Thanksgiving in Utah

It's no secret around here that Thanksgiving is my favorite. It's my holiday, and a big part of the reason it is my holiday is because it's when everyone comes into town to visit. But this year that couldn't happen because Andrew didn't have much time off work teaching and Jimmy and Mallory understandably didn't want to travel with a newborn. So we did the next best thing, we went to them!
You will recall our last Utah trip did not go well...
But the boys were older now and I wasn't 6 months pregnant, so we hoped for the best and expected the worst. Plus we put Captain Pee Pants (jaxton) in a diaper and drugged Sir Pukes Alot (Lucas). 

Our car is great for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest flaws is it's lack of space for luggage and stuff. And since we were traveling with Laura we had to get a bag to attach to the top to hold all our stuff. And we had a lot of stuff. Brilliant idea #1- pack everything in space saver bags. 

We were packed full and everyone had drinks and we had movies galore so we took off Tuesday after Preston got out of school around 3. 

I decided for blogging purposes I would keep a log of all the things that happened. But then I got crankier and crankier as the trip went on and so the fun posts ended. But this is what it looked like as we traveled for that first day. 

We also played the license plate game where we tried to find 1 license plate from every state. The hardest part was trying to remember all 50 states! Took Laura and I like 20 minutes and then we remembered Ohio. We also predicted what the temperature would be like in the places we were going. I was really good at that game. I'm probably part psychic. 

We stayed the night in Blanding and the next day drove to Roosevelt to see Patricks Grandma and Aunt/Uncle. His family had never met the boys before so it was fun to introduce them. We all had lunch together and it was a nice to break up the trip that way. 

About an hour after we left Roosevelt on our way to Provo it started to snow. Which was fun, but then turned into stress. Patrick wasn't stressed as the driver though, he did great. Laura and I were a little anxious, but not scared. And it was really pretty to see! Looked like a Christmas card. Then about 15 minutes outside of Provo it quit. 

We spent that night hanging out at Jimmy and Mallorys and meeting Bennett and getting our plans adjusted for Thanksgiving.
The next day we cooked our different dishes at different places but then headed to the church to all eat together. That was nice because then we didn't have to worry about fitting everyone in a small place and the kids had room to run.
I don't think Lucas napped any of the days we were there, so he was a little more fussy and cuddly then normal.
He and I dressed up like Pilgrims. 

Since Jimmy was chief he sat at the head of the table. 

We played football inside for awhile in our Cardinals attire, per tradition, and then we had to go outside to cool off. There wasn't any snow, but there were massive amounts of leaves which we had a leaf fight with, and that pleased Preston. 

Here we all are dressed up! Patrick decided last minute to be the turkey which was a nice touch! And Jimmy and Mallory were Indians who stole a little pilgrim baby. Preston and Jaxton were channeling their Asian Indian roots and Lyla lost her hat, but we still looked good! 

Being in a food coma makes you find a spot to sleep wherever you can. In this case it meant the stage in the cultural hall with jackets for pillows. 

After we were done there we headed back over to Andrew and Janieces house since they literally live across the street from the church and hung out there eating more and visiting. And holding Bennett. 

We really didn't want to leave Utah without playing in the snow, so Friday morning we drove to Provo Canyon and found some snow to play in. It. Was. So. Cold. I know that snow and winter is cold, but this was like 19 degrees cold. As soon as we got out of the car Lucas started crying and didn't stop the entire time. 

He wouldn't even look up for a picture. 

 We were a little braver then the boys, but still cold!!! 

I literally couldn't feel my cheeks in this picture and couldn't tell if I was smiling or not! 

Mallory and Rox stayed in cars with babies and eventually Patrick headed back to the car with my crying cold boys but we still had fun. 

That night we went to a bakery across from our hotel called The Cocoa Bean and warmed up with some hot chocolate and cupcakes. Then I tucked everyone, including Patrick into bed and went with John, Andrew, Laura and Janiece to go see Creed. 

