Brianna's breakfast breadbowl

One of my favorite comfort foods is hot soup in a breadbowl. So when I saw these cute pumpkin ones at Great Harvest I had to buy a few and introduce this meal to my kids.
Brianna is a little odd about breakfast- she doesn't really go for the typical cereal/toast/fruit/pancake thing like the rest of us happily do.
 Often she doesn't want to eat anything at all until she's been up and going for several hours. Weirdo.
Glad we chose Afternoon Kindergarten!
So this was her breakfast (at 10am). Pumpkin breadbowl and soup.
Happy Fall!

Santa goes yardsaling

I like to spend the Fall yardsaling for Christmas presents.

And Bountiful is the most perfect place I've ever been to for it, because it's amazing what I find here! And for such great deals, because people are typically pretty cheap - both in buying and selling :)

I should take pics of the rest of the loot, cuz I bought a LOT of stuff. I spent about 4 hours out there "shopping"! But this is one thing I'm most excited about... this mint condition horsey is going to make his grand arrival Christmas morning! Only $10, and the people even delivered it to my house because I couldn't fit him in my car! He'll be well hidden, wrapped up in the back of our big storage shed, until December. And I seriously can't wait to see my kiddos FREAK OUT over him (cuz I know they will. All of them. Probably even the new baby).

The true church....

...doesn't do enough Autumn celebration activities. So we attend other churches' parties :)

I don't feel bad though, because we're not mooching.
Most of their parties all cost money.
 So we're paying for our fun and entertainment :) 
But it's typically a great deal.
And I think it's a good thing that these other church know that the LDS community comes out to support their events (assuming they know we're LDS... it's not like we're wearing badges or anything, but I like to think it's obvious somehow :)

On Saturday we went to the ECOR's (I don't even remember what that stood for - that's just who I wrote the check to) "Harvest Celebration." 

We bought tickets to do face painting (cuz the girls are obsessed with that), buy lunch (including veggies from their community garden! So cool), do some kids games, buy pumpkins, and decorate them.

Perfect weather, fun family times.

Breakfast boys

Words can't express how much I adore these guys!

How we roll

Today I drove that blue minivan for the first time in 4 weeks.
It has literally sat there locked unused for 4 entire weeks.
When I told this to my sis Lindsay, she said "why haven't you gone anywhere in so long?!!"
...and I had to defend myself- we HAVE gone places!
Just not anywhere more than a few miles away :)
Our usual destinations are simply all within biking/walking distance.
School, library, gym, farmers market, stores, friends, church....
So we roll around town.
(But of course use Brian's car for evening/weekend excursions).

At almost 35 weeks now, my belly definitely hits the back of Bennett's Weeride middle bar seat.
But it's not too uncomfortable.
Our only setback has been a few flat tires, which I have to go have fixed at the bike shop a mile away. Cause I'm so self-reliant....
I really need to learn to do that myself.

Family pictures

Heart Run at Sugarhouse Park

This was Brian's 4th weekend in a row doing a Saturday morning 5K! We enjoyed cheering him on - the kids love it. I know he's enjoying it too. He actually credits this race with helping him overcome some back pain he's been having the past couple days. I don't know how that works.... but sure, let's give a 5K all the credit!

I hope he doesn't get TOO addicted and happily turns the privilege back over to me once I'm back in racing mode....someday..... (seems very far away at this point, considering I'm having trouble even keeping food down thanks to this huge belly causing severe pregnancy heartburn).

I love Sugarhouse Park. Though at times it feels a little dirty and there's usually at least a couple weirdos wandering around it, I feel like I've done so much running and playing there over the past 8 years of Utahn life that it's like home.

 

Here he is with some of his coworkers. They're the reason we chose to do this 5K (among the 6 other 5K options within an hour's drive - seriously, so many races in Utah!)   He wanted to support his company's effort to be involved, and wanted to have bragging rights on Monday :)  So although I was hoping to do the 5K in Ogden at the Dinosaur Park... this one made more family sense.  And the free Subway sandwiches post-race were a great perk, along with all the booths/tents doing various activities.

Tire-d

I got the kids in the bike trailer, peddled off towards the gym...and only made it to the park.
   The thought of plopping down under a shady tree, watching them run around, won out over exercise. 
  Sigh....

Compliance

See that little face in the closet?
That would be Courtney.

She often goes in there and taunts me with, "hey moooomy....say 'where's my Courtney.' Say it. SAY IT!"

She wants me to pretend like she's lost, and become very concerned, and search everywhere, til finally finding her in the closet, then laugh hysterically with her.

     Totally reasonable request.

   Especially when I'm on the phone or otherwise tied up in a project.

  But I comply, knowing the consequence for insubordination is highly undesirable on many levels.

New Playhouse!

Photo effects

While sitting around at the park... might as well explore the photo editing features on my phone!

Just found put there are hundreds of backgrounds and stickers I can use.

Watch out....this could get cheesy...

Little daredevils

After-school snack

I now remember so clearly coming home from school and basically being starving.
I made a beeline for the kitchen.

