Thanksgiving

Annual Blood Family Math Game:

2 parents

+10 children

+5 spouses

+1 fiancee

+8 grandchildren (and two on the way)

-1 Timmy on a mission in Mexico

=

25 people

But, for the first time, NOT all in one house.

We all thank Stephen & Claudia for buying a home 30 minutes from Mom & Dad 

so that no one had to sleep in the kitchen.  

Or the garage.

And now a quick rundown of the four pictures I took during the week we were there:

Jason & Catherine in the tub.

The twin cousins--Catherine & Andrew

Andrew was born 2 days before Catherine 

(although if she'd come on time, she would have been older...stinker)

Did I mention that Andrew is practically walking at that Catherine is...sitting up on her own?

She does babble more than him, but speed crawling trumps 'bababa' any day.

And here we are, in all our glory: 

Seth decided he was going to be adopted by Aaron & Ashley.

Who says you need to be be married to have kids?

Wondering why there are no pictures of Seth?  It's because we saw him at meals and bedtimes (and usually then only by coercion).  95% of his day was spent running wild with his cousins.  It's been a month since we left and he still talks about how much he misses his cousins...

I also personally offended Mom Blood by buying her new curtains for her living room.  Because, you know, her 20+ year old frilly, baby-pink curtains were still totally functional (see below, from last Christmas).

She forgave me after the new curtains had been up for a day or two.  

And after she realized she could use the pink curtains in her bedroom. 

Still love us, Mom Blood? 

(you can see the new curtains on the left in the family picture)

Sometimes We Do Stuff

Like make marshmallow snowmen:

(they wouldn't stand up, but are still very edible)

Or hang out with our cousins: 

Catherine & Brianna

Catherine says hi

Seth being extremely cooperative, as is usual right now

Or make Jello Jigglers: 

(he ate the entire pan by himself.  And I let him)

Or grown bean sprouts: 

Or have a Thanksgiving feast: 

(What?  Didn't you know the Pilgrims & Indians feasted on popcorn, pretzels, goldfish and craisins?)

My little Indian.

But usually we don't do anything this impressive, so I have to blog about it to ensure that my children remember that occasionally I'm awesome.

Nine Months

Nine months...

I would say it's gone by quickly (and really, it has) but this month has been a bit of a battle of the wills.

Cute as she is, Miss Princess has her own opinions about sleeping.  

And eating.  

And just about everything, really.

Our big battle this month has been rolling over.  She mastered rolling both directions and suddenly felt inspired to roll over as soon as she was put on her back.  Nap & bedtimes, included.  Well, she had never slept on her belly before and didn't feel inclined to begin now.  Nor did she feel like rolling back over (although she was perfectly capable).  Instead, she'd lay in her crib and scream.  And scream and scream and scream.  It was awesome.  

Thankfully, after a few weeks of this awesomeness, she's finally gotten used to sleeping on her belly.  Oh, and she managed to cut one of her top teeth (and boy, did we hear about that one, too).  Grand tooth total: 3, with another appearing soon.

Other accomplishments this month:

*rocking on hands and knees, with a few attempts to actually crawl

*can actually propel herself forward by 'swimming' on our laminate floor

*loves, loves, loves to stand.  Favorite place to stand: next to a bucket that she can toss things out of.

*still eating like she's twice her size.  No wonder I change so many diapers every day...

*she will eat practically everything, but still prefers pureed food.  Her favorite food in the world is broccoli cheddar soup--she yells at us because we don't shovel it in her mouth fast enough.

*she's okay with other people holding her, unless she sees me or Jonny.  Then it's all over.

*first hair clip

*when we're outside, she insists on sitting directly on the ground.  No blanket, just straight on the grass.  Her favorite thing to do is crunch leaves.  I just have to watch carefully or she'll try to sneak a bite.

*she's our little baby Hoover.  We're going to be very careful when that girl starts crawling because she'll eat everything she can put in her mouth.

*not too interested in her pacifier anymore.  She'll take it occasionally, but prefers to suck on her blanket instead.

*still 6 month clothing, size 2 diapers. I'm getting bored with her outfits.

*will babble 'mamamama', 'dadadadada', and 'bababababa', but no associations yet.

Oh, Princess.  It's a good thing you're so darn cute, because you've been quite the tyrant this month!

 But we still adore you, even if you are a little monster sometimes.  

I Love Jonny

We had some yarn hanging out around the house from a Joy School project.  Seth, of course, thought it was great toy and was using it for various imaginative games around the house.  Eventually, it ended up tangled in his bike and scooter wheels.

Jon got the task of untangling said yarn.  He meticulously removed it from all axles (complaining mightily about my negligence in leaving said yarn out), then carefully wound each piece into a neat little pile and left it on the ledge where Seth was thrilled to discover it the next morning.

