Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins almost exactly two weeks before Halloween and about a week too soon, but we wouldn't have been able to do it as a family otherwise so I was willing to deal with the consequences. We worked on the girls pumpkins first and by the time they were done it was time for them to go to bed. Then after putting them to bed Nick and I had our "at home date night" and carved our pumpkins while listening to general conference talks.

We tried to let Shasta help as much as possible, but she had her own ideas of how to do things so it was difficult. But she loved gutting the pumpkins and when she was "done" with hers she helped with the others. Shelby on the other hand didn't help at all. I didn't know how to really include her so I just stuck her in her booster chair and gave her some pumpkin guts to play with. It kept her entertained pretty much the entire time, but it also ended up all over the floor. You win some, you lose some.

We took a picture of Shasta with her pumpkin, but forgot to take one of Shelby with hers. For the girls' pumpkins we just kept it simple and did a face. And I imagine that's what we will do every year until they can do their own!

We found a pumpkin that was the perfect Minion shape so of course we had to carve it like one. Nick carved this one while Shasta and I gutted the other pumpkins. I think it turned out pretty darn cute! Also, that's Shasta's pumpkin on the left. It kind of looks like a cat.

This one is Shelby's pumpkin. I decided to experiment with shaving the skin off so I shaved strands of hair all the way around. It looks kind of silly, but it's pretty cool that the light inside makes it glow.

Usually I feel pretty proud of my pumpkin, but I wasn't super impressed with how it turned out this year. It's kind of hard to tell what the whole image is, but it's of a man crawling out of his grave.

 Nick had the coolest pumpkin this year. He didn't even carve it, he just shaved off the skin. (Skin? Is that what you would call it?) It took him all of like 15 minutes and then he went to the store to get batteries for all the lights that go in the pumpkins. Some date night! Haha! And just for the record... he got the whole shaving idea from me shaving hair on Shelby's pumpkin. Just throwing that out there!

 Shasta's pumpkin and the Minion all lit up.

 Shelby's pumpkin. See? I told you the hair glowed!

Sara's pumpkin. You can see the picture a little better when it's lit up.

And Nick's pumpkin. I think it looks super cool! Usually I would say my pumpkin is always the most creative of the bunch, but this year I think Nick gets bragging rights!

The whole lot.

And of course I had to take a picture of my monster door. Shelby was constantly rearranging the spiders at the bottom so there's no rhyme or reason to how those are placed, but they fit well with the spider egg sack. I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted for the monster. I felt like it was missing something, but wasn't sure what to add or change. I probably should have done the mouth differently and I had no idea how to do eyebrows when there's three eyes, but I got a TON of compliments on it. My favorite were all the times I would hear people walking past say something about it while my windows were open! Even my neighbors came out one day and said, "we saw you guys outside and had to hurry out to tell you how awesome your door looks"!

As for our pumpkins; they looked pretty sad by Halloween night. They were caving in on themselves and starting to mold. It grossed me out sticking my hand in them to turn the lights on. Especially because it had been rainy at some point so they were soggy. And Nick's poor pumpkin only lasted a couple of day before it completely collapsed. It looked like a basketball without any air in it. I didn't even bother lighting it up. But now we know for next year that if he wants do it again it would be best to do it the night before and since it didn't take much time it won't be a big deal. But like I said, I was willing to deal with the consequences if it meant we could carve pumpkins as a family.

Family Picture

I love this picture. We went to Nick's work party and they had a photo station set up. Shasta didn't want to get her picture taken so Nick grabbed her and had them quickly snap the picture. If Shelby's eyes weren't mid-blink it would be perfect!

Random Phone Pictures

I've been trying not to post pictures of my kids to Facebook and save them for posts on my blog instead, but doing this means one big post of random pictures because each picture isn't worthy of its own post. I guess it's basically the same idea as if I had posted them to Facebook with a caption only you get to read them all at once instead of at random when they get posted.

We love cuddling on the couch together. These girls are my happy thoughts!

One night Shelby decided she needed to hold my hand while she was sitting in my lap. I couldn't resist taking a picture. It was just so precious!

I found this gem on my phone. Shasta's first selfie!

Lasagna is a big hit at our house. Shelby ate every bite and then asked for more.

I just can't resist that sauce covered face. It's hard to tell, but her hands are just as bad!

