The Bean Pros: Halloween, Hunting, and Harvest

Well! This is my last post catching up from 2016! Yippy skippy!

2016 was full of ups and downs, just like any year. So many people said 2016 brought nothing but yuck and I would not go that far. There were plenty of good things that came out of it for our family! I just love making memories with these people and I am learning to try and find joy in the journey.

Elsy loves to button the buttons on my cardigans. When she sees them she says, "Ooo buttons!" and she promptly wants to do them all up and then down again.

This girl is such a chatter box. She loves to just talk with me all the time. At bed time she will say, "Mommy talk to me!" and we will just talk about whatever it is she wants to chat about. One time while she was going #2 she told me, "Some bums have big bums and some bums have little bums. Kids bums have little bums and grown up bums have big bums."... what?! She really is a hoot. She is also the master of trying to get us do notice what she wants. For example she will say things like, "I really like that treat on the counter!" in hopes that we will say, "Oh! You do? Well then why don't you have one?" Haha, shes just so sweet about it. She also love love loves to pretend these days. While in the tub she will say things like, "Mom, look who's swimming with that long red hair!" in reference to herself. And then she will make a diving curve with her hands and say, "Spwash!" as she splashes into the water.

Elsy's new favorite word is "cute" and she is always saying "That's so cute!" When we go through a store she thinks everything is cute. When Tommy speaks in a little silly squeaky voice it is "so cute!" I just love it. One day I said to her, "Stop it! Stop growing!" and she said, "We have to grow!". I asked her, "Why do we have to grow?" Her answer made my heart melt, "So I can be a mommy!" I hope she never looses sight of that. I know that the reason she was put on this earth was to grow closer to God and I know that as a mother she will do just that. I am proud of the little choices she is making each day.

One of my favorite things she says everyday is in her prayers. Every day when she prays she says, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank thee fer dis day. Thank thee fer all the fun feelings we had to do...." and then she prays for other things. Well, I have started to think about that line that she is always including: 'Thank thee for all the fun feelings we had to do'. I don't know exactly where she came up with it but I really think it has been inspired. She has been saying it for months and it has only been recently that I have been able to really think about it. I have been realizing that we do have to go through lots of different feelings each day. Every day I feel like I feel cranky or upset, happy, bored, excited, frustrated, peace, etc. And I am not always thankful for all the feelings I experience. But I am realizing that we were given these bodies by our Heavenly Father and part of these bodies are our emotions and feelings, both the good and the bad ones. I think for the longest time I thought that if I felt mad then I was somehow a bad person or if I was cranky I was feeling a feeling that I shouldn't feel. But I have been learning that it is not bad to feel mad, it is not bad to feel frustrated, or cranky, or scared. But it is how I respond when we feel those feelings that matters. So that is something I have been thinking a lot about lately and have been working on. I am trying to be more grateful for all the fun feelings I have to do.

She has also discovered how to take pictures on our cameras. She told me tonight that she likes to take pictures and I thought that was great! This is one of the first selfies I have found of her on my phone. It is absolutely hilarious! and it also proves that even the cutest little girl on the planet can have a double chin in a selfie. GUYS! Here is my schpeal on selfies....STOP IT!! They are just so self centered it drives me crazy! How many times did you take that candid shot you took of yourself? (My eyes are rolling). In my book the rule is you can only take a selfie if there is one other person in it. Okay, the end.

I am hop skipping back to October, many months ago to cover our trip to my parents house to go hunting. We took the kids to Sportsman's Warehouse while Logan picked out a gun with my dad and brother-in-law Steve. The kids loved playing in all the sleeping bags and running up and down the isles.

My mom watched the kids while Logan and I went hunting with my Dad and sisters Riley and Kelsy early in the morning. I know I say this every year but I just really like going hunting. It is a fun thing to get to do with my daddy-o. I just like sitting up on a dark hill watching the sunrise and eating Snickers bars while looking for bucks.

Logan has been coming to do his own version of 'shooting' the last two years. It is fun to have our very own cameraman.

My sister Kelsy was on a different canyon than we were with our friend Ryan and shot at this buck. She had hit it on it's hoof but it ran over to us where I shot it. It was amazing how well these animals can blend into this tall grass! When we went down into the ravine to find him he was almost invisible until we were right on him. It was a really fun hunt that morning and we got a good hike in. I'm grateful for my dad for always taking me hunting every year. It is fun to get to spend time with him and my siblings and to also feel like you are helping to provide for your family.

Kelsy was able to shoot her own buck as well so we got to snap a picture. The little boy in the front is my cousin Justin, my uncle Josh's son. It was a short trip but we had a lot of fun. Logan has continued to keep his promise to me he made before we got married that he would always do his best to bring me home for hunting season.

