Pumpkin Carving Family Night

So for Family Home Evening last night we decided to carve our pumpkins that we got on the hay ride with Curt's brothers Jeff and Troy and their families. It was a lot of fun although I will admit that carving pumpkin night is not high up on my list of things to do. I have always hated getting my hands dirty especially in slimy, stinky, yucky pumpkin guts but once I get in there and get used to the smell (of course after I gag a few times) then it's not that bad and I start to have fun.

Curt got the job of cutting the tops off of all the pumpkins mainly because I was busy and he's just better at it than I am. There you go...I said it. He's a better pumpkin carver than I am (no big surprise there!)

This was Austin's first attempt at carving a pumpkin or at least being included in it. Can't you just see the mischief in those eyes?

Of course Shelby's a pro and she loves it!


Carson decided last year that he was NOT going to clean out his pumpkin. So this is a big step for him to do it himself this year...although I had to help him at the end. He did a pretty good job though on his own.


Austin stuck his hands in for a couple tries but then thought he wanted no more to do with that. If you look closely you can see pumpkin juice running down his arm. He was happy when we washed his hands off.

Kaylee loved all the pumpkin guts. She would put her hands in the box that held it all and smoosh the guts through her fingers with pure enjoyment. Truly, it made me cringe. She's not like me at all in that regard!

Curt was the Master Pumpkin Carver this year...as with every year. He bought a new tool that's like a mini saw for pumpkins and was so excited to try it. He helped Shelby with the mouth of her pumpkin because it was a lot of little cuts and this was the ultimate tool to use for that job!

Kaylee did her pumpkin all by herself. I drew the pattern on for her but she cut it out. I helped her get all the pieces out so that it didn't break the pumpkin but she was a one-woman show!

I did Austin's pumpkin since he was no longer interested in it but he loved the end result. I didn't want his to be a scary pumpkin...so we made his a scared pumpkin! It's awesome!

Curt also helped Carson with his...okay, Curt did Carson's for him because Carson chose a hard face to cut out. But he was happy with it and loves to take credit for it!

These are all our pumpkins. From left to right they are Kaylee's, Curt's, Shelby's, Carson's Austin's and mine.

Shelby did Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas. She wanted to do that one because she is being Sally from that movie for Halloween. We thought it was fitting. We also think hers is the scariest! Good job Shelby!!!

This is Curt's puking pumpkin! We loved this one because it is so funny. It's also more of a daylight pumpkin since you can't really see the throw-up in the dark!

This one was mine. I did my face on an angle just for something different.

This is Austin's scared pumpkin. I think it's funny!

This is Carson's pumpkin! That's a lot of teeth!

And here is Kaylee's pumpkin. When you see it for real it's kind of neat because her pumpkin kind of sits back a little bit so the face looks like it's looking up at you.

Happy Halloween everybody and happy pumpkin carving. For me, I'm done until next year!

Austin Turns 2 Years Old!!!

Well it's official...our baby is not a baby anymore but is now a toddler. On Saturday, October 23rd Austin turned 2 years old. Isn't he a funny boy?!!!

Right now he LOVES trains and gets so excited when he sees them and loves to play with Thomas the Train and have that playing in the background since he doesn't really watch TV that much, but he gets mad if you turn it off. So we decided that we would take him to the Union Station in Ogden to see the trains and go through the train museum.

When we got there he saw the trains and immediately wanted us to know they were there by saying, "Choo-choo, Choo-choo, Choo-choo," over and over again. He was so excited!!! This was the first train that we saw and it was HUGE!! It was a steam engine that was built back in the early 1900s. We thought it looked like the Polar Express. I couldn't believe the size of the wheels and you can't really see them but up higher there are some nuts that are the size of the palm of my hand. It was unreal!

Of course it was hard to get Austin to stand still long enough to get a picture but eventually we got one.

It was a cold day and kind of rainy but you can never resist a picture in front of a fountain no matter where you are!

Here is the birthday boy sitting in a replica of a caboose. He was all smiles the whole time we were there. It was so fun to see.

