Happy Halloween

Introducing:

Two of the most FIERCE superheros you will ever meet.
(You have to be fierce to wear undies on the outside!)

Superman Noah!

Batman Gage

(Gage decided he wanted to be black batman instead of blue batman, so he has to wear Noah's short cape.

Oh well, they don't care at all!)

We started out the day by heading to my parents for some showing off and trick or treating. We are so excited to have our friends Hannah and Penelope here for the month to hang out with. They are the cutest and most polite little girls you will ever meet.

Tonight we are heading to the church for dinner and the trunk or treat.

Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Leaves

We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was perfect fall weather and we spent the afternoon raking leaves and jumping in huge piles.

What else would we make but a track? We circled the huge maple tree and the boys would run around and jump and then get up and do it over and over again.

If you look close, you can only see Gage's feet.

The maple tree is huge and didn't even look like it had lost any leaves at all, so we are already looking forward to spending at least a few more afternoons doing this exact activity again!

tag

I haven't had a lot to blog about lately. I have some fun things coming up though - Halloween and Noah's birthday! Since I got tagged I thought it would be fun to play along.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6am

2. Diamonds or pearls? both? I love the pearl necklace that Wade gave me for our wedding, but you can't argue with diamonds either.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? wall-e We really need a date

4. What is your favorite TV show? Greys Anatomy, House Hunters, Everwood and Gilmore Girls.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? a soda or juice. Usually I don't eat much until later, I give the boys their breakfast and get ready for the day. This morning I had some cereal.

6. What is your middle name? Jill

7. What food do you dislike? hamburger meat, I have to be in a certain mood for a hamburger

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? An Elmo classical music CD I picked up at the library. The boys love it and I think it's cute to listen too. I really want some music by Sugarland, maybe I'll need to download some.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Chrysler Town and Country. I never thought I would want a mini-van after having to drive one in high school but I love it.

10. Favorite Sandwich? club

11. What characteristic do you despise? people who know everything and always think they are right - is that a characteristic?

12. Favorite item of clothing? jeans

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Maybe Europe

14. Favorite brand of clothing? sometimes Old Navy, sometimes Gap. If I didn't have to worry about money, I would shop more at Gap, I used to.

15. Where would you retire to? cabin in the mountains with lots and lots of books

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? I don't know, this one isn't a recent one, but when I turned 21, Wade and I took an overnight trip (yes we were married) to Wendover, Nevada. Rooms were WAY cheap during the week. We are talking $20 for a room and buy one get one free at the buffet. We don't gamble so it was really cheap and our apartment didn't have air or cable. It was fun. We went to the grocery store to buy a cake to celebrate and the bag boy turned the box on it's side and put it in the bag. We still laugh at my sideways cake to this day.

17. Favorite sport to watch? college football

18. When is your birthday? March 15

19. Are you a morning person or night? morning. If I don't have it done by 9am, I feel like I am running behind.

20. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2

21. Pets? nope, not till we own a house and they can stay outside. I'm allergic to cats and dogs (among other things)

22. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? ?hum......

23. What did you want to be when you were little? have a million children, live in China and teach bugs to tap dance.

24. How are you today? I woke up with my back hurting and it hurt all day long. GRRRR. Finished the boys Halloween costumes. So cute! cleaned, made dinner, had family night.


25. What is your favorite candy? chocolate

26. What is your favorite flower? tulips

27. What is a day on your calendar you are looking forward to? Noah's 2nd birthday! It's next Monday. I love that little boy!

28. What is your full name? Deborah Jill

29. What are you listening to right now? TV is on, I'm flipping between the CW, TLC, and HGTV

30. What was the last thing you ate? Heath Candy Bar Ice Cream

31. Do you wish on stars? no, Gage is really obsessed with wanting to see a falling start right now.

32. If you were a crayon what color would you be? green

33. How is the weather right now? well, it's night. But today was a perfect fall day. I was able to open the sliding door and the kids played outside for a little bit while I made dinner.

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Wade called and told me he was on his way home

35. Favorite soft drink? regular coke. I'm trying to drink more water and switch to caffine-free. So far the water thing is going pretty good.

