do you see the resemblance?

Elise had this on her blog and I just thought it was hilarious.

I have been trying to play catchup on blogging since I got back from California a month ago. It's just been so crazy around here between Young Women in Excellence (and all things Young Women) and sickness and everyday life. I finally have California updates though. Enjoy!

oak glen
jacob's baptism
pumpkin factory
awesome uncle jacob
friends and family
little travelers

birthday celebrations

I think William's birthday was a success! (Warning: Lots of pictures and videos!)

In the morning, he got to watch his favorite Saturday morning cartoons... and Rich even bought him "special bird cereal" (aka Froot Loops) for breakfast.

William ended up not feeling too great that day so we took it pretty easy. He was super excited about opening presents and loved them all. We probably could've wrapped up some of his old toys and he would have been excited about those too!

William with all of his presents.

This year I decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake. William could not make up his mind about what he wanted! Everyday he told me something different. Finally we settled on baseball cupcakes.

Blowing out the candles.

Yummm!

William decided that he only wanted to lick off the frosting... even though he loves chocolate cake.

On Sunday, we went over to the Crane's and William got even more presents... and another cake! Lucky boy!

While he ate his dinner I found him and BenSam playing with all the actions figures he got. It was hilarious.

I even caught a little of it on video...

William is just so excited to be FOUR. (Of course, he keeps talking how he'll be 8 next, like Jacob... hopefully by his next birthday he'll understand that we can't just skip 5, 6, and 7!) He loves to be an even bigger help to me now because he's so big. One of the highlights for him was having everyone sing to him at Primary on Sunday. He thought it was so cool and told me, "I wasn't even shy!"

Yea for birthdays! Yea for 4-year-olds!! Yea for William!!!

William

Yesterday William told me, "It's hard being a 3-year-old." Well, today is his birthday... I guess it's a good thing he's not three anymore! I really can't believe I have a 4-year-old!!! William is such a fun boy to have around. Here are four reasons why:

*He loves to help. Whether it's making waffles and cookies or doing the laundry or emptying the silverware he's always a good helper.

*He likes to do the right thing. When I'm in the other room William makes sure that James doesn't get into any trouble (which James loves to do). I don't have to worry about leaving them in the room by themselves because William will make sure they don't get into too much trouble.

*He's polite. He's always sure to say "please" and "thank you."

*He's sweet and complimentary. Not only does he love to give great hugs to all of us but he often tells me how beautiful I am. You can't get better than that. (I think he's learned from his dad.)

There are a million other things that are endearing about William... but I have presents to wrap before he gets home!

Happy Birthday William!

the magic kiss

When I was a little girl and we needed to wake up my Grandpa Allred, my mom would tell us that the only way was to kiss him on the cheek. We would try other things but the kiss was the only thing that ever worked. And why wouldn't it? It worked for Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, right?

So when I got tired of being woken up by whining and poking and my eyelids being pried open, I told William that the sure-fire way to wake me up was with a kiss. It worked especially nice in the beginning because I could lay there, pretending to be asleep, for just a few more minutes until he remembered the secret. Now, however, he usually comes in, plants a big wet one on my cheek and asks, ever so sweetly, "Mom, can you please get me some more milk?"

This past week we were all feeling pretty crummy so when James stumbled into our room in the middle of the night I just let him crawl into bed--not something I usually do. Some time later I was aroused from my slumber by someone pulling on my pajama leg. I chose to ignore it. I was exhausted! But then I felt two little lips kissing my cheek! James must have seen William do it a few times and knew that it worked!

And so I continue in the tradition of my favorite fairy tale princess. Besides, who doesn't want to be woken up by the kiss of a prince (or two)?

for rachelle

My sister, Rachelle, needed us to do this experiment so she could get extra credit in her child development class. It has to do with "conversion"... you remember this from your days in child development right? Anyway, I tried to email it to her but it was too big... so now you all get to enjoy it.

climbing on up

While we were in California, James learned how to open doors and climb in and out of cribs.

This did not make for good naps while we were there. I didn't think it would be a problem when we got home because his crib is bigger and our door knobs are harder to open. Boy was I wrong! Within 5 minutes of putting him in his crib at home he was out and had the door open. And so, this past weekend we bought this:

I have to brag on myself. I put the entire thing together by myself (except for some heavy lifting from Rich and minor help from William). Yeah, I'm awesome.

So far it's working out great. William loves sleeping on the top bunk. Even during the day he asks if he can go lay down on the top bunk. This coming from a boy who quit his naps 1 1/2 years ago. He's always playing "pirate ship" up there. He's always asking if James can go up there too... and that makes me nervous. James is just too crazy. (Just this week he chipped his tooth on the bathtub.) I'm certain that James will fall off the top. Please pray that he doesn't.

happy halloween!

A few weeks ago, before we left for California, we went to the pumpkin patch. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween but I do love going to the pumpkin patch every October. The boys had a great time looking for pumpkins,

posing for pictures, and taking a train ride.William picked out a great pumpkin for us. Unfortunately, between coming and going and all the other activities we had going on this week, we didn't have a chance to carve it! So sad. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow anyway. Who cares if it's November?! Besides... we have to at least gut it so we can roast the seeds! Yum!

Last night we went to BenSam's birthday costume party. This is my nephew, BenSam. Isn't he cute?!It was a blast! Thanks Bob and Daniela! William decided to go as Tigger. We tried to get James to be a giraffe.We had no such luck. He went as Batman.

And then today. Today was crazy. William and I spent the afternoon baking cookies and pies for the ward Harvest Party (and thus had no time to carve a pumpkin). But before the ward party we had to stop by the company trick-or-treat. This time both boys were superheroes. I wish I had gotten a better picture of Batman and Spiderman. William had a blast. The boys were both so loaded with candy that we had to empty out their buckets before going on to the next activity. Every department has a theme. This year Rich's department did "The Great Outdoors"... thus the tent.

The ward party got thrown onto the Young Women so I had one of the girls take it on as a value project. She did a great job!!! The Young Men hosted a chili cook off before hand. Good food = happy people = successful ward dinner. William's favorite game was the cake walk.He didn't care if he won or not, he just liked walking in the circle. When they started to give out the cupcakes to anyone William happily refused saying, "But I didn't win!" He's goofy. One thing I can say for my ward is that people always stay after to help with clean-up... even if they weren't remotely in charge of the activity. It usually goes pretty quickly that way. The boys decided to play a little game of basketball while they waited. It was fun to watch William get in there with the "big" boys.

When we arrived home I saw that some of the neighbors still had their lights on and doors open for trick-or-treaters. I asked William if he wanted to knock on a few doors. I was really shocked when he said, "No." I guess he was all trick-or-treated out. Besides, we didn't need anymore candy!

How was your Halloween?