November in a Snapshot or Two

The first weekend in November Jordan and McKay hand-tilled our back yard and planted grass. McKay kept Jordan going by reminding him of how much he had done and Jordan appreciated his 'help' to keep going. His arms/tendons were sore for a couple of weeks afterward. We have enjoyed watching the grass grow... it LOVES all the rain we have been having.

The epitome of cheap entertainment.
My onion powder turned to rocks due to the humidity but I needed some for a recipe I was making and got enough powder to make the rub. The boys had a ball transferring the tiny and the not-so-tiny rocks from one container to the other. They would have been entertained for hours but I cut them short to hopefully limit the mess I would have to clean up!

Maxwell turned 18 months November 20th and went to nursery without a backward glance. There are a couple of 'rough' boys in there that have made it a bit harder for him to be excited to go to nursery but overall Maxwell seems to enjoy it.

McKay and his cars sat on his stool looking out the window and waiting for Nanna Anna, Grandpa and Chantelle to arrive for Thanksgiving. After about an hour we called to see where they were. Grandpa told McKay what time they would be there according to the GPS so he got the clock from the bathroom and notified me each time it got a little closer the time Grandpa told him. I knew they had arrived when I heard McKay run out the door to greet them. Excited? I think so.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures while they were here so most of what I have is what my mom took. They arrived on Wednesday and on Thursday we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner once the turkey finally got done. It was nice relaxing and visiting. McKay loved having so many people to play hide-and-seek with. Friday we went to Old Town and ate at Coyote Cafe. Then we hurried over to the Mormon Battalion for a tour.

After the tour Mom and Dad went to Lancaster for a massage and we took senior pictures of Chantelle around Old Town and then with the sunset at the beach. Jordan & I enjoyed taking pictures of someone who smiles and does what you ask!

Panning for gold.
We spent Saturday at Sea World. Jordan finally had people who could go on rides with him (at least rides that don't go in circles) and it was nice having more laps at the shows and hands to hold between! We went to a 15 minute Polar Express in 4D and hit all the major shows: dolphins, sea lions, and Shamu. The boys and I were entertained by the penguins while the others went on one of the rides. The day was just warm enough that they were able to go on the 'wet' rides and not totally freeze. It was a lovely day!

McKay was very disappointed when it was time for them to leave. I forgot to remind him they were leaving on Sunday so it was a bit of a surprise. He is already asking when they will be back again or when we will be going to Arizona.
Thanks for visiting!

The new grass at the end of the month, after 3 1/2 weeks of growth. Not bad!

Happy Halloween!

We haven't made cookies for a while so one Sunday evening Jordan and I decided to make some. As you can see above, the boys were so excited for the cookies to be done!

Where are the cookies??

Yay! The timer dinged!
I put Maxwell on the chair so I could get the cookies out of the oven without worrying about him and McKay went and sat next to him.

'I love chocolate chips!'

Check out the size of that pumpkin! 20 lbs! When we were at the pumpkin patch they showed the boys where the pumpkin's bellybutton is and Max loves to point it out.

The Saturday before Halloween we went to Sea World to see their Spooktacular Shows. We went to see a Pirate show in 4D. McKay liked it until the very end. Then he wanted to leave immediately. The bad pirate got a little too mean.

We enjoyed a couple other shows and the boys did a little trick-or treating.

After a loooonng wait in line, McKay and Jordan finally got to go on the Elmo ride. Max wanted to go too but I wasn't about to go with him!

For family home evening Jordan and the boys carved the pumpkin. McKay remembered carving the pumpkin last year and knew exactly how he wanted it to look this year.

He always makes this face when he is carving or doing other things that require the same amount of concentration and precision.

Maxwell didn't love the carving part. Nothing to do but watch and wait...

Maxwell wasn't too sure about touching the slimy stuff at first but he got into it... and made sure nothing stayed on the table if they happened to miss the bowl.

It was dark in the room so I didn't know McKay was doing this until I saw the picture later.

Our ward had a dinner and then trunk-or-treat this year. McKay knew exactly what to do and most people could tell what he was right away. Maxwell caught on quickly. He wasn't too sure when Jordan gave him a bite of chocolate so he just took a bit. He said 'mmm' as only Max can and opened up wide for another bite!

Front - notice the line of mailboxes along the road. McKay picked where each car should go.

After I took these pictures I added a tent and campfire that you can see in the picture above. I thought this would be a breeze compared to the christmas tree last year. It wasn't as difficult but it turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. Hopefully McKay will pick something a little easier next year!

This is the back. McKay chose Jessie to be the rock climber. He initially chose Buzz but after I warned him there was a chance he could get lost, he immediately changed his mind.

McKay wore his costume to pre-school so I let Maxwell wear his costume to take McKay to school. Halloween evening we took the boys to a few houses in the cul-de-sacs near our home. McKay was all business and said 'thank you' at each house. Max said thank you sometimes but he always waved and said his sweet little 'byen', sometimes several times, which of course made most people smile and 'ahhh'. It made Jordan and I smile every time.

We got home and McKay was anxious to finish trick-or-treating inside (hand out candy) and anxiously looked out the door for the next people to come.

After putting way the clean silverware (McKay's job) he offered to help me with the dishes. Maxwell woke up before I could finish so McKay ended up doing them for me. He did a good job too!

Tuesday Morning, November 1st, McKay woke up with a croupy cough and sore throat. We haven't left the house yet. So far Maxwell has escaped sickness but he has been taking nice long naps; he usually sleeps 2 1/2 hrs but I've been getting 3 this week. I haven't fared quite as well and am hoping to get some sleep tonight!
Here McKay is trying to take a nap... in his box. He tried for quite a while but didn't ever succeed. The boys have had SO MUCH FUN playing in this box. It will be a sad day when it falls apart!

