"We turned into three!"

I can't believe my babies turned three. They are so big and so much fun right now. They think they can do everything on their own and they let me know it.

They had Joy School on the morning of their birthday and they were thrilled to take Cookie Monster cookies to school. They just knew their friends would love them. When they walked into school the teacher said, "Happy Birthday Davis and Blair" and Davis said, "Yeah, we turned into three." I died laughing. What a funny little boy.

My mom came to help me frost the cakes during the day and my dad watched the kids while we worked. Grandma & Grandpa Davis gave the kids the cutest airplane teeter totter, so they enjoyed playing on that all day.

That night we had Grandma & Grandpa Erickson, Grandma & Grandpa Davis, Uncle Morgan, Aunt Mandy, Sam, Alex, and Reese over for a little birthday party. Grandma & Grandpa Olsen couldn't make it, but we celebrated with them a week earlier.

Long before the party the kids had requested a Cinderella cake for Blair and a Lightning McQueen cake for Davis. They were thrilled when we actually got to have them and they loved the giant balloons. They're still a highlight a week later.

The kids got such great presents from everyone and they were super excited about them all. This year, Spence told me he'd be in charge of the kids gift (which he never is) and not to worry about a thing. He was super excited and I was super surprised. He has always vowed that we would never have a dog, but he gave the kids a puppy. I think the fenced in back yard and the fact that the kids have never ending fun with Grandma Erickson's dogs put him over the edge.

We got a yellow lab puppy that was eight weeks old and all the gear to go along with it. (Side note: After buying all this stuff myself I understand why my dad was always so ticked when we left our dog stuff on the ground. I think growing up I didn't think it was expensive.) The puppy's name is Sully and the kids couldn't have been happier. We had them open gifts that had a collar and a leash and dog bowls and a toy before Spence brought in the puppy. They knew the things were for dogs and they said, "Oh no; we don't have a dog." Were they ever excited when "Dad found one in the garage." (Funny story- The dog stuff that we wrapped for Davis was in a Simms box and when Davis opened it he said "fishing boots" and pushed it aside before opening the box. Dad was definitely more excited when he got the box.)

Sully is an outside dog all the way, but we let him in for the party. That night we talked about how Sully wasn't going to come in our house any more and we would play with him out back. The next morning I heard Davis coming upstairs from his room and the back door open. He went right out to play with Sully before anything else. (Anyone who knows him well knows that he must be pretty excited if he went to play with Sully before he ate breakfast. That kid loves breakfast.) After a couple of minutes I heard the back door open again and Davis say, "Come inside Sully; it's cold out there." I came down with some shoes and a jacket and took care of that. That morning the kids didn't come inside at all from 8 until 11:30.

Since then, they've had hours of fun outside in the sun, pouring rain, and snow. They love that dog and they're always reminding me that they need to go outside because "Sully loves us and wants to play."

Dad did a great job. I'm glad they had such a happy birthday. It was so fun this year.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with Joy School. We had planned to go before Halloween, but it was so super rainy that they closed the patch for a few days. The kids had a great time though. They took us on a wagon ride out to the pumpkins and the kids LOVED picking out their own pumpkins. After the wagon ride, we went over to the play area. They had a giant blow up bounce house shaped like a pumpkin, a train behind a four-wheeler, and a giant slide along with other things. The kids played in the bounce house and on the slide forever. They loved the slide once they figured out how to climb up the back of the straw- the steps were pretty big for little kids. We had a blast though and we will definitely go back next year.

Not So Great Family Picture

We attempted family pictures today. I had my mom come and use my camera to take some, but I failed to have someone come to get the kids attention while she took the picture. This picture is the only decent one we got. We'll have to give it a try again soon. The problem is, not only do the kids hate it, but Spence isn't so cooperative either.

Halloween is FINALLY Here!!!

My kids were beyond thrilled this morning when they got to wear their Halloween costumes to Joy School for a party. They think they've waited forever and every day they ask, "How many more days until Halloween?" We woke up early to get them all ready before preschool, but they didn't mind. They love their costumes. I do, however, wonder if Blair will be disappointed in hers once she realizes that many of the other girls at school are dressed like princesses. Maybe next year I'll take it easy and not worry if they don't look like they go together....

Lucky for us we have a preschool party today, a party at Dad's work tomorrow, and trick-or-treating on Saturday. It's going to be a fun filled weekend with lots of scrubbing off makeup and washing out hair.

"Look outside Mom!"

I work in the afternoons while my kids are taking a nap. Today on the monitor I have been hearing lots of noise - not the quiet hum I hear when I have two sleeping kids. As I walked downstairs to check my kiddos, I saw Davis peek his head out from behind the couch (one of their favorite places to play). When I asked what he was doing he replied, "I'm checking to see if it's dark and I'm really supposed to be in bed." As he opened the back door he said, "Look outside, Mom. It's time to play, not sleep. It's a nice day. Let's go outside."

What could I say to that? He's outside playing right now.

Cabin Weekend

We went to the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa Erickson last weekend. We had a blast. Spence and Grandpa spent some time fishing while the girls and the kids went shopping in Jackson Hole. We played on the four-wheelers, hung out, and had a great time. We also floated the river in the canoes one day. After the kids had gotten out of our canoe, Spence totally stopped steering the canoe and tipped us over. It was so stinking cold. I was not happy at all.



On the drive to the cabin, we stopped a Tin Cup Creek so Spence could test out his new waders. While he fished for a while, the kids ran around. Here are a few pictures I took of them while they played.

Random

Just some random cute pictures of the kids... It makes me laugh so hard that Davis is so mad that I'm taking his picture and Blair is posing like crazy. I love these two.

What???!!!

Blair was downstairs playing today and I had check on her a couple of times and everything was fine. I checked on her again to find her with her scissors (that were on the highest shelf in our top cupboards) and some hair on the floor of the kitchen. Luckily she had her hair braided the day before so there was only a little out of the braid that she could cut off. It was such a small amount I couldn't even tell where it was the next day, but we moved the scissors to a harder place for sure.