Christmas Traditions: REJECT pile

in my short little mommy life, i have tried to begin many Christmas Traditions ... in fact i have tried to do a LOT of 'programs', charts, routines, etc.
sadly, my good/great/grand ideas sometimes fall short of becoming habit/routine/tradition.
take for instance:
for the last several years we have been going to the Carousel down at westlake center with the Farrar Family on the monday before Christmas ... last year we changed it up and went on saturday. this year we were back to monday but with all the snowfall we decided to back out - we also had some not so healthy kidlets and didn't want to push it. so i had a fantastic idea to get pizza and watch a bunch of Christmas movies together and fall asleep under the Christmas Tree. in theory this is a fun family film festival featuring frosty, rudolf, santa, and the polar express.

someone hit me in the head next time i think it's a great idea to let my little kids stay up later than 10pm!!

it was all fun and games and popcorn and licorice ... until easton couldn't hold still - i should have put him to bed like i kept threatening! (honestly, i am notoriaous for NOT sticking to my guns ... i need to demonstrate a little follow-through in the new year - resolution #1 say what i mean and mean what i say!)
and then ammon fell asleep - this was the intended result of movie night ... good job ammon for following the plan!!
the girls on the other hand were no where near as cooperative ... i should have remembered that they have NEVER fallen asleep in front of the tv, EVER in their lives!!
it was 1am before i threw in the towel/ran up the white flag/called it quits - andy had gone to bed at midnight when i finally surrendered to the fact that easton wasn't going to fall asleep either!!
this morning when ammon stumbled into my room at 7:50 to get a drink of water ... and then brought easton back with him at 8:10 ... and elyssa came in at 8:15 - BAH! i got out my BIG RED REJECT STAMP and threw this new tradition on the top of the "failed plans and rejected traditions" pile!
next Christmas i'm going to be better prepared with more age appropriate ideas for tradtions to begin ... or maybe i'll just stick with the ones we've got!!

What traditions have you started that have failed miserably ... or better yet - which Christmas traditions have worked really well?? inspire me!

photographic recap of these many days that i have neglected to blog ...

after finding the perfectly petite tree ... we brought it home and proceeded to deck the halls and the tree, the counter tops, the table tops, the hutch, the shelves, the front porch and the walls!

andy and i went out with our best friends (the party) to The Melting Pot ... if you've never been - save your money (it's not cheap but worth every penny!!), make a reservation and go. it's the perfect restaurant for us, we like to eat and visit for hours on end. our dining experience usually lasts 3+ hours. this trip to The Melting Pot was double celebration for us! "Merry Christmas to The Party" and "Look Who's Gettin' Married - Engagement Party!" we are so happy to have a party of 6 now! yippy!! Congratulations you two!

as many of you know it's been a winter wonderland in the great northwest these past few days ... wednesday was our first snow day! and we didn't know that it was going to be the first day of winter break until today! no school thursday or friday! see ya next year!!
we couldn't resist the hill over at the Y and when we showed up with our plastic bags (yeah - we're ghetto - we don't own a sled ... we live in rainville!) a nice kid offer to let us use his sled! and we had a GREAT time!

last night when it started to really pile up - i decided that it would be fun to make ourselves a POLAR EXPRESS! it was a hit ... we decorated and ate a ton of candy ... and when we were all done - we had a masterpiece!

and do you know what happens when little hands get ahold of your camera?? they fill it up with pictures like these ... i have 86 shots like this ... and if you'll notice, the one in the bottom left corner is of his big sisters smiling - and not making any attempt to save my camera from the perilous hands of our resident 2 year old!!

i have told him 900 times not to play with my camera ... all he has to do is say:

and i melt!

[and before you say "why don't you put the camera up where he can't get it??" ... when i put it up out of his reach he climbs up to get it ... he's just following his heart i guess ... someday he'll be a famous photographer and we'll look back to these days and maybe i'll be able to sell his 'first works' for millions!!]


So that's what's been happening here the last few days ... i'm hoping to get some good pictures of us playing in the snow tomorrow - i was pitted out by the time we got out the door today ... and i didn't take any pictures! i'm hoping to get a good sled and find some great runs tomorrow ... cross your fingers! it's supposed to be sunny and 27 degrees!

