Halloween

Halloween was quick this year. So we have definitely learned that trick-or-treating is much different in the cold. We did not plan warm costumes or even think about putting a coat on them when we went out. I guess you have to buy their costume bigger so you can put coats under their costumes or something? The kids only lasted about 30 minutes and then they were complaining that they were cold and wanted to go back home. They kept saying "No more candy!" Never thought I would hear my kids say that!

So this year we had a princess and two pirates. Their costumes were great! They all looked so cute!

Chase

Mallory

Clark

Chase and Mallory loved dressing up! Chase thought having a beard was the coolest and Mallory loved the fact that she got to wear make-up! Mallory won't need mascara when she grows up. She's got the longest darkest lashes!
Mallory had on these high heels - the play kind - and after a while she insisted on being carried, especially up every flight of stairs.
Her feet were hurting and she said it was hard to walk. Women's footwear doesn't get any better the older you get Mally!! If people weren't coming to the door fast enough Chase and Mallory would look in the window next to their front door to see if they were coming. No one was home at this door!
While we went trick-or-treating we just left our bowl of candy by the front door because we weren't going to be home to pass it out. We actually thought some punk kid would dump the whole bowl in his or her trick-or-treat bag. Actually we were hoping that's what would happen. We didn't want the candy sitting around the house! I guess the kids are pretty honest here and just took a piece or two while we were gone. Our bowl looked like this when we came home:
When the kids got home they dumped out their buckets on the floor to check out their goods! They were great and shared with Clark too. In fact they shared a little too much with Clark. He threw up all over Craig. That's when we cut the candy off and headed for the bathtub!

!
It was an enjoyable - and cold - Halloween!!

Chase's 5th Birthday

Chase turned 5 on October 30th. I can't believe my oldest is 5! He's really grown up a lot this past year. He's such a good helper, especially with Clark. They have a special bond! We started Chase's birthday off by having donuts. Chase's favorite is chocolate with sprinkles! After breakfast we went to feed the geese. We have 3 ponds in our townhouse development. Canadian geese come play in our ponds throughout the day. This is often the highlight of our kids's day!
I love this picture! It looks like my baby "geese" are following their Daddy "goose"!

Craig ended up being sick on Chase's birthday so he spent the afternoon in the doctor's office while Clark and Mallory napped and I wrapped presents. I was wrapping the presents up in my bedroom and I see this little bit of brown hair peeking up over the top stair in the stairwell. (It's Chase - I had told him to stay downstairs while I wrapped his presents). I asked him what he was doing upstairs and he said, "Mom, I was just checking on you." Of course he was trying to catch a peek at his presents! Do you remember those days? To be so full of excitement!! Wondering what's behind the wrapping paper all day long!
We went to Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner and tokens! Grandpa Marc and Grandma Treesa came into town for Chase's birthday. We also had two families from the ward come. It was nice to have every one's company and it meant a lot to Chase to have a party! He had a blast riding rides and playing games! Chuck E. Cheese even had a dance floor where you would dance in front of this blue screen and your picture would show up on these TV monitors with different backgrounds. It was pretty cool! The kids loved the dancing part and watching the disco ball!

He opened his presents last. He was so excited! He just kept going from present to present to present!



He had such a great time at his party! We were so glad that some family and friends got to come and celebrate with us!

I took Chase to get his 5 year pictures done and we're getting dressed and ready to go and he turns and says to me, "Mom. I'm growin' up." I almost started crying! Yes, my boy is growing up! He is turning into such a sweet little boy. He has a thirst for life. He lives every moment to it's fullest and he always finds a way to make me smile. That's one thing I love about Chase - if Chase is smiling you can't help but smile back. He has the best smile! His picture turned out great. He looks more like 15 instead of 5. He looks like a male model! He's got his thumbs in his pockets his top button unbuttoned and of course. . . . the perfect smile :)