Guess what Jon came home to the next day?  Yarn-axled toys.  And guess what he spent the evening doing?  Removing said yarn, and--once again--winding it into careful piles.  Total time spent removing and carefully winding yarn?  Over an hour.  Total time it would have taken to simply remove yarn & toss in garbage? Ten minutes or less.  Definitely no OCD here.  Not at all.

Trick or Treat

We imposed again on Shawn & Krystal for some better trick-or-treating prospects

(our neighborhood gets few trick-or-treaters and not very many stay to hand our treats).

After some delicious soup (and mummy hot dogs), we headed out for the night.

Well, Seth & Jon headed out.

Catherine & I manned the candy while Shawn & Krystal took their girls out.  

(working on the 'rocking on her hands and knees' stage)

"I can totally handle this candy-dealing job!" 

"I think I'll just...make sure the goods are still good." 

"One must be thorough.  Very thorough." 

"Time for a little quality control." 

"Nice sturdy stick.  Yep." 

Princess Catherine, 

Candy Distributor Extraordinaire

The Babe with the Power

Well, to absolutely no one's surprise, I went overboard on our Halloween costumes this year (again).

I did much better with starting earlier this year, but was still VERY grateful they cancelled the Stake service activity from 9-2 that morning.  Otherwise Jon would have been without a hat, and I would be without a wig.  

I now present the Blood Family Halloween Costumes for 2011:

Here we have the following:

The Wiseman and the Hat (the top is cut off), the Labyrinth Worm (without his scarf),
Jareth the Goblin King, and Toby

Let me just add that prior to the party that night, Catherine was in full character as Toby, the whiny baby.  I was ready to send her to the Goblin King myself.

Except I was the Goblin King, and I didn't want her.

Luckily she calmed down and was great for the trunk or treat.

A better picture of the hat, but the Worm had run off to stuff his face with more doughnut holes:

And now a few pictures from someone with a better camera than mine:

Me & Tracie

(many, many thanks to the amazing Mary Ann for the wig.  David Bowie would be proud)

Jon, in all his glory:

Obviously these costumes were a bit of work.  I borrowed Catherine's from a friend in the ward (easy), commissioned the multi-talented Lenae to help me with (read: make) Seth's costume, and took care of Jon's and mine by myself (with the exception of my wig, which required professional assistance).

I'm pretty darn proud of how they turned out.

Especially Jon's.  

We've actually been wanting to do this theme for a couple of years now, but last year I was pregnant.  While David Bowie was surely bending the gender line in the movie, a pregnant David Bowie would have been going just a little too far.  So we held off.  

And no, I didn't even think about the fact that I was cross-dressing at a church function.  

As Jon said, "It's not really crossing the genders.  It's more like un-crossing them."

Amen.

Catherine's favorite part of the whole deal?  The bird hat.

Seriously.

She LOVED it.  If she saw it sitting around, she would smile, sing, and shriek until we let her touch it:

And now, for your information (if you still have no idea what our costumes are) 

or for your entertainment (if you're jealous you didn't think of these yourself),

some videos from Labyrinth:

Seth's character--the Labyrinth Worm:

Jon's character--the Wiseman and the Hat

And mine & Catherine's, David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King with Toby:

High-quality entertainment.

Go rent it now.

Halloween Cookies

I love that Seth is finally old enough to be excited about the holidays and to participate in some of the fun.

One of my favorite Halloween traditions?  Making sugar cookies!

This year Seth got to help.

BEFORE:

Placing the cookie cutters carefully in the dough

DURING:

Rolling out the dough 

(and eating spoonfuls of powdered sugar): 

AFTER:

Oh, yeah.   

He LOVED making the cookies, but as I'm not willing to deal with that disaster every day, 

we settled on a cleaner alternative: 

Playdough.  Hours of entertainment, (relatively) small mess.

Hours of Delight

Are you looking for some magical toy that will entertain children of all ages for hours on end?

Well, look no further!

I present to you the greatest toy in the world: a giant bag of fuzz!

Sure, you may have purchased the fuzz for the purpose of stuffing a Halloween costume, 

but you're missing the limitless opportunities it can offer to your family.

Little ones will spend hours grabbing little balls of fuzz and tearing them into minuscule pieces 

that will stick to their fuzzy pajamas:

(fuzz visible here in her right hand)

And older ones will be much more imaginative: 

pretending it's snow and rolling around in it; 

pretending its snow and throwing it in the air; 

pretending it's snow and driving your Matchbox cars into it while yelling 'Oh, no!  I can't see you anymore!"

(as seen below):

So next time you're looking for a few hours of peace and quiet, 

look no further than the stuffing you've been hoarding since you made that one pillow three years ago.

DISCLAIMER: 'Fuzz' may or may not leave your carpeted stairs coated despite your best attempts to clean.  Use with care, and ensure that all 'Fuzz' has been removed before Dad gets home.

