Who Knew?

Ever wondered what to do with your leftover meatloaf? Put it in spaghetti sauce. It adds a delicious flavor, very similar to meatballs. I think it tastes wonderful and it makes the meal that more easy. If you try it, let me know what you think of it.

October update

Well, I don't know about any of you, but I feel life just keeps getting crazier and crazier. October was no exception (neither is this month, for that matter). It seemed like we had something going on every weekend and on into the week, but we did manage to squeak some fun in while we were at it. Actually we had a lot of fun.

As pictured above, I carved a pumpkin at a Relief Society activity and the kids loved it. They cried that the Jack-o-lantern had to stay outside and couldn't come back in. They loved to go outside with me to light it each night. They would stare at it through the window. Belle kept giving it kisses too. It was a big hit. Next year, we will each do our own pumpkins.



First, I'll do a little updating on each member of the family. Anabelle has been waking up in some pretty strange positions lately (see previous post as well). Here is another result of her crazy nights:




Belle loves the dryer, so much so, that she climbed on in the other day. I have to admit, I thought it would be Beckett that would do this first, but he had no interest in the dryer until recently. He helped to bury Belle in the dryer. She thought she was pretty hot stuff sitting in there.

Belle has also been talking more and more. She is attempting 2 word sentences and she is still trying to act like a grown up. In fact, on Monday she said a like a four word sentence, and knew that she was saying four different words, not just running four words together and thinking it was one word. I couldn't believe my ears. I am afraid I have a motor mouth on my hands.

Both kids love to wear my shoes around the house. They clip clop all over the place. They do wear Matt's shoes also, but they just aren't the same as mine. They just don't make the same noise and are much larger than mine which makes them harder to maneuver. Matt hates to see Beckett go clopping around the house in my high hills. I think he should be grateful that Beckett isn't carrying a purse at the same time.

I think we might be getting closer to potty training Belle than we are Beckett. Wouldn't that be weird? I think I might just try to do them both at the same time. Now if I could just figure out a time when we are going to be home for two weeks straight and I can focus on just potty training. Wish me luck!

October was filled with more Sponge Bob for Beckett. I don't know what it is about that little yellow guy, but he just can't seem to get enough. My sisters watched the kids one day for us while we went out to dinner (more on that later in the post). They took them to Burger King and lucky for them, the kids' meal had Sponge Bob toys. Beckett has loved those toys as much as his Thomas trains. I can't believe how much this boy is obsessed with things.

His imagination is kicking into high gear. He has really started to play pretend with his toys and it has been fun to watch. I am afraid that is causing him to step backwards in his speech though. He thinks so fast that he is starting to jumble his words again. I guess I really will have to put him into the Head Start program.

Remember my flowers and bushes I planted in the spring. Well, here is how I did over the summer: The petunias flourished. I think it is because they are my favorite plants to care for and they might have gotten the most attention. It is so easy to just pluck off dead flowers and have even more grow back. I love those kind of plants.

The zinnias all died. I was very sad about that. I really want more variety. Oh well, there is always next year. My geraniums did okay over the summer and then fall hit, and boom, they bloomed all over the place. I don't know what did it, but they just exploded with blossoms. One did die though. I was sad about that.



Our bushes did great until the end of October. I have found out that cat pee is bad for plants, and am pretty sure it is our neighbor's cats that have killed my bushes. I am going to arm my plants next year with cayenne pepper to keep them away.



I am going to call this year a success in our gardening attempt. We learned some stuff and so next year, I am going to only hope for one or two plants dying instead of five or seven. I am very excited to get going. I might even attempt a vegetable or two.

Matt has been busy, busy, busy. He works far too many hours and doesn't get much time to do his homework. I am not looking forward to the last minute rush to get homework done next month before finals. It will be fine though. We'll make it.

Matt had his golden birthday last month. He turned 29 on the 29th. I totally surprised him for his birthday. We have two other friends that have birthdays on the 30th and 31st. So, the spouses of those friends and I conspired to have a surprise dinner at the Braza Grill in Salt Lake for all the birthday people. It was wonderful and a total surprise (at least for Matt, I am not sure about the others). I still can't believe that Matt didn't figure it out, but he had no idea. I thought for sure he would get it when I told him we weren't going to the Braza Grill in Layton, but in Salt Lake. Not even when he saw our friends at the restaurant did he put two and two together. He just sat there for like 10 min. trying to comprehend what was going on. I felt awesome, especially because I have been known for spoiling surprises. We had a great time with our friends and enjoyed really yummy food (especially the fried cheesecake).

On to the events of the month. My aunt Karen, came and spent the weekend with us and she spoiled the children the whole time and they loved it. She came and saw Thriller with me and my little sister. We had a great time and loved the show, except for the really creepy "Grudge" dance and the zombies that attacked my sister. I take that back. We enjoyed the zombies attacking her, she did not. We also went shopping at Smith & Edwards and DI. It was a very fun trip. We love you, Karen!

The following weekend was my family's monthly birthday party for all of the people in the family having birthdays that month. We watched the BYU game before hand (I don't remember which one it was, sorry all you sports fans) and then had dinner and birthday pie. So delicious. We had a lot of fun, as always.

