Charlie's B-Day is October 1st so we kicked off the month with a bit of celebrating.
There was a lot of celebrating done while Honey, Marse, Lance and their little gang were here just the day before so this was a bit more low key. Since we were all caked out we made a special Strawberry flavored toaster strudel to honor the occasion.
Tiffany and Steve joined us on Skype to sing Happy Birthday
(their kids were long gone asleep since they are 3 hours difference in time)
Charlie LOVES his baths. It doesn't matter where he is in the house, once he hears that tub water rushing he books it to the bathroom. So what did we do for his special day of birth? We gave him a bath! :)
Charlie and I had a photo shoot one beautiful morning. This collage is just a sampling of Charlie's many faces and animated personality. Above of all, I think this collage helps one to appreciate the success we had in the end!
Ahh, a golden moment caught on camera.
This is what Bobby and Duncan did while Charlie and I took pictures:
they rode their bikes all the way to the park, played there, and rode back!
Charlie is a big fan of the outdoors and the stroller.
This is a crazy rash Duncan got...it just went away a few days later but it gave us kind of a scare.
Duncan on his big boy bike.
The boys enjoying the Cozy Coupe.
Bishop's Pumpkin Patch.
Bobby and Duncan are on this train, they rode in the caboose at Duncan's request.
We did the train twice, fed the cute goats with ice cream cones full of feed, rode a gigantic slide, jumped on a "trampoline" of hay, played on a wooden train, and brought home fresh made apple cider.
Finger painting.
This was a picture from one of our Young Women's activities called "You are Wonder-Fall". The girls each had a display of accomplishments they had had that year. The funny thing was, I was asked to say a few things about Personal Progress during the program which I was totally happy to do. I jotted down some notes during the program (sort of last minute :) and then when it came time for me to share, I was introduced as THE Guest Speaker! My jaw literally dropped as everyone turned to me and smiled.
Hi! Sorry to disappoint!
It turned out OK but it's not everyday when you go to an event and surprisingly get introduced as the guest speaker! :)
The Ward Trunk or Treat.
Bobby got a lot of comments from our fellow ward members wondering if he had even dressed up. :)
I was a Cowgirl, Duncan was Iron Man, and Charlie was a soft snuggly Racoon.
Duncan got to go fishing, meet another Iron Man, play Plinko, eat a doughnut on a string (or try to at least :), and play in a big bouncy house with a bunch of other kids.
All that plus finishing off the night with trick or treating made for a 'blast' of an evening for him.
I was putting onions in these stockinettes that Bobby had.
Duncan was introduced to the funniness that a stocking can provide.
Charlie gets plastered with stickers (cough, by mom).
FHE - Pumpkin Carving.
Duncan gave us the face to inspire our pumpkin's look, I was the artist, Bobby was the muscles, and Charlie (with the help of the Iron Man mask) was the entertainment.
We stopped by the mall to browse around and found that the mall was having a big children's Halloween carnival. We decorated cookies, got a trick or treat bag and a green balloon in the shape of an airplane.
Trip to Maryland.
Tiffany's husband was out of town for 2 weeks so we went to visit and keep them company for a part of that time.
This was quite an adventure as it was just me and the little ones flying for 7 hours (with a connecting flight) plus 3 1/2 hours of airport time throughout that.
I really tried hard to prepare snacks and activities for both of them with most of my worry being about Charlie since he's too young to understand the purpose of being in a 2 square foot confine for such a long time.
As we got settled on the first flight, Charlie was amazed at the view out the window as I explained that we were on an airplane. Duncan was also super excited about checking out the view. This quickly turned into a frustrating situation for Charlie and in a manner very unlike him, he shrieked super loud for about 5 seconds. Just about everyone on the plane was confused and wondering if there was some kind of emergency alarm going off. I heard someone say, "OH, that was a BABY!"
Apparently the man sitting next to us doesn't do well with children, because after I got done having a talk with Duncan about sharing the window for the sake of everyone, the man was gone...for good. Bittersweet really, I mean, we gained a seat next to us for the rest of the 2 1/2 hr flight but it wasn't the best start for my nerves on the long journey ahead!
Peacefully sharing the window.
We did finally make it to Maryland (the great news about a long scary unknown day of traveling in airplanes is that they can't fly forever! They do eventually land...no matter how long the trip seems :)
It took a few days to adjust to Maryland time (3 hours later remember?!) but the kids soaked up every moment. Running around chasing each other, playing legos and school, reading books, learning new games, saying good-bye and hello at the bus stop, riding scooters and bikes, being crazy at the craft store, and just plain being silly.
Tiffany and I even got a {tiny bit} of crafting in, some Christmas brainstorming, and a laugh attack that lead to drinking water being spewed all over the floor. :)
They had an indoor Super Bubbly swim in the big tub they have.
Livy and Charlie played as well but they had to sign out when the water level got too high and naptime arrived.
Halloween with cousins...what could be better?!
They live in a townhouse community which really adds a bonus when trick or treating.
Doors to knock on every 10 feet!
We had a Halloween-ish dinner with Hot Dog Mummies, Skeleton Teeth, and Ghostly Fruit.
Grandma and Grandpa sent to PACKED packages full of fun and food.
We were set with 10 boxes of cereal plus tons of snacks and a movie.
I wish I could say that the rest of the week was this jam packed with fun but alas the Rich boys came down with Croup (which would have lead to a long middle of the night trip to the ER, with two tired very sick boys and just myself in a strange city ~ if it weren't for a miracle and a huge blessing {literally and figuratively} of relief from two priesthood holders in their ward).
It was truly amazing how the Lord helped us that night.
What seemed like a one way out solution was completely turned around and made better for the time being.
The scripture that came to my mind was,
"your ways are not my ways"
The rest of the trip was spent just trying to keep grumpy sick kids content (Livy was sick too). I felt bad that we came to have fun and ended up creating a patient ward in their upstairs bedroom but all in all it was a good trip and good to be together.
The last leg of the plane ride home was difficult to say the least as we found out later at the doctor's office that Charlie had two ear infections and Duncan had one.
I think it's safe to say that Tiffany and I are SOOOO glad to be with our husbands again.
We missed them incredibly.
I gained even more appreciation for a lot of things on that trip:
Bobby, my children, health, comfort, single moms, sleep, my big sister, willing priesthood holders, blessings, Heavenly Father's interest and awareness of me, medicine, being home sweet home, patient fellow airplane riders, and the list goes on.
