Halloween Festivities

This week we've had lots of fun Halloween activities. On Saturday we went to the library's Monster Mash. They had lots of fun stories and crafts and even gave away free books. On Wednesday we had a Halloween carnival at our church. Parker had a great time playing games and getting candy. He is showing off his painted face in this photo.

On Halloween afternoon we went trick-or-treating at the local grocery store and then went to a party at Brad's work. Parker played more fun games and got more treats.

Tonight we took Parker trick-or-treating. He loved it! If we'd let him, he would have gone all night, but we limited him to two streets. Here is a picture our little kangaroo anticipating his trick-or-treating with a huge grin. If you missed it, there is a better picture of Parker in his kangaroo costume on the October 21st post.

Dinosaur Park

My sister Angie came up to visit on Thursday and Friday. We had a great time! We made caramel, chocolate and peanut butter apples. It was a little trickier than I imagined, but they were good. Parker sure enjoyed them. Today we went to the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park. It was pretty cool. They had a lot of life-size dinosaur models, some of which were robotic. The moving ones made Parker a little nervous, but he was excited about the rest. Parker liked seeing the dinosaur bones. They had some cool fossils too. Parker also liked the gems, minerals, petrofied wood and geodes. His favorite color is green, so he liked the green stones best.

One of Parker's favorite things to do was use the brush the sand off of the fossils. He liked being an archeologist. They had a playground that had prehistoric animals and bones for the kids to climb on. Parker loved going to the Dinosaur Park. He loved finding all of the dinosaurs.

Parker had a great time with Aunt Angie. He kept asking if she'd stay another day. Thanks for coming Angie!

Birthdays - one real and one pretend!

We went to Gardner Historic Village last Saturday with our friends the Pattersons. Parker was very excited to see the witches and pumpkins. He has begun to understand the difference between real and pretend, so he wasn't afraid of the decorations at all. Of course he would hardly look at the camera, so we couldn't get very man cute photos. He and his friend Austin had a great time running around.

We got a pretty good family photo, but of course I look the nearly eight months pregnant that I am. I'm hoping that it's less than six weeks to go - good luck with that!

We also took pictures of the Pratt grandchildren in their Halloween costumes this weekend. It's just about impossible to get four kids, all two and under to look at the camera and look happy at the same time, but we did the best we could and photoshopped to help out. They actually turned out pretty cute.

The kids are all so cute in their costumes. In case you can't tell, Adam is Squirt (the little turtle in Finding Nemo), Isabelle is Belle (the Beauty and the Beast princess), Isaac is a pea pod and Parker is a kangaroo.

Happy Birthday to me! I turn 30 today-crazy! It's actually not too shocking. I've known it was coming and several of my friends beat me to it. I hope that it will be the start of another great decade.

Parker loves doing "heavy hang-over" for the gifts. He'll randomly say parts of the chant and then bump me on the head with his toys.

The last couple weeks he has started going to bed without too much of a fight. He will get into bed to play with pretend toys. I'll give his pretend Duplos so that he can build a really tall castle or he'll get some pretend Dinosaur and Baby books to read in bed. It has been the GREATEST thing. He actually jump into bed because he's excited about the imaginary toys. The other day I asked him what toy he wanted. He said a birthday. He wanted "babboons (balloons), candles and birthday cake". He is very creative and good at pretending.

Cookies, Spaghetti Factory and Harry Potter

I've been trying to get a better picture of Parker with his glasses. He's in a phase where he either won't look at the camera, or he looks up and smiles while scrunching up his face, so all I can see is his chin. The lighting isn't too great with this picture, but at least he has a great smile. We snapped this photo outside of Brad's work.

We made sugar cookies on Friday night. They make such a mess, I am disinclined to make them often, but it's fun to do every once in while. Parker had a great time helping me make the cookies and frost the cookies. He also loved eating them. We certainly wouldn't win any cookie decorating contests, but they were really good!

On Saturday we watched the morning session of the LDS General Conference at our house and then went to Brad's parent's house to watch the afternoon session. After conference we had Girls' Night Out. We went to the Spaghetti Factory, which has become quite a tradition. Parker and his cousins Adam and Isaac were the only males in the party.

Here are some pictures of Parker with me, his Grandma Pratt and cousin Isabelle, and one with GG (his Great Grandma Carlson).

These other photos are of Adam and Isabelle. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Isaac this time.

We had a great time visiting and eating. Later on some of us went over to Brad's sister Jenny's house and we played games.

While we were having a Girls' Night Out, the boys were having one of there own. Brad went out to dinner with his dad and then they went to the Priesthood session of General Conference. Afterwards they also came over to Jenny's.

I'm not really sure how it happened, but somehow Parker scraped his head on Saturday night. It isn't in the center of his forehead, nor is it lightening-shaped, but with Parker's new glasses, it gives him a little bit of a Harry Potteresque quality.

