Halloween Parade

Saturday was dedicated to Halloween. Here in Le Mars they had a parade for the kids to march down Main Street in their costumes. Madi dressed up as a witch and Kimber was a lady bug. I really wasn't sure how many people were going to show up so when we got there and saw the line up I was very surprised. I think just about all of the kids from around Le Mars were there. We were right at the tail end following the large crowd of kids and parents and dogs who were all following behind the fire truck. It was so much fun and I'm pretty sure that Madi had a blast. She loves dressing up so this was a great time for her to show off.

After we walked down Central Avenue the kids could go trick or treating at some of the businesses. At first Madi wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do and so she just walked up to the people and said, "Thank you!" She had the "trick or treat" part down once we were all finished. I guess it was a great trial run for the real trick or treating event next Friday.

Later that day we decided that we would drive to Sioux City to go to the Trunk or Treat at church. While we were waiting for the festivities to begin Madi found some kids to run around with and Brett and I were talking with some of the other adults, then I heard Madi crying. She was completely terrified and running towards me. At first I didn't know if she had fallen down or what had happened. As she was running to me she kept turning around to look behind her and then I saw what had worried her. There was a boy that was wearing one of the scream costumes. You know the mask of it has the fake blood that runs down the face. Madi was so freaked out about it. The boy was really cute and took the mask off and talked to Madi. We kept telling her that he was a nice boy and that he was just pretending. She didn't care she just knew that she didn't like that mask. After that she stuck really close to us and was watching very closely to see if that "Scary Boy" came around. She was even talking about it when I was putting her to bed. I just told her that he was pretending to be a scary ghost like she was pretending to be a witch. Hopefully she doesn't think about it any more. She didn't wake up talking about the "scary boy" so I guess she has forgotten about it.

Kimber isn't sitting up by herself yet but the little hole she was sitting in held her up so perfect. She sat there for us to take a bunch of photo's. I think we ended up with some really great shots of the girls in their costumes. It was a really fun day and the weather couldn't have been any better for the fun fall outing.

Duh part 2

Remember a few weeks ago when I didn't know it was General Conference and we went to church thinking it was normal church? Well.... Last night I set the alarm clock to wake us up so we would have plenty of time to get ready and get to church on time. This morning I was laying in bed thinking I was still pretty tired and I noticed the sun was out but didn't think much of it. Madi was also in the bed with us and she was talking about something. Then Brett says, "Heather... It's 8:00AM..." Oooops!!! I did it again... I set the clock for 6:00PM!!! Shoot!! I guess I was delirious after our day of fun. I better not have any more of these brain lapses or somebody might have me committed.

Funny little girl!

Cute little Madi Moo Moo! She is such a little doll but there are times that she tries my patience. She will ask me for something and before I even get a sentence out she starts to freak out. So I try to talk to her and she just cries and won't listen to anything I have to say. I think it usually happens when she is tired. Anyway, I look at her and I say, "Show me how good you can be and then we'll see if you can have that." So she puts this huge forced smile on her face. I crack up every time because she has tears streaming down her face and then this gigantic smile. It's just so cute that she thinks if she smiles really pretty that she is being good. What a sweetie pie! I guess it's also her way of showing me how precious she is to me and that I should remember that when she is driving me up the wall. I love you Madi Moo Moo! The first two photo's are the smile I'm talking about without the tears.

This her being a dinosaur. She started doing this when we went to the dinosaur museum in Vernal (something I need to post about....)

Rainy Fall Day

October 15, 2008

October 22, 2008

Look at how many leaves were on the trees just a few days ago. Crazy! I love the rain that we are getting it's so nice. While we were in Buckeye it was so rare to get rain so I was always so amazed by it. I just love the change of seasons.

I took these photo's from our front yard looking down the street towards the Ice Cream Park.

JG Wentworth

I'm sure you've seen the silly commercials for JG Wentworth. A few months back they had one with all of these people that were yelling out, "IT'S MY MONEY AND I NEED IT NOW!!" Well, our cute little Madi turned to the tv put her hands on her hips and yelled, "IT'S MY MONEY! I WANT IT NOW!!" It was so cute I only wish I had a video camera on the ready to catch it. Brett and I both just burst into laughter.

Halloween 1988

Oh my goodness! Look at how silly we all were. I'm not really sure why I decided that I should be Alvin that year but whatever. I think we did a pretty good job of putting together home made costumes with what we had on hand. I'm pretty sure I have the only copy of this photo so I know my brother's and sister's will get a huge laugh out of this one. I mean, look at Sharon and Beth.. They look a little crazy don't they? Just kidding! Richard and Nathan are just cute. I love you guys!

Pumpkin carving stencils

So I was looking online to find some free pumpkin carving stencils and I found something even better. Go to this website and you can make your own stencil and print it out. I think it's pretty cool and I can't wait to carve our pumpkins. http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-carving/pumpkin-stencil-maker/?psrc=RG810BTR48

Almost 7 months old!!

