Flashback Friday

I got a tad bit nostalgic today and looked at old Halloween pictures of the kids. Halloween is by far the favorite holiday around our house. Something about dressing up and pretending to be something you are not just excites them and makes it fun. Upon looking at the pictures though, I realized that I am missing one year (2005)- that would be when our hard drive crashed and I lost all the pictures that I didn't have on a backup disc- and I took individual pictures in 2006 instead of a group shot. So here is what I do have. Enjoy! It sure was fun to see how they have grown!

face painting gone wrong.

Last night was the Halloween Carnival at our church. The Young Men and Young Women put it on every year and it is tons of fun! The kids all get to put their costumes on and play all sorts of arcade/carnival style games to win candy prizes. One of the favorite stops to make is the face painting table. EVERYONE always wants some doodad painted on their face. Last night was no exception.

Now before I go on with the rest of the story, you should know that we have the best hometeachers in the world. They are so wonderful to us and are just so fun because they fit right in with our circus. That said, they are HUGE University of Utah fans and we are BYU fans. Kind of opposites, huh? Anyway, Bro. Thompson is always telling me that one day he is going to give my kids red U of U shirts, and he usually wears his U of U shirt when he comes to home teach us. He is funny that way!

So anyway, last night when our kids were just wandering the church doing the different activities and such, Bro. Thompson grabs Jonathan and says, "Hey, let's go get your face painted."

This is the result. (Bro. Thompson was SOOO Proud of himself when he brought Jonathan over to show his face to Mike and I. I told him he was FIRED! :] )

My son's face was an abomination! It got even funnier though because ALL these people kept coming over to Mike and I and asking us if we had seen his face and what did we think. It cracked me up! Anyway, the girls, in an effort to placate Daddy (who wasn't mad, by the way), had BYU painted alllllllllll over their faces. Too funny!

parenting sucks

Oh my kids.



Where do I begin.



Today, I encountered yet another sampling of parenting sucks. A wrong choice was made by three children ("the gang"- I call them) and I found the remnants of what remained from that wrong choice and I was in the position where I needed to give a consequence. The thing is that the consequence for said choice had already been outlined and told to them previously so that they would have incentive to NOT choose wrongly. But apparently, wants overruled common sense and "they did not remember". I reinforced to them what the consequence was supposed to be and said, "this is what I think needs to happen now. But I want you to call your dad and make it right with him and talk to him and see what he says."


I overheard bits and pieces of that conversation, but not enough to know what he said for sure. I put myself in a time-out for the safety or should I say sanity of all involved and that is what I was doing until 10 minutes ago when a messenger (one of the gang members) brought me this note.
I guess they are all "sorry". Oh and I am now proclaimed "beutiful", and if I have any questions or want to write notes, they even provided a space for me to do that. How thoughtful they are. Now if I can just get them to realize THAT before the fact then we will be good!

Wordless Wednesday - Pretty Fall Leaves

What we did today.

This morning's project was of the dirty kind. Our front lawn has this spot that is all sunk in and crappy because of the sewer excavation that had to be done last summer (2007) and wasn't made very level. All winter long in settled underneath our loads of snow and the grass has slowly been filling in all this summer on top of the unlevelness. Mike went and got a load of dirt so we could fill in the low spots and get it more level. Jonathan was Daddy's little helper today and helped him with all the steps for this project. Step 1: Tromp all over the dirt in the back of the pickup while Daddy shovels it out and onto the lawn.
Step 2: When you can't lift up the shovel because a) it's too heavy, and b) you are too little and not supposed to touch the shovel....then just kick it out of the pickup.

Step 3: Get in Daddy's way while he is trying to level it out with the rake. Can't even begin to count the number of times Mike redid the same spots because they had little shoe prints all over them.

Step 4: "Help" Daddy by sweeping the dirt out of the pickup and onto the driveway.

This afternoon's project was tilling up our garden area in preparation for winter. Mike got all duded up and started tilling adn his sidekick was following behind. Before long, Jonathan came into the house and told me that Daddy told him he "couldn't help or walk by the tiller unless he had a hankerchief over his nose and mouth too, and so, could I please get one for him."
Really this picture is just too cute for words. I think that Jonathan is even trying to step in Mike's footprints.

And not to be outdone, but the girls HAD to get in on the fun of hankie wearing. Jenny was the only one that opted for the cowboy look. The older girls needed to be more "girlie".

Flashback Friday- Halloween oh yeah!

