An Old Man Blowing Fire?

Today Riley and Mattie had suckers. Riley goes, "Mom I look like an old man with this in my mouth. You know mom, and then I blow fire out of my mouth." It was kind of funny but I'm not sure where he got that from? Silly boy.

For some reason Mattie thought it would be a good idea to stuff her lunch into her water bottle. It was really gross but she was very pleased with herself.

Riley's favorite holiday is Halloween. He talks about it all year long. Lately he keeps asking if he can be different things for Halloween. Today he wants to be the guy on Star Wars with all the light sabers, Iron Man and a pirate. He said, "Mom I want to be everybody for Halloween ok?". We bought a Batman costume so I still hope he will be Batman. I think once he gets the costume on he will be satisfied. We have a pretty packed schedule next week of Halloween festivities:

Tuesday 26th- Dress up like a cowboy/cowgirl and get a free kids meal at the chic-fil-a in Queen Creek

Wednesday 27th- Globe Arizona Stake Trunk or Treat in Globe

Thursday 28th- Riley's school Halloween party

Friday 29th- Our ward Trunk or Treat party

Saturday 30th- Yet to be decided possibly the Trunk or Treat at Desert Mountain Park or the Hot Air Balloon Halloween Festival at Peoria Sports Complex (this looks really cool, the kids go trick or treating to hot air balloons)

Riley should definitely get his fill of Halloween this year!

The Dentist

On Thursday was Riley's big dentist appointment. He was not really sure what was going on. He was asleep until we got to the office and then he was still sleepy while we were in the waiting room. They called us back and gave him a shot. He was out in a minute. It was very weird and kind of scary to him out of it. Then they took him . Riley ended up having two baby root canals, and several cavities filled. He now has two "golden teeth" (only they are actually silver). Riley calls them his gold teeth. On our way home he said, "Mom this isn't a dream". When we got home he wanted to walk and tried but could not. He was really upset about this because he wanted to walk and said he was never going to be able to walk again. He said that the band aid on his arm was making him feel strange. He didn't remember getting a shot, he only remembers the band aid. He absolutely hates band aids.

We went to the State Fair this weekend with Jen, Joe and Taylor. It was a lot of fun. I am not sure how Jen did it being nine months pregnant but she did! She is a tough cookie. Mattie behaved really well. She went on a few rides and watched the figure eight derby car races. She sat on my lap and was really into it. We went into the petting and zoo and I bought two things of food for the kids to feed the animals. I was walking over to where Jen and Mattie were and all of the sudden an huge lama was taking the food out of my hands and then it kept coming at us. It was kind of scary. It reminded of the goose incident in Greer. There's something about feeding an animal and it continuing to come after you when the food is gone that is a little unnerving.

Fair food

Taylor, Riley and Spongebob

We had a good day at church today. Riley went to sit with his class right away and Mattie's nursery teachers said that she was really good today! Here is a picture of them before church-

She didn't leave the bow in of course

Children's Museum and Boxing

This past weekend we went to the Children's Museum in Tucson. The kids really enjoyed it. They had this neat fire truck you could sit in and pretend to drive. They had a train room and room with shopping baskets and fake food. Riley and Mattie did not want to leave.

The following video is of Mattie pushing the shopping cart wildly. It just makes me laugh.

Mattie and the shopping cart

We also tried to go to Trail Dust Town but everything was closed until 4:30 p.m. Riley calls it "Little Tucson". Whenever I tell him we are going to Tucson he always says which one mom Old Tucson, Little Tucson or just Tucson?

Riley and Mattie on a horse at Trail Dust Town

On Thursday Riley is going to have some dental work done. I am nervous about it. He is being put under anesthesia but the whole thing just makes me apprehensive. I will be glad when its done. Here is a video of Riley playing Wii Sports boxing. It is so funny. He gets his whole body into it even his legs. It gives me an idea of what he might be doing at karate lol.

Halloween Drama and the Pooping Conversation

Halloween has invaded our house! Riley loves Halloween and it completely into the decorations. I bought these thin foam shapes to decorate at the Dollar Store. Mattie pulled out the black spider and started tearing it to pieces. I hear Riley shrieking at the top of his lungs and see a mutilated spider on the floor. He said his first Halloween is ruined because Mattie tore up the spider. I tried not to laugh at this point because he is hysterical, and reminded him that its not his first Halloween, its actually his fifth and that it was just a silly spider, not a big deal. So much drama!

Mutilated spider

Riley with his pumpkin and our Halloween tablecloth (it had to be put on today and after one meal at it, it looks pretty rough and Mattie put a huge hole it in)

Vern put up another desk by our computer desk for the kids. It is a little lower than ours. So far they love it and Mattie has not climbed on top of it.

