November in a Nutshell

Wow...the last month has been one big, exhausted blur! Trying to think back to what we did all of November and all I can remember is that everybody's been sick at one point or another. First Matthew got a nasty stomach  bug combined with a bout of asthma/allergies. Then me, Ellie, and Jon have taken turns passing around a cold/sinus infection and some terrible headaches. Blah! We're ready to be done with it all.

The kids have become master fort builders this month. Forts in the living room, their bedrooms, the play room....pretty much everywhere. It's been kind of fun to see what kind of stuff they come up with.

 

Jon and I got to go out on a little date to a BYU football game...my first time going to a BYU game! Even though they lost, it was still fun to get out and cheer them on.

 

We did a big bedroom switcharoo last week. Jon's parents generously offered us an extra bed that they aren't using, so we put the two girls in a room together and Matthew has his own room. We were worried about Ellie getting used to having Emma in there, but it's been a smooth transition. And bedtime is SO much easier now that Emma and Matthew can't stay up talking for hours! (Pictures coming after we finish getting the rooms all switched around how we want them)

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We got up bright and early and headed to the city to run a 5k as a family. This is something I hope becomes tradition. Emma did pretty good. She ran/walked the 1st and 3rd mile. She took a break for the second mile and sat in the stroller with the other 2 kids (that was quite a sight I'm sure!). The kids loved doing the race, and kept saying that they hoped we would win.  :)

After our big race (that we definitely didn't win), we packed up and went to spend the next 2 days with Jon's family. We love that we have family close enough to share holidays with. It was a fun day with lots of yummy food, good company, and not much else. We watched The Amazing Spiderman and hung out, and it was so nice to have nothing to do!

On Saturday we went to Pinnacles with most of Jon's family. It is a national park, with hikes and caves and rock formations...really a cool place. We set out on what was supposed to be an easy hike. We started out, excited for this fun adventure. We explored a couple really cool caves and hiked along some really neat trails and then the excitement started to wear off really quickly. Five hours and a few scrapes and bruises later, we wearily finished our hike. We were completely exhausted! Mental note for next time....go explore the caves, but skip the hike, especially if we have kids with us!

 

We finished the month by pulling out our meager Christmas decorations and getting all ready for Christmas. We really don't have much in the way of Christmas decor, but it's enough to make it feel cozy and Christmasy. 

I just really love this picture of Matthew...a lot. When Matthew saw the completed tree, he gasped and exclaimed, "it's our wonderful, cute, teeny Christmas tree!"

 

Ellie and Audrey- the cutest little BFF's ever

 These next few are from a little family date to Fentons after a temple trip

Matthew Says

Matthew has been saying some of the funniest things lately. Here are two that I can remember.

Coming home from preschool with his friend, Eva, Matthew turned to her and said, "Sometimes I just want to kiss you, but sometimes I'm just too itchy".  Haha....I don't even want to know about that one!

The other day Matthew and I were laying in his bed "pretending to sleep".
Matthew: Uh Mom, do you feel like I need to go to the bathroom?
Me: Uhhh...do YOU feel like you need to go to the bathroom?
Matthew: (quiet for a minute then scrambles out of the bed) Just a minute, I'll be right back!

Halloween Highlights

Halloween this year was busy busy! Here's a little bit of what we did:

 

We started off October by busting out the Halloween pajamas

Official Candy Inspector...it's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.

The weekend before Halloween we headed out to the first annual (?) Farrell Family Halloween Party. It was a blast!

Jon and I went as farmers and brought along our horse, Emma, and our chickens, Matthew and Ellie. 

King Grandpa riding his noble steed

The King and Queen

There was a little doughnut-eating action

 And then we broke out the pinata that Jon made

The next day we (finally!) got some pumpkins and carved them. Halfway through, Jon decided to pull out the power tools and try carving with them. Brilliant!

 For family night the week of Halloween, we had a few friends over to make caramel apples. Despite the fact that I burned the caramel it was a really fun night.

Ellie looked amazing with her post-ponytail hair, candy-covered face, and one shoe.  :)

Emma and her friend Brady all ready for school on Halloween

 

All ready for trick or treating

This little boy wouldn't eat his dinner, despite threats of not getting to go trick or treating. We had to follow through, so I took the girls out while Jon stayed home to give him a chance to finish his food. We came back a while later and he had finished, so we let him go for a few houses...we just couldn't make him miss out on all of it! But I think he got the message.

We went trick or treating on our street and a couple houses on the next street over and then the kids' buckets were completely full, so we came home to pass out candy. Ellie was hilarious trick or treating. The first couple houses she was really annoyed that I was making her go to the door, but then she realized what was going on and was really enthusiastic about it. She knocked on every door, said hiyou when they opened the door, and picked all her own candy.

Picture her little voice saying cheeeee (cheese). She's recently started doing that when she sees the camera.  :)

It's Been Awhile...

