HO-MAWK

I know that I am always blogging about all the funny things my kids do and say, Sorry. It makes me smile, it might make you smile too..
Yesterday Cailtin was telling me that I needed to fix Ryan's hair in a HO-MAWK. :) I love it. It is still making me laugh. Faux-Hawk, or Mohawk. I am not sure which she was going for, but it came out HOMAWK. Hee Hee

Getting Rid of the Skunks....well trying too.....

So, we still have the skunks. Mark called animal control, which turned out to be the local police department. They wouldn't come out and take care of the skunks for us, but they offered Mark a free trap so that we could catch them ourselves. OOHHHHH GOODY! Is anyone else laughing hysterically at this point? So he picked up the trap and brought it home. He then realized we needed to bait it. With what? A quick search on the internet lead us to these options....

1.CHICKEN ENTRAILS

2.CRACKNELS

3.FISH

4.FRESH INSECT LARVAE

5.BREAD CRUST COATED IN PEANUT BUTTER

WHAT THE????????? I quickly voted for bread and peanut butter. The other stuff totally grossed me out! eeccckkk. Ryan, Cait and Mark set the trap. Placed it in the yard. Then Mark covered the trap with a large beach towel. The police told him that a skunk won't spray what it can't see. Gut instinct tells me that isn't right. But I am not an expert. SOOO now the waiting begins...........

Next morning all the bread and pb were gone, the trap had not sprung. HMMMM. I think we might have skunks come spring, because if we don't catch them soon, they will hibernate in the yard. (Atleast in Over The Hedge they hibernate).

I am not concerned we haven't caught the skunks. I am more concerned about what we will do when we DO catch the skunks. We will have to catch them one at a time. And release them one at a time. Which means we will be taking atleast 4 trips to 'the wild' to let them go. In what I ask? We don't have a truck, and neither Mark or I want a live skunk in our cars. HMMM. Any suggestions?

Liberty Days Performance

Josh had his first big band performance last week. The concert was centered around "being proud to be an American". Josh and another fellow trumpeter got to perform Taps in honor of all the veterans in the audience. It was such a great night!! Josh really loves his music. It was so fun to watch him perform. We are so proud of you Josh!!

The last few days of Ryan's of adventures.....

Oh Ryan. We love you soooo.

We just can't keep up with you!!!!

I thought Ryan was out in the backyard playing with the other kids. He wasn't. I found him in the playroom with a black sharpie (his favorite drawing tool).

BUSTED!

The blue walls are now decorated with Ryan's art - So are his cheeks, and his shirt and his belly etc. I quickly removed the marker and escorted him outside to play with the other kids. :)

Ryan was in the tub. I checked on him every 2 minutes while I cleaned the kitchen. Well, I checked on him again, the curtain was closed around the tub and when I pulled it back, this is what I found..... Ryan covered his eyes-figuring I wouldn't see the mess if I couldn't see him.

BUSTED!

These items were in the basket along with 2 full rolls of toilet paper that had disentegrated in the tub water. Yuck!

See no evil.

Here we see Ryan in Josh's room with the fish tank....yes, he has dumped the tank upside down all over Josh's desk. He had a great time playing with the little orange rocks. I did not have a great time cleaning it up. It took forever!

BUSTED! Ryan has also been spinning around on the kitchen table, getting into the peanut butter jar when I wasn't looking, hiding in my closet rearranging all the shoes. I took him with me to church to set up for a Relief Society Dinner. He unset the tables as I set them. AAAHHHH!!!Where does he get the energy? I need some of it!!!!

I think Ryan should have his own reality show, and a series of Ryan adventure books. He is awesome.

Don't can butter!!!!!!

Okay, so after research and informative emails from my awesome mom, I have found out that you can't and shouldn't can butter. Sorry! I am very sad about that!!

You Can Can

I am so excited! I just found a blog about random things that can be canned in jars, and guess what.....You Can Can Butter!!! WOOOOO HOOOOOO! I can't wait to try it!!!!!! youcancan.blogspot.com

The Hawk

I was getting Ryan dressed yesterday morning, and I told him next we would do his hair. He was excited to get his hair done, which is not normal at all. Usually he fights me, so I don't do his hair very often. When I got him up on the counter and sprayed his hair with water he said, "I want a Hawk." I thought about it for a minute before I realized he was asking me to style him with A MOHAWK. This kid gets funnier everyday.
Later in the day, he was talking about his eagle. What? Then I made the connection between his Hawk and his Eagle, How he made it at 2 is amazing! Ryan is a very smart little boy. Our conclusion is that his favorite show Diego is teaching him good stuff!!

