A Lafranca Halloween!

My kids, who normally wake up around 8am, were up nice and early at 7am today. Do you know how hard it is to get up when the sun isn't even outside yet? For all I knew, it was 3am! Needless to say, my kids continued the trend with Roman's less-than-an-hour nap and Hayden's absolutely-no-nap. However, my kids had a great Halloween. We got Papa Murphy's pizza (a tradition) and set out for trick-or-treating. Hayden was so cute! Last year he said trick-or-treat and thank you to each house that gave him candy, but this year he added a "Happy Halloween!" before asking for candy. And he was, as usual, trying to make friends with all the little kids who were running around, too. That is, until two boys with "Scream" masks said hi to him, and then Hayden decided that people in costume were not to be trusted. Let's just say he was much more willing to hold my hand after that. Adorable, sensitive Hayden! And Jage told me that, while passing out candy, a boy in a "Scream" mask came to collect and Roman ran away crying. Are those masks out to get us?! His little bucket was so full of sugar-laced candy that I had to carry it for him because it was weighing him down. Roman went with us to a few houses before turning back with Jeremiah to hand out candy back at our house. Sadly, only a few people ventured down our street, so not only do we have Hayden's bag-o'-candy, but a large bowl of chocolates - see, I even got the good stuff and no one came! It's sad because guess who will end up eating most of it?! Hope you all had a great, bags-full-of-candy, sugar-induced-coma kind of Halloween, if not come on over to my place!

We Are Married and Now Dating!!!

That's right, Jage and I went on our first date since we moved to Toledo. Well, techinically, we went on a date to Cedar Point with Carissa and Adam, but this was the first time we went somewhere...alone...without kids!!!

So we go to dinner first. Originally it was Olive Garden, but that was also everyone else's idea, so we ended up at Red Robin. Not Jage's favorite, but it was just nice to be out of the house and eating dinner without referring the eating habits of my sons.

After we ordered-and I'd downed two Diet Cokes-a waitress brought my chicken salad and Jage's fajitas...and a little bowl of rice. Rice? Red Robin is a loud restaurant, the waitress must have heard me wrong. She then laughed at her mistake, and brought us a side of fries.

We spent the rest of our date aimlessly walking around the mall. We were hoping to find some things worth mentioning on our annual Christmas lists, but of course I gravitated to the children's stores.

On a side note, our babysitter is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Amazing! We got her and the kids McDonalds for dinner, so no dishes dirty right? But we come home and the dishes I'd left in the sink were washed. The kids love her.

The only sad thing about today was that twice I left the house to Hayden crying at the window. Like sobbing. The first time was when I left this morning to visit a lady with the sister missionaries (when you don't live in Utah, you actually get those opportunities!) and the second was leaving on our date. He is totally a mommy's boy. I took him with me to bring our babysitter home, just so I wouldn't have to leave him again.

I asked him as we drove home, "Did you have fun with Katie tonight?"

"Yes, I had fun. We ate fries, and a burger, and we read a book, and I cried."

"Why did you cry?"

"Because you left me, and I cried...Because I love you, and then you left me."

Isn't that just adorable? A real momma's boy. I love you too, babe.

My (Almost) Perfect Day

First, today was Hayden's first day of school. It's called Apple Tree and it's on the University of Toledo campus, so Jeremiah can drop by and see Hayden if he needs a break. He does self-directed learning centers (dramatic play, math, science, writing, library, etc) and they play outside (they have an indoor play area for bad weather), having circle time where they talk about the weather and the theme of the week and stuff, and then they have a family-style lunch where they all serve themselves and clean up and stuff. The theme this week is their face, and Hayden went around to the sister missionaries tonight (who were here for dinner) and to the rest of us telling us what color eyes we all have. The school gives daily progress reports, and today they said he did really well, he played in a lot of different areas and played well with others. I really feel like a mom of a preschooler because Hayden brought home an order form for Scholastic books. Remember those? Anyway, he goes two days a week, and it seems like he is going to have a lot of fun. I'm excited for him to learn new things and make new friends and (hopefully) learn to follow rules and stuff. Best of all? It's free!

While Hayden was at preschool, Roman and I went to my doctor's appointment where WOOHOO I finally got my migraine meds refilled. I've been getting a lot lately, 3-4 a month, so having my meds is a blessing. Oh, and my meds are free too! =) Gotta love state assistance.

Then, this afternoon I cleaned the whole house! We had the sister missionaries for dinner and I was motivated to clean up for them. I even went down in the basement and organized all that (which is saying a lot, we put all the miscellanous stuff from unpacking down there!). The house looks good, even though now there are dishes to do tomorrow morning!

We got a package today from FedEx. I wasn't sure who it was from, the return address was in NY and didn't say from who. But I opened it and inside was a plain manila envelope. And...inside the envelope was a 4GB Video IPod Nano! Apparently we got one from KeyBank for opening a student checking account with them. Jeremiah already has an IPod so of course this one is mine. He didn't even put up a fight, isn't he a gentleman?

