Halloween 2008

Halloween, this year, was spent trick-or-treating in Grandma's neighborhood. Jon had to work, so we definitely missed him. Jackson was not in the mood for the holiday, so he didn't dress up this year. He got to hang out at Grandma's pulling himself up on the furniture and getting into anything that his little hands could reach. Payten, Seth, Aunt Sissy (Sarah) and I went around Grandma's neighborhood and got lots of candy! I love my good witch-(she said that she was Glenda, the good witch of the North, from Wizard of Oz), and my fierce tiger! (I wish I could have captured the growl-seriously- it was the most adorable thing).

He is on the go ALL the time now! He absolutely loves to find anything to pull himself up on and finding things to put in his mouth.

My litte tiger having a sucker after we got home.

The good witch having her sucker and a diet coke.

This is right before we went out, and they were so excited!

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Miss P!

My baby girl turned 5 on Oct 18th. Somehow, each year that her birthday comes around, we end up having a 2-3 week celebration. This year was no different. On her birthday, Payten, Grandma and I had a "girls" day out. (This was by request). The "party" started at the nail salon where Payten chose to have her nails painted blue-this is her new favorite color (every couple of months it changes). After getting our nails done, we went shopping and then went to a movie- Beverly Hills Chuawa. It actually turned out to be a pretty cute movie.

Party #2- Gram and Poppy came to spend the night! The week after her birthday, Gram and Poppy came down to spend the night with us. They took the kids to Burger King for dinner and to play on the playground, and then we opened presents and had another birthday cake. It was so good to see Gram and Poppy!

Party #3- Finally, on Nov. 1, we had Payten's birthday party with her friends from school. We went to The Wonder Place, which is this really cool place that is like a discovery museum for kids under 8. The theme was Princesses and Knights. The kids got to play for an hour or so, and then they got to do an art project where they made tiara's and crowns. It ended with cake and presents-again.

Grandpa and Daddy! Isn't this a pair :-)

Payten and Maddie

A chair for the king.

This was a cool things where Jackson could sit at this table and play in the water. This mesmerized look captures it all.

Seth playing in the water. The party was during his nap time, if you can't tell from the picture.

All of the kids doing their art project.

This is Micah, Payten's boyfriend :-)

L to R- Sydney, Payten, Lauren, Olivia and Maddie

One more cute story.....

Payten reminds me a lot of myself (funny how that works). She thinks about the world, life and how things work-a lot. A few weeks ago we were talking about why it's important to keep the Sabbeth day holy. In the course of the conversation, I explained that just like Heavenly Father rested on the seventhth day when he was creating the world, we have a day of rest from the rest of the world, as well.

Fast forward about a week later, and we were driving in the car on a Monday morning. Payten says, "Mom, can we say a prayer?" I said, "Of course." She paused for about a minute, and then says, "Mom. Is Heavenly Father going to answer our prayers today?" I explained that He definitely would. She then said, "Oh, since it's Monday then He's working again today? I knew He had the day off yesterday."

I could not help but laugh. You have to love the mind of a 4-year old.

First Shiner

Jackson came home yesterday with his first shiner. No-he did not get into a fight with another baby-just the toy drum. He thinks that now that he can get anywhere that he wants to, this must mean that he can pull up on anything too. Only thing is, he is not coordinated enough to steady himself for long once he gets up. He pulled himself up on this toy, and when he lost his balance, he fell face first into a toy drum. Poor little guy!

Where do baby's come from?

Payten and I were reading scriptures last night, and somehow the conversation came around to her asking, "Mommy, how do babies get in mommies tummies?" Now, I am not really worried about "the talk,' however, I was not thinking that 4 would be the age that this talk would happen. So, I attempted the G-rated version. When a mommy and daddy love each other so much, Heavenly Father made it so that they could make a baby together. Her response- "OH! I get it! The mommy and the daddy love each other and then they go get tape, popsicle sticks, glue and ribbon and they make the baby and put it in the mommies tummy."

First Soccer Game

Anytime you ask Payten what she wants to be when she grows up, she will tell you, "a soccer player." Since she was two and saw Dora (the cartoon) playing, she has had her mind set that that's what she wants. This weekend, she finally had her first soccer game. I haven't seen her this excited about something in a while. Because of the rain we had last week, (we got about 8 inches in 3 days-from Hurricane Gustav), they cancelled practice. So, we showed up to the game with out ever practicing. Despite that, she did great!

Before the game started
Here she is about to make her first goal!
She was so proud!
Giving coach Jackie high 5!

The Free Olympic Diving Team

Sunday night the kids and I watched the Olympics for a while. The synchronized diving came on, and Payten and Seth loved it. Daddy was at work, so we decided to have our own competition. We got the diving board out (the ottoman) and they dove off. (Not head first!) I am sure that they will be representing the USA in London in the 2012 games!

The swan dive
This one ended up being a cannon ball
Team Free. Payten led the way and dragged Seth behind.

