Halloween Party #1

Today we had a Halloween party for Carson's preschool. We had a really fun time! We played games, had snacks, made a Halloween craft and the kids got awards for their costumes. Carson got the spookiest costume award! Carson liked the party but he was confused because he thought it was for his birthday. He kept wondering when it was time to sing to him. Here are some pictures of our little spooky pirate! Oh and our Katie-Cat!













This is a post party picture! Carson didn't want to wash off his whiskers and scars!



These are just a couple of recent photos of Katelyn. I thought I would share!



Tonight is our annual ward Trunk-or-Treat. Party number 2 pictures to follow!

Just Some Pictures!

These are just some recent photos of the kiddos!



Carson was sitting on the couch playing with his leap pad. The sounds from the leap pad were getting more random and farther apart. I decided to check on him and I found him crashed on the couch!



Connor is getting so big. He is really enjoying school and he has learned so much already. He is our little crack up too. The other day he told us that he has special powers. He said that he has strong powers, smart powers, and x-ray vision powers. We were driving one day and he said he could use his x-ray powers to tell us what was inside of a passing semi truck. We of course couldn't resist knowing! He told us that the truck was full of waffle makers. It gave us a good laugh!



Here is Katelyn sitting in a rocking chair. She loves this chair! She will often get upset if one of the boys are sitting in it.



Here she is catching a little bit of a cartoon in her special chair! By the way, I have a similar picture of Connor in this same chair at about the same age. It is crazy how much Katelyn looks just like Connor! They are definitely related!





I wish I got a picture of this, but I will just do my best at describing it for you. Our ward has a weekly playgroup at a nearby park. Because it starts before Kelly has to go to work, he usually gets the pleasure of coming with me. I know that it probably isn't too fun for him to sit around and listen to a bunch of gabby women, so he usually finds himself playing on the playground with all the kids. Today was one of these days. I looked over and he was sitting underneath the playground playing in the sand with about 10 little girls under the age of 4. It was so cute and I wish I had my camera! Later the kids were lining up and taking turns climbing up his back so he could flip them over his shoulder. He is such a fun daddy and I am glad he loves to play on the playground! It is especially nice because it allows me to take in some good visiting time with my friends!

Enjoying Some Temperature Change!

The last several days have felt fabulous here! The temperature has been in the mid 70s-80s. It has just been great. I have recently been reminded why it is possible to make it through the long summer months! To take advantage of the cooler weather, we spent the afternoon at the park.











This week is Connor's fall break and Kelly is at SWAT school. I imagine there will be lots of park time in the coming days!



Our friends had a stray cat have babies in their backyard. Since the mother and her young kittens have found themselves a new residence, Carson has found him some new playmates! He wants to go to Payton's house everyday so he can see the kitties (except he says "t" for his "k" and "c" sounds so imagine the snickers he gets when he asks to play with the titties!) This one is his favorite. He has named it Blacky and carries it around like a baby. I know he looks so sweet and gentle, but it took several scratches for him to figure out this better way to hold Blacky!

Oh How I Miss Fall...Let Me Count The Ways!

Many of the blogs I read are of family and friends in our hometown of Salt Lake. Because it is now October, I have been reading and seeing lots of fun things about fall. Reading some of these blogs have left me feeling.....well....a little homesick!



Pardon me while I reminisce on some of my favorite things about fall!

-I love the changing leaves. I miss taking a drive through the canyon to admire the many colors of fall. I also love the crunching sound that is made as you walk over fallen leaves.



-There is a crispness in the air that I haven't felt for years! I miss that feeling you get inside when summer turns to fall.

-I loved to pull out my fall/winter clothes. I know it sounds silly, but I miss sweaters!

-I miss the Scarecrow Festival! It became a tradition to take our family each year to enjoy the entertainment and activities.



-This one goes way back, but I miss the soccer field! I loved going to soccer games in the fall. Wrapping up in a blanket and taking in that crispness I mentioned earlier, what good times!



-Another favorite was my mom's clam chowder and grandma's home made french bread. There's nothing like hot soup and bread on cool fall night. Often times after being at a football game, we would gather together for some of this good old comfort food!



These are just some of the things that I have been missing in the past few days. There are good things about fall in Phoenix too. For instance, it is only 82 degrees at 12 in the afternoon instead of 102, and our walks to get Connor from school are a little more pleasant now! I have also been thinking of how nice Halloween is here because we don't have to wear our winter coats over our costumes. I do enjoy many things about Arizona, but I can't help but miss many things about Utah!

This Weeks Happenings.....

