Baby Legs!

I mean, seriously - how cute can you get? Look at those chubby cheeks! :)

These are my new favorite find... Baby Legs. They're leg-warmers that can be worn from birth to age 10. :) They can even be used as arm-warmers. They do have elastic on the bottom so they won't fall off if you pull them up to the ankles. I've seen them at Target and baby boutiques for $11-$15 a pair. The other day I found them HERE for $7. I got two sets. They have them in boy colors too.
I'm especially excited because with Tessa's reflux it hurts her little tummy to have tight elastic around it. So I can basically only dress her in sleepers. So what do I do with all the cute onesies we have? Baby Legs to the Rescue! :)
Macy and Isaak insisted on being in pics too. So cute.

Also, I love this brown sleeper from my Uncle James and Aunt Heather... Rob says she looks like a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles on top!

Halloween Festival

These were our costumes for the city sponsored Halloween Festival on Oct. 18th. Thanks to my parents for providing us with most of these supplies! We had not purchased the kids "real" costumes yet, but they still loved dressing up. The "real" ones were purchased this week. So we'll post pics of that next weekend after Trick or Treating.

Ode to Pines

There once were some really tall pine trees. 

Planted by Gramps they grew 

Taller and taller, the house looked much smaller

And next to them, so did you. 

But one day the city decided

To upgrade and work on the road

They dug holes all day and we're sad to say 

The trees couldn't handle the load

Dead needles and branches are ugly

Though they hid the houses' old roof

The house is still here, and will be next year

The pictures here show you the proof!

We loved those old pine trees forever

And ever we thought they would stay

But time marches on, and now they are gone

And someday it will be okay.

This little impromptu poem goes out to all the Crump family relations who have ever enjoyed the old pine trees in front of the old house. They were as tall as the remaining two pines you can see in these pictures. We're sad to see them go. Now it looks like Gigi and Papa are gonna have some work to do on the house! :) Yay hooray.The funniest part of this whole deal was when "Old Man Butterfield" tried to steal the wood from the trees. Mom and Dad requested that the wood be left on their property so they could cut it up for an emergency store, but it just disappeared. Mom tracked it down, though. Apparently "Old Man" (next door neighbor- you know who we mean... this is what the tree guys called him) tried to tell the tree guys that Mom & Dad didn't want the wood and they could put it on his property instead. When Mom found out she put her arm around "Old Man", in front of the tree guys and said, very sweetly, "Are you trying to steal my trees?" hee hee... way to go Mom!

My new blog

If you're interested, I've started another blog about my cooking adventures. I love to try new recipes, especially using Tastefully Simple products, and I thought it would be fun to share them with people. I like to modify other recipes to use Tastefully Simple products as well. If you're looking for some new ideas, check it out! (Sorry the pics are so bad... my point-and-shoot isn't professional.)

http://kpkitchen.blogspot.com/

Yay for Baskets!

I just have to post this pic to prove that I was wrong at least once in my life... and to make sure my foot is firmly lodged in my mouth. :)

Here is the much improved shelf with junk now hidden in baskets, also courtesy of Emily and Ethan... lifesavers! You guys rock. :)

The great pumpkin search

Well our search was abbreviated this year because the night we chose to go (Friday the 10th) was so stinkin cold. We went to the same patch I took the kids to last year. They were told that they could choose a pumpkin, but no bigger than what they could carry. Isaak had to modify his choice after lugging around his first pick for a minute.
Elise took the longest to decide, but was happy that her pumpkin was bigger than everyone else's. I'll post pics of the paint jobs soon. We paint pumpkins instead of carving them. On our way home we stopped at the grocery store & bought cinnamon rolls & hot chocolate to enjoy at home to help us warm up.

Bath Time

Tessa has decided that she LOVES bath time. The first time my mom tried to bathe her in this little tub she screamed her head off. So, I started just washing her hair by sticking her head under the running faucet in the sink, and using a washcloth for the rest of her body. However, this has become more difficult as our sweet little girl is getting bigger by the day. I'm guessing she must weigh at least 12 lbs by now, and is stretching out of her newborn sleepers already! Man, time flies.

So, about a week ago I decided to try the baby tub again. I set it in the big bathtub and filled it completely with nice, warm water, and laid my little Tess in the cradle. At first she flung out both arms and legs as her startle reflex kicked in, and she furrowed her brow in her trademark perplexed look. But there was no screaming, and she started to relax. She was even happy and content, as evidenced by the following pics. Isn't she cute??
Emily & her kids came over the other day to deliver some baby gear for us to borrow. As you can see, Tess has made good use of and is grateful for the swing. Me too! It's perfect for when I'm teaching. Thanks again Em!
Tonight Rob and I were in our room, and Rob was holding Tess. She started to fuss a little bit and Rob said, "All in favor of Tessa being grumpy, say 'I'!", and immediately little Tessa raised her arm! LOL Rob and I giggled and she gave us an adorable grin. I asked Rob, "Did you do that?" Cause his hand was behind her, and he could have pushed her arm up, but he said, "No! She did it." lol How funny is that?

So, then Rob felt the urge to blow raspberries on her tummy, and as he turned his head to look at her, she spit up and it unfortunately projectiled right all over Rob's face, including into his mouth. And, lest you think I'm unfairly laughing at the expense of my husband, I had to change a blow out poopy diaper about 20 minutes later. It was a true blow out. I guess turn about is fair play, and Rob got to laugh at me too.

I've included a few more recent pics of our little pumpkin for you to enjoy. The cute little booties are courtesy of "great"-uncle James & aunt Heather! Thanks guys.

Violin Institute Fundraiser

Elise & Macy have the opportunity to go to the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute in June every summer. Macy went this summer and absolutely loved it. We'd love to be able to send both girls next year, now that we have custody of Rob's kids. The girls wanted to help earn money for them to attend by participating in this fundraiser. If you're interested in purchasing, contact us via email or phone. You can also just donate money for them to go if you prefer. They will make 45% profit from anything they sell. All items are $14 each - tax is included. Unfortunately, if you don't live near us you will either have to come visit us to pick up any items you order, or donate them to our freezer. :) We only have until Oct. 29th to collect orders.

Institute is a week's worth of specialized violin classes taught by master teachers who fly in from all over the world. ISSI has been around for 30 years, and is a very fun experience. We are excited for Macy & Elise to be able to participate. Thanks for your support!
Here are pictures of what you can order. Let me know if you have questions about how much comes with each purchase, since I can't get these pics any bigger than this.

Shame On Me...

Talk about sticking your foot in your mouth- BIG TIME...

So, about six months ago Rob says to me, "You know those shelves that Ethan and Emily have in their house?" and I replied, "The really big, dark, ugly ones?" 

(#1 mistake: you shouldn't say that someone else's furniture is ugly, especially your new in-laws)

And Rob gets this look on his face like I just told him I hate his guts. "Why?" I ask... 

"Cause my dad and I built those, and Ethan and Emily are thinking of giving them back to me." :( 

(#2 mistake: definitely don't criticize something that even possibly may have been made by your new spouse) I'm a jerk.

"Oh. Um. Well, where would we put them? And, I don't really like them cause they're so big and bulky, and Emily has baskets on them to hide the stuff and I just don't like the way they look with baskets on them. I didn't know you made them. I didn't mean that they were 'ugly' per se..." (Choking on foot...)

Well, I was wrong. And I can admit it. They are not "ugly" shelves at all. In fact, as an entertainment center, they actually look very nice. (Did I mention that I'm a jerk?)

And, you know what? I'd really love some baskets to hide all the ugly junk that we want to store on this one. 

And the new entertainment center is INFINITELY better than the other hand-me-down furniture that we were previously using. I wish I had better "before" pictures, but you get the idea...

So, I really need to apologize to my sweet sis and bro-in-law, Emily and Ethan... I'm sorry I called the furniture ugly, and complained about the baskets. :) (Sorry I don't have a pic of the two of you.) Thank you for giving them to us! I really am grateful. 

Also, to my sweet, talented hubby... I'm sorry for insulting your craftsmanship! You really did a great job building these functional, handsome shelving units, and I'm glad that we get to utilize them to beautify and organize our home!