Visitors

October 6th Jordan's parents came to visit us. The boys were SO excited! Jordan was able to take Friday off so we went to the zoo. We got some free passes with our membership in March and this is the first time we've had visitors to use them! We hadn't seen the panda bears yet because the line was always too long. Now they have finished the exhibit though so there isn't even a line anymore.

McKay was our official map reader. As soon as we finished with group of exhibits, he'd grab the map to see where we should go next and direct us where to go.

McKay wasn't too excited about climbing on that lion and was even less excited when his hat was taken for the picture. But they are cute anyway. We happened to see the lions when they were getting their lunch.

The polar bears were by far every one's favorite exhibit. Every time we've seen them they have been very active but this time they were especially playful with each other and with the big balls in the water. It was very cool.

Even though we had the double stroller, McKay insisted on walking the whole 3 hours or so that we were there. We were all ready to be done walking by the time we left!

Maxwell loves to play peek-a-boo. He is so much fun.

After leaving the zoo we drove to Coronado and drove around looking at the unique and beautiful homes there. Jordan's parent's had never been there before. It was a little too relaxing though and it was a bit difficult for some of us to stay awake.

McKay usually has unlimited energy for his Saturday soccer games but the zoo wore him out and we could tell he was tired as he played.

McKay REALLY wanted to go outside with Daddy and Grandpa who were out cooking a tri-tip roast on the grill. Not exactly shoes but at least his feet were covered! Uncle Todd came to McKay's game as well as Grandma and Grandpa and it was fun having them. Afterwards we had a delicious lunch of tri-tip bbq sandwiches, corn on the cob, grilled Italian squash, and fresh avocado dip and chips. Then Grandma and Grandpa went with Todd to his house to visit with them.

The real reason we had visitors was that Erin & Domingo blessed their sweet baby Brooklyn Sunday afternoon at Todd & Lisa's home. We were happy we were able to attend. McKay enjoyed playing with everyone, as usual, and it was great to visit and to meet Domingo's sweet sisters.

Max ate almost the whole ice cream sandwich and really didn't make too big of a mess. That doesn't mean I wasn't concerned he'd make a huge mess though.

Come again soon Grandma & Grandpa Moser!

September

If anyone still checks my blog you may have noticed that it has been a while since I have posted. I have really good excuses too. From the last week of August until the middle of October I have been super busy doing taxes. Only the necessities get done when I am so busy! Life goes on though and we had a great month.

This cracks me up. Maxwell takes McKay's pajamas out of his drawer and 'wears' them like a scarf.

The librarians thought he looked like a GQ stylin' boy today. I hadn't realized how well his sandals matched!

These boys love to dance to 'fast songs'. Makes me smile.

I don't even remember what came in this box but the boys enjoyed playing with it. It just wasn't quite big enough for both of them too much of the time though. McKay remembers his box house at Nanna & Papa McCleve's house and decided he wants a box for Christmas.

Yep, both boys are in there!

September 10th Jordan ran his first half marathon at Camp Pendleton. Several veteran marathon runners were shocked that he was doing that race as his first since it is one of the most difficult races around. He did it!

There is a free water park 20 minutes away that we added in to our park rotation and the boys loved it! This 'tunnel' was McKay's favorite. We waited to go until most of the kids were in school and it was great!!

We went twice in September. I love this picture. McKay tells me they are friends. So sweet.

Yep, as you can see in this video, McKay wore his goggles. :)

McKay started soccer and absolutely loves it! He has incredible endurance and runs and runs the whole time. He is a lot of fun to watch and is always right by the ball.

They don't have practices for his age group so they practice for the first 15-20 minutes of their hour and then play for the rest of the time. Anytime Max sees an 'extra' ball somewhere he likes to practice kicking. Jordan and I are learning about soccer right along with the boys!

After stake conference we drove 1 hour to Temecula to Jordan's brother Todd's home. As usual, McKay loved playing with Karlie and Todd . Max also enjoyed being outside and playing with the soccer ball.

McKay and Todd came up with a game where Todd would make a 'da da da daaaa' sound and McKay would take off running. Then Todd threw the ball and McKay raced the ball to the fence. Pure fun.

Todd's daughter Erin had baby Brooklyn about 3 weeks before so this was our first time meeting her. When the boys first saw her, she was asleep so McKay thought she was a doll. It didn't take them long to warm up to her and Max now loves to point at babies and say 'baby!' It was totally his idea to kiss her head too. So sweet!

Friday September 30th Jordan's company had a get-together at Dave & Busters. They had dinner and gave us power cards with a certain amount on them for the arcade. All day long McKay was so excited to get to play 'video games'. He hasn't really played them before but I'm pretty sure he has heard about it from the boys in his primary class.

The games were OK but we had the most fun with a couple of skill games where we got LOTS of tickets to use in the 'store'. The boys LOVE the big balls we got that light up when they throw them. We used the rest for something that will show up in a couple of months...

Max heard General Conference start and came in from outside where he had been 'helping' Daddy and sat down to listen. Loved it!

My other excuse for not blogging is actually pretty good too I'd say. We are expecting another little baby at the end of April. My due date is April 21 but unless this baby is different then the first two, I can only hope to deliver before May! McKay is confident we are having a baby girl. We'll find out sometime around Thanksgiving if he is right! We all heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time October 3, 2011 and then it really felt real!! We are super excited at our house.