36. Favorite Restaurant? Sonic, Taco Time, Cafe Rio, ? I pretty much like a lot of places right now because I'm pregnant and I just love to eat.

37. Real Hair Color? dark brown. I love changing it though

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? I had a teddy bear named Fatty.

39. Summer or winter? summer

40. Hugs or kisses? hugs, although those crazy kisses from Gage and Noah always make me laugh

41. Chocolate or vanilla? chocolate

42. Coffee or tea? neither

43. When was the last time you cried? probably last week. I don't know

44. What is under your bed? all our quilts put in those gigantic huge zip-lock bags and vacuum sealed, boxes of books, boxes of random things and a baby pack and play. We use the space under every bed and crib as storage right now in this tiny apartment.

45. What did you do last night? sat and talked to Wade and laughed. Watched 2 episodes of House Hunters and read scrapbook magazines

46. What are you afraid of? something happening to my family, something going wrong with baby girl, letting my kids grow up

47. Salty or sweet? sweet

48. How many keys on your key ring? my van key, wade's car key, my house key, my parents house key, & my in-laws house key

49. How many years at your current job? How old is Gage (plus 2 weeks I took off to kick off my maternity leave....so 4 years and 7 months and some odd days

50. Favorite day of the week? I kinda like Mondays, getting back into the swing of things, starting new each week. I love Saturdays now that Wade is home more.

51. How many places have you lived in? states - WA, MS, ID, AR, UT (6 different apartments), IA, and back to WA

52. Do you make friends easy? I think so

53. What is a pet peeve? hearing people chew their food or any mouth noises for that matter.

54. We all waste time. What do you do that wastes the most time? computer time and television

55. Are you a nerd? probably

56. Fiction of nonfiction? both, I love fiction but since becoming a parent I have really started to enjoy nonfiction as well

57. What is something that you miss? good friends

58. Have any hobbies? reading and scrapbooking

59. What is something you're passionate about? My beliefs, my family, reading, education

60. What is something you've learned from your current job? That I love it. I had a hard time adjusting the first few months and Gage was so colicky, which didn't help. I have really grown to love staying at home, teaching and seeing my children grow. Sometimes I dream about going back to school for a Masters Degree, but it's a dream. I can't imagine giving up seeing those funny little boys every day. Every day I have to work on patience.


Learn anything new? I tag anyone who wants to play long or wants something to post about.

Did you know?

Today Gage and I were talking about sand castles. He was sad that we haven't been to the beach in a while. I explained to him that we would go again when his friends Penelope and Hannah get here next month. He then started telling me about all the things in Washington.

Gage:"There are lots of beaches in Washington. Lots of things. Not a lot of houses in Washington. Lots of beaches."

Me: "What else is there in Washington?"

Gage: "Lots of things. Beaches, trees, plants, rocks, & avocados."



I'm glad Gage cleared this up for me. I've always wondered where all the avocados come from.

mom and dad, by gage

I saw this on another blog. It's not a tag, but was funny to read so I thought I would try it. I had Gage answer not only about mommy, but daddy as well. (The answers in green are about Wade).

It really was funny. I should talk to Wade about always telling Gage to do bad things, and then being sad when Gage hits. Talk about mixed signals. Apparently I am done working every morning at 7am after I've made my bed. I also would be famous for doing bad things, while Wade could be a female country star. Gage also thinks that we spend a lot of time kissing on the lips?! Don't know where that came from, he is so funny.

1. What is something mom always says to you? be nice/ do bad things

2. What makes mom happy? if you tell her when i need to go potty/ tell mommy that I did a great job

3. What makes mom sad? if I yell and hit somebody/ if I hit people and scream

4. How does your mom make you laugh? you give me kisses and hugs and say 'Hi-ya"/tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child? a baby girl/like jay jay the jet plane

6. How old is your mom? 6 years old/4 years old

7. How tall is your mom? I don't know what number you are on/6

8. What is her favorite thing to do? get dressed/go to school

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? watch a movie/ watches tv

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? for doing bad things/singing wasted (Carrie Underwood)