"No say me Seth"

My husband is probably one of the most sarcastic people that I know, which is just one of the many reasons that I fell in love with him. That being said, I am not sure if sarcasim is all learned or if some of it is genetic, but Seth has definitely started demonstrating this behavior, and it is keeping us laughing. The other day we were all in the car, and it had been a LONG day. I had heard "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" one too many times, so I turned around and said, "I don't want to hear Mommy one more time tonight! I am not answering to it!" (I know, I am probably the worst mom) Payten, the sweetheart that she is, immediately gets quiet and says, "I'm sorry." Seth immediately responds with, "Then no say me Seth!" To translate: You can't call me Seth for the rest of the night if I can't call you Mommy." Needless to say, Jon and I started laughing. Only a two-year old can get away with talking back like that :-)

How can I stay mad at this sweet face for too long?

Tummy time

I love watching my kids reach new milestones. Jackson has recently started to enjoy spending time on his tummy, "crawling." (This is rapidly moving his legs and arms, but going nowhere). As you can see from earlier posts, he loves food. The other night Jon and I were laying down playing with him and put his bottle out in front of him just out of his reach. It was the cutest thing ever watching him talk to his bottle and try his hardest to get it.

"Mom, can't you just get it for me?"

"Please!!!!!!"

Eventually, he got to it and knocked it over. He couldn't get it from the floor to his mouth, but he was pretty excited that he reached it.

For anyone who is interested

I just added about 5 new posts to catch up the past few months of our lives.

Porter Family Gathering

This weekend we went to Jonesboro to have a picnic with the Porter family. (Jon's Mom's side of the family). Not everyone was able to make it, but for those that did, we had a good time. There is a park that is not too far from Gram and Poppy's that has a slash zone, pond, walking trails etc. It was definitely hot (106 heat index), but despite the heat, it was still fun. Payten and Seth had fun playing with their cousins and second cousins. We need to find time in our busy lives to do this more often.

Check out Jackson eyeing that hamburger
Uncle Rusty and baby Jack ( he is a couple weeks older than Jackson)
Gram, me and Jackson
I love his old man hairdo
Seth and Jordan

He has moved on from hamburgers to ice cream
"Mommy! I found a feather!"
Seth stood played with this thing for hours
Seth was trying to get it back from Payten...sharing is not a big word in his vocabulary these days.
Payten and Jenna

Toad Suck

You are reading the title correctly. As I say often...only in Arkansas. There is a festival that they have every year called Toad Suck. It's in Conway, AR. I am sure at some point, I have read why they call it Toad Suck, but I can't remember. They actually have a contest where they have you go catch your own toad and bring it to race! We didn't enter the contest this year, but we still went and had a good time. We went with Rachel, Brian and their kids. The best reason to go is to taste all of the fried food that is so horrible for you. This year, we had fried Reeses and Oreos. I figure that you only live once!

Payten and Jenna playing in the sand
Two Divas

Payten coming down the huge slide
Seth hangin out at dinner that night

Kitties

We have officially decided that we are not meant to have pets. Sometime around the first of June, Jon brought home two kittens. Payten has been begging us for some time now to get a pet. I have really been against the whole idea because I hardly have enough time as it is, I just thought adding animals to our zoo would be too much. Needless to say, once they were here, I didn't have the heart to send them away. I am going to post a few pictures of the first day that they came home and then I will finish the story......





Ok, so now that you have seen Jo and Petals, I will explain why we no longer have them. Jo stayed around for a couple of weeks and ran away one day. We are sure that he is living with another little girl that really wanted a kitty too :-)
Petals, on the other hand, has gone to live with Heavenly Father. Seth never really quite caught on to the concept that the pets were not toys. He and Payten would go out in the morning to feed Petals and give her fresh water. I did not go out with them one morning, and at some point Seth decided that she wanted to play in the ice chest. In 100 degree weather, kittens don't live in airtight ice chests. Unfortunately, I didn't find her until the next morning when we went out to go feed her. While it was definitely sad, we tried to use it as a teaching experience. We used it as an opportunity to talk about death and what happens when our spirits leave our bodies. However, pets will not be anything we have in the near future!

Jackson's Blessing Weekend

Jackson was blessed on May 4, and it was great to have most of the family get together (at least on Jon's side). Jon gave Jackson a beautiful blessing. We got everyone together at a park here in Little Rock, and had a picnic, played, visited etc.

The whole Free family
Mommy and Seth
Jenna and Seth were enjoying the picnic

Grant's Wedding

A free moment is mine to have, and I am going to try and update my blog!!!! SO, to start, Grant and Chelsea were married on May 17, (my birthday). For those who don't know, they have been dating since they were freshman in high school, so this has been a long time coming. It was such a pretty day, and they had a small, outdoor wedding. Chelsea is such a sweetheart, and we are glad she is part of our family.

Mom and Dad
Chelsea and her Daddy
Jackson snoozed through most of the event Miss P

Uncle Grant dancing with Payten

Here they are dancing to Beauty and the Beast....we all laughed at the song choice.
Cutting the cake
Mr. and Mrs. Opitz