HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2011

A Ghost and 2 Jedi's... that's what we've had hanging around here lately ;) And our traditional Halloween sugar cookies... Alot of mess = Alot of fun ;)

Happy Halloween to all!

Undeserved

I had a moment today. Trying to put together some dumb bookshelf that I thought I could do on my own, apparently not... I mutilated the darn thing. I'll spare you the long frustrating story, except for the fact that it brought me to hormonal tears and sharp tones with my kids. They disappeared as I put away the un-put-together boards and started dinner. All through dinner, they kept reminding me to check my room. By the time dinner was over I had calmed down and could laugh about the unpleasant afternoon. I followed the kids into my room and entered into this.... Notes upon notes of love. I totally didn't deserve this. They are MY angels, and a perfect example of Christ-like character. Instead of getting mad about how I talked to them, they showered me with love. I hope I can someday emulate what they have taught me. Thank heaven for children. And I am definitely putting these up on the walls in my room.

Bake N' Bead Sale

Cami and her neighbor friend, Serrell, have started a bug club. And for about a month they've been begging me to help them with some kind of sale that would help them get supplies and other fun things for their club.... I finally gave in/said okay. For weeks after school the girls made some bead bracelets, and the night before we baked some goodies. Despite the crazy wind we set up and the girls put signs everywhere, (they even took fliers to school to give to their classmates and others, with permission from the teachers :). They earned over 20 dollars and feel quite pleased. I was touched by people's generosity too. "Keep the change." "Here's another 2 dollars because you guys are quite good bakers!" Seriously, it made the girl's day. I told Cami we are not doing this for a VERY long time and I'm glad it's out of their system, haha. But I do have to say, I don't regret doing it. Their excitement and smiles were priceless.

Getting bigger

They grow up too fast, they really do. Carson has now officially turned 3. We love this boy so much, and it's hard for me to fathom that at the beginning of next year he will be in primary. It still feels like he's my baby. Not any more though, he's full of feisty, spunkiness, and genuine sweetness. And he Loves bugs, particularly spiders. He talks about them all the time. He pretends he's them and wants me to squash him. My favorite though was when I saw him jumping up and down from his hands and feet saying, "Mom, I'm a Jumping Spider!" Haha, cracked me up. :)So I made him a "Spee-ider" cake has he calls them some times.

My mom also added to the fun festivities with spider cupcakes and a giant cookie web... haha love it!

Happy Birthday Carson... LOVE YOU!

Down and Back

I told my sister that we'd come visit her at college since she's so much closer. So we took advantage of a 'No School' day and took a quick trip. My mom lovingly went with me, to help with kids and distract me from any queaziness that might befall any pregnant lady. And of course to go see Jess. Since she's on the pole vault team we got to watch her practice alittle and the kids got to play on the Red Turf. :)During this time, the band was practicing and the Mascot, Scoot, was out performing. My mom told Cami, "I'll give you 5 dollars if you go get a picture with the Eagle...?" "No way! Not even for 100 dollars!", exclaims Cami. My mom kept trying to persuade the kids to do it, then Alex finally says, "I'll do it for 10 dollars grandma...?" "Okay!", grandma agrees. Haha, and off they went to go pose with the Awesome Eagle, Scoot, who was such a hoot! Cami hid around the corner and Carson around my leg. But Alex was in it for the big bucks, haha. Besides my sister I think this was the highlight of the trip for me. :)

After Jess was done with practice, we hit the mall, the mall playland (hence the picture), dinner and then spent the night at her apt. It was so much fun visiting, so much so I forgot to take out my camera to get a pic of all of us together. Anyway though, it was a fun trip. The next morning she had practice again and we headed back home.

But before we got all the way there, we stopped off at the Country Mercantile for some white pumpkins... little did we know they had a whole sha-bang going on! So we decided to participate for as much time as we could...

Even though I might have not felt the best the whole time, I would definitely have to say... it was worth it. :)

While we were Away...

