Not Too Much going On

So let's see what's been up with us the past week and a half? Not much really. Elizabeth's kindergarten lessons are going really well, and she's learning alot! We're working on more sight words and she's starting to learn to read. Writing still isn't her thing and she hates that I make her work on it, but I know the more she writes the easier it will be. Last week she learned about the 5 senses which was a breeze for her but fun...maybe fun because it was so easy?! This week she's learning about being/staying healthy. We're discussing the 5 food groups and eating healthy(which I find slightly ironic the week before Thanksgiving!) Also about germs and washing our hands, and being active, and how to prevent the spread of germs by correctly covering coughs and sneezes. She's so easy to teach, she asks all the right questions at all the right times! She's also doing amazing in her Spanish and Sign Language lessons! She knows over 20 words in each! And she's always suggesting more words she'd like to learn. Devin has started to pull himself up! But still no crawling. He can feed himself like a pro now...downside to that is he can get any little thing off the floor he wants into his mouth.
Last weekend we borrowed my parents carpet shampooer and cleaned the carpet and rugs downstairs. It's so nice now!! We also rearranged things a bit to make room for upcoming Christmas decor. Saturday Tony and I went to Desert Star and saw Legally Brunette, it was the last day of it and it was pretty funny. We've decided the funniest time to see a show(we think at least) is toward the beginning when there's still a chance they'll mess up...that's always the funniest! But we still had a great time together, childrenless! Saturday morning Tony had to do a bit of repair work on our water heater, luckily it wasn't anything too bad. Sunday we thought more was going on with it...but it turned out that the breaker just wasn't fully flipped, easy fix! Yesterday I took the kids out in their adorable overalls(I don't know why but cute overalls just scream fall time to me) and took some pictures in the fallen leaves. Elizabeth just wanted to play in them and Devin just wanted to eat them...neither of them wanted to look or smile at the camera but I got a couple good ones.

Snow Much Fun!!!

Elizabeth is a snow junkie! Last year she liked snow well enough...but this year...OH MY GOODNESS!! She can't get enough of it! She absolutely LOVES playing in it!! On the first of November it snowed a little in the morning but was it was gone by afternoon. She was super excited about the first snow of "winter" fall really but hey. But was so sad it didn't last. So when we got a good storm Friday night into Saturday morning she just HAD to go out and play in it! And play she did!! She'd have probably stayed out all morning if we could have let her! She had soooooo much fun!! And all she can talk about now is when we'll get more snow, oh how I hope it's a good snowy winter!!
A couple of these pictures are of Elizabeth and Ashley's(her look alike doll)cave...you see this past week she learned about hibernate, migrate and adapt. So she and Ashley were hibernating in the little cave she made out of Devin's excersaucer and her blankets. It was really cute!

Devin is 8 months old!!!

On the 3rd Devin turned 8 months old! Time just seems to be flying by these days!! He's such a big, very happy boy!! He can grin his way through anything! Nothing keeps this boy down, and I love that about him!! Now that's not to say he doesn't have his moments...cause he has more than his fair share of them! He's under this misconception that if you are in the room, you are holding him and loving him and playing with him...or else he is screaming. He is getting better lately though as I've started just letting him scream it out. It's hard to listen to him cry, but I know he's fine, and all he wants is to be held. He does like to sit and play on the floor with his toys, he usually starts by tipping his toy tote over, thus surrounding himself with toys. He still isn't up to the crawling challenge, but he's found his own way of getting around...it's a combination of rolling and scooting and squirming. He has managed to get up on his knees, he just hasn't figured out where to go from there. He's got super strong legs though, as he can stand holding onto something all by himself, and he's starting to walk holding onto just your fingers. Devin is quite the talker as well! He jabbers on and on and on...it's absolutely adorable! And he gets so excited when you carry on a conversation with him! He's getting better at the self feeding thing too...this is definitely motivation based, as he loves to eat! He devours puffs, and those mum mum treat, he's had bread and crackers and eggs and banana pieces. He far prefers real table food over the mushed baby food. He now has a whopping 6 teeth(4 on top two on bottom) so no more letting him teeth on our fingers...ouch! He is the funniest, most adorable little boy ever and we just love him so very very much! He's always making us smile and laugh...with his expressions and his melt your heart smile. Oh and his laugh! His laugh makes everything better and brighter and good! There is no sound in the world as sweet and pure and good as the sound of my children giggling! Devin absolutely adores his big sister! He always wants to be by her and talk to her and play with her, and luckily most of the time she wants the same. No one can make Devin smile and laugh like Elizabeth can...it's always been that way and I pray it always stays that way! I'll have to weigh him soon as I haven't since he was so sick, I know in the hospital he got down to barely 17 pounds he might have even gone under...but I don't know where he's at now. I know he's tall about 30 inches(he's incredibly hard to measure as he doesn't hold still for a second these days) but I know he was pretty close to that when they measured him in the hospital. I can't believe how fast he's growing! Here are his 8 month pictures, enjoy!