I realized tonight that the last time I uploaded pictures from our camera to our computer was a month and a half ago! I pulled out the camera and found out we only had 34 pictures on there anyway...though I did have another 40ish on my phone. I definitely need to start pulling out the camera more!

It's been a long while since I've done an update on us, so here's a little of what's been going on with each of us...

Ellie:
-is 16 months now. As of about a month ago, she weighed 20 lbs 9 oz and was about 28".
- talking up a storm! Her vocabulary includes (but is certainly not limited) to- hi and bye (hi-you, bye-you), thank you, bath, ball, shoes, Audrey (her bff), see you later (see ooh ater), mom, dad, doggy, chickie, cheese, and choo choo. She understands much much more than this. It still catches me off guard when I say something complicated and she responds appropriately.
- is off the bottle!!! Quite by accident and definitely without trying, Ellie has been bottle free for over a week now. We just happened to reach nap time and bed time one day when she was exhausted so we didn't even bother with the bottle. She went to sleep fine both times and hasn't even asked for a bottle since. Yay!
- thinks she's one of the big kids. She LOVES doing anything and everything with Emma and Matthew, and any older kid for that matter. She is quite the little daredevil!
- Loves shoes. If she sees shoes, she will put them on. And if she doesn't see shoes, she'll go in her room and pick the first two shoes she sees and put them on by herself.
- has some seriously awesome dance moves. Any time she hears music, she immediately starts dancing, head banging, and/or spinning. It's hilarious.
-  loves jumping. She can actually jump and get both feet off the ground. It's hilarious to watch. She also has a thing for trampolines.
- also loves reading. She is perfectly content to plop down anywhere with a big stack of books and flip through the pages while she babbles and occasionally forces out a very cheesy laugh. 
- is obsessed with my phone. She loves pretending to talk on it (and anything else that even slightly resembles a phone), and scroll through the pictures and videos. One day recently, she picked it up, held it in front of her and said cheese like she was taking a picture. Then she immediately put it up to her ear and started talking. She's got it all figured out!
- refuses to sit in her high chair or booster at the table. It's a real chair like the rest of us, or she refuses to eat. 

Ellie, her bff Audrey, and Emma

Matthew:

- is still loving preschool. He is getting better at recognizing letters, and writing and spelling his name.

 1st day of preschool

 

- has several bff's....Eva, Nico, Keller, Brady, Tommy, and his cousin Owen.
- has some seriously crazy mood swings. He can be super sweet and affectionate one minute, and then the next he's yelling and crying and "mean" at everybody. I can't remember if Emma was like this at this age, but I hope it's something he grows out of!
- is definitely my most sweet, sensitive, and cuddly child...always has been. He loves to give hugs and kisses to everybody and always gets sad when people leave, even if it was someone that just came to our door for a minute. He often tells people in a very sad voice that he's going to miss them so so much when they leave.
- is adventurous. He loves playing all sorts of games and make believe...usually they involve making mud in the backyard. Sigh....  I love his imagination though.
- is slowly but steadily growing. At almost 4 1/2 he's up to a whopping 28 lbs (fully dressed) and is 36 1/2" tall. Our most effective way to get him to eat is to remind him that if he doesn't eat, he won't grow, and if he doesn't grow he won't be tall enough to go in the Ikea play place. You have to be 37" to get in, and he's been dying to go in with Emma for the last 2 years. He's SO SO close now!

Emma:

- is a super reader. She recently discovered the Judy Moody books and loves those. She will read anything and everything she can get her hands on...magazines, signs, cereal boxes...everything. She also reads several chapters a night from the scriptures. The girl loves reading...it reminds me a lot of myself as child, which secretly makes me happy.
- is doing awesome in gymnastics and loves showing off everything she can do.
- loves playing games. Her two favorites are Uno and Monopoly.
- has become much more helpful lately. She is usually happy to help and clean up and especially loves helping take care of Ellie.
- loves singing, dancing, and drawing...and is very good at all three. And she's not shy about admitting it.  :) 

Sarah:

-teaching the 10-11 year old Primary class at church.
-loving the routine of school and the fact that Ellie is down to one nap a day.
- fighting with our chickens over our garden space. After cleaning out the summer garden and planting our fall garden (broccoli, carrots, onions, lettuce, and spinach), the chickens figured out how to get out of their yard and into my carefully planted garden. A long battle ensued...we'd secure their yard and replant, they'd get out again, we'd secure it even more, they'd get out again. But we finally won after putting netting over their yard...and my garden is growing nicely again. Turns out one of them was flying over the 6+ foot  fence. Sheesh!
- and that's about it.  :) 

Jon:

- still the Assistant Scout Master at church
- working on Peabody and Sherman at work. It comes out in a year, so it'll keep him busy for awhile.
- taking good care of the chickens and his lizards, making Halloween pinatas, mountain biking, and landscaping our yard in his spare time.

