Bandaids and Baseboards

I hate bandaids. At first they work great to get kids to stop crying when they get hurt, but then they want a bandaid for just about everything. I'm cheap and don't want to buy bandaids every week- so rarely do I give them to my kids. Well acouple days ago Kate was standing behind me and I didn't see her, and when I turned around I smacked her right in the nose. I decided that was worth a bandaid and gave her one. I went on doing what I was doing while she put it on herself, and this is what it looked like........

Yesterday Kate got in trouble for drawing with a crayon on the wall, so I made her scrub it off with a rag. Clark wanted in on the fun, so I gave him one too. When the wall was clean, they were having so much fun cleaning, they wanted something else to clean- so I told them to clean the baseboards! It didn't last long, but I think it's time we get out a little more...

Mom of The Year

Yesterday I felt like Mom of the year- and why? Did I do something wonderful and exciting? Well, no - but for the first time, I let Kate and Clark use paints. You might think- that's not a big deal, but with twins you really hesitate to do anything messy- because it can go south really quick. We've had the paints for a while, but I haven't been brave enough to get them out and see what happened. I was pleasently surprised. They did really good. They just sat at the counter and painted. Clark was really into it and didn't even mix all the colors or make a big mess!

So next on the list- play dough. Maybe for their birthday.....

Sleeping With The Window Open

It is offically FALL! The weather has been beautiful, 40's at night at low 60's during the day. We've had a few storms and there is even some snow on the mountains. The leaves are starting to turn and it's just a great time of year. Best of all is sleeping with the window open. You might think we're crazy sleeping with the window open when the temperature is fridgidly between 30 and 40- but it's great! We also have our fan going full blast. I love having it cold in our room and being all snuggly under the covers. I must admit there have been a few nights where I've woke up about 4am asking Ryan if we can close the window cuz I'm freezing. I've also had to get up a few times and put some extra clothes on- but it's worth it. The best part is that I sleep snuggled up right next to Ryan. He is my own personal space heater, and I take full advantage of it. He hates it, because it makes him hot, and the whole point of sleeping with it cold is to cool off!! (Ryan is the person who is in short sleeves when it's snowing, and insists that he's not cold) I need to add that we keep the heater on in the rest of the house so our kids don't freeze!
Another wonderful thing about fall is the PUMPKINS. I love pumpkins and here you can actually leave them on your porch and they don't rot because it's too hot, and you don't have teenagers busting them open in the night.
I hope to take some family pictures in the fall leaves for our Christmas card- I'm just so bummed that Tiffany isn't here- who will take them for us?!

No More Sneaky- Sneaky

So for the passed month or so Clark has been getting out of his bed at night. At first- I would let him crawl into bed with me for a few minutes, and then go put him back in bed. Ryan was not in love with this and is adamant that kids do not go in our room. So we've been fighting Clark on this pretty much every night. When my Mom and Dad were here, he would head downstairs to their room and they were nice enough to let him stay.
We also have problems putting him to bed. He usually climbs out about 3 times before we have to threaten him within an inch of his life for him to stay in his crib. It drives Ryan nuts, and if we're downstairs watching TV he thinks every noise is Clark getting out of his bed.
Well two nights ago he got up in the middle of the night, unbeknownst to us. He's getting really good at getting out of his crib and opening the door very quietly.
Ryan's alarm went off about 4:30am and he noticed that Clarks door was open. So he started to search for him. He went all over the house, thinking maybe he went down stairs in hopes of finding Nana and Paco. When he got back upstairs he was getting a bit worried, and I sat up to get out of bed and noticed Clark curled up on the side of my bed under some extra pillows!
Ryan decided that was the last straw. He is alot more parinoid than I am, and it drives him crazy that Clark can get out without us knowing. So last night we went to Home Depot and bought a door alarm for Clarks bedroom. It's one of those door alarms that some businesses have- when the door opens a door bell rings that lets them know someone walked in. So now everytime Clark opens his door- we hear the bell.
I think it's kinda funny- but Ryan loves it. He can finally watch TV and sleep in peace- knowing that if Clark gets up- we'll know about it!

Week with Nana and Paco

This picture pretty much sums up our week with Nana and Paco! We had a great time having them stay at our house. Clark followed Paco around the whole time and only wanted Paco. Paco had to sit next to him at meals, help him with his clothes, brush his teeth- the whole nine yards. Kate was just about as much attached to Nana as Clark was to Paco. It was kinda nice for me- I got a much needed break! It was just so nice to have them around. I've been in tears since we dropped them off at the airport! I guess I just realized how nice it is to have family around- and how much I just love my parents! Ryan and I would stay up and chat with them at night after the kids went to bed, usually have some kind of treat and watch some TV. It was good to have them around to talk to, and not be alone all day! My Mom even spent all afternoon Saturday helping me can 3 boxes of peaches. Even though Kate and Clark were attached at the hip- I think I'll miss them most. Clark is already talking about Christmas time when we get to go back to Nana and Paco's house. Well besides all the walks, bike rides, and trips to the park- here are some of the highlights of our week.

This is at Hogle Zoo. There was a little play ground and Kate and Clark are inside a turtle shell.
This is on a teeter- totter.
Kate riding the Zebra on the Merry-go- Round

All of us together on the Merry-go- Round

Kate and Clark looking at the monkey- (he's kinda hard to see- he's laying on his back)

On Saturday we went downtown to check out Ryan's new project. This is a map of all the new construction in downtown.

The tan colored building is the one Ryan is over right now. He's in charge of all the construction from drywall to finish.

This is outside Ryan's office. You have to wear the fancy hard hat and vest to get on the jobsite.

Paco pushing the kids.

After my Mom and Dad checked out Ryan's building we walked around Temple Square. Mostly the kids just played in the fountains.

This is at The Farm at Thanksgiving Point. Clark is feeding the ducks.

Kate feeding the geese. One of the geese honked at them and gave them quite a scare.


Pony ride

Kate on her pony

We also went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. This is Clark on the Tryanosaurus Rex foot.

This is where they got to look for fossils in the sand.
Kate and Clark looking at the Dinosaur bones

Now that you've seen what we did during the day- this is what we did at night!

Thanks Nana and Paco for coming to visit us. We had such a good time and will miss you tons. Don't forget about us while we're away!

Nana and Paco

Nana and Paco are flying up from Mesa to come visit us today! We are so excited to have them here for a whole week. I'll try to keep you updated on all the fun things we do!

Blackfoot Fair

Saturday we drove up to Idaho for the Blackfoot fair. Ryan found out about it from a guy at work and I was more than willing to go. Blackfoot was one of the areas I served in as a missionary and even got to go the Blackfoot fair while I was there.
Ryan's last day at Target was Friday, so we thought it was a great way to celebrate! (He started working on the down town project today)
It was a beautiful day- over cast and cool! The kids loved seeing all the animals and Ryan and I enjoyed the fair food! Here's some pics of the day!

They had a little section with just kid stuff and had these little tractors.

Kate's legs weren't long enough to push the petals, but she had to give it a try.

This was a little ride- the seats are made from 55 gallon water barrels and were pulled by a quad. This was the extent of the rides we did!

They had a petting zoo with all kinds of animals, all of which were for sale. Bunnies, pot belly pigs, alpacas, goats, turtles, puppies, chickens and ducks!

Kate loves the goats

One of the vendors there was heavy construction equipment, so we had to stop and do a 'test drive'

Kate in the back hoe

That is one big bucket!

This just one of the many sheep that was there for prizes and such.

There were also cows, bunnies and horses