Woohoo!! Snow Day #3!! SO FUN!!

mission accomplished!

this morning after andy headed to his CPR/First Aid training ... we loaded into the van and drove 2.6 miles to the most local and i-can't-understand-why-i-haven't-known-about-it-before-this-year tree farm. apparently i'm the only one that was oblivious to this fantastic little secret, since the joint was jumping!! we pulled into a recently vacated parking spot, hopped out, greeted the nice lady handing out saws and cardboard (to kneel on - how thoughtful!) and headed out in search of the best tree in the lot.

we hummed and haa-ed over many ... "that one's too tall for our house", "we should probably let that one grow a few more years", "that one's a little too full", "that one doesn't have enough branches for all our ornaments", "that one's branches are a little too wimpy", "i think we should have one that points straight up, don't you??" ... and then we found it ...

the brilliantly brawny, perfectly petite, and victoriously vertical tree in the entire tree farm!

(and go figure ... it wasn't a noble!)

so as a team, we sawed (that's a weird word, don't you think?), stayed out of the way of the saw, held the tree and successfully felled (that one's even weirder ... but i looked them up ... they are real words!) our fantastic tree!!

we missed our daddy but had some help from a wonderful friend who just happened to be there too!! (thanks beans!) and next year ... we'll be back to this not so super secret tree farm! Hooray!!

now ... gotta decorate!

(ps ... elyssa is holding the top of another person's tree that was lopped off and rescued by my ingenious daughters who found the potential for this cast off ... it was an umbrella, palm tree and 3-4 different things before we got it home and they had to decorate it!)

see ...

homemade decorations and all!

charlie brown ain't got nothin' on these girls!

7 + 8 = fifteen things you never knew you wanted to know!

for starters ... i haven't done a meme in quite a while ... mostly because i haven't been nominated - but also cuz i can't ever think of 4, 5 or 6 things that people really want to know about me ... and now i find myself tagged for 2 different memes ... one with 7 quirks and the other crazy eights, if you get bored - i won't mind if you click away ... we'll still be friends.

7 quirks ... this oughta be good!

1. as many of you know ... i went to ricks college (now it's BYU-Idaho) but what you may not know is that i was a huge country dancer - (not huge as in size, back in the day i was wearing some good'n'tight no-pocket-on-the-butt jeans and looking pretty good if i do say so myself!) my partner/best friend [read: boyfriend] and i were really good and we even taught some people how to 2 step and swing. even today, when i hear a good 2 stepping song, i can't help but be taken back to that other life and i get carried away and start dancing with my now-imaginary partner.

2. i can play cribbage - and i like it ... and sometimes - shoot i do it all the time - i play it with license plates - count points with what i see on the plate ... A's are Aces - worth 1 or 11, J's are Jacks - worth 10, Q's are Queens, K's ... you get the picture! my dance partner from #1 and i would do that on road trips - so we didn't have to try and figure out how to bring the cribbage board and cards. andy thinks i'm a little crazy when i start "15-2, 15-4 ..."

3. i am afraid of spiders, heights and losing my friends/family ... therefore i am the 'spider getter' in our family, i climb up on ladders and roofs whenever the opportunity presents itself and i do everything i can to keep my friends and family close - in order to counter-balance these fears.

4. i have never worked retail ... or at a fast food restaurant ... or as a lead position of anything. of the 3, i would like to have a lead position but only if i had worked for it and deserved it! retail ... i think i could do it - not sure i'd love it. fast food ... not on your life - i won't do it - you can't make me! what's my dream job, you ask? i'm living it - i always wanted to be a mom (and a hairdresser in the basement have my own salon and such - maybe this part someday)! i brush my daughter's hair when they let me ... and i am the family barber for my 3 boys! but if i had to work outside my home, you know the movie "The Kid" - Lily Tomlin's role ... Bruce Wills/Russ' personal secretary. that's what i think i'd love to do ... call me crazy - but when i saw that movie for the first time ... i just wanted her job!!

5. i don't eat seafood ... mind you, i live in one of the seafood capitals in the world but i haven't tried it all [read: hardly any] ... but what i have i was not in love with.

6. i have 4 boys that i grew up with that i claim as 'my boys' ... and my handsome husband has 6 (i think) girls that he grew up with that i call 'his girls' (or harem - not the 6 ... but the other 20 that followed him around {wink}) ... funny that we married each other.

