A Farley Good Birthday!

Ben turned 31 on Saturday (and sadly enough this is the only picture I could find of him. He avoids the camera about as much as I do). I didn't take the camera along for the day, but we still had a great day.

We started with a nice yummy pumpkin waffle and bacon breakfast (thank you Daddy for helping :) and were so full (not to mention ate so late) we didn't even bother eating lunch. Plus we were saving up for dinner later.

Ben enjoyed watching the BYU game while I ran errands, and he claimed BYU won just for him. I thought that was rather nice of them to win the game just because it was his birthday.

That night we went to his favorite place for Chinese food and we ordered TONS of food. I'm still full today! Afterwards we came home to open presents and to have pie and ice cream, but we bagged the pie and ice cream since we were so unbelievably full, and decided to just save if for Sunday.

After dinner and presents our wonderful neighbors came over to watch the kids so we could go to see Ben's favorite thing of all time The Farley Family Reunion at the Scera. Those of you who are unfamiliar with the Farley Reunion are really missing out. It's a one man comedy show, where he is making fun of mormon family reunions, while doing all the parts. Ben remembers watching a video of this guy way back in the 80's in Ohio, so imagine our surprise when we saw he was still doing shows and one right where we live.

Ben and Ruth (Ben's sister) were laughing so hard throughout the whole thing, that people kept turning around to look at us. I was cracking up as well, especially when he acts the part of the magician, classic! I can't even explain how absolutely hilarious it is.

Then there was a section of the show where they asked if any ones birthday was today and Ben actually got to go up stage and they ad libbed him in as part of the family. Of course he would have to tell them his name was Samsonite Farley (we had name tags to put on at the beginning, I was Persephone). The guy gave him a bunch of random coupons, plus a free ticket to his Christmas show. Ben was so excited like he'd met a real celebrity. He claimed it was the best day of his whole life, which I'm not so sure about since there was a wedding and three kids mixed in there. I guess you just can't compete with the Farley Family. We love you Ben!

Logan-6 Month Checkup

Logan had his 6 month checkup today, and I can't believe he's halfway to turning one years old! Time goes so fast, and each kid just speeds up the time dial even more.

Logan has been a fun surprise for us. By your third child, you think you've seen it all, but Logan is completely different from Hyrum and Ella. He is already to the rocking back and forth phase, when my other kids weren't even rolling at this age. I'm wondering what I'm going to do with my Christmas tree this year???

He is also a really terrific eater and will eat anything you put in front of him. (Hence the fact that he weighs pounds more than my other two at the same age).

Logan is just a super active and happy baby and we love all the fun surprises he hands us. (I'm not sure I will be saying this next month when he's crawling all over the place and into everything.)

Here's some fun statistics and milestones for Logan at age 6 months:

Weight: 17 pounds 5 ounces

Length: 27 inches

*Babbles reciprocally

*Holds onto objects and puts in mouth

*Rocks back and forth on hands and knees

*Recognizes own name and will turn when called

*Stands when held and holds own weight

*Eats pureed fruits and vegetables 2 times a day, cereal twice a day, and meat.

*Eats fruit or veggie puffs

*Can hold bottle when placed on the floor

*Enjoys reading Jane Austen (no wait that's me :)

A "Beauty" of a Week!

It seems like this week was so busy, that all I did was change from my pj's to my costume, back to my pj's. Fortunately, I'm unhealthily obsessed with Halloween, so I loved every minute of it. My fabulous friend Calista, was good enough to sew my Belle costume for me. I learned so much from watching her, although I don't know how much I'll remember. I really want to learn how to sew just so I can make mommy dress up clothes :) It was a lot of fun though, and she was great to put in all the time to make it, especially since she's dealing with all the yucky pregnancy stuff as well.

So, the week started on Monday with my sister Andrea flying in from Boise to stay for the whole week. She shares my passion for Halloween, so we had a great time together.

On Tuesday was the ward Halloween party. I somehow got roped into planning it even though I'm not on the activities committee. The last ward party we had was Christmas last year, and my kids were sick so we didn't get to go. Needless to say our ward was in desperate need of some social interaction. Especially since we have like a 60% turnover every semester. Everyone feels new. I'm in charge of all the relief society activities groups so I figured we'd just count it as that and throw a huge party since we were all starving for some fun in the ward.

