funny funny

No pictures with this post, I'm out of batteries and cannot locate my battery charger. Arghhh the pains of moving!

Afton has said some really funny things lately that I can't pass up posting:

Since Patrick bought a truck, Afton is always trying to spot matching trucks. On a drive this week she thought she spotted a Ford Ranger and told me so. I told her it was a different truck and she twisted her lip into the thinking position and said, "Actually Mom, I think it is an..... F150." Her Grandpa will be so proud.

While talking about Joseph Smith after church last week, I mentioned the part of the First Vision where Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared. Afton quickly said, "No no Mom, glorious beings appeared. We sing about it in Primary."

Afton was working on her awesome sticker book a few days back, the dinosaurs stickers to be exact. She was naming the meat eating dinosaurs... "T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Fur-Lobster-Raptor..."

A random comment last week was : "Mom some people speak Spanish. And other people talk...normal."

Abel has a funny bone too, mostly because he is picking up phrases from his big sister. My favorites are:

"Yeah Mom, I know."

"WOW"

and less funny but still cute "don't like it" to anything I give him to eat that was not a direct request (which is most everything since his usual requst is waffles.

missing vacation

Boy have I got the travel itch! Late September is the time of year when I travel to see my family. For the last three years I have been able to spend two weeks with a one or more of my sisters and I am so sad that I am not doing that this year. So today's flashback is some of my favorite shots of our fall family visits.

at Lake Erie with the Ashworth's

Abel and Haven getting clean

Afton, Ciela and Toran's crazy faces

sharing a kiss with Nana over some delicious lunch at Beaches

cousin kisses: Cabes and Afton 18 mos

smelling roses with Papa in Great Grandpas garden

reading with Grandma


Pria and Afton mastering the stairs (oh look how little those girls are!)

insight into my soul

laugh and cry with me on my personal blog. i had a very enlightening experience today.

holding on for dear life

Summer just won't end! I am officially ready to pack up the kiddie pool and swimsuits and break out the sweaters and cocoa. But temp's near 90 just don't allow that. The kids are having fun with the extended warmth though.

Afton loves her new (target clearance!) watering can

Abel figured out how to push his "bike" forward with his legs but he still prefers the push mode

Oh look! A shot of me with my kids not taken by me or by kids!

It did get breezy on Sunday

So we walked around the neighborhood checking out the few changing leaves

And then came home to a freshly baked (and homemade to boot) apple pie.

flashback

I've been meaning to make this flashback a weekly thing on this blog. It makes me feel like I am using the 3500 plus photos on my computer!

mom and baby afton '03

afton on the computer '04 (17 mo)

abel starting to eat and sit up, '06

cutie pie with cutie hair ( i should bribe her to cur it short again!)

bedtime cuddles

Tonight Abel wanted to climb in bed with Afton and snuggle before getting in his crib. He laid pretty still and enjoyed some lullabies with his favorite person. I love that my kids love each other and love to play with each other all day long.

And see Afton's awesome pink bed! I'll get a full shot and post it soon.

Just Abel

(funny face)

(saying "cheese" long and loud)

(coloring...a new favorite activity)

Here is an excerpt from Abel's journal update today:

Since turning 18 months, Abel sense of independence has been growing. He attends nursery without any fuss each week…he actually runs from the chapel to the nursery door with or without parents! He can play well by himself for quite a bit of time at home. He is easy to put down for naps and bedtime, most of the time without songs or much cuddling…just a binky and puppy and blanket and now Baby Tad singing him lullabies.

Abel is talking non stop all of the time. “No way!” and “Come on!” are some of the newest phrases. He can say most any word we ask him to, as long as he wants to. He knows most words to songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn Popping, BINGO and Old McDonald but usually only fills in the blank if we stop singing mid sentence. Abel is getting more interested in music and singing time lately also. He especially likes to bang on the drum.

Abel’s Favorites:

Food: Waffles
Treat: Cookies
Book: From Head to Toe
Activity: Baby Songs movie, Bob the Builder toys, anything Afton is playing with

Just Afton

(silly side)

(super afton)

(first ballet/tap class...and she is hooked!)

(word she spelled by herself this week)

Here is an excerpt from Afton's journal update today:

Smart, quick witted, thoughtful, always excited, maturing, outgoing…all of these words describe Afton. She always has a comeback, sometimes silly, sometimes feisty. When she learns someone is sick or sad Afton always suggests drawing a picture or making a card for him or her. Afton wakes up excited to be awake and asks what the daily plans are as soon as her eyes pop open. At the park, on a play date or visiting anywhere that other kids are, Afton spots someone one close to her age and offers her friendship, “Do you want to be my friend?” It’s so sweet! When Patrick is play teasing her or when either of us speak sternly to her, Afton cannot help but offer her comment back to us (so much like Mom and Dad). And Afton is growing up so quickly! Things are “boring” now, she is aware of things in the world like cigarettes (they KILL people), stranger danger and keeping bodies healthy (Mom is you eat too much candy you’ll get a fat tummy).

Her favorites are:

BOOK: any new library book that she picks out (not the ones Mom chooses)
FOOD: French toast
TREAT: Gum (the girl will do just about anything for a piece of gum)
ACTIVITY: Playing games, Leap Pad, Movie time, Play dates, anything with Dad

NEW THINGS
Afton started preschool at home with Mom two weeks ago. She really wanted to attend a co-op preschool with some buddies, but the kids were younger and at a different learning level than Afton so I made an executive decision to do a on-on-one preschool with her this year. Every week we have a theme and each day we spend 90 minutes reading, drawing, writing, and science/art/math/geography. Afton gets the calendar out each morning to get us started and mostly enjoys the program.

My goals for her are:
1. Continue learning all upper and lower case letters.
2. Master basic reading skills (sight words, vowel rules, partner letters rules)
3. Be able to spell simple words
4. Improve sight drawing (draw a picture of this…)
5. Learn simple geography of the world, and the US.
6. Learn about other cultures and traditions.
7. Have personal time with Mom each day.
8. Feel proud at her accomplishments, great and small.

garbage soup

I love that Afton tells the truth (sometimes with coercion). She still has that blanket of sight where things are either good or bad, fun or boring, happy or sad. I made creamy broccoli soup the other day, in my effort to creatively serve more veggies to the kids. The soup ended up being more broccoli, less creamy. Afton took one look at her bowl and said "I'M NOT EATING THIS GARBAGE SOUP!" Afton was happy when I agreed and I threw it all down the sink.

ATTENTION: I stopped whining

ATTENTION FRIENDS AND FAMILY
I stopped whining and started posting again over on my other blog. Although I'm still whining for comments so that I feel validated. Don't make me start talking to the walls again...please visit and talk!

awesome weekend

We spent the weekend in Colorado Springs (hereafter knows as CS) with the Maravilla Bros and families. We are still tickled at the concept of driving in the car in under two hours to visit family. We spent a beautiful afternoon at the river in Eleven Mile Canyon on Saturday. A thunderstorm chased us away early, but we stopped for ice cream to make up for it.

Sunday we had a big ole dinner and dessert night for Tom's birthday. Tami made an amazing chocolate cream pie that has changed my mind about chocolate pudding! The cousins had buckets of fun running around, playing dress up and hide and seek until well after 9 pm.


Monday we woke up early (after begging and demanding on my part) to go to the Hot Air Balloon Classic. It was just as awesome as I expected...countless hot air ballooons blowing up and lifting off right in front of our eyes. Everyone loved it!