7. i'm one of Santa's elves and have been since i was in Jr. High ... it's true - i have a uniform and everything. so for all you non-believers out there ... there's a reason the big guy stopped coming to your houses! the bell still rings for me!

are you still with me?? here we go ...
the crazy 8's ...

8 TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. CSI:
2. CSI:NY
3. NCIS
4. Criminal Minds
5. The Menalist
6. Survivor
7. America's Next Top Model
8. CSI:Miami
wow this is sad ... i actually can NAME eight shows i watch (and there are more that i didn't have room to put down) ... just like that ... i think i have a problem!!

8 Places I Love to Eat:
1. La Palmera
2. Red Robin
3. Olive Garden
4. Arby's
5. Taco del Mar
6. Subway
7. Salt Grass
8. Dickey's

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. i watched 2 friend's kids - 3 extra kids ... and it was actually a nice break from having to entertain my own!
2. finally took down all my christmas stuff from the attic - hooray!
3. plugged in my fiber optic tree - my favorite!
4. glued back together my baby food bottle tree - it's so darn cute!
5. removed easton's toddler bed from his bedroom ... and left only his mattress on the floor ... why you ask?? because he and his brother were jumping on the beds and the zip ties broke - yes i did just say that my son's bed was held together with zip ties ... my handsome husband is quite a resourceful fellow ... and when he couldn't find the nuts and bolts ... he improvised!
6. i picked up 2 extra preschool boys and dropped all 3 of them off for preschool at the only girl in our preschool's house!
7. was disappointed that 2 of my favorite shows weren't on because the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was on ...
8. i didn't finally go to bed until after 1AM ... mostly cuz i'm stupid and stay up just cuz i can!

8 Things I Love about Fall:
1. wearing cozy warm long sleeve shirts and scarfs.
2. the changing leaves
3. school supplies go on sale!
4. it's almost Christmas!
5. the crisp air
6. sunsets with a chill in the air
7. the 'bers'
8. school!

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. texting on my cell ...
2. new workout clothes
3. bi-weekly house cleaner
4. better faster computer ...
5. a yard
6. Andy would learn to 2 step
7. paint and a buddy to help
8. oh ... and world peace.

8 People I am Tagging:
1. little big sis
2. little sis
3. littlest sis
4. little bro
5. bestfriend who LOVES memes ...
6. bestfriend who hasn't been tagged since May (i researched it!)
7. bestfriend who hasn't blogged in WAY too long
8. bestfriend who just started a blog!!

(by the way ... you don't have to do both ... you could choose just one or the other if you'd like! but both would be fun!!)

well, if you're still awake and haven't removed me from your blogroll (if i was even on it {wink wink}) thanks for sticking around ... that wasn't all that bad ... but i sure wish i had pictures in this post ... but i'm not going to venture there - already TMI!!

a new tradition

our granny's house is lit up like a gingerbread house every year!

sunday was our first annual Christmas Lighting Celebration!

we'll be having it every year on the sunday after thanksgiving!

you should plan on it for next year!!

we invited the neighbors and a bunch of friends.

we sang carols, ate cookies, drank hot chocolate and cider and counted down to a 'we hope this isn't like the griswald's' christmas house lighting!

and we only tripped the breaker 3 times before we got all the kinks worked out!

Santa arrived and handed out candy canes to all the good little girls and boys that sat on his lap - (or next to him on the bench)!!

it was so much fun!

thanksgiving day recap

i realized that i didn't post what we actually did on turkey day.

after not being able to find our dad to watch him play football -

(long story short: we went to the right place and didn't see his car cuz he didn't park in the parking lot ... so we drove all over looking for him and finally gave up)

we decided to play a little turkey bowl of our own - kinda ...

sister ashby brought over some yummy turkeys

(i'll be making these next year!! - aren't they darling!?)

we had dinner with at our Grandma and Papa Shaw's house

it was yummy!!

then we drove to our Granny's house for dessert

easton fell asleep on the way ...

we didn't get home until about 10 ish ...

our weekend was fairly uneventful ... but relaxing - which is nice.

this is how we found him ...

when we went in to check on the boys before heading to bed last night ... he hadn't quite made it back into his bed ...

before ... falling .... back ..... to ...... sleep.

make your own Polar Express!!