Also, the manager from McDonalds called me regarding a complaint I emailed about. Long story short, it took 35 minutes for me to order and get my food a few weeks ago when I went with both kids, it was a nightmare. But he FINALLY called back and said he would send me "something" in the mail. It better be good.

Well, my day was pretty good. I got a lot done, the kids were well-behaved (Hayden even took a nap!), we had a great dinner with great company, we are even currently watching "Transformers" on TV right now...great movie. However, during the kids bath (in which I got soaked)...Roman pooped! Now why did he have to spoil my perfectly good day?!?!

Saturday is a Special Day...

Why? Because Jeremiah completed most of his homework on Friday, leaving us with plenty of time together as a family today. Our kids started off the day nicely, sleeping in until 9am (I know, they really love us!). Our friends told us about a pumpkin patch in Michigan (which is just about one mile north from our house) and we drove out there before lunch. They had a whole set-up with haybales that the kids could play with, including a maze underneath and bales to climb on at the top. Hayden had a blast, and it took a lot of effort to convince him to take a look at the pumpkins. Roman was not a fan of the hay, so he stayed with us. Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch only took cash, and of course we never carry cash, so we told Hayden the pumpkins were just for looking at and playing with, and he believed us, so there were no meltdowns when we didn't buy any. The pumpkin patch was a lot of fun for the kids, and we enjoyed the weather. Last weekend was so hot and humid, and this weekend the weather is in the low 60s. Very enjoyable! We do have to say that we visited our very first Christian pumpkin patch...they had haybales and pumpkins shaping out crosses and biblical sayings carved into pumpkins. To each their own, I guess, but we were a little weirded out.

Hayden running to the haybales so he can play.

Exiting the hay maze. He loved it, even though he was covered in hay afterwards. We didn't love it, because he would always emerge from a different entrance and it was hard to keep track of him.


Roman loved the pumpkins, maybe because they weren't scratchy like the hay, and he loved trying to pick them up, even though he never actually succeeded.

Hayden thought the pumpkins were fun, but was eager to go back to the hay. Especially after we told him we weren't actually buying a pumpkin.

After lunch and naps, we went to Target (I know...gasp! Kelli at Target?!) where I picked up some posterboard to start a star-chart for Hayden. Jeremiah decided that, instead of paying someone to cut our kids hair, that we should just buy some men's clippers and cut it ourselves. I was nervous, I don't know the first thing about haircutting and didn't want to butcher their hair, but I thought it was worth a shot. Needless to say, it went rather well. We put a 1" guard on it so that we didn't cut it too short, although for both kids we took off like 2" - that's how long it was! Hayden hated getting hair in his face, especially his mouth, and Roman just hated the whole thing, but with the clippers and a few touch-ups by me, it turned out rather well. I miss having their hair long enough to play with, but they look so cute and grown-up with their little haircuts.

Hayden's before photo. We put a garbage bag on him to keep him clean, but he ended up pulling his ams through the hole to get the hair off his face, so basically it was a lost cause. He didn't care for the clippers, mostly because hair ended up all over him, but it was worth it.

He was told to lean over so Jage could get the bottom of his hair, and I was trying to get him to look up for a picture, he was so confused!

Don't let this happy look on Roman's face deceive you. He thought the clippers were funny until they were actually on his hair. He cried through most of it.

His first attempt to deal with the clippers was to duck away from them, so I had to put the camera down and help Jeremiah keep Roman still.


Our "After" photos. I'm sure Destiny was cringing to find out that we cut our own kids' hair, and trust me I would have taken them to her if we were there (partly just to visit her!!!) but I even trimmed around the ears and some long hairs that escaped the clippers.

We ended the night catching Hayden sneaking into Roman's crib (a new hobby of his) and he got his leg stuck in the slats of the crib, and it took a lot of lotion, pushing, and crying (on Hayden's part) but we finally got his leg out. Hopefully he's learned his lesson about the crib! Jeremiah and I then watched "We Are Marshall"...Jeremiah thought it was okay, especially since it had Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and I liked it because it was a feel-good movie that made me cry, oh and it had some pretty good looking guys too =)

Jeremiah's Contribution

Ever so often, Jeremiah wants to contribute to our blog. As you may have noticed, I tend to veto his ideas. If you know Jeremiah, you know why I veto things that he comes up with. But this video is really funny, and I couldn't deny his efforts to add something to the blog...enjoy! Remember to pause my music that is playing so that they aren't competing for attention!!!

DISCLAIMER: If you are offended with gay-love parodies, this is not for you. I probably should have mentioned that before now =) I had to erase the original post and redo it, so any comments made previously are erased...sorry!

