Happy Halloween!

We had a nice Halloween this year. (Read: I actually got to eat my kids candy this year thank goodness) I made the kiddos take about a gazillion pictures, but they were pretty good sports. I think they must be used to my madness at this point.

The sisters

Real cowgirls ride pink horses. Or so I'm told.

I had full intents to make her costume. Until I saw this one and knew I couldn't make one that cute for that cheap.

What did the girls think of the trunk or treat? Eva loved it, especially when they played the hokey pokey. Lyla thought it was pretty awesome too since she got to help dad pass out candy while sucking on a dum dum. We are bad bad parents I tell you.

After this particular photo shoot, Jared took Eva on their monthly "date" to the play area of the farm. She had a blast.

Different day, same place making them take pictures. Poor kids. I guess I can't blame them for not wanting to look at the camera and smile. For the gazillionth time.

There you go grandma's! All the cuteness and none of the sugar high. You guys should really live closer so you can experience both. :)

Happy Birthday Eva!

Last week Eva turned the big 3! I've seen a few slide shows done for kids birthdays so that's what I did for her this year. The music might seem a little (or maybe a lot) cheesy, but I've been singing it to her since she was a baby and she loves it. (It was either that or her other favorite "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley) Happy Birthday big girl! You add so much sparkle to our family.

Eva on Nursery

Eva and I were playing in her room the other day when out of the blue she says, "Mom, talk to me about nursery."

Me: "umm...ok. How's nursery Eva? Do you like it in there?"

Eva: "NO. I do NOT like it."

Me: "What don't you like about it?"

Eva: "cuz, sometimes it's crazy in there and crunchy"

Me: "What do you mean it's 'crunchy' ?"

Eva: "well, when I eat rocks in nursery it makes a 'crunch, crunch, crunch' sound and I don't like that."

Me: "you eat rocks in nursery?"

Eva: "yeah, and they just crunch crunch crunch."

I guess that explains her mysteriously chipped tooth.

Vacation Part 2

*I'm warning you. This is probably the most pictures I've EVER slapped onto one post.

The next stop on our vacation was to see my Grandparents in Colorado. It seemed so stinkin short, but after loading a bazillion pictures on here I know why....we were cramming a whole lot into a few days! Some highlights of the trip:

We went fishing. Not at the usual spot, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We didn't catch a thing, but I don't think anyone minded. Eva harassed, erm, I mean asked Abba (for many days in a row...several times a day) to find her a snake. He did this last year and I guess she figured that was his duty. He caught one while we were fishing and she loved it. Wouldn't put it down. Took it around to smell all the flowers. Aaaannd it was terrified of her. The poor thing puked up his lunch, so we made her let it go.

We hung out with the fam. Did I mention I hadn't seen my brother and his sweet family in two years? It was killer let me tell ya.

We FINALLY got a family picture taken. (Thanks Megan!)


We just enjoyed the fresh open air.

We visited the sand dunes. It was fun, but hot....and sandy....and sliding down hills didn't go as well as I had envisioned.
We went swimming. This kid. loves. to. swim!
And then I cried all the way home. :)

6 Month Lyla

Oh man.

We've been on vacation, dealt with a nasty stomach bug, celebrated an anniversary and I am having the hardest time getting back into the swing of things!

But since little Lyla is almost SEVEN months I thought I'd better give an update on her being 6 months.

At 6 months Lyla is army crawling like crazy, but has yet to master sitting up. She's over just sitting in her bouncer and watching what Eva and I do, she wants to be in the middle of it! I'll get Eva playing nicely by herself and then I hear her screaming "Lou Lou! No! Stop! That's mine! MOM! LYLA'S BEING NAUGHTY!"

I have a hard time imagining that face being naughty. :) At 6 1/2 months her first tooth has made an appearance, which made momma cry since her baby is getting so big. She loves other babies and blowing raspberries. We love her constant laughter and happy disposition.

Vacation Part 1

Living far away from family STINKS. I miss them :(

But it's so much fun when we do get to see them.

We started out our vacation in New Mexico for a few days and then headed on over to Colorado. Here's some of the pictures of our adventures in New Mexico. I love it there. The first thing I do when we get to the dirt road that leads up the canyon to my grandparents place is insist that the windows be rolled down and the music shut off. I LOVE how it smells!

Sorry about the gazillion photos. I really should figure out how to do a collage, but I'm too lazy to be technologically savvy.

Eva and Jared playing on the bulldozer. This is Jared's favorite thing to do there.

Takin' a spin around the pond

Somehow all the kids ended up in our car watching a Barbie movie one morning. It was pretty nice! We just kept passing food and drinks in through the windows and everyone was happy.

The alpacas were a big hit with Eva. I was explaining to her on the way there that alpacas don't have any top teeth so they can't bite you. That night at dinner my brother-in-law asked me if Eva had something wrong with her teeth because she was chewing weird. When I asked her about it she said, "I'm an alpaca!" Well...that explains it.

There was a dog running around with one of those cones around it's neck. Eva had recently seen UP so she starts giggling, "MOM! Look! Dog wears cone of shame!"

Excuses

*caution* You may find the following story shocking. Especially for those of you who know how sweet and kind I always am. *cough COUGH*

Yesterday the girls and I were just getting home from the grocery store. It was so stinkin' hot and I was carrying Lyla in her carseat along with 2 gallons of milk and Eva was leading the way to the house and the blessed air conditioning. Eva was going slow as molasses and there is positively no hurrying the girl.

Me: "Eva! Let's GO we're about to die of heat stroke back here!"
Eva "Mom, don't be cranky!" She has now stopped ALL forward progress and is looking at me with a hurt face
Me: "I'm not cranky!" I begin trying to prod her with Lyla's car seat so we can at least resume snail pace
Eva: "Oh, just tired?"
Me: "No, I'm not tired!" I move on to prodding her with the milk since the car seat isn't working
Eva: still completely stopped in the walkway, looking very puzzled. Suddenly she puts her finger in the air like she's figured it out "Oh! I know! Hungry! It's ok mama I'll get you some food" and confidently strides to the door.

I stood there dumbfounded in the walkway realizing that my two year old has just called me out.

I have a bazillion excuses for ONE thing.

I'm cranky.