Clark's 1st Birthday

Clark turned 1 back on October 11th. His birthday happened literally in the midst of our move. We were moving boxes and unpacking things and we realized Clark's birthday was the next day! We had no presents for him, no cake, no nothing! Poor kid! (At least he'll never remember!) So we went to the store and picked up the goods the morning of his birthday. His first birthday was very different than Chase and Mallory's first birthdays. We always have a big family party and everyone comes to celebrate. It's a big deal! This year we had the pleasure of having Uncle Ben and Aunt Crystal and Tristan there. And they're usually the ones who can't come because they live so far away! The party was much smaller, but still just as fun. We ordered pizza and wings for dinner. Our tradition is usually to barbecue hamburgers for their birthdays, but not this year. We didn't have the kitchen unpacked to cook anything and we have no barbecue grill now. So x-nay on the hamburgers! Oh well, Clark LOVES pizza. He thought it was great! (You can't hardly tell Craig and Crystal are brother and sister can you? Straight smile, eyes in the corner, head tilted :) ) (Nice picture Ben!) Clark loved his cupcake! Of course he loved the frosting the most. He kept looking from us to the cupcake, from us to the cupcake when we put it in front of him. I think he was wondering what to do with it. He figured it out real quick!

Some good stuffing action!

After a quick bath Clark opened his presents. And of course he was more interested in the wrapping paper than the gifts themselves!
He enjoyed all of his presents. He loves toys that have lights and buttons!
This will definitely be a memorable birthday. For us more than him. Our first few weeks away from family, a crazy cross-country move, and our sweet baby boy turning one! (Isn't he handsome?!)

Rubber Snake Continued. . . . .

If you missed the last post you might want to go back and read it or this one won't make sense :)

So I took Mallory back to Wal-Mart the day after the "thieving" event took place. We went to the customer service area since I had a return to make anyway. The lady in front of us had just finished making her own return and was walking away from the counter. There was no one else in the customer service area. I thought this was perfect because there would be no other distractions while Mallory made amends. No other impatient customers waiting in line behind us. Just as we got to the counter a very upset man barged right up to the counter beside us. He had a TV in his cart (obviously broken). He just started complaining about something with the remote and this and that about the TV not working. There was only one woman working in the customer service area mind you, and this man had TOTALLY disregarded us and started going on and on about his TV to the ONE customer service worker. The woman behind the counter told the man that we were here first and she was going to help us and then she would be right with him. He made a face and stopped his complaining. You could tell he was pretty upset about his TV and even more upset that he had to wait his turn. The customer service lady turned to me and took my receipt and bag of things that I needed to return. She started on the return process and was almost done when I lifted Mallory up above the counter with the snake.

Me to the Customer Service Lady (CSL): She has something to tell you.

Me to Mallory: Go ahead. What do you need to tell her?

(Mallory froze!) (We had practiced many times, but she froze!)

Mallory: Um. . . um. . . um. . .

Me prompting Mallory: I'm sorry. . . .

Mallory to CSL: I'm sorry I stealed your snake.

Mallory handed the snake to the CSL.

CSL to Me: (a confused look on her face) What is she saying?

Me to CSL: She's said she's sorry for stealing your snake. We were here yesterday and she walked out of the store with the snake without paying for it. So she's giving it back now.

Mallory to CSL: Sorry.

CSL laughs and thinks Mallory is really cute.

CSL to Mallory: (gives the snake back to Mallory) Oh, that's ok sweetie! Here you can have it!

Me to CSL: No, we didn't pay for it.

CSL to Me: That's ok. It doesn't even have a price tag on it. If I would have seen this laying around the store I probably would have just thrown it away. It's just a little rubber snake.

Me to CSL: (me taking the snake out of Mallory's hands) Really she can't have it. If I let her have the snake the only thing it teaches her is that when she steals things she gets to keep the item anyway.

CSL to Me: Well, I'm probably just going to throw the snake away so she can really have it if she wants it.

Me to CSL: I can't reward her for stealing. I'm not going to teach my child that.

Angry man with the TV to Me: (he had been listening and watching this entire exchange) Oh, I see what you're doing. I see why you won't let her have the snake.

Me to CSL: You can throw the snake away if you want to, but we're not taking it home with us.

