her top tooth! It has been blowing in the wind for the last week or so! I've tried several times to pull it out, but it just hasn't been totally ready. Finally at school yesterday, Carlie got it to come out! She was so excited! She looks so much older with her missing tooth!

October

I just love when the kids play together so well! The other night the twins were 'wrestling' in the playroom. They were laughing so hard and having a great time, I had to get a picture of this. They do fight sometimes, but they really are each others best friends.

 

We have had some great weather these last few weeks. I've let the kids play outside more, and I even let Colton play in the courtyard. He sure loves his sisters!

The twins got to wear regular school clothes for picture day (rather than uniforms). They each wanted their hair down with a braid, and did NOT want it curled! My little girls are growing up so fast!

Colton Boy!

This little boy just melts my heart!! I take a LOT of pictures of him, usually while we are in the car waiting to pick the girls up for school. Here are a few things he is up to!

- He still loves his binkie and blankie. He smells his blankie every time he picks it up. When he's just chillin in the car, he will tuck his blankie on the top of his binkie, so he can smell it with out holding it up. Its pretty much the cutest thing ever.
- He loves airplanes! We have a small airport by our house, and anytime he hears a plane, he stops, looks up, finds the airplane and says "wow"! 
- He has started playing the harmonica. He has been watching his sisters do it for months, and finally picked it up the other day and started blowing in it the right way. He loves that he can do it all on his own!
- He knows when his food is hot! He will say "Hot!" and start blowing. He also says Mom. Hi. Bye. Trixie.
He says Mom for almost anything. Mainly just to get my attention, and then he will point to something and call it Mom. Funny boy.
- He still sleeps from 6:30pm-7am. I dont know what I did to deserve such a good sleeper! He still takes a morning nap, and sometimes an afternoon nap if we are home.
- He is getting another bottom tooth. He has been a little fussy, but nothing too horrible. This will be his 7th tooth.
- He loves his juice. (1 part apple juice 7 parts water) He drinks a TON of liquid each day. I have to remember to give him milk at least once a day. He isnt a huge fan of milk, but will drink it.
- He loves to snack. He would eat all day long if I let him. If we are at a store, I usually have a snack for him so he is happy. He still really enjoys the pouches of food. And I just found some Target brand pouches at Target, for .87 cents!! Thats so cheap! Considering all other brands start at $1.29 !
- He has started to watch TV. Like actually sit and pay attention. He really likes Little Einsteins on Disney. I think he likes it because of the music.
- He shakes his head Yes or No when I ask him a question. Most of the time he answers me correctly!
- He knows how to drink out of a straw. I drink everything from a straw, and he always wants what I have, so I have let him learn how to use a straw. Not such a great idea, when im drinking Coke!

He is SUCH an easy going baby, but is starting to throw fits when he doesnt get what he wants. I try not to give in to his fits, but he is just so dang cute. He has me wrapped around his chubby little fingers for sure!

Fall Festival 2011

Last weekend we took the girls to the Family Fun Festival that their school puts on each year! The girls got their faces painted, played all of the fun games, and got to hang out with friends! It was fun seeing the girls interact with friends from school! Their favorite games were the Roller Races, and the giant Bowling game!

REBEL Basketball

Its no secret that we LOVE Rebel Basketball around our house. This weekend was the official start of the practice season. (Games start in 24 days!)

Aaron and I went to the Rebel Scrimmage last night, and had a blast! It was exciting to see the new players, see the new team dynamic, see the new coach, and watch them play against eachother. Afterwards we got all the players autographs! I even got a few pictures with some of my favorite players. (Anthony Marshall, and Kendall Wallace) It was a lot of fun and I cant wait for this season to get started!

California

A few months ago, we found out that Disneyland does a 'Mickeys Halloween Party' for the month of October. You buy special tickets (for super cheap) and you can enter the park a few hours before the park closes to regular customers, they had special Trick or Treating stations, so the girls wore their costumes, and  we were able to stay till 11pm! The park was a little crowded, but we still got to ride all of the rides we wanted!
Keri and Joey were able to come down with us, and they were a huge help! Claire and Carlie were SO excited to ride the big kid rides. Well, Carlie didnt love the Matterhorn. In fact, she cried. Then I made her go on Splash Mountain, and she cried again, and said those rides gave her a tummy ache! Colton was a little crazy while waiting in line for a few rides, but we knew he would be. He ended up falling asleep around 8pm. The firework show was amazing as always! Right before we left, we let the girls pick out their toy. They both picked out a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal.
Wednesday morning we got up, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the beach. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Keri and Joey rented boogie boards, and we all took turns. The water was FREEZING, but it was fun. Colton was super cute in the sand, Carlie and Claire had a blast looking for shells, and playing in the water.
It was a super quick trip, but we had a great time, and look forward to going again soon!