This is a video of Devin standing...it's the second one I took and the first is better but it was out of focus. So Devin had been standing for over 2 minutes at this point, hence the falling at the end.

Three Day Halloween Extravaganza!!!

Saturday we arose nice and early and got the kids dressed up in there costumes and went to Boo at the Zoo, which was really crazy and really cold this year!! But still very worth it, Elizabeth had a great time trick or treating, seeing some of the animals, riding the carousel and seeing some family and friends. I love all the free kids meals we get to places! My parents met us there to join in on the fun with us. After the zoo we went to Dees for some lunch then to my grandparents house so they could see the kids in there cute costumes, we had a good time visiting with them. Then we went up to my parents house. That night we went with them to there ward's Halloween party and chili cook-off. It was actually alot of fun! The games for Elizabeth were super fun! And she had such a blast! Just on kind of a non Halloween related side note, while at lunch we gave Devin some croissant and egg to try and he loved it and did really well with it! Later that day we gave him a mum mum to nibble and he took full fledged bites out of it and devoured it! He is such a good eater!! If only I could say the same for Elizabeth...we have to engage in full on war for every single calorie we get into her it's so frustrating and exhausting!! It's refreshing how well Devin eats!

























Sunday evening we had the Johnston family Halloween party. There was a yummy taco and nacho bar for dinner then lots of visiting and picture taking. Elizabeth just LOVES playing with her cousins, especially Emily and Melina. Both the kids were in a bad funk that night so we had kind of a hard, exhausting night, but we did our best to enjoy it anyway!










Then of course Monday was Halloween! Devin had a big milestone that morning he picked up a puff(using his pincer grasp)and after a couple failed attempts got it in his mouth!! He did this a few times before it dawned on me...I should get a video of this! Luckily he did it again for the camera. After I put Devin down for his morning nap, Elizabeth and I started our Halloween party! We sang some Halloween songs, then did a couple Halloween puzzles. We made a witch stick puppet and she painted a Halloween picture. Then we played a Halloween bean bag toss game...that she rocked at! She was having so much fun! We read some Halloween books, then we went outside and she played for a bit, we played in the leaves...throwing them up in the air and giggling as they fell on us. It was such a great moment!! Then we played a good long game of hide and seek, so much fun! We came back inside and made Halloween cake mix cookies, then we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and Barney's Halloween Party while we had lunch. Elizabeth actually fell asleep during quiet time, but didn't wake up in the best mood. My parents came by and brought dinner with them! And after dinner we once again got the kids in their costumes and my parents came with us to our neighborhood trunk-or-treat. Elizabeth had so much fun going up to the trunks and saying trick or treat! I even heard a trick or treat please! a few times. She informed me that Halloween is really cool! We came home and got my parents on their way then we hit up a couple neighbors and called it a great Halloween!! Oh and in case you were unsure about what the kids dressed up as(though I doubt it was hard to figure out)Devin was a BYU football player, and Elizabeth was his BYU cheerleader!