Pumpkin Pickin'

Peter Piper picked a patch of pretty pumpkins.

So where's the patch of pretty pumpkins that Peter Piper picked? At Mother Nature's Farm!

Me and the boys went to the pumpkin patch at the farm today and had a splendid time.

Here are the boys on the hay ride. Simon was so excited that a big green tractor was pulling the wagon. He loved it! Ryan had no idea what was going on but got excited because Simon was excited. :)

We got to check out the animals: Chickens and roosters and turkeys and a few pigs too.

This was the best part. I had to practically drag Simon out of the hay maze. I was a"mazed" to see how fast Simon got through the maze. He never got stuck. He quickly found his way to the end even when the other older kids were yelling "Mom, I don't know where to go."

That's my boy!

Here's Ryan chillin' in the play house.

Just for fun!

Here are the pumpkins! Simon had a blast decorating his. We found the letters for his name, and he added a few more letters and some other silly foam stickers too. Ryan didn't get the whole putting-stickers-on-pumpkins thing. I could barely get him to hold his pumpkin for a picture. He was sooo tired the whole time we were there. We left right at naptime. Not so smart on my part but he still had a good time And we can still use these pumpkins for scrumptions pumpkin pie later. mmmmm!

I am also happy to announce that Simon has finally overcome his fear of bounce houses! yay!

His Aunt Marie works at Extreme Play and last time we went there he would not get on the bouncers. He was scared to tears! But as of today he is cured and was even asking me if we could go see "Auntie Ree" at Extreme Play.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Trunk or Treat 09

Trick or Treat! Or should I say "Trunk-or-Treat!"
Our ward Halloween party/Chili cook-off was last night and it was a great party (besides the fact that it was FREEZING!)
I got the boys all decked out in their little pirate costumes that I finally finished. I got my costume finished in the nick of time too. I finally found a feather for my hat the day before the party.

Here are the boys showing off thier costumes.

Doesn't Ryan make the cutest pirate?

Simon sword fighting with dad.This was my favorite part of the costumes. I got to use my new screenprinting skills to add a Jolly Roger to the back of their vests. Pretty spiffy, huh?

Simon made a great pirate! He even had the grumpy pirate demeanor all night. All he wanted was candy. As soon as we sat down to eat he said "Mom, where's my candy!" He was so happy when it was time to trick or treat that he almost ran off and left me behind.

I loved seeing some of my favorite people and their kids all dressed up and having a great time.

Here's our gang of pirates. (Thanks to Erica Hanks for this pic.) I love my new hat! I might have to be a pirate again next year so I can wear it again! The best part about our costumes is that the only things we bought were: fabric for the boy's pants, bandanas, a feather, and trim for the vests. I even made my shirt out of one of Jeremiah's old mission shirts and my vest is made out of fabric from our old kitchen chairs. Jeremiah got home from work late so he missed all the fun :( Hope he can join the fun next year.

Family Update

I really want to be an avid blogger and post what's happening as soon as it happens but, with 2 little tornado boys, housework, finances, a new business, crafting, church, etc., I have found very little time to keep my online journal up to date.

I wanted to write down what is happening with the Halls before we are on to the next chapter in life. Most of this I am writing just for me, as boring as that may sound.

Jeremiah is so dedicated to his job. Farnsworth is so lucky to have him woking there. They have switched his hours around to the point that we barely get to see him anymore. He works 9 to 6ish. Which sometimes ends up turning into 7 to 7. We look forward to weekends with him so we can enjoy just hanging out with him.

He has also just started up his own small business with a compay called FHTM aka "Fortune". It is an amazing company that works with other brand name companies like Dish Network and Verizon Wireless, True Essentials, and much more. So if you are in need of services, he's the man to ask. Here's a link if you want to find out more. The more I find out about this company the more excited I get about it. (I know that sounded like a sales pitch but I seriously think this company is great!)

Jeremiah has also been really into "survivalism" lately. It's always been an interest for him but he has been learning so much more lately. I am so glad he's found a hobby and even more glad that it is something that he's doing for the whole family. He wants to be prepared for anything that could happen, from a house fire to natural disasters and everything in between.