Me to Mallory: Mallory what else do you need to tell the lady?

Mallory to CSL: I'm sorry for stealing and I won't do it again.

CSL to Mallory: That's ok. Thank you, honey!

As we walked away from the counter we heard the man with the TV begin his exchange with the customer service lady. He was speaking in much kinder and softer tones with the woman. He was calm! Him witnessing Mallory's apology had had a soothing effect. It was powerful!! There was a sweet spirit there as my little Mally girl learned to right her wrong.

After getting the boys loaded into their seats I talked to Mallory for just a minute outside the car.

Me: How do you feel in your heart Mallory?

Mallory: Feels good.

Me: Do you think you made Jesus happy by saying your sorry?

Mallory: Yeah! Jesus is happy!

It was a very sweet experience. One thing I did not expect is for the angry man to calm down like he did. I really thought he would just rip into the lady after we left. It's amazing how powerful the words "I'm sorry" are!! They can have such an effect on people who aren't even in the situation. I was truly amazed! It was neat to watch Mallory go through the steps of repentance. Even though she will remain sinless for the next five years this was great practice for her!

Another thing. . . . since when did Wal-Mart start GIVING things away that don't have price tags? Am I to assume that if the item doesn't have a price tag it must be free? (Seriously, it's happened twice now!)

P.S. - As for Mallory. . . . she will not be serving any jail time. As for Chase. . . . .twenty years from now if you're ever pulled over by an Officer Kurtzeborn. . . . . whatever you did, no matter how small of a law you broke. . . . you know you're headed for the slammer!!

Jail, Justice, and a Rubber Snake

The kids and I went to Wal-Mart today to pick up a few odds and ends. While walking through the store the kids found a rubber snake laying in the middle of the aisle. They picked it up and were playing with it as we got the rest of the things we needed. When we got to the check out Mallory asked if we could buy the snake. I told her no. (We already have 2 rubber snakes at home). We finished checking out and I loaded the kids up into the car and the few grocery items. Got home, unloaded everyone and everything, and I notice a snake in Mallory's hand.

Me talking to myself in my head: Did she take that?! How did she get that by me? No alarms went off in the store when we left. I buckled her in the car and took her out and I did not see that snake! The little sneak!

Me to Mallory: Mallory, did you take that snake out of the store?

Mallory: Yeah. (At least she admitted it. Usually she blames Clark when she knows she's in trouble.)

Me: I told you you could NOT have that snake. And now you've stolen it. That is a bad choice! We don't steal things! Go sit in the corner!

Many tears later. . . she sat in time-out until dinner (about 25 minutes) and when Craig came home I filled him in on what our sneaky little thief had done. He had a talk with her.

Craig to Mallory: Mallory, did you steal from the store today?

Mallory: Yes.

Craig: Mallory we don't steal. Do you know what happens to people who steal?

Mallory: No.

(Chase is now listening intently.)

Craig: They go to jail. Do you want to go to jail?

Mallory: No.

Chase: Yeah, let's put her in jail!

Craig: Do you know what happens in jail?

Mallory: No.

Craig: They feed you yucky food.

Mallory: I'll be hungry. I don't want to eat yucky food.

Craig: Do you know what else they do in jail? Sometimes the girls fight. And they hit and kick each other and they're mean.

Chase: Let's put Mallory in jail!

Craig: Do you know what else happens when you go to jail? A police officer puts handcuffs on you and you can't use your hands to steal things.

Chase: Mallory, you gotta go to jail because you stole the snake!

Mallory: I don't want to go to jail. I'm just gonna run to the forest and hide and jail won't find me!

Craig: Then you would be a fugitive and that would make it even worse. Do you want to go back to the store and tell them your sorry and give them back the snake?

Mallory: Yeah.

Chase: Let's take Mallory to jail!

Me to Chase: Wow Chase! You are all about the justice! Do you want Mallory to repent and say she's sorry to the store? We can show mercy and let her apologize and take the snake back. Or do you just want her to go to jail?