Breakfast Ryan Style

Ryan is very crafty, and sneaky, and sweet, and adorable. So when I found Ryan the morning after halloween sitting by a pile of candy and 2 suckers hanging out of his mouth, how could I be mad? Too cute! (and sticky!)

Trick or Treating Fun

Well, another successful year trick or treating. We went over to the Church for an hour or so to Trunk-or-Treat. Then Josh, Matt, Cait and Dad hit a few streets in the neighborhood. Ryan and I came home to hand out the rest of the candy. He had such a great time answering the door and giving each kid a huge handful of candy. He didn't get the concept of 1 candy to each kid. We have so much candy! We'll have enough to last us until next Halloween!

Action shot on our way out the door

Josh was very excited about his blowup Sumo costume

Matt found this plumber costume irrestible

The crack in the back is hilarious

Caitlin was a magical Tinkerbell,

She danced around singing all night

Arg. The cutest pirate on the block!

Happy Halloween

So here is the scary story for today. I was putting my makeup on and doing my hair. This is what Caitlin was doing...........

Cutting her own hair. I found her hair in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in her room, and in Ryan's room. She was all over the place cutting and styling. But that is not all...

She also decided that Bella needed a haircut. She managed to give her a bare strip down the middle of her head! I seriously can't believe it. I can't even wipe Bella's eyes with out her freaking out. How could Cait manage to do this?

And Ryan wasn't watching Cait. He was doing his own thing... getting some snacks out of the pantry. Apparantly he couldn't find what he wanted so he decided to rearrange things for me. This is why I have a lock on the door. How did I forget to lock it?

Fall time...

Falling leaves, red, gold, brown. Cool breezes gently blowing. The smell of yummy spices floating through the air, carving pumpkins, drinking hot cocoa, baking fall goodies, the smell of a woodburning fire, trick or treating, the smell of cold air, picking out pumpkins at the pumkin patch, snuggling into cold sheets at night. I love fall. This is my favorite time of year. It is so fun to decorate the house and spend time doing fun things with the kids. Today we made caramel apples for afterschool snack. The kids picked out an apple, dunked it in gooey caramel, drizzled it with chocolate and decorated with halloween sprinkles! YUM!

Ryan picking out his apple.

Shining her apple. (It's under the paper towel.)

Matt's apple

Making sure it tastes okay

The finished product

Skunks!

Tuesday after school Josh was looking out the back window and he casually said, "Hey mom, I think there is a skunk in the backyard." Well, upon further inspection, there was not A skunk in the backyard, but there were 4 baby skunks in our backyard. Which means, there is probably a mom and a dad as well. WE think they are nesting in the back corner. So what do you think the boys did? They immediately wanted to throw things at the skunks. I quickly informed them that if they were sprayed by a skunk they would be sleeping outside for the next week or two until the stink wore off. This in NO Way discouraged them from wanting to get at the skunks. So what do you do? I locked all the kids in the house and threatened them with their lives if they went out back to bother the skunks. Of course they snuck out when I was not looking. Apparently they do not fear me at all. Fortunately, no one has gotten sprayed. Hopefully the skunks will move on to someone elses backyard. I will keep you posted!

Carving Pumpkins

For Family night we carved our Pumpkins for the front porch. This is usually Marks thing with the kids. I like to take pictures, but I am not an ooey gooey person at all. I did glove up and help out a few times. It was really fun. The kids picked out their own patterns and did their best. Dad helped Ryan and Cait out, but the Josh & Matt did their own. Ryan was very excited about the pumpkins. But when Mark cut into them to remove the tops, he covered his nose and ran from the kitchen. From then on, he remained in his room watching Diego. Every 10 minutes he would check on us and our Pumpkins....but everytime he did so it was with his nose covered so he couldn't smell the Pumpkin 'guts'.

With all the mess cleaned up,

We put our PUMPKINS on the porch.

Aren't they the cutest pumpkins?

Ryan's Pumpkin

Matt's Pumpkin

Josh's Pumpkin

Caitlin's Pumpkin

Funny things that kids say

The other day Caitlin was trying so hard to say the word accident. But it just wouldn't come out right. Finally she said "I can't say ass-ka-dent!"
Matt was talking to Jessica being quite sassy and trying to be funny when he said "you have more fat on you than a cow!" Jessica and I both thought it was funny and laughed hysterically. Crazy kids!

