The Magic of the Toy Book

My girls have been having a lot of fun pouring over any toy catalog that comes along. There are the ones that come each week in the newspaper and the ones that come in the mail. Oh they are SO much fun! They like to grab a crayon and circle things they want from Santa. Oh and if it is circled it means FOR SURE they will be getting it. I mean its CIRCLED! Since Santa is still so real and capable of limitless giving, there are a lot of circles. A lot.



Catalog #1- The American Girl Doll catalog. I understand the want for these beautiful dolls and all of the fabulous outfits and accessories that you can get to go with them. Natalie picked out a few dolls (at a mere $100 each, why stop at one) and lots of extras. She felt that she must have the get well kit and wheelchair?!? Ok. So we had the following conversation.

Me: Natalie why do you want an American Girl Doll? You saved all your money for a long time and bought the one you have (Target's much more affordable copy) and she is naked, with messy hair and you don't know where her things are.

Natalie: But I really want these and I would take care of them.

It continued back and forth like this until she ran off, found her doll, dressed it (minus the shoes which are still missing) and brushed her hair.

Natalie: See Mom I can take care of them!

Thinking to myself- Yeah you still aren't getting one. Not yet anyways.



Catalog #2: Toys R US big book. I remember these as a kid. Pages and pages of possibilities. I think any non-boy toy is circled in ours. Things like the Easy Bake Oven so "Mom I can cook my own stuff!", Barbies, to the big ticket items like electronics and ride on cars. As I am looking through it Natalie points out that she has circled a Sweet 16 game for the DS. To which I respond, "Natalie you don't have a DS." Without missing a beat she says, "Oh, I circled it" pointing further down on the page. Remember the POWER of the circling. But the thing that my girls want the most, and which I would give them if I could, is the $350 (on sale) pink Cadillac Escelade Power Wheels Ride on car. They have been talking about this nonstop. At first they were going to ask for two so they could each have one. Then later that night Natalie said Santa might only have room for one so they could share and take turns driving. They talked about driving it up and down our street, the ins and outs of steering, giving Cameron rides and more. The following morning Natalie wakes up and says, "Mom I just want that pink car SOOOO bad. I dreamed about it all night. I dreamed I drove it in our driveway and opened the garage door and then just pulled it right in the garage." Oh I hope they aren't too disappointed Christmas morning when there is no pink Escalade.

Frustrations

I usually don't write anything on here that is too personal. It is funny because those are the posts I like to read the most on my friends' blogs. I think I feel a little too exposed,
vulnerable,
stupid,
etc
if I write my feelings and so I stick to the family happenings. Well tonight I am stepping out on a limb. Tonight I was invited to a girls night get together.

I wanted to go.

Really wanted to go.

I had the night off, the kids would be in bed, I like the people that we going to be there and I knew it would be a good break. But I know myself and I woke up this morning stressing about it. I told myself I don't need to stress, that it will be fine and I shouldn't talk myself out of it. As much as I wanted to go the social anxiety part of me won, yet again! I am frustrated that it won. I know that it gives the wrong impression when I say I will be there and then I am not and for that I want to apologize. Apologize to the wonderful girls that invited me, if they happen to read this. Maybe next time I will win.

Trick-or-Treating

It seems like there are so many times when the kids wore their costumes that by the time Halloween night actually arrived Natalie's Hannah Montana wig was quite the sight. First the were all the times I would find them upstairs playing in their costumes. Then there was the ward trunk-or-treat and school parties. By Halloween I was ready to burn these costumes! This was the pose Natalie created for just about every picture.Trick-or-treating was interesting. It took Cameron a few houses to understand that he wasn't going INSIDE their house. He was really great at saying trick-or-treat, Happy Halloween and thank you to each person. He would often tell people, "I'm wearing my bones!" and point to his skeleton tummy. Many of the ladies expressed their desire to keep him.

Ella was by far our fastest trick-or-treater, not wanting to wait for anyone and always wanting to be the one to ring the door bell. She seemed to have a good time, but when we got to the last house and they put the candy in her bucket she said "OK now we can go home!" A few days after Halloween she was being, um difficult, and I asked her if she wanted me to throw her candy away. She was fine with that because she said she would just go trick-or-treating again. I mean really they gave me candy when I knocked on their door yesterday so why not any day. I tried to explain that it was only once a year, but she seemed to really believe any old day would work.

Cameron had a lot of fun checking out all his candy. He would unwrap a piece, have a little and then unwrap more. He would often inspect and compare candies before opening.

Pumpkin Carving

We didn't end up going to the pumpkin patch this year because we successfully grew three pumpkins in our garden. Sadly they were not carving size, except for Cameron's, so we cheated and picked some up for the girls at the grocery store. They were oh so excited to carve them.

I think maybe Ella was confused about what holiday we were celebrating

Cameron had no reservations about getting into the guts. He also had no problem throwing them.

Eric and I have had this pumpkin carving kit for about 6 years and we have let the kids pick a pattern that they want. Every year it turns into US carving way too much of the pumpkin and kicking ourselves. Next year they will be drawing their own faces and doing it themselves.

my pumpkin face

Ella with her finished spider pumpkin. Notice the eyelashes (or as she calls them ashlyes) she gave the spider, so you know its a girl.

The finished products.

Now time to enjoy the caramel apples the girls helped me make.

Ella didn't want caramel apple so here is her "caramel apple with no caramel".

Natalie on the other hand wanted to make sure she got the one with the most caramel.

Oh So Tired

Cameron is an early riser. He wakes up pretty much every night about 4:00 saying he is hungry and wants breakfast. After crying and screaming he falls back asleep only to wake up at 6:00. That is early, but acceptable. This usually means that if we are in the car anytime that morning he will fall asleep. I try to lay him down when we get home but he never stays asleep. So that 5-10 minutes in the car destroys any chance of a nap and we end up with dinner ending like this.

And Then There Were Four

Cameron would like to announce that he will be a big brother early this May. We are excited for the new baby to join our family.

Grandma

My Grandma would have been 98 today. She was the best Grandma in the world. I loved that I grew up near her and have so many memories of her. How I would sleepover at her house and be served a breakfast of Fruit Loops with softened vanilla ice cream (because she never had milk) and cocoa in bed so that I could watch the cartoons uninterrupted. I remember how in 9th grade after early morning seminary my friends and I would walk to her house where she would have cinnamon rolls and juice for us before we caught the bus. I love how she adored my children and called them all "sweet baby" and even if it was 100 degrees would worry that their feet were cold. I love that my girls remember her and that she always had chocolate in her drawer to share, and no matter how many times they asked she would give them some. When my mom and I would say they had had enough she would respond with a smile and say "Well they kept asking me for some." The bathroom she used at my parents house will always be referred to by me as "Grandma Cindy's bathroom", old Volvos will always make me smile and I will always stop for the sweet Grandmas at the grocery store who want to ooh and ahh over my kids because it makes me think of you doing that. We miss you Grandma and love you so so much!