F.H.E. at the Pumpkin Patch (a.k.a. parking lot covered in hay and pumkins)

This pumpkin patch was pretty fun because they had plenty of things that entertained Ryan without costing anything. They had face painting, a little pumpkin graveyard, a blow-up bouncing machine, tons of little quarter rides, a petting farm, pony rides (those cost money), a hay tunnel, and of course, pumpkins. We originally went planning on buying one to carve, but when we realized that the one that Ryan is holding in the above picture would have cost us about $13, we decided to get a similar one at the grocery store for $4.

Ryan spent a large amout of time just loading these pumpkins up and pulling them around in the wagon.

Katie slept the whole time except woke up at the end just in time for a picture with the pumpkins. As you can tell, this was an unplanned thing since she is wearing Ryan's old sweats in the picture. If I had planned it she would've been wearing something a little more picture-worthy.

We've gone back once since, and may stop there again this weekend because the kids seem to really enjoy it.

Tonight is our stake "trunk-or-treat". I've got no idea what to decorate our car with, but at least my kids have costumes.

A little feedback please

The question is whether the window box looks better with or without the divider. Please do not focus on small details like the cleanliness of the window or surrounding areas, but you are invited to comment and give suggestions on what should actually be in the window. If you don't like the jars with colored water in them, or think the yellow just looks like urine, or feel like I need something in the glass bowls, or should get rid of them altogether and just add more plants, etc. That is the sort of feedback I would appreciate here.

"Dinosaurs in the Mist" or "Dinosaur From the Black Lagoon"
(Play scary music here)

Lurking outside our small and presumably safe dwelling was this fierce and elusive beast. We were fortunate enough to capture a few pictures as we are sure that only a minute number of people are ever able to catch a glimpse of this magnificent creature - much less get proof of it's existence. You are about to see actual, unadulterated, original photos of (gasp) the Wuerhosaurus! (woo-er-a-Sore-us) Don't worry, he's a plant eater.

Even though he is no carnivore, he is still wild and dangerous - see this terrifying ROAR!

(These pictures may not be copied or sold to any tabloid - we get first dibs on the big money they offer.)

Just think prepositions...

among, beside, around, between, above, at, beyond, in, across, by, into, behind, down, against, below, along, beneath, off, over, underneath, past, toward, within, under, up, through, upon,

You get the point! This girl gets around.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODIE

And it came to pass...

I overheard Ryan talking to himself and looked over to see him flipping through my scriptures. I realized that he was saying, "came to pass" over and over again. This was amusing to me because I remember when Jodie was little and it was her turn to read during scripture time and she would say, "And it came to pass that the Lorderly" and that's about it. Maybe that was Jimmy, but I think it was Jodie. I just liked seeing things come full circle, know what I mean?

It makes me grouchy when the font size gets all weirdo on me.

More house tour

Here's Katie, enjoying our new couch.

Living room shot, the pictures are stratigically placed to avoid getting a picture of my flash in the mirror. They will eventually be placed above the couch on the left. I'm still not sure if I'm keeping the bookshelf there. The red and yellow in the front right corner is a "kid corner" with a toybox (rubbermaid tote) and pillows, etc.

This one is from further back. I'm now in my dining room/hallway to show you the entryway step that Ryan took a header onto. A few small changes, no pictures on top of the fireplace and a small table is in front of my couch. It's not staying there either.

Here's a bathroom shot. Looks just like Jana's bathroom. Except, notice the CARPET in the bathroom. Feels fabulous when you get out of the shower, but what in the world will I do if my toilet ever overflows? And how can I possibly potty train my 2 year old in a carpeted bathroom? Who was the einstein who decided on that one anyway?

You can look forward to my kitchen, bedroom, and dinning room later. I'll probably also include a garage shot, but I have to do a little fine tuning before I get to those rooms. It will give me something to blog about over the next few weeks.

Ryan's Room

Here's a shot looking straight into Ryan's new room. Grandma and Grandpa Bayles brought him bunkbeds and a dresser. At the time these pictures were taken, we only had one mattress, but have since picked one up off of freecycle so the bedroom is complete.

This is a shot standing in front of the mirror back toward the closet. The top of his closet is all of the things that he isn't supposed to be touching. We have 2 desks full of empty drawers because we can't put anything in them that Ryan shouldn't be messing with.

Here are the bunk beds (ladder laying across the top bed).

Changing table and dresser.

And here, Ryan is showing you the ladder outside his bedroom door that leads up to the attic. Yes, I let him climb it whenever the heck he wants to. Are you surprised that it was just WALKING that caused him to gash his head open when he's doing things like climbing ladders and going down staircases on his bike all day long?

Amazingly, Ryan has had NO trouble transitioning to sleeping in his own room at night. I thought we'd take a good year to get him comfortable with it, but he acts like it's what we've been doing every day of his life. Whew!

After Shot
So it looks like he only got 3 stitches - what do I know? I was sitting with my head between my legs when they finished up and then she put a band-aid on it so I had no idea there were 3. Here's a goofy picture of my frankenstein. Too bad Halloween isn't THIS week - it would be perfect don't you think?

I also wonder how the scarring will turn out. I just have to keep reminding myself that he's a kid and will heal better. He has some balding genes in him somewhere so hopefully it doesn't scar too terribly or it may be much more noticable later on in life.

 

Woo Hoo, Adventures in the Insta-Care #2

Well, Derek and I have been telling each other the past two months that something was BOUND to happen to Ryan that would send him to the emergency room since he is quite the dare-devil AND we have a temporary period without health insurance before his work health plan kicks in. I was actually beginning to feel pretty good because we'll be in on the health insurance on the 18th of the month. So, today, 6 days before we get health insurance again...

I was taking pictures of my living room for my blog, and Ryan was playing in the dinning room. He tripped and fell and slammed his forehead on a tile step we have in our entryway. I looked over when I heard him crying and he was dragging his forehead on the carpet and leaving a trail of blood. I picked him up and the blood was really coming out fast so I got a towel and applied pressure and tried to think of who in the heck to call to help me out. I had no idea where a walk-in clinic was and I needed help with Katie. I called my real-estate lady and she told me where I could go and told me that she'd meet me there to help with Katie.

I had to put the seats back up in my car (Derek and Jacob had gone to pick up a bedframe and the seats were still down) and install their carseats, and we were off. I said to Ryan, "Hey, we're going to the doctor and you're going to need stitches for your head, like when Dad got his staples. You can tell Dad all about it when he gets home." Ryan says, "Yeah, that will be really fun!" Hmm... not exactly.

He felt pretty good and when the receptionist asked what happened he energetically told her and showed her how he fell right on the ground. I knew with all the jumping around the blood was going to start gushing all over again.

This is a before shot. It's not in the shape of an "x" there is just a piece of hair caked in blood and plastered to his forehead crossing his gash. As you can see, he was a good sport. (And yes, he DOES look very old in this picture).

More of a close-up for those who aren't squeemish.

He got a sucker before going back into the room then the nurse washed the wound. We wrapped him like a mummy and I held his body, the nurse held his head still, and the doctor numbed it up for him. Of course he cried and bawled for that (it stings a little they tell me) and then they stitched him up. Luckily that part didn't hurt anymore. On the 2nd stitch I actually started getting light headed and had to go sit down with my head between my legs. What a wimp!!

4 Stitches and 3 suckers later - good as new. We'll go back on Wednesday to get them removed. When we got home he fell right asleep and is still taking a nap. I'll take an "after" shot and post that later.