In one room there was this toy train that of course he had to see but surprisingly he didn't fight us when it was time to move on...probably because he was as excited to see what was coming up next as much as we were.

I love this picture. Aren't they cute?

This was his ABSOLUTE FAVORITE part of the whole museum. They had four model trains that were running on tracks and he loved to watch them over and over and over and over...well you get the idea. There was even a time when we moved on to see the Browning Guns museum and he wanted no part of that. We had to go back down and watch the trains again until everybody else was done.

They also had a classic car museum. This one was fun to see because the cars were absolutely pristine. They looked brand new. I couldn't believe how pretty they were. Of course Austin tolerated this part because he just liked the trains but the rest of us enjoyed it, especially Curt.

After Union Station we wanted to ride Front Runner down to Salt Lake. We were surprised how long it took us to get down to Salt Lake, about an hour but we were still glad we did it.

Austin was so happy once the train started moving. I love the look on his face!

When we got down to Salt Lake we went to the Gateway and had some lunch. Then made our way back to the train to get back home. By the time we got back to our car it was about 4:00 p.m. and he was exhausted. This is what happened on the way home.

He was so tired that when Shelby tried to get him to wake up by opening his eyes he was so tired that there was nothing behind his eyes. He was still asleep but with his eyes open. We laughed so hard! It was the funniest thing we've ever seen!

Later that night we had Grandma and Grandpa Nye and Grandma Moon over for cake and ice cream and to open presents. He got some more Thomas movies...

a remote control Thomas the Train...

some tracks for the train, some additional freight cars...

some PJs, some clothes, a talking Spencer train...

and a Thomas Flashlight.

Here was his cake. Of course it was a Thomas the Train cake. He loved it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

As for his growth:

Height: 36 in. = 93rd percentile

Weight: 29.3 lbs. 63rd percentile

He's as healthy as he can be and the doctor is very pleased with how he's growing and so are we!

Kaylee turned 9 years old on September 4th, 2010. She was so excited. The day before, Friday, they celebrated her birthday at school. She did a poster that showed her family and her likes and dislikes and what she wanted to be when she grew up. Shelby helped her with it. She decided that she wanted to be a veterinarian. So they came up with the idea to print off a picture from the computer of a vet and then put Kaylee face over it. It turned out pretty funny and it looked pretty good! She loved it.

We kept asking her what she wanted for her birthday and no matter when we asked her it always changed. So we did our best and it seemed like she liked what we got her. Since Shelby got an iPod for her birthday this year we thought we would give Kaylee a chance at technology. So we passed down Shelby's MP3 player to her. She was so excited. Can you tell?

She also asked for some Pokemon cards...I don't know why...but she and her friend that recently moved to Tennessee I guess would play with them. So she said she wanted to practice so then when she saw him again she would be able to beat him. I think she'll have a LONG time to practice. :)



She had told Shelby that she wanted a clock in her room just like Shelby had. So we thought since she was getting the MP3 player that we would get her one to go with that. It works with iPods but there's a place in the back for an auxiliary cable for her MP3 player. So we still need to get that but she likes to listen to music at night and she loves having an alarm to help her wake up.

She also wanted a lamp "just like Shelby." I think there's a theme here.

Since Kaylee is Kaylee and she LOVES things that sparkle and have "bling" we thought she would love this. It's like the Bedazzler (all you old people know what I'm talking about). You put gems and stuff like that on your clothes and things. We told her though that she has to ask before she can use this because we thought she would put them on EVERYTHING that she owns and that's not good.

Curt wanted to get her something to put her lamp and alarm clock on. So this is what he and Shelby came up with, since they did most of the shopping. It's pretty cool all put together and she loves it.

This is one thing that she didn't change her mind on. She wanted the DS game Super Mario Brothers. The only thing is that now that she has it she can't find her DS. So that still hasn't been played yet. Maybe we shouldn't have let her try the MP3 player. Hopefully the DS will turn up soon. If you've seen it please let us know. She would be very grateful :)

This is another thing that she didn't change her mind about. She wanted the Zhu-Zhu pet that was pink and had bunny ears. She showed it to me when we were at Walmart before school started and when I went back to get it it was gone. I just about died. I kept checking back and one day while they were at school there was one and I got it before it was too late. Phew!!!

