Halloween

 Waiting for the kids to come out for the Halloween Parade at Kemptown Elementary. 

Tess and her friend Caile

Fractured Tacos for dinner

Pre-Trick-or-Treating Pictures

(Had a hard time getting a good picture...too much wind and excitement!)

 Headed to the Conover's

 Michael and Jake, both Clone Troopers

Just as we got to our old neighborhood in Clarksburg to trick-or-treat it started to rain. But that didn't sto us...at first. Abby ran from one door to the next, so excited the entire night. We met up with James and his four kids after awhile.

Lastly, I have to add this hysterical picture of my brother Chuck, texted last night. Too Funny!

Pumpkins, Puppy, and Pinching Pennies

Sugar Cookies 

Gavers Farm
We have loved Gavers Farm in the past partly because of its beautiful setting but also because we've gone at perfect times when there is hardly anyone there. Well this year was different. It rained for what felt like weeks so when we had a sunny weekend we headed to the pumpkin patch with the rest of the county. The kids still had a great time despite the crowds and lines. A couple things I learned about my kids: First, Abby is a hoot in a pumpkin patch. I really got a kick out of her enthusiasm to find just the right one. She'd pick one up, declare it to be the winner and then drop it to go find another. Jake and Tess were so eager to play that they picked up the first one they could carry. Abby's had to be perfect. Next, My kids are not aggressive with big groups of kids.  Other kids butted in line preventing them from going down the slides over and over again and my kids just let it happen without getting upset. I'm afraid I was the one upset and putting an end to it. Poor Abby took 15 minutes to go down one slide that should have taken oh, 3. So I went with her the next time and told the other kids (in my nice mommy-in-control-voice) to wait in line and take turns.

Pumpkin Carving

Clara

Is always climbing and falling. Once with Dan, she split her mouth from climbing on a chair. From the large amount of blood Dan was worried she'd need to go to the E.R. Tonight she gave herself a huge goose-egg on her forehead. Clara Loves to say ABBY over and over and over. She is starting to copy more words. She is the messiest eater ever!

Jake

Earned his Bear! He is loving cub scouts, being with Dan, and earning lots of belt loops, beads and merit badges. I'm proud of how well he is doing adjusting to the new group of boys. It isnt easy but he's doing great. Big big news. He lost his front tooth! Finally. Today he came off the bus running to me with a huge grin. It totally shocked me. Dan and I didn't realize how lose it was. His buddy at school told him that if he cleans it the tooth fairy with pay extra....he is going to test this theory tonight.
Jake is the dog's buddy. First thing from school Jake is checking on, playing with, taking him out to potty. It is incredible and has surprised Dan and I. Jake loves Buddy and Buddy loves Jake.

Tess

Got an expander put in this week. She did great at the appointment. I was prepared for crying and lots of hugs but no crying! I love her orthodontist and staff. I've visited too many dental offices. I consider my self an expert of it actually. This office is so friendly, all of the staff are so good with her. They have a lots of rewards, drawings, incentives ect. Every time we've gone Tess has entered a new drawing to win things like a bike! For Halloween Dr. Sheehan buys back candy. Since his patients are in brace and can't eat sticky candy, and to help with good dental hygiene, he gives a dollar to every pound of  candy. Awesome. She was given a shirt and bracelet to decorate and wear to her appointments to earn token towards a gift card. Good brushing and other little things earn a token. Tess is actually excited to go back to get her braces on.  The plan is for the next two weeks I turn the expander with a key twice day. Then she gets braces and in 6 months it will all come off and her big teeth will have room to come down straight. The new expander has made eating and talking difficult, for now. Dan and I prepped her before school on how to handle kids commenting on her speech and I wrote her teacher a lengthy note. Well, her first day she got off the bus and burst into tears because of a boy teasing her in class. Of course it happened at the end of the day when her teacher was using the bathroom. There was an adult in the room but she didn't do anything about it. Luckily more than 3 friends stood up for her. Broke my heart. And made my inner-mama bear want to come out!

(nice photo bomb in the background...)

Abby

Is a doll. Just so adorable. She took pictures at preschool a couple weeks ago and the photographer grabbed me at pick-up time to tell me how much she adores Abby, that she was so easy to photograph and such a "pure kid".  Yes she is. She has such a cute way of saying things, I wish I wrote more down. Today, we were headed downstairs to watch AFV together, she stopped, looked at me and said "Ok. So here's the deal...".  I just started using a sticker chart with her to keep her in her bed at night. She is usually in with us 3 to 4 times a week ever since we moved in. After earning 5 sticker in a row her rewarded was special time with just me. She chose to decorate sugar cookies and have a chat on the swing.  Cute. She was so excited about this that she told both neighbor mom's about it. Mrs. Susie told Abby to come tell her when she earned her 5 stickers. So, yesterday morning when she earned that 5th one she was dressed and over at the neighbors at 8am. I had no idea she had left the house and was busy getting the other kids dressed when Jake looked out the window and spotted her. Sweet Mrs. Susie had a new princess bouncy ball and M&M's for her. I love our neighbors.

Dan and I

We just took professional family pictures with a friend from our old ward, Laura Franklin. Its been over 5 years. I wanted an outdoor shoot to take advantage of the colorful leaves. Of course Clara was happy until it was time to smile. To her credit she developed a runny nose on the spot that turned into a head cold. I'm hoping we get at least one good picture.

We live in a gorgeous place, especially right now. I love the Fall! I am grateful for our new house but we are feeling very financially tight right now. We've been trying to make up for our crazy Summer.  And then the government shut down. (a post in and of itself) We were concerned that Dan wouldn't get paid at all but thankfully he will. It all added to our stress level though. If we hadn't just bought a home, and had all the money in savings we had oh, 5 months ago, we would be fine. I love living "out in the country", but it has its drawbacks-- it is a further drive to any store, DCP, and church. So between gas, preschool, piano lessons, and little repairs to the house we are on edge. We are not penny pinchers but aren't big spender either. We will get ahead of this I'm sure. Its just a new frustrating challenge for us.

Dan is a great Cub Scout Master, Den Leader, and complete Cub Scout coordinator/planner. He is so dedicated to getting this program working for the boys. But, a program like this can't be a one man show. I'm hoping he gets some real help soon. His third calling is nursery leader.

Me.  I just got Clara use to the childcare place at the gym I signed up at and was really excited to finally take classes and then I hurt my knee some how.  I have an MRI on Monday and am praying it isn't a big deal. Praying for no surgery!

Buddy

Is getting bigger. Dan, Jacob, and Tess love him. Abby and Clara like him. Me...I'm still on the fence.

Our New Puppy

We finally did it. We made Tess's life long wish come true. Meet the newest addition to our family...

Grandma Great got the ball going when she picked out a little puppy for Tess. It was a mix, part beagle part??? As Dan and I researched beagle's we found that they are at the very top of the list as the noisiest dog. With a neighbor who is very sensitive to barking (she has called animal control on several neighbors, resulting in an electric collar for the dogs preventing them from barking) we felt like we couldn't go that route. So after lots of research and searching craigslist we found a 7 week old golden retreiver in North Carolina. All our research said that Golden's were the BEST family dog and as I am not an animal lover we had one shot to get this right.

Dan was away on business last week and suprised the kids with the puppy on Saturday evening. (He drove all the way to Salisbury North Carolina to get him.)  I had the kids waiting on the back porch. I only wish I had been at a better angle to catch their reactions with the camera. Priceless!

Waiting for Dad to get home.

 Abby was the first to hear Dan. She took off running to Dan not knowing what was in his hands. The moment she saw the puppy she turned the other direction with a very frightened look. I'm very proud to say that after having the dog for 4 days she has really started to over come her fear. She can hold his leash and be in the same room with him as long as one of us is there to keep him from nipping at her.

 Hi Puppy!

Within minutes of Dan being home Abby went screaming to the neighbors "We have a puppy!" Then we had a backyard of kids. Here are some pictures of the fun:

When he started to poo for the first time Tess's expression was awesome. She quickly took off to get a potty bag to clean it up. It made me laugh! She was ready for the responsibility.

Clara has a love hate relationship with him. She wants to play with him but he nips at her and she cries. Poor thing, her hands and feet are just so inviting. Dan and I are working towards training him not to nip/bite. Clara sits at the baby gate, bangs on it, hollers at him and wants more than anything to be with him. But then she cries.

 The kids had come home from school and were out with the puppy. Clara wanted out sooo bad but I had dinner to prepare. I tried to satisfy her with paints... just made a big mess.

His Name
Tess was set on Buddy (from the movie Air Bud, it's a golden retriever as well) the moment she saw him. Dan and I liked Huck. But after all the negative feedback of what it rhymes with it has ruined it for us. I didn't even think of it until someone else brought it to my attention. (To which I thought, yeah well Duck rhymes with it too.) So Buddy it is.


Potty Training
He is a lot of work. I already have a baby in diapers and 4 year old who still needs help wiping, and now another poop-er to clean up after. During the day we take him out every 2 hours or more to go potty. Of course my first day with him alone it rained all day. Taking a puppy out to potty with two little scared girls was frustrating. And then he pooped inside. YUCK.
 At night Dan gets up with him. Dan has been great with the nighttime responsibility. It cracks me up actually. All I have to do is nudge him and he bounds out of bed to take that whimpering puppy out. If it was one of our kids I'd have to shake him before he stubbled out of bed. Buddy is actually doing really well. We haven't even had him a week and already he has gone from needing to go out 3 times a night to only once. Last night Dan took him out at 10 and he went until 630a.m.! We are crate training him so that helps.  Dan is really doing so great making this as easy on me as possible.

I was in the yard with Jake when it was his first time cleaning up Buddy's poo. He gaged and spit while he picked it up and then vomited. But he did it!  Monday I headed to Petsmart, a pooper-scooper was at the top of the list. However, I got the wrong one. So back to the store I went to get one that doesn't smoosh that disgusting stuff. Jake's first words to me when he came off the bus that day was "mom, did you get a pooper-scooper".  It made me laugh. He is going to do great with the new responsibility.

Buddy in the A.M.
Jake and Tess run to Buddy as soon as they wake up. They all take him out in the morning and play with him to hopefully tire him out a bit.

 Look, my two little puppies...Clara and Buddy get in to everything!

Buddy in the P.M.

Dan tucking him in for the night. He loves his pup. 

Me

I initially said yes to a dog because 1. I had no idea how much work a puppy was and 2. We have a huge fenced back yard that the dog would live in. LIVE in. However, we have very large dogs all around us and I'm worried that if I let Buddy out he will either eat something he shouldn't or get under the fence and be hurt by big dogs. So, he is in the mudroom unless one of us can be out with him.

Having a dog, let alone holding it, is HUGE for me. When I was about 7 my sister got a Cocker spaniel for Christmas. I was so afraid of that cute little puppy that my Dad had to carry me in and out of the room it was in. I sat on the top of the chair in the kitchen to eat. Poor Rusty got hit by a car after a year. And that's the extent of my experience with dogs. It's an irrational fear, I know this. Tess has wanted this for years and I love her to peices, so here I am overcoming a huge fear.  First I conquered the fear of touching its boney body, legs, tail, paws ect. Then I actually picked him up. Now I need to be okay with touching it's face/mouth. It sounds silly, but it's real. My siblings who are reading this are shocked, I'm sure. 

BEHOLD...

This is one happy girl!