Circa 1978. I was 3 years old and apparently I was an Indian for Halloween. Not exactly PC, huh? But I am pretty sure that I was not trying to be a Native American. In those days, you were what you were. I think Amy was Holly Hobbie. Marni was a cowboy (maybe cowgirl?), and Scott was a Rodeo Clown. You don't see many kids dressed up as rodeo clowns these days. No, it's all transformers and pirates and power rangers....not rodeo clowns. Funny how time passes and new fads and trends start and the old ones just fade away.

*And in case you are wondering....yes, I am wearing an itchy scratchy gunny sack as my costume. "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without". That's my moms mantra.

Wordless Wednesday...and a crappy day

Okay, so I have had a rough day. First of all, I have had back spasms all day. Add that to my chest pain that started a week ago, and you will know how "fabulous" I feel. Thank heavens my hubby came home from work early so that I could get a nap in. Then I check my email, and I get one that I was none too thrilled to receive. Let's just say that the bag of Caramel Nut Clusters I bought that I was saving for a rainy day....um yeah, they will be gone before 7:00.

I just realized also that it is Wednesday. You all know what THAT means.....

Happy Wordless Wednesday!!

No Flashback and they are blogging

Sorry no Flashback Friday this week. I am a loser and didn't get the picture that I wanted to use scanned into my computer to actually use it.

Oh a fun note though...my girls have been requesting a blog of their own and I was resisting and then my BFF let her kids get their own, so I copied and said, "OKAY! You all can have your blog!"

They totally told me what they wanted on it and I sat down with each of them to write a post. Meghan was great at thinking of what she wanted to write and then just typing it. She is a pretty good little typer too. Rachel didn't really know what to say, but was very diligent at "doing it herself" and typing. She is OCD like that. Jenny can't type or spell very well, so she just dictated to me and I did it for her. Basically she bore her testimony for her first post. It's all GOOD! Anyway, if you want to check out their funniness...go to "3goofydivas.blogspot.com".

The last two days...

WooHoo! I got it to upload my pics!

Okay, so I have spent the last two days doing mostly fun stuff which is a minor miracle because all my kids are off track and seem to think that Mommy needs to entertain them. NOT! First, I have been trying to teach Jenny some fashion sense. She is not a willing student. Obviously. This is her idea of fashion. Clearly she has much to learn.
Second, I have been making Korker hair bows. My friend Hollie (Holliesspot.blogspot.com) put the instructions on how to do them on her blog a while ago and I FINALLY got around to it. These bows are for the girls to wear in the hair on Saturday when we get our pictures taken. Well, the brown and pink ones anyway. The others were simply for fun to match other outfits they have.

And this is our gorgeous model Sidney wearing the smaller bows that I made especially for her. Fun, huh?

I wanted to show pictures of what I have spent the last two days doing, but blogger won't let me upload my pics. I will try again tomorrow. Stupid blogger anyway...

Wordless Wednesday- oldie but goodie

cutting it

I cut my hair. It was toooooooo long and heavy and annoying and always in a dang pony tail because there was nothing I could do with it. This picture is from May, but it is the only one I could find with a front shot so you could see how long (and big) my hair was. Keep in mind that my hair grows super fast, so it was about 2-3 inches longer than that even.

I got fed up, so I called the hair place and went this afternoon during the rainstorm and this is what the "after" picture looks like. You can't see it in the picture, but it goes up in the back and is really short, and then it goes long in the front. I ran over to Shannon's to show her first, 'cuz she's my person, and she was more than happy to take my model shots. Sorry folks, but I don't know how to "work it". All I could do was grin from ear to ear. I am excited. It is going to be fun fun fun.

It's not today...

I.am.an.idiot. There. I freely admitted it. Now you can all go about your business again.

"THE BIG GAME" is NOT today as I previously thought. Where did I even get that thought? Who knows. Point is I thought it was today. HAHA. NO. It's in like 6 weeks. What a dorkus I am. Can I help it that I am really trying to be a bigger fan and better co-dependent enabler for my husband and his BYU fan-ness that I got so excited that THERE would be a game that then I confused it in my brain (which FYI...doesn't take much because leading experts say that we only use 10% of our brains anyway) and wanted it to be tomorrow.

Guess what? No matter how HARD you will a game to be, it just will not BE.

*Thanks Grant for letting me know. You are a die hard UTAH fan and I should have known that you would at least know when the game was. LOL.

