Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! What a fun night. Dennis' sister Wendy brought her two daughters (Ellie & Maren) trick-or-treating with us. She thought the kids would have more fun trick-or-treating together than just with mom. Maren wore Aspen's ladybug costume from a few years ago, but she was asleep during these pictures, so you'll have to check out Wendy's blog to see her cute photos. Here are Aspen, Connor, & Ellie getting ready to go (thanks to wonderful neighbors who share great costumes! Aspen was a darling pink poodle--puppy, as she puts it--and Connor is quite possibly the cutest monkey I've ever seen!):

Devin was a dead soccer player (he just wanted to paint his face, and I think it turned out pretty well):

Shaylee was a darling green M&M, and she opted to stay home & pass out treats before heading to a Halloween party with her friends this evening (she did make it around the block once, I think):

Connor again (so cute!!!):

Me in my "witch" hat--I told the kids it's the only day they can call me a witch!

Trick-or-treating fun!

Thanks Kimberli!

We picked up more friends (the Dolan's) on the way (Jaime & Macie were happy to join us):

With our new neighbors (so cute!):

Walking

So Connor has decided that now that he's 1 and all, that walking is AOK. That's fine with mom (I have been worried he wouldn't walk before we left on our cruise next month & then he would walk for Grandma & Grandpa without me). He took 2 steps at the park yesterday (on wood chips, no less), and then 4 steps to walk to me today, and he's letting go of things and taking a few steps before crawling. Woo hoo!!!

I have been SO SICK the past couple of days, but I wanted to blog about what I did on my "sick day" yesterday. Slept in until 6:45 a.m. Got up for family scripture study. Went back to bed at 7:30 a.m. and got up at 8:20 a.m. to dress Aspen, do her hair, and feed her before she got picked up for preschool. Got myself and Connor ready for the day, then played for 45 minutes until 9:30 a.m. He went down for a nap and I worked until 11 a.m. when I went to pick up Aspen from preschool. Came home, made & ate lunch, then headed to the park to enjoy the beautiful fall day the Lord blessed us with (see darling park pictures below). Played at the park for 45 minutes, then came home and read books and put kids down for naps. Worked until Devin got home from school, visited with him, checked homework, etc., then worked while Devin read until Shaylee got home. Visited with her, made dinner & put it in the oven, then embarked on a 3-hour algebra journey (woo hoo!). Finished dinner, served a healthy, nutritious meal to my family, then finished algebra before playing with Aspen and Connor and then putting them in the bath. Connor went to bed & Aspen played with Dennis while I worked (again) until about 10:30 p.m. last night. I worked about 7 hours, but still spent a lot of time with my family, and somewhere in there I washed & folded two batches of laundry, had my family fed and clean. WHEW!!! And I was SICK!!!

Check out these darling park pics:

This is Aspen in her Halloween costume at her dance class on Tuesday:

Aspen Quips

Aspen, Connor and I went for a walk yesterday to get some fresh air, play at a park a little farther from home, etc. On the way there, I pushed both kids in the stroller, but on the way home, Aspen wanted to push Connor in the stroller "by herself." She did a great job, and I'd get her out of the grass each time she veered off course. We decided to walk "the long way" around the park on the corner by our house (that's what Shaylee always does, and Aspen wants to be just like her sister). On the curve, Aspen ran the stroller (and Connor's face) right into a large bush (practically a tree). The branches were right in the stroller and Connor was pretty much in the middle of the bush. I asked Aspen, "What happened?" Her response? "I parked." Duh, mom.

Happy Birthday Connor!

We decided to celebrate Connor's birthday a little early for a few reasons: 1) We were taking Naohiro to Grandpa & Grandma Brown's farm on Sunday anyway, so it seemed like a good time to celebrate; 2) We had other plans with Naohiro on Connor's birthday; and 3) He's turning 1, for goodness sake, and has no idea what day his birthday is. So I thought I'd put up a little post showing our celebration, and I'll post again another time (not at 11:30 p.m.) about how wonderful Connor is and how I can hardly believe he's 1!!!

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of Connor on the car ride down to the farm (he was sooo ready to be done after about 45 minutes):

Of course, right about the time Connor is ready to be out of the car, we come across some cowboys moving cows to another pasture:

Yes, I actually took this picture out the window of the car and no, it's not a scene from The Man from Snowy River (sorry Scott):

Here is the view out the front window:

And another:

This is Connor getting ready to eat his yummy birthday dinner of roast, potatoes, squash, etc. He wouldn't touch anything but the juice & the pickles (funny boy, but at his size, I don't worry too much about him not eating enough):

Everyone at the table ready to eat (Jeanette was up from Mona as well):

Devin and Naohiro hanging downstairs:

Connor opening his gift from Grandma Brown:

A little help, please?

Check out my cool Raggedy Andy Doll!

Puzzles of my own? I don't have to eat Aspen's?

Yea for the birthday boy!

Connor wouldn't put down Raggedy Andy to open anything else.

Is it time for cake yet?

Connor's birthday cake (for my all star--thanks for the cute star pans Lisa!):

What am I supposed to do with this?

You want me to do what? Blow?

A star cake all to myself? What's this blue stuff? Connor ate the whole thing with two fingers (shown below). Shaylee had to shove his hand in his mouth to convince him he wanted to eat it rather than just pick off the frosting, then we had to cut it open to show him the cake inside. He ate it all (and only dropped maybe 4 crumbs on the floor!).

Are you sure this is okay?

Hmmm . . . pretty good.

Oh, I like this!

Finger-lickin' good!

Birthdays are so fun!

I'm ready for a bath . . . mom's thinking, "Please, don't touch me!!!"

The girls on the four wheeler: