Pumpkin picking fun!

We ventured out last weekend and went to the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun and really cute! There was a hay maze for the kids, lots of fresh fruit and produce, ice cream, and a pumpkin patch. The weather was perfect and we had a blast!

Macey picked this baby out all by herself, pretty good huh?
All us girls, we take this same picture every year....
Our family picture....it was pretty sunny so everyone is squinting, but not to bad :) I think we are cute!
I love Olivia's expression.....so. not. impressed. Good heavens, I love these kids!
Annie and Macey playing on the pumpkin wagons. They loved the pumpkin patch!

Finially.... I am back!!

You might be wondering where I have been. Well, we moved!! Yep, new town, job, the works. It was a bit crazy but we survived and we are all settled in and loving our house!! Thank goodness Rex is kinda like me in that we moved in and had everything in, unpacked, pictures hung, garage organized in a matter of days. I wasn't a total slave driver and he never once complained. It just feels good to be moved in and back to normal, ya know? So here are some pictures showing why life has been busy....

All the girls on the porch. I love this porch. Covered and wraps around the house. They can run, play, scoot, and I have nice big windows to see them.

Just being cute. The girls are really excited about having a house. They love it. They run all over and the open floor plan is wonderful. Not to mention the playroom (I will get a pic of that room soon) to contain all the toys... but somehow a few toys still make their way out into the living room....

See, their they are. My goodness we have a ton of stuffed animals. But that cute baby on the right is mine :) This is the living room. It is hard to take pictures but this is the best angle I could get. Lots more space. Love it!

The kitchen. Oh, I am so happy. Do you see all that counter space? I do and I love it. Not to mention cupboard space too. I love cooking up a storm in there! Love all the sunlight too! I caught Macey yawning....cute!

So a week after moving I thought it would be a grand idea to can pears. I have never canned pears. SO why not start now? It was a bit ambitious but 24 pints of pears later, I did it!! I kinda never want to peel a pear again.

Then days later Macey turned 3!!! I can't believe it! What is going on, my kids are growing at an incredibly fast speed. She was so stinking cute and wore the birthday hat through her special breakfast with her very special cereal :) Love her!!

Then we threw a toy story party (she loves Jessie and Woody, just wait for Halloween) and she had a blast!

Then somewhere in the middle of all this Olivia turned 6 months! AHH, did you know that is half a year? I know, weird, but look at that smile! Oh, I love this baby!!

And most recently (as of today) Annie had her first day of preschool. She loved it! She is standing by her coat hook and Macey wanted to be a part of the action too:) I can't believe Annie is in preschool. My baby. She is so smart and loves to learn. Wow, time flies when you are having fun, and the past 7 years have been super great!!

My sleeping beauty

So ever since we took Macey's afternoon nap away (to keep her from jumping on the bed until 11:00) she will fall asleep all over the place. And I meal ALL over..... take a look.

while snacking......

after swimming... not even enough energy to get out of the car......

waiting for dinner to be made....

after grocery shopping sleeping on the bench outside our apartment.....

this is checking on the girls at night. she migrated down in front of her bed....

reading books...........

and sleeping on our stairs.... I love this girl, she makes me laugh so much!!

A little catch up.........

Wow, we have been busy! Too busy to blog you ask? Well, by the time the kiddies are asleep and I am still catching up on laundry, dishes, and toy picking up.... and finding time to hang out with Rex I am wiped out! So today is the day! Well, lots has happened in the last couple weeks! Good stuff. Fun stuff. So here is what we have been up to..... Our little baby is 5 months!! Ahh, ok, rewind this is going by way too fast!! Rex got a new job!!!! Ok, we are super excited and overjoyed! We have been looking since he graduated with his masters last year and finally he found a counseling job in Cottage Grove (20 min away) at the high school. This job is such a blessing and Rex is loving going to work everyday!! Yeah, let the house hunt begin! In honor of this occasion, I made him this delicious Oreo pudding poke cake! Go here for the recipe! Random.... we were at my dad's house and part of his huge 30 year old tree fell on our car. We were not pleased. Thank goodness the damage was a few small dents and scratches and thank goodness for car insurance. Moving on.... Our good friends Nick and Katelyn, from BYU-I (Nick from Sweet Home too and high school), came to see us and we had a blast! We did dinner and bowling, so fun! They have a cute little baby boy, Logan. Katelyn and I decided that we are going to betroth Logan and Olivia to each other. They would make a cute couple :) The girls loved bowling. How cute are those tiny shoes? I loved watching their ball roll super slow to the very end to hit 8-9 pins down :) My niece Ryan came to stay with us for a week and we had a blast. The girls loved having sleep overs and then Heather and Dad treated us to the circus! Super fun, the girls of course love it! A Sunday nap is always good, especially with pillow pet and a cute baby. Macey and Olivia watching Sesame Street with some stuffed animals.... I really don't let my kids veg in front of the t.v. Well, only when I am in the shower.
And last..... Annie was jumping off the couch onto the bean bag and Olivia was laughing so hard! You must see.... enjoy!

One year older....

Over the weekend we celebrated my birthday! I have to admit that I love birthdays. I think that you should always go all out. Make a big deal. Celebrate the heck out of it. I mean it is only once a year, right? Well, I was spoiled. My fabulous in-laws watched the girls (all of them)Saturday night and we went to see Captain America. So good, and fun to go on a date again. Then on Sunday (my actual b-day) we went to church :), and Rex made me lunch, we opened presents, had a wonderful nap, and headed over to dad and heathers to p-a-r-t-y! Well, we mingled with all my best buddies, let the kids run wild and had an assortment of goodies. Rex was amazing and made me my favorite cake, cupcakes and dinner. LOVE MY MAN! It was a great day...can't wait until next year :)

Annie helping me blow out candles

Me and my girls. They were excited to help me open presents.

opening..... I got great gifts, a cute jacket and shirt, cooking supplies (of course), a gift card, a cute sewing book with great projects, a new cd, movie, and ......

THIS! LOVE THIS!! My sweet friend Amy got me this necklace. Isn't it amazing? I love having my girls around my neck. Such a perfect gift for me. Thanks to everyone who made my day special!

The Beautiful Beach

Rex has 2 days off a week. They are very valuable. One of them is spent attending church, naps, going on afternoon walks, and eating yummy food. (I often go all out on Sunday meals and desserts :) The other day is Monday. What a great day. We always plan something. Last week: the BEACH. We had a blast. The weather was wonderful, we had a spot of sandy beach to ourselves and enjoyed every minute! Being with my family is what truly makes me so happy. I look forward to these days SO much. I love driving home from a trip like this and turning around to look at all my sweet girls. They are perfect. With windblown hair, dirty feet, sleeping so sweet in our car. It makes my heart full and makes me smile.
No trip to the coast is complete without a lunch date to MO'S!
We always hit up the candy shops for taffy and frozen yogurt. Love this picture.
Love this one too, Olivia is there....just sleeping in her seat.
The girls loved this big anchor so we took some photos of the modeling on it.
And one with dad :)
We brought a kite and Macey loved it. She looked so small holding onto the kite, but she insisted she do it herself. Cute!
Love my hot hubby! (and that cute baby squished in between)
Me and my sweet little baby
I love this picture too!! And I love self timers....
I guess our camera has a mind of it's own. It took another picture after or family shot and I like how it turned out. Very unplanned :) What a great day!

Swimming lessons!

Annie has been taking swimming lessons for the past couple weeks as a present from Papa and Heather (thanks guys!) and she is loving it! Macey, Olivia and I sit and watch proudly from the bleachers everyday. Her teacher is a cute high school girl who is great with her. Annie laughs and smiles through every class. It has been really nice having a little schedual each day. Being at home with 3 little ones means we kinda do whatever we want whenever we want. So.... these swimming lessons of brought a bit of structure to our mornings and I love it! Here are a few pictures from our view.....
Listen to all the rules of the pool....
So happy to be swimming.............
A really cute Olivia enjoying swim lessons, look at that smile :).............
Macey enjoying swim lessons.... just kidding she is totally watching Word World on my phone. I know, I know, but she gets a little bored.... moving on...........
Belly floats and blowing bubbles.........
kicking to her hearts content! She is so cute. She passed her "tots" class and has moved up to "advanced tots"! GO ANNIE!