Happy Birthday Benson

This Sunday was Benson's birthday. We eat dinner with Demya and Benson, then we enjoyed a yummy butter finger ice cream cake. Emma found that she really enjoys playing on Riley's bike. It was really cute!

So, Happy Birthday Benson!

Veteran's Day

Today was Veteran's Day, and I wanted to make sure we did something to commemorate it. We took flowers and flags to Grandpa Leavitt's grave. I got some GREAT pictures from that outing. We also put some flowers on Allen's brother's and his uncle Mark's graves. I was so glad we did. I believe we are the closest family members to the graveyard, and I wanted to make sure that the reason for this day didn't get left out. Plus, Allen was going to spend the rest of the day studying, and I thought I would be a great memory for our family.After we dropped Allen off at the house, I drove over to my folks' to see what everyone was up to. I decided to drag Demya to Home Depot with me to pick up new sandbox sand. Someone (not mentioning any names) put doggie poop in the sandbox, and thus we had to throw the sand away. I LOVE the sand box, I needed it back. The kids go out there for hours playing and digging, and NOT fighting! It's wonderful. The last few days have been very trying with Riley. He has had such an attitude, to say the very least, and talking back, and not doing as he's told... I guess just being a three year old.

After getting the sand, Demya invited us to have lunch with them. It was such a pretty day, that I suggested that we take the lunch to the park. It was fun, minus Riley's attitude. It all end well, after a mad dash to the bathroom, Riley asked very sweetly: "Mommy, can I please play on at the playground?" How could I say no? He was so sweet about, and he ASKED! So I told he could for about 30 minutes. Riley was so happy! Emma was too. We did have a small time constraint, Benson had to be at a lesson at 2:30. So, at 2:00 I rounded up the kids and took the Murdocks home.

Then we had a glorious afternoon... Emma fell asleep on the drive home. I told Riley that he had to have quiet time and I set the timer on the dryer. He knows that when the dry buzzer goes off, quiet time is done. Well, when the buzzer went off, no Riley... after about 5 minutes, I went to check on him... HE WAS ASLEEP! I could have cried! I had a whole 1/2 hour to myself... and what did I do, photoshopped pictures of the kids...

My sweet honey came home and let me enjoy UFO night with the Relief Society. Un Finished Object night. Basically, you bring whatever crafty project you have floating around your house, and work on it. Allen called it a "hen party." I don't know how to feel about that, but it was so fun! I really love my ward, it's so exciting to get to know other ladies outside of Sunday. So, I guess, another big thanks to Allen! I almost got the quilt I'm tying for Emma done, and got to talk to a bunch of gals! I really needed girl time.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It was the Best of Sundays; It was the Worst of Sundays

I have a wonderful love/hate relationship with Sunday. I love spending time with my family (most of the time) and church is uplifting (sometimes). BUT, I really hate trying to make a 3 year old and a one year old sit or just play quietly for an hour. It is a hopeless situation. There is just NO way on the face of this Earth that Riley can sit still for any length of time, let alone an hour of talking, praying, singing... We can't even get through meals without Riley jumping down two or three times to do something (usually it's go potty... which I would much rather him do in the bathroom than at his seat)

This morning started out early. Yes, early is the best way to describe it. Riley has taken to getting up around 6:30. This sucks, but what can you do? I however put my foot down on being woken up before the sun is even peeking its head up... just before 6 this morning, with a wonderful storm blowing outside, Riley came into our room. He was really sweet about it, he stroked my cheek and said "Time to get up Mommy". I looked at him through bleary eyes, and said something to the effect that it was not, the sun wasn't even up... walked him back to his bed, tucked him back in, and prayed that he would go back to sleep. Ummm, right. He did leave us alone for about 1/2 hour, but then he was back. So, I did what any self respecting mom does, I turned on the TV to his favorite show, and let him watch a couple of shows. We have a big recliner in our room, so he sat on it and was blessedly quiet. I do sometime feel guilty about the amount of time he spends watching TV in the morning. But I'm just not a morning person, I never will be, and I just can't function well before about 8. So, I'm a grateful for Curious George, Arthur, Mickey Mouse Club House, and Higgly Town Heroes for helping me survive mornings.

Everyone was up and ready for the day around 9ish when we made breakfast. Biscuits and gravy with eggs. So good! I love Sunday breakfast, mostly I think because Allen usually takes care of it. He makes a great breakfast!

Riley and Daddy played trains until Allen had to go to church. Before he left, we got everyone ready to go. Both kids looked so cute, and we some how managed to get to church without too much mishap. The only thing I forgot was the baby wipes, which thankfully Emma didn't need.

