The Harvest Festival 2010

 Every year our church (Family Life Church) holds a harvest festival.  It is loads of fun and great time to spend with friends and family.  Every year it gets better, and every year we leave with many happy memories!

 And similar to other years, the highlight for Hannah being the horse rides.  Yes 2hrs spent riding and cycling through the line over and over and over and over.....  What I learned in the process is that preschoolers become very effective in the art of "waiting in lines."  Hannah has mastered the art of patience (it didn't matter if there were 2 or 8 people in line, she quietly waited!), along with awareness....  You know the saying (although Hannah doesn't.....) "No cuts, no butts, no coconuts!"  What in the heck does that mean anyways?  Point being....  Hannah was very cautious to make sure she stayed exactly 1/2inch away from the person in front of her.  This "closeness" solidified her place in line, it is next to impossible for someone else to squeeze into 1/2in of space, Hannah was not worried about anyone sneaking a cut!  :) 

Hannah rode every single horse multiple times each... everyone helping out would just grin as Hannah raced up the stairs for yet another turn.  My heart was warm and to the point of melting everytime her face lit up as her turn approached.... again!

I'm pretty sure Hannah holds a special place in her heart for horses.  She has a true desire to be near them and love on them...  As we drove home tonight in the dark, way past any bedtime the girls have every had,  Hannah simply said....  "Mom, can I please have a horse when I get older?"  "We'll see baby, we would need a lot of stuff for a horse and a lot more room, but you never know...  it might be an option someday"  ...brief pause... "Mom, can I have a horse tomorrow?  I'll be older then?" ...sigh with a smile...  We have got the sweetest girls ever.  I love them to pieces!

 Fortunately there was lots of dirt and rocks....  the twins took a short nap and then happily played taking up the full 2hrs Hannah rode horses.... no complaints here!  Only dirty faces and happy girls!

 Dreaming of riding next year!

Little climbers!  Just like their big sister!

Cookie Making

 So our churches annual Harvest Festival is coming up this Sunday and we are SO excited!  Being the dedicated Mom I am I agreed to make cookies for the event....  3 dozen....  although the final count was 210 (Give or take... mostly take since there were lots of taste tests by young and old in the house!)  Yes I realize that 210 is way more than 36, but I just couldn't stop...  not when we were having this much fun!  I have some of the best little helpers there are!  And although Hannah was the one who truly helped with the cookies and the twins mostly threw the flour anywhere and everywhere....  memories were made, and we had a blast!  (Flour is actually very simple to clean up, as long as you don't add water!  Try it.... what fun!)

And below is just a small taste of the live action!  Enjoy!

Preschool Fun

 Hannah is really enjoying her new preschool.  We are also very pleased and beyond happy we made the move!  There are so many activities the kiddos are never bored!  Today we were able to help Hannah's class celebrate "Fall" all dressed up and in disguise!  :)  Aren't they all so cute!

 One of the activities was a pumpkin bowl and as you can tell from Hannah's bowling stance she has had lots of wii practice and was putting it to great use today!  Who would have thunk?

 Determination pictured with a pink tutu!  That's our Hannah!

Aspen and Brooke even came along for the fun, but I think they enjoyed the snacks the most!  They are growing so quickly, look at how big they are getting!

Gametime!

We have lived here almost 4years now, and I'm sure the natives are shocked it has taken this long...  we are somewhat suspicious that our recent involvement arose since John became employed at Boise State, but just the same it's official...  we are Bronco fans!  During the game, I'm not sure how much of it is actually watched to tell you the truth.  I think what we're actually fans of is not the game, but instead the "gametime".  Huh?  It's not the plays, it's not the wins, it's not even watching the crazy fans freezing in the stands...  what we enjoy most is the time during the game that allows for us to have some fun!  The girls love the excitement of dressing in blue and orange while decorating the house with the same color scheme.  John and I love the excuse to make air popped popcorn and game day snacks to enjoy while bonding with our girls.  We'll use any excuse to have fun as a family.... to make memories that will last longer than any epic play during a game.....  by the way, does anybody know who won?  :)

"Uh Oh!"

"Uh Oh! What did you do?" Is the girls latest and greatest phrase we can recognize!  Aspen says it pretty clear at the end of this video...  We definitely have 3 little chatterboxes in this house!

A little bit of fall fun... on a 74 degree October day!

16 month check-up!

 Whoa... whoa.. whoa...  what did I just say?  16months?  No way...  not even possible.  Sigh...  if only it were possible to pause the hands of time.  It is true though.  The twins have rapidly approached 16months old.  I'm not actually sure when it happened either! 

