pumpkin walk

yesterday we went to the pumpkin walk. the pumpkin walk is a fall tradition in north logan. ethan and i have been going since we were first married. it feels like every year we go we add another kid . . .

the pumpkin walk is a lot of fun. anyone can be involved. there is a different theme every year and each group involved makes a display based on that theme. they use all sorts of squash and other things to make up their scene. some people are quite creative. here are some of our favorites (you may need to click on some of the pictures to really see what's going on):

in this scene they used pumpkins to create an entire garden.

a clever turkey

the adult ducks are made of gourds (and i love the frogs in the background).

i love these sunflowers!

hudson found this scene depicting "where the wild things are" interesting, but i could not get him to stand by the pumpkins by himself for a picture. i guess the characters were just a little too weird for him to want them behind him.

the kiddy crew.

there were a few other scenes we really liked. there was one where they made sheep out pumpkins (for the head) and tumbleweeds (for the body). that was fun. in another scene they made cows out of hay with pumpkins for the head and udder. pretty creative.

i feel like this post is a little difficult to read. sorry if my writing isn't very good. my brain doesn't work too good right now. i'm really tired right now. maybe i should go take a nap while the kids are sleeping.

weeding machine

maria is a weeding machine. everyday she says, "mom, can i go outside and weed?" it's crazy. if i could just get hudson to say, "mom, can i do the dishes?"

cupcakes and kids

how is it that it can feel like not much is going on and at the same time there's too much to do? we are enjoying the fall season. the kids are looking forward to halloween even though we don't celebrate the holiday. we have a tradition of taking the kids to a movie on halloween night. last year we saw walle. not sure what we'll end up seeing this year.

we love to make treats all through the holidays. last week we made fall cupcakes. maria and hudson really enjoyed frosting the cupcakes and loading them up with sprinkles.

here are some of the cupcakes we made. mine are the left and middle row, hudson's are in the right row. i thought it was funny that he hardly put any frosting on the cupcakes considering that's the only part he eats.

maria and hudson showing off their creations (and looking forward to tasting them!)

liberty is growing so fast it's crazy! she is crawling all around the house, enjoying her new found freedom. she loves to explore. she is quite the busy-body. she still is as happy as ever - excepting when hudson takes toys from her or tries to control where she may crawl. he loves her very much and i often find him in her crib. "bibby and i nuggle," he says. he often tells her he loves her and smothers her with kisses. she tolerates it quite well.

look at my teeth!

here i come!

maria is doing well with home school and i'm getting more comfortable with the idea of teaching her. she loves math and seems like she could do it for hours. she is also a huge help with libby and the house.

i keep saying that libby is such a happy girl. now i think i know why that is. i believe it's because heavenly father knew what was coming . . . another baby. yup. i am officially declaring it. we are expecting again. what can i say, we love our family. we are due may 1st.

and there you have it. you're all somewhat updated.

salmon run

we have a tradition of going up the river from porcupine reservoir to watch the kokanee salmon run. we do this every fall, the saturday of general conference between morning and afternoon sessions. it's always fun. here are a few pictures.

almost 8 months

i don't have much time right now, but i thought i would at least post some pictures. libby will be 8 months next week and is so close to crawling it's scary. she can scoot herself across the floor to get something she wants. she still is very much an angel, very sweet and very happy all the time.

cutest girl

i know i keep saying it, but i just keep saying it because it's true! she really is the cutest little baby girl in the world! and if you can't agree with that surely you would agree she is the best baby there ever was. she's so sweet and happy nearly all of the time. and yes, her tongue hangs out all of the time. boy, i sure hope she grows out of that or there may be some awkward moments when she starts dating.

she is so grabby! i'm going to be in big trouble when she starts crawling, which could be pretty soon.

i think this picture is funny. it's like, "aaaaahhhh! watch out, here comes baby!"

this is pretty much how libby is all of the time. always happy. always smiling. always looking for a reason to laugh.

my two cents

so there's a lot of, shall we say, "discussion" about president obama's speech to the children coming up. i know, i know, but i just can't help myself.

here's what i think: people are totally overreacting. i do not support obama and his ideology, but it doesn't make me the least bit concerned that he wants to talk to the children of our country. i think it's a great idea, actually. the president seems so far removed from these little children and their lives i think it's nice for them to believe he cares about them and how well they do in school.

i know some parents are worried obama will try to "indoctrinate" their kids with his politics but to those parents i say, seriously? this is what you are worried about? a very short speech your kids will hear one time? i doubt these same parents are so concerned about the actual curriculum their children are learning from at school because, believe me, that is what is going to make the difference.

i remember when bush sr. was inaugurated. i can remember watching that in school. do i remember anything he said in his speech? no. but i can remember thinking "this is cool" because i felt like i was a part of history. i doubt most kids will remember anything the president says in his speech this week. if they remember anything it will probably be about school because that is relevant to their lives right now.

as mentioned before, what the parents should really be worried about is what their children are learning from their teachers, because the public school curriculum is very liberal. our history and government books are not unbiased. this is coming from someone who, believe it or not, remembers a thing or two from her own public education, or "indoctrination". i was taught to be liberal minded and was that way when i got to college. but now, as i learn things on my own i begin to see that what i believe now is a lot of times opposite of what i learned in class, particularly in the case of whether a certain president or program is considered beneficial or not. and i'm certainly not saying that being liberal is evil. i just would have liked the opportunity to make the choice myself instead of just being taught to be liberal, because, as it turns out, i am not liberal.

that is all i am going to say about politics right now because i don't really like to talk about it. a lot of people tend to believe only their way is right and treat you like an idiot for believing something different instead of having an attitude of hey, it's okay that we disagree and i understand why you feel that way. i don't like discussing politics.

but it does bother me that people can't see president obama's speech as a great opportunity, and that is why i finally give my two cents. i would like to watch it with my daughter. i want her to have a chance to feel what i felt when i watched president bush as a kid. i want her to feel an importance and sense of history whenever she hears any president speak. i want her to listen when a government official wants to specifically talk with her and not run away if he belongs to a different political party then she. i want her to develop a respect for the office of the president of the united states regardless of who that president is. most of all, i want her to have in interest in politics and be active in our government. starting now seems like a great time.

wow. that is really long. sorry. i don't think people like to read long things online. it's boring. don't worry, i won't do it very often. i don't like people knowing what i really think about things.