Family Pics

First I need to formally apologize for the lack of posts on my behalf. It's not entirely my fault...our computer is on the verge of crashing and we have to operate out of "safe" mode...which really sucks because you can only use a portion of the screen and it takes FOREVER to upload ANYTHING...including pictures...so now you see why I haven't been posting. It also decides to randomly shut itself off...which is really fun if you've spent the time creating a post only to have it disappear seconds before publishing.


That being said I think I'll just go ahead and dive right into some old pics I need to take care of. Here's some family pics we took before thanksgiving (also before it snowed...that's right...we had a WHITE thanksgiving!) We ended up using one for our Christmas card...(that's right, i actually got my act together this year and will be sending them out shortly!) So I obviously won't be posting that pic but, these should give you an idea of what's coming. We had a really fun day in the Midland Forrest, about five minutes from our house. Dylan loved exploring all the trees and rocks and leaves and especially the sticks. P.S. don't laugh too hard at how off centered the first pic is...we had our camera on timer, balancing on a stack of cardboard boxes on our stroller...Rick had to run to get into the pic in time...so, with that in mind I don't think it turned out too badly.

Pumpkin Patch

Just before Halloween we went with some friends to the pumpkin patch so the kids could check out the animals and pumpkins, Dylan was in heaven once he saw the tractors.
Once again, like father like son. Rick is always trying to convince me how we really do "need" a tractor. Now that it looks like it's going to be a
2-1 vote...I might be in trouble.

I just love this shot, it shows just how small Dylan still is, no matter how big he acts! He thought these tractors were so cool, he kept trying to climb up them and see how they worked. They had a smaller tractor to pull the kids on a cow train but my camera died before I could get the pics, of course! I was so mad at myself for not checking the battery. He was able to sit on that one and turn the wheel and stuff, he loved it!

His other favorite part was the goats. They kept coming over to see if Dyl had any food, which he didn't, but they licked his hands anyway and that sent Dylan into the loudest giggles ever.Later we found this pumpkin that had "Dylan" carved into the side of it, spelled the same way and everything. My friend took pics for me, it was pretty cute...all in all a very fun day.

FRUSTRATION!!

Okay...I may not be a genius, but I'm not stupid either, why the heck can I NEVER get a video to work on my blog? HELP! Tell me if the following video works for ANY of you, it keeps telling me it's not available now and to check back later...what the heck man? Any tips would be most appreciated.

P.S...I'm not too proud to mention that after doing spell check ironically the only word misspelled was genius...sweet. I should have just left it the wrong way, maybe you all would have thought I was a very clever jokester.

PPS...haha, you know it's late when you spell check after writing your "PS" and now the only word misspelled is...drum roll...."misspelled" I think the double s's look stupid.

PPPS no you're not crazy, jokester came up on abc check too but that one WAS on purpose as it was the perfect made up word for that sentence. That's it, goodnight, I am VERY tired thanks to the insane amount of time it took me to download, re save to a smaller size and re download the new version of this dumb video just to have it all not work in the end.

Dyl's Tricks

Here's Dyl doing some of his favorite things. Make sure to mute the music at the bottom of the page before you start the video, it's kinda a pain once the video starts.

This is Halloween!

Okay...even though I have a ton of things I need to post before these, my mom's dying to see how the lil stinker costume worked out, plus i should probably get this posted while we're still close to Halloween, cause at the rate I'm goin' it won't be posted till after New Years. I also know it's a bit late to put Halloween music on my page but I don't care, it's perfect for this blog so I'll leave it for a few days or so. Pump up your volume otherwise you won't get the full effect!

Here's my little skunk ready to go...that face makeup didn't last long and I soon had to upgrade to liquid eye liner. Dylan LOVES to wear this costume and even loves having his face done, he held perfectly still and watched my hand the whole time, I think he liked the way it tickled his nose.

Mom and Dyl at the annual Midland Pumpkin Festival. Dyl was completely shell shocked by the long line of kids in costumes parading by us, he ended up really getting into it and loved showing off his cool costume. We went with our friends Erica and Justin Jones, here's Dyl with their little love bug, Brooklyn, she and Dylan are good friends because unlike other toddlers, baby Brooklyn just lays back and lets Dyl steal all her stuff without a fight. She does keep a close eye on him though...we're tryin' to teach him that that's not going to win him major points with the ladies.

