October

My mom always goes to a ton of work to can a lot of produce...applesauce, peaches, pears, tomatoes, salsa, spaghetti sauce.  Then she gives it all to her kids.  This year I told her I would help her with the applesauce since my kids eat tons of it and it is a lot of work.  So I took the little girls for half a day and we did applesauce.  Brynn liked stirring the sugar into the sauce.  We did about 10 bushels of apples that day (my sisters were helping too and actually probably helped more since I had to to leave to make it home before the kids got home from school).

This is hands-down the best applesauce.  It flies off my pantry shelves.

Molly and Brynn found some friends to play with while they sat at Stockton's soccer games.  This picture is blurry but it makes me laugh because it is three 4-year-olds hiding behind a post while playing hide-and-seek.

Ivy was a good sport to go to all the games.  I think she enjoyed being outside.

The Wasatch High girls soccer team was playing a game one night on the football field with the lights on.  I took the kids to watch for a little bit.  I could've stayed the entire game but we only stayed for a portion since it was getting late.

Happy Ivy.  Oct. 2nd.

Just keepin' it real.  After a busy week full of soccer games and practices my dishes were really piling up!  Finally on Friday I was able to tackle all of them.  The dishes to the right are all washed and air drying.  The dishes in the corner on the left are rinsed and waiting for the dishwasher cycle to finish so they can be loaded.  Whew!

Stockton describing how applesauce is made.

Another note from Stockton.  He was thinking ahead and getting an early start on Christmas ideas.  On Oct. 4th he was asking for a football helmet (49ers), a golf driver, a baseball cap (Jazz), and a bobblehead (Braves).

We went to Gene and April's for Conference Sunday like we always do.  After dinner, Gene gave Ivy a lime to try.  She sucked on it for a long time!  She would put it in her mouth, then take it out and pucker up, then put it right back in.

Stockton also tried on this wig while we were there.

Justin was bathing all the kids one night and since he was in the bathroom already, he decided to tear down all the wallpaper.  I guess he just couldn't stand the cowboy print one more day! (Can you really blame him?)

Molly thought it was exciting and wanted in on the action.  She helped him reach the hard-to-get areas.

We have plans to re-do the bathroom but for now, the bare walls look better than the wallpapered walls!

Ivy's first time doing stairs.  She went up two.  Oct. 7th.

Daddy-Daughter Activity Days Night.  We played musical chairs and did relay races and ended with banana splits.  It was really low-key but we had a good time.

Stockton and Brynn playing school.  I have fond memories of doing the same thing as a little girl.

This is possibly the cutest picture of Ivy.  She is laying on Molly's big panda bear.  It is a favorite toy for her.

Stockton's Saturday games were early.  Some of them were cold!

Last game of the season.  Stockton is third in from the left.  He had a good time but I'm not sure if he'll decide to do it again.  Or maybe he'll do it for a couple of years and then focus on baseball.  He definitely liked baseball more.

This is also a blurry picture because I'm trying to zoom in with my phone.  Molly is #16 and it was her turn to be captain. She is pointing to the side of the field they wanted to start on.

Bike rides outside.  No Stockton because he's afraid of encountering a dog on the street.  Oct. 10th.

Just some pictures of the kids before bed.  Oct. 10th.

Here is Brynn being my kitchen helper.  She likes to cut off the carrot peels and stir them together in a bowl.  Don't ask about her outfit, I don't know what that was all about.

Love the smiles after naps.  Oct. 11th

Playing in the leaves.  There were a lot!

Ivy was not a fan of the leaves

The Starry Night, by Stockton.  Look close-the best part is his description in the upper right-hand corner.  He cracks us up nearly everyday with his writings.

Our Spanish Fork friends, the Phillips, came up to visit.  We had dinner and a short FHE.  Roger planned a lesson.  The kids acted out the story of the 10 Lepers.

Then we had a campfire and roasted s'mores.

Peyton and Brynn

I lent baby Logan some of Ivy's pink jammies.  He is cute even when wearing pink!  (He is two months younger than Ivy.)

Oct. 14th-Ivy is excited with her new trick.  Pulling herself up on the furniture.

We met my mom and dad at Gardner's Village.  We were camping over Fall Break so we just went on a Monday afternoon and it was much less crowded.  It was a little chilly but not too bad.

One of our favorite traditions for sure.

The leaves continued to get out of control.  We're going to have to keep on top of them better next year.  Oct. 26th.

Brynnie and Bitty Baby.  Oct. 28th.

A short story by Stocky.

Crazy Hair Day.  In the days leading up to crazy hair day, Stockton talked a lot about having Justin cut his hair to look like an old man (it was getting super long and needed a cut).  So the night before, Justin did just that.  It looked so funny!  We were all laughing, Stockton included.

In the morning, however, Stockton had a change of heart.  He all of a sudden did not like his old man haircut and insisted on Justin buzzing it.  There was no talking him out of it so his hair was buzzed. It was too short to do anything crazy so he got some pink hair color in it and that was it.

Molly didn't want to do anything too crazy so we just braided her hair the day before and left them in until morning.  It ended up being more cute than crazy.

We had to put up the baby gate on the stairs going down to the basement.

I pulled this baby piano out of the basement for Ivy.  She really liked it but for two days she barely got a chance to play with it because it was hogged by her older siblings.  Even Molly.

I took a picture of this coloring page because both Justin and I were surprised to find out that it was Brynn who colored it. We thought it was Stockton.

We made pink playdough for one of our activities.  She likes to use the tiny cookie cutters the best.

We decorated cookies for Halloween.  It's tradition and the kids had the day before Halloween off of school so it seemed a good time to do it.