Let the Countdown Begin

This year for some reason I decided that it would be fun to buy Cadbury chocolate advent calendars.  Don't ask me why I thought I should spend that much money on the boys but I did.  They were excited for their first day.  Luke was a pro and knew exactly what the calendar was all about.  Brody didn't care much about it until he discovered the chocolate inside.  However, he couldn't understand why he only got to eat just one.  

I wish I could say that I was a good mom and never snuck into the chocolate.  I'm not...I was an awful mom this Christmas...that's the sad truth.  There were lots of days that they would forget about their calendars and I would just eat them.  Or Luke would sometimes remember and Brods would forget.  A good mom would have reminded them and let them eat their chocolate, but not me.  I am such a sucker for good plain chocolate.  Now before you start losing total faith in me let me just say that I would always give them another treat like a Hershey Kiss or a Milky Way bar.  I figured it was a win win!  We were all happy!!!

The Lights

Before it got too cold we decided to venture out and see the lights at Temple Square.  Mark had a brilliant idea and decided we should avoid parking at City Creek and instead ride Trax over.  We were supposed to meet Phil and Jess there, but by the time we were done seeing the lights they had finally found a parking spot.  The boys thought riding the train was such a fun idea!  Luke has been on Trax before so he thought it was pretty cool but it was Brody's first time.  His little face was priceless...he kept looking around with a shocked but happy expression...Brody couldn't believe he was on a train and kept saying, "Choo choo choo choo."  

We definitely were not the only people with the idea to see the lights before it got too cold.  I have never seen it so busy.  Brody was in awe of everything and kept looking around and pointing.  Lukers grabbed my phone and started snapping away.  He was so excited about all the lights and wanted to take pictures of everything.  My phone eventually died because he had taken so many pictures!  

Even though it's cold and crowded and not Mark's favorite activity I am glad we do it because I love to see the boys when they look at the lights and candy windows.  Their little faces light up and they get so excited!  I am so glad we have Temple Square so close to us!  

Sleeping Buddies

Words cannot express how much these two melt my heart when they are best buddies!  I'm not going to lie...most of the time they're fighting but when they have these moments I need to stop and cherish them!  Since we have been living at my parents' house the boys have decided that would rather sleep in Brody's crib together rather than sleeping alone.  Mark and I laugh every night when we look over and see them all cuddled up.  Generally one of them is on top of the other or kicking the other one in the face.  I love it though when we look over and Brody is snuggled into Luke or their arms are wrapped around each other!  Words cannot express my love for them!!!

Trick or Treaters

To say that Luke was excited to go trick-or-treating this year was a major understatement.  I had a hard time even getting a picture of him because he was running from house to house and in constant motion!    We were lucky to even get one picture of the three cousins together before we headed out trick-or-treating.  I love the picture of the dad's trying to get the boys to sit down and all smile at the same time!  Brody and Liam wanted to get going as usual and Luke was freaking out that he was missing out on all the candy.  We gave up fast and didn't put forth a ton of effort to get a good pic because it just wasn't happening.  

I have never seen Luke work so fast while he was trick-or-treating!  He was determined to fill his pumpkin with candy.  The weather was nice and Brody was a good trooper!  It was so cute the first house we went to...Luke grabbed his candy and yelled thank you while he was running off to the next house while Brody was a different story.  He looked at the candy bowl and looked back at us to see if it was okay, we nodded and told him to take the candy.  After he grabbed a piece of candy he got the biggest smile on his face and held it up to us with a shocked look on his face!  He couldn't believe how awesome this whole trick-or-treating stuff was.  After a few houses though he decided he had enough candy and wanted to start eating.  Brods pretty much ate candy the rest of the time we were out!

Luke was determined to fill his pumpkin and have the most candy.  He was always comparing his and Brody's buckets to see who had more.  Luke didn't really understand when we told him that both had the same because they'd been to the same houses.  We finally just started telling him he was winning and he was pumped!!!  

My favorite part about trick-or-treating is when they get home and dump out their loot!  I love to see Luke going through everything and get excited when he finds his favorite candy!  I am in love with the ages my boys are at and wish they would stay this way forever!  It was such a fun Halloween with them!!!  

Carving Pumpkins

October is a busy month for Mark at work so when we carve pumpkins it's usually just me and the boys.  This year it was so fun doing it with all of my family!  Sadly, we had to run to swimming lessons halfway through but we weren't gone long.  

Luke took it very serious this year and was determined to have a dinosaur pumpkin.  Luckily I turned him over to Uncle Pat to create a dinosaur pumpkin.  You can always count on Uncle Pat's artistic skills to deliver on something like this!  Luke loved hollowing out his pumpkin and for the first year didn't eat any of the guts...my little guy is growing up and it makes me sad!  However, he also felt like he was ready to handle the knives this year.  Yikes!  It's a miracle that Uncle Pat still has all of his fingers!

Brody wasn't so sure about the whole carving thing.  He hates anything that gets him dirty.  Every time he would reach his hand into the pumpkin he would shake his head and say, "KaKa."  Cousin Liam wasn't too grossed out by it but him and Brody had a better time sword fighting with their scoops!  

For the first time in years daddy actually made it home at a decent hour and was able to carve his own pumpkin!  Everyone was pretty shocked by Mark's carving method.  He doesn't believe in hollowing out the pumpkin.  Mark claims it gives it more of a spooky look but I call it just plain laziness!  He can't fool us!  

Halloween Sugar Cookies

When it comes to sugar cookies I am just plain lazy...I can't lie!  I was so happy this year when I walked by the bakery at Dick's and saw they had unfrosted pumpkin sugar cookies!  Hallelujah!!!  It was so fun frosting sugar cookies without all the mess of rolling them out.  Let's be real...frosting and decorating is the best part anyways!

Brods loved that he was able to use a knife and spread the frosting!  He would load his cookies up with candy and sprinkles and then take one bite out of each cookie.  Lately, Brods has been a little sugar bug and is getting a little gut.  I love the picture where his little chubby tummy is hanging over the table as he works!  

Luke takes his decorating very serious and works super fast.  Every time I tried to grab the camera to take pictures Luke was asking for another cookie to decorate.  I swear each cookie weighed about five pounds by the time he was done.  I only let him eat two of his cookies when he was done and he was sure that way pretty rude of me!  

I always love how no one else wants to eat the cookies the boys decorated.  After watching them lick everything in sight no one was too hungry for a cookie anymore!  

Spooky Dinner

One night in October I decided we needed to have a spooky dinner!  We went with eyeballs in blood and bone breadsticks.  I don't think Luke has ever been so excited to eat dinner.  He kept checking in the oven to see how the eyeballs were doing.  

When it was finally time to eat he scarfed his dinner down so fast without even asking what it was or if he would like it.  My boys aren't the pickiest eaters, but they just don't like to eat.  They would much rather be running around and playing instead of eating.  Every night when we put Lukers to bed he realizes he's hungry.

Brods is very hit and miss.  You never know if he's going to eat or just get down and run off.  Brody is more of a grazer and likes to takes little bites while he plays.  The dinner was also a big hit with him and he was a little messy monster by the time he was done eating!  Maybe we'll have to do themed dinners more often to get them to eat!