Sunday afternoon trip to walk around the temple

Emma and Brady, the boy she insists she is going to marry.

Breakfast movie pajama party on a no-school day!

Official candy inspector....it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Our church park group took a tour of the fire station, which was a lot of fun.

Matthew and Eva...can you believe they're the same age?!

Swimming at Owen's birthday party last weekend.

Memories

My very first memory was from when I was 3 years old. I was at joy school (preschool) and they were having all of the kids make their hand and foot prints in paint to put in a memory book. I did my hand prints, but for some reason I did not want to take off my shoes and socks to do my foot prints. I was always very painfully shy as a child, so I don't know if I was embarrassed to take off my shoes (sounds silly I know, but it's entirely possible) or if I was worried that my mom would be mad if I got paint on my feet, but whatever the reason, I did NOT want to do my foot prints. I very vividly remember the way I felt, and I remember a few little details about the room we were in. After some coaxing, the teacher finally realized, much to my relief, that I really did not want to do my foot prints in the paint, so she offered to trace my foot on the paper instead. I still have that page with those prints on it.

I got thinking about this memory the other day, and then let my mind wander to other childhood memories. I remember moving into our second house in Texas. I remember a lot of things from Kindergarten...listening to Brown Bear, Brown Bear on a record with those massive headphones they used to have, circle time on the ABC mat, the time I peed my pants in front of the whole class because Missy wouldn't unlock the bathroom door in our classroom..., I remember random little details about our house and the games I played with my siblings. The more I reflect on my childhood, the more I remember.

And then it hit me the other day that all these memories happened when I was the same age or younger than my kids are now. Twenty years from now, my kids could look back and remember things that are happening in their life right now! That was a really strange realization for me. And it made me want to try harder to be better, to be more aware of the way I talk and the spirit that is in our home. I don't know if it's this way for everyone, but for me the most vivid part of my memories is the way I felt. I do have happy memories from my childhood, but a huge majority of my memories are times that I felt really embarrassed or shy. I want my kids to feel happy and confident about who they are. I want them to remember the good times, to have happy memories of our family together- talking, playing, working. I want them to be able to look back and feel joy.

So tonight, I'm grateful for this new perspective and the chance to re-examine my priorities.

Hawaii Was...

Jon and I were able to spend 6 blissful kid-free days in Kauai. It was my first time in Hawaii and Jon's second (but first time on Kauai). I just have to say, I have never understood all the hype about Hawaii and I have never really wanted to go. But I totally get it now. What an amazing place! 

We have more pictures than I could ever post here, so I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

Hawaii was...

an awesome plane tour of the island (that left my stomach feeling not so awesome)

that gave us some gorgeous views and got us familiar with the island.

Hawaii was an early morning walk on the beach to watch the sunrise.

It was also a hike into the jungle, where Jon got to cross off one more thing on his bucket list after he found these vines to swing on. It was also a few grumpies on my part when we realized this hike was actually 6 miles longer than we were anticipating because the road was not drivable.

Hawaii was endless supplies of cool creatures, plants, and flowers. I lost count of the number of lizards Jon caught (I'm still not sure how he even saw most of them!) and I've decided the plumeria is my new favorite flower.

Hawaii was lots and lots of waterfalls

and delicious food. 

That giant avocado only cost us $1 at the farmer's market!

mmm....my mouth is watering....

Hawaii was a hike down to Secret Beach and then on to the Secret Lava Pools, where Jon snorkeled (with our electronic car keys...thankfully they were able to dry out and still worked!) and I got a little nap in.

It was breathtaking views everywhere we turned.

And it was a drive to Wailua Falls,

followed by a hike down to the top of the falls (in flip flops, on a very slippery, steep hill, surrounded by Danger signs). But it was worth it.  :)

Hawaii was lots of fun souvenirs.

This bowl was made out of a single coconut leaf, and there's a grasshopper sitting on it that is also made from a coconut leaf.

It was a drive down to Poipu Beach for some snorkeling and lounging, followed by a trip to see the Spouting Horn (a hole in the lava where the water sprays up when the waves break).

It was more beach lounging for me while Jon snorkeled for a second time at Tunnels Beach (by far the best snorkeling on the island!)

Hawaii was staying in quaint little Kapa'a

and spending a morning ziplining. We did 9 lines that ranged from 160 feet to 1200 feet. SO FUN!

Our zipline group in front of the last line.

Hawaii was also another hike down to a beach, this time Queens Bath, for some more snorkeling and swimming.

It was shave ice in a variety of tropical flavors...though the best part was the macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom. Mmmmm....

Hawaii was wild chickens everywhere. There are lots of theories as to how they got there, but the fact is they are there...everywhere...

Hawaii was beautiful sunsets

and a Sunday spent exploring Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific)

And Hawaii was spending our last night relaxing on the beach with a picnic dinner while we waited to watch the sunset.

In short, Hawaii was great! I just wish the jet lag would go away already!  :)