When we got out of the movie that night it was snowing and it snowed on and off all night which means the boys woke up to snow the next day! They were so much happier this time since it wasn't nearly as cold. Preston got to make a snow angel which was on his list of things to do in Utah. He's the only one who wanted to make one. 

Look! No tears! He calls snow "snowman" so every time he would see it he would just say "Oh snowman! snowman!" 

I taught them the art of making a snowball. And throwing it.

And we tasted the snow. 

Sunday before we left Jimmy and Mallory had Bennett blessed in their home. He looked so cute in his little outfit & didn't cry at all. 

No, Lucas is not wearing church clothes. I had him dressed and then he dumped hot chocolate all over himself. If you are wondering if that made me angry, the answer is yes. 

Then we left and started our drive home. We split the trip in half again which means we only had to drive to Vegas. Along with half the world as there was traffic. 

Patrick wasn't feeling well when we got in, but the boys needed to get some energy out and I wanted them to see the lights of Vegas so Laura and I took them out on the strip. We're so brave. We had a groupon to stay in Excalibur, which was shaped like a castle so they loved that. 

After we saw the mini statue of liberty Jaxton would pose in each picture with his arm up in the air like he was holding a torch. 

Our view from Excalibur. 

They enjoyed Vegas. We stopped at a Jack in the Box for breakfast on our way out of town and Preston had a breakfast jack for the first time and thought it was the most amazing thing ever and now associates that with Vegas so when Patrick and I went to Vegas a few weeks later for a work thing he asked us to bring him back a breakfast jack. 

It was a good trip. Had some ups and downs. It was really hard having 5 people in 1 hotel room. Not a lot of space from each other. And we had coughing boys so I feel like I just listened to them cough all night. So while I prefer to stay home in our own our environment it was nice to have everyone experience new things. I think Preston is the only one of us who would be happy to live in snow. The rest of us will be Arizonans for life. 

Before we go...

Before we head off into the Sunset for our Thanksgiving Utah trip next week I wanted to do one last blog post/picture dump. And in case you are wondering no we are not even close to being ready mentally or physically for this trip. I did however buy a lot of children's Dramamine, so that should help! 

The Chick-Fil-A at our mall has fun stuff for us to attend every once in awhile. They do the dress like a cow day, we have done mother daughter date night there and a few weeks ago they had super hero night. My boys aren't big into super heros, they can identify some of them, but have never watched a movie about them. I had to explain to Jaxton that this was Ironman, but once I did he was excited and wanted a picture with him. 

Preston had his very first field trip! They went to Rockin R Ranch. They had the kids come dressed like cowboys for the occassion. He got to pan for gold, try to lasso and learned some cowboys songs. He had a lot of fun. They are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingles Wilder at school so this was a great way for them to see what it was like in the olden days. He likes to tell me all about the olden days and always says "Back in the "older" days...." and then tells me what they did/didn't have. 

Gearing up for our Utah trip I had to get the boys big warm jackets. We have hoodies but didn't have big jackets. Thankfully we found some pretty cheap at Savers. I tried Lucas's on him and he rolled around on the floor and couldn't get up. It reminded me of A Christmas Story and the little boy in his snowsuit who "can't put his arms down".  

I think the day he turned 2 a switch flipped in Lucas and now he wants to be so independent. If he can't climb into his car seat or out of his car seat by himself he flips out. He wants to do everything on his own. He's learned how to put a waffle in the toaster and cook it, He insists on opening and closing the door to let the dog out. On this particular day he said he would do breakfast by himself and so he did. And I let him. 

One of my favorite bands since childhood, Hanson, came to perform at the AZ State Fair so i was brave and drove into Phoenix by myself to see them! It was great even if they only played for 45 minutes. 

And this was my reward for being a big brave girl and driving into phoenix myself on a Friday night. Worth it.

