A Peek at the Poulsens

We spent a morning at the zoo with Kat, Kaydince, and Cambria last week. It was delightful! (PB&Js never taste as good as they do when we eat them at the zoo. It's magic.)  Stockton was very enchanted with the aquarium again, and also loved the giraffe enclosure for some reason. I don't think he even noticed the giraffes, but he was really mad when it was time to leave that area. I didn't realize what being surrounded by three children really looked like - for me it feels normal, but it looks like I'm drowning and now I understand why people stare at us! The kids are at good ages and stages for outings right now - if Stockton is contained and Jack is fed, we have a great time.

Last week was about as busy as can be leading up to an even busier weekend. I enjoy being involved in activities and doing a variety of things, but I also enjoy having free time to be flexible with, and the past few weeks have just been too scheduled! I was relieved to have this busy month over with after the finale this weekend. I played for a vocal competition (NATS) in Kearney, NE, just over two hours away, on Friday and Saturday. I think I already mentioned this in an earlier post, but just for good measure here's what that entailed: -learning three or four songs each for 12 people and rehearsing with each of those people -organizing babysitting for Thursday overnight and Friday, then early Saturday morning through til the evening (THANK YOU MAKALL!!!) -Austin taking work/school off Friday to come to Kearney with me to be with Jack in between my performances and his feedings - we briefly tried to see if he would take a bottle so that he wouldn't have to come with me fo...

 Introducing: MASHA and the BEAR!  Natalie and Stockton found this show on Netflix from Russia and they love it. Natalie decided that's what they should be for Halloween, and even though no one knew who they were they looked so cute!  We've dabbled in various Halloween activities in years past but this was the first official year of trick or treating! Natalie got a huge kick out of it. She didn't want to go up to the door by herself, but she happily if a little meekly said "trick or treat" and "happy halloween" at each house. Stockton and Jack stayed in the stroller and had a fine time. We came home, got ready for bed, and realized we kind of forgot about dinner, so we had a quick bagel/cream cheese while reading scriptures and said goodbye to Halloween for 2015. Every day since Natalie has asked if it is Halloween again yet. Not quite, my Natsby!

What's screams FALL more than a pumpkin patch?  We went to JK's Pumpkin Patch with our friends Colt and Taft and it was the best outing. Not too crowded, not too big, not too small, plenty of activities perfect for our children, pumpkins included with admission. I'm a fan!  The jumping pillow was very popular. Stockton is in the brown pants/blue hoodie, Nataliehas pink pants/red coat/red and white hat, and Taft is Spiderman.  Natalie got to feed the animals. I'm really surprised she didn't freak out when that goat suddenly popped his head through the fence to steal the food out of her hand. The goat in the picture on the right is like, "...sup?"  big hay bale slide! I don't think she actually went down, but she climbed up there a few times  They had a corn maze that was actually not super easy, haha. We definitely cheated a couple times and crossed through the crispy corn stalks. We grabbed the wheelbarrows meant for pumpkins and...

Phew, sorry for the drama of the last post. I think it's important to log the good and bad, but maybe that was more of a personal journal moment. ANYWAYYYY... What's happier than SPRINKLES? I'm not sure I have a good answer for that! Our friend gave us these giant cartons of sprinkles (think gallon-size) and since there was no way on Earth I could find a way to actually use them in my kitchen (at least not fast enough to ensure that they wouldn't be dumped all over my house) I let the kids dump them out in the water table outside.  Then it got dumped onto the ground, and down the slide... ...on the box, and all around outside! THEN, it rained. -_- There is sprinkle goo all over the back yard. Joy crushed! But, it was still fun, and I'm glad the kids enjoyed it. I felt like a good mom for letting them play their way. Until the rain it has been so glorious outside - I feel like the majority of our time was spent enjoying the outdoor pleasures in o...