Halloween Fun- Again....

Hmmm.
After about an hour of reading through everyone else's complaints on the same issue I found the suggestion to switch to a new editor, and it seems to have worked for now.
At any rate, I have a lot of catching up to do!
We'll start with the most recent:

Halloween festivities: carving pumpkins

Connor's Spider Hat he made in preschool:

Trick-or-treating: Yes, Carson is a ghost again. Add it to the list of amazing costumes worn by this child.

Another reason I have been absent from the blog: Project #1 sanding down and restaining the crib.
Before:

After the sanding:

Color of first try...

I put about 5 coats on (with sanding inbetween each) and decided it was just getting redder and redder and redder, which is NOT the look I was going for. So... I sanded it down again. Thanks mom for your great suggestions and now I can actually get the color I want!

Finished product TBD..... (Still waiting for a sunny day to be able to work)

Project #2: Sanding and restaining the dresser/changing table:

Before:

Finished product also TBD. It only needs a couple coats of poly and then it is officially done! What a project to be completing at 8 months pregnant! My neighbors all think I am crazy....

Project #3:

Creating the rest of the nursery

Luckily, I have the best mom who came out to help me continue the tradition of a fun nursery. We got a little crazy this time around though. Who would have thought two moms (one a grandma, one hugely pregnant) could cut and put up a room full of mouldings alone? We thought we could, and we did it! It looks amazing, thanks mom!

Before (notice the tiny baseboards and lack of crown moulding and trim?):

After:

Yeah right. Like I am going to post a picture without any furniture. It just won't do the whole project justice. You just have to check back soon to see what the WHOLE thing looks like all together! :)

Well that has been what I have been doing for the past two months, but we will certainly keep you updated from here on out (now that I can post again).

Hope everyone is healthy and well!

Halloween fun!

What is the deal with my blog?
I have tried to upload pictures for months now and they just don't upload. I am getting more than a little frustrated...
It seems I am not the only one with this problem. Any suggestions?!!!

August catch up

I have completely neglected the blog lately, so if anyone is still diligently check up on us we are still here and doing well!

August has brought lots of exciting activities! Here are a few pictures of what we have done so far...

A trip to Pittsburgh Zoo:

Home Depot:

Making Cinnamon Rolls:

Surprise!!

4th of July fun!

The fourth of July was a great weekend for our family! The boys woke up super excited on that day and remembered it was the 1st Saturday of the month-- so that meant Home Depot kid's clinic!
This time Daddy got to come with us so it was especially fun! They made little picnic caddies and now they are the tote for whatever they can find that fits in them!







Then we got adventurous and decided to go to a big children's amusement park near Pittsburgh. It is called Idlewild, and it was such a great place! Everything is geared for young children, so Carson and Connor where able to ride on EVERYTHING! It was so fun to see how excited they were about what looked like the lamest rides. They didn't care and had such a great day. We even stayed until 10:00 when they had a firework show and it was also great. It has an attached (and included in the price) water park with big slides and tubes kind of like Sunsplash in Az. We got in our suits and realized that 70 degrees just isn't very warm to go swimming. :(
Overall though I would recommend this little place to anyone who has young children who ventures out this way!
Here are a few highlights:

This one looked especially lame, but it turned out to be one of their favorites! They basically pedalled with their hands along this little track. We weren't sure if Connor could do it or not, so they let one of us walk behind with a stick in case he needed a push. As you can see, the stick was not needed since Kevin was RUNNING just to keep up with Connor! He was hauling!

Carson's Church Talk

A few weeks ago Carson was asked to give the talk in Primary class at church. Now, as a preface, he has NEVER given a single talk in Primary. Has he been assigned before? Yes. Would he stand up and talk in the microphone? Not a chance. Not even a bribe has worked so far. So, when we got the paper slip stating the date and theme, I knew we were in for another struggle.

The week went by and I forgot about the talk, but luckily Daddy had enough smarts to remind Carson about it on Saturday. With dread, I had him come look through the Home Evening drawer to see if we could spark some creativity. He looked through and then told me, "I want to write my own." What do you mean 'write my own'? As in write your own talk? Okay, whatever you want.

So Carson goes off to his room to write a talk on forgiveness while I stare blankly at the drawer, trying to come up with a simple, effective talk.

Five minutes later, he comes in with his talk completely finished. I laughed and asked him to read it to me. I was dumbfounded when he was finished. He had caught the perfect essence of forgiveness and it was perfect. Was it long? No. Was it eloquent and thorough? No. But it was Carson's testimony of forgiveness and I loved it. Add his sweet testimony of the Savior and prophet at the end, and you can see how my heart melted when he stood up and read his own little talk that Sunday. So here it is, hand-written by Carson:

Translation (if you can't read his sound-based writing):

Forgiveness is when you do something bad. You say, "sorry." You ask for forgiveness and that person says, "yes."

We're back!!!

We are alive! Sorry for the delay. We appreciate you patience (most of you, anyway) as we try to get back to a normal summer routine. My music classes have been soo great this summer, but it has been a little consuming. It is great news to finally have the classes boom, so I can't complain, but apparently others can (Marc).
So, here we go: I'll post all of the random things we have done this summer and show you how much fun we have been having with Carson home. I LOVE it! I have missed having him be away at school, and being gone full day in the fall will be really tough, but we have enjoyed every minute of the summer togetherness. Enjoy! Finally!

Catch up!

It has been pretty busy since the last post, and here is what we have been up to:

Two weeks ago we went to our friend's church's car show. It was so fun! They had pony rides, games, activities and even a free lunch. The boys had a blast but we had to leave early to get to Carson's last soccer game.

Carson sliding down the huge slide:

Bouncing:

They stopped to give mommy a kiss through the net. How sweet!

Connor, not to be out done!

Carson was on fire at this game! He loves to play forward because it is his best chance to score. This time right after the whistle blew, he power-kicked it across the whole field and made a goal! It was pretty awesome!

A little blurry, but making his way down for his second goal:

A happy soccer champ!

All of the soccer friends from the neighborhood:

Notice Connor: He is just happy to get a snack.

Daddy got to go on Carson's field trip to the farm last Wednesday. Carson was so happy to have Daddy with him and introduced him to all of his friends and teachers.

Last weekend we went to Philadelphia, but I didn't bring my camera. Aunt Kristy and Uncle Tyler were there with all of the cousins too, so it was extra fun! I went to Arizona for a music training and had a great time playing wii with Grandpa and Grandma Kuzdas, while the boys had a blast with their cousins in PA. It was a busy trip but it worked out great! Thanks for a super fun time everyone!

Last day of school! Almost all of the bus stop friends:

Last bus ride to school as a Kindergartener:

Carson's wonderful teacher, Miss Mechler: