Patti's Punkin' Pickin' Party

Brianna and Ali swinging in the back yard

In the midst of the week-long Andrew festivities, we were invited to Aunt Patti's to pick the pumpkins from her pumpkin patch. It was a great day. Not to hot, not to cold. We ate lots of really good food and played in her back yard. Getting good and dirty in the pumpkin patch.


Ali, doing her best racoon impression

We picked the entire patch clean. Patti waned to make sure we got everything so uprooted every plant and left the patch with no plants in it at all.

Erin, Brianna and Ellie gourd washing in the fountain

The children were very fastidious, washing the produce clean in the newly-installed fountain. (Located over the spot where Grandma and Grandpa Lott had their well.)


Brody, riding on one of many wheelbarrow loads of gourds Lee hauled home for Megan.

Everyone left with more than enough pumpkins and gourds to make this the most festive fall we have ever had.


Bud holding Emmy. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

The Celebration Continues . . .

The Drew-fest continued on his actual birthday. He went to the doctor for a check-up and two shots (not his favorite part of the day). Next, he got to go with Grandma and Grandpa on a special date to buy his birthday present. He got to open the rest of his gifts.

THEN he got to get dressed up and go out to a special dinner with just his mom and dad. He picked Thai food. My favorite. After he ate all he possibly could, he wiggled a little and mode room for icecream. It was fun for him to pick everything out and have them freeze it right before his eyes.

All in all a pretty good day.

The Drew-fest

We included this in the party invitations. It could have been the whole invitation, if I had the skill and creativity of certain members of my family, it would have been. But I'm not, so it wasn't.

For a week, our house was all Andrew all the time. He turned 8 years old. Monday, Sept. 22. We began the celebration with a birthday party at the Hardway Ranch the Saturday before his birthday. Grandpa Buddy saddled up the horses and built a bonfire. So a few of Andrew's friends and their parents could have some good old-fashioned fun.

Most of the boys around the fire pit. Andrew is wielding his "fire stick". Notice the other boys are keeping a safe distance. Andrew makes smart friends.

Andrew was delighted to feed his inner pyromaniac. He spent more time in the fire pit than riding horses. Luckily, we had cake and a pinata to distract him . . . for a while.

Caious attacking what was left of the very cool horse pinata I found. It held more candy than I expected. Oops. I sent those boys home full of sugar.


Also the presents kept him busy. I know he loved the gifts, but he was also very happy they were wrapped in flammable materials.

Showing off some of the goods with his friend Ethan.

It was a great time and we are very thankful for Buddy and Grandma for hosting the best party ev-er. I don't think we will be able to top this adventure.

Where's Tanner? On the horse. I'm not sure he ever got off. He could still be there today. In fact, if Grandpa would let him, I sure he would.

Everyone got stinky (smoky) and dirty. We even got rained on a little bit. It was a very memorable day.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but as my dad put it: I did a "crappy" job on the cake. An inside family joke that stems from a cake my brother (Crazy-Uncle-Tony) had when he was little. He was grossed out by it. My boys think it's hilarious. No horse cake is complete without a few droppings.

One Year Older . . .

and wiser too?!? Well . . . probably just older.
Happy Birthday to me!


Bill arranged a surprise party for me at our house. It was great. I got lots of wonderful stuff (including, - but not limited to - a t-shirt from my favorite t.v. show)


Bill made pizza like a man possessed. He says he made 10, they were all gone.


I wish I had taken better photos of the evening. It was a beautiful night and a good time was had by all ( I think.)
Thanks to everyone who came and those who sent well wishes from other parts of the country. I am very lucky to know you and be your friend.

Quirks

I have been tagged for the first time ever so I thought I'd respond.

Here are the rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you...Callie
2. Post these rules.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers

1. Condiments.
Yuck. I can't stand them. They make my stomach turn. In fact, when I am pregnant ketchup and mustard must be kept far away from me. Heaven help the person who leaves a ketchup-covered plate in the sink.

2. Salad Dressing.
Closely related to condiments. Also grosses me out. I will eat it when I have no other alternative (Olive Garden), but I really don't like it. If I can have a nice lemon wedge to squirt on my croutons . . . yum.

3. Bananas.
Also an offensive food. In 6th grade I had an unfortunate incident that cemented my dislike for the fruit. I am not the only one that was traumatized by the incident. My good friend Mish also hates bananas and was involved in the same banana-related experience in 6th grade. Maybe I am justified in my revulsion.

4. Feet.
Not a big fan. Once my children start walking, those cute little piggies are not very appealing to me. I don't kiss injured feet. That is Bill's domain.

5. Color Conformity.
I like to arrange things in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple . . .) Things seem more pleasant to me when rainbows are involved.

6. Rules.
I never break them. If it's a rule, I feel compelled to comply. I don't bring more than 10 items in the express line, I obey traffic signals and I always, always do what the teacher says. I'll never be a rebel.

As a rule follower, I must tag six people. So I choose JoEllen, Lauren, Cecily, Meta, Maren and Hilary

It's all fun and games until . . .

Bill has taken up fly fishing (strictly catch-and-release). He wanted to share his love of the sport with the rest of us so we drove up to the Provo River to learn how to fly fish.


Walking to the perfect location. These tracks are no longer used . . . I think
The day was great for fishing. A little warm, perfect for standing in the river.


Most of the group in the river, getting ready to cast
The children loved casting and learning how to fish. Even if they had to stand in the water. Then . . . just as we were leaving, Brianna picked up the can of bug spray and squirted it right in her eye. Fun over.

I don't have any photos of the rest of the evening, we were too busy holding her down, flushing her eye with water. It was horrible. She kept saying "It burns!"
Luckily, we have a friend who is an optometrist. We called him and got sage advice (thanks, Rob). After about 30 min. of screaming, we decided to go home. She was happy for the 40 drive and the next day, her eyes showed no sign of trauma.

Just before the unfortunate incident
Next time we go fishing (and there will be a next time), we will spray for bugs as soon as we arrive and leave the bug spray safely locked in the car.

Trinkle, trinkle little star

Potty training is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, Ellie potty trained herself. Brianna is familiar with what a potty is and has even used it on occasion. But at 2 years old, I'm not going to rush her. I have learned through sad experience that there are worse things than changing diapers.

The other day Brianna was sitting on her daddy's lap and decided to take her diaper off. We asked if she wanted to go potty. She looked at Bill and said "I trinkled on you."

It's true. She had left a little wet spot on her daddy's leg.

I guess potty training will wait a while longer . . .

With a face like this, who can stay angry?