The engine is made of 2 candy bars – one cut in half stuck to the one lying flat. You can make the train as long or short as you’d like … I love the idea of each child having their own ‘car’ to decorate. The ‘wheels’ can be any round candy – but if you use starlight mints, I suggest leaving them in the wrapper … so they don’t melt from the moisture in the frosting. Even mini Oreos would be cute! Get creative and go crazy!! The frosting we used was the ready made stuff you can buy at the store ... spooned it into a plastic bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner to make a 'tip' to squirt the frosting from.
This is a great idea for a Family Night – head to your local grocery store's bulk candy section and pick out your favorite edible decorations … and create your very own Polar Express!

Be sure to have a white Christmas with a sifter and a little snow -

I mean powdered sugar!!

today i broke one of my cardinal rules ...

i'm feeling a little like the burgermeister ...

Burgermeister Meisterburger: You brats are under arrest.
Kris Kringle: Wait don't arrest those children. It was my fault I gave them the toys.
Burgermeister Meisterburger: YOU? How dare you! You are obviously a nonconformist and a rebel!
Kris Kringle: Have a yo-yo.
Burgermeister Meisterburger: [gasps and chokes] A yoooooo-yoooooooooo? I love yo-yos. I used to be able to do all kinds of tricks. Ah-wheeeee [laughing]
Grimsby: Excuse me sir, but you're breaking your own law.
Burgermeister Meisterburger: [gasps and chokes] Ooooooouuuuuuu, I've been bamboozled!


bamboozled i tell you, bamboozled into thinking this could be good idea - 10 million people can't be wrong?? OOooo but they can!! in my zeal to 'save a buck', i set my alarm for 4:30AM and arrived at walmart at 4:45 ... only to discover that the line to get into the store was around the building ... and after waiting at the opposite door from the crowd for 35 minutes, hoping that they would open it ... they informed me/us (me and the 25 or so other people standing there ... ) that they wouldn't open it until the line had died down - wow ... this is serious business. and as for Christmas Cheer ... sadly that has no place on Black Friday.

and really ... why is it called 'black friday'? i know the real reason is because the stores are hoping to be back in the black by the end of business ... but is that the only reason? i think not.
we could start calling it "black-eye friday" - there was almost a brawl outside walmart ...
we could call it "black-heart friday" - people can be ruthless ... are we Christmas shopping or what??
or "black-coffee friday" - everyone had one in hand ... starbucks could corner the market!
"black-outside friday" - that's what color the sky was when i left for the store
i could keep going but all i can think of is how awful people were out there today ... so i'm going to stop.

as i rounded the corner to the front of the store, still waiting to get in, i invited 2 ladies to go ahead of me ... wishing them a Merry Christmas! they were so nice and i visited with them as we meandered toward the door. when we got closer, i again invited a woman to go ahead of me ... to which a walmart-nazi said, "nope ... she has to go to the end of the line." the woman tried ... she lied and said that she knew me from work ... but he still was not going to budge. really? are you really going to be like that? what. ever.


note to self: do not do this again - it's not worth it! (even if you can save a few bucks ...)

in which i'm having an attitude of gratitude:

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~Aesop

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
~Author Unknown

We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. ~Author Unknown

So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
~J.A. Shedd

This year i'm happy to announce that instead of being thankful it's almost Christmas ... i'm thankful for the opportunity to think about my blessings and ponder on each one!

that being said here are ...

my 8 things 2 be gr8ful 4 in 2008:

1: my andy - he's my handsome husband, compassionate companion, helpful househusband, strong and sensitive sidekick, a fabulous father, and my very best friend.

2: my family - near and far ... my own little brood and the antics that we endure here, my up close and personal parents and parents in-law, my near brother and sisters, many local extended relatives, and my little big sister who is located far but close to my heart and my extended family in far away places, every single one of them!

3: my friends - i really do have the best friends ever!

4: my Savior

5: my membership in the true Church and knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

6: my body - i can walk, sing, dance, see, jump, type, and run (short sprints/jogs). i'm thankful that my body works properly and that i have the opportunity to exercise ... and if the stars will align, i will be happy to put on a bathing suit come june 2009 (cuz i'll be lookin' fine in 2009)!!

7: my ability to give and more importantly to recieve forgiveness.

8: my opportunity to learn and the knowledge that i have - i hope and pray that i will continue to learn everyday and apply the new found wisdom to better my life!