My group leaders were so great and helped out so much. I was stressed out for months, but it all came together and turned out to be a great activity. Here's a few pictures, from the activity. We had about 120 people come! (I was running around too much to get more than this)

The tables were all decorated black or orange with a pumpkin and leaves on top. Then we put a sticker on the bottom of one chair at each table, and whoever had the sticker, got to take the pumpkin home.

For dinner we had all people with last names starting with A-L bring soup and last names starting with M-Z bring desserts. The ward provided rolls and drinks. There were so many yummy soups. I think I went back 4 times to try as many different soups as possible. We had TONS of food, so I was relieved!

After dinner we did a parade for the kids. This picture is of the babies lining up for their turn. It was so cute!

After dinner the kids could go to different rooms to play games. We had a ring toss, cake walk, bean bag toss, fishing pond, and eyeball relay. The kids got tons of candy and prizes. (note to self: get treat bags for next year). I was mostly running around trying to clean up dinner and make sure the games were all going o.k. that I didn't get to see much of the kids, but they sounded like they had a good time.

When the games were finished, we had everyone come back to the cultural hall and we handed out prizes for the costumes. Hyrum won the best overall costume for the junior primary age group. I couldn't believe how many adults dressed up and how amazing their costumes were. It really was a fun activity and hopefully everyone had a good time!

Thursday was Ben's work trick or treating. The kids got to dress up and go trick or treating to all the different cubicles. They got so much candy! All the employees dressed up and their were some hilarious costumes. Ben and a bunch of developers all dressed up like women. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ben in my maternity clothes, makeup and a wig. At least he didn't fit into my regular clothes :)

They also had a contest for the best decorated cubicle and Ben won a $50 gift card to best buy. He had this stuffed person with a pumpkin head slumped over a key board with a mother board sticking out the back of his head. Then he had spider webs, skeletons, and different banners hanging everywhere. We were totally jazzed he won, because we went out and got wii music for free!

Friday was the craziest day. I dropped Hyrum off at school, then drove back and changed as fast as I could so I could come back to help with his class Halloween party. I thought it was funny that I was dressed as Belle and I was in charge of reading Halloween stories.

After Hyrum's class party I once again quickly drove back, changed into pj's and ran to a doctor's appointment (that's a whole other post in and of itself).

Then I drove back home, had a fun Halloween lunch of pumpkin and bat sandwiches with the kids and then quickly finished decorating the house, and making dinner. We had potato cheese soup in these cute bread bowls that looked like pumpkins. Then we had a few trick or treaters and then headed up to Springville, to our old ward and went trick or treating. We only had to do one street before the kids bags were too big for them to carry. The weather was so good for most of it though. We didn't even have to wear jackets.

It was a great Halloween! The kids had tons of fun going to all the parties, I had so much fun hanging out with my sister, and we have enough candy to last until next year. I have to say though, I did breath a little sigh of relief when I was able to flip that calendar to a calmer November. I may pull out my Belle costume to vacuum the house or something though. After all Halloween is still 363 days away!

Fancy Nancy Turns 3!

Ella turned three on October 21st, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate it than the Fancy Nancy way. For those of you who aren't familiar with Fancy Nancy, first of all you are missing out, but she's this little girl who likes everything fancy, frilly, and over the top. I love, loved this book, since I'm a Fancy Nancy at heart, and my little protege, Ella is even more so.

The morning started out with the house decorated in pink balloons and a Fancy Nancy Survival Kit for Ella. It had the new Fancy Nancy book, a princess crown, chapstick, lotion, glitter headbands, butterfly stickers, and rose petals that dissolve in the bath tub.

After we had breakfast, Ella, Ruth (Ben's sister), and I headed to get manicures and Ella also got her toenails painted. (I had a picture, but it just turned out blurry). She just seemed at ease and totally in her element. She just talked with the lady doing her nails and when she was done, the lady was sweet enough to read Ella some of her Fancy Nancy books while we finished.

When we got home from getting our nails done we had a tea party complete with flower peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, heart cucumbers and cheese, chips, and fancy milano cookies. And it wouldn't be a tea party without teacups and rose tea (fruit punch). The kids were so funny. They ate with their pinkies up the whole time and addressed each other as "darling".

Then Daddy showed up during lunch with a special surprise. Flowers for the birthday girl! Ella was so excited. Good thinking Daddy, every fancy girl needs flowers (hint hint :)

For dinner we told Ella she could go wherever she wanted and she kept voting for Taco Bell, so we tried to upgrade her to at least a Mexican restaurant. She actually didn't care as long as she got a soft shell taco. We all dressed up fancy, even daddy and Logan. (Hyrum is frowning in this picture, but I totally looked fat in the other one we took :)

Hmm. . . she's not eating with her pinky up?