Now, our ward goes backwards. Meaning, we start with Nursery (for Riley) and end up with Sacrament. Ending with Sacrament meeting is really tuff, everyone is just ready to go home, not sit and listen to talks and stuff. Some weeks go better than others. This was a not so good week. Riley was just plain jittery! That kid was in constant motion. The weird thing is he wasn't that way before church....but when nursery is over, he's ready to go home. And Emma was feeling particularly screechy. She has a squeal that could raise the dead. It's piercing! I swear we had the loudest kids in the ward today..

Or maybe it just feels that way during sacrament meeting when Riley's energy is expressing itself in.. umm... wiggles... twist...shouts... kicks... tears... frustration... He couldn't concentrate on a task. He was really tired. Well, yeah, he got up before 6, and now it's close to 4. We took him out of the chapel 4 times today. And only once for the bathroom. He didn't want to pray, didn't want to have snack, didn't want to color, didn't want to play with the toys we had, didn't want to sing, didn't want to be snuggled, didn't want to sit on the bench, didn't want to sit on a lap, didn't want to... you get the idea. Emma, who is usually pretty good, was feeding on Riley's manicness. She didn't want to have to sit anymore either, and wasn't interested in the toys we brought. She did however enjoy the raisins. Riley did say one really funny thing. We were looking through his quiet book and there are pictures of all the prophets of the church. We got to a picture of Lorenzo Snow... Riley asked: "Mommy why does he have beaver teeth?" We tired very hard not to laugh (it was right in the middle of the Sacrament) or be too mortified as he started to say "BEAVER TEETH" quite loudly. But I have to admit, I'm still giggling over it. So, here is a picture: What do you think? Does his beard look like beaver teeth to you? I honestly don't know how we got through the meeting... but we did! Riley and Emma fell asleep on the way home. I was so grateful, I wasn't sure if I could have handled them, I was really tired too.

When Riley got up from his nap, he was a lot better... and both kids enjoyed a ride on their ponies... It was so cute! Riley brought this little rocking horse in for Emma. They both played on the horses for about 30 minutes. I was able to get a few pictures and a video with Allen's camera. I couldn't help but share the cuteness:

So, there it is. We had dinner at Mom's. I was supposed to bring the dessert. I planned to make apple bread in the bread maker. When I got home from church, the bread maker hadn't worked... Allen fixed it, but by not in time to bring it for dessert. Sigh, what can you do? Got home, put kids to bed (Riley finally fell asleep around 9, UGH). Eat a piece of the apple bread (it was really good!)

So, there it is: my love/hate relationship with Sunday.

playing with photoshop

OK, I've had photoshop elements for about 2 1/2 years now... I really want to learn how to use it well... but it's kinda complicated... and I can't really justify buying the books/emovies/tutorials etc...But I found a couple of free web lessons and was having fun playing with it today. Let me know what you think.

The Original

The Altered

I almost got all the food off Riley's face... sigh, it was such a cute picture, I might have to get this one printed.

What can you do?

What a day... We had lots of highs and lows... But one of the cutest things this morning was right after watching Clifford The Big Red Dog with Riley. The episode was about how Jetta (Emily's friend) had just gotten a little brother, and was feeling jealous of the attention the new baby was getting. Of course at the end, everything was resolved, and she liked her little brother, and wanted to hole him. As soon as the credits rolled, Riley jumped up on my bed where I'd put Emmaline. He told me he wanted to hold his little sister, then he wanted me to talk their picture. It was SO cute. I can't believe how big Emma is getting. She is changing so much everyday! I have struggled from the beginning to have the connection with Emma that I had with Riley. I haven't felt as close to her. But lately things have changed and I'm really starting to see and understand her personality. I'm really starting to have fun with our little girl! Oh, by does she have attitude! She's really starting to become her own person, and she can make the funniest faces! One of my favs is when she wrinkles her nose, it just so funny! And she has learned YES and NO. I asked her if she was hungry for breakfast, and she nodded her head very vigorously. When I asked her if she wanted more, she shook her head no... It's amazing! Really communicating at last! Allen says she's starting to look more like me.. I'm not sure, but this picture made me laugh.

Just Like Daddy!

This morning, Allen brought Riley in to the bathroom to watch Allen Shave... It was so cute! Riley wanted to "help" or at least do what Daddy was doing!

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Mt Charleston

I love going up to the mountains. I get that from my mom. She grew up in Colorado Springs and used to run up to Pikes Peak. She LOVES the mountains. There just something about being up so high, the air is cleaner. Allen also needed to study on Saturday. So after Riley's soccer game I took the kids up the Mt. Charleston for lunch. We were really looking for "Fall" Mom also loves the fall, it's her favorite season... So I wanted to share this season with my little ones, it just not something that happens in the valley like it does in most places. Plus, it has been so hot around here lately, you wouldn't know that it's November! But we missed the change of colors this year. All that was left of the trees were old brown stuff... Oh well. It was nice to feel the coolness that should be around in November!