Chase: I just want her to go to jail and get beat up.

(Oh goodness!! I think Chase might have some pent-up emotions about Mallory right now that are surfacing. Maybe he has some type of a personal vendetta against her? Maybe he coerced her into taking the snake so that she would get into trouble?!)

(At this point in the conversation we're also wondering how we got on the topic of jail fights. After all we are talking about a 3 year old and a 99 cent rubber snake! Is Chase influencing the direction of this conversation?!)

Me to Chase: Chase that's not very nice. We need to help Mallory out and help her to make the right decision. How do you think you can help her make the right decision?

Chase to Mallory: Mallory, you gotta go back to that store and tell them your sorry and not take the snake anymore!

Me to Chase: Good job Chase. That's a good way to help Mallory.

Craig to Mallory: What happens when we take things from the store?

Chase: We go to jail.

Craig to Mallory AGAIN: What happens when we take things from the store?

Chase: We go to jail.

Craig to Chase: Yes, thank you Chase, but I would like Mallory to answer the question. Ok?

Craig to Mallory: You aren't going to go to jail, ok. But we need to go take the snake back to the store and tell them your sorry. Can you do that?

Mallory: Yeah.

Chase: And Mallory, when you go to jail and those girls try to beat you up I'm gonna punch them and kick them and throw them in the trash can!

(Now Chase is defending her? What is going on inside his head?)

Sounds like we need to have a talk with Mr. All Justice and No Mercy too.

Needless to say, we will be taking Mallory back to Wal-mart tomorrow to return the snake. I'll let you know how she does. . . .

Our First REAL Fall

I guess living in AZ pretty much our entire lives we have never really had the opportunity to experience fall in it's fullest form. Craig served his mission in Wisconsin so he was able to experience 2 fall seasons there and a few visits to Utah throughout his childhood. But other than that we haven't really been anywhere to enjoy the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees for the full fall season. The colors change on a daily basis! We always took our vacations in the summer growing up so I don't ever recall being elsewhere in the country during the fall season. I honesty can't recall ever seeing a tree go from green to red, or orange, or yellow. It's beautiful! It really is! The colors are so vibrant. I remember one time living in AZ we saw a couple on the side of the road taking a picture next to a cactus. We thought they must not be from the desert. To us cactus' are no big deal. But someone from elsewhere in the country has probably never experienced a cactus! Therefore, the perfect photo opportunity! We found ourselves taking pictures of the trees when we first got here. WOW!! TREES!! Green trees. Thick trees. Big trees. Tall and lush looking trees! Trees that don't look stick-like. . . . and dead. We took even more pictures when the leaves started changing colors! It really is gorgeous and we have enjoyed every minute of fall here! Phoenix is 50 degrees hotter than NJ today. The high is only 43 degrees. It snowed this morning off and on for about 4 hours. I have never seen snowflakes that big! I didn't realize they came in all shapes and sizes! We have enjoyed bundling up and the kids get so excited everytime we get to put our coats on to go out. They think it's thrilling to be bundled! Except Clark. He seems to get more and more upset the more layers we have to put on him. We've had to loosen his carseat buckles enough to allow room for his winter coat. I keep forgetting how cold it is outside here. I actually have to take the time to put shoes and socks on. I've gone out in my flip flops a couple of times and my toes are frozen and numb by the time I get back home! The pictures really don't do it justice, but here are just a few fall pictures. . . .




These are the trees outside the kitchen window. Doing dishes takes on a whole new meaning when you get to watch the leaves blow off the trees! The colors are even more vibrant and deeper now. We'll have to take more pictures as the colors continue to change!

We're Alive

Ok, so we just got our internet up and running. Literally 10 minutes ago. Yay, FINALLY! It's almost midnight now. . . . another late night. We have so much to share! We have over 300 pictures to download onto the computer from our adventures here! We'll save the sharing for another night, we're a little sleepy now. Thanks to everyone who has left comments or e-mails wondering about us. We feel very cared for :) Talk to you soon. . . .

For now, goodnight from New Jersey. . . .sleep tight :)