Beware of the Witch!!

**edit finally added the photos**

It's always interesting to me how my mood can change at the drop of a hat. I had all intentions of making my Halloween post be a happy go lucky type holiday. But, I have to be honest it was really nothing like that. I admit I have felt groggy for the past couple of days, pmsing, and well you get the picture. I chose to let my kids get under my skin for absolutely no reason at all. This morning started off with whining central SERIOUSLY. On occasion thats fine, but ALL morning long gets a bit tiresome. I came home from my morning walk to find that I had missed a pack of gum hidden in one of Doug's pockets that I had washed and placed into the dryer. Needless to say I was scraping out the gum inside of my dryer drum this morning (rrrrrRR!) along with getting high off of orange scents. (goo-gone has this aroma). Not my idea of a fun morning.

I made the mistake of getting off to a later start than normal and for some reason the traffic was terrible! Maybe the holiday season has started earlier than normal? I have never seen Sam's Club so busy during the week in the middle of the day like this before. I also had to make myself go to the grocery store since we were getting low on the everyday staples which included eggos. Taylor wasn't too happy this morning when her cinnamon roll oatmeal box was found empty! Excuse me is what I thought! And since my children REFUSE to eat cereal in the morning this is what I was dealing with.

On a happier note, Doug got home around 2:15pm from work--nice! He went running and I began preparing dinner so that we could eat before going out trick or treating. I decided we should pick a healthy meal since my kids would be loading up on the sugar later. We prepared dinner in which during my kids decided to get into some sort of HUGE fight in the backyard. What's new right? They either love or hate each other it seems. So for that Doug told them they couldn't go to the first block of houses for trick or treating. Well, they didn't like that a bit and said some words of "not fair" "i didn't do anything......etc." At this point trick or treating didn't sound to awfully appealing with two grumpy kids anyways (if you want you can picture Luke & Weston whining and fighting as well).

4 pirates, 4 blocks=HUGE pot of candy!

But, we took the plunge and headed over to the Gordon's with frowny faces in tow. I forced my kids to at least look happy in these pictures after all it's HALLOWEEN!! After about the first 3 or so houses I told them to join in since I felt the whole block of not trick or treating was a bit harsh. It was a bit difficult having the older ones run and Luke, Weston and Maryn try to keep up so Doug took the older ones around the long way and Angie and I headed the other way. Well, I think we got the raw end because Luke decided he didn't want to go up to the door and repeated that "he wanted to go home" Weston decided he didn't want to ride in the stroller and meander all over the road. Needless to say I was glad when we hooked up with Doug and made our last round home. The funny thing was my kids were more excited about the glow sticks than anything. Fine by me!! We sorted through all this candy, bathed the kids, let them eat about 4-5 pieces of candy and off to bed they went.

Free necklaces our neighborhood handed out.

I just took a bubble bath(can't remember the last time I did that) and am about ready to crash. Hope ya'll had a happier Halloween than I--and I didn't even dress the part ha! Is this what I get for having such a great weekend??

On the eve of Halloween............

Today was just me and Weston so we got ready and headed out to the mall to exchange some shirts for Doug. I ended up getting him a few more since they were on sale. I also headed over to the Children's Place to take back some jeans that didn't fit Weston. I was bummed about this because he really needs some. However, due to his size its quite hard to fit him. I found these cute pj's 3 pairs for $24. I thought that was such a bargain and pretty cute as well! I don't think any of my children have been as true to size as Weston. He is wearing 18 month pjs (which by this age my others were way into a 2T) And we all know pjs never run true to size! I guess it's good that he is a petite little peanut since he is my baby.

I failed to mention that I got this fabulous hand delivered package from Angie the other day. She said it was a thank-you for helping her make their poodle skirts. Seriously, I didn't mind, but thank-you for the awesome package! I can never pass up on a shade t-shirt, great lipgloss, and free bath&body works! Thanks Angie...a card would have really done. And if you want to sneak a peek at Sandy & Danny you can check it out here. I thought their costumes turned out soooo cute.

