Halloween 2009

Again, this year my mother-in-law provided my children with some darling Halloween costumes. She made a darling flower costume for Libby and Ethan was Lightning McQueen, his current favorite character. I was a dice, or rather, a die, I suppose. Eric didn't dress up, as usual. However, all members of the family had a very fun day!

Philadelphia and Palmyra

During Eric's fall break this last week, we decided to be brave and take the kids on a trip up north. We hit Philadelphia first, experiencing Independence Hall, the Liberty bell, and the most amazing Philly cheese steaks ever.
Next we saw Valley Forge--absolutely beautiful with the fall colors. We had such a fun and relaxing afternoon there. Ethan ran around like a wild man, Libby enjoyed her stroller and Eric and I loved the temperate weather, scenery and history.
Our next stop was Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania. We went on an "Amish Driving Tour" that Eric found online which took us across and past several old school covered bridges, Amish farms and little Amish school houses. They were beautiful. We also stopped at a Farmer's Market and ate at an incredible buffet cooked in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" style. We saw several Amish/Mennonite families which was very neat. We tried to imagine their lifestyles and we tried even harder not to gawk.
We took the back roads up through Pennsylvania to New York and finally arrived in Palmyra where we stayed at a very luxurious hotel: The Econolodge. Palmyra was so neat. We spent time at the Hill Cumorah, the Smith Family Farm, the Sacred Grove, the Grandin Press (where the first 5000 BoMs were printed) and we got to drive up around the Palmyra Temple. The Sister missionaries at all the sites were absolutely awesome. The gave amazing tours and we really appreciated the wealth of information they had. The spirit was very strong in this special part of the country. Eric and I decided to read the Joseph Smith story out of the scriptures one of the nights we were there and it really hit home. One of my favorite parts was sitting on top of the Hill Cumorah marvelling not only that Joseph Smith had been there, but that this was the place that Moroni of old buried the plates. Astounding to be there.
It seemed appropriate that we had first visited Philly where the Declaration of Independence had been signed and Valley Forge, which was a hotspot of the Revolutionary War and then Palmyra where the First Vision had taken place. It really got me thinking about the big picture; the events that had to take place (the forming of the US) before the church could be restored. It puts things into perspective a lot, and I felt assured like I have many times before that the Lord's hand is in all things.
Our final stop was in Gettysburg on the way home. As we drove around the battlefield we passed hundreds on monuments to the men who died in this huge battle of the Civil War. Eric enjoyed the rich military history of the battlefields we visited.
It was too bad to come home after such a marvelous trip, but we made many good memories and we are glad we had the opportunity to go.

Gettysburg

Palmyra

Amish CountryValley ForgePhiladelphia

North Carolina State Fair: Year 3

The pictures tell it all...

Housekeeping

Two little sayings keep running through my mind these days:

"Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling the walk while the snow is still snowing..."

(I saw this one at my cuzzies house)

and

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness...Tidiness is next to Impossible!"

(My mommy used to have a cute little sign with this on it)

Can anyone else with children relate?

When Ethan Gets a Haircut

Picture yourself in a small room with no doors or windows and huge giant coming toward you with a chainsaw. Your reaction would be extreme stress and probably some hysteria. But your reaction would be nothing compared to Ethan's when he gets a haircut. You might say, all heck breaks loose when we get the clippers out. To say the child hates it would be an understatement. Holy smoke. I dread when the time rolls around that there is no denying that Ethan looks like a sheepdog. Yesterday Eric decided (with my support) that it was high time we whacked Ethan's mullet. The mention of a haircut strikes fear in Ethan's heart. He started freaking out. When we actually got the buzzer out he was in complete and totally hysteria. Eric managed to strip him down and wrestle him into Libby's booster seat to strap him in. The child was in a frenzy. Then Eric held his head as still as possible while running the buzzer over it. Ethan was bawling and screaming like there was no tomorrow. I am astounded that the neighbors didn't call CPS. I would have taken a video or picture or something but it would've been cruel. Like telling someone to say cheese while they were experiencing a stroke. Anyway, needless to say, Ethan's new hairdo is a bit crude. In fact, its really pretty bad. But, its shorter. And that's what I'm going for. It'll get us through another couple months....I dread the next mop chop...

Ethan Sings

Just in case you can't understand the words when Eth sings solo:

Three little monkeys swingin' in a tree
Teasin' Mr. Alligator, "Can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as can be
And snaps that monkey right outta that tree!

Ethan learned these cute little songs at Music Makers and he has been singing them in his adorable voice ever since.

Bathing Beauties

Ethan and Libby love getting in the tub, and I can't stand it when they are sticky, so we often have 2 or more baths a day. It is so dang funny to see their cute, chubby little bodies in there. I get a hugest kick out of them pouring water on each other and trying to drink the bathtub water out of the rubber duckie. Oh baby!