LAWN!!!

Our backyard officially has a lawn! We planted seed 4 short weeks ago and it looks AMAZING! There are some thin and bare spots that we will have to re-seed in the spring, but overall I am extremely happy with the results. I seriously don't know why we waited so long to do this. 

BEFORE

 AFTER

We are in TROUBLE!

Since Cason could walk he has been a bit of a climber, but recently he is taking it to a whole other level.  I always find him somewhere new.  Today I was putting some things away in his room and it suddenly got really quiet.  I came out into the kitchen and found him standing on top of his high chair trying to reach the light switches.  I lifted him down and he climbed up again.... and again.  I'm a little nervous for what comes next!

PUMPKINS!

We have a light up jack-o-lantern in our house that Cason adores.  Creatively, we call him Pumpkin.  Each morning Cason runs to Pumpkin and begs us to turn him on.  Throughout the day I will find him laughing or talking with Pumpkin.  They have become pretty good friends :).  Because of this he really likes all of the pumpkins that we have been seeing around town.  Like most people, it is a tradition every year for our family to carve pumpkins before Halloween and this Sunday we got together at my mom's house to do so.  It was a lot of fun.  We got a small pumpkin for Cason to paint... which he loved!  He made quite a mess though.  I think I gave him 3 baths in the tub and sink before we left.  After he painted his pumpkin Jeff and I carved the other one.  I thought that Cason might be interested in playing with the goop, but he really wasn't.  He did, however, love to see it lit up on our front porch after we got home.  Fun night!



Cason and Pumpkin :)

 

Halloween- sneak peak

So I am not Suzie Homemaker, Martha Stewart, or anything close to it. Typically, I leave those things up to my talented sister. However, since becoming a mom I have had to kick my butt in gear a bit and learn to do some new things. There are two goals that I have made for myself to accomplish each year as far as crafty, creative stuff goes. Just two?! In my defense I feel like I am a pretty busy woman! I'm hoping (crossing my fingers) that in the future I will have a little more spare time and can broaden my goals a bit. Right now I figure if I commit myself to these two projects each year then everything else I accomplish is a bonus. So what are the two goals?

Well, the first is to make a themed birthday cake for Cason's birthday each year. I feel like I did pretty well with jersey and basketball cakes for year one. I'm already finding cute ideas for next year and am getting pretty excited about it :).

The second goal is to make a homemade Halloween costume for Cason each year. The costumes that you buy at the store are adorable.... and expensive. Aside from the cost difference though, I have always loved when parents make their kids costumes, especially when they are original and creative. Although my ideas have not been the most original so far I have had a blast making costumes the past two years. Just yesterday I finished Cason's costume for this year. I can not wait for him to wear it and can't resist posting a quick picture. 

And since I didn't have a blog at this time last year here is a quick photo recap of Cason's first Halloween as a skeleton. I can't help but smile everytime I see these pictures. He was the most adorable little skeleton!



my trusty honda is back up and running

About a month ago I was driving on the freeway on my way home from work. I was almost to my exit when I heard a horrible sound coming from my engine. The only way I can describe it is that my car sounded like it was gurgling metal.... not good! I immediately started to lose power so I pulled to the side of the road and turned off the engine. Of course it would not start again and at that point I was pretty certain the car was dead for good. This sweet little Honda got me through 2 years of commuting back and forth to Cedar City for school and now 3 years of commuting back forth to Hurricane for work.  I have put over 70,000 miles on it in 5 years and have not had a single problem whatsoever... till now of course.
Jeff and I debated between buying a new car, buying another beater car, or trying to fix the Honda. I work on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. Everyday I drive 4 miles on a dirt road that is infamous for ruining cars. We have talked for a few months now about getting a good, new family car. However, it seemed ridiculous to get the car that we want just to drive it on the dirt road everyday. It also seemed ridiculous to waste money on another dirt road-friendly car. So, needless to say, we decided to replace the engine of the Honda and have been making it work with one car for over a month now.

Lucky for us, my wonderful cousin, Spencer, has experience replacing engines on Honda Civics and volunteered to help us out. I don't think he knew at the time what a project it would be. Bless his heart! Jeff will be the first to admit that he doesn't know much about working on cars. This means that Spencer pretty much did the entire project by himself. Despite being a very busy man he spent countless hours at our house until it was finished and we are so grateful. Thank you Spencer! We soooo owe you.

I am so happy to have my little Honda back. With a new engine I'm hoping it lasts forever! Who knows, maybe it can be Cason's first car when he turns 16. Lucky boy :).

Fall Fun

Last week blew in a much needed storm in Southern Utah. Cason absolutely loved the rain! Each day we spent a little bit of time running around in it and getting completely soaked. One weekday afternoon Jeff and I were both home (which almost never happens) so we decided to do something crazy and go swimming in the rain. It was a lot of fun. Cason, of course, loves every opportunity to get wet and loved every minute of it. The rain has now passed, but it seems that it left us with the fall season in full swing. We have been doing some fun things in the cooler weather.  Over the weekend I even pulled out my halloween decorations. I LOVE FALL! It is such a beautiful, fun time of year. It also helps that the holidays are just around the corner :). Here are some of the things we've been up to.

Playing and swimming in the rain- I wish I would have had my camera any of the times that we were playing in the rain. Cason absolutely loves to get wet. He'll run through the sprinklers any chance he gets and took the same opportunity with the rain. One afternoon we came in and his poor little nose and toes were freezing. We took a bath to warm up and then I grabbed a pair of fuzzy socks for his feet. They kind of looked like a big pair of fuzzy, pink boots. I thought he looked adorable! He wasn't sure what to think.

I can't resist putting in a cute bath picture :).

Sensory Box- My friend posted on her blog about a sensory box that she made for her daughter. I must admit, this is the second idea I've stolen from her recently... thanks Tara :). Cason and I were looking for ideas of fun things that we could do inside during all the rain and this was perfect. I made a box with beans and a box with macaroni with little toys hidden inside. He had a blast raking and digging through the beans and macaroni to find the toys. He had even more fun throwing them all over the kitchen.

Bike ride with grandma- Cason and I love to go for rides on our bike. At home we have a little seat that hooks above the back wheel for Cason to sit in. We were at my parents house one day hanging out with my mom and she suggested a bike ride. My sister has one of the trailers that you pull behind the bike. We have never tried this before and Cason loved it! I think he liked it even more than the one we have at home. We may have to get one for ourselves.

Decorating pumpkin cookies- Every year my mom makes a big batch of halloween sugar cookies for the kids to decorate. Typically we do this closer to the actual holiday, but this year she surprised us early. I am hoping this means that we will be doing it again in the next couple of weeks :). Cason didn't do much decorating, but had a great time eating the frosting, sprinkles, and eventually, the cookie.

Fun at the Farm

A few nights ago I was able to convince my family that it would be fun to spend a night at Staheli Family Farm. My parents and sister and family joined us and we all had such a good time. There were so many things for the kids to do. Cason loved the animals (except for the mean turkey that pecked him), the corn slide, the tractor toys, the pumpkins, and running through the maze, even though we had a difficult time finding our way through (I guess that's the point). We were there for about 2 hours, but could have stayed all night. I want to make it a tradition to go back every year. We had so much fun!

Laughing at the donkey. I wish we could get our own petting zoo for this kid. He LOVES the animals! 

I just love this one :) 

 I love the relationship that Cason has with his grandpa. They're best buds!

Tractor ride to the pumpkin patch and maze. 

 Lost in the maze.

Just Dance!

We recently cancelled our satellite service. After Cason goes to bed at night we always have to catch up on our shows which takes up a lot of our "us time." It has been nice not to have the tv on after work and we have been finding more meaningful things to fill our time. One night we were going through tv withdrawals and decided to go to the RedBox to get a movie. There was absolutely nothing good to watch so we ended up renting Just Dance 3 for the Wii. Jeff and I stayed up playing each other that night and then took it to my parents house the next day to play with the fam. The kids had so much fun. Cason can dance with the best of them and absolutely loved it! Half way through my mom pulled out the camera and started taking pictures and video taping us. I'm sure we looked like idiots, but it doesn't even matter because we had blast.

Mommy's Little Helper

Finding time to clean my house feels like a job in itself. I am at work during the day and can't bear to waste any of my free time with Cason keeping up with the daily chores... I'm a bit of a whiner when it comes to anything interrupting my time with my boy :). I try to do most of the housework at night after he's in bed or during his naps on the weekends. However, there are, of course, times that it is absolutely necessary that I do something when he is awake so we try to make it fun. Cason loves helping with anything and everything. He doesn't wait to ask if I need the help and just jumps right in :). This sometimes makes things a bit more difficult, but way worth it in the end. It also makes for cute photo ops which I love. 

Loves to help me cook. He likes it when I give him his own bowl and spoon to mix while I am mixing mine.

Sweeping seriously is a chore! He always wants to ride the broom. I've tried to compromise by letting him hold the dust pan for me.

Cason helps with laundry by handing me the clean clothes to fold or hang up. He also likes it when I give him the wet clothes to throw into the dryer. After everything is out he'll climb right in!

A few more things I want to add about my little helper:

• Loves playing with cars and trucks right now (basically anything with wheels, big or small) and calls all real vehicles boats.
• Climbs and jumps on everything. A favorite is to run across one couch, climb on the end table, and jump onto the other couch. He always wants to climb onto the end table or ottoman and jump into our arms.
• Loves piggy back rides. Anytime I am sitting on the floor he comes up behind me, wraps his arms around my neck, and begs to go for a ride.
• Plays with the key remote for our truck all the time. He loves to push the buttons and make the alarm go off.
• Always wants to turn the lights on and off and is obsessed with light switches.
• The bathroom door must remain shut or we will find him sticking his hands in the toilet. Gross, I know!!
• Loves to eat fruit and will eat any fruit. Luckily his crazy obsession for grapes has passed. He still loves them, but doesn't throw a daily fit in front of the fridge anymore.