Happy...Everything!

Okay, time to give an update on all the holidays.

During October we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. They had a corn "sandbox" for the kids to play in. Way better than sand. Of course, you do find tons of kernels in the baby's diaper afterwards, but it's better than sand.

This one of Candace is kind of funny. She's a character.

 Corn Angels

Seth and Justin working hard. Actually those pumpkins were pretty heavy.

I think we've got a picture of every one of the kids wandering around the pumpkin patch at that age.

Some ginormous pumpkins.

We also had a Halloween party this year. Those I can only do every other year. They are time consuming, but it was fun. I made all kinds of "gross" food like "a plug of hair from the bathroom drain", "earwax on a swab", "bat wings", "troll finger nubs" and the like. The names made them way more gross. It was hard to want to eat them after you read the names, but it was all really good.

Seth smeared his little fingers all over my lens so every picture that night was smudged. I made our costumes with a freezer paper stencil and white paint. I also made Meagan's lady bug costume and Seth was the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Candace was Princess Peach.

We had a "trunk-or-treat" at the church on Saturday night and then I took the kids trick-or-treating on Monday. Seth actually wore the bunny ears and tail that night. It was so much fun going around the neighborhood with them. Seth was super cute. He carried his little pumpkin to every house and held it out saying, "tit-or-teat". Then when they brought out the candy bowl he was all over that. Everyone was trying to give out a small handful but while they were distracted with that Seth was raiding the bowl behind their back and adding more to his bucket. It was pretty funny. He made out like a bandit. He had more candy than anyone.

Justin's brother Jake and his family visited us a few days before Thanksgiving. They were visiting Laurie's family in Mesa. I'm glad we're kind of the halfway point for everyone between Texas and Utah. We get to see our families more while they're traveling to see someone else. ;) 

We went with them to Saquaro National Park. I've never been there. I didn't even know it was there. At some point, I want to visit Tucson and any other city we live in, like a tourist and see all the cool stuff that home has to offer. Most people travel all over the country and the world to see cool stuff but there is always something cool near home too that you never even visit. 

Thanksgiving was spent with some friends from our ward, the Wardles. Neither of us have family here so we spent the Holiday together. We had really good food and we played tons of games the whole night. It was probably the most stress-free Thanksgiving I've ever had, as an adult anyways. I made a few dishes ahead of time and it really helped.

After my morning sickness episode this time around I couldn't do all the "time-wasting" stuff I normally did before. It was good for me in a way. I've gotten better at prioritizing and simplifying and identifying what is really essential and what is just unnecessary fluff that I used to fill my days with. It's been great. And, every holiday has been a lot less stressful but still fun and beautiful. I guess that's a hidden blessing that came out of morning sickness. Don't get me wrong, I still waste my time (ahem...pinterest, facebook...among other things) but I don't do it as much because I just can't stand it for very long.

Next up is Christmas. We stayed home for this holiday too. I don't think my body could have handled any more long trips. But, it was nice because we got to have Christmas in our home with just our kids. It's a lot less stressful that way. Justin's parents and a couple of his brothers stayed with us a few days before Christmas on their way up to Utah to be with the rest of the Paul clan. That was really nice and fun too. Lots of board games. We really like playing board games. We've got a lot of fun ones and it's just a great way to visit with everyone and still have fun. Justin likes it because he can get his competitive edge on and pit every other player against each other. He doesn't even care to win as long as he has a chance to pull a really dirty move on someone. Ah, what a funny guy. I love him.

I also did some additional crafts and decorating for Christmas. I made a mitten advent calendar and filled it with little treats and tiny ornaments for our tiny Christmas tree. It was great because the girls were always excited to take down a mitten every day in December and I didn't have to listen to them ask me "how long 'til Christmas" every day. Best of both worlds.

Our first real tree in years. We had a 6ft fake one forever, until Seth pulled it over while trying to pull off an ornament to look at it. One of the legs on the stand broke. I loved the smell of this tree. It made it feel more like Christmas. We're going to get a real one every year now. They are way cheaper than I thought.

These are my new nativities my mother-in-law gave us. I didn't have a nativity and told her so in passing, not really thinking about it. She remembered and got us these. I feel a lot better having something around the house to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

It's also fun to decorate with them.

These stockings are the same ones we've always used but I added the gold letters. It got really difficult last Christmas keeping all the candy in the stockings separate because we couldn't tell which stocking was which. Problem solved. And they aren't permanently attached so I can do something different in the future, if I want. I guess that's one good thing about pinterest. I've gotten a lot of good ideas from there that make my life a little easier.

Sethy boy's 2nd birthday. What a cutie! He'll get one of my favorite cakes every year until he's old enough to have an opinion. And even then, I will influence him heavily. This one was Tres Leches.

His first real boy toy...ever. He's been playing with the girls' stuff and gender neutral baby toys up until now. This boy needed some cars. He loves them!

Here's a few random, funny things. I tried to catch Justin on video singing one of his "crap songs". You know, butchering the tune and lyrics and singing in an annoying voice. The camera beep gave me away. You can kind of catch the tail end of what he was singing. I think it was Brown Eyed Girl.

Here's Meagan's "Charlie Brown" dance. She just busted out with it while Justin was playing. I guess they watched Charlie Brown's Christmas movie at school. Her dances are so funny.

We also did the Twelve Days of Christmas for a family in our ward. It was pretty fun but a lot of work coming up with it all, getting all the stuff and then going out every night to drop it off. Here's a couple of them.

Here's the whole song we made up.

On the twelfth Day of Christmas

Secret Santa gave to me

12 drumsticks dripping (drumstick ice cream cones)

11 poppers popping (new years poppers)

10 worms a creeping (gummy worms in pudding and oreo dirt)

9 reindeer prancing (reindeer ornaments)

8 cakes of “milky” (slices of tres leches cake)

7 Doves a flying (dove ornaments)

6 snowman droppings (a foam snowman with cookies n cream kisses)

5 golden…”things” (ferrero rocher, with one eaten)

4 ornaments, (random ornaments in a pack)

3 Christmas pens, (self explanatory)

2 turtle clusters, (boxes of Turtle chocolates)

And a giant candy Christmas wreath! (corn flake, marshmallow shaped wreath)

Here are the secret ninjas that delivered the goods every night. I think Meagan was holding up the 7doves a flying.

We must include a picture of Seth. He loves to pose for the camera every time I get it out.

All excited, ready to open presents on Christmas morning. Well, at least Candace is.

We got to skype my parents on Christmas morning. That was really fun. That program is so awesome. It's like really being there with someone. We did get to have Christmas with some family after all.