More trouble with Preston's ears. We had to get a 2nd opinion on the holes in his eardrums because his regular ENT didn't know what to do with them. But 2 days before we were going to see the new ENT he got a double ear infection, so we had to go to Urgent Care to get that taken care of. 

The new ENT was concerned about the size of the hole in his right ear drum so she sent us to go see a Otolaryngology doctor who just does ear stuff. He also was concerned since the hole is effecting his hearing quite a bit. So in December he will be having a surgery called Tympanoplasty where they will make an incision behind his ear, get some fibrous tissue and then attach that to his eardrum. It's a bigger surgery then he has ever had before but the only other alternative is for him to wear a hearing aid in that ear. The hole in the other ear isn't as large and that one they can fix with a paper patch. He wont be able to hear so well for 6 weeks but after that he should be good. 

I love love love Jaxton's school pictures!!!! 

Jaxton had some birthday money so on Veterns Day when they didn't have school we went to Chuck E. Cheese to play. They loved it, and even Lucas got into it and was excited to earn 1-2 tickets. 

 

It is absolutely gorgeous weather these days so we spend a lot of time so we spend a lot of time outside or at the park. 

The boys are now at an age where they can successfully and with little supervision clean the downstairs bathroom by themselves. Lucas empties the trash, Preston does the mirror and sink, Jaxton does the toilet. 

Lucas vs. The Bus.
On the mornings when Lucas walks with us to take Preston to the bus he and Jaxton always try to race the bus. As you can see Lucas does not like to lose. It's kind of hilarious. 

Jaxton had his 4 year well check this week. He's great and healthy of course. He failed his hearing test at school last month (seriously what is with my boys and their ears?!) so we had to get that checked out. But jaxton has a cronic ear wax problem. No, really. He makes too much ear wax and it gets built up and has to be removed. The worked on it for an hour at the appointment, which was just miserable for him- they have to use a giant syringe to squirt water into his ear to loosen it up and then the doctor can use a little scope and pull it out. The chunks they were getting out of his ear were the size of m&ms. No wonder he failed his test! He still has a big chunk attached to his Left ear drum so we will do some drops at home to soften it and in a few weeks go in and see if they can pull it out. Poor kid just cries and screams and has to be held down while they do it. And then after all that was over he had to get a flu shot. Rough day. 

This morning I took these two to get their flu shots and they were amazing!! They didn't even cry!! I couldn't believe it. Such good boys. 

And now I will spend the next few days making lists, doing laundry and psyching myself up for a 11 hour drive with Sir Pee Pants and Sir Pukes a lot.
Should be fun. 

Jaxton turns 4!

Jaxton's birthday is at a perfect time of year. Well, except for that whole day after Halloween thing.
Every year for his birthday the fair is in town so every year we celebrate his birthday by going.
This year he was a little taller and was able to go on some rides by himself.
Next year I imagine he'll be able to go on a lot of the rides by himself. 

We ended up going to the fair the Saturday before his birthday, which was Halloween morning. It was a really nice day out and not real crowded in the time we were there. 

Every year that we have gone to the fair Preston has gone on this airplane ride. Sometime I'll have to get a side by side of the past 3 years to see how much he has grown in the plane. I think its' fun that there weren't any other kids on that ride and yet they still wanted to ride together. Naturally Preston had to steer.  

 The truth is out there!

Out of all the rides and things we paid to do their favorite of course was the giant (free) bubbles. They could have stayed there all day. Jaxton and Lucas are really into bubbles these days. They especially like dumping them out on the porch and then slipping and hitting their heads.

Lucas and I really just came for the food.
At the fair is where I learned that after completing Whole 30 Dr. Pepper no longer tastes good to me. So basically at the fair I died a little inside.

The next morning, Sunday was Jaxton's actual birthday. He was so excited to have his birthday! We got him a scooter for his birthday, one that is easier for him to balance on and so before we had to leave for church (Levi's baby blessing) he took it for a spin around the house. 

