My kids need to come with a "WARNING: ACCIDENT PRONE" sign

Well remember the great time we had at the corn maze, well it resulted in Corbyn having a concussion! She was getting off the pedal carts and was, of course, running to meet us and ran smack into a metal piece sticking out of a wood post. It was just above her eye level so she didn't see it coming. She cried for a minute but was then up and going. I looked at her head and there was just a little red line where she hit. She wasn't complaining so I thought she was fine...Wrong! In the next 24 hours it swelled to the size of a large egg and turned various shades of purple and green. We checked her for signs of a concussion off and on the next 24 hours and she didn't seem to have one. (Thanks to Calvin's skull fracture we felt like we knew what to look for...wrong again!) Well Friday she complained of a headache at school and so I told her I would make a doctors appointment. By Sunday the swelling was almost gone, but there is this nickle size hard spot in the middle of her bruise. Corbyn and Calvin both have these very large blood vessels that run straight down in the middle of her forehead so I started to worry she had a blood clot. Well we took her to the doctor today and sure enough she has a concusion and a blod clot. The blood is trapped in the tissue so it can't travel through her system but if it doesn't reabsorb in 3 months she will have to get it taken out. Lovely! She can't play at recess, PE, gymnastics or ride her bike for 2 weeks, so she is a little sad. But hopefully with the help of occasional Tylenol she will not have all the headaches.


McKenzie has been bothered by a knee injury off and on for 3-4 weeks. (But to my defense she never missed gymnastics and she was doing round off back handsprings on it last Wednesday. With all that how bad can it be I thought? Yep, Wrong again!) So I took her to the doctor last week and the doctor said she had dislocated her knee. Yes, I know I deserve the worst Mom award! The Doctor said it is a very common injury and that it isn't dislocated right now, that it probably slid out and then popped back in! My poor daughter. The tendons & muscles that are on either side of your kneecap are loose and any time she twists her knee or it slides out a little the tendons inflame and that is what was causing the off and on pain. Great! She is out of Gym for 2 weeks and wears this cool brace every day and does quad strengthening exercises. Yes now I am a physical therapy trainer also. She will hopefully be better in a couple of weeks. What a week! Good thing we have good insurance, I think we have met our quota for at least 5 or 6 years!

Warning: When going somewhere fun DON"T forget the camera

I was so anxious to find out how the pictures turned out using the disposable camera, that I took it in for 1 hour developing. $8.56 later, I would like to blame Walgreens for how poor the pictures turned out, but I know it was the camera! This is why you should always check the diaper bag twice to make sure the camera is there! Forget the baby wipes and diapers but don't forget the camera! Well we had fun anyway and yes Eric was there, even though he looks like he was photo-shopped in. We had a blast and the kids are dying to go back. We were lost in the corn maze for about an hour and Corbyn says to me (shaking her head), "I should of listened to my friend Max when he said he was lost in the corn maze for 3 hours!" She was ready to get out but when you are stuck inside the head of David Archaletta, good luck getting out. (Side note: the maze was shaped like David just in case you didn't get the joke.) Well hope you can imagine the fun we had through the blurry and dark pictures. Heard of a flash? Needless to say the button for the flash was on the front and I didn't see it until I ran out of film. Go head Aaron, insert "blonde joke" here.

Corn Maze

Tonight we bundled up and headed to the Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. It was a blast! We jumped on the huge pillow, walked through a haunted monster, looked at some awesome carved pumpkins (our favorite: the BYU cougar pumpkin), went down some slippery slides, got lost in the corn maze for an hour, sat in the Pumpkin Faries Pumpkin carriage (much like Cinderella's), had hand water pump duck races, and bought the biggest Pumpkin ever to carve! Oh and I forgot to mention the chicken feed box that the gils loved playing in and the tires horse swings (much like Tany and Jerry's)that they didn' want to get off of. All and all it was a fun night. The weather even cooperated and it didn't get colder than 38. Very pleasant with a light jacket. The only bad thing was when we got there I asked Kenzie for her camera (mine's broken) and she had forgotten it at home. Bummer! A nice lady heard me saying I was sad we forgot the camera and gave me a disposable one she had. I will post pictures if any turn out! Wishful thinking!

