She finally got a hold of him.

My sister has been saying for 6 months now, that if we dressed Grady up and put a bow in his hair he could pass for a girl. Well, she got a hold of him and thank goodness we didn't have a bow or a dress because I am sure his dad would not have been very happy. Anyway, what do you think?

Trunkin and Treatin

So I pretty much wanted to pull my hair out by the time we made it to the church and then my sweet little Annie Oakley started crying again. This time she actually had a reason to cry. The whole crew dressed up in Country attire and we were supposed to get our pictures taken in the back of my sisters truck on a bale of hay with a bunch of pumpkins. Well we were late, my favorite thing, and it was too dark to get pictures, but I had to stop off at the truck and drop off my jacket. A local dog started to bark, something caught Markessa's attention and BAM!! she ran into the tale gate and cut her nose and started screaming. Of course I had no hands to pick her up until we got inside. Now this was not the first time her nose bled today. We went to Jaden's basketball game and she and Shay found a bunch of little girls to play with, on the bleachers, surprise, surprise!! Out of the five girls mine had to be the one to trip and fall on her face and get a bloody nose. She bounced back quickly though. Anyway, dinner was utter chaos, an extension of getting ready, so I was thrilled when we finally went trunk or treating. Markessa is the ever polite trick or treater always saying thank you. Last year she said, "Trick or Treat, please." At every door.

Pumpkin Man

Markessa had her second Field Trip, wow I can't wait for a normal day of a school again. She didn't want to do anything with the group, she just wanted to play with the toys. The only reason she wore her hat, was because there was a cute little cowboy who was wearing his. Well, that didn't last very long. She could have played on the tractor all day, good thing she shares pretty well when it's not her stuff. She did interact with the Pumpkin Man and even let him put his pumpkin head on hers and mommy's (loved it). All the kids got to pick out a pumpkin and get their picture taken. Then we went on a scavenger hunt and ate doughnuts. She asks if we can go see the Pumpkin Man every day now.

Sew not simple, but I did it!

Most of you know I am not really excellent at anything (except writing resumes and farm animal sounds), I just try my hand at a lot of things. Well I was pretty much forced to make a Halloween costume for Markessa, but I learned quite a bit about sewing and maybe by the time I am 100 years old I might be excellent at it. Anyway, with much assistance I did it. Here is the little model showing off just before our field trip to the Pumpkin Man.

Wonder is Wonderful!!

Well I wasn't planning on going to Pizzeria, mommy's favorite pizza place, but I had to stop the tears somehow and we were already out and about. It actually turned out to be one of the most enjoyable outings. Markessa has just fallen asleep for a two minute nap, so I was a little worried how it was going to turn out. She of course wanted me to carry her, but I had to carry Grady in the carseat, so I promised I'd hold her in the restaurant. We picked our seats and while we were waiting for our pizza I held Markessa, while Grady was still in his carseat on the table. We were just playing and dancing and all of a sudden mommy spilled a 32 oz glass of ice water all over us. Markessa was in shock crying and I was beet-red laughing and trying to calm her down. Thank goodness for the FISH TANK!! Markessa loves to circle back and forth from side to side watching the fish, so that was a good distraction while I cleaned up the mess. Then Grady started to get restless, so I got him out to look at the fish. (By the way the whole left side of my jeans front and back were soaked, but it didn't seem to matter.)

This is where my story finally makes sense. It was the most beautiful site, to see such sweet innocence turn into wonder and amazement as he looked at the brightly colored fish for the first time and how they moved. Then as he tried to catch them, but was blocked by the barrier of glass. Not comprehending he tried again. His eyes glued on the little swimmers, he continued to try to get through the glass to get them in his little hand. He was so peaceful as he took in the new creatures and it's a moment I'll treasure forever. I didn't escape teasing from the waiter and laughter from my audience for the blunder, but that made our outing even more fun.

Another little wonder that we experienced a few weeks ago, was the kids first snow fall. The fourth earliest snow storm in history. It was a Sunday morning and when Markessa woke up I told her there was a surprise outside for her. It took her just a few seconds to realize what her eyes were seeing and with that same wonder and amazement a huge smile lit up her face. "Wow!! Mommy it's on the roof tops and on the ground." Later she asked if she could go play in it and I said, "well we need gloves, boots, pants, a coat, and a hat." She said, "no I only need feet."

Pumpkin Party!!

The attention span at the pumpkin party was about 4 minutes. It would have been longer if I would have let Markessa mutilate the pumpkin with the poker. At least I was able to get her to sit by the pumpkin and get pictures. It was actually a "you better sit by this pumpkin that I cleaned out and carved all by myself or else" requirement. Grady loved the pumpkin so much he thought he would see how it tasted. He takes a bite out of just about anything these days, so this wasn't much of a surprise. By the way I am not the best pumpkin carver, so I went with level 1 pattern.

My First Field Trip

Markessa had her first field trip. We went to the Pizza Man in North Ogden. This is where Papa Shaw got pizza for mommy every Wednesday night growing up. The pizza always came with a little cup of mints in the center of a huge "sausage and mushroom" pizza. First the kids got to watch the giant mixing bowl mix the dough, they waited (patiently) for the dough to finish and then it went through some sort of "smasher". After that they cut it into pieces for breadsticks, where they were supposed to twist the dough. Markessa wouldn't even touch it. Then it was time to make their own pizzas. Yeah, Markessa wouldn't do that either. She did however, carry the pizza over to the large oven. The kids ate breadsticks while they waited for the pizzas, but we didn't end up with the right pizza and you guessed it Markessa wouldn't eat it anyway.

First Day of School

Markessa and I are doing a Joy School and we are loving it. Here is a picture of her on her first day.

First Haircut

Well I was putting it off as long as I could, but everyone said it was time to cut off his precious curls. Since Aunt Katie is the ever talented HAIR MAGICIAN, she got the honors. Here are some before, during, and after pictures of our blondie.

Guess Who?

Picture 1 Picture 2

Markessa saw a bunch of her baby pictures and she kept saying they were Grady, so I thought I'd see if anyone out there could tell the difference.

Gratitude

President Thomas S. Monson spoke about gratitude this recent General Conference and the message really spoke to my heart. Remembering what we are grateful for should always be at the forefront of our minds.

A few favorite things . . .

• Miracles (Markessa and Grady are my miracles)
• Answered prayers
• Memories
• Holding little hands
• Kisses and hugs
• A friend who is always there
• A family's love
• Mountains
• Tiny Toes
• Silly songs
• Lullabies
• Chocolate
• Cuddles
• Sunshine
• Reading bedtime stories
• The Hymns and Primary Songs
• Forgiveness