Thoughts from Joe

Yesterday when I asked Joe if he wanted butter on his sweet potato, he said yes. Then he asked if it was still healthy with butter on it. I told him that for little boys butter is ok because you need a little fat to help your body grow, but that you should not have a lot. Joe then said

"Oh, butter is like candy. It tastes really good, but you can't have a lot of it."

Always Thinking

Saturday we woke up to snow. Not the kind we sometimes get in the fall where it is melted by the end of the day, but a real snowstorm with enough snow to go out and play. Some of the people at our house were not feeling well, so the kids had to entertain themselves in the yard. That didn't seem to bother them. They were just happy to be out in the snow. Including Valerie, who last year didn't really like the cold wet stuff we made her go out in.

She watched her brothers go on their tubes down our little hill, and decided she wanted to try.













So she climbed up to the top of the hill and tried to go down on her bum.

She slowly scooted down the hill, but Joe did not like the dent she made in his path, so he offered to take her down on the tube.

She liked it and wanted to try it by herself. It didn't go very well, and the tube was too big and heavy for her to carry back up the hill.

The wheels in her head were turning and she started heading towards the house saying something about her Dora tube. I told her that we did not have a Dora tube. She looked at me and said "mom, I need my Dora float." I then realized she was talking about her swim tube we got her this summer for the pool.

I didn't think it would work, but I also know my two year old does not give up easily on an idea, so I went and got the tube for her so she could give it a try.

To my surprise it was not too bad. It did not go as fast as the snow tubes, but it got her down the hill and that made her happy.


And she could also carry it up the hill and get on it by herself. Which she happily did quite a few times.


I don't think the Dora tube is going to last us all winter, but I am happy to see that Valerie likes to be out in the snow. Even if it does mean she stops for a snack every now and then.

It also means, if the weather cooperates, we will be able to have a lot of fun in the snow this winter.

Halloween 2011

By 5:00pm the kids were ready to go out for the evening.

Well.......almost all of the kids.

Around noon Valerie was hit with the stomach flu, so our little princess had to stay home.

She was not at all interested in the people coming to the door, or the candy I was handing out. When the kids came home I thought she would perk up a little..........


But not even the piles of candy being dumped on the floor interested her. The kids made a good haul this year, and when Valerie started to feel better the next day, they were nice enough to share with her.

Pumpkin Carving

Sunday, we only had one more thing to do to be ready for Halloween. We needed to carve our pumpkins. So after dinner we got to work. Once we get the guts cleaned out, Emily and the boys can pretty much do the rest on their own. Valerie thinks she can too, but she was willing to let me help.
Grandma and Grandpa Bolander stopped by, and Joe recruited them to help him get his just right.

In the end I think we got some great looking Jack-o-lanterns

Emily made sure that the seeds were saved for roasting.

With the Jack-o-lanterns on the porch we are now ready for some Halloween fun.

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we decided to go back to the zoo for their annual "Boo At The Zoo."

Cooper, Addie and their cousins Beckham and Easton joined us.

All around the zoo there were booths set up with candy for the kids to Trick-or-treat. We were not sure how long the kids would last waiting in line, but they seemed entertained watching the animals while we waited, and I think the incentive of candy at the end was good too.


To be honest the lines really were not bad at all, and they moved quickly. Because we had just been to the zoo, this time we really just came for the Boo at the Zoo activities, but we had fun seeing the sites too.

And Valerie really enjoyed the candy.

We ended our day with a Halloween train ride.

It was great to have one more place to wear the costumes. The kids all seemed to have a lot of fun too.

Cornbelly's Corn Maze

When we lived in Sand Diego, one of the only signs that fall was here was the pumpkin patches that started popping up everywhere. I loved taking Emily to them. Some patches were very simple with a hayride and piles of pumpkins. Others had mazes and bounce houses. I have missed going to them every fall, so when my friend Laura invited us to go to Corn Belly's with them, I was very excited to go.

We had so much fun.

Bouncing on the pillows

and the bounce houses

riding horses

and tractor trains.

(Valerie wanted to ride the cow train over and over again.)

These bikes were a little tricky, but all of Valerie's trike riding has paid off and she did pretty well.

There were a few scary things there.

(my kids would not stand with this guy for a picture. So I did.)

This maze kind of freaked me out a little.

And walking around in the belly of a creature was a little crazy too.

The kids loved all of the mazes

they were most excited about the big corn maze. They liked finding the old pieces of corn on the stalks.

It took us quite a while to get through, and about halfway Valerie decided to take a nap. (she would not let go of her piece of corn though)

This was the half way point. They had these platforms so you can look out and see where you are.

I think the boys two favorite activities were the duck races.

and the destruction zone where they got to shoot corn at the junk pile.

Valerie loved playing in the box of old corn. After the corn maze she insisted on going back.

It was then that I understood why she wanted to bring the corn from the maze. She helped restock the kernels.

We had so much fun at Corn Belly's. We will have to come again next year!

Light Up The Night

Halloween is almost here, and that means it is time for Red Butte Garden After Dark. This has become a tradition for our family. This year we were joined again by Kevin, Alisa and Asher, and Grandma and Grandpa Bolander. That makes it even more fun.

Garden After Dark is also a good place to try out our outfits, before the big day. Valerie was happy to put on her princess dress, so I took a few pictures of her smiling in it before we left.

Ryan joined in the Angry Bird fun and dressed up as the King Pig.

The theme this year was "Light Up The Night."

As always the kids had fun with the simple yet creative spots along the path. The first stop was to paint our pumpkins. We only get one pumpkin per family, but Grandma and Grandpa let us have theirs. So the girls painted one, and the boys painted the other.

We stopped at the face painting booth next. They have a couple of people who will paint for you, but they also have places where you can do your own. We opted for doing our own.


After we got the painting out of the way, we headed into the garden for some glow in the dark fun. We colored owl masks with highlighters so they would glow in the black lights.

Then we wished upon a star with a yellow highlighter, and hung our stars in black light lit trees, so our wishes could be seen. Joe wished for an i-phone. He will be wishing for that for a long long time.

We made mushrooms out of white lunch sacks and planted them in the black lit mushroom forest.

In The rose garden we made tissue paper flowers, and spayed them with something that would glow in the black light.

And to end our adventure we walked through the kids favorite part of the trail. The spooky forest. Where everything glowed.



Before we left the garden we had a treat of hot chocolate and caramel apples.

By this time Emily, had decided that fake fingernails would not be part of her costume anymore, and before she could enjoy her treats she had to take them off.

This year I got in on the Angry Bird action too and dressed as the slingshot. Because our whole family dressed up, I wanted a picture, but I didn't think of it until the end of the night. So this is the best that we could do. Sometimes the character shot are the best ones anyway.

We always have a good time together at the Garden.

This year I loved the black lights throughout the path, because that is one of my kids favorite things......Mine too.