Flashback Friday

LOVE Marni's sock/slippers combo thingies. Those look like something I would like to have now. I think she was reading to me and Amy. This photo would be capturing one of those rare moments that those two played with me and I didn't have to follow them and then tell on them when they excluded me. Glad it got captured on film!

On a side note....in the background you can see my dad's gun cabinet. Which was always right there out in the open and sometimes left unlocked, but in those days kids didn't touch guns and so it was all good. My how times have changed.

And the grass green carpet is nice too, huh?

crazy week

My week has been Crazy!

Tuesday night Mike and I went to Kingsbury Hall to see "The Rat Pack", our first show from the Broadway Across America season tickets we bought. It was...okay. I think our parents would have enjoyed it far more than we did, judging by the fact that 99.9% of the audience was blue hairs.

Wednesday night we spent ripping plants out of the garden and generally cleaning it up. We filled our garbage can up AND threw tons of stuff over the fence to the neighbors horses. I'm just glad that nothing else is growing. That means my canning is DONE. Hooray!

Besides all that...I have spent every day doing stuff to prepare for tomorrow's Mother/ Daughter Activity Days activity. It's a recognition night too, so we will be giving out awards and welcoming the newbies and I'm the In-Charge gal, so it all falls on me. Which kinda sucks since if something goes wrong or doesn't get done...I get to take that on too. I had to make 4 wall hangings (I will post their picture later), and burn some CD's and and and...you get the picture.

So basically I will be glad when Friday night is over and done. Saturday is the BYU vs Utah game. We will all be in our BYU blue rooting for the Cougs!

And I will most likely be taking a nap too.

Wordless Wednesday -Peek...A Boo!

Picture Tag

A couple of blogs that I read....Laughadaisy & Would you feel better if I licked your face? posted this fun tag on their blogs this week and I thought it looked so fun that I would play along. Go me.

Here is what you do:

Go to your pictures on your computer and open the fourth folder and the fourth picture in that file and voila!!

Without further ado....

This is Jonathan when he was 2 1/2 years old dressing HIMSELF up as Darth Vader. Isn't he just so creative? He would even do the voice if you asked him too. I am so sorry. My kids are warped.

Anyway, this was fun. Play along if you like!!

Flashback Friday- Family portraits

You gotta love the 70's. I'm guessing that one requirement of living during the 70's was the ability to not match at all. Cuz take a look people! None of us match. Our own clothes or even to each other!

Another point I want to make: 4 people have brown hair in this picture, one has black, one is blond, and one is reddish light brown. Take a picture of us today and for some Odd reason, only a couple of us Still have our original hair color. Hmmmmm. I'm not faulting, I'm just saying....

Check out my parents! My dad is super handsome and my mom is a Hottie! Woot Woot!

I love family pictures. It's hard to believe that this was our family 30 years ago.

Here we are last year at Thanksgiving. From that picture 30 years ago, one more child was added to the family, 6 spouses, and 17 grandkids. Awesome isn't it! (And my dad and mom are still as handsome and pretty as ever!)

Tagged!

I got tagged by Jamie.

The rules are:
1. Link to who tagged you. (I did that above)
2. Tell 6 quirks you have.
3. Tag 6 more people.

hmmmmmmm...6 quirks......

1. I HAVE to put chapstick on every night right before bed.
2. The first thing I do when I log on to the internet is check my email. I don't look at anything else until I have done that first.
3. I blow my nose while I am going to the bathroom. Really.
4. When I swallow my vitamins, I have to swish them around in my mouth 3 times before letting them go down.
5. I sleep on my right side. I can not sleep on any other side or even my back. It may seem like I am asleep, but I am definately NOT sleeping deeply or very well unless I am on my right side.
6. I check our caller id everytime I leave the house and come back even if there are no messages on our machine.

I tag:
Andi
Becca
Liz
Kari
Hollie
Angel

a little woohoo for me

I filled up our SUV today with gas. Guess what? It only cost $75 this time! How sad is that that I am excited about how much it cost.

But in all reality you have to factor in some the whys of my excitement. A month ago when I filled up the exact same amount of gas in my car it cost over $85 dollars. In a month here in Utah, gas has gone from being over $4 a gallon down to $3.55 (today at Smiths). This is exciting news. It's still sad that a person could get a thrill out of STILL paying over $3 for gas, but what the heck!
And it only took one credit card transaction to fill it too! (credit card companies place a limit on the amount for each transaction- our CC is $75- so usually I have to do 2 swipes of the card to fill the tank- very annoying!)