12 Things in November

Well things are crazy as ever around here! Its freezing cold, so beyond our 10 min outside walks the kids and I spend most of our time experimenting with pinterest craft ideas and playing Hide and Seek a million times. Lane's been trying to finish combining corn - he should have a solid two weeks left, then the kids will finally have another playmate! and i can finish a ton of projects in January. Until then, here are a few things we've been up to:

1. I finally feel really confident making my own stock. This happens to be a smoked turkey stock that was deeeeelish. When they turn out really yummy like this was, i drink it like tea. which isn't weird at all...

2. The boys are devistated everytime Lane leaves in the morning, check out Jones's pout! Locke is completely losing it...

3. Hide and Seek. It makes me crack up everytime. 

4. Here we are on a day that the cold was actually bearable enough that the kids wanted to explore the barren, manure-frozen wasteland. Kept them occupied almost two hours! 

5. This was one of our pinterest finds that Locke actually sat down and focused on for a while. Locke won't color at all, its just not in his personality! so I have to get creative about what i think he'll enjoy. 

6. Kennedy and I braved the cold to see The SO You Think You Can Dance Tour!! Lane got me tickets for our 5 year anniversary, but told me i could only have them if i promised not to make him go with me. Thats Lane for ya. He is incredible, I told him a couple months ago while watching the show it might be fun to go to the tour, and then he surprised me with tickets! i have to be careful what i say around him! 

Kennedy jumped at the chance to go with me and we had a blast! the dancers were seriously amazing, we even snuck down closer to the stage to get better seats! i loved it!!! (No kids!!! it was so strange to be out there without them - but i have to admit it was perfect timing, i needed a little break!)

7. I also got to sneak away for a weekend to attend Time Out For Women with Lacy, Nicole, Vicki, Jennifer, and Josie (with no kids again!). I thought it would be mostly about increasing the spirit in our lives, but it turned out to be all about female empowerment - Lds style! Girl Power! i basically felt like i could conquer the world after i left. It makes me realize all the things i still need to work on though, in order to truly reach my full potential and be the mom i'm striving to be. We decided it will be an annual tradition, and i'm already so excited for next year! These events make me realize how amazing Lacy and Nicole are - they are fantastic. 

8. Jones has a "thing" for real tools lately. He wouldn't be interested in an elaborate plastic set - but if he gets his hands on a screwdriver good luck getting it from him. As you can see in the picture above i tried to get it from him so we could go grocery shopping and I could look like a responsible adult - But you can guess how that turned out. 

Maybe he was just tired....

9. This was the last day we were able to play outside without coats on. Lane was replacing a fuel tank on the semi next to the house, so naturally the boys had to be a part of it. 

Locke was too worried about "getting to the cowboy carnival" to even look at me. 

10. The only things ive found that occupy little Locker for longer than 10 min are painting and puzzles. With NO intervention from me. He likes free reign, and no pinterest-inspired variations. Its basic, but it works. Guess what he's getting for christmas....(seriously i bought him 10 puzzless...January is going to be awesome...)

Little Locker-B.

11. These guys have gotten along surprisingly well lately. Jones has even been a good influence in getting Locke to take a nap now and then....

12. So November 28th, thanksgiving day. Lane has the kids in the carseats and i'm bundling up the sweet potato casserole to keep it piping hot on the 30 min drive to Lanes grandmas house when....the lid slips off and causes that magnificent orange lovliness to go spilling all over the entryway rug. I screamed. And took a picture. Because it was something i wanted to look at later and laugh at. sooooo.....i may have scooped off the top layer, put it back in the pan and ran out the door. I may have melted marshmallows on it at Grandmas and chosen not to tell anyone but the host herself of my Thanksgiving nightmare. I still saved half of it??!?!?

Locke with Grandma Vicki

Wow you can tell this one was taken with my camera eh? This thanksgiving i made all the families let me take their picture so i could make Grandma Lorna a birthday calendar - she doesn't have the internet and doesn't get to see all the pictures everyone is posting on facebook and instagram! so i crammed in family/internet pictures and made a really fun calendar for her for next year. I'll post pictures when i get it! it turned out great! 

My kids were the worst. of course. I think i'm literally strangling Locke in an effort to get him to look at the dang camera! 

\

Best dad ever. 

Later i was able to get Lacy to snap one with her phone, but seriously. Locke. Really? and Jones, the mystery of his missing clothes continues....

17 fun things in October!

This month we were so busy! it was a lot of playdates and parties so by the end of the night i usually crashed instead of trying to blog! anyways here is a bit of what the last month was like:

1. During FHE last night I tried to get one simple point across, that We are Children Of God. Locke tried summing it up at the end like this:
Locke: "Mommy is a child of God, Daddy and Locker is children of God, and Jones is God."
Close enough buddy. close enough.

2. Locke, stone-faced, from the backseat of the car: "Mom, watch out the Zombies don't swipe our car." Pretty sure this comment was influenced by Dora and the iphone game Plants vs Zombies.

Breakfast.

We had a hoot raking leaves for an older lady
in our ward. yay for service! 

3. Mom: Locke you can't pee on the sidewalk anymore, the water hose is turned off for the winter.
    Locke: But we have lots of milk!

true.....

Getting his first Rookies lesson (free once a
month government preschool.) He was awesome
on letters, numbers, and colors. But lacked in
anykind of motor skills! haha! 

4. Peony and Plum is still steady, I recently did the Holly Fair with Mandy Parsons. She sells maxi skirts and leggings for kids and adults. It was kindof perfect because everyone would get a pair of leggings with a matching headband! It worked great and i went home with only 8 headbands left!!

here is Locke helping me paint the backdrop the night before...

Here are some cute sneak peeks from the last month that we've shared on our facebook page:

6. Halloween!! Locke was a firefighter, "so I can save ppl mom". So cute. and Jones....well i kinda forgot about his costume till the week before, but i Tai pulled through for me with an old costume she had! It was a super cute monster and fit him great! We started off the night by spending a couple of hours at the school carnival, then headed to Vicki's! She is so much fun and dresses up every year!

Seriously the only pic I got of him...

7. The boys want to hang out with Lane 24/7 even if that just means playing around on old tires...

8. The boys and I had tons of fun carving pumkins with the Mechams this year, Jones met a real pig for the first time and they spent the whole time playing in Anna Mechams super fun yard! 

9. This was the month for parties?? seriously. I even went to Tai's Mary Kay party where we tried on some super swag red lipstick.

10. Nicole and her husbands family invited us to spend the day with them at the Corn Maze up in Bluebell, and oh my heck. We had a blast. We picked out some pumpkins....

played in a "corn pit"....

Rode in a homemade 4 wheeler "train"....

went down this homemade pipe slide a million times....

and actually went through a huge corn maze! haha Jones was so scared of it though, he screamed the whole time! and they had the best homemade kettle corn, yum....There were also goats you could feed and pet, and a kids cornmaze with a huge homemade irrigation pipe slide at the end. Haha it was so farm ghetto i loved it! and the kids had an absalute blast. 

11. Nicole basically did our activity this last month, which was 72 hour kits. Holy wow it was a lot of work! but we had TONS of ppl sign up for it, so it was worth it. And we won't be able to use a canner from the church anymore because apparently they are closing down the church self-canneries? sad day. 

Halloween goodies for the night:

12. Baby Stetson got blessed, i love 2 month old babies! they look like little old men. 

Kids with their grub:

13. Fall arrived. And our kitty is full-grown and still nameless. I asked Locke if he had thought of a name, and he said to call her "Three". hmmm...not sure if it will catch on...But now we have somehow adopted a three-legged dog that wandered up to our house one day and he is nameless too....haha we are so boring...

I want a plaid blanket to go on my bed. and Lockes. and Jones. Fall = plaid = coziness....don't you think? 

Kennedy i'm serious. Lets do this. 

13. Opened my printer to scan a paper and found this: 

Boys boys boys. 

14. These guys have finally been learning how to get along without fighting ALL the time, and they really are besties! 

15. Jones ruined a ton of my MAC eyeshadow....sigh....

haha he was fascinated by it! 

16. The kitty may be nameless, but he has no shortage of love from Locke. It can take quite a beating! Locke loves manhandling it! 

17. We were also invited to a super fun halloween party Tai and her mom did for their family. It was super fun! we didn't know the other kids but as soon as they all started running around Locke became their best friend. 

Tai is super creative so of course the whole thing was pinterest-worthy! 

Dinner in a pumpkin! 

The boys tried so hard to help me calm Tai's baby Sawyer! 

It was so crazy a lot of my pictures didn't turn out, but Tai's girls are just so darling it doesn't matter. Haha and Claire below cracks me up! She is the queen of "wild eyes!"