Once Upon a Time...

...I used to pride myself in my awesome pumpkins.  

I spent a lot of time making my own patterns and carefully cutting them out.

I carved awesome things like Ariel and Captain Jack Sparrow.

Then we had kids, and there's just not much time for detailed carving between dinner and bedtime.

So...you let your three year old decide what to carve.  

This year's winner?   

A mad pumpkin.

Then he insisted I also carve the tiny pumpkin he got from the orchard we went to.

This one was to be a happy pumpkin.

Look carefully--there are two pumpkins.

See?  Two.

And carving those little guys with a steak knife?  Not easy.

Both kids were thrilled with the results: 

"That's the best you can do, Mom?"

Little pumpkin, little Princess: 

Now excuse me while I go eat another (six) handful of pumpkin seeds.

Multiple Choice

Lunchtime is:

A:

The highlight of your day

or

B: 

A tiresome ritual to be endured, not enjoyed.

(Hey, if all your meals consisted of pureed fruits & veggies, you wouldn't be too thrilled either)

Eight Months

I swear Catherine gets cuter and more fun every day.  I love this stage of baby-hood!

At eight months old, Catherine is:

*hungry.  All the time.  She would eat four solid meals a day if I'd let her.  I've started giving her some pureed big people food and some yogurt in hopes that she'll get enough calories.  Because otherwise I'll spend all day just feeding her!

*insisting on feeding herself.  She's really good at eating her puffy cereal foods and Mum Mums without any help.  As for the real food--I can usually distract her by giving her another spoon for her to chew on.  Usually.

*willing to eat anything provided I mix enough corn in it.  She's actually getting pretty good at eating (and enjoying) her veggies.

*addicted to bananas in her mesh feeder.  If she catches a glimpse of it, she whines like crazy until I give it to her.  If I take it away to put more banana in it, she yells at me.  If I put anything besides banana in there, I am in BIG TROUBLE.  She can eat an entire banana in one meal.

*somewhere in between 2 and 3 naps.  Her naps are lengthening (sometimes), but she's so easy-going that I don't care if she skips the last one.

*still not quite sitting up 100%.  I've decided our kids are hindered by our hardwood floors on the main level.

*clapping.  And pretty dang proud of herself, too.  She loves that she can recognize the word 'clap' and respond correctly.

*rolling over both directions and squirming all around.  She's really good at moving backward.  Still working on forward...

*enjoying her walker.  Thank you, Sommer, for letting us borrow yours again!

*wearing size 2 diapers, somewhere between 6 and 6-9 month clothing (although there are a few 3-6 month holdouts still lingering in the drawers).

*sleeping from 7:30 pm to 4:30 am, then back to sleep until 7:15 am or so.  Although lately she's tried getting up at 6:30 am.  NOT. HAPPENING.

*capable of put her own pacifier back in her mouth (she's actually been doing this for a few months now, but I keep forgetting to mention it).

*singing and talking to herself most of the day.  If she's happy, she sings and shrieks to herself for 15-20 minutes straight.

*very, very good at making her wishes known.  Jon & I were talking the other night about how odd it is to realize that she can't actually talk--she can tell us EXACTLY what she wants with no words at all.  Oh, the Princess...

*babbling.  When she's happy it's 'da da da da da'.  When she's mad/sad/hungry/angry it's 'Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!'.  Guess which one means 'Mom'?

*cutting her top two (?) teeth.  From the few times I've been able to stick my fingers in her mouth without getting chomped on, I can feel that they are REALLY close.  Which explains some of the grumpiness lately.

*grabbing EVERYTHING.  Holding her is getting difficult because she spends so much time lunging for things as we pass.

We love you, little bug!  Thank you for making us smile every day!

Lohr's Orchard

A local orchard offered $3 hayrides to school groups of 15 or more.  Well, between all the homeschoolers and preschoolers in our ward, we managed to get ourselves a group of probably 30.

Seth (and all the other little kids) waiting for the ride to start

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our $3 ride included picking one apple and one small pumpkin.

After much searching, Seth found one almost as big as his face.

Pointing out all the rotten apples we passed.

Of course, the highlight of the trip for Seth was riding behind the tractor.

Here he is, completely mesmerized by the wheels: 

Heading into the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin: 

Catherine approves of Seth's choice.

(don't mind my creepy stare--I tried to keep myself out of the shot, but it's too close range) 

Guess who was the first one back in the trailer?

Tractors trump pumpkin patches any day. 

After the ride they took us all in a (pitch black) barn for some cider tasting.

Catherine Washburn was kind enough to get a decent picture of me & my Catherine: 

Angelina & Seth try their cider (it was really, really good): 

Our 'little' group: 

Our ward is awesome.