A few nights ago, I was watching a football game and the boys decided they wanted to play a little football too. They got their football out and started their own little scrimmage. Carson found a roll of packaging tape and used that for his tee. He would set the ball in it and kick it across the room. Connor got into his position and would call out "blue 42, set, hike." Then he would toss the ball to Carson. They were having such a grand old time running around, laughing, and tackling one another. Carson even tackled his 50 pound brother a few times. It was hilarious!



Carson got a little wounded during the match up! Here he is with a rug burn down his face.

Connor has PE a few times a week at school and was doing his exercises last night. He showed me his push ups and his jumping jacks. He asked me what some other exercises were so I showed him how to do sit ups. As he was doing them he told me, "Mom this is why we have hinges." He would do about five, stand up, and flex his arms. Each time he would tell me that his muscles just got a bit bigger! He was pretty excited and said he was going to show his PE teacher his new exercises.





Earlier in the week Katelyn had her 1 year well check. She is growing so big! She weighs just over 24 pounds and is 30 inches tall. She also endured 4 shots! Her big brother Carson was very concerned for her. After the shots were over he turned to me with all seriousness and said, "Mom, now Katelyn has holes." He was pretty sweet to her afterwards.





Katelyn has mastered the skill of climbing up the stairs. She is so quick. She usually makes it up all the way before we realize she has wandered off. The other day I found her upstairs reading some books. It was pretty cute.

Yesterday was a big day for Connor. He had his very first t-ball game! Kelly is helping our friend Ryan coach our boys. It is pretty fun watching the excitement in their eyes as they get their mitts ready, their cleats on, and head to practice. Oh and yes, even Connor and Kutter get pretty excited! Their first game was a success! They had so much fun and looked all grown up in their t-ball uniform.



Connor getting ready for game time!



The team had a couple of extra t-shirts so Carson was lucky to have gotten one too. Of course he had to wear the shirt to the game.



Our future cheerleader! Katelyn enjoyed clapping for her brother. Whenever someone clapped she too would give a little cheer!

One Down....Lots More to Go!

Last weekend we celebrated Katelyn's first birthday. We had a real fun time. I made a bunch of snacks, she opened her presents, and then she had her traditional first piece of birthday cake.



Katelyn got this cute little Minnie Mouse from her friends Freeman and Nathan



This is Kate's butterfly cake. I must say, I was very proud that I could create this all by myself! I didn't need Kelly's creative juices one bit!







Also this weekend, Connor had a first. On Sunday, he lost his first tooth! It fell out while he was eating dinner. He said he thought he was eating something crunchy when he realized it was his tooth! He was very excited when the tooth fairy came to visit. Although the Tooth Fairy's assistants had to dig around to find any money to leave behind!



These are just some random pictures we took. My friend Tifany let us use her very nice camera and we got a lot of cute pictures. Thanks Tif!







One birthday down, lots more to go! One tooth down, lots more to go!

One Candle For Katelyn....

Our little Miss Katie Bug is 1 year old. Time has sure gone fast with her. She is such a blessing in our family and we love having a little sis in our home!

Katelyn was born on September 19, 2007. My pregnancy was a little different with her than with the boys. At around 28 weeks, I found out I had Gestational Diabetes. I was devastated! Hands down, I have the biggest sweet tooth around. Well, maybe not the biggest. Perhaps a few of you might have the same problem and can sympathize with me! Anyway, because of this, they watched the size of my baby very closely. At 36 weeks, an ultrasound had shown that there were pretty good chances she wasn't going to be very tiny! A week later, after a successful induction, Katelyn Zierse made her grand entrance, all 8 pounds and 5 ounces of her!









She is such a sweet, feisty, cuddly, little firecracker! Her red hair and blue eyes attracts a lot of attention. Her hair is always a topic of conversation with strangers. She loves her pink nigh-nigh (blankie) and will cuddle and grab for it whenever she is ready for bed. She loves her big brothers and giggles with excitement when they come in the room. She plays patty cake and peek-a-boo. Her favorite book is Pajama Time. She will laugh every time it is read to her. She says Ma Ma, Da Da, eet-ta-boo (peek-a-boo) and num (for food.) She loves water and nearly jumps out of your arms at the first sight or sound of the bathtub. She has become quite the little walker. She wanders around the house looking for any new adventure. One of her favorite games is to get a cup or bowl, or any container really, and stick objects in and out of it. She can sit there for what seems like forever sometimes, just putting in and dumping out her little treasures! She has the loudest scream imaginable! It isn’t a cry, just a loud, high pitched, scream. I guess she wants to make sure we all remember she’s around.









I have definitely had such a fun time having a little girl. Picking out her outfits, making bows, and other girly things, has been so much fun!













Happy 1st birthday, Katelyn, Katie, Kate, Katydid, Katie Bug, Little Red. We love you to pieces!!