Where does the time go? I can't believe that Kimber is already almost 7 months old. She is our little "Scream Queen". Seriously the girl has pipes. We think that she'll either grow up to be a singer or the girl in the scary movies with the ear piercing horrifying scream that makes the hair on your neck stand up.

Kimber is so much fun! We just love her too pieces. She has dimples just like Mommy but her's are totally cuter.

She has been able to stand (with help) since she was really little. She has very strong legs. I think she started rolling over sometime around 3 months old. The last couple of weeks she has been flirting with crawling or at least inching forwards. Madi was 9 months old before she was crawling or inching forwards and she could sit then too. Kimber isn't even sitting up yet. I don't know why she is in such a hurry.

She has started having rice cereal and I think she likes it pretty well. A bunch of the cereal comes back out but she is getting the idea I think and that's what counts.

She definitely is a girl that knows how to get what she wants. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. She sure is a sweetie and we are so happy to have her in our family.

Scary noises in this old house...

I love old houses but they creep me out at the same time. I have probably just seen one too many scary movies but if I hear a sound my ears perk up. This house that we live in was probably built in the 50's but I'm not sure I just know it's fairly old. I always hear little creaks and sounds so I always sleep with a fan on and a night light. That's right a night light I'm not too scared to admit that I'm a big scaredy cat.
Our computer is in the basement of our house and thankfully I'm not real creeped out about it down here or at least I try not to be. Sitting here in the basement I hear a few different noises most of which I can name what they are but if I do hear something that seems weird I run upstairs to investigate. Tonight as I was working on a blog post I thought I could hear someone walking around upstairs. Brett was at work and the girls were both snugly in their beds. I walked upstairs to look around but nothing seemed to be amiss. I went in and checked on Madi and she was in her bed, not in a deep sleep yet but in her bed. I just told myself that it was old house noises and then the furnace had just turned off so that was probably some of the noise too. So I went back to my post then I heard noises again. It sounded like someone was walking in the living room and maybe the master bedroom. It was really starting to freak me out. I went up and looked around again but didn't see anything. A little bit later the furnace had kicked on and then off again and then I heard it.... Madi was running around upstairs. That little munchkin was getting into anything and everything. Mystery solved!! I guess getting spooked like this helps to keep my heart healthy... I am such a wimp. Ahhh!! Just as I wrote that I heard a noise from upstairs and then this loud rumble.... Darn that furnace!!!! Hopefully I'll get used to all of these noises soon and then I'll be able to tell when Madi is running amuck.

Pumpkinland Iowa

This past Friday we went to Pumpkinland Iowa to pick a few pumpkins for our front porch. We all had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful just perfect for picking pumpkins.

Madi had so much fun talking to and feeding the animals in the petting zoo. We had to warn her about putting her hand in front of the animals without food because they might bite her. She has recently started calling dogs, "Woofies" and was very excited that there were woofies there to pet.

Madi led us all though the Munchkin Maze. She marched through the maze like she was on a serious mission. A few times I spotted her just swinging her hips. She is a little girl with a HUGE attitude. The maze was in the shape of a tractor. I guess they do something new every year.

After the corn maze we loaded Madi and Kimber in the cart to go pick out pumpkins. Kimber rode in the cart for just a few feet, she doesn't sit up yet and Madi wasn't really into holding her up. It did make for a cute photo though.

There were a bunch of pumpkins to choose from. Brett and Madi set out and found some really cute pumpkins just right for our front porch.

We visited the little store that they have and we purchased a yummy home made carmel apple pie! Yum!

I'm so glad that we finally went out and did this. I have been wanting to take Madi to a pumpkin patch the last couple of years but haven't so this was really fun. It was also fun to drive to a new part of Iowa that we haven't seen yet.

(I love Madi's Flock of Seagulls hairdo in this photo! It was very windy.)

Kimber update!

Kimber is six and a half months old. She is our little dolly. Just before we left from Arizona she started saying her Da da da's. She completely melts my heart. I know I've mentioned before that she screams like a banshee. That hasn't changed at all and it probably has gotten worse. She is completely content while being held by Mom. She can be playing with toys or being held by Brett and then if she catches sight of me she twists her body clear around so she can see me. But, if I walk past her or out of sight she starts to scream. Now this scream that I speak of is like no other I have ever heard. We think that she'll either grow up to be a singer or the girl in the scary movies that has the blood curdling scream.

It's really very cute how she wants to be with me 24 7 and I'm so glad that right now she prefers me to anyone else. I know that in a year or so she'll be more interested in playing or being with Daddy. But for right now I'll take advantage of all this cuddle time.