This was Shelby's contribution. She bought this for her with her own money. Curt calls it the "Cube of Fuchsia". We had fun trying to hide this in our closet for a couple days before her birthday. The lid comes off and you can store stuff in there. I'm sure it's already full of "stuff". We hid a couple of presents in there for her to find thinking that it would be hard...it wasn't. She knew exactly what it did.

This was from Aunt Katie and Uncle Brad. Of course she doesn't like it as you can see in the picture. Of course I'm joking. She loves it...but she loves you guys more. Thanks Katie and Brad!

These were from Grandma Moon. It's another Zhu-Zhu pet and a baby Zhu-Zhu pet which she had asked me for but we had already done our shopping so Grandma hit it right on the mark!

This was from Grandma and Grandpa Nye. It's the Lego Indiana Jones 2 game for the Wii. She has played this since, thankfully, she's not in charge of where the Wii is put. She and her friend that moved away would play this all the time.

Grandma and Grandpa also got her some clothes. She opened this up and Shelby let out a gasp. She was so disappointed because that was the shirt that she wanted. Grandma thought it was Kaylee that wanted it but it was really Shelby. Needless to say, Kaylee liked it too and has found it easy to tease her sister with it. :)

She's so happy!

Make a wish!

Austin had fun with the ice cream! Mmm-mmm

Austin's Early Birthday Present!

Well sometime before school started we decided to give Austin an early birthday present since by the time his birthday "rolled" around he might be able to use it that much or at all because his birthday is October 23rd and there might be snow on the ground. It's been known to happen, unfortunately. Anyway, we thought this would fit right in with the family since we love to go 4-wheeling during the summer. We even took it with us on Labor Day out to Stansbury Island so that he could ride his own 4-wheeler while we rode the big ones. It didn't do so hot in all the sand. It does better on hard surfaces like concrete but he still had fun. He's still learning how to control it but he's getting better. We have to really watch him though since he likes to look backwards at us and so he steers off to the side and we usually have to rescue him especially when he's heading toward the street! What a cutie, though. There's never a dull moment with him!

1st Day of School!

Well August 23rd was the first day of school for the kids. This year Shelby started junior high. She's going to West Point Junior High. She was nervous especially about being able to open her locker but she's managed to get it down and has no problems with it. Also before school started she decided to try out for the volleyball team. She had never played volleyball before. She went to the volleyball camp at the school and her Aunt Katie, who played on both the junior high team and the high school team came over to help her out. Unfortunately she didn't make the team but she was okay with it. It was a good experience for her and now she has a foundation to build on and hopefully can try out again next year...if she wants to.


Here's Kaylee and Carson!

Kaylee started 3rd grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Miller. She is new to West Clinton and her classroom is in a portable. When school started the air conditioning wasn't working so they had to go into the library because it got too hot for them. I'm glad they have the library. She is enjoying school so far and hopefully it will continue that way.

Carson started 1st grade. I was a little nervous about him handling the all day thing but so far he has done very well. His teacher is Mrs. Cutler. He likes her. They've done a lot of things to work on their letter sounds and getting to know each other. He has enjoyed it so far but I just hope that he keeps learning and doesn't get bored since he's already working on multiplication on his own in his smart little head. The other day he asked me what 12 times 2 was. I answered 48, thinking I was right...obviously math genius I am NOT. He told me I was wrong. I said, "No I'm not." He said, "I thought it was 24." I said, "Oh...you're right!" Who thinks they're going to shown up in math by their 6 year old? I was humbled that day...but it wasn't that hard to do. I'm just glad there's such things as calculators to get me through life!

Then of course we have the little "monster". He had to have his picture taken but asking him to hold still long enough to take a picture was of course too much to ask. I caught him mid-stride! He's so funny and wants to be a big kid, too. I love spending time with him in the mornings, just me and him. I thought it was going to be hard at first, but it's ended up to be so much fun and I love it!