Fall Weekend in L-Town!!!

The first weekend in November we enjoyed some beautiful fall weather in Loomis! Along this road......rolled the Del Oro Homecoming Parade!!!
Heading the parade was the firetruck and Ryan, Austin and I got to ride in it and wave to all who stopped to watch! The boys and I had a great time and both now want to be firemen! That night we went to the football game... ...and had some fun. getting ready to watch the infamous "Light Show!!!" Austin had so much fun watching the game that he unfortunately didn't make it to the light show and was conked out before the end of the second quarter! The next day the boys went to the zoo with my mom and dad and some out-of-town visitors while I did some Christmas shopping. I picked Austin up this adorable dinosaur costume for $3! Since he's obsessed, I knew he'd love it! Auntie Megan was having fun playing with Austin and decided she needed a costume on too. So, she headed out to the costume box in the garage...

...and came out dressed like this! I think we used to wear this outfit and be Cher for Halloween! When Megan went out to change costumes again, she came back to find Austin screaming while Uncle Steve and Uncle Allen were holding him down and putting his costume back on him. When he stood up, this is what it looked like! Mean Uncles!!! But, we all got a good laugh out of it even though they were torturing the poor little guy!!!Ryan spent nearly the entire weekend outside playing with his new friends Brody and Camry!!! Saturday night Ashley did Aubrey's hair and makeup...
..so she could go party the night away (modestly) at the Homecoming Dance!

Rewards!!!

About 2 months ago we were really struggling in the listening, playing nicely, and choosing the right department. The change in routine with Ryan back in school just really threw these little stinkers off and they were at each other ALL THE TIME!!! That's when I found a fun Family Home Evening lesson on kindness. I decided to go with it for FHE and to implement an activity that would reinforce the kindness and help with discipline. We made jars!!! Sort of like the marble jars in grade school. The boys decorated theirs with stickers and put their names on them and then got a ball in their jar for being good listeners during FHE. The first few days they were putting balls in their jar left and right and being rewarded for everything they did. It was a lot, but you wouldn't believe the change these little rugrats made! It was AMAZING!!! They went from fighting all the time to helping each other out and sharing everything. It was awesome!

Well, after two months, they finally filled their jars last week!!! This may be bribery at it's finest... but I don't care, it worked! They finally earned their reward!!! So, we went to Wally World and they got to pick a toy! Ryan had picked out what he wanted weeks ago and would eye it every time we went to the store. It was fun to explain to him and help him see how he worked so hard and earned something that he wanted!
Austin was undecided until we went to the store. He told us on the way there that he wanted a dinosaur, so Justin helped him find some and he was excited! When we got home we had to immediately get their new treasures out! Austin would put his dinosaur in your face and tell you that "Dinosaurs say yarrrr!" Don't know why he can't put the 'R' in the front too?!

Ryan got his play dough factory out and quickly figured out how to use it. He has played with it everyday since!

I am so happy that this lesson on kindness and the activity has worked out so well for my boys! Luckily we've been able to put more balls in the jar than we've had to take out, so hopefully we'll have continued success with it!

Fall Fun With Mommy!!!

I love my boys to death!!! I especially love all of the quality time I get to spend with them! With Ryan in preschool three days of the week, I have some time with just myself and Austin. Although much of that time ends up being spent grocery shopping, cleaning, or trying to fit some time in at the gym, I enjoy my time with him!

A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch with playgroup and had a great time!

I can never seem to get a picture with this turkey actually looking at the camera and smiling! The kids had a great time climbing all over the giant tires... ...until they spotted something else to do! They were running and chasing one another up and down the rows of pumpkins! It was cute to watch!

Anyone who knows Austin knows that he LOVES animals! It doesn't matter what kind, but he certainly has no fear when it comes to them! Checking out the "Zebronkey" as I called it. It is a cross between a zebra and a donkey! Weird!!!

Cute little pony! Great big horsey! We all enjoyed a hayride through the pumpkin patch together and had a great time! I love this pictures of Payt and Austin! Ryan LOVES his preschool!!! We get to spend some time together everyday working on his homework and talking about school and what he's learning! He is so stinkin' smart! Every October his preschool has "Fall on the Farm Day!" Mallory was so sweet and watched Austin for me so I could enjoy this day with Ryan! They have so many fun fall activities for the kids to enjoy! They teach the kids about cows and what kind makes milk, then they each got to "milk" a cow! Each class got a turn in the bounce houses! Ryan would climb to the top of the mountain in the middle and yell, "The volcano is about to erupt!" then jump off! He decided that since his shirt was red, he was the lava.We went on a hayride through the orchards behind the school... ...played carnival games... ...rode the horse... ...planted a pumpkin... ...and picked one to bring home!!! I had so much fun spending this special one-on-one time with my boys enjoying the beautiful fall season!!!

Pumpkin Carvin' & Halloween Fun!!!

...Pumpkin Carvin'...
On Saturday we finally got around to carving the pumpkins we picked at Bishop's earlier in the month! The boys were really excited and got right to it!

Austin kept taking the seeds out and putting them back in then was wondering why it wouldn't get cleaned out. Ryan did a really good job getting quite a bit of it done on his own! Don't know why the strange face!? My handsome hubby workin' hard to get that huge pumpkin cleaned out... ...before he headed over to help Austin out!

Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of our completed pumpkins, but here our front porch on Halloween night!!!

Since Halloween fell on Sunday and we don't live in Utah where it's automatically celebrated on Saturday, Justin and I discussed what we would do for our little family on Halloween. Our decision was to let our kids get dressed up in their costumes and pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. So, we stayed home, enjoyed a nice dinner together and did just that! The boys were anxiously waiting by the door listening for a knock!!! The minute there was a knock at the door, they were running and clapping they whole way there! We enjoyed our Halloween and all of the fun that we had leading up to this fun and spooky holiday and hope that you did too!!!