Jessie, the "Cowgirlish" Cowgirl

Elise had a little preschool show/parade for Halloween this morning, so she got to wear her costume to school. We put her costume on and she said, "Mom, how do I look?" I said, "you look beautiful." She looked at me dead serious and said, "No I do not look beautiful! I am Jessie the Great, and I look cowgirlish!" She is such a nut sometimes. Steven wants nothing to do with his costume, and refused to wear it to our Ward Halloween party, so he may just be Steven for Halloween. We'll see what happens with that one.

Elise, looking oh so "cowgirlish."

Modeling her favorite red boots for the camera:

Singing Halloween songs with her preschool. Posing with her class in their costumes:

The costume parade:

Halloween Procrastination

For weeks now (or maybe even months) I keep thinking I need to start the kiddos' Halloween costumes, but I have been feeling a bit on the lazy side, and so each day I end up telling myself I'll have time for that later. This morning I thought to myself, "I still have two weeks until Halloween, I'll start it on Monday." And then it dawned on me.... only one week until our Ward Halloween Party. Yikes! How did that happen? So, no more putting it off. I planned to spend about 4 hours working on it today and to get Steven's vest and shirt done. I did the vest with no problems, and then realized I didn't have interfacing and didn't want to run to the store, so the shirt is just not happening today. So, change of plans. I decided to work on Elise's jeans instead. I thought they would be quick and sew up in an hour or so. Four or five hours later, here is where I am:

The vest is done, although a little on the small side. Oh well, we'll make it work. The jeans are only half done, and I have used the seam ripper more than I care to recall. They have not turned out to be as simple a project as I had imagined, and I now definitely need a break. Steven is napping, Elise is eating a snack, and I am going to hop in the shower and get dressed. Yes, that's right, it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my jammies. That is what comes of procrastination I guess.

But on the bright side, Elise couldn't be more excited about her "Jesse pants with black polka dots." She is a funny girl. By the way, did I mention that Elise was snacking? Well, I should have said napping. I just noticed things were a little quiet in the kitchen and that Elise's usual incessant jibber jabber had stopped (she even talks to herself when no one else is around). So, I walked in the kitchen to check on her and here is what I found:

Yep, she actually laid down and went to sleep on the kitchen bench in the middle of her snack. I guess it must have been a long morning for my little helper, too.

'

Utah Vacation... in pictures

We took a quick trip to Utah over the past weekend, and it was fun to go back and visit. It has been 8 years since I have lived there... time sure flies! We got to visit with Jason and Becky, and Elise got to play with cousins. We also got to see some other friends and family that either live there or were visiting. Sorry this is a long post. It is mostly because I think I'm getting senile. If I don't write something down, I don't remember it. Our kids decided that they could have fun playing in the cold weather too. Good thing there are parks everywhere! They go a long way in warming Elise and Steven up to a place.

We saw all the changing leaves. It was very pretty. This is what it is like to have an actual Fall season!Steven had his first encounter with snow, and decided he was just not a fan. He refused to step on it. If he was walking and came to a patch of snow, he would just freeze and wait for someone to pick him up and carry him over it.We visited the "This is the Place" Monument.

Dad read all the plaques while Mom chased Steven in circles and Elise picked all the dandelions and blew them to make wishes.

Finally the kids got tired of waiting for Dad to finish, and so they chased eachother across the plaques Dad was trying to read. Dad was not happy. Mom was too tired of chasing them in circles to care. We spent WAY too much time in the car driving around, and Steven's only defenses were screaming or sleeping. We all preferred the sleeping.

We visited the Salt Lake Temple, where my kids refused to pose for a picture together. This was the best I could get.All Elise wanted to do was dance on the "stage." What a nut.

Dad got some quality time with his biggest fan, Steven.

We all rode the ski lift up to the top of Sundance, against my better judgement. The whole time I kept picturing Steven jumping off, but Chris assured me he wouldn't let him do that, and told me I had too much of my mother in me. Yes, sometimes I worry a bit too much, but I think a two year old falling off a ski lift may be a legitimate concern.Elise and Dad had a snowball fight at the top of Sundance. There wasn't much snow, but it amused Elise anyway.Steven, once again, wanted nothing to do with touching the snow. Chris and the kids looking out over the edge. Yikes!Chris and Elise took off on a hike up the side of the mountain, leaving Steven behind. Steven was not pleased. He tried to take off after them, but his mean mom wouldn't let him get too far.
Steven actually even took a few steps on the snow trying to catch Dad and Elise up the side of the hill. Just a few though. Once he realized what he'd done, he turned around immediately and stepped off the snow. Then he just stood there staring up the hill at them, but refused to cross the snow.

Steven is such a Daddy's boy, he forgave Chris when they got back down the hill and wanted to snuggle him.We rode the ski lift back down the hill, which was even scarier. Looking down, it seemed much steeper. Luckily, we all survived.

Silly Sadness

On Sunday I was driving to a family dinner with Elise and Steven. Chris had a bad headache and so he had decided to stay home. We were about half way there when it dawned on Elise that Dad wasn't with us. I told her he didn't feel good so he was staying home. She got a very upset look on her face (much like the one pictured above), and said in the saddest voice you can imagine, "But, I will really miss him because I just really like his black hair!" It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing out loud at her comment.

Look Alike?

I have always thought that Elise looks so much like her Dad. However, tonight Elise was looking through some old photo books with me, and she kept saying that pictures of me were her. I think if you look at these pictures, there is a definite resemblance. Her smile is definitely all her dad, so I don't think my old pictures look as much like her if I am smiling. Most of these pictures of myself I was about 5 1/2. The petting zoo one is the only one where I was actually 4. She seems to look more like my older pictures though. Perhaps she is more of a mix than I have always thought. By the way, sorry the old pictures are so bad... my scanner is horrible!

All About Steven

I have had a lot of "Elise centered" posts lately, so I thought I would share a few things about Steven to keep things sort of evened out.

Steven absolutely adores both his binky and his blankie
Unfortunately, his mom has passed a bad habit onto him of "soda love."

He makes the goofiest faces, and is a constant mess. In this picture, he had rubbed his yogurt in his hair. Yum.:

He strips his clothes off any chance he gets. By the way, aren't kids still in diapers just the cutest in big boy jeans? It's so cute, I can't stand it.

He eats just about anything and everything. Also, he climbs in and out of his high chair himself. Since he can't say too many words, when he is hungry he sometimes lets me know he wants food by climbing in his high chair and grunting for food.

He HATES his car seat. Not enough wiggle room. But he does love his hat.

He loves to go outside, and always wants to be the one to open and close all the doors.

He likes Disneyland... sometimes.

He loves to climb on anything and everything.

Most of all, he is a bit of a Mama's boy and knows how to make her smile with his hugs, snuggles and chitter chatter.

Artwork and writing

Elise brought home this picture on the first day of school, and told me it was a picture of me. Don't I look beautiful? What I really appreciate about this picture is that I have a body. Usually her people pictures are a head with a face drawn in and arms and legs coming out of it, but without a body. The second picture is of the second time she wrote he name. I helped her write her name for the first time a few weeks ago when we were waiting at the doctor, and I carefully folded up the little scrap of paper we wrote it on and tucked it in my wallet for safekeeping. If you have ever seen inside my wallet, then you know that it is really not a very "safe" place to keep anything. It is on the slightly disorganized side. Now of course I can't find it, so I will just have to keep the paper from the second time she wrote her name. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!