We were all sitting around the table for dinner and I called Riley to come in to the table for dinner. He comes running by saying he has to go poop. He doesn't shut the door to the bathroom (Mattie is in her booster seat at the table so he feels safe to leave it open) and continues to talk to us. He is really excited and telling us about his house on Club Penguin. Pretty soon I look up and notice that he his no longer in the bathroom talking to us, but by the kitchen counter talking to us with his pants down. I ask him if he's done and he says no. Vern and I both say go back in the bathroom and finish. He goes back in and we hear some grunting then he appears again. I ask him if he's finished and he says no. I ask him why does he keep leaving the bathroom if he's not finished? He goes back in and finally finishes. Thank goodness.

Canning and the Park

Here's an update on Riley's food chart- In the past week he has eaten macaroni and cheese, several bean burros, and chips and salsa. To some this may seem like no big deal, but for my Riley this is huge! We are sooooo proud of him for trying so hard!

The past two weekends I did some canning with my mother-in law, Lynne. We canned beans and green chillies last weekend and this weekend we canned peaches, tomatoes and pears (well she did the pears). It was so much fun. For some reason I love to can. I don't know why or what it is exactly that I like about it but I really enjoy it.

Today we went to the park with Aubrie and Jason and Connor and Cody. The kids loved it and the weather was perfect. It was not hot and there was a cool breeze. Then the breeze turned into poring rain. So we had to race to our cars and leave before the kids were ready to go. As we're running to our cars, Riley (who is always thinking ahead about what is next) says we need to go back to Aubrie and Jason's cause it is raining, not wanting the fun to end.

Connor and Mattie

Riley having fun

Mattie and Cody

Connor and Cody

Vern also decided to make tortillas while Riley and I were at Aubrie and Jason's. When we got back from the park Riley helped him make some more and then we ate them for dinner, including Riley!

Riley starts karate tomorrow. He is so excited. Depending on how it goes, I might have to blog about it tomorrow night...

The Food Saga and Mattie's crush

If you know Riley, you know his diet and how picky he is. Well, you might know he is picky but not quite all in entails. For instance, his main food staples are pizza (the cheese has to be taken off- he used to like it but a few months ago stopped), chicken nuggets but only certain kinds, quesadillas (but he picks them apart), and once in awhile a "jelly" sandwich. He does eat some other stuff like fruit, yogurt, apple sauce, chips, pretzels, some bread, crackers etc.. He doesn't like the way melted cheese looks so it either has to be hidden or removed. He won't eat any meat (other than chicken nuggets), vegetables or pasta.

Several months ago, Vern and I forced him to eat macaroni and cheese, meaning we held him down and made him eat some. Needless to say he threw up every where it was not just a little bit but tons and tons and it was awful. So, I'm gun shy about forcing food down him. Yet I know he needs more variety and needs to try stuff. So Vern came up with a food chart. Each time he eats something other than- chicken nuggets, pizza, or quesadilla he will get a line. At the top is a picture of the Disneyland castle. We are hoping that by being motivated to try and eat some different foods he will learn to like some other things.

So far, he's made it to the 10% line

It's been interesting. The other night he took a bite of lasagna. Which is huge for him because it had stringy melted cheese, meat and pasta. He got half a line because it was only one bite but still it was progress. Other times he will not try things. Tonight he ate a cheese burger! Including the meat! I was so excited!

Mattie has her first crush. It's kind of funny and kind of scary because she's so little! She is crazy about our friend Joe. Whenever she sees him she is trying to get his attention, smiling little flirty smiles, trying to get by him. One time she even felt his muscles. We were all in hysterics laughing when she did that! Joe is so nice too, he will carry her around and even chase her when it is needed like the other day in Cosco when she took off running. It's really funny to see. We will ask her if she wants to go see Joe and she nods her head yes and smiles. I can only imagine what she's going to be like as a teenager...

Mattie and Joe

In Charge

We've had kind of an unusual weekend for us. We've stayed at home and worked on things that needed to be done! Gasp. Vern has lots of school stuff he has been working on and I worked on a picture book for Mattie and organizing our pictures.

Since I was going through pictures I found some cute ones of Mattie and Riley. Its too bad I wasn't blogging awhile ago. I have tons of cute pictures of them when they were littler.

I took Mattie to Sam's Club with me to pick up the pictures and some groceries. It was the best behaved she's ever been in Sam's Club. She wouldn't sit in the cart for very long but she was still good. She and I went around and ate samples.

When we got home she seemed to switch from good Mattie to bad Mattie. She kept going up to Riley and scratching him and pulling his hair. Repeatedly after we told her not to. Vern kind smacked her hand (not hard) and told her to go sit in time out. She walked over to the chair and stood there for a minute. Then went up behind Vern while he was getting something out of the fridge and kind spanked his bottom but not hard. She thought it was hilarious. Then, she ran over and pulled the cord to the t.v. out of the wall. She knows she is not supposed to do this (she's been to timeout several times for this reason). After she pulled it out, she kind of spanked/tapped her own bottom. I guess she thinks she's old enough to discipline herself and that she is completely in charge of herself.