(Jeni) I am still working from the comforts of home, getting my new business rolling. It has been amazing to watch my ideas come to life, and the best part is that other people like them too! I am loving Cantaloupe Corner. It is my creative release. But above that, it helps me feel like I am contributing to our household, beyond the duties of a stay-at-home-mom. I admit that it takes time, energy, and creativity that I sometimes just don't have, but it has been worth it every step of the way. I had the chance to show my wares at a "boo-tique" at a friends house last week . I got to show off my new designs and make a few bucks (and spend a few bucks.)

I have also started running in the mornings. I started with a mile a day and worked my way up to 2.5 or 3 miles a day. I haven't been able to run this week. I have bad ankles and the pain got to be so bad that I couldn't run. So, after some healing time and better shoes, I'm going to start again.

My newest project is Halloween costumes for me and my kids. We are all going to be pirates! ARRR! I even used my new-found screenprinting talents on their pirate vests! I can't wait to post pictures. I've also been working on cute organza and fabric hair flowers to put in my shop. New projects take the monatany out of doing t-shirts everyday.

Simon is growing 6 inches a day and learning at an amazing rate. Yesterday we were working on new words to read. I can't believe how well he can read for a 3 year old. I'm teaching him the "CH" sounds and "OO" sounds. He smiled so big when he finally learned to read the word "choo". What a smarty. He is also starting to color and draw more, which he never had the desire to do before. And we had a play-dough lesson in mixing colors too. Now he wants to get play-dough out every day so he can make colors. lol.

Ryan is getting so big that sometimes I look at him in the morning and that same night he seems months older. I love to watch him play and see the wheels in his head turning as he figures out how to get into EVERYTHING. He leaves a path of distruction wherever he goes, and I can honestly say I don't really mind. He is still cruising on the furniture and not quite brave enough to take off on his own. He has taken a few coaxed steps all by himself but he still doesn't trust his feet enough to really try walking. He gets happier and more bubbly every day. Although I still hold to the fact that he was given to me because I asked for patience. He knows which buttons to push.

Both boys LOVE playing outside in the beautiful fall weather. I find them outside frequently playing in the rocks and dirt. Jeremiah and I have finally come to the conclusion that we NEED a sandbox! It's the only thing that will keep these two tornados from tearing up our backyard :)

We are all happy, healthy, and loving life. I would never trade a day in the life of the Halls for a zillion dollars. There are always things that we can do better and things that we need to change but I love our life.

I have lots of pictures to share from the last couple of weeks. They will be on my next post. Stay tuned. . .

Diggin' some dirt

One of my favorite sayings is "A boy is a noise with dirt on it."

Myboys proved this to be true today, not once but twice!

I let the boys into the backyard to play for 5 minutes while I got ready this morning and when I came out Ryan was COVERED from head to toe with dirt! He had so much dirt in his hair that he actually looked like he really had hair :)
Simon had thrown handful after handful of dirt on his brother's head. The worst part is that we were supposed to be headed to the park for a ward playdate in 10 minutes!

Oh, and FYI, Simon has discovered that if you move the decorative rocks in the backyard there is dirt underneath. Brown gold.


So, I brushed them off, stuck them in the bath, scrubbed all the dirt out of their hair, nose, ears, etc., and found fresh clean clothes. We made it to the park (almost an hour late) and had a great afternoon.

Then, as I was fixing dinner, the boys snuck outside again to play. This is the scene I found:

Yep, Round Two of "How dirty can we get while mom isn't paying attention". This time I just laughed and let them play in the dirt until dinnertime. Boys will be boys.

Photos by me!

I needed some new photos to put up in my house but I didn't want to hire a photographer and I am a bit short on free time so I decided to channel my inner photographer and do it all by myself. (Last time I went to a studio and got suckered into buying 3 times the amount of photos I wanted. grrrrr!)

So they aren't professional, but I like them!

So here are the new pics of my cutie pies! *sigh* They are growing up too fast.