Happy Thanksgiving to all ... and to all a good night - oh wait ... that's supposed to be "Merry Christmas to all" ... oops ...

Happy Holidays!!

finally finished ...

yes ... i took the release of the movie to get me to finally read it -

will it do my imagination justice? probably not.

will i see it anyway? probably.

i just spent the last 2 days devouring the last half of this book - and now i can slow down and take my time with the next 3!!!

and then there were 30 days ...

11/1 - Abi's baptism (post complete)

excuse #1 for not posting in november: 7pm Easton started barfing ... and didn't quit until abi followed suit in the middle of the night on the 3rd, elyssa joined the ranks at 5am. thankfully ammon never threw up at all - he's our child that's healthy as an ox. he certainly needs to be taken outside to run around everyday!!

11/4 - Election day ... i was inspired by my good friend Colleen and i started writing my feelings down about the historic election... i want my thoughts recorded for my posterity. the election of 2008 was one that i followed closer than any other. i have never been a political genius - i typically ask Jennalee or my dad which way i should be voting - and it has usually been republican across the board. i am not close-minded ... i just know what i believe and the elephants tend to follow my morals and ideals. as for this particular election ... there was a member of the church running in the beginning and i really wanted him to make it to the white house. Mitt Romney is a great man, politically as well as morally. but when it came down to the last two standing, our choices were an old, white, seasoned, war vet and his strong, smart, spunky, mother of 5 (the last being downs syndrome) running mate ... vs. a young, black, newbie politician and his old, flip-flopping, seasoned, good old boy running mate.

i think what sealed the deal for me was this: Obama thinks it's ok for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman, he also thinks it's ok for a mother to rid herself of a baby growing inside of her ... if she feels like it. out of the mouths of babes ... these are the 2 things that are most vital to my children and family. Abi was certainly the most concerned about these two facts and therefore we, as a family, voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

they were not victorious in the end ... and though it was not the way that i wanted it to work out (and my daughters worry that Obama is going to make it so that they can't marry boys) i feel that this was an election year that will go down in history. and i am proud that i was able to vote. this election was pivotal for 2 reasons: there was a woman running as VP and a black man running for President, for the first time in history! and now - more than before - every man, woman and child can have a dream ... anyone and everyone can run for the most powerful political position in our country (shoot - in the world).

i have a hope for the next 4 years and many more to come ... that the country will recover from this economic downward spiral and that when we look back on this we'll see that history was made and that we had a hand in it.

11/5 - 11/11 - i was consumed with the upcoming enrichment meeting.

11/12 - Circle of Friends Enrichment Meeting!! the only hitch was the green salad that was frozen and yucky ... but i was the only one that was worried about any of that! the comments and conversations were all upbeat, gracious, and more than approving of our efforts! it was wonderful and FUN!

5:00AM on 11/13 - i was awake and getting myself ready to go to the airport. i spent the next 5 days in texas with my little big sister ... attending meetings that she spoke at, chaperoning the youth dance, shopping, hanging out, going to church and most importantly stringing Christmas Lights around her upper roof line and on top of her roof!! (picture coming)

it was a wonderful trip and best of all my family was cared for by the best husband, granny and visiting teacher of all time!

excuse #2 for not posting in november: i was outta town ... (and there's no internet in Texas?! - i know - go figure!!)

11/18 - i returned to the great northwest ... and had to catch up with my life! my house was immaculate - andy's so good a keeping on top of the mess!

11/19 - ammon's preschool was here!! we had 6 four year olds here from 9:30 - 11:30, learning about things that start with K! king, kangaroo, keys, koala, keyboard, etc.

12:00 i picked up my tickets for "The Forgotten Carols"

5:30 time to feed the missionaries

6:00 abi and i leave for "The Forgotten Carols"

6:15 park in 'event $5 parking' near the Everett Events Center by granny - cuz that's where she parked...

6:17 discover that we're supposed to be at the Everett Civic Auditorium because there's a hockey game about to start at the events center ... guess who didn't look at her tickets and gave directions to everybody leading them to believe that we were supposed to be at the events center - yours truly

6:20 stop at Taco del Mar for dinner

6:25 hoof it, in the cold, east 2 blocks and south 4 blocks to the civic auditorium

6:45 discover there are a ton of free parking places near the correct venue ...

