Thanksgiving Festivities

Even though it is a week gone by--Thanksgiving is worth posting about. I love Thanksgiving because we get to see family we don't see often--and we get to eat foods we don't eat often!

This year was a "Nordfelt" year so we all (and I mean all 80 something of us) gathered together at the Institute building for food and festivities.

Here are the younger kids having a little foot race! Go Carsen go!



Next was the "older kids" turn for a potato sack race....Chad and I won! (I mean, kicked butt!)

On Friday evening we were invited over to my sister-in-law Kelly's parents house for some gingerbread house making where a surprise visitor was a hit! Carsen was so excited to see Santa. In fact, he couldn't wait to tell Santa what he wanted.....and he didn't. When Santa walked into the room Carsen shouted, "Santa, I want a gun!" (Not sure where that one came from...as we all know, he already has a gun.)

Carsen sat on his lap and was even confessional in telling Santa, "I don't sleep in my big boy bed all night." (It's something we've been working on. He keeps wandering in to our bed in the wee hours of morning.) It was adorable!

Myka was quite taken with Santa's beard. We decided next year she will be frightened of him!

Carsen with his cousins Katie Bug and KC listening intently to every word Santa had to say.


Carsen and I making our gingerbread house. Okay, so I did most the work....He was content eating the candy.

Move'n Myka

I am a huge slacker! The days keep slipping by and I want to update my blog, but I don't want to take the time to do it....Here we finally are!

Myka has been crawling for about 2 1/2 weeks now. She went from sitting up to putting her hands in front of her and then moving. She won't sit still and is into everything! Her new thing is pulling herself up onto stools and other small objects. The "chill on the lap" days are long gone....she's too busy wiggling out of our laps and onto the floor so she can go explore (and put everything in her path directly into her mouth!) The other day I scooped a piece of popped popcorn out of her mouth! (What a heart-pounding moment!)


Myka loves to sit in her high chair and eat crackers....(The majority end up on the floor and she crawls around later and nibbles them up!) Guess which one is Myka and which is Carsen! The bottom picture is Carsen when he was Myka's age! (Don't they look so much alike!)



My bathe'n babes! Every time I put Myka in the tub Carsen wants to join her.....


Myka's new thing is to scoot the bars of her crib and press her face against them and cry to be picked up. She is ruining her cute crib bumper because she keeps laying on it and misshaping it!


This video was taken right when she first started crawling....now she's cruise'n around! Where did my baby go? (I realize I sound ridiculous on this video after hearing myself being played back...but that's just the way moms sound! At least this mom!)

TAG, I'm It....

Okay, fine....Kelly. Here is your request. Now everyone can see my terrible habits and the 'things' that make me ME.

1. I am a very schedule-oriented person. I have my own personal schedule (those of you who know me...know this to be true). I thrive on knowing when the next event is going to take place. My days are very scheduled and I like to follow this schedule. My kids are on a schedule, which gives me my sanity. You could say I am routine-oriented. I like to create a routine and stick with it--it works for me and helps me time manage everything.
2. I am a nail biter and have been since as long as I can remember. I must say, for a nail-biter my nails are not too bad. I will go through stages (right now is a good stage). I am trying to get them to grow, so I am concentrating really hard on not chewing at them. (I have painted them a sheer pinkish color and I really like it!) It's a nasty habit and I wish I could stop...
3. I actually really, truly LOVE to work out..... Chad thinks I am crazy, but I really do love going to the gym or just going for a nice jog outside....I am not sure where this obsession began, but it is in my system. I will wake up at any hour of the morning just so I can make it to the gym. (Luckily, I have my gym gals to thank for the support, but there have been times when I have flown solo in the 4 a.m. hour just to get my work-out in and make it home in time for Chad to be on the golf course by 6 a.m.) I love the way I feel after I have worked-out, and psychologically I don't feel as good on days when I have to skip a work-out for some terrible reason!
   
4. Popcorn is my pal! I love popcorn and have loved it since I was a tiny child (even Carsen loves popcorn)! Lucky for me, I think I married someone who actually eats popcorn more than I do. (I used to out-eat Chad in the popcorn department, but I have become more "conscious" of my intake so he and Carsen have me beat). My favorite popcorn is with my hot-air popper. When I was 12-years-old I received my very own popcorn popper for Christmas! I can eat popcorn anytime of day....it's so delicious! I have found it is difficult for me to sit down in front of the TV without popcorn in my lap--so I have had to cut-out a lot of shows just to cut-down on my popcorn intake!!
5. I love to be comfortable. I have two sets of clothing--comfortable and not-so-comfortable. I am willing to sacrifice being comfortable to go out and about...But when I come home the first thing I do is change my clothes into my comfy sweats. I also cannot stand to wander around my house wearing jewelry. I wear jewelry (along with my not-so-comfy) clothes out and about..but the minute I walk in the door I take off my earrings, necklace, whatever it may be just so I can be comfy.
6. I am a super-cautious driver. (I would actually prefer to call it "a defensively safe driver.") Either way you look at it, I am not a crazy driver. On occasion I will speed up on a yellow light (if I am late for something). I have never had a speeding ticket (knock on wood) or been in a wreck (knock on wood again). I figure that when you speed you get to your destination about 1 minute sooner than if you just slow down and go the speed limit (or a little over)!
   

Okay now....I am tagging (I don't think I even know 6 people who blog that haven't already been tagged....)
1. Natalie
2. Keri
3. Stefanie
4. Kate
5. Kami

Superhero Halloween

Lucky for us, Carsen stumbled upon our Halloween box last weekend while we were organizing some boxes in the basement.....Carsen pulled out the Superman costume of Chad's (from last year's Halloween party...we were Superman and Supgergirl) and said, "Put it on Dad." (Carsen was so excited that his dad had a costume to play in too. He was so insistent Chad put it on and keep it on) So, we decided to make it a fun-family Halloween and all be Superheroes! (Except little pumpkin Myka.)

For our ward trunk-or-treat Carsen was Batman. He was going to be Batman for Halloween until we all decided to be "Supers". Then we had to go find him a Superman costume (much to Carsen's liking!) Now he has another costume he gets to play in (everyday).

Precious Pumpkin....We had to ditch the pumpkin part about 30 minutes into the evening....Myka couldn't move very well! I couldn't believe Carsen wore this costume two years ago....It seems like yesterday....

A group of us in the neighborhood went to the Olson's house for dinner and pre-Trick-or-treating pictures....(thank you Olsons for delicious Navajo tacos and 'healthy' Halloween treats!) There are so many cute friends for Carsen in the neighborhood.

My Supermen after trick-or-treating. Carsen was freezing cold and ready to come home. He was so adamant that he not wear anything under or over the costume--which resulted in the sun going down and him freezing! Oh well, I didn't want a bucket full of candy anyways.

'SUPER' FAMILY! Carsen loved that we were in costume and was disappointed when the night was over and we shed the costumes and gladly put them back into the box. Although, we did decide it made the evening more fun to be in costume! I guess that's why we have kids---to keep us young!

Our Tigger pumpkin.