Slip and Slide

Let me just start by saying that this last week was just one of those weeks. I felt like I was so snappy with my kids and hubby. There were a few days that it seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. I was determined that no matter what, this week would be better, so yesterday instead of doing my Monday cleaning, I took the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and there were not a lot of people there, so I just kind of let them take the lead and go where they wanted to. This was the first time that Walker was really into the animals. He loved it.
Today we had to make cookies for Wyatt's birthday treats for school. The kids helped me make them, and while Wyatt and I were rolling the dough out, it got really quiet. I went into the dining room, and McKartnee had got into the flour, and had it all over the dining room floor. When I walked in she excitedly said "Look mom, I'm doing it just like you." I tried to remember that she is just experimenting, and tried to supress the frustration that was brewing inside. I tried to quickly sweep, but we seriously had flour from one end of our little house to the other. (amid the frustration I forgot to take a picture of the mess.) I was trying to get her to help me clean it up, but we had the whole power sturggle going on, and I was starting to get frustrated, and she was getting frustrated. I stopped and thought how can I make this fun. I remembered reading about a lady doing a big slip and slide to have her kids mop the floor. I decided that this is what we were going to do. I swept really good, got a sink full of warm soapy water, and let the kids go to town. The had so much fun, and when they were all done I had them mop up the water with some towels. I don't think my floor has ever looked so clean.
I really learned today that it is all about my aproach in things. I need to try to be more creative about asking for their help instead of being so demanding all the time. That way we can all walk away from the situation so much happier. Wish me luck on this one!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year.  The kids had a great time trick or treating with some neighbor friends.   They got a ton of candy that I keep eating.  I need to get rid of it before I eat it all.

Wyatt was set on being a dinosaur this year, and McKartnee wanted to be a princess again.  We ended up using the same dress from last year because it still fit her.  I got Walkers costume back in August on E-bay for $6.00 brand new.   It ended up being so much cuter than I thought it was going to be.  When he would walk the little tail would go back and forth.  He even won the best costume at our ward Halloween party.   

Wyatt's Halloween Birthday Party

This year we are going to be out of town on the weekend of Wyatt's birthday.  He kept telling me that he wanted a halloween birthday party, so we decided to have an early birthday party at our house last weekend.  We had cousins and a few nieghborhood friends come.   It ended up being pretty fun.  He was very happy with his gifts, and seemed to have a good time.

This is everybody waiting to open presents.

Wyatt with his cake.

The kids playing dinosaur bingo.

Making their buckets for the pinata

Butler Orchards

They have so many "pick your own" farms and orchards out here.   For some reason, I have never taken the kids to one before.  I thought it would be fun to go and pick apples with them, but I waited too long, and missed out on all the apples.  We decided to do the pick your own pumpkin instead.  We went with some good friends of ours to a fun place called Butler Orchards.  They had a corn maze, fun slides, this huge barn full of hay that the kids loved to play in, and some other fun things for the kids.  Then we got take a hayride out to a field and pick out our own pumpkins.  Wyatt of course wanted the biggest one that he saw, but we finally talked him into a normal sized one.  It was a fun day.

Cox Farms

There is this fun place out here that is called Cox Farms that we go to each year.  The kids love it, and there are a ton of fun things to do like a haunted hayride (which isn't too haunted)  a corn maze, lots of huge slides, animals, free apples and cider, and they get to pick a pumpkin on the way out.  It was even warm for us this year.  We had a great time.

Jimmy's mom's Birthday

Jimmy's mom's birthday was on the 5th, and we all went out to the farm to help her celebrate. The kids just love going out there. There are so many fun things for them to do. We love you Margie, and hope that you had a happy birthday. We appreciate all that you do for us.

McKartnee's Joyschool

We had McKartnee's little joyschool group at our house last week. We had so much fun learning about the letter B. All four kids are just so cute and had me laughing the whole time at the little things they were saying. McKartnee gets so excited for Teusday's to come, so that she can be a big girl and go to school.