Finally, Halloween night. Rick and I went as "skunk patrol" thinking that would make more sense then pest control, but apparently not. We got so many confused questions about our costumes! Like, "Hey, Brother and Sister Dalton, how come your costumes both match, but Dylan's doesnt?"...that would be because HE is the skunk and WE are the SKUNK PATROL! "Skunk patrol? What's that?" NEVERMIND. Oh well, we tried. We had badges that said skunk patrol and little patches with animal paw prints and a huge bag of candy labeled "skunk bait" that we carried around on our backs, it was a lot of fun. These pics were taken at an after trick'or'treat party at our friends house. Unfortunately there weren't any pics from actual trick-or-treating because it was raining the entire time but we did it anyway...that costume was so thick, it kept Dyl warm and dry and we did an entire neighborhood loop with a family from our ward.

Had to get a side shot in there...don't you just love how his tail sticks out? Any time he took a step it swung from side to side.

All in all it was a really fun night, even with the rain. Dylan thought it was so fun to knock on doors, then get to pick anything he wanted out of the bowl of candy! He was polite and said "tay-too" at just about every house. He also tried to enter every house, thinking we were coming for a visit or something and was WAY excited whenever anyone had a dog, since that's the only animal sound he'll do on command. Whenever he sees a pic of a dog in a book, hears one barking outside or gets asked "Dylan, what does a Doggy say?" He replies "woof, woof." It's hilarious. One house we had to finally go pick him up and carry him because he was so busy barking at the little dog in the window.

Would you mind a skunk climbing in through your front door if he was this cute?

Down 'n' Dirty

First let me start by saying that I finally got so sick of all my pics and text being cut off by the template I used to have that I got rid of the cute background and had to go with this ugly one for sanities sake.

We had the missionaries over for dinner a while ago and after Dyl got good 'n' messy he decided to be super silly. He climbed up on top of the coffee table and started smacking his tummy and dancing. Certainly not a shy kid.

Here's a few shots to prove I'm not kiddin' around when I say he's the messiest eater in town. This next one is a bit blurry but I love how it captured his mood, he was giggling hysterically, he had us all laughing.

By the time I got him in the tub that night he looked like he had a uni brow, it was hilarious, but by the time I grabbed the camera, he had already wiped a little of it away, just picture it going all the way across and connecting both brows perfectly. How can something be so gross and so cute all at the same time?

Can't Wait To Show Rick

FORE!!!

Like father like son...it seems like I say that a lot, especially lately but Dyl just loves to be like his dad! Rick took us probably over a month ago now (I am SO behind on blogging) to the driving range to play a little golf. Dylan absolutely loved it. Mom....not so much. I just don't get what's so fun about this supposed "sport" (probably gonna receive some backlash about that last comment.)Dylan sure had fun though and I guess that's all that really matters. Daddy helped him learn to putt and how to pull the flags out of the holes on the putting green (which the other serisous golfers really appreciated too...I'm sure they thought he was adorable as he yanked the flags out and got in the way of their shots)After the terribly exciting putting green we headed on over to the driving range...which I guess is a step up from putting but seriously, after you hit about 5 of them...where's the fun? Probably because I don't know what I'm doing and my hands start really hurting and I get frustrated easily...that might have something to do with it. Oh yeah, the cold didn't help much either. Daddy really appreciated Dylan pulling out his tee every time he tried to set up another ball to hit. It was the funniest thing because by the look on Dylan's face it really looked like he thought he was helping. So when Rick moved further down away from us, of course he followed to be sure Dad had someone there to remove his tee's.
I finally convinced him to let Dad hit one. But you can tell it's killing him and he's standing by, ready to pull it out in case Dad changes his mind...or takes to long to hit it. Look at that form! Good swing honey.
Finally, Dyl had had enough and decided to sit back and eat a snack...yummy granola bars. He thought this little seat was so cool (dumped out the balls and turned over the bucket) and so did Dad because he sat there for the longest time just watching, giving Rick a chance to actually hit some without his paranoid wife shouting "Don't swing, he's too close!"
All in all it was a pretty fun day, ending, of course, with wrestling...I wonder why this kid is willing to take on anyone who challenges him...could it be because he wrestles with Dad every night? Oh well. Hope everyone is enjoying the change in weather, I hope to get caught up enough on my blogs that I will actually have some October pics in the October list of blogs! We're up to 9.28 so...getting closer!

Midland Mall Madness

Okay, there's this play area in the middle of the ENORMOUS Midland Mall...and by enormous I mean it has a food court and Target and Bath and Body Works and Hot Topic and about three other stores. Ok I'm exaggerating a little but it sure is a shell shocker compared to what we're used to. Anyways...it has this little padded fun area for kids...even the objects, tho they look like shiny hard plastic are really cushy and soft, Rick says "squishy" (donated by DOW of course...the whole city was practically donated by freaking DOW...hey kids, how would you like your high school mascot to be "the Chemics"...sounds tough, right? - no joke) Okay, no more side tracks...Dylan LOVES this place. A: he gets to actually interact with other children B: he gets out of our tiny apartment I've begun referring to as "the cell" and C: he gets to run and smack things and be loud, etc without any lip from mom.