Well, we've had a busy week. Parker has been transitioning to his new glasses fairly well. I had fears that he might take them off and throw them on the tile, but so far, he hasn't ever thrown them. He has frequently told me that he doesn't like glasses and even tried to convince me that I don't want him to have glasses, but a few reminders of all of the awesome people in his life who wear glasses sometimes works. If not, he knows that we only take them off for naps. If he doesn't want to wear them, it must be because he is ready for a nap. That psycology nearly always works. Anyway, he has had them for a week and I think he's starting to get used to them. Hopefully we won't have daily convincing to do for that much longer.

Parker just got glasses!

Parker was prescribed glasses last week and we picked them up today. He sure looks cute, but I'm sure that it will be tricky to get him to wear them all the time. We got the most flexible pair of frames possible, but most two year-olds are not known for being consistently gentle. Parker got his eyesight genetics from his mother. I also got glasses at almost exaxtly his same age. Four of my parent's five children are far-sighted and all had glasses before they turned three. My other sister has perfect vision-lucky girl. Anyway, this photo was taken in the car just outside the optical store, hence the lovely background. This other photo of me was taken sometime the year I got glasses. I'm not exactly sure whether I am still two or just turned three, but either way, you can see me in my little glasses as well.

Tagged - Fives!

(These are in random order.) Five things I did five years ago 1. Start dating Brad more seriously 2. Student teaching 2nd grade 3. Relief Society president for my student ward 4. Live on about five hours of sleep a night 5. Hang out with friends every day and still use about 3,000 minutes a month on my cell phone Five best choices I ever made 1. Marry my sweetheart Bradley in the temple 2. Have Parker 3. Serve an LDS Mission in Bolivia (I didn't choose the place, but I loved it anyway.) 4. Strengthen my testimony 5. I am sure that Baby Pratt #2 and any future children will be excellent choices as well. Five things I love about my husband 1. His desire to be the best he can be 2. His laugh and dimple 3. He's such a hard worker 4. He is so great with Parker 5. He honors his priesthood Five movies you would watch more than once 1. While You Were Sleeping 2. Return to Me 3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 4. Three Men and a Little Lady 5. The Sound of Music Five t.v. shows I watch 1. none (I usually don't watch t.v.) 2. The News 3. Monk (I watch the seasons on DVD on occasion) 4. Bones (Brad loves it, so sometimes I watch it with him.) 5. American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance (Depends which is on.) Five places I have been 1. Bolivia (I loved serving my mission here.) 2. Eastern U.S. and Canada (New York, Palmayra, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, etc.) 3. Western U.S. , Mexico and Canada (Oahu, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, L.A., San Diego, Las Vegas, Tijuana, etc.) 4. Mid-West/Southern U.S. (Chicago, Nauvoo, St. Louis, New Orleans, Biloxi, etc.) 5. Utah Five places I 'd like to go This is sort of cheating, but. . . 1. Europe (Italy, France, Germany, England, Greece, ect.) 2. Asia (Israel, India, China, Thailand, Ukraine, etc.) 3. South Pacific (Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, etc.) 4. Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, anywhere it would be safe to go on safari, etc.) 5. South America (I've been to Peru and Bolivia, but I'd like to go back. I would like to go more places too.) Five jobs I have had 1. Mother (my favorite job!) 2. Elementary School Teacher 3. Secretary for a real estate developer 4. Old Navy employee 5. Cashier at a dry cleaner Five pet peeves 1. Poking me, especially repetitively (If you poke my sides, I just might punch you.) 2. People who pee on the toilet seat - Gross!! 3. People who forget that their blinker is on and drive forever that way 4. When cars are driving really slowly and you can't pass them 5. Spam Five of my favorite books (This is really hard to narrow down) 1. The Book of Mormon 2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom 3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 4. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo 5. Fire and the Covenant bu Gerald Lund I also loved the Anne of Green Gables series, the Work and the Glory series, the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Gone With the Wind by Margarett Mitchell, the Harry Potter series, James Herriot's books, Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, Jane Austen's books and a million children's books (I was a school teacher, what can I say?) Five of my favorite foods 1. Funeral potatoes (I know the name is not ideal, but you know what I mean this way.) 2. Cheesecake 3. Cafe Rio pork salad 4. Homemade ice cream 5. Ice cream shakes Five of my favorite things to do 1. Spend time with Brad and Parker 2. Spend time with my family (including my in-laws) 3. Spend time with my friends 4. Talk on the phone with or read blogs of the people I can't visit in person 5. It's not that I am super outgoing, but I am certainly a social individual. Five of my favorite outdoor activities 1. Rollerblading 2. Snow skiing 3. Water skiing 4. Walking 5. Playing ultimate frisbee (even though I haven't played in years) Five of my favorite indoor activities 1. Talking with family of friends 2. Eating 3. Playing games 4. Watching a really good movie 5. Reading a really good book Five things I look forward to 1. Our new baby boy 2. Christmas (I love the whole season!) 3. Hanging out with family 4. Hanging out with friends 5. The new baby (I am super excited about that one!) If you want to be tagged, you're it!