That night we had a combined birthday dinner for Lucas and Jaxton's birthdays with Patricks side of the family. I usually let the birthday person pick their favorite food for the party but Lucas hates everything one day and loves everything the next and Jaxton would live off frozen waffles and fruit snacks so I went to option 3 & let Patrick pick what we should have. He picked egg rolls. And while egg rolls are delicious, they are SO MUCH WORK. I had to make 100 egg rolls and it took me from about 12:30pm-5:15. And after all that I didn't even eat any. But I hear they were delicious. And even the birthday boys ate them.

Their dessert was brownie cups with ice cream sundaes on top. 

The following day, Monday the 2nd I went into Jaxtons class to bring a special snack for his birthday. He really wanted to bring Zebra Cakes because those are his favorite snack cakes, but we have to avoid peanut/tree nuts so we couldn't bring those. Instead we went with pudding cups and shark fruit snacks. He was so so so excited to have me there. So many good Jaxton smiles! He got to decorate his crown however he wanted and he picked heart stickers and red markers. He loved passing out the snacks to all his friends and showing me all his stuff around the room. Oh and of course he was wearing his "birthday shirt". 

That night we had a birthday dinner for just Jaxton with my side of the family. Pancakes and bacon and hash browns were on the menu this time. Since I couldn't bring him zebra cakes to school I made him a giant homemade zebra cake!
I think his face says it all. 

Some things about Jaxton at age 4:

*Talks more and is FUNNY!
*Does the best "charlie brown" walk when he is sad. Head down, shoulders forward, the whole thing.
*Loves to be outside
*Sleeps in his own bed but loves to come in and lay in my bed for "just one minute please?"
*Best friends with Preston
*LOVES babies. When I would ask him what he wanted for his birthday he would say "I want Rox's baby." He likes to go up and pet other kids when we are out.
*Is the best at holding my hand while we are walking and crossing the street.
*He is always up for a trip out somewhere. He likes getting out of the house, even if it's just to the gas station, he will ask to go.
*Loves cereal (pronounces it smel-o)
*Falls asleep almost every day on the bus on the way home. Which means he is always cranky when he gets off the bus.
*Is always very specific when requesting his lunch: 2 donuts and chocolate (Nutella) on bread. or 5 chicken nuggets with ranch and also ketchup and 3 pieces of candy or waffles with butter and syrup cut up "like this and like this and like this" (meaning in just lines, not squares).
*Is into coloring lately, and play doh.
*if his blood sugar gets low he is CRANKY. It's not fun.
*He's a pokey little puppy. Just takes his time when we are walking to the bus or to get the mail. Just looking around and taking his time.
*If he naps in the afternoon (longer the the cat nap on the bus) he will be up till like 10:30 at night.
*Is crazy good at saying prayer. Usually he keeps his eyes open and then goes from object to object being thankful for that. Ex- "thank you that Lucas could not bring his toys to the table. Thank you that I could have apple juice. Thank you I get the yellow knife." 

A Super Mario Halloween!

A few weeks ago in school we had to answer some questions about our accomplishments and life in order to write a "Me in 30 seconds" paragraph.
Q: What is something you are good at?
A: Putting together Halloween costumes

Q: What is something you don't like?
A: Halloween. 

And not to brag, but I am really good at Halloween costume assembly.

 Remember last years Lego Movie costumes? Click here to remember.

 Or our Peter Pan ensemble? Click here to remember. 

Remember UP? Click here to remember. 

A few months ago we decided that we wanted to do a bigger group costume and so we joined forces with John and Rox and their family and had a super idea to do super Mario. 

If you aren't familiar with Mario because your kid doesn't play it regularly like we do over here, the characters from Left to Rt are Bowser (Patrick), Goomba (Jessica), Princess Daisy (Rox), Mushroom/Cloud (Levi), Wario (John).
Bottom row- Toad (Lucas), Yoshi (Jaxton), Mario (Preston), Princess Peach (Lyla), Tanooki/Racoon Mario (Noah). 

