Halloween Time

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I'm not sure if it's because I love the fall, or because it marks the start of the holiday season, or just because of the loads of candy. Whatever the reason, I always feel myself being more excited and grateful than I am the weeks/ months just before. One of the fun things that we have done the last two years for Halloween is go to Gardner Village. They put so much work into making it a fun experience for everyone, my kids love it, and I really appreciate it. Here are some fun pictures from our recent visit.



This is not a very good picture of the village, but it is such a typical Wade & Holden moment that I just had to take a picture of it. Holden is telling Wade some big story that he made up, complete with sound effects.

Oh, yeah, and I have bangs now. What do you think?

Close Call: the van that was no more....

So on Saturday our poor family got into our first, and hopefully last, ever, car accident. Even though it wasn't my fault I feel so bad about it, because I am usually so very careful when I drive. However, it was around lunch time and Wade got me all excited about Millie's', (a local burger joint,) fried zucchini. So we called in for a large order of pipping hot grease and we left the park where we had all been playing. It was a beautiful clear day, I was heading south on 1000 East, and my mouth was watering just thinking about that yummy lunch I was seconds away from getting, when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw a Jeep coming towards my passenger side soooo fast. So I slammed on my breaks and tried to turn to the left, (away from the Jeep shaped missile,) but it was just too late. It was a noise I will never forget. YIKES! The worst part was both of the kids were in the car, so when the cars finally came to a stop my little ones were hysterical. I got out and checked on them quickly and then checked on the people in the other car and then called the police. For the most part everyone was fine. We were all so lucky. But their car is totaled for sure and ours......well we shall see. Poor Wade got it right in the door. His right side is all sore and bruised, and for some reason so is mine, but miraculously both of the kids came out of it without a scratch. So I guess what happened is the man in the other car was with his girlfriend, and she was feeding him off of a plate that she was holding. He was looking at his food and didn't see the yield sign so he never even hit his breaks. In addition to that, she told the police officer he was going like 40-45 miles an hour. Whew! Thank heavens for good American craftsmanship, from the inside you could barely tell we were in an accident. A funny part of our experience was that Holden thought it was the best day ever. He got so excited and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Daddy look firetrucks!" The later, "Yea! Police Cars!" And finally, "Tow trucks!" He had a great time. What a brave little boy. Claire smiled her head off through the whole thing and everyone who came out to see it just smiled and smiled at her. Then some nice neighbor lady brought Holden out a stuffed bear. Man, I guess all you need to do to entertain your kids is get in a car accident. (Although I wouldn't recommend it.) Below you will find a diagram I put together to give you and idea of how it was, (except for the compass is upside down.) Well, we hope you are all doing well and not getting into car accidents. Good luck and safe driving.

Happy Birthday Holden!

I know this post is a few weeks late, but I wanted to do a fun post about my favorite little guy. Holden has been such a good kid from the time he was a baby, and even though he's become a little more busy since then, I still think he is just about one of the best kids around. So here's to you Holden;


When Holden was born he didn't sleep very much like most babies do, but he was very alert. As soon as he could see a little farther he noticed everything, and it wasn't long before that index finger became a huge part of our lives. He pointed at everything wanting to know what it was. Holden was also not lacking the chub department. He had a LOT of it, and we all thought it was super cute. My favorite thing about him when he was little was that he was such a little cuddler. He endured a lot of hugging and kissing from me.



When Holden turned 1 I started complaining about the "sass" it was his way of finally showing us that he was a little person with preferences too. He loved to be outside, and once he was able, to run around. He also loved playing with toys, but not the expensive kind we bought from the store, no he like household things. His favorite things were boxes, peanuts that came in the boxes, and the bottom drawer of the kitchen. I finally gave in, and let him unpack it 2-3 times a day.


At 2 years old Holden finally noticed and enjoyed playing with friends. he became a very social kid almost over night. He like trucks, going to Grandpa's farm, and construction equipment, but he especially liked dirt, dirt and water. Those two things entertained him all through the spring, summer, and fall of his 3rd year.




Now he is 3 and he is becoming much easier to play with and easy to enjoy. He loves role playing and beating imaginary things up. (Sometimes he like beating me up! Yikes) He loves playing with his friends and asks for them multiple times a day. Holden is a good big brother and he pretends not to like Claire, but when nobody is watching he is very sweet, and when people joke about taking her home he gets really upset. He is a great kid and I know that my life would be much sadder without him. Thanks for being the boy you are Holden, we love you.