Grandma Elly was our angel this weekend. Watching and loving our children while we were in Idaho this weekend. We left Friday night and they were excited for us to go, haha. They were excited for their weekend with Grandma Elly :). So after pizza, a movie, and some good sleep, they set off for Bill's Berry Farm, featuring their apples this time of year. Here are some pictures Grandma took of their outing...

Petting the animals...

Making their own apple cider, which Grandma Elly informed me is hard work!....

Riding horses....

Going on tractor rides....

After lunch, Carson's nap, off they went to uncle Randell's game! They had so much fun, all day long! Thank you so much Gail...(I even came home to our office linens washed and folded!... like I said, she is an angel :).... for everything.

The reason we were gone this weekend was because Jeremy and I went on an overnight double date with our good friends the Morales'. It was even cooler, because the boys planned it all!! Us ladies just relaxed and enjoyed some good time at Triple Play. :) I was kicking myself, HARD, because I completely forgot my camera! So I do not have any pictures of the wonderful event! But it was definitely memorable. :)

As for some extra news, we are expecting. :) About time right ;). I will have to say though, this pregnancy is beyond anything I've experienced. During my other 3 pregnancies, I was never real sick, most of the time had decent energy, and never really had any weird cravings. With this one, I am sick. Never throwing up, just queasy about all day. I feel like my brain isn't connected to my spinal cord and I'm in a constant fog. I am fatigued easy... I LOVE to workout, but I hardly get in a walk now... haha and if I do, I feel like lead and just want to lay on the floor. And I never really eat anything consistent, food looks and taste different every day. I am sincerely hoping this phase passes quickly, but am ecstatic that I'm pregnant. We were worried I wouldn't be able to, but once again, it's a testimony that children are miracles sent from heaven. I am at the most 8 weeks along. So it'll be awhile before my belly gets real big, hopefully ;). I never tend to keep this kind of news in real long, so finally I can say, here comes number 4.

Trenta y dos

Yep, my sweetie had a birthday. It's crazy to think how life keeps trucking forward, and the stuff we stress about seems to turn out just fine. And I think, "don't sweat the small stuff" so much ya' know? Anwyay, Jer had a peaceful birthday and hopefully a good one. I think his favorite part about the day was his afternoon with Carson. :) They went to Tri-cities and went to all sorts of stores and treated themselves to ice-cream, singing all sorts of different versions to the "itsy-bitsy spider", haha... they later sang them to us, it was hilarious.My biggest preparations was dinner, kinda worked on it throughout the day because of timing. But the final dish was grilled marinated flank steak, twice baked potatoes, and steamed broccoli.Topped off with some homemade coconut cream pie. A new found favorite for Jeremy, all though I never seem to cook it quite the same, oh well. Lover you Jeremy, hope your birthday was filled with acknowledgement of love!And we also had another special treat... our sister-in-law came down with her baby and youngest daughter Kali. Carson Loved it! I think he's been getting bored without his brother and sister at home.

Kids, Accomplishments, N' Food

Cami and Alex are thoroughly enjoying school. In fact, I woke up Alex today and said Alex it's time to get ready. He asks, "Is it school day, is that why?" Me: "Yep, sure is." Alex's response, "YESSSSSSS!" Made me laugh, I love that he's still enjoying it, despite the early mornings, extra work after school, and long school days. Cami loves her teacher, and has made some good friends here. Friends I'm grateful she has. I took this picture the morning of 'Picture Day' at school. Jeremy has been hard at work. He has been spending many long hours at his office trying to spruce up some things. And his parking lot has been needing a fresh coat of black top, several years overdue. It looks fresh n' pretty now. I went to his office during lunch one day, brought him a sandwich, and kept him company while he squeegeed away on his parking lot before having to get back to work. This picture shows the difference between the old and the new. And as for the food part, I wanted to try something different.... waffle toast! French toast cooked in a waffle iron. It was kind of fun, especially since we did it for dinner instead of breakfast. I LOVE breakfast for dinner. It happens more than it probably should here, haha.