 Aspen has such a sweet spirit (which completely condtradicts the fact that she is our "hitter and has already become familiar with the timeout wall!")  Here are some other things special about her:

- Aspen is so enthusiastic about life that she frequently tries to keep Brooke awake at night with games of "High Five" at the corner of their cribs where they can actually reach each other.  Who needs sleep anyways?

-She has fallen in love with a penguin we bought for Hannah at Kohl's a LONG time ago and will not go to sleep without it.  It now sells for $26-$50 on ebay and amazon.  We only have one.

-It comforts her to slip her hand through the loops on her tag blanket.  She has reached a record of waking up with her hand through 11 loops.  We are amazed every morning that there is still blood circulating to her right hand.  It is always her right hand.

-Her vocabulary is expanding everyday.  Some of her current favorites are: "uh-oh!", "ha dive" (high five), "dye-dye" (bye-bye), "Nah Nah" (Hannah), "MUM!" (Mom.... and yes she always shouts it!), "Dooooooooooooooooowwwww..." (Telling Sadie to get down!), and so many more!

-When Aspen jumps she can get both feet off of the ground and land it!

-She can climb to any height and both she and Brooke feed off each other trying to see what the highest and smallest space they can fit on at the same time!

-A definite people watcher and loves to observe all of the things going on around her.

-Right now Aspen chooses any vegetable over any other foods

-And she has got to have the most adorable belly laugh.  She could turn anyones frown upside down with it!

 Brooke has a very independent spirit.  We are sure she is going to give Hannah a run for her money!  Here are some special things about her:

-Brooke has got both music and rhythm buried deep into her soul.  Her little body can bounce and shake to music better than most adults... no joke.  She frequently gets lost dancing to the music and as we watch her you can tell she feels it from the tip of her head to the very tip of her toes. 

-She's our little chatterbox.  Sometimes we're not sure what is coming out exactly but we know there is lots of it!  She can talk away while Aspen laughs at her.  Who knows?  Maybe they will have their own language.

-Brooke likes to put herself in others shoes.  We're sure she has the gift of compassion. (If Aspen goes to timeout for hitting, Brooke goes right after her by her own free will and sits there with a concerned look on her face.)

-She loves copying Hannah with dress-up clothes and jewlery.  She always puts headbands around her neck as necklaces.

-She loves being outside and knows how to throw a fit bigger than ever if she's not ready to come in!

-Says all of the same words as Aspen!  Although her latest is... "1-2-3... Doe!"  (1-2-3 Go!... and then you run across the house!)

-Brooke loves vegetables too and we think she may have actually turned into a vegetarian.  The youngest we know.  :)

 Here is Aspen waiting for Dr.Aguilar while carrying her penguin around.  Her penguin and Brooke's monkey don't generally leave the cribs/house but I figured since I was taking on shots solo I needed some back-up!  Aspen is growing so quickly and is in great health!

Current weight: 23lbs (49th %ile); 32inches (83rd %ile). 

 This was after Dr.Aguilar left and Aspen was reinacting her exam... only he used an otoscope and the best she could come up with was a pen!  :)

 Brooke is growing just as quickly and healthy too!  Her current measurements are: 22lbs (26th %ile); and she is 31inches (56th %ile) which might I add I think is wrong...  there is no way Aspen is 2 inches taller than Brooke!  I will have to measure for myself when they wake up from their nap! 

 Here the girls were dueling waiting for their immunizations and flu shot.  Only they didn't know exactly what they were waiting for.  They only knew they were bored!  :)

1 broken heart.... 1 shocked heart following their immunizations.  Nothing blankies, grapes, frosted mini-wheats, a penguin, a monkey, and snuggles from Mom couldn't fix.  Keep growing baby girls.  We can almost literally see your neurons connecting on a daily basis.  Just don't go so fast, we're having a hard time keeping up!

P.S. Couldn't resist the cuteness.... here are some examples of the life and dancing in our house!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Dad's 32nd Birthday!  We had so much fun decorating and celebrating after he got home from work!

He got a personalized version of "Happy Birthday" sung to him while my sisters danced to the tune!

It was past my sisters bedtimes when we celebrated, but eating cake helped keep them awake!  Aren't we all getting so big?

Then I told Dad all about my day.  I am very animated with my stories and have an incredible imagination!

Here Brooke is showing you her new funny face!  Both her and Aspen love to stick their tongues out now!

Silly sisters!

Before cake we had a yummy dinner with corn on the cob.  This is the first time that my sisters got an entire cob to themselves!  They had no trouble at all and loved it!  It was locally grown and delicious!  My Mom said almost as good as the corn back home!

Yep it was a great day and an even better evening celebrating my Dad's birthday.  We sure love him lots!