A Little Red Dragon

Yesterday was Gabe's preschool Halloween party. And right before I went to watch his costume parade and pick him up, I tried Tristan's costume on for the first time. He is so stinking cute, Colby and I were just laughing so hard. He can barely walk in it.

Here we are at preschool.

My Little Red Dragon and China Man(Ninja).

Pop Rocks Adventure.

On Saturday, Colby decided to treat Tristan to the adventure of Pop Rocks. He loved them, and kept wanting more. He got so angry with Colby when the package was all gone. Here is a clip, enjoy!

Time for Pumpkins.

I had been promising Braxton we would go to a Pumpkin Patch for weeks now, but we just couldn't schedule it in when Colby could attend with the family. Finally this evening after dinner, I tore him away from work and we all piled in the car. We drove all the way out to West Haven to find out that Punkinaze is only a corn maze and sells no pumpkins. What confusion! Then we just traveled back north via the old highway and tried to find residential pumpkin patches. We stopped at one over by Walquist Junior High, but it would be $20 for 4 pumpkins. Sheesh! Too pricey for my kids to decorate a bit and then have punk teenagers smash them late on Halloween night. So, sadly, we traveled back to North Ogden and just let the kids pick out one from in front of Smith's. We needed milk anyway, Colby claimed. Alas, no fun pictures of the kids making their decision, but they we excited anyway. We got right home and poked some faces in. I usually sit down and carve them all, but the task just seemed overwhelming this year. So, I found some fun packages with faces you can make on pumpkins like a "Mr. Potato Head" at Wal-Mart. They had a blast! And, it was quick and took no prep or clean-up. Although, we don't have any pumpkin seeds to roast. I might just cut off some of our characters heads to we can have a fun treat later this week. Enjoy our creations from this evening.

Gabe chose the components, and Colby helped him apply them.

Braxton stated he wanted to have two faces, he made this all by himself.

Tristan and I shared this pumpkin.

The Reasons I Love Fall

I love this time of year, though sometimes it is too short in Utah. Here are the reasons I love fall:




1. It starts to cool down. Maybe it's just a change of season, and we always want what we don't have. But, right now I love the coolness in the air. Summer was long and hot, we hardly got a spring. The huge amounts of snow had just melted, when it jumped right into hot weather. Well, now I am not using my air conditioner every day, and I even turn on the furnace for a bit in the mornings. I love it. Open up the windows in the afternoon and air out the house with cool autumn air.

One last jump before it's too cold and Dad takes down the trampoline for the year.

2. The leaves, they are a-changin'. Did anyone else notice that the leaves hadn't really changed that much last month, then BAM! The whole mountainside has turned glorious colors. Or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. But I love the color added to my day.

3. Holidays. I just love Halloween. I have always enjoyed dressing up and pretending to be something/someone different. Maybe this just goes to show how insecure I really am with myself. But I like to hide under the costume, makeup and pretense. I also enjoy decorating my home and transport anyone who approaches the house or enters into another world. I haven't done as much this year as I usually do. But can you blame me? Taking care of three kids is down right exhausting! And if Halloween is coming up, that means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Thanksgiving: alright, if you know me, you know I can portray Homer Simpson while eating yummy things. Enough said. Christmas: I want to make this last as long as possible. I decorate as soon as Colby will let me get away with it. The food, the smells, the music. And since becoming a parent, I have finally discovered the true joy of gift giving. Picking out the perfect thing, and then watching the giftee open it. Anyway, I'm rambling again. Back to the subject of fall.
4. The treats and food that come with the season. Caramel corn, candy corn, caramel apples, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, dinner in a pumpkin. Vegetables to decorate with, aside from digesting. Okay, I need to stop because I am making myself hungry.


5. The clothing. There something about bundling up that just screams, "Relax, sit down, and read a book." Comfy clothes always slow me down for the day, and I love to dress my boys in them. They seem so cuddly, and it just makes me want to squeeze them so much more. This is a good thing, because I am not a very huggy, touchy person. The only problem is that I don't own a lot of classy "comfy" clothes. Nice sweaters, scarfs, fancy coats...these all seem to allude my shopping habits. I guess I just have other priorities.