11. What is your mom really good at? driving a train/tickling

12. What is your mom not very good at? driving a train/driving trains

13. What does your mom do for her job? make her bed/do work to fix some one's foot

14. What is your mom's favorite food? ravioli/broccoli trees

15. What makes you proud of your mom? letting me ride big thomas the train/when he tickles and wrestles

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, a train driver/thomas

17. What do you and your mom do together? give hugs and kisses on the lips/tickle

18. How are you and your mom the same? no /yes

19. How are you and your mom different? cause you are a girl/he's a daddy

20. How do you know your mom loves you? give me kisses/when he tickles me


Got to love kids and the answers they give. So funny!

Pumpkin Painting

We visited a fun pumpkin patch this past weekend with my parents. We all had a blast and had beautiful, cooperative weather. Unfortunately we didn't come home with pictures because I had left the memory card in the computer the day before. A post about the patch will have to wait until later this week when I can get copies from my parents. On the bright side we did come home with 3 perfect pumpkins, one for Gage, Noah and one for baby girl.

For family night tonight we decided that we would paint our pumpkins. That way we can then carve them next week. Everyone had a great time. Gage has a train and a pyramid (where mummies live) on his pumpkin. It also has a lot of "magic gold dust" by the train, because of course that is what all trains need to run. Noah has a bunch of globs of paint. Wade and I covered baby girl's pumpkin with some funny pictures.

Wade rendition of a lady bug for baby girl. That is what she will have in her room. The ones in her room are a lot less scary looking.

Wade's self portrait. In red glitter glue, of course.

My self portrait. Apparently I have a gold glitter glue double chin.

We finished the night off with some family pictures. We are thinking of using the last one on our Christmas card this year.

Happy Monday.

grocery store

The letter of the week this week has been G. Gage loves it when we get to this week. Last year we celebrated by having a G party. We'll be having the same type lunch today. Also we will be trying to making gingerbread cookies today as well. (Both boys are watching a gingerbread episode of SuperWhy right now.)


Besides Gage, G also stands for grocery store. One of the activities we had for our preschool group this week was to set up and play grocery store. I don't have a fancy cash register, or even a cart of that super fun play food, (maybe that will come with a girl?) so this morning we made it all up. Gage thought it was so great, he couldn't wait to finish shopping so he could be the checker.

I wrote a list, including pictures and numbers of items he would need. He told me that I needed to stay at home so he could do the shopping himself. He was frustrated that he needed 2 apples and Noah ran off with all 2 of them. (I placed 3 apples out) I told him that sometimes grocery stores run out of things. He had to decide if he was going to get one and make do, or come back later. He decided to come back later.

Here was his favorite part - placing all the food on the "belt" and making it beep over the scanner. So glad that his imagination worked.

Noah was supposed to be in charge of placing the items in the bag, but mostly he would just hold them up and run off. Gage told me when his bag was full that we better take the cart out to the car because there was no way he could hold the heavy bag the whole way. What a funny boy.

He had to count his money to make sure he had enough. Exactly $4 covered it all. What a bargain hunter. I wish I could do that well!

Besides running off with all the food items, Noah's favorite part of the morning was tasting all the fresh produce.

It was such a fun activity. After they were done they had to re-stock all the shelves so the grocery store would have food again. It was such a fun way to wrap up our week celebrating the letter G. Now, off we go to the real store.

baby pictures

Wade had to ask me if I was ever going to blog the baby girl pictures. I guess I should get cracking!

Her face:
Her foot:
Her profile: (with hand, maybe practicing self defence early because of her older brothers?)
It's a girl:

Park

Today Wade got off a little early so we were able to spend some time together. The boys took me to one of their new favorite parks, one that they played at while I was gone to Colorado. It has lots of running room and two nice big play grounds. It also has some fun hiking trails that we walked around on for a while.

How many berries can you count? There were so many different kinds we found.

These ducks were so funny to watch. There really were tons of little fish in this pond for them to eat, and the female ducks were swimming around normally eating these little fish. The male fish, however, had to show off their diving skills. Gage and Noah would crack up each time they saw a duck dive and kick!

