Christmas Preparations

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I do so love the Christmas season, and each year, I long for that feeling I had as a child when Christmas would come. It just "felt" different. I think as a kid, it was different because you were out of school. The house smelled and looked different. I have such good memories. Now, I work hard to create memories for my children. I hope they grow up to feel as I do, that Christmas time just "feels" different.

So this has nothing to do with getting ready for Christmas, but it was so cute, I just had to post it. Tyler loves to be pushed around in this laundry basket. Well, one night, Dave found him like this. He did it again the next night. I can't imagine that it is very comfortable, but oh so cute!

Gingerbread houses . . . what a mess. I always want to make them but they are always so messy. I just thought this picture showed how my two boys differ. Tyler build his house, then destroyed it, then broke it up, then ate it, then used the pieces to make a new "pile" and then ate it too, all in one day. Chad's house would still be here next Christmas if I didn't throw it out at some point when I can't stand it anymore.

Family picture. We tried to do a nice one, but someone always had their tounge out or eyes closed. This just worked better. One day soon, we'll go and get one done and then I'll post those. This picture is one of the reasons why I'm not sending Christmas cards this year.

This is our downstairs tree. Each year, I debate on whether to get a live tree for downstairs, or use our fake one. Note: our fake one was only $5 after Christmas our first year and it looks like a $5 tree. I hate it. I love live trees but I hate paying $55 + for one. And I can't seem to make myself pay $200 or more for a nice artificial one. This year, we found this beautiful tree for just $20. I was so proud, and I think it is more beautiful than any we've had before. Wishing you all a wonderful Merry Christmas!!!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Chad wanted to be Woody . . . AGAIN! So, after much convincing, I swayed him into being Buzz instead. Well, then Tyler wanted to be Buzz too. Problem-only one Buzz costume. A great neighbor lent us the Buzz costume in return for us loaning her a Woody costume. New problem-Tyler decided to be Woody instead. So . . . I had to make a new Woody, but I thought that was a fair deal; I'd much rather make Woody than even attempt to make Buzz. Here are their picts.

Chad with his pumpkin.

Tyler with his.

Greyson was a cow. It was what I had in the costume box that fit and that seems to be the way I operate as of late.

Here they are together. We had big plans that I was going to be Jessie and Dave was going to be Lotso (the big purple bear from Toy Story 3) but, those costumes never made it past the discussion table.

One last picture: At Chad's school, they did not get to dress up for Halloween. (Trust me, I was really bumbed. Really.) Instead, he got to do "crazy hair day". So, I had to paint Greyson's hair blue just to convince Chad it was cool enough to try. Then, Tyler never wants to be left out, so he did it too. Before the night was over, I had blue bangs too. We had a lot of fun, and Tyler and Greyson still have slightly blue scalps.

What we've been up to . . .

Summer went so fast!!! We can't believe that fall is upon us. We kept busy, although we don't have anything special to report.
Greyson is growing like a weed. At his 4 months appt., he weighed 17 lbs 9 oz. He is in the 95th percentile. We love his smiles and laughs. We are so glad he is part of our family!

We took a trip to Bear Lake. The boys could have spent all day at the beach playing in the sand. I must admit that our own "Bear Lake" has appeared in our sandbox several times since we have returned home.

This was one of the rides at the KOA campground in Bear Lake. It was by far the most fun, interactive, family friendly KOA I can remember staying at.

Chad just started Kindergarten. Seriously. I cannot believe I am entering a new phase of my life. He goes all day every other day and seems to love it so far. Tyler misses him so we "play" school together when he's gone.

Chad in front of his classroom on the first day of school. When I was teaching kindergarten, I remember so many children (and parents) crying on the first day. Chad said "bye" and that was that. He even rode the bus home the first day.

We went to the fair. I grew up going to the state fair nearly every day. Now, we usually go once each year. I still love the atmosphere. This year I entered some of my canning in what is called "4-star canner". I had to can a pickle, jam, fruit and veggie. I was surprised to find that out of 8 entrants, I took first. Kinda fun and I learned a lot from doing it all.

