Ahhhh!!

I am crazy-excited family will be getting here starting on Saturday! (the others will follow a few days later)

Hmmm...if only my house could gussy itself up just a bit on its own...

The Nose

We should simply call my second son, The Nose. He sniffs out even the most obscure smells. From a very early age he would comment on how the road smells on a hot day, the stink of his baby brother's spit-up or determine if he would like something or not from the scents wafting up to his little schnozer. A couple of weeks ago we had a FHE on the fly as we were driving dinner to Daddy (standing duty) that night. We were talking about our senses and how blessed we were to have them. Josiah mentioned his favorite sounds and the things they made him think of. We then moved on to the sense of smell. This was Gavin's forte. While the rest of us mentioned such things as molasses cookies, pizza and flowers, Gavin's were more unique. He loves the smell of ice-"it just smells nice and cold", the smell of horses-"makes him think of Grandad and his work clothes", and the smell of the outside of a gas station-"makes me think of trips to Oklahoma".

So, when he came to me this morning wearing a shirt pulled from his drawer claiming it smelled "just like Grammy's house", I just had to have a sniff. I bunched the shirt up, tucked my nose in, closed my eyes...and smelled the warm scent of the Applegate home.

Balance

My husband is worried I am turning our only daughter into a prissy princess with her big hair bows and girly things. Considering her 2 favorite toys of the moment, I think I have a pretty good balance...don't you?

Happy Hauntings

We celebrated Halloween well this year. We tried a basic version of the "13 days of Halloween", munching on ghastly dinners and snacks. It was fun for me to get into the feel of the holiday. In addition to fun meals, Kit and I thought we'd try out a local pumpkin patch. After a mishap of wrong times printed in a flyer for my children's schools, an hour drive, sad kids and the resulting McDonald's dinner, I ended up taking the kids myself another day while Kit was on duty. The end result was so fun. I only wish we had been able to stay longer (we rushed back for the boys' primary program practice).

Gunnison loved the chicks and ducklings.

The corn maze. The boys had a blast. Gunner was worried a couple of times, but Josiah, our navigator, made sure we all made it out alright in the end.

There was something about the giant ones that attracted Gunner He was determined to choose the largest one there to bring home.

The only picture I took of Emmeline. She was trapped in the sling the entire time. She doesn't seem too worse the wear, however.

Our family pumpkin carving. Josiah was completely grossed out scraping out the guts.

My sexy husband...he's going for the "psycho" look...yea, I can see it...

We attended 2 parties this year. The Coast Guard base party and the Trunk-or-Treat for our ward. The CG party was a bit of a bust, but at least we got a couple of pictures. the Trunk-or-Treat was a blast, but of course I forgot the camera completely. Blehhh.

Our 3 Little Ninjas. Ready for action...well, all except Gunner there. He looks a little bit unprepared if someone came to battle.

Little Miss Emme...may I present my first pink Halloween costume! I was so excited to dress someone in something girly! Ahhh, it felt wonderful!! She's our little flower fairy.

Kit, dressed as the OSU fan, holding our little pink. He thought she was adorable, and was just a little bit irked she didn't win the costume contest. "A plush Frankenstein costume won, a plush Frankenstein!" He did, however, think it would have been even cuter if she had been a little girl ninja, too.

The ninjas trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. They had a blast!

Whew! Quite a bit of pictures to get through. If you made it, hoorah! In case you didn't notice, I did another post before this one of Gavin's birthday.

Gav Turned 5

Yes, Gavin had his birthday a while ago, but life seems so crazy around here...and yep, that would be my excuse.

Gavin is now officially 5. He has been working towards getting a year older...well, for a year. He is ALWAYS looking ahead and trying to be as old as Josiah. I think he is finally realizing he won't ever catch up. He is our "all rough and tumble" boy. From 9 months he was walking and he hasn't slowed down since. We love you, Gav!!

Surrounded by gifts. Huh, not quite the happy face I was expecting from someone about to tear into wrapping. I think he was spacing out.

In his requested skateboard gear and his new wheels

Gav requested we go to Red Robin for his birthday dinner. He wanted to have the "Tower of Onion Rings!". Which I found a little comical in that he only really likes the breading on the outside. No problem, Kit and I love onion rings!

He was so excited when the waitresses and crew came and sang to him. They brought not just one sundae, but 3-one for each of our 3 boys. Nice move!! Note Gav's head gear. He received this birthday crown from him teacher and wore it all. day. long.

His cake of choice was a box of cupcakes with white and dye-your mouth black frosting. He wanted the cool transformer rings artistically placed on top of each.

We let him go outside and practice some cool moves after cake and ice cream. We love the boards from Target-you can get starter ones with tighter bearings so they don't roll away from you quite as much.

Gav making a "fierce" face.

I will take the time to brag a bit about Gavin here. He was chosen from his class (with another little girl) to be the Citizen of the Month. With being the first of the year, they didn't have a character trait chosen to be exemplified, but chose children who came into the school year already above and beyond in good citizenship behavior (sharing, listening, honesty, etc.). I was so proud of Gavin. He can be a bit of a stinker at home and I was slightly worried about how he would take to going to school, especially all day. He has loved it and according to Mrs. Blake, his teacher, they love having him.

Nice hair, dude. I do send him to school with cuter do's than this. I believe he has played much already.

We love you Gavin!! You are one blurred movement most of the time, but when you slow down, we get to experience your sweet heart in motion. Thank you for being our favorite red-headed 5 year old boy!