Right next to the park, and one of the main reasons that this is their favorite park, is part of the Puget Sound. They love walking down on the beach to throw rocks. The Narrows Bridge is the bridge in the background. Gage says it is his favorite bridge, but since it's a toll bridge we don't take him over it all the time. I do have to admit, it is a pretty cool bridge.

As we were leaving today we were watching a few of the birds and noticed one was a bald eagle. It really was impressive to watch it.

And last, but certainly not least, nothing impresses my Gage and Noah more than a huge life size train - except maybe a few life size trains moving very fast on real track. I can't decide what they like more about this place, the park, the rocks, the beach, or the trains.

Swedish Pancakes

Tonight for dinner we had one our favorite family recipes, Swedish Pancakes. Wade's dad served a mission for our church in Sweden and brought home this yummy tradition. It always reminds me of his family and makes me miss all the fun get togethers and big parties we got to go to when we lived in Utah by them- whether it be a holiday or for no reason at all, you never know what is going to happen at a Christiansen party.

This summer we broadened the horizon and fed this yummy recipe to my sister's family. They fell in love with it too. It's easy and simple and can make almost anyone happy because you can fill it with whatever you want. I wanted to blog this so I always have it as part of our family journal.

Swedish Pancakes
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup flour (sifted)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Melt butter and mix with cream, eggs and milk. Whisk in sugar, salt and flour. Whisk until smooth.

We've found the best way to cook these is with two very hot frying pans. One smaller one - the diameter you want your pancakes, the other to flip the pancake into when one side is done. That way you can make two at once, and not have to worry about flipping such a thin pancake with a spatula. You want to make these VERY thin - about as thin as you can make them. (what's the best way to get them off the plate once you have a pile of them ready to serve? roll them!)

It usually takes about 4 or 5 tries to make a good one and get the heat and everything right. I was so impressed that Wade got it right the first time tonight -we only ruined one pancake halfway through, sometimes we go through a lot before finding the right balance. Also, for our family of four, this recipe works well, but if we have any more than just 4 people, we have to double it at least. It's really easy to double.

You can fill them with anything you like - some of our favorites are:

cream cheese
cheddar cheese
crab
sauteed mushrooms
shredded chicken
maple syrup
powder sugar
fresh fruits
whip cream
nutela (with bananas!)
sausage
scrambled eggs
onions

The list could go on and on, it can be filled with just about anything. Gage and Noah like to eat theirs rolled up with powder sugar and syrup on top. Wade and I like the crab, mushroom and cheese.

Sorry I have no pictures - my food pictures never turn out looking as good as they taste.

Baby

The big day is finally here.

I was so excited that Wade could make it, he didn't want to ask for it off since he just started this rotation, but once they found out they made him take it off!

Really, I always make myself so nervous the couple days before an ultrasound that I just didn't care anymore, I really really wanted to see a healthy baby.

Any last minute guesses?

The baby was really healthy. My due date is Feb 22. (Not that is matters) The baby weighed 14 ounces. Healthy heart, brain, stomach, face. The ultrasound tech even printed out a nice picture of the baby's feet special just for Wade.

Boy? Girl?

We are all pretty excited. Gage says he has never had a sister before and he can't wait. Let the shopping begin.

Twilight Trailer

This one is so good. I can only hope that the movie is this good.

20 weeks

Halfway.

Hopefully more than halfway. I was induced with Gage and Noah at 38 weeks.

We find out Thursday boy or girl - so make your votes count this week. I feel the same as I did with both pregnancies, and am showing the same way too. I think it would be great to have another boy. We can totally spoil a girl if she comes 4th.

Beds

Bunk Beds. We are now the proud owners of. Noah was getting pretty possessive of the crib and seeing that we will be needing it in about 20 (hopefully less) weeks we thought it was probably time to move on. Last night everyone slept in their new beds and loved it. No one fell out either! I have to add that they look pretty darn cute and sadly grown up in it.