I know we aren't supposed to take pictures at church, but there's just something about little girls laying on their tummies coloring that tickles my insides. Even with Shelby's diaper hanging out... perhaps that adds to the cuteness!

Oh yes, and the legs bent in the air is definitely a cuteness factor. I love it!

We had our first experience with Shasta cutting her own hair. Thankfully it was just this little chunk in front that now just looks like whooshy bangs. I take full responsibility for her deciding to cut her own hair. Ever since the age of two I've allowed her to use scissors by herself. I taught her how to use them and coached her on what is appropriate to cut. I've pounded it in her head that we only cut paper and we've never had an incident where she's tried to cut anything else. For the last year and a half she's had access to scissors, mostly supervised. It started out with me sitting right next to her watching her every move, but as she's gotten better at using them and more responsible, I've lightened up on my hovering over her as she uses them.

Well, for probably two weeks straight the girls have been eating Otter Pops and Shasta's been in charge of cutting them open and then trimming them down as they eat them; for both hers and Shelby's. During this time I noticed Shasta kept holding the scissors up by her hair during the down time when she was waiting for the next opportunity to trim down the Otter Pops. She never had the idea in her head to cut her hair, she was just being careless about holding them. Occasionally the scissors would be pulled open a little bit and it was really making me nervous that she would unintentionally cut her hair. Whenever I noticed I would tell her to put the scissors down and stop holding them up the way she was. I was really careful not to say anything about accidentally cutting her hair, but she kept absentmindedly doing it. I felt like I needed to give her a reason for why I didn't want her to hold the scissors that way so I told her she couldn't do it because she could accidentally cut her hair.

The very next day I noticed that her hair was cut. When I asked her about it she told me that she wanted to see if the scissors really could cut her hair. It really was me that put the idea in her head. I take full responsibility for it and although she didn't get in trouble for cutting her hair, we had a very long conversation about it and I feel pretty confident that she won't do it again. Her scissor privileges have currently been taken away, but she'll get them back eventually...!

Shasta was so excited to get to wear headphones in the car. We drove to Bountiful for Conference weekend and wanted to listen to conference on the radio while we drove so for the very first time Shasta got to try out the headphones. She thought she was pretty cool!

I saw a tutorial on Facebook that used strips of paper towels to make curly hair. It looked easy enough so I decided to give it a try. While I wouldn't recommend paper towels (at least for a three year old) because they kept breaking while she was actively playing (so I can only imagine how they would hold up while sleeping), they worked pretty darn well. I decided to try it in the morning with the intention of taking them out after her nap, but while she was supposed to be napping she decided to take all the paper towels out. This is what it looked like after she slept on it without paper towels in her hair! It was pretty easy to roll her hair so I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this again, but I think I'm going to cut up an old shirt into strips and use that instead of paper towels. Next time I do it I want to have her sleep on it and the shirts will hold up better than the paper towels.

I'm super excited about this! Shasta LOVES using my makeup brushes while I'm getting ready. Last year I tried to find fake makeup for her for Christmas, but all I could find was play makeup. I didn't want her to actually be able to paint her face, just pretend, so I didn't get her any. This year I decided to get creative. I cleaned out some old makeup that I don't use and filled it in with nail polish. Which by the way, I only own 8 bottles of nail polish: red, hot pink, black, silver, clear, and three shades of brown... not very exciting. But I'm trying to do Christmas this year on an extra thrifty budget so I decided to just use what I have and not go buy other colors. A friend assured me that Shasta won't be upset about the colors! I found a package of makeup brushes at the dollar store that are similar to the kind that I use too. So basically I made Shasta a really fun stocking stuffer that I know she's going to love and it only cost me a dollar (for the brushes)! Woot woot! And I've decided to do some for Shelby too since she loves doing whatever Shasta does. I'm so excited for Christmas!

Shelby loved swinging on a big kid swing. She seriously needs to stop growing. I can't believe she's already 18 months. It's not fair!

At the same park there were two little stools underneath the jungle gym that Shasta really took to. She kept telling me, "mom, let's go sit down so we can talk about things". So we would go sit down and she would lead the discussion. She's so fun!

At 7 in the morning Wedge isn't exactly up for having his picture taken. But I just love his fluffy ears. Also, is it just me or does it look like his eyes are looking in two different directions?