6. Media. I like to change my music and movie choices with the times of year. And when fall comes around it is time to pull out the cheesy music you grew up with as a kid. You know what I am talking about: Monster Mash, One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People-Eater, and anything by Oingo Boingo. Then it's movie time! I like the older scary movies: Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Lost Boys. If it's black and white, it loses my attention a bit, so not that old. But, the scary movies from my teens, like: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, Sleepy Hollow, Interview with the Vampire. However, I do not do well with scary movies including aliens. I don't know why but Signs and Fire in the Sky scare me so bad.

7. And lastly, daylight savings time ends. I need that one extra hour of sleep, I know it's only the one day that I get it. But it is welcome and well received. I love to sleep, and I miss it. My bed misses me as well. When I am laying in it, and the alarm goes off, it's not my fault if I don't jump up right away, my bed won't let go of me. I just can't seem to get enough now with kids. But, it is still worth the trade.

Walking

Yeah! Tristan finally started walking on Tuesday. He took his first steps probably 2 months ago, but had decided that crawling was faster and less scary than walking. We were fine with it, because he would get into less trouble. But, recently I had been anxious to see my little one make the leap of faith and trust his abilities. It had been fun to watch last weekend, he was getting braver and braver by the day. He would walk about 5 steps if he thought nobody was watching. If we caught him in the act, he would quickly sit down and smile. If I clapped and cheered for him, he would just smile and clap along. Finally Tuesday he walked across half the kitchen to me, without me knowing he was going to. And, he knew I was watching the whole time. I know other people's children tend to start walking as early as 9 months old. But, my kids have never done that. Braxton walked at 16 months. A friend was visiting us, and commented after we told him how old he was, "Isn't he supposed to be walking by now?" Colby just replied, "Thanks Mike, thanks for rubbing it in that he's behind." We always tease him about that. Gabe was about to walk at 9 months old, but than he broke his femur two days before our move to Utah, and was put in a body cast because we (the doctor as well as us) thought he had broken his hip. So, we had to travel with him in a body cast, shoved into a car seat as best we could. Poor guy, how uncomfortable! Good thing we made the drive in 2 days, rather than our usual 12 hours straight. But, he managed. Before his cast was taken off, he was rolling over, crawling and even pulling himself up to cruise along the couches in a body cast. Impressive! But, Gabe has always been motivated and way too independent for our sanity. He finally walked at 14 months, long after his cast had been taken off. Now, Tristan has finally decided to believe in himself and make the plunge. I knew he could have done it much sooner, because again, I was watching him out of the corner of my eye. But, he gets nervous easily. Examples of this: He can climb up onto the couch some days, but whines because he is afraid to get down. He can climb up onto the boys' mushroom chair, but again whines nervously like his is stuck. He is a great stair climber, but cannot go down them, just cries at the top of the staircase. He is 14 months old.

It's cold here.

Last Monday I had my air conditioner on. Well, this is what Saturday and Sunday looked like here. Luckily I got most of my Halloween decorations put out/up on Friday. Both of these pictures were taken on Saturday, but Sunday there was twice as much.
Even though the snow has melted now, there is still a layer of frost all over my deck and backyard. Can you believe it? Crazy Utah weather. Excuse me while I go get warm by the heater.

Our Last Wedding This Year

Well, it is done. We have happily attended our last wedding for 2008. Phew! We had a lot of friends finally tie the knot. And we are so happy for them all. Friday was a long and cold day. But we got up in the morning and got the entire family ready and loaded them into the car. We dropped Braxton and his friend Kelly off at school at 8:15. Tristan having fun in the car that morning.


Then took Gabe and Tristan over to my mom's house for her to watch them. She would take and pick up Gabe to preschool. Next it was a drive up to the Logan temple. Now, we haven't been to Logan at this time of year for a long time, so we just took our Levi jackets, and froze the whole

day. What were we thinking?!

Colby and I trying to keep warm in the sun.

What a great day to reconnect with some of my old high school friends. I grew up across the street from Christina Hansen. I am so happy for her and her new husband Kris Bennett. The funny thing was, the elderly man that married them was mispronouncing her name the entire ceremony and nobody corrected him. All of her brothers were laughing so hard. It probably eased the tension for the nervous couple.

Sister Lisa, brothers Troy, Brian and Nate. Kris and Christina in the middle.

Then pictures afterwards and a wonderful lunch. We wish you both the best, and we will visit you sometime because we love Las Vegas!