Happy Halloween

What a fun time of year! I have learned to love the holidays since Riley came into our family. But I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Halloween. How can you go wrong with getting to dress up in something you aren't and go door to door asking people for candy, and they give it to you?! This year I decided to make the kids' costumes. We went to the Joann's and I let Riley pick out what he and Emmaline were going to be. I bought one of the patterns that have boy and girl patterns, and he decided on pirates. We got all the material that day, and I put the pattern away for a few days, OK, weeks. Then at the beginning of the month, Mary Lynn and I decided to have the boys pictures taken together, and one of the shots was in their customes... So I had a weekend to get it done. I was very proud of how it looked, and I was so sick of the project that I didn't start Emmaline's until Monday. I really had to hurry then! We had planned on going to the Springs Preserves Haunted Gardens for our family home evening, and I wanted the costumes done... I got it done, only to discover the haunted garden was only open Thursday-Sunday... The costumes were so cute, and I was able to enjoy the rest of the week. We enjoyed carving a pumpkin and decorating the rest from our pumpkin patch trip. Thankfully, Demya and Benson came over and helped. Otherwise, I don't think I would have attempted it! I'm terrible at carving pumpkins! Thanks a million Benson! We also made a witch and scarecrow door hangers, and Riley painted a pumpkin on paper which we were able to stuff. I have to admit, it turned out really cute. Riley was SO proud of his handy work!Emma and Riley also got to wrap themselves up in toilet paper and pretend to be mummies! Emma was so excited to be apart of the fun. It was cute!Thursday was our ward party. I made eyeball cupcakes for the cupcake walk and Allen made homemade root beer. The root beer was gone SO fast! We enjoyed the chili, and Riley had fun getting his face painted, doing the cupcake walk, going fishing, and best of all, playing and the play set with his buddy Thomas Rhodes!Weren't we cute? I was a damsel in distress with a motley crew of pirates! It was my bridesmaid dress from Demya's wedding. It worked perfectly!Demya and Benson went as hill billies! I thought they looked so cute! After the party, we drove over to the Springs Preserve. It was OK. I was really glad that we didn't have to spend the $9 to go. Riley enjoyed walking around, and Emmaline LOVED the scarecrows they had all over and the twinkle lights. There weren't as many trick or treating stations as I thought there would be. But the kids had fun, and the decorations were cool.Friday was Halloween. It's been so hot here... much to my irrition as my AC in the van is not working. Because it's been so hot we begged my mom to take us out on to the lake. It was SO much fun! Mom took us up to the dam which Benson hadn't seen before. Riley thought the driving around was a little boring and VERY cold! Emma loved it. She watched the water going by and giggled.We enjoyed going to Sandy beaches. Everyone got into the water... I know we are crazy! It was cold, but the the weather was still warm... so it was nice. I forgot Emmaline's swim suit... so she had her diaper on for some of the time, and some of the time she was just a little bare butt. (EDIT: there was a really cute photo of Emma playing in the sand, but based on some web traffic we got, it seemed like a good idea to take it down. For the same reason, a couple of other photos were also taken down.)

It reminded me of the summer I spent with my Uncle Curtis and his family. We went to a little lake they have there. The temperature outside was 105 but the water temperature was 60... Riley had so much fun playing with his uncle Benson. He told me that Benson is his friend. He loves having someone to pal around with. We start most outing with asking him who his buddy is that day. It's really cute, he doesn't like to switch buddies! Emma loved crawling along the in the sand. She was happy to dip her feet into the water, and run her fingers along the top. Riley drove the boat back. He borrowed Grandma's sunglasses. She said that he looked like a rich kid... he looked at her and said he was a rich kid! Oh, if he only knew... I guess he's rich with family right? Both kids took naps on the way home. Which was good, because it was a really late night! We went with Mya and Benson to their ward Halloween party. It was fun cause that's our old ward. It was really strange to see some of our old primary kids who aren't kids anymore! Ugh, when did I get old? The party was fun, with another chili cook off. The kids loved the hot dogs. After dinner there was a trunk or treat. Basically, you go from car to car getting candy. Riley had a blast! He made sure everyone gave Emma some in her bag. What a good big brother! After the trunk or treat, we went to visit Brigham, Charlotte, and Faith. Faith was so cute in her lady bug costume! We visited with them for a bit, then went to see Allen's parents. They hadn't seen the kids' costumes, and I really thought that they would get a kick out of it. We let the kids get into the candy there. I figured what was the big deal, it was their candy, and might as well get the sugar rush over sooner rather than later... Emma loves dum dums, and Riley loves everything (that's what he tells us). Really, he really likes the dum dums and M&Ms. Everything else is OK. Riley was opening the dum dums so fast... At one point Emma had 3 at one time! I think she may have been trying to share with Daddy... but she got mightily cranky when Riley tried to take away HER candy! I love Halloween! This was such a fun one!

Happy Halloween!

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