This picture is of the boys at the water fountain in the Culligan booth. You can't see it but at the top is a faucet, so it looks like a floating faucet with water coming down. Probably one of the favorite spots in the fair.

We planted a garden. This has been by far our best garden! It is beautiful, including this sunflower (on of 3) which is taller than our house.

Lastly, we said goodbye to friends. Our next door neighbors and good friends just moved away to Utah. We are sure sad to see them go. It was Chad's best friend, and mine. So, to the Jeffery's, we hope you love your new neighbors. We miss you already!

In all, it has been a good summer. Now, we begin the decent to the new year that from now to then seems to go in a blink.

Chad's 5th Birthday!

Wow! It is hard to believe that our beautiful "baby" boy, Chad, is now 5 years old!!! I can't say that it "feels like yesterday" but I can still remember that day in the hospital like it was yesterday. I guess the birth of your first will probably never be forgotten.
Here is Chad on Sunday before church. He looks so grown up!

Chad wanted a Chick Hicks cake from the movie CARS. I tried my hand at fondant, and it actually was quite simple to use. I made the marshmallow recipe and it turned out cute. Dave had a hard time cutting it because he was so proud of our creation.

This was the first time I have ever done a party with friends. (And maybe the last!) It was a TON of work. Next time, I'll just do it for 30 minutes. Two hours was WAY to long!!!!!

Here is the whole birthday party clan. It was fun, but I was ready for it to be over. Don't you love Chad's smile! Happy birthday bud!

Summer Fun

Well, I wish I had some really fun things to share from our summer happenings but it is all just same old hat. But in no particular order, here are some things we have been up to. We had a good 4th of July. It is one of my FAVORITE holidays. This picture of Tyler was taken just before he burned his foot with a sparkler-ouch! It looks awful! Aside from that, we had a good time. The fireworks in Pocatello were wonderful!

Me with Tyler waiting for the fireworks to start.

I had another birthday-they are not as fun when you keep getting older as when you are young. Dave is always so good; he even makes my cake each year. Here is him and the boys just getting ready to start baking.

Greyson is getting bigger every day! He is so fun and smily now! 2 1/2 months-WOW!

For Memorial day, we took a camping trip. These pictures show what happened-it snowed!!!

Chad finished preschool. He has loved the two years he has attended, but he is so excited to go to kindergarten in the fall. I just with I could get him to stop having accidents (potty) and then I'd be excited for him to go to school too. Ah, why don't they come pottytrained?

Greyson getting in on the fun with the big boys. Actually, Tyler and Chad are constantly putting toys and things in his hands for him to hold.

Bubbles!

Well, that is pretty much the last 2 months in a nutshell. Dave is looking for a job-not an easy feat. I just don't know where he is supposed to get all this "experience" that is required for every job. I guess I need more faith.

Graduation

This was a big day. It has been nearly all of our married life that Dave has been in school. On May 8th, he graduated from ISU. We are so proud of him. Now, we have a wonderful summer to spend with him before he begins grad school in the fall.

The whole Hall clan: Dave, me, Chad (4-almost 5), Tyler (2 1/2), Greyson (2 1/2 weeks)

Pictures of Greyson

Everything seems to take longer with #3, but I finally got some pictures taken of Greyson. I had my sister in law, Beverly, take them for me. I thought they turned out pretty cute.

Baby Greyson

It's official! Baby Greyson has arrived! We headed up to the hospital after church on Sunday. The delivery went well, long, but well. Greyson put up a good fight. (I honestly thought this delivery would be so quick because Tyler's was a breeze. I labored 15 hours and pushed for a full hour! It was so much like a first delivery.) Dave and I getting ready to head to the hospital. One last picture of me pregenant-I was sooooo ready to be done!!!

Dave and Greyson. They are both exhausted!

