hallo-WAAAA-n

We had a fun Halloween season! This was at a great party hosted by some friends.
Dorothy and Rapunzel! Costumes compliments of Brad's mom's friend, Debbie. She is an awesome seamstress and whipped up both of these costumes from scratch. They are amazing! The detail on the Rapunzel costume is incredible and it has so many layers...it is heavy! Thank you so much, Debbie, we LOVE them!
How perfect is this picture? Follow the red brick road....
My gorgeous girls :)

And my fearless Captain America with his cheeseburger sidekick!
This is where the title of my post came from. My kids were all crying and ornery when we first tried to take pictures in their costumes. How is it possible to be so sad with promises of tons of candy coming?! (Click on this picture to see the poutiest princess)
But we finally got them to smile...
...and I think they enjoyed...
...the "fruits" of their labor.
Here is the wreath I made from an old pool noodle and scraps of fabric I had.
Here is Brad's spectacular pirate pumpkin!

mathematician Finn

Finn is seriously doing so well in Jr. Kindergarten. They have a class "pet" named Manny the Monkey that they get to take turns bringing home and Finn thinks it's so cool when it's his turn. This is, like, the only picture I could get him to smile in for months. He wouldn't even take school pictures. We sent him to school with his money in the envelope and told his teacher to see what she could do (short of a melt-down), but he completely refused to go near the camera. Oh well, I guess he saved us 20 bucks.


They had a jog-a-thon that Finn thought was pretty awesome. When isn't it awesome to run through a balloon arch?!

We have definitely seen a great advancement in Finn's academic (and social) skills. After school everyday when Galla is whining and crying about not wanting to do homework, Finn is on the other end of the table begging me TO DO homework! He doesn't actually have HW, so I ordered a little workbook for him from amazon and he powers right through those worksheets. He also likes to walk around quizzing everyone one math problems like: "what's 2+2+1?" or "what's 3+3+3?" Sometimes I have to think about it for a second, but he always has the answer at the tip of his tongue!

Paisley's playgroup

Paisley is in the sweetest little playgroup-o-girls! We meet just one morning a week and rotate houses and have the most girly-good time. They are so cute and Paisley loves going to "school!"

it's a bling thing

If you have a little girly girl, then you might appreciate this little gem of a trick:Stick some little plastic jewels to mini glue dots and simply adhere to the ear!Give a little squeeze to the earlobe and they will stay for quite a while. Ours have even been know to last through bath and bedtime sometimes! They work out to be cheaper than traditional stick-on earrings and have a big bling factor!

party in the back {sept 8}

I'll admit, Ryken's hair had gone beyond unruly, but it was hard to bring myself to chop those baby locks! So I followed him around with the camera for at least an hour capturing every angle of that sweet mess of hair. Then I plopped him in the bumbo seat with an otter pop and started snipping. I had to work fast because he lasted about as long as the popsicle and then it was game over.
I think it turned out pretty well. And I'm so pleased with the single curl on the back of his head that decided to stick around...can you see it?
There's my handsome man! All grown up and ready to get back to business of tearing the house apart!

cabin fever

We went with my parents to their cabin a few weeks ago. Fortunately there wasn't actually any fever going on (as the title suggests) but it sure was hot! Here are some highlights:
I love some good bb gun shootin'! Paisley wasn't so sure at first (notice her covering her ears in the background),
but she warmed up pretty quickly.
Gun=fun for all ages? That thing's bigger than you, my boy!
Galla preferred to stick with the tire swinging
and cricket catching.
Then we did some cruising on the quads. I wish I had gotten a picture of all the kids on the quads with their helmets and stuff on--they looked so cute and hard-core (it sounds like an oxy-moron, but that's how I'd describe them)! Paisley actually seemed to be the one to enjoy the thrill of the ride the most. She would squeal and yell, "Go faster! Go over the bumpies!"
The kids also enjoyed plenty of playing in the awesome treehouse. There is a bucket at the end of that rope that they are putting treats in and pulling up to their hideout.
And, of course, there was lots of s'mores making
around the campfire. It was good times in the great outdoors.

champions!

I may be slow to post, but that doesn't take away from the fact that last month our co-ed rec-league softball team beat "Cleats and Cleavage" to win the championship game! It was such a fun season playing every Monday night with a bunch of friends. I was easily the worst one on the team (at least Brad picked up some of my slack with his skills) and I didn't know I could have so much fun doing something I'm so bad at! Go "Easy Outs!"
The children of the champs. All the other teams had maybe a kid or two between them...we had a big fan section/distraction!
The bath water after we got home that night was the worst I've ever seen. More like a mud bath!

Too cool

for the first day of school!
There's no place like 1st grade.
King of junior kindergarten.
They both had a great first day yesterday. I guess we'd been talking it up so much for school to start but it was always "not yet, not yet." When we were getting them ready that morning Finn was asking "are we going to school?" and when we said "yes" he got all excited and yelled to Galla, "we are going to school right now!" Of course Galla always knows what's going on, so she replied all matter-of-factly, "I know, Finn!"

As Ryken, Paisley and I were walking away from the school, Paisley asked, "what are we going to do now, mom?" I said, "what do you want to do?" and in that cute, high-pitched, sing-song voice of hers she replied, "I want to go to Costco!"

...and the livin's easy

I've definitely been a slacker this summer when it comes to blogging. Come to think of it, I've been a slacker when it comes to a lot of things this summer, but that's what summer is for, right? So let me take you on a quick road trip through what we've been up to lately. Buckle up, roll down the windows and enjoy the summer breeze...
Trips to the library. The kids love it, but Ryken is very quick and thorough when it comes to de-shelving books.
Big Spoon frozen yogurt does dollar Wednesdays, so that was a popular destination for us. We'd play on the trail outside and here's Ryken sporting his semi-dweeby but oh-so-cute shorts.
Faces painted at a friend's birthday party.
Of course swimming in the kiddie pool!
Lazy, cartoon-filled mornings.

Swim lessons with our friends Courtney and Aubry and awesome instructor MacKenzie!
Galla did a week of daytime dance camp and loved it. The video of her doing her "gummy bear" dance is the best!


Lake camping with friends for Jack's birthday party. The mama, Ali, is the phenomenal photographer that took these pictures and our most recent family pictures. She also throws a heck of a party!

After our previous failed attempt, we finally made it to Marine World and had a super fun day. Can my girls be any cuter?! I love being with my little family.
Rocking out at our stake Pioneer Day celebration. It may look like Finn is falling down or trying to get off the stage, but this is actually him busting a move. He has got some serious dance skillz and his air guitar is the best I've ever seen.
Galla very much enjoys making "crafts" (I wonder where she gets that?). This is her homemade bird's nest. Very Upper East Side!
And their most recent obsession, Sally the lizard. I actually caught this little critter in our backyard and she is super cute. Galla has made her box up very nicely (you saw what she did for that fake bird) but I might need to help her "escape" in the night for some sustenance.

I have to admit, my blog title isn't completely accurate. Ryken has been a handful of rascally cuteness and there's not much that's easy about taking care of these 4 little kids, but I love them so much and I'm so blessed to be their mama.

Summer has been in full-swing...until tomorrow....