Happy Halloween

we started our day off with dad staying home for the entire morning! i loved it because i actually got ready before 8:00am! yeah! then i took the 2 older kids to school and got the 2 younger ones ready for storytime at the library. they were so excited to wear their costumes!

we read many stories about anansi the spider. then we got to make anansi! m and f were in heaven...i don't let them play with real playdough. we used this really cool modeling playdough from crayolla. i have never seen this stuff. it was totally cool and i loved it. so if my kids ever want playdough for...anything...this is the stuff to get. no mess...it's like foam playdough. it's amazing. they had a blast. then the librarians gave out treat bags to all the kids. it was so cute. we gave f's spider a faux hawk!

we headed home to get our piano tuned. it's been a LONG time and 2 moves so it was bad. now it sound beautiful and i am really going to enjoy a and k practicing. we had lunch then off to school for m and b left for work. at 1:30 was the halloween parade at school. so cute. all the students and teachers dressed up. i loved it. then class parties. what fun.

and if that isn't enough...tricker treating to end our fun filled halloween day! i love it. k didn't want to go because there are so many things she can't eat because of her expander but we told her she could trade candy with her friends at school or give all her candy to her dad.

maybe next year we'll have a halloween party. i have always wanted to have one. just haven't had the time. i should start planning now. BOO!

carving pumpkins

b was coming home late for the past 2 nights so i decided if veronica can carve pumpkins without her husband then so could i. so here we are. i told the older 2 that they needed to clean out their pumpkins so i could help the younger 2. k was all over that. she did her's and a's.

then all 4 of them wanted me to carve their faces. they told me what they wanted and i went to work. i think they turned out rather nice. and the kids were very pleased with their pumpkins and are already to set them out for halloween. hurray!

trunk or treat

it's that time again where all little kids and sometimes big kids dress up for halloween! last year i was a pregnant woman. this year...i was a bit shy and didn't go as anything. i got all the kids dressed...k was a pirate, a was a police officer, m was a mideval princess, and f was superman! they were all so cute. b got the trunk of our car all decked out...and won 2nd place for it! good job, honey! the kids went around and said 'trunk or treat'...well half of them did. f was just interested in the candy, of course. they had a great time.

m's ghost! spookey!

after trunk or treat the kids took showers for church the next day. this is f running away from me. silly boy. blackmail photo!

lattin farms

pumpkin tower!

cow train... $4.00

hayride and pumpkins... $30.00

lunch at sonic... $30.00

spending time with our family....PRICELESS!

we had such a great time at lattin farms. the kids enjoyed riding the cow train, feeding baby goats, watching the chickens cluck, going on a hayride, and picking their very own pumpkins. it was great. i just love fall colors. i love how the harvest earth gives a wonderful contrast to the brightly colored pumpkins. brown and orange. i love it. what a good time we had as a family.

and you thought you had weeds!

these are our GINORMOUS weeds! with thorns and all!

field trips and pumpkin squares

tuesday was m's first field trip in kindergarten. her class was going to walk to the pumpkin patch. yes, you read correctly, walk to the pumpkin patch. that is how small our town is. anyway...they had a great time. m kept telling me, while we were walking, 'i'm not even tired!'. when we got to the pumpkin patch the kids got to put faces on little pumpkins, make ghost's with broomsticks, play pumpkin bowling, pumpkin golf, and stick their hands in monster slime, dragon brains, goblin eye balls, and lots of other nastiness. they had a blast! their little pumpkin faces were made with nuts and bolts, nails, string, markers, and stickers. very creative, i thought.

tuesday night i made pumpkin bars. i wasn't sure how the kids would receive them. a and f loved licking the beaters but when the bars were done ready to be eaten...they said 'no thanks'. party poopers. i took a large cookie sheet to cub scouts last night and they devoured them. i was so glad that somebody appreciated them. they were quite tasty. i love pumpkin. except pumpkin pie. yuk! but pumpkin muffins, cookies, cakes, rolls, bars...yummy!

saturday we are off to lattin farms for our annual family pumpkin patch picking. i am very excited. i have heard nothing but GREAT things about this farm. the only negative thing has been that it's an hour away in fallon. oh well if that's the only thing then i can handle it. corn maze, cow train, pumpkins, feeding animals...what fun we will have. i can't wait.

bragging rights

all mothers everywhere have the right and privilege to brag about their children, pets, or husbands. so being a mother...here i go.

i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking pictures of my kids...sometimes they love it and sometimes they hate it. but i just can't get enough of how cute they are. and even more cute are those moments when they aren't TRYING to be cute...when they say something funny...or do something that makes me laugh. the other day f was playing b-ball in my room. he'd throw it up...and then it'd bounce on the floor. this quickly became a game. then...he threw it up...he watched it...and it came down...and bounced off his forehead! b and i laughed and laughed. f laughed too. then he tried to do it again. what a funny little boy. these are the moments i love.

yesterday as i was putting photos in frames for my wall, a grabbed on of my empty frames and was pretending he was a picture. you have all seen these photos taken of children in magazines. i love them. their frames are slightly bigger but i couldn't resist a photo session with them while doing something fun. this is what i got.

when my kids are quietly thinking or are so interested in something is another time i love them. they can get so interested in a flower or paperclip and sit for hours entertaining themselves. i love taking photos at this time because they don't have to 'look at the camera and smile'. here's one of m i just love. her eyelashes are so beautiful.

and this is probably the most fun my kids have had while taking their pictures. i asked them to all run towards me. and this photo was all luck in getting them all separated like they are. i love it. and so did they. i hope they remember the fun things we do when mom wants to snap their picture.

i am so blessed to have 4 beautiful children who are healthy and strong. smart, loving, kind to others, and good examples to their friends. they each have their own personalities which is still a mystery to me because they all came from the same two people. they are my life and hopefully one day i'll get everything right. it probably won't happen in this life but it will happen i am convinced. they bring me joy, comfort, and peace. and with each one i am able to catch a glimpse into the eternities and get a small feel of how much love God has for me.

my children. i love all four of you!

compulsive shopper

last week b bought a dvd player for the tv in our front room. his rationalization, while giving him a the look, was ' the playstation doesn't play movies anymore! and i don't want the kids watching movies in my room anymore. '

so the dvd player sat in the box for about a week while he went to utah. the day he came back i decided to hook it up myself. so i pulled that GINORMOUS tv out and in doing so the cable cord ripped some piece out of the tv. ooopps! so now we can watch movies but no tv! anyway i thought this was the least of my worries.

b came home and saw it and i guess thought it needed to be fixed ASAP because last night when he pulled into the driveway, k saw him unload a NEW tv from his truck! i was...not surprized...but dumbfounded. i marched outside as he was trying to hide it in the garage...and k said 'i already told mom you bought a new tv!' he replied, 'k, you have a big mouth!' to which i replied, 'you are out of control!!!!!!!!!!!!' he just smiled at me and gave me a hug and told me he loved me. and i am taking away his costco card!

there will be no christmas for b because what else does he need or want? he buys whatever he wants whenever he wants it. he is a compulsive shopper! i thought only women were like that. boy was i wrong.

finally pregnant!

with TWINS!

no sillies not ME! my sister, amanda. she and my bil have been married for 10 years and have been trying to have kids for that long too. well they finally tried invitro...i can't spell...and 2 eggs stuck. hope they stick around because i would love to have baby twins in the family. congratulations, drew and amanda. hope everything goes well.

ready for baptism

i can't believe a is going to be baptized in about a month. he is excited and even more excited to be baptized in utah. we are preparing him with fhe lessons and reminders to choose the right.