The girls side of the table. Ella is totally striking a diva pose here.

After dinner Ella opened presents. She got plenty of girly, girl stuff and loved all of it.

Daddy made her cake, which was supposed to be a crown, but we got a little strapped for time. Hey, I can't complain, I didn't have to make it and it tasted great! I still cannot write on cakes without it looking the kids did the writing.

So, now my baby is officially three! Before you know it she'll be off to kindergarten. Don't grow up to fast my little Fancy Nancy!

Pumpkin Day

It started out being a fairly normal day, and somehow turned theme: Pumpkin Day! First the kids decorated some pumpkin pictures that grandma sent them with the instructions to mail them back so she can decorate her house. (Don't worry Laurie we'll send them out tomorrow). The kids went crazy with the puff paints and glitter, and it was a mess to clean up, but they had so much fun being creative. It's painfully obvious which one Hyrum did, not that he's obsessed with pirates or anything.

For dinner we made pumpkin pancakes, which are so yummy! Thank you Karen. They also have this cinnamon cream sauce that goes over them, and I swear they are one of the best things I've ever tasted. My kids wolf them down, which is another plus.

After dinner we carved pumpkins. I'm not really good at that whole free hand pumpkin carving thing, so I found some cool templates online. My hand is killing me, but I think they turned out great. Mine/Ella's is Cinderella's castle (maybe it's Sleeping Beauty's, I'm not sure). Ben and Hyrum's is the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. Now, I'm just praying that no mean kids decide to smash them, because there is no way I'm carving another pumpkin. For the last couple of years we just let the kids paint them, because I don't like touching the goo, but I dug my hand in there and totally shocked Ben. It was kind of fun actually.

So, our unplanned pumpkin day was a success! I'm exhausted and orange, but I can't wait to cook those seeds. Yum!

Hats Off To You Dr. Seuss

Today for our "date night" (we went at 2 in the afternoon) we went to see Seussical the musical at the Scera and I really enjoyed it. It's so different from the usual Rodgers and Hammerstein stuff I'm drawn to and I loved that. It was really colorful and just full of energy. Not to mention hilarious. It's also something I think kids would really enjoy (I was sitting next to tons). So, if you are looking for a fun and different kind of musical I would totally recommend this. I couldn't believe how much singing and dancing this one had. There really weren't any "lines" at all. Thankfully the actors were extremely talented, so it was fun to listen to and watch. Thank you to Dr. Seuss for creating such a wonderful world, where anything can rhyme and anything can happen.

Logan aka King Boo-5 Months

I know he actually turned 5 months on the first and it is now the ninth, but I figured a late post was better than nothing. Isn't he just so cute! Logan doesn't have a doctors appointment this month, so we just weighed him on our scale and he came in at about 17 pounds. Yep, that's my little chunk! I'm not sure how long he is, but he's actually pretty proportionate. He doesn't seem as chunky because he's also so tall. He does still have those kissable rolls though. Here are some of Logan's 5 month milestones:

*Sitting in a bath chair, instead of the baby bath tub

*Can hold onto objects.

*Scoots himself backwards when he's on his tummy (he can get across the room now).

*Eats rice cereal, oatmeal, fruit, and we are starting vegetables today. (I was going to wait to start any of the "jarred" baby food until he turned 6 months like my other kids, but he just seemed really hungry still. Seriously, I would feed him the oatmeal and he'd just scream like "Are you kidding me? That's all I get?")

*Is finally taking a good 2-3 hour afternoon nap. (Morning nap is still sporadic, but that's mainly because we are in and out of the car a million times in the morning. Poor kid.)

*Can sit with support.

*Loves to interact with the kids (especially Hyrum; he thinks everything he does is funny.)

*Is starting to enjoy playing with toys.

We sure love this little/big guy. I've decided on a new nickname for him, King Boo. It's on the wii, Mario Party 8. Watch it and you will totally see the similarity, minus the fangs and menacing scowl. He's just round, and is always smiling and sticking his tongue out. Not to mention Logan is almost completely bald. He's even starting to make sounds like King Boo. It's so funny! If I had any talent in sewing I would seriously make him a King Boo costume for Halloween, which would come in very handy since I think he's too big for the one Hyrum wore at the same age. I don't think anyone would really get who he was supposed to be but me though, because King Boo is a ghost that has like this red cape thing and a crown. I think people would just be confused, but I would still think it was hysterical.