State Fair

On Labor Day, my mom invited us to the State Fair.  Jim decided to stay home to work on the many things he is busy with, so I went with the kids.  Josh, Sarah, and Dave also joined us.

First we watched the end of an alligator show.  The man was actually holding a large alligator.

Josh paid to get a picture taken with a small alligator, and the man thought he was my husband (no surprise, we get that every time he comes anywhere with me and the kids).  I gave Sarah my camera and got my picture for free.  :)  Annie was not interested in touching the alligator, although she did pet it right before we got down.

Shaking hands

My mom let Logan ride one ride.  She wanted to let Annie do one, too, but she wasn't tall enough for any of them.  So Annie played a game and won a princess crown instead.

I call this picture "The Princess and the Corn Dog"

Mom also bought us lunch.  The kids were really good about sharing the corn dog with each other.

You've got some ketchup on your face kid!

My mom

Sarah and Dave

Joshy (Even when you don't have small neices and nephews anymore, I think we'll still call you that Josh!)

Little mister good sport...diaper change time

We looked as some of the animals; it was so hot and the fair was so big that we didn't see everything.

Annie eventually decided that the horses weren't going to hurt her and tried to feed them!  She was saying, "Are you hungry horsie?"

Annie pretended to be a farmer while we were in the petting zoo area.

The kids had fun playing in the fountain; it wasn't long before they were both soaked and saying they were cold!  (Such a contrast to how warm I was feeling.)

Thanks for a fun day Mom!

Balloon Glow

We went to the annual hot air balloon festival over Labor Day weekend.  Someday maybe we'll get up early enough to see the balloons take off in the morning, but we still had fun at the balloon glow on Saturday night.

First, we walked around and looked at everything.  Logan was very excited to use a port-a-potty, and to look at the VW vehicles.  That kid loves cars!  Now he keeps asking me if different cars have their engines in the back!

We packed snacks to eliminate anyone wishing for something from a booth.  Here's Annie enjoying her sandwich and the stroller.

Waiting for the balloons to start filling. 

We were waiting by the energizer bunny, and someone was handing out these fun ears.  We also had free glo-sticks for the kids.  A kind lady gave them to us earlier.  I think someone has given our children free glo-sticks/ necklaces everytime we've gone to a balloon glow or a fireworks show, and it totally thrills them!  Someday, I'm going to take a bunch of glo-sticks to one of these events and give them to families with small children.

Logan didn't want to wear his, so I wore them.

Jim didn't want to get bored waiting.

Alex enjoyed his stroller ride!  He is such a good sport about everything!

The kids were fascinated once the balloons started filling up.

Time for the pictures...Jim took dozens, and I took a few.  I'm only posting some of them.

Happy Birthday Logan!

Logan turned four a few weeks ago, and he had a lot of celebrations.  First, my mom took him to dinner on Friday.  Second, he had a much anticipated friend party on Saturday morning.  Third, my sister took him to lunch on Saturday afternoon.  Fourth, we celebrated with Jim's family on Sunday evening.  Fifth, my family came over to celebrate on Monday evening.  And sixth, we went to see Jim's sisters in Denver on Tuesday (his actual birthday).

I did manage to take a few pictures from his friend party.  We went to this very awesome accessible park; the kids loved it.

Climbing the big rock

This was cute; Annie somehow ended up with Avy and Laura pushing her on the swing.

This big rocking boat is very cool.  Someone could wheel all the way onto it if they wanted to, and it can fit a lot of people!  Nicole was being a very fun mom by rocking all these kids!  (In the picture are clockwise: Nicole, Logan, Avy, Lucy, Gabrian, Janelle, Hannah, and Isaiah.)

On the boat: Gabrian (well part of him), Hannah, Janelle, Isaiah, Avy

Cake time!  I actually took this picture after we sang to him because I forgot to get one during (plus I was trying to block the wind from blowing out the candles!).  The candles added to the fun of this cake; I put some wavy red and yellow candles sticking out the bottom so it looked like it was blasting off!  (Laura, Logan, Avy)

I was nervous about getting this cake out of the pan because I've become very spoiled with my Demarle molds.  I couldn't make a rocket out of those!  It came out just fine, though.

Make a few cuts...

Add some frosting and M&M's...voila!  Super simple!

Lucy on far left, Rachel, and Avery

Laura, Logan, Avy, Annie

Brooklyn, Rachael, Lincoln, Haywood

Present time!  We were a little bit nervous about how he would handle this part.  What if he didn't like something and said so?!  We discussed that before his party just in case.  It certainly wasn't a problem, though, and he was a very gracious little host.

Clockwise starting with my boy: Logan, Isaiah, Fox, Annie, Avy, Avery, Rachel, Keira, Laura, Jim standing above

Logan actually had even more friends at his party than ended up in the pictures; when I asked him who he wanted to invite he named every single one of them.  He really has a lot of friends!  After he opened presents, he ran around giving everyone popcorn balls that we'd made as a thank you.  I loved watching him do it because he was so happy to have something to give his friends.

I also have a few pictures from our gathering at our home with my family.

We had dinner and then presents.

I really love this picture!

Real Quick

I have another two minutes, so no pictures again, but I wanted to share what Logan said to me today. 

"Mom, when I am grown up I am going to buy a LOT of money, and then I will get an airplane for us to fly in!"

Oh if only I could buy a LOT of money...I wonder who would sell me some?

A Happy Mommy Moment

A couple of weeks ago, Logan was complaining that something was hard, so I told him that he could do hard things.  He argued that point, so I told him that Heavenly Father wants to help him do hard things.  He argued that too.  The conversation ended and we didn't discuss it again. 

Then, a couple of days ago he and Annie made a HUGE mess and I told them it was time to clean it up all by themselves.  I set a timer, put on a positive face and attitude, and encouraged them.  They did it!  I was super pleased, but a hundred times more so when Logan said to me, "Mom!  I can do hard things!  Heavenly Father made me to do hard things!"  He was absolutely beaming, and I'm pretty sure I was too.

Gross!

Someday I will upload my pictures from the last several weeks, and then someday after that I will even have posts with pictures, but for now I only seem to find two minutes at a time to blog.  So here's the notable event from today.

About a week (or two?) ago, Annie lost a sippy cup full of milk.  We knew it was missing, and searched pretty diligently to find it, but to no avail.  I knew we would find it or smell it eventually; I just hoped that it wasn't leaking all over something and souring in the meantime.  Today Annie came screaming and crying to me, "Yucky milk!  Mommy!  Yucky milk!"  She was seriously distressed and in tears.  I knew she'd found it...and tasted it.  Poor girl; I could barely stand to look at it while holding my breath, and I about lost my breakfast dumping it down the drain (it didn't really pour...there was a very solid white chunk in the middle of it all).  I bet that was the worst thing she's ever tasted!   

My Little Pep Talk

What is the most difficult thing about having three small children?  Sacrament meeting.

What is the second most difficult thing about having three small children?  Bedtime...and it'll be here any minute.  Tonight Jim is at mutual, so it almost ties with number one.  My goal is to keep it under an hour.  Here we go!  (I can do it...I can do it...I can do it...I can do it...)