I still remember where we were sitting when he told me that, it was really cold and we were sitting in the stadium at BYU-I and I was telling him my fear of marrying him because I was afraid he would take me away and we would live somewhere other than the Tri-Cities. I love the town I grew up in and have always imagined my kids growing up like I did, surrounded by family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And it might seem silly but that was one of the biggest things that made me nervous in the beginning when Logan and I started talking about getting married. We were talking in the stadium seats and I think I probably was crying because I am emotional like that, and I just told him all about how I wanted to live there but I knew that I loved him more than that and that he was worth it to me to give up one of those dreams I had for a bigger and more important one. (I knew with his line of work there was nothing really going for him in Tri-Cities) He told me he would do his best to bring me home multiple times a year, one of those especially being hunting because we agreed it would be so fun for our future kids to learn to hunt with their grandpa. :)

I feel like I blinked and this happened. ^^

I can't believe how big my little girl is getting! I was holding her in my lap yesterday and she was snuggling me and I just remembered holding her when she was only a few days old and crying because I was nervous to be a mom but I felt so overwhelmed with love for her. And looking at her now I can't believe how much more I love her than even then.

Elsy has been really loving Joy School. After only a few weeks one of the little guys, Doran, in her group moved. They all gave each other a big group hug on his last day. (That's Elsy in the hat... she really likes hats.)

Tommy is just the toughest little boy around but also the tenderest and I just can't get enough of him. He absolutely loves his rain boots. He also likes to step on my feet while he is wearing his rain boots but I won't get into that right now. One day I just found him sitting at Logan's desk pretending to work. He is so sweet and just loves his dad. Over the last few months of the year Tommy has really come a long way with being able to talk. I feel like his vocabulary is definitely not as strong as Elsy's was as his age but his dictation is better. Although, I do think he has developed a little bit of a lisp and its so darn cute!

Tommy loves all things cars, planes, and Zelda. He also can spot a hold a mile away in anything. He loves to put things into them. For example he loves to help me put my earrings in. I caught him throwing magnets down the garbage disposal and when I asked him to stop he said, "A hooooooe!" (He leaves out the L haha) He is always sticking his fingers into things and dropping things down the cracks of the couch. He has also begun to master the sound effects that I feel all boys learn. The other day he found an empty bullet shell I keep in my jewelry box (its from the biggest buck I ever shot). He asked what it was and I told him it was a bullet. He immediately held it up as if he were shooting a gun and started making shooting sounds "Pew! Pew!" I laughed and laughed because I really don't know if I have ever told him what a bullet is. How do little boys just learn these kinds of things?

I bought a bunch of puff balls for Joy School but now the kids like to play with them often when they dance. I find them everywhere even now. Here they are making snow angels in them. Elsy and Tommy have become such good friends ever since he has begun to talk better. They have their good share of fights but it is so fun to walk in on Elsy trying to teach Tommy to count ("Tommy say 'One!', 'One!" "Tommy say, 'Two!" "Tuuooo" Tommy say, "Three!" "Treee") or see them give each other a hug without being prompted.

For Halloween time we took the kids to an awesome pumpkin patch out in Carnation, although I cannot remember what it is called now (and I'm going to be mad at myself because I will want to go back next year!). We let the kiddos pick out pumpkins and then didn't buy them because pumpkin patches are so expensive. We always go to the patch and then to Fred Meyer haha. Its all about the experience for us. ;)

It was really muddy and I was glad we all wore our rain boots.

We are all about the free stuff but we did pay for a fun little hay ride on the back of a tractor. The kids loved it and to be honest I did too. I love all things farm and dream of having my own mini farm someday.... maybe I have been watching a little to much of Fixer Upper and dreaming of the little homestead Chip and Joanna Gaines have haha, but it really does sound exactly like something I would love.

There was a fun little corn maze for kids and big bales of hay to climb all over and around. I just loved how everything was free, free, free. We are total cheap-o's around here.

And here we are at the Fred Meyer pumpkin patch! The kids really like sitting on pumpkins for some reason.

It was my turn for Joy School when we did the letter G. I chose to do grapes on the first day. I drew little vines and the kids made thumb print grapes all over the vines.

Then I gave them a bunch of toothpicks and grapes and they made little structures with them. The group seems so small now with only four kids. We tried and tried to find someone to join after Doran left but with no luck. Poor Cache is the only boy but he and Elsy are basically best friends so I don't think anyone notices.

This has become a recurring activity in our house... Logan playing Twilight Princess while the kids hole controllers without battery packs in them. Whenever Logan lets me take a nap, go out for a while, or go teach piano lessons they usually do this. The kids love it.

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening the Monday before Halloween. The kids loved getting to try out pulling out the gunk. Elsy was more interested in doing the cutting. That poor girl has so much anxiety about different textures. We are working on it but she still will grab any food she has to touch with only her pointer finger and thumb and all her other fingers spread so they won't have to touch it. Yikes, its rough sometimes but I think we have made a little progress.... I think.... I hope....

We had our good friends and neighbors, the Carruths, over to carve with us. Andrea has become a really good friend and we are always swapping kids almost on a daily basis because her kids are the same age as mine and they all get along so well.

I think Tommy was just happy to get to sit on the table!