Chloe's New Tricks

Chloe is almost four months old and she has lots of new tricks. She can roll over from her stomach to her back, she can make spit bubbles(her favorite), stand up on Mom's legs, smile, coo, and laugh. She is growing up too fast, except for the sleeping thing, that I would be ok with. Eric said the other day, "Before you know it she'll be in Kindergarten!" I told him not to say that but I know it is all too true. My kids are growing up so fast! I guess all I can do now is hope they like their Mom taging along with them and their spouse!

Scarcrow Festival

The kids are out of school until Tuesday so we went to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point yesterday. The kids had so much fun! There were about 15 bounce houses and slides, a rock wall, a train, a haunted house, kids games, pumpkins, pedal go carts, and rocket launchers. We went for 3 1/2 hours and if the bees weren't chasing us to get our nachos we would have stayed longer. Did you know bees like nachos? Who knew. Kenzie climbed the highest on the rock wall, Calvin made the coolest rocket and Corbyn loved the bounce houses and slides with her friend Jensen. What a great day! We even got a few smiles from Chloe! Chloe loved the pumpkin patch! We had a fun time and the kids already want us to promise they can go back next year! Stay tuned for fun details about the corn maze, we are headed there next week.

Chloe giggles for the first time!

I was playing with Chloe today and for the first time she giggled at me three or four times in a row. She is so growing up so fast! We played for an hour and then she feel asleep and I held her for 2 hours! She will only be my baby for a little while so I try to get all the loves I can. She is going to be strong, independent, and social like her big sis, Corbyn. She loves to stand up on my legs and bounce and she only wants to be held facing out so she can see whats going on. She is so fun! Today was a fun day!

Yesterday we woke up to a fun surprise!

We got up on Sunday morning and to our excitement we had snow! They were forecasting a 1/4 of an inch so I wasn't expecting 3-4 inches! We have 9:00 church so the kids couldn't play in it. Well, besides Corbyn sticking her hand out the side door and scooping it off the grill every 10 minutes. After church it had already started to melt and my kids were pretty disppointed. After we ate a quick lunch they went outside to gather all the snow that was left in our yard and from the playground. They didn't need much to have fun. All in all it was a great day! To top it off, Calvin passed the sacrament for the for the first time and did fast offerings too. What a great Sunday!

My Dad - AKA "The Nanny"

My parents just came and stayed with us for a week. It was so fun and we all had a blast, even though last night, Corbyn pointed out that we didn't go fishing. We were busy with scouts and gymnastics and Mom and Dad did a few Missionary outings but we still spent some great time together. Mom and I spend a day going to Quilt shops and had a great time looking at different patterns and fabrics. Dad was, well DAD! He was funny and goofy, a great nanny for Chloe and a great house adviser. He even got very attached to Blue or as he calls him "BO-BO." He was in one of his funny moods and Chloe in one of her bad ones, so he told me to let him wear the sling. (Side Note: Chloe lives in the sling, it is the only way she doesn't cry and it is great because then I can have two hands to make dinner, do homework, clean laundry, take a nap (in my dreams), well do almost anything. I don't which is funnier the my dad wearing the floer sling or crossing his eyes while wearing it? Warnig: Chloe's crying can do this do your face! We had a great time and I will look forward to the Nanny's return. If only I could afford to hire him on a daily basis, hey maybe if the stock market keeps falling, I can. :) Love you Mom & Dad can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!

Calvin's Party, I mean celebration

Friday night Calvin had 3 friends over, Andrew, Cole and Austin, to celebrate his birthday. He had a great time! They played Spore, basketball, ate pizza, went to see Kung Fu Panda at the dollar show and had cookie cake and ice cream. What a party! Calvin has been very blessed to make some great friends already. These boys will be friends for a long time! Happy Birthday Calvin!

Why we love Utah...Fall!

Last weekend we drove the Alpine Loop from Prove Canyon to American Fork Canyon. It was so beautiful I could hardly contain myself. I was like a kid at Christmas! The pictures speak for themselves but don't you love Fall! Grandpa Nicol rented a cool blue convertible. Eric of course, was in the front seat driving, like he was 16 again, and the kids piled in the back. Of course that meant Grandma had to ride in the Armada with me and Chloe. It worked out well until we were at the top of the mountain and Chloe decide she was hungry. There were many minutes of crying until we found a wonderful parking lot over looking the gorgeous mountain valley with it's explosion of colors! Needless to say Chloe couldn't have gotten a more beautiful eating spot, not that she could enjoy it, but Mom did! We enjoyed the peaceful drive home and were once again reminded how kind Heavenly Father is to allow us to enjoy his beautiful creations. We love Fall!