6:50 get in line with 100 or so other people waiting to find their seats

7:30 - 10:00 enjoy the most wonderful start to Christmas there could be! this is going to be my new tradition! what a perfect way to kick off this holiday season! i bought a souvenir book for abi (this musical was part of her birthday present) and we had all the actors sign the inside cover.

10:15 while driving home remember that i had my camera with me - even took pictures of us before the show - and didn't take any of abi or myself with Michael McLean!! DUH!

excuse #3 for not posting in november: shoot ... i can't find time to sleep let alone blog!!

11/20 - enrichment third thursday craft night ... but nobody came - so robyn and i visited and she showed me how to do vinyl lettering so that we can do it for our january craft night!

because i had the time ... i called kedra and asked if she and nolan were up for visitors. i went over and got a baby-fix for about a half hour.

11/21 - YOGA finally, after missing 9 classes - 3 weeks! then andy came home during naps and quiet time so i could go with my mother-in-law to a craft fair!

that evening i did some presentations for a company that i'm starting to work with ...

11/22 - 10am-noon a meeting down near IKEA, home about 2 ish and then robyn and i went and delivered our visiting teaching message. i had planned for andy and i to take the girls and see High School Musical 3, but andy's sister offered to take them - she wanted to see it too! so we dropped them off and we took the boys to costco. they were having a boeing employee/BECU event! the place was PACKED!! but there was free food, goodies, samples, gift certificates and wow it was awesome! especially because we signed up all 4 of our kids up for savings accounts and got $25 gift cards to costco for each! Merry Christmas!!

11/23 - i forgot until i bolted out of bed at 8:05 that i was supposed to be practising/warming up with the choir at 8:25!! andy has been a real trooper these last few weeks while i've been otherwise occupied - he's the BEST husband EVER!!

11/24 - started this post ... and you can see by the length - if you are still with me - that i couldn't finish it all in one day!!

thank you for your friendship through my incommunicado state this month!

and the reason for the title: i am SO behind in my preparation for Christmas! this is the first time in my 9 years of marriage that i am not finished buying, decorated and ready to just enjoy December!! and now i only have 30 days!! wish me luck!

slacker = me

november is winding down and i'm a little behind - but i have a big one (not big behind - a big post) and i'll have it up for the world to see as soon as i can! don't write me off yet!

a special day indeed.

there's nothing quite like watching your children grow up right before your eyes ... i recently finished (finally) my mini scrapbook entitled "Our Babies: Birthdays and Blessing Days" and looking back on each of them was remarkable, surprising and even a little bizarre. our minds play tricks on us - me especially since i'm only 18 and i have 4 children ranging in age from 8 to 2 and i've been married for over 9 years ... that's over half my life time!
i was perusing thru my mini-book and discover that i can remember a whole lot about each day ... and still i wish i could remember more. i laid in bed the other night tears streaming soaking my pillow thinking about my tiny baby abi ... she's growing up to be such a bright (in all senses of the word), courageous, sensitive, spiritual young lady. she got a book of mormon reader from grandma shaw around the beginning of october and we couldn't get her to put it down. she was determined to finish it ... and when she got to the end, she read Moroni's Challenge and took it to heart. she knelt and prayed, all by herself. she didn't need any coaching from me ... she knew what to do. she asked her Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true. when she related this story (after the fact) she stopped there - she was so matter-of-fact about it. she was just reporting that she had done it.
so i asked her, "and what did Heavenly Father tell you?"
abi: [shrugs shoulders] it's true.
me: how do you know?
abi: i felt good inside - the Holy Ghost helped me know.

out of the mouths of babes.

she made the decision to be baptized and today was that special day. it was extra special too because she didn't have to share it with anyone. it was our stake's baptism day ... but she was the only one! we had such a wonderful group of family and friends there!! it was exceptionally fantastic!

looks like i'll be adding another 'B' to my mini-book: Baptism Day ...

H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N spells Halloween ...

We had 2 good witches, one Batman and a monster in our crew this year!

and we made such a haul at Grandma Shaw's neighborhood we didn't even need to trick or treat or trunk or treat or ask anyone else for candy! i'm making appointments for the dentist ASAP!