Wade and I both shared rooms growing up and loved it. It was always so much fun having someone to talk to and hang out with after bedtime and in the morning. One of my favorite memories of childhood is a Christmas morning when my little brother and I apparently woke up at 2:30 in the morning and played through all the wee-morning hours. (In my family we couldn't leave our room on Christmas morning until Mom and Dad told us we could.)

I love that we are giving them the same experience. In fact, we are leaving the crib up and all three little ones will share a room. (eight months and counting till graduation & a house) Maybe we are crazy, but they'll fit. Gage is pretty excited because he says he can see into the new baby's crib from on top of his new bed. He's really digging this new baby thing.

Now I just need to find some new bedding. I really want it to match, but they don't sell the bedding that Gage has any more so I might try to get creative and make some simple, simple quilts for both of them for Christmas. Any suggestions?

Sister's Weekend

wow. It's been a solid week and I haven't blogged. I promise I am feeling fine, it's just been fun to have Wade home this week and we've been busy.

This past weekend I was able to have a blast in Colorado for a sister's weekend. I have no idea where to start! Giggling, eating, laughing, more eating, shopping, and no sleeping all occurred. We all agreed that our husbands believe that when the Bullard family gets together all we do is eat. We tried to hold up that tradition.

Friday morning we all flew in at different times. Anne, Kathy and Karen (from Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming) flew in around the same time in the morning and were able to attend the Denver temple that day. My mom and I flew in from Washington and got there around 2 and waited for my sister Jenny,from New Mexico. We headed for the hotel where we met Suzanne, from Colorado.

Jenny and myself waiting at the hotel for everyone to arrive.

After we all met Friday night we headed out to dinner and then back to the hotel for games. We played - the who has _____ game. I love this game. (Who's husband called first? Who's family will eat out the entire time you are gone? Who left a honey-do list? Who brought the biggest or the smallest bag of luggage? etc.) We then played the purse game. (Who can find a band aid first? Who has the most lipstick? Who has a book? etc.) We also had a book exchange. I totally scored some great new reads!

There were only two disappointments this weekend. One of the events planned for this weekend was canceled when we saw the Pool and Spa sign. None of us could even chance getting in there. Check out the sign. So funny.

The other big disappointment, at least to the majority of us, was the Coke machine. For some reason every other soda it would expense when you pushed the Diet Coke button was Coke Zero. Big disappointment. Seriously. My sisters were crushed. We even had a Coke testing event to make sure there was a big difference. (We believe the Coke man must have no idea how women feel about their beverages and diet coke.) Coke Zero and Diet Coke are not the same. I have never drank so much Coke Zero in my life, since I was the only one who didn't mind and had to drink all their rejects.

Saturday was shopping day. We headed to some outlets south of Denver and walked and shopped to our hearts content. Of course, we also ate. We couldn't stop laughing when our mom ordered Strawberry Lemonade and it came like this.


After a few of us rested we all headed over to my brother Ken and his wife Suzanne's house. We ordered pizza for dinner and then watched the General Relief Society Meeting on KBYU. It was fun to watch it all together and in the comfort of their home. Sister Beck's as well as President Uchtdorf's talks were favorites.

Back row: Anne, Karen, myself, Kathy. Front Row: Jenny, Mom and Suzanne.

Sunday morning we had a great time getting ready and the having a recipe exchange. Each of us brought 2 recipe's, typed without our name. Then we had to guess who brought what. It got really confusing since a lot of us cook similar things. I can't wait to try all the fun food. We then headed over to Ken and Suzanne's house where we had a yummy lunch and then headed to church.

Special thanks to Baby Ken. He's put up with all of us his whole life being the baby. He took a lot of pictures of us and opened his house to us. He even let his wife stay at the hotel with us all weekend even though they only lived minutes away. We asked him to set the timer and do some splits in front of us for this picture. He said he was getting "old" and this was the best he could do. Wow. If Baby Ken is old, I don't want to think what that makes us.

After church we all started heading home. Jenny and Karen flew home on Sunday. The rest of us went different times on Monday.

A big thanks goes to my mom who made this trip all possible. Not only did she give birth to all of us - or our spouses, but she planned this, executed it and is such an incredible mom and example. We loved it and have already started making plans for the next sister's weekend!