Apple Party

Some friends of ours told us of an apple orchard in the area that has an Apple Festival every year on the first Saturday of October. We went this morning before the first session of General Conference (since for us it starts at noon) and we told Hayden it was an Apple Party because we didn't think he would know what a "festival" was. It was a lot of fun. They had freshly pressed apple cider, doughnuts, children's rides, ponies, and craft booths. Hayden had fun playing with his friend Hattie, while Roman was fine in the stroller. It was really hot today, in the 80s plus humidity, and we were all miserable after about an hour. But we had fun with our friends and doing something different with our weekend.

Roman hanging out on the grass. Actually, he was eating the grass and I'm on the other side of the camera saying, "Yuck, Roman," in which his response was to spit out the grass.

Hayden and his friend, Hattie, and her dad Morgan petting the ponies.

Hayden picking out little pumpkins. We decided not to get any, though, and instead we are going to a pumpkin patch in a few weeks. It didn't stop Hayden from admiring every pumpkin he saw.

Roman with his doughnut. I don't want to say EATING his doughnut, because instead he threw it on the floor and only wanted mine (of course, because it was chocolate...like mother like son).

Non-Toledo Weekend

We went wild this last weekend and actually traveled outside Toledo boundaries...and all the way to the Poyfair home! We had a great time hanging out with Carissa, Olivia, and Jack...oh yeah, and Adam and his supercool tablet laptop which I wanted to steal but figured he'd probably be mad at me if I did. We went specifically for Jack's first birthday, which included all the cupcakes we could eat (Carissa made like a million) and everyone loved my broccoli salad, which brings tears to my eyes knowing what a great cook I am! We are jealous of Carissa's ward, they have like 50 young couples, and our ward has like 2. It was nice to be in the company of so many of their friends, and they were all so nice and easy to talk to. Now I curse Jeremiah for not getting into Case, but we are adjusting as well as can be expected in Toledo so I guess we'll survive. And, back to Jack...he was really cute. He did the cute first-birthday messy cake face, unlike Roman who looked at the cake as if it was alien. Jeremiah had to work on a paper and was MIA for the party, but he joined us for singing and I'm sure later in life Jack won't hold that against him.

The next day we went to Kirtland, but we didn't have a ton of time, so we walked around the cemetary, looking for names we recognized (Thankful Pratt and Joseph Smith's infant twins are the ones I remember) and we went through the LDS tour, watching the video and touring the Newel K. Whitney store...well, Jeremiah and Adam toured, Carissa and I hung outside with the kids, who thought it was great fun to run around and wear themselves out for naps. While the kids got their much-needed sleep, Carissa and I took Olivia to the mall so we could do some shopping. I can't seem to find jeans that fit, and I mean lengthwise. Am I really that short that "regular" length jeans are like 12 inches too long?! For dinner we went to Texas Roadhouse because we love the food and because we knew it would be loud enough that if one of the kids acted up, it wouldn't be disruptive to anyone around us (well, except when Jack threw his sippy at our neigbors). Sunday was church, naps, and on our way home.

It was nice to get out of the house and see faces of people we love. Although they introduced us to Guitar Hero and, although I suck at it, I have to admit it's addicting. Not to the point that we want to buy it, but enough that we look forward to playing again when we go back for another visit. I loved seeing Hayden and Olivia play together, they actually got along pretty well, except Hayden walked around in dress-up heels and a crown, calling himself a princess. Jeremiah wasn't too excited about that, but at least we know Hayden has a good imagination.

Hayden playing Guitar Hero. Really he's just staring, he's not pushing any buttons. One of Adam's friends was trying to teach Hayden how to play...buddy, it's a lost cause. Hayden thinks he's playing just because he's holding the guitar.

Roman after his cupcake. The picture is small, so you probably can't see cake in his hair, eyelashes, face, hands, between his fingers, and anywhere else you can imagine. I don't know how much of the cake he actually ingested.

Birthday boy Jack. I was taking pictures with Carissa's camera, so if you want to see more Jack pictures, you'll have to mosy on over to her blog. Anyway, Jack has Carissa-itis and is eating his cupcake upside down. He had a blast with it.

Party Animal Hayden. He loved wearing this hat and we found hats all over the house for the rest of the weekend. Jeremiah used them for Madonna cones. He's a bit of a party animal too =) I know, stop cringing. He did his Madonna dance to distract Carissa during Guitar Hero. I should have taken a picture.

Roman at the party, before the cupcake. I know this because after the cupcake he went straight in the bathtub. Isn't he adorable?

Hayden and Olivia before the party. She is still in her jammies, but of course they have their crowns on and Olivia is wearing her heels in an attempt to jazz up her t-shirt. Hayden insisted on being the "princess" and Olivia was the "king." At least he wanted to play with the Diego doll, not Dora.


When one child takes a bath, you can guess that the rest will want to join in. It started with Roman, then Hayden, then Olivia, and finally Carissa decided we may as well throw in Jack too. It's his birthday, why not? The floor was soaked afterwards. There was no way we could keep the water where it was supposed to be.

At the Newel K. Whitney store. The kids are probably sneaking out of their strollers behind the camera.