I paid a visit to Shasta's Salon. Last year for Christmas we got her a salon kit with a blow dryer, hair scissors (which I was really nervous about because I was afraid it was going to give her the idea to cut her hair with real scissors), and a curling iron. She spent a good hour cutting and styling my hair... partly because I kept telling her she wasn't done yet or that she missed a spot! Once she was done I went and looked in the mirror to see her work and this was the result. Not bad. Not my style, but not bad! Maybe if I didn't have a ridiculous hairline I could get away with a side part so far over, but since I do I guess I'll pass. Also, does my hair look red?

These are a few of my favorite things! Shelby, dolls, and books! She always brings me books to read her when I sit down on the floor. And lately she's really taken to baby dolls. I love it! Is there anything cuter than seeing a child tend a doll and mimic the things she's watched her mom do? I'd say it's the sincerest form of flattery!

Shasta has a new obsession with sitting down and saying, "Let's talk about things". This time her conversation was with Shelby. Apparently Shelby did something Shasta didn't agree with so Shasta needed to coach her on better choices she can make. "Shelby, let's talk about things." I know she's picked this up from me, but I don't think I've ever actually used that phrase. I tell her all the time that I need to talk to her, but I don't think I've used those exact words... and she uses those exact words every time. I guess I need to pay more attention to what I say the next time I need to talk to her.

Lagoon

Nick had a pleasant surprise when he went into work one day and learned he had won free tickets to Lagoon from a contest he didn't know he entered! Apparently his lead at work entered all the employees on his shift into the drawing the company was doing and Nick was fortunate enough to be the winner! Yay!

We ended up going on Conference Saturday because that was the most realistic day for us to go. We were already going to Bountiful for the weekend to watch General Conference at Nick's parents house (something we always do because we don't have any tv channels and I hate listening to it on the radio or trying to stream it) so we decided it would be best to go then so we wouldn't have to make another trip for Lagoon. 

We listened to the first session in the car and caught the tail end of it at his parents house. Once it was over, we loaded up the girls and headed to Lagoon. We stayed until about 4:30pm before we headed back to Nick's parent's house so he could go to Priesthood Session with his dad. Then after he got back, we put the girls to bed and went back to Lagoon just the two of us for a couple more hours without kids. Really, we only missed one session of conference so I'd say that's pretty good! 

I have to say that I was a little disappointed with Lagoon... sort of in a way that I wondered why anyone with kids was attracted to the park at all. Almost all of the kid rides are just that... kid rides... meaning adults can't go on the rides with their children. We did a lot of standing in line and the prize at the end was to put my children on a ride and then watch from outside the gate while the ride went for a minute and a half (at best) and then it was on to the next line. I don't expect kid rides to be anything spectacular, but I at least expect to go on rides WITH my kids. Shelby was barely 18 months. It was super hard for me to put her on a ride and walk away. And although the girls had the time of their lives, I had a much different vision of how our family day at Lagoon would be.

I just loaded all of the pictures so I could get this event posted which means some of them are turned the wrong way. But I also figure the chances anyone will even see this post is probably pretty slim so I'm not too worried about it. But just in case I figured I should put this disclaimer in here.

I love these next few pictures of Shasta and Nick waiting in line. If only she understood that she'll spend most of her life standing in lines and it doesn't get any easier or better. My favorite thing that she always says is, "it's hard to wait". Yes sweetie, I know. I think it's hard sometimes too.

I couldn't stop laughing on this ride. It was one of those that brings you to the top and then drops you straight down. Then back to the top you go and you fall straight down again. Shasta's reactions were priceless. She would start talking to me and then the ride would drop and she would gasp. Then she'd start talking to me again like nothing happened, the ride would drop and she'd gasp. Over and over. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I could have gone on this ride with her a hundred times and never got sick of her reaction!

I love this face! Shelby has the best laughing face!

I had to include this picture because I thought it was so funny. I asked Nick to try to take a picture of all of us and as soon as he snapped it I asked if he was blocking Shelby. Sure enough, his big head was right in the way!

Overall, I was really impressed with how brave Shasta and Shelby were. I know none of the rides Shelby went on were scary, but I didn't know how she'd do with being put on a ride and watching me walk away. She never cried for me or Nick once. And Shasta was the bravest I've ever seen her. She had no problem going on any of the rides. The ride that took us high into the sky and dropped us straight down, she never once screamed or cried. She loved every minute of the rides. She didn't love standing in line so much and after her first two rides she asked if we could go back to Grandma and Grandpa's, but she definitely had a lot of fun. It was a good day. And being free made it that much better!