These are the costumes that i assembled.
Most of the items either came from Savers, Goodwill or Hobby Lobby. 

Lets begin with Bowser.
To make the Bowser head/mask I started with a Viking helmet I bought at Savers. I covered it in green felt, cut out pieces to make the eyes, eyebrows, hair, top of the mouth. I stuffed the top of the mouth and the bottom jaw with plastic grocery bags to keep it from being too heavy to fall. Everything was hot glued, I don't sew. I don't even like to think about sewing. The bottom of the mouth was made from the bill of a baseball hat (Goodwill), covered in felt and then attached to the top of the hat by Velcro so that it could come off as needed for things like eating! The shirt was just a long sleeve mustard colored shirt I got at Goodwill for $1, added black material and spikes and cut out the front of his shell and made the black lines with a marker. 

The back of the shell was built around an old backpack we had so that he could get it on and off easy. I cut out a large piece of cardboard and cut the straps through it. I used party cone hats (Goodwill) covered in fabric for the spikes and cut up an orange place mat (Savers) to go under them. green flannel and off white flannel completed the shell and then I stuffed it full with balloons and more plastic grocery sacks to give it some body. 

Mario.
Easiest costume of the group. Just bought it off Amazon and found a pair of white gloves at Goodwill for him to use. The red converse we already had. 

Toad.
I found a dark blue fleece vest at Savers one day and it was perfect so I just turned it inside out so that the huge zipper pockets were hidden and then glued yellow ribbon around the outside of it all. Toad usually only wears pants and a vest, no shirt, but modest is hottest so he wore a white shirt under it. The white leggings I couldn't find anywhere and had to buy at Old Navy in the girls section. Sorry Lucas. I also realized why no thrift store had white leggings, those things got so dirty so fast!
His had I made from a circle of cardboard with a hole in the middle for his head, stuffed it with grocery sacks (recycle, reduce, reuse) and then used a white sheet I had bought for the outside of the hat. Cut out a few red circles from some fabric I already had and he was done! 

It should be noted that Lucas HATED the hat and wouldn't wear it at all. I had to bribe him with candy to wear it for pictures and after they were over he took it off and threw it. 

Yoshi.
How exactly does one make a Yoshi costume? I still don't know. I found a turtle costume at Goodwill one day for like $3 and transformed that for our Yoshi. Or Doshi as Jaxton calls him. I bought some Styrofoam eggs for the eyes and painted them. Used the white sheet leftover from Lucas's hat for Yoshi's belly 

And then used more of the orange place mat for Yoshi's spine.
Oh and made him a tail out of some felt I had laying around. 

Goomba.
Simple. I just drew an outline on cardboard which wasn't straight at all, covered it in brown fabric, cut out eyes a mouth and teeth, also not straight and then glued some ties to the top and middle so I could take it on and off as needed.
One person thought I was dressed like poop and another like an m&m.
This is why I hate Halloween. 

For school Preston had to dress up like a character from a book for a storybook parade on the Friday before Halloween.
Turns out there are no Mario books out there! So we had to reuse his Frankenstein costume from when he was 2 and he became "Frankenfly" from the book "Fly Guy and the Frankenfly". All I had to do for his costume was attach antennae (pipe cleaner and fuzzy balls) and make fly wings. Fly wings were done with a metal hanger bent into a wing shape and then I used white nylons to put over the hangers and then drew on fly wing veins. And of course in true Jessica fashion I hot glued them on.

After this Halloween I thought that I would take a break from costumes. They tend to stress me out and I am upstiars working on them while my family is downstairs, but when i told people I wasn't going to do them next year I got a very negative response. Especially from my family. And turns out we already picked our theme for next year on Halloween night, so now I have to do it! And they are going to be goooooood. Or should I say evil.....