Basketball Season

So, it's the time of year for preseason basketball games to start. That means soon Colby will be watching a lot more TV. But, it also means that Braxton gets to try his hand at the game. Though, he is halfway done already, I will still keep you up to date with the hilarity of it all. I signed him up in August while we were out of town. And, because I was using a form online, I did not see that you could request a coach as well as your friends to be on your team. Therefore when it all started, all Braxton's friends are on one team, and he on another. And....his T-ball coach, who he had a blast with, is coaching a completely different team. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the coach he has. She is very patient with the 1st and 2nd graders on the team, but Braxton leaves the game crying if no one will pass him the ball. His T-ball coach would have made sure he toughened up. There's no crying in baseball! (Name that movie, and the actor who said it.) And there is no crying in T-ball or Basketball either. Next sport I will pay attention and read the entire city form before I fill it out and turn it in. Next, okay so this is Coed Basketball for 1st and 2nd graders. There is a 2nd grader on our team that is a complete ball hog! It is so frustrating to Colby and I, and Braxton and one other of his team mates. Okay, so you've played before, your dad practices with you all the time, your the tallest, and your coach is boring you with all the instruction for the other little guys. So what! Deal with it. The other thing is that his parents don't even take any steps to urge him to share possession of the ball. He only passes to his cousin, even if his cousin is surrounded with the entire opposing team. The rest of the team is open, but he refuses to see this. His parents just sit and talk, and let their other son play on the court during the game. Can you tell I am aggravated with the situation. His coach does her best yelling and waving her arms at the other open players on the team, but he knows he is the best player on the team, and the glory WILL be his! The first game was so hilarious to watch. The kids are all stealing the ball from their team mates, and passing without looking where they are throwing the ball. It's like watching a game of hot potato. They want the ball so bad, but then they get it and they panic to the point of trying to make a basket when they aren't even close or tossing it to someone else before the other team surrounds them. One of the dads on our team, films every game with his camera and just laughs and laughs. Oh, I cannot wait for next year. Hopefully Braxton will be taller, a better player, and a better sport as well.

The Treehouse Museum

WARNING! This post has a lot of pictures. Feel free to ignore it if you don't enjoy viewing every moment of other people's kids. ;-)

So, because Gabe has been sick the past week, we spent the day out and about yesterday. He was finally clear to be out with the healthy living. So, after a bit of convincing, Gabe agreed to hit the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. We have a membership for this fun place, but we usually end up at The Dinosaur Park instead, Gabe and Tristan's favorite. But I just didn't want to push a stroller all over and rob Tristan of the opportunity to work off some energy.

First a stop at the train tables.

Tristan learning that you can climb on things here.

Gabe is making me dinner, after he washed the dishes and made me toast.Preschool is paying off, he can almost write his name at 3 years old. That's impressive to me.

Tristan growling like a dinosaur right before he gives it a huge kiss on the mouth. I hope those things are clean.

The rhythm and percussion area upstairs is one of our family's favorites.Blocks, Lincoln logs and Lego's. You can't go wrong with those.Here are the boys standing/sitting on the state they were born in. Gabe - southern CA. Tristan - northern UT.

Giddy up!

Ooooh, fun tables for toddlers.A ride for two please!

I got them to hold still for a cute brother picture with nothing to entertain them, amazing! Oh yeah, Gabe is into making funny faces for the photographer right now. You should see the ones taken in preschool so far. Can't wait for professional picture day.

I'd say that this little boy is definitely feeling 100% better.

We had a blast. If you have never been to the Treehouse Museum, you should try to make it there sometime. There are so many hands-on things for them to do, and they nap REALLY well when they get home. Afterwards, we stopped at Costa Vida for some lunch. Gabe and I love to eat here. I do because it is an excellent fresh Mexican grill. And Gabe, because he loves to watch the indoor surfing next door while he eats.

This is for you, Tanya.

Sorry, I have been slacking on my posting due to a sick child. Man, that's a lot of laundry! I am so glad the week-long illness has passed. Anyway, I got tagged...again. So here you go, whether you wanted to know or not.

Rules: Always the same... come up with 7 facts about you, things people don't know and share it with the world!

1. I am a little OCD. I hate it when my light switches are not all the same direction in a room that has more than one set. I will go around fixing them before I go to bed, or before we have guests over. Colby messes them up to bug me, and then laughs while he watches me fix them.