Hanging with the Masons

Jess and Lloyd brought the kids down for a visit for a few short days. We had a great time hanging out. Jess and I went to Bunco for a girls night out. So much fun. Then we had a little Halloween Party for the kids. We decorated cookies and dressed up in Costumes. So much fun. Saturday night, the adults went to Sundogs Hockey game. Go Dogs! Again, sooooo much fun. Did I mention, we just had so much fun while they were here!!!! Love you guys.

A bat named Stevie

I think 3 and 4 year olds are hilarious, They say the most random things sometimes. Well, Cait came home from preschool with a clothes pin turned bat. She quickly informed me his name was Stevie. Stevie. Stevie? HuH? Okay. Whatever Cait.

Little Whistler

Ryan has discovered how to whistle. At first, I thought I was hearing things. Then I realized that he was whistling very quietly. He is quite good at it, I must admit. He will whistle at random times...mostly when he is happy. It is just so darn cute!

Trip to Greer over Fall Break

Josh and Matt have a week off school every October. This year we decided to get away to see some fall colors. We found a little tiny resort town called Greer up in the white mountains of Arizona. The colors were breathtaking as we drove up into the mountains. It was wonderful. Once we got settle into our cabin, we immediately set out to the various ponds on the property to fly fish, chase ducks, and view the beautiful fall colors. We took nature walks along the mountain streambeds, went bird watching with binoculars and bird books, fly fished, relaxed and had a wonderful time together as a family!

What?

I was in the kitchen this morning when I overheard this conversation between Cait and Matt.

Cait: "Hey Matt, come play with me."
Matt: "No, I don't want too"
Cait: "Please, it will be fun."
Matt: "Why? Do I get to run you over?"

Should I be disturbed that he only wants to play with her if he can run her over? Hmmmmm?

Yummy Ice Cream

I found this picture while I was reviewing photos of the last few months. ??????? Who knows what was going on... Ryan dishing up his own ice cream. ??????????? I must have been picking my battles that day! :)

Bella

Well, we got a new puppy. She is a little yorkie. We are all very excited to have Bella join our family. She is sweet and spunky, she loves to play with the kids, and she has tons of energy! I hope she will be exactly what the kids need! Cait carries her around everywhere, and constantly says "I love my new puppy, she is soooo cute". Josh loves to rough house with her, and she is more than eager to play. She especially likes to chew on his stinky socks! ugh. She'll give a little bark at Ryan and he runs away from her, so she chases him through the house trying to bite at his blanket that is always draggin behind him. Matt, eyes the dog, holds it for 10 seconds and then hands it back. Mark and I think she is too darn cute and we realize that she is the new 'baby' around the house.

Ryan's Shiner

Poor Ryan, a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Didn't have a chance. Josh and Matt were playing in the hall way with my workout band. They were trying to see how far they could stretch it. Well, Josh decided to let go and Whap! The handle flew down the hall and hit Ryan right in the eye! Everyone felt terrible! I am just glad he didn't go blind!

Matt's Baptism

Matt had a wonderful Saturday afternoon baptism. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend. Days like this remind me of what life is all about! Raising those little Redfords to do what is right! Caitlin was very concerned for a couple of weeks leading up to his baptism. Every time we talked about Matt getting baptized she would get very upset and tell us she didn't want Matt to die. She thought that when he went under the water, he would die and go back to live with Heavenly Father. So we spent a little extra time working with her! She was happy when Matt came out of the water smiling. I love the glow of a freshly baptized person. :) Afterwards we went out to eat at Red Robins - of course! Our favorite kid place to eat. We had so much fun! What a great day to always remember.

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson

Grandma and Granpa Redford

1st Day of School

Josh and Matt were not excited to start school this year. They really had a great summer, but felt it was way too short. They did not want to wear school uniforms, or do homework, or sit still and listen during class. But guess what? They had a great day. It was so good to see old friends they hadn't seen all summer. No, they still didn't want to do homework, but who does? I complain about my 'homework' all the time.

Caitlin, however, was very excited to start preschool this year. She has 2 teachers this year, Miss Gina, and Miss Mindy. She loves it! She comes home singing all her cute songs and counting. She loves to sit and draw and practice her letters all day long. Maybe she will rub off on the boys a little bit! :)