Happy Halloween

I just thought I would wish everyone a Happy Halloween. Last night was our ward Trunk or Treat. Reagan now thinks he knows what Halloween is all about. Today he has wanted to carry his pumpkin wherever he goes. He now thinks that if he walks up to a person carrying his pumpkin they will put candy in it. So he doesn't want to forget the pumpkin.

Gas Update

I thought that I would give a little gas update. I know that I posted about gas prices before but I find it so exciting that the prices keep going lower. I keep thinking that the prices will stay where they are but they keep dropping. I had to fill up my car today. I tried to hold off on buying gas because I knew that everyday I waited I would be saving more money. Well my gas light went on today. So that meant I had to fill up. I was able to get gas for $2.07. I guess there are lots of places in Texas that have hit $1.99. We aren't one of them. I looked at Reagan's baby book the other day and saw that we are paying less for gas today then we were almost 2 years ago when Reagan was born. We payed $2.20 in Boise when Reagan was born.

Blake loves to dance. Any time he hears music he moves his little hips. It is so funny to watch him. He is a danging fool! We love it.

Weekend Update

John and Jill -- Superstar Runners

Jill and John both ran their 10K (6.2 mile) race this morning. The race might not sound to tought to Dallen, but Jill has never run more than 5 miles before, and she's only done that 2 or 3 times. The last time John ran more than 5 miles was when he was 18 years old. It was the Prison Break race, and it started at the Prison in Kuna. The race started with the prison sounding the escape alarm, and it was sponsored by Aladdin Bail Bonds.

There were a little over 200 people running the 10K race. Jill got 83rd place, with a time of 58 minutes. John got 20th place, with a time of 49 minutes.

Next year we plan on doing the half-marathon version of the race.

Halloween Fun

We have had a lot of fun Halloween activities this week. On Wednesday, Jill went with Mason's preschool to the pumpkin patch, so Mason and Blake both got to pick out a pumpkin. Wednesday night, John was in charge of the youth combined activity, and he took 59 twelve to eighteen year olds to the Corn Maze -- and all 59 of them made it safely home. Jill baked over 100 cookies for them. Then on Saturday, our family went to the Corn Maze. Ian thought it was very cool, but Mason wasn't quite so sure. He just kept saying: "I think we're lost . . . let's just go back to the beginning." We made it out after about 30 minutes of walking.

Just Because

Usually people wear a tux for special occasions. There wasn't any special occasions today. I just put Reagan in this tux because I felt like it. We bought the tux this summer when we went shopping at DI with Abe's mom.

Mason's Special Day

Since Mason recently turned "5" he was able to choose whatever he wanted to do for a special day with grandma. Because he is such a nice boy he wanted Ian to come along with him. As soon as I got off work I went over to pick Mason up for a little time just with him before Ian got out of school. He was a bit concerned because I was suppose to be there at 2pm and I was about 5 minutes late. It took some convincing him that I was only late because I went home to get his booster seat. He chose to go to the park so we went to Borah park which had been redone since we had been there and was a lot of fun for him. He can officially run faster than his grandma now so I no longer have to let him win races. Afterwards we went to Walmart and chose pumpkins and a little treat for Mason. That was a big decision and he chose something that he could share with Ian when we picked him up. Then we did something that none of us had ever done before. We parked the car and walked over the skybridge by the old McKinley Elementary on Overland. He was a bit scaired but afterwards happy that he had been so brave. Then it was time to pick up Ian and we went to Pojo's. The bad part about going with me was that I didn't know how to play the games that won a lot of tickets. The worst part was when I tried to show them how to play skee ball. Let's just say I was worse than both of them. We were almost out of quarters and I suggested we play "Deal or No Deal". The first game we won 104 tickets and they were hooked. They were yelling "NO DEAL" right there in pojo's. Ask Abe's sister she was working that night. She told us that it was double the ticket night so they had the big task of choosing wonderful prizers for there 200 tickets a piece. It took some time but they both eneded up with a Halloween whoopie cushion, some lovely dinasours, some candy and a whistle (sorry, Jill). Ian says that Pojo's is his new favoritest place to go. Later we went home and decorated the cookies and pumpkins. It was a good special day!

More holiday cookies

Recently Mason and Ian came over and we made Halloween spider cookies. Dallen & Marie gave us the cookie kit while they were here earlier. They were not the best tasting cookies but they were fun to make. Claire wouldn't even try a cookie, she said they were gross!

Bad parents guide to bedtime

Seeing the video of Reagan putting himself to bed prompted me to post yet another picture showing why Dallen and I occasionally (some days more than others) fail the parent test....

Clearly if we had studied we would have learned to keep our child's arms and legs inside the crib at all times...(I did move him after I took this picture-then this afternoon I bought breathable crib bumpers...but have yet to put them in...)

Bed Time

Tonight I changed Reagan and then left the room expecting Reagan to follow. Abram was still at his meetings and I wanted to wait for him to get home before putting Reagan to bed. I turned around and realized Reagan wasn't following me. He had stayed in the room and walked over to his bed. I grabbed the camera to see if he was going to put himself to bed. Watch the video to see what he does.



I turned the lights off after taking this video and left the room. Reagan stayed in bed for a few minutes but then I heard some jumping and someone calling for his mom. I went back in there and we said our prayers and he gave me a good night kiss then he was ready for bed. I put him back in and he was good for the rest of the night. So Reagan almost put himself to bed.