The kids and I raked leaves one day. Here are some pictures of the event:








Yes, a lot of those were staged, but not Beckett raking with the rake upside down and pushing it away. That was all him.

On to Halloween. We spent it at Nate and Jana's (Matt's brother and his wife). We had such a good time. Matt got Friday off for his birthday, so we took off Thursday night and didn't come back to Utah until Sunday night. We were treated to gourmet cooking, fun games, and good shopping. It always feels good to start early on Christmas shopping.
Halloween day, we went to Nate's ward's Trunk-or-Treat party. I was so excited for Beckett's costume. I found his pants at the DI and fell in love with them instantly. I had to figure out a way for him to wear them so my sister kindly found a tacky shirt and, viola, a nerd was born.



Thanks to Jana, the sweater made it look even better. I wish I had had glasses for him to wear, but I know he wouldn't have worn them even if I had them. A pocket protector would have been nice as well. Oh well. The pants totally made up for it. I just love those pants!

I am going to make a confession. I am not the best packer. I pack mostly last minute and in a hurry. I forget things. This time I forgot Anabelle's giraffe costume. Lucky for us, Jana had several options and we went with the witch costume. Isn't she adorable?




She loved that hat.

Matt and I weren't anything. We decided to not bring costumes for us. They would have taken up vital packing space. I did want to cry though. I think this was my first Halloween not dressing up. I guess a girl has to grow up some time.

Saab Update

So the Saab is running. We are going to pick it up tonight. I can't wait. I have a good feeling that this is it. I really hope and pray that it is. I feel so good that I am sending all of you good vibes too. Another good thing, the mechanic that fixed the car was kind enough to charge us for only 4 1/2 hours of labor, instead of the 6, and at a discounted rate. What a good guy! I hope they were able to get it completely fixed. If they did, I will tell one and all to go to their shop. It is so hard to find a shop that you can trust to fix your cars, but once you do, it is like gold.

Saab

So we just had the wretched Saab towed to a shop today. Lets hope this is the final time we will need to do this and that it is not as expensive as all of the other repairs that car has cost us (i.e. new engine, transmission). We already have the part, a turbo, so how bad can it be? Right? It has also been basically sitting in a garage or outside for the last three years (minus the month and 1 week have been able to drive it), so that can't be too good either. If it brakes down one more time, I say we have a Saab bonfire. Anyone want to come? I'll bring the wienies and smores.

Where's the baby?

This is how Matt found Anabelle the other morning.

Mint

I was told about a website a year or so ago, that I unfortunately, didn't go to until this last August. It is a free website that helps you create and keep track of a budget. It also lets you see all your assets and debt and investments all in one place. I love it. It is mint.com. It is very similar to Quicken, but it is FREE. They also give you suggestions on how you can save money (basically through credit cards that have rewards) and get better interest rates on savings accounts. I highly recommend it. It is a little confusing at first, but once you get what it looks like and how it works, it really helps. They email you when you have gone over budget and other notifications like that. I am really starting to like a lot. I did have my complaints at first, but I am getting the hang of it and I feel like I have a good handle on where our money is and where it is going. It feels good. I highly recommend it if you are like me and feel like a ditz when it comes to budgeting.

Not much of an update

The month of September was a quiet one. We really don't have much to report about. We got together with family a few times during the month and said "Goodbye" to Matt's brother Eric and his wife Julia (we miss you guys). We went to a luau birthday party and all of us dressed up. Yes, even Matt, the good sport, even though he only had to put on a Hawaiian shirt and a lei. Belle even had on a miniature coconut bra. It was a blast. We tied for 1st place in the costume contest with this kid that dressed up like a Samoan fire dancer. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures. I need to get copies from our friends so that we can show off how terrific we looked. It was pretty sweet. Man am I mad we didn't get pictures.

We also went up to my parent's cabin to spend some time with dear family friends, the Lambsons. The mom of the family has the most beautiful accent in the world. She is french and I could listen to her speak all day. We had so much fun. We played 5 crowns late into the night and Matt got in as much fishing as he could.





The trees were gorgeous. They were just starting to change color, which is how I love it. The top picture is what they looked like.



The kids have grown up a bit over the last month. Belle has some of her molars and another new tooth. She also is trying to say most words. She already is trying two word sentences. Beckett can "read" Green Eggs and Ham. I tried to post a video of it, but it took like all day and it still wasn't loaded. If any of you have tips on how to upload a really big video file, please feel free to leave a comment. Beckett is talking better every day. I can't believe how much he has improved in his speech just over the summer.

Something else that happened in September was we took a road trip to Logan. Matt forgot to return keys to a car that he had taken pictures of one day and so we had to take a little drive up Sardine Canyon and return them that night. While we were there, we decided to get a treat and bought some Jamba Juice. I was going to buy a small smoothie for the kids too split, but the workers told me they could just put the leftover smoothies into little cups for the kids. I didn't know how "kid size" they really were until they handed them over. Aren't they adorable?







The kids loved them and sucked happily on them the whole way home. It was a wonderful treat. Thank you Jamba Juice, for accommodating to the little people.