A Blast From The Past Part II: Halloween Fun!

The kids carving pumpkins. Does it look like they are having fun to you?? This picture makes me laugh. I can't really remember what the malfunction was at this point...but they really did have fun carving pumpkins! Matty carved a bat and Anastyn carved a cat. Mom and Dad carved a haunted house.

 What cute kids, if I do say so myself. We went with a 60's theme this year. I was not super-mom. I was more like super-lazy-mom! We dug out the poodle skirts I made them for the Lovell's Day Parade a couple years back. Luckily they still fit. And luckily Mason had some jeans and a white t-shirt in his dresser. All we had to do was slick his hair up and voila!! They did look adorable. :)

 And this year we did our trick-or-treating in Lovell again! I can't remember why we were in Lovell instead of Meeteetse (that's what happens when you wait 3 months to blog about something). But, hey, they got to trick-or-treat for heck sake! It was Mason's first time and the girls were so kind to show him the ropes!!

There ya go...that was Halloween in a nutshell!!

A Blast From The Past: Part I

So since I did some serious slacking over the last few months as far as blogging goes, I am going to try to catch you up to speed. Nothing major happened....just the girls first hunting trip with their dad, Halloween, and Christmas.

Now, since I missed some pretty big things that deserve their own posts, I am going to split this up into parts.

Part I: Matty and Anastyn's Antelope Adventure!!!

 I should probably make Kyle write this post since he was there and I was not....but he's not that into blogging. :) I really don't know what all went down on this little hunting trip. Here's what I do know: According to the photographic evidence, my children had their hands all over a dead animal. And since I didn't see the photographic evidence until a little later...I'm not quite sure I washed their hands well enough when they got home! Another thing I know is that the girls had a Fantastic time. I figured they would get very bored driving around looking for animals. I thought they might be a bit sad to watch their dad kill an animal. I even thought they may get a little sick to their stomachs watching it die. Well I was wrong. They were unbelievably excited about the whole entire experience. They were right out there with their dad trying to help him gut the thing! Couldn't believe it...but I'm glad they can make these memories with their daddy. And it is looking like they will be going along every chance they get!

A Handful!

Yes, Miss Anastyn is officially a handful! She turned FIVE the other day! I just can't believe how quickly time is speeding by. This year she will be off to Kindergarten, and I just don't know what I will do without her. She had one of those extended birthdays this year. She actually missed her first birthday party so-to-speak. :) She has a blonde mother. A really super (blonde) mother that sent out a very mistaken text about the date of her actual birthday party! It was a good practice run for everybody I guess. Anyways, her birthday party was a couple days before her birthday. We ate at Pizza On The Run and she got to play in the bounce house. She wanted a chocolate Barbie cake. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out half-way easy on the eyes. :) She got many fun gifts including clothes, jewelry, a jewelry box, Leap Frog games, and money. She was given the royal treatment on her birthday. We stayed home and focused on her every whim! We painted her fingernails and toenails, cuddled and watched movies, she got to take a bubble bath (instead of the quick shower her mother prefers) and got to eat spaghetti for dinner! She had a second (very small, very casual) party on her birthday. She got to help decorate the cupcakes and had some of her very favorite friends over to enjoy them with her. And a couple days later, she was delighted to find another package in the mail from Aunt Chels. It came in one of those fancy envelopes you can buy at the Post Office. It had cupcakes on it. She couldn't believe her eyes and wondered how in the world Aunt Chelsea could possibly have known that she had cupcakes on her birthday! he he! 

So what do I have to say about Anastyn and her five years? A lot, actually:

She's just a great girl. She loves her kittens and her dog. She takes such good care of them! She loves to help with her little brother. She loves him dearly and thinks he is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. She has a beautiful voice. She goes to preschool and loves to learn anything and everything. She is like a sponge. She is hungry for knowledge and asks an almost unbearable amount of questions in a day. She is very fashion conscious and will not wear 'just anything'. She has many friends and loves to be around other people. She is forgiving. She loves her family 'more than birthdays and chocolate, more than anything in the whole world - except for Jesus' (in her own words). She loves Barbie movies, Angelina Ballerina, and the Backyardigans. She enjoys listening to storybooks and playing games. She is very fond of spaghetti and ham sandwiches and candy and not-so-fond of anything else. :) She likes everything to be 'just right' at bed-time and can't go to sleep without several hugs and kisses, a drink of water, and the reassurance that I will wake her up if there is anything that I might need to tell her in the middle of the night! She loves to prance around the house in her ballerina dress. Every once in a while she is allowed to wear it all day long...that's when she's in heaven! She is definitely our favorite 5-year-old and she could definitely never be replaced. She is a blessing to our family. She brings countless smiles to our faces and an endless supply of warm fuzzies to our hearts. We love you Anastyn! Please don't grow up too fast!!!! xoxoxo

Happy Things!

I know. I know. I should be ashamed of myself. It's been, well......a while. I do have excuses. Busy summer. Busy kids. Books to read. House to clean. Places to go. Things to do. You get it. And we are still busy. Even now as I write this, I am also chasing around a turbo charged toddler, trying to explain directions for a packet of worksheets to an information hungry preschooler, and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to stop what I'm doing here for a sec and change a poopy diaper. And the only reason I am making myself do this now is cause of the Aunt. The Aunt that would like to see some pictures of her nieces and nephew. So - this one's for you, Aunt Chels!! ;)

What's new with the little dude? Well, he is a typical toddler. He likes cookies, dancing, balls, being outside, getting dirty, rocks and sticks, climbing, food, sips of pop, kitties and puppies, and his dad.

 On our way to and from the Leithead reunion this summer we got to look around Yellowstone Park! It had been such a long time since we had been there. It was so fun to see all the animals and sights...nature is so awesome!!! 

It has also been a very long time since we have made it to a Leithead Family Reunion. We are glad we were able to see everybody this year! The girls had so much fun camping and playing. Lots of wonderful memories were made!

One of the biggest highlights of our summer was that we broke Anastyn of her thumb-sucking habit! Way to go Anastyn!!! Thank you to the genius who invented the Thumb Guard. Anastyn was such a trooper wearing these little things for five whole weeks. But I think we all agree that it was well worth it. And now we have to start saving for that trip to Disneyland that we promised her!!

 Matty started first grade! She has really taken to being a "Meeteetse Longhorn", and she LOVES her new teacher, Mrs. Horsen. She is a super-fun lady and I think Matty is going to have a fabulous year!! Isn't she a cute little first-grader????

And, thanks to Grandma-Great, we had the pleasure of taking care of seven...uh-huh, I said seven...cats this summer. They provided many, many hours of entertainment for the girls. Thankfully, we found homes for them all and kept our two favorites, Cupcake and Mittens. Anastyn loves to take care of them. She makes sure they have food and water and plenty of attention and love. She likes to carry them around in baskets and is thrilled that they are finally getting playful. She loves to tease them with balls of yarn and crumpled paper. Cute, cute, cute!

And last, but not least, we signed Matty up for soccer. She is so excited to be playing. She loves getting all dressed up in her soccer clothes and heading to Cody for her games. Mainly she chases butterflies and chews on her sleeve. But once in a while she actually kicks the ball!! It is such a hoot to watch these little guys play! Yay Matty! Go Strikers!!!