Now it's my turn to manage the post-school hungry kid.
And of course we always eat fresh avocados straight from the source with a spoon.
Just a sprinkle of sea salt on top.

Kidding. Totally had to bribe her to eat this.
She earned the privilege of choosing the ice cream flavor tonight when we go to the store :)

Sleepy arm

Not sure if you can tell from this angle...hard to take a pic...but my little Bennett fell asleep in my arm.

Holding sleepy cuddly babies is one of my favorite things. So so so sweet.

Until my arm is majorly losing circulation and really uncomfortable...

Sister twins

Brianna occasionally laments that SHE wasn't the one born as a twin with Courtney.
Why?
Because she wants to share clothes with her. They love to get dressed out of the other's closet. 
Hmmm.... I can't relate to that at ALL....
Kidding. I totally enjoyed shopping in my sisters' closets growing up. Even my mom's, occasionally. Heck, I still do!

Usually their size difference prohibits as much clothes swapping as they'd liked. I have to police it, or Brianna walks out in tiny tight clothes and Courtney is swimming in outfits that barely stay on.
But this will probably even out someday  (and I hope at that point they're still eager to share clothes!)

So they were ecstatic when we found a yardsale with a family selling their daughters' clothes... ages 8 and 6.  And these daughters happened to LOVE wearing matching clothes, and the mom must've loved supplying it! We got a bunch of cute matching shirts in their respective sizes. Some are still a year or so from really fitting.... but of course, that kind of thing doesn't stop Brianna and Courtney from wearing them anyway :)

Cashing in

 

Brianna's piggy banks finally got too heavy, so we headed to the Coinstar machine to turn them in!

I love that they don't charge you for counting, as long as you turn it in for an Amazon gift card.
 
Her little CTR bank plus half of a Wells Fargo bank ended up being almost $90!

That's after about 2 years of just picking up coins when we find them around the house or car.

So Brianna got to pick out a toy on Amazon (some craft supplies) and I bought a leaf blower, cuz I'm wild and crazy like that.

Cooling off with hot food

Today is the first day in months that it hasn't been a bazillion degrees, so I decided I should get back to cooking. I've been avoiding the oven big time, especially for recipes like this that require its use several times. Toasting the walnuts, toasting the Great Harvest bread to make crumbs, then of course baking. But for Walnut Encrusted Herb Chicken, the effort was worth it! So good. We roll the chicken pieces in vegenaise before the herb/crumb mixture. Served with brown rice and cantaloupe from the Farmers Market, and dinner is a hit with everyone! On my way to redeeming myself after slacking way too long. Pardon Brian's expression. I told him to look hungry and excited....

Date with James Taylor! And those MoTabs!

The James Taylor concert was AAAAMAZING!

Totally worth hanging out in the Standby line for 90 minutes.

Which I did after having to park SIX blocks away and walk to Temple Square.  I had no idea if I'd get in or not, but there was enough room and all the Standbys got in!

Then, as I've often done in the past at concerts and other events, I snuck down to better seating. The trick is to just act like you totally know what you're doing.  So I was about 30 rows from the stage.

The Choir was incredible, and the Utah Symphony was beautiful. Even the organ solo was really entertaining, surprisingly (I don't especially enjoy the sound of organ music usually).

James did a bunch of my favorites - the Carolina songs, Up on the Roof, and the finale - Shower the People - literally gave me goosebumps. He got a standing ovation from the 23,000 member crowd several times during the concert. Hope he felt loved by the Mormons!

 

Is it so weird that I went by myself? We tried to find a babysitter last minute, but no luck. So I went solo! I thought about calling up some friends... but I knew I'd have a better chance at sneaking down to good seating if I went alone :)

 

Bennett, his owie, his iPad, his nap, his style:

Ready to run in park city!

Since I'm now 31 weeks pregnant, I don't even think about doing road races. 

A good easy terrain trail race would still be tempting, but a 5K on hard surfaces?

Not happening. 

So I told Brian that for the next couple months, it's HIS turn!

 Which he pretends to be annoyed at, but I know he secretly enjoys it.

Last night he said casually, "So... which 5K am I running tomorrow?"  and I had not mentioned a THING about doing a race! 

That was his subtle way of admitting he was excited about it.

He did great!

And we had fun cheering him on.

Our kids LOVE going to races.

Probably something to do with the post-race prizes and snacks, and just being OUTSIDE in new venues.  

I definitely had a twinge of envy seeing the first girl cross the finish line. I can't help but think of whether or not I could've beaten her (assuming pre-pregnancy fitness level).  Looking forward to getting back in running shape someday!  I should start checking out the Spring 2014 calendar and plotting out some good ones.....

Bag o' books

I love Park City's annual book sale at their library (pictured in the background - formerly the original PC High School).
$5 for a canvas bag - stuff it full of as much as you can! So we loaded up. And I love not having to worry about return dates, keeping track of it all, preventing damage, etc. Thanks to sales like this (and Nickel Auctions, yard sales, etc) I never ever borrow kids books from the library.

It also gave the kids something to do while sitting waiting for the Park City Miner's Day parade to start.