For the most part he gets along with everyone, he LOVES the older boys and has begun climbing like them, he is just amazed watching this kid get to the top of the pile of grapes. He watched him the whole time we were there just in awe, following him from object to object as he made his way to the top. (Dyl's actually getting quite good at it himself now)I am sad while making this last point because I just tried to download the pic from my stupid phone camera and it didn't work so you'll just have to try to picture it. Like I said, MOST of the time Dyl gets along with everyone...he does however seem to attract some negative attention, particularly from the older boys who I think don't appreciate him following them around or think its as cute as I think it is. Last week a three year old decided he had had enough of Dyl and shoved him backward over the giant yellow toothbrush you see in the back top left corner of the above pic. Well, one thing the poor 3 yr old was unaware of is that Dyl can take a hit and that unfortunately, he will not hesitate to throw down...now where does he get that from? Anyways...I ran over there just in time to watch the little cocky brat cross his arms and wait for Dyl to cry...but Dyl was much too fast even for me (and I knew it was coming) as he got back up onto his chubby little legs and clocked the kid upside the face. Now, I'm supposed to be mad, right? I had to scold him while holding back laughter as the little bully scrunched his face and started to howl for his mom, sorry kid but you had it comin'! Anyways...Braydee has the proof because I sent it to her immediately from my cell to hers...Dyl was SO mad that I grabbed him and broke up the fight. He looked at me and narrowed his eyebrows and squinted his eyes and just stared, long enough for me to get my phone and turn the camera on and get the shot...little punk.

Afterward we called a truce and I shot a few of him in his stroller...he still wouldn't smile for me tho.
Then this nice lady came up and asked if I would like her to take a pic of the two of us. I felt like saying no and telling her to go away since my hair was NOT gelled...it's grease and i had NO makeup on and I looked bald from the front thanks to the dirty hair pony tail but decided to be a good sport and shoot one so it wouldn't be awkward. Then Dyl reached up and grabbed my chin and it was so cute I had to keep it.And, finally...he was back to his old self, laughin and bein' my bud.

Strike a Pose

Here we are just hangin' out, then I decided it would be fun to get some shots of us being silly. After being cooped up in an apartment all day it starts to get you. He was laughing so hard in that pic it was hard for me to keep my ugly face I was making while trying not to laugh. We're best buds...till Dad gets home, then Dyl forgets all about his trooper Mom that hung in there all day with him through the cabin fever and everything. Can't say that I'm too bummed about it tho, a: it gives me a little break and b: I LOVE seeing the two of them together. Isn't life great?

Book Smart

Like father, like son! This little boy is getting so smart! We love watching him pick up on new things everyday. He LOVES to read books. He is constantly walking up to me with some book in his hand, thrusting it at me as he turns himself around backwards and backs himself up until he lands on my lap. It's so cute! Then he sits there patiently listening while I read until I ask him to "please turn the page" then his chubby little hand reaches up and grabs the page and flips it over...














I just love it! Afterward he likes to flip through it by himself and turn the pages and babble like he's reading. Here he is in the last pic trying to hand me the book.

Party Time!

Hooray! We had so much fun celebrating Rick's big 2-7! We can't believe we're growing up...it seems crazy that 30 is just around the corner. We had all the CDP's over for fajitas (Ricks fav) and some ice cream pie (aka: pain in the neck to make) and cupcakes.

In case you couldn't tell I tried to make the cupcakes look like surfboards at the beach...a little cheesy, I know but hey, someone's gotta get the party started! Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, no I did not forget to frost the one in the upper right corner...have fun making dinner and dessert for a group of 8 where one is lacto, one is a vegetarian and the other can't eat any red meat for religious reasons.

All in all it was a lot of fun, Dyl had a good time helping blow out the candles and we all sang while he clapped along.

Cool Camera Tricks

I found this cool feature on my camera and had to try it out...it blacks out all the color except for green...the indoor shots look way different, much more subtle then the outdoor ones. Dyl has been a very patient model for me lately as I'm trying to capture every single cute thing he does on camera...not an easy task!

I love this next one of him doing what he does best outside - collect leaves! Actually, leaves rocks or sticks but leaves seem to be his object of choice and, with fall finally arriving he has quite an array to choose from.