In the mind of a little girl

I wonder what goes on in the mind of my little Madi. She has such a great imagination. She'll pick up her play cell phone and carry on this long conversation. She even tells me to shush because she is talking, that's something I say to her when I'm on the phone. She always cracks me up.
Tonight I put her to bed and about 30 minutes later as I was in the kitchen cleaning up I could hear Madi talking. When I went into her room she hurried and covered up with her blanket. I asked her what she was doing and she said that Eric was talking to her. I had a little giggle and then I told her that she needed to go to bed. I then said, "Eric, you get in your bed and don't talk anymore." I didn't think I would ever talk to Madi's imaginary friend but there it is it happened. Then Madi said that Eric needed to get in her bed and I told her that he was in his own bed. How silly! I wonder if she actually has a picture in her little mind of her friend Eric. I also wonder how little kids come up with these imaginary friends. I don't remember having one but I probably did. Ahh to be young and carefree again.

Cleveland Castle (The ice cream park)

When we first got to Le Mars we stayed in a hotel and you all know how difficult it is to be in a hotel with kids so we had to get out as much as possible. In the Le Mars visitors guide I found a list of parks and saw photo's of the Cleveland Castle. It looked really cool so we set out to find it.

Madi had so much fun exploring and climbing all over the fun things. She also really likes to chase after the squirrels. She says that she needs to pet them and I tell her that they have cooties. Such a silly girl!

We visited The Cleveland Castle a few times while we were in the hotel and then after we moved into the house I realized that we were just a few blocks away from the park and we can even see it from our front window. The past week I've been working like a crazy woman to get everything unpacked so everyday when Brett got home from work he would load the girls in the stroller and walk to the park. It's been so nice to let Madi get out and run and play. Kimber really likes going to the park too especially when she is all snugly in the her snugli.

I'm glad that the weather has been so nice so that we could go enjoy the park. I'm sure that once it snows we'll be able to go sledding or ice skating at the park too.

This is just one of the fun things that we like about our new home in Le Mars, Iowa.

Don't scare me like that!

Brett was just about to go out the door to run an errand when we heard a siren going off. We both just stopped and looked at each other because we didn't know what it meant. I just froze for a minute and then I turned around and walked to the TV and turned to a news station. There wasn't anything about bad weather so I thought I had better call someone to find out what the heck. I called this salesman that we had talked to and asked him what the siren meant. He said that every once in awhile they do a test of the siren at 1:00PM. He said that it took him a little while to get used to when he first moved here. I asked him if that's what we would hear if there was a tornado and he said yes. YIKES!!!!!!!!!! I think my heart stopped for a minute when I first heard that siren blowing. The girl that lives behind us told me that there was a siren that would sound if there was a problem but I didn't know they did tests!! Well, it's just good to know what I need to listen for. Now I just need to find out where in the house is the best place to hide if there is a tornado.. YIKES!!!!!!!!!

Duh!!

Since we've been in Le Mars we haven't been to church. It's so bad and I really want us to go but we haven't just because we have been all out of sorts with the move. Anyway, Madi has been begging, crying about going to nursery. We were already planning on going this Sunday anyway so I told her that we were going.
This morning I woke up at 6:30AM so that I could get myself ready and get the girls ready and then get to church on time. The drive to church is about 30 minutes so Brett and I planned out 40 minutes so we would have plenty of time. Well, as things go we didn't leave the house at the time we had planned and were running about 15 minutes late. So we rushed it a little trying to get there before 9:00AM. Then I was telling Brett a story so I didn't pay attention and we didn't take the right exit so we were still about 15 minutes late. Not too bad we could still catch the greater part of sacrament meeting. As we rounded the corner and I could kind of see the parking lot in the back of my mind I thought, "Where are all of the cars? Is it conference?!" Brett drove to the far side of the building and we could see the other side of the parking lot, the empty parking lot. We both said out loud, "IT'S CONFERENCE!!" Sheesh! If only we paid attention to something other than getting the house put together maybe we would have put that together before we drove down there.. We're so silly. It was a nice drive anyway we turned around and came back home and watched the end of the first session. Silly us! I'm glad that I did get to hear President Monson speak he's so great.
Anyway, that's my duh for today hopefully I won't have another one for a while. I guess I should have tried to take a family photo because we all looked pretty cute today. Oh well!

Ice Cream!!

I don't think I have ever mentioned what it is that Brett does now. Well, he works for Blue Bunny Ice Cream. He is a Production Supervisor just like what he did with Pepsi just now he makes ice cream instead of Gatorade. He is really enjoying his new job and learning about making ice cream. While he is at work he can eat ice cream and I think that he sometimes has to take a sample off the line.. I know what a terrible job right... We have tried a few different flavors of ice cream and some of the ice cream sandwiches and we are total fans. We just need to be careful and not eat too much ice cream so we can fit in our clothes.