Cars

I got my ticket to fly to Boise. Reagan and I will be arriving December 3rd and will be going home December 16th. Reagan has a new favorite movie, Cars. He is hoping that he will be able to find someone that will want to watch it with him while he is in Boise. He gets very into the movie. Here is a little clip of his reactions to the movie. He is watch the race.

Chicago Marathon

I ran the marathon again. I managed to get a new personal bast time on 2:39:14. 91st place of about 35,000.

I found a video here. I go by at about 2:05 into the video. White top, black shorts.

It's cute when they wear the same glasses. Not quiet so cute when were they both think they're babies.
But they sure do love each other

I have spent a good part of this last week working on baby Lauren's baby announcement. I have had a lot of fun, and have made a lot of different announcements for Cory & Ashleigh to choose from. My sister Mindy fixed up a couple of pictures I took of Lauren and made them so sweet. I am enjoying learning how to work my adobe photo shop. I wish I knew more. Oh well, maybe some day. I hope you guys like the pictures.

Winter came to Boise

Winter came to Boise this week. Friday night we got 1.7 inches of snow. We set the all time record for the most snow the earliest in the year since they have begun taking records. That is not a good record to break! It wouldn't be so bad but a week ago it was 90 degrees.

Football Fan

There was an Ellison football game tonight. Abe packed the family up and brought us to the game. It is the third game we have been to this season. Usually it takes Reagan about half the game to warm up and feel comfortable. The things that he normally likes to do at the games are listen to the band and watch the cheerleaders. Tonight Reagan realized what was going on. He realized the boys on the field were playing ball. He was so excited to be a part of it. He may have been one of the loudest ones at the game. Yes, even louder than his father. Reagan shouted "Oh, NO!" several times during the game. Seeing how our team wasn't that good tonight he actually shouted it at the correct time. He also thought it was fun to shout "Woo Hoo!" He knew it was time to shout this when others started to clap. I think he still thought dancing with the band was the coolest part.

More fun

Jonah still hasn't figured out how to crawl, but he has learned this nifty trick.

Gas Prices

Everyday that I drive around I notice the gas prices keep getting lower and lower. I want to hold off on buying more gas because I'm sure it will only get lower. When Abe went to the church last night gas was $3.19. On his way home he noticed the same gas station was at $3.15. I just took a look a little bit ago and saw that I could get gas for $3.02. Isn't that great! This past weekend Abe and I were talking about gas prices. We were predicting how low prices would go. At the time gas was costing us $3.39. We predicted that it might hit $3.00 but we didn't think it would go below that. I am starting to think it will now. What does gas cost where you live? I'm curious to see the range of gas prices.

Motherhood

I enjoy being a mother. There are definitely moments that my patience is being tried and I am sure that one child is more than enough. You know those kinds of moment. When your child takes a bath and there is more water on the bathroom floor than in the bathtub. Or there are the times when your child makes sure every toy he owns is spread throughout the house. Don't forget the times when your child decides to climb on top of the desk and throw everything off. Then to top it off the times when they want to cry and cry for no reason. Nothing will make them happy. You hold them they cry. You give them milk they cry. You take them outside they cry. You do nothing they cry.

Even though there are bad times there are many more good times that make it all worth it. There the times when they are busy playing but have to stop to come give you a hug. There is the times when they want to just cuddle up to you. Or when your done with the bedtime prayers and your son gets up and gives you a great big kiss. I also love when I get to just sit back and watch Reagan play and giggle. Those are the moments that make it all worth it.

This morning I took Reagan outside to throw away his stinky diaper. After changing Reagan he feels that it his job to take his diaper out to the trash right then. If we do it for him he throws a fit. When we went out this morning to take out his diaper Reagan decided to go for a run. He ran to the sidewalk and started running away from me. He ran about four house down. He thought this was quite funny. I had to ignore him and act like I was going to leave him in order for him to come back. He finally decided to come back. He had to run through several people's yards first. When he came back I let him play in the yard for a little bit.

Many children like to give there parents things to show them that they love them. Well this morning while playing Reagan decided that he loved me so much I deserved a present. Some children will pick a neighbors flowers or a dandelion to give to their mom. Not Reagan!!! He thought of something even better. He loved me so much he thought that we would pick me some grass. Not just any grass but the longest grass he could find in both of our neighbors yard. He did a good job too. That stuff is hard to pull out. He fell a few times trying to pick me just the right grass. After picking lots of good grass he picked it all up and brought me the perfect bouquet of grass. Along with a good hug. Now that is true love.

Pumpkin Cookies

When fall rolls around I get a tad bit obsessed with everything pumpkin and the color orange. So I was very happy when I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin cookies! They are actually pumpkin chocolate chip cookies...sounds odd but they turned out really yummy! The recipe is kinda long to write out-but really not that hard to whip together. Email me and I will send you a copy; mariedanc@yahoo.com. They go really well with apple cider...and yes, cookies and apple cider was dinner for us tonight :)

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Singing Time

Regan loves to sing and do actions to songs. I have tried to tape it several times but as soon as I take the camera out Reagan stops. The other day we were singing and he didn't seem to mind too much that I was taping him. So here is a video of one of his favorite songs.