Last, but not least I couldn't forget to wish a birthday shout to my one and only brother Justin. I am amazed what a positive person he is, despite his condition. He has always had problems growing up, never has been a very healthy kid, had illnesses, sight problems.... you name it. He is currently blind and cannot hear very well. Despite all of this, you would think he would be such an angry person. He is complete polar opposite of this. He is a very compassionate caring person, always has a smile on his face, and seriously knows more about cars than anyone I know--thanks to Papa! Justin is currently doing a program in Denver, CO. I am so proud of him and his determination to live on his own someday. This program is teaching him skills such as how to use a transportation system such as buses, read brail, every day life things cooking, etc. and properly use his walking cane. Although, he is across the miles from us we want him to know we are thinking of you and hope you have a great day! Love you lots Justie!


P.S. Are you ready for Halloween?? I think I am sick thinking about all the candy our household will be getting tomorrow. I think I may have to adopt Chanel's idea of letting the kids eat as much of it as they want for one day until they don't want it anymore then throw it all away!

Being Prepared!

Hopefully everyone is well rested. I know that I am after loving my extra hour of sleep! My kids even slept in this morning until 7am--a record!! We were on time to church and even got to enjoy the prelude music. Today the messages focused on being prepared in church. After listening to a few talks in sacrament and in our combined meeting today I am feeling a bit "unprepared" They spoke of having a plan as a family or secret word in case of an emergency or ways of becoming united if we were for some reason separated. They gave examples like getting separated from our children as many of those did during the whole Katrina mess in NOLA. Are you prepared in case of an emergency?? Well, you can guess what one of our future FHE's will be focused on--being prepared!!

I am not one to wear this much makeup--and think my face looks a bit painted, but I called it the "mac makeover" model for Doug day!!

After church Doug went home teaching and the kids and I were busy little workers getting Doug's birthday bbq and presents ready. In honor of my husbands "pre-birthday" I decided to use my expensive Mac makeup. I don't use it to often because I don't want to waste it...I know weird. Yesterday at the last minute I decided to do his b-day dinner early since he is on trauma call on his birthday.

After wrapping presents I walked down to get the mail since we forgot to get it yesterday. I'll I have to say is holy cow....what a stash of good mail! I love holiday time because normally our families will send fun cards and the kids love getting their abraham lincolns! Thanks mom & dad c. and papa & grandma!! We also got a couple of good magazines (Limited Too) is Taylor's to die for store!! Even though it's waaay too expensive. And on top of that we got a sweet note from one of the older ladies in our ward thanking us for putting on such a grand party. This actually was the same lady (I believe 80 or so years of age) who painted her face and dressed up as a clown!! She was a hoot! Needless to say it brought a smile to my face that I could touch someone of her age at a Halloween party.

This afternoon was filled with festivities in our house. We grilled steaks, opened Doug's presents, carved pumpkins for Halloween with the Gordon's, and ate birthday yum-o cake. The funniest thing was of all the presents his favorite was this $11 spotlight I bought at the last minute the other day. Who would of known? Some things never change with guys and their gadgets.

The kids had a blast despite a few meltdowns--I think they were feeling the daylight savings and were ready for bed. We ended the night dancing to none other than Christmas music and some weird kid rap song "I love ice-cream & cake" Anyone ever heard it?





On a side note if anyone has a chance you can click on this to help my friend Mindy from Idaho out with ideas!! She has quite an amazing story--I won't spill the beans if you don't know! P.S. Did anyones day feel like eternity like mine?? When it was 6pm it felt like 10pm. Crazy! Anyways, hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Jam Packed Fun

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Fall Festival for Doug's department. They had lots of food, games for the kids, crafts and the biggest hit was the balloon guy. Jared got him to make some sort of alien, Luke curious george (his current favorite obsession), and Taylor a monkey in a tree (still puzzled as to why she chose that one). Anyways, the kids had a blast and on our way home we stopped off to rent Monster House and Nacho Libre. We opted to watch Monster House and Doug went on to cover a high school football game. I thought the movie was cute, Luke got a bit scared, but luckily no nightmares came of it.

Ready for rides!!

Today was just jam packed of things. We haven't had a Saturday like it in a while. Angie had mentioned this morning she was going to take her kids to Six Flags since Greg was going to be gone. My thought was....that's no fun alone we'll tag with you. So Doug finished up some studying, got in some exercise and off we went to Fiesta Texas.

Doug holding on for dear life on the carousel

Of course it was decorated with Halloween galore. After a