The finished products!! I usually clean out the pumpkins and Logan carves them while I prep pumpkin seeds. He did the two on the left and the Carruth's are the two on the right.

My kids are so funny. Here they are trying to hide from me in Old Navy.

My second day of the week for Joy School we did the letter G is for Ghost. We did white upside down footprints where I dipped the kids feet in paint and then drew eyes on them for ghosts. Then we cracked out the shaving cream and I told them it was "Ghost Goo" and they got to play in it. Tommy got way into it!

I worked really hard on the kid's Halloween costumes this year! Elsy was dead set on being Master Tigress from Kung Fu Panda. I had an orange dress someone had given us as a hand-me-down and used that as a starting place. I was also excited to learn how to make a vest because now I can make some for Tommy... if I ever get done with all my other projects... yikes.

And Tommy was Link. He still loves to wear around the vest, belt, and hat (in fact he was wearing it tonight when I changed him into his PJs.)

I always spend so much time making these costumes and its only for one or two nights. I always think, 'Next year I'm not doing this again!' but then the next year comes and I just get so excited! And I love to sew!... Just not at 2am the night before the Trunk-or-Treat.

I got really excited about getting to paint Elsy's face like a tiger. I looked up a picture on Pinterest to copy. Elsy did an awesome job holding still and it was fun to talk with her while I did that. She was "Hiii-yaaa!"-ing all over the place and I loved it.

Tommy made the cutest, littlest Link. I had to get all the angles so you could see his slouchy hat and the shield on his back. He really really hated to boot covers I made for him but after he warmed up to it he was happy.

I decided to be an Ice Cream Cone and had a great vision but it didn't turn out very well.... it mostly just made me look frumpy and thick waist-ed (and I know I'm not but I did look it in that costume haha). Logan was Sam again from Splinter Cell. This was the only good family picture we got sadly... Elsy is eating a donut from the donut-on-a-string game.

I basically hate Halloween. I hate all the gory, gruesome, satanic parts of it. It really is a yucky holiday. I refuse to put any ghastly decor in my house or let any of my children dress like something yucky and creepy. But I do enjoy a good party and a fun costume now and then.

One fun party we were invited to was a murder mystery. My friend Alyssa let me borrow a fancy dress and Logan and I got to dress up all fancy.

The group was a hoot and we were so glad to get to be a part of it all.

October marked some of the last good walks we went on together as a family before it got to cold. This winter has been a cold one and we have had a hard time getting the courage to go out in it. I am missing the good ole days when we played outside and can't wait for spring.

Tommy learned to swing on a bar. He was so excited and giggled and giggled.

One thing we started doing that I have really enjoyed is "Cozy Time" as a family. Since it is to cold to go outdoors (and I've already mentioned how cheap we are) we have started renting movies as a family and making or getting a little treat to eat while we watch it. The kids love it and so do we.

In early November we got to vote! I have been really trying to take voting seriously the last couple years. I always struggle though because I don't keep up with politics because I always feel confused and lied too. So when voting comes around I always do my best by starting with a prayer to help discern who may be telling the truth, and then I look everyone up and read about them and then vote. It takes quite a long time but I am glad to try and do my small part. I know I can't really participate more in politics at this phase of my life but I like to try to do my part.

Luckily I roped Logan into helping me after a while. It was a total chore but was also a little bit fun getting to talk things over. We were absolutely floored with some of the policies that were trying to weasel their way into law form. Yikes, stuff like this always makes me feel on edge. We prayed and discussed a lot about who we should vote for for president this year. It was a major war between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. We really didn't feel good about voting for either of them and I decided my conscience just couldn't feel good about voting for someone with bad morals. We decided to vote for a third party fellow, Evan McMullin that we felt had a lot more to offer. As it turns out Trump won. I think Logan said it right when he said, "I think I will feel 10% relieved and 90% terrified if either of those candidates win."

In other news... this has been happening a little bit more frequently. :( He is a pretty good sport about standing in the corner but he is such a sweetheart that it really breaks my heart when he is in the corner.

I took the kids to the dentist and then to McDonald's after for lunch. Why do I still keep going to that place? Seriously, every time it is so gross and the kids don't even like it! Maybe if it is published here in my blog I will remember to never go there again! (Its that darn indoor play place! I need somewhere to go on a rainy day!)

Okay just look at these two! This is Elsy when she was about Tommy's age now and I took one of Tommy too. He is a few months older than her in this picture. But I just love fresh, clean, sweet smelling babies!

Another round of Joy School! T's! We made Turkey T's!

And here we are at my parent's for Thanksgiving. Elsy and Hannah are good cousin buddies.

I have been learning to make a turkey, this was my third I have ever made. I feel like I have found a pretty good recipe. I have been discovering just how much I like to cook new recipes and learn new ideas and ways to do things. Logan tells me often how impressed he is with how far I've come since we were just married. (For example, I was making homemade fettuccine alfredo and it said to put whipping cream in it so I bought some cool whip to put int it.... yeeesh I had a lot to learn!)