This picture is a few minutes after he was born. This was the first baby I have had that came in the day time. Both Chad and Tyler were born in the night! It felt weird to have the whole day ahead of me once he was born. He weighed in at 7lbs, 2 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

He is such a good and easy baby so far. He sleeps tons and I have to wake him to feed him.

Chad and Tyler at the hospital. They were/are both so excited. Chad is a baby kid! He wants to hold the baby all the time. Tyler will give him loves but then life goes on as normal for him.

To those who have 3, I am already asking myself the question, "How does anyone get anything done with 3?" I guess I'll learn soon enough, or find that the answer is, "They don't!"

Baby's Room

Remember when you were expecting your 1st baby? Everyone said things like, "Oh! Congratulations!!!" and "That is so exciting." They threw you a baby shower and you anticipated how life would change with the addition of your new little one.
When you are expecting your 3rd baby, you hear a lot of things like, "Wow! Another one. Good luck!" and "How soon after the birth are you going to be back at church?" In other words, nothing is changing and you don't need any time to recover, figure this out, or even be excited about another baby. The fact that I am having a 3rd boy only compounds the issue.
So, I decided that for my own sake, to help myself feel like this was a new experience and just as important at our previous 2 children, I opted to redo the nursery for this baby. I have used the same bedding with both of my other boys and it was just time for a change. With the help of several others, I have a had a lot of fun creating a space for our newest little one.
I made all of the bedding. I had found some I really liked in a magazine, but saved myself over $100 by doing it myself. I was pretty proud of that!

My sister in law, Ann, cut out these vynal letters for me. I think it turned out so fun! Thanks Ann!!

Rocker from my sister. I hated the one I had with my other 2 boys. This one is so comfortable. Chad and Tyler and I havve enjoyed rocking in it on the little bit of lap that I have left. So my budget for this room was so small, and became smaller as I went. I was able to purchase the crib and rocker from my sister for a great deal and repurposed other things I already had around. I love how it turned out!

Dave made me do this!

So, I realize that the title makes this post sound so . . . um . . . exciting! But the truth is, Dave made me do "this" meaning update our blog. I don't know what my problem is, but I have been so bad at posting anything. I have not even posted Christmas, so I am officially not going to do so. But, here are several picts from Tyler's 2nd birthday, a snowman we build and it perished the same day, and one Christmas family picture. Hard to believe that this little guy is 2! We had 2 celebrations: one with just us, and one with family. Chad was determined that we would have a cake at both, so I made 2 train cakes. I swear I never want to make another one. Dave, however, has decided that each of our children will have a train cake on their 2nd birthday, whether they are a boy or a girl.

Chad and I had the most fun building this snowman. It turned out so darling. That afternoon, we ran some errands and when we got home, it looked like this . . .

I thought Chad would be dissapointed, but instead, he excidedly said, "Mom, we need to take a picture of it now!" It met an early demise.

Our one and only Christmas picture. Just know that we had a great holiday and a lot of fun. (I just realized I am the only one smiling in this picture.) -oh well!

Snowman Party

"Snowman come from heaven; some assembly required." Tonight, we had a snowman party. David's mom sent us some fun ideas and we had so much fun with it. First, we ate a snowman dinner. We had snowman soup, which was actually chicken noodle with dumplings (snow balls) instead of noodles, and snowman pudding cups. After dinner, we all watched "The Snowman". It is a cute show, but a warning . . . the snowman dies! (aka. melts) After watching the show, we opened several snowman gifts sent from Dave's mom, and finally finished by eating snowball cake. The boys had a good time! Thanks Joan!!! Chad opening a snowman book. He was really excited to open gifts!

This is Tyler's snowman pudding cup. It is supposed to look like chocolate pudding on the bottom with a cool whip snowman on the top, but Tyler promptly used his spoon to squish the snowman. I guess we could call it "melted".

This is the snowball cake. Dave made it from scratch. It was really yummy, almost like a chocolate cake with cheesecake in the center.

Snowball soup!

The boys getting ready to eat our snowman dinner. We had so much fun! Joan, thanks again for such a fun idea!!!