2. I am obsessed with being on time or early. It is a quality that my mom drilled into me, but a good one to have. The bad part is that it irritates me when others are late or don't show without letting you know that they can't come. Or when the don't R.S.V.P., and then show up. I am almost always late to church or any other function that Colby and/or my boys attend with me, and it drives me insane.

3. I am an avid movie lover and collector. For those who have been in my family room, you have seen this: That collection is always growing. And it does not include VHS, LDS/Living Scripture movies, and Blu-Rays. Those are all in our basement. My first full-time job was for Blockbuster Video, which helped me to build my collection at 20% off, along with introducing me to many great movies. My other inspiration was my mom, who is a huge collector in this area, and so I love a lot of good old classics as well as musicals. Feel free to stop by and borrow something. Just return it in a timely manner...which leads me to my next peeve. I love to lend things to people, just return it as soon as you are done. Or at least acknowledge to me that you remember you have it, and will return it soon. I have had a couple of instances where people forget and I never see an item again (movie, book, crafting supply) or it comes back a bit ruined (my first wedding album). By the way, this is referencing people who have never read my blog. So don't fret that it is you.

4. My last name is pronounced Cook although it is spelled Koch. It is a German name that I married into. And it is actually pronounced with a lot of phlegm, but Colby's family tries to make it simple. They tell me "Koch" means one who works in the kitchen. I just take their word for it.

5. My name, RaeAnne, is all one word. I was named after my mom's mother and my mom's sister. I used to hate my name, and wanted it shortened to Anne. Then in high school, I insisted people call me by RaeAnne, and not shorten it to Rae. Now, I love how unique the name is. But only a select few are allowed to call me Rae.

6. I have always been allergic to cats, but I have two. I just love them when they are kittens and I will go through the torture of allergies to build a relationship with them. They are very weird cats, and their names totally suit them. Skitterz is huge and thinks he is my significant other. Twitch is tiny, although full grown, and will ignore me completely but always obey Colby. Skitterz is also OCD, a cat after my own heart, if you pet him and have not washed your hands within the last ten minutes, he will sit and bathe himself completely to get all your cooties off.

7. I have had two different kinds of stones. I experienced the birth of kidney stones while 15 years old, and therefore missed my first day of high school. Then I had the "lovely" experience of having gallstones right before I was pregnant with Gabe. Thankfully I had my gall bladder removed right after Gabe's c-section.

I Tag.........whoever reads this.

What do my boys think of me?

I read these questions on my cousin's blog this morning, and I wanted to see what my boys would say about me.

1.What is something mom always says to you?

Braxton - Get dressed.

Gabe - Be nice to brothers.

2.What makes mom happy?

B - When I clean my room, and finish my work at school instead of bringing it home.

G - Clean up toys.

3.What makes mom sad?

B - When I punch someone, or call them names.

G - I hit Tristan.

4.How does your mom make you laugh?

B - When we dance.

G - Tickle.

5.What was your mom like as a child?

B - That was a long time ago, I wasn't even born.

G - A baby mama.

6.How old is your mom.

B - Never ask me that question, wait...13.

G - 4

7.How tall is your mom?

B - 38 pounds.

G - 4

8.What is her favorite thing to do?

B - Play Wii Fit.

G - He was tired of answering my questions at this point, so he walked away and started ignoring me.

9.What does your mom do when you are not around?

B - Watch TV.

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

B - Playing Rock Band...on guitar.

11.What is your mom really good at?

B - She cooks the best food...but not Koch, a different kind spelled k-o-o-k.

12.What is your mom not so good at?

B - She's kinda not good at playing Lego Star Wars.

13.What does your mom do for her job?

B - Take care of Tristan.

14.What is your mom’s favorite food?

B - I have no idea...Hamburger Helper!

15.What makes you proud of your mom?

B - When she makes me the best foods that I like.

16.If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

B - Daisy Duck on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

17. What do you and your mom do together?

B - We play Rock Band.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

B - We both like Rock Band, and she wore glasses like me when she was little.

19. How are you and your mom different?

B - Hmmm...never thought about that before. Now that she's grown up, she doesn't have glasses anymore.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

B - Because sometimes she plays with me, and she makes me food.