Happy Halloween!

birthdays come but once a year

and now we're all even-steven again! abi brings up the rear on turning a year older, but she doesn't seem to mind! she still gets her day to be woken up by her family singing "Happy Birthday" and gifts to open! she still gets to bring treats to school and have granny join her for lunch! and most important she still gets to be the oldest!!

eight is great!!

scare ya later ...

andy's costume this year consisted of a little face paint (by a professional - thanks for thinking that i'm that good ... but it wasn't me!) and dark clothes.

this is precisely why i don't like halloween - you take an innocent thing like a jack-o-lantern, add a little scary imagination and you get creepfest 2008!!

ps ... i feel i need to clarify, yes - he did get this painted on friday night for the party that night and then slept on the couch, of his own accord (as many of you know he has sleep apnea and sleeps with a CPAP that covers his nose and would have smudged the paint job) NOT because i was scared of him or because i didn't want it on the pillow ... he wanted to 'save' it for our ward party! so, while i was delighted to NOT sleep next to the scariest pumpkin in town ... i didn't force him to sleep on the couch.

do you need anything else?

a few weeks back there was a sale at albertsons on cereal ... the deal was a bunch of things were on sale for $2 each ... but if you bought 10 of them they'd take $5 off - making each item only $1.50. that's a great deal for boxes of cereal. at the time i could only find lucky charms and raisin bran - total was all gone ... so i got a rain check and ordered myself 10 boxes of total.

last night andy went to pick up the total. ten boxes. the checker scanned them and asked, "do you need anything else?"

andy looked at the cereal, grinned and said, "maybe i need some milk ..."


she didn't think it was as funny as i did. i had a good laugh about it.

i have a pretty witty husband -

especially late at night, when he's punchy!!

we're letting our lights shine!

for family night, last night, we gutted, carved and 'mr. potatohead'ed our 'punkins'! it was so fun and gooey and enlightening (wink, wink)!

2 trips to the 'punkin' patch in 1 weekend!

first time with ammon's pre-preschool class on friday

then with alicia on saturday!

we missed having the wright's with us ...

but we all got 'punkins' and had a great time doing it!

what kind of pickles do you eat?

suffice it to say ... easton doesn't like sweet!

he's a dill eater ... like his mommy!

fun fall fotografy!

giving credit where it's due:

i took all these! can you believe it!?

10/6 ... abi's extra credit project:

an anatomically correct caterpiller complete with true legs (the ones that will be the butterflies legs), prolegs (the ones that only the caterpiller has - not the butterfly), 6 eyes on each side of his head, spiricles (for breathing) and bristles. it was quite the project and eating the extra pieces wasn't so bad either!

we make a pretty great team!

october 7th ...

tuesday the 7th was school picture day ... we had showers and fixed hair and then took our own pictures ... we'll see who's the better photographer! (aren't they darling?)

taking a scrapbooking approach ...

it has long since been my philosophy that when scrapbooking you start with today, continue forward and when time allows scrap the past. with that said:

yesterday was this lady's birthday

she's 29 and a couple summers.

we went down to see her after school for a short visit.

i delivered the finished scrapbook from last year's birthday and the girls brought her gifts of pictures, popcorn balls and 'free pictures with my camera' (from abi).

my mom is known to all small children as 'granny' and she is the epitome of the word. she is always excited to see her 'granbabies' and was delighted with their gifts.

on our ride home, abi was saying, "i like granny ..."

me: i do too

abi: i like granny because she is always happy with the gifts we give her - even if it's not something she really likes.

me: what do you think she doesn't like?

abi: like those popcorn balls ... i know she's probably not going to eat them ... but she was happy we gave them to her. i don't have much money so i just worked with what i had. i had my favorite song written down and i gave it to her ... and the popcorn ball ... and you know, i gave her that ticket for 3 free pictures. it's free shipping too. you know, if it is only 3 pictures it's free shipping ... but if it were 4 pictures she would have to give me a coin.

at this point i had to call granny and tell her she was missing out on this conversation - to which she asked, "does she know you're telling me?"

me: yes

granny: you need to write that down when you get home ... she's so funny!

me: i will ... talk to you later.

when i hung up abi asked what granny said.

me: she said i should write this down when i get home.

abi: isn't she at home?

me: yes but she wants me to write it down so we remember the funny things you say.

abi: you could put it in a blog ...

i called granny back and had a good chuckle about that one too!!

granny: like mother like daughter!

and so i did - put it in a blog ...

o wow ...

it's already the 15th of October ... i'm way behind ...

i'll try to catch up in the next few days ...