Moments with Dillan

The Kindergarten classes brought home the Thanksgiving Turkey to disguise for Thanksgiving dinner and not get eaten.
Dillan and I brainstormed a few ideas. We were set on dressing up the turkey like Santa Claus. Of course, Mommy with extremely forgetful brain cells completely forgot about the project after a few days. It was Dillan who, the night before the due date, brought up the turkey project!
Oh NO!
Then he told me that he had talked with some friends at school about doing Santa and they wanted to do the same. So naturally that idea was dissed.
After more thinking, Dillan chose Batman. Great. Sunday night scrounging around for how to pull of a Batman turkey.
Thankfully I found some paper in just the right colors. And it worked.
Yes, I helped with the project. I wanted Dillan to be proud of it. It reminded me of years ago when my dad stayed up late helping me finish a project for school. No, I don't claim to have any kind of artistic talent, but I was fairly happy with the finished project.
I looked online after Dillan went to school and found some pictures of classes who did the same project. I saw Santa, more than once, and a lot of snowmen. Three cotton balls pasted over the turkey. Draw-in some eyes, a carrot nose and you're done. I'm still proud of ours.


Before


After

And another recent moment...

Dillan: Mom, when's the baby gonna get here?

Mom: Just a few more months.

Dillan: So am I gonna be 6 when the baby is born?

Mom: No, you will still be 5. It will be after Christmas.

Dillan: (pondering)...AFTER Christmas???

Mom: Yup.

Dillan: (huge mischievous grin) So the baby won't get any presents!!!

Oh to have the worries of a 5-year-old!

So you're turning 31? Here is a list of 31 things that I love about you.

So here they are in no particular order....

1. The fact that you are willing to call me out when I am acting like a jerk.
2. The way that you love me no matter how I am acting.
3. Seeing the way that you care for our children.
4. The unbelievable patience in which you raise all of us.
5. You always insist that your car is clean.
6. How proud she is of Dillan when he plays hard in soccer.
7. Seeing her take time to help Dillan with his homework.
8. She keeps me organized when I am ready to crack.
9. She reminds me about things that I would normally forget about.
10. Her weekly list for cleaning things around the house.
11. The passion with which she fills her calling in the primary.
12. Memorizing every child's name in the primary, normally before she meets their parents.
13. Her smile, especially when she is laughing hysterically.
14. Her cute figure, oh yes!
15. The way that her pregnancy really makes her shine.
16. Her willingness to take on tasks, even when she is busy.
17. Her stubby little legs. (I like to call them pistons)
18. Her competitive nature, she hates to lose.
19. Her selflessness, always thinking about others before herself.
20. Her amazing faith, it has helped me to stay on the right path more than once.
21. Seeing her read stories to the kids before they go to bed.
22. Laying in bed next to Leah every night until she falls asleep.
23. The fact that I can talk to her about anything, she really is my perfect match.
24. Her willingness to let me watch every Jazz game, and then putting up with me when they lose.
25. I love it when she tries to sing, it is soooo adorable.
26. I love the way that she fits into my arms when I hug her, just the right size.
27. I love seeing the relationship that she has with her family, they are all very close.
28. Her willingness to make dinner for the family, even when she is not feeling well.
29. She always keeps our home clean and loves to welcome people into it.
30. I love her testimony, she is the perfect example of how a mother should be.
31. I love the fact that she was willing to take a chance on me. I will eternally be grateful for her love and devotion to our marriage. I look forward to an eternity of happiness and love from the one that brings me the greatest happiness of all. Je t'aimerais a jamais. Gros Bisous!

Weekend

Costumes, Candy, treats from Grandma and Papa = our weekend.

We loved having Grandma Donna and Papa Bob here with us. They wanted to have some Halloween fun with us and even dressed up!



If you needed proof as to why we call Leah "Grandma's Girl," you'd only need a few minutes. She followed Grandma EVERYWHERE! In the mornings, she watched Grandma do her hair and makeup, just fascinated. Then Grandma would fix up Leah. She wanted to sit by her, hold her hand, do everything that Grandma did. Such a girl's girl!



They came with us to the trunk-r-treat/chili cook-off and Grandma made a delicious pot of chili! It was gone the next day, we couldn't get enough!

It was such a fun weekend, and of course too short a visit!

Halloween

This year, after finally making up our minds and not being able to look back last minute, we have Super Mario and Cinderella.
Both were able to wear their costumes to school, and both looked great. Even though Mario seems to be an EXtremely popular choice at Dillan's school, he was the only one I saw wearing his mustache. Whoever saw a Mario without a mustache?



Daddy was supposed to be Luigi, but he of course changed his mind.

I was telling Chris that I can almost remember every costume I wore in Elementary and Jr High. Some of them my mother still has. He said he'd just throw together whatever he could. Basic and generic.
I love seeing all the different costumes, admiring the homemade ones. It's fun to dress up.



We're ready! Bring on the candy!
Should be a fun weekend!

Field Trip!

Oh Happy Day!
Dillan has been waiting for this day since the first week of school, when his teacher announced they would be going on a field trip to Bates Nut Farm.



Best part? He got to ride a BUS! Finally.
2nd Best? Daddy got to go too!!!



He was up extra early, reminding me that he had to eat a good breakfast and get to school early to catch the bus.



They came home and showed off their prize pumpkins they chose.
Dillan said he loved the hay ride pulled by the tractor.
Daddy took a bunch of pictures of Dillan with his buddies.
I know they had a great day!

Daddy Time!

Whenever Daddy is home, the kids just can't get enough. So since Dillan was at school, Leah had Daddy all to herself!
First step was to pick up "the Belle movie" (Beauty & the Beast). With Disney coupon in tow, we headed to the store. It was the perfect cool autumn day to cuddle up in a blanket with a new movie.
Once she saw Belle in her pretty dress, she ran to her room to put a princess dress on. She then decided she wants to be Belle for Halloween.
Soon she wanted to paint her toenails and fingernails. She got out everything she could reach on her own and set up her pedicure station. When she had finished, she wanted to paint Daddy's. He agreed to have his toes painted, she didn't even have to beg! With a little help from Mommy, Daddy has beautiful bright blue toes that he's not afraid to show off!

FV Airport & Oak Glen

Dillan brought home a flier showing a free open house at the airport. He was so excited, stuck it right on the fridge and couldn't wait to tell Papa about it.



He knows Papa loves airplanes too. So we braved the heat and walked around a little. Dillan's favorite was the huge rescue helicopter. Papa explained how the big hose takes water from a lake and sprays it onto the fire.



Thankfully the show wasn't terribly huge so we were able to see the planes and choppers, ride a couple kiddie rides and get out quickly back home to the AC before we melted.

I guess it was a couple years ago, with the season change that I was dreaming of the east coast and all the colors of the leaves, cooler weather, pumpkin patches and apple orchards. I mentioned to my parents how I wanted to be there this time of year. Their response, "Why don't you just go to Oak Glen?" Oak WHAT???

We went and LOVED it! How is it that I was never taken to this place when I was younger?



It's really not that far, we didn't even get halfway through Peter Pan before we arrived. Two years ago we picked apples and looked at the huge pumpkins. Last year we missed all the apples. This year we were determined not to miss the apples again, but the pumpkins were not quite ready. We did see the goats and horses. Leah even got brave enough to feed some alfalfa to one straight out of her hand. She's the animal lover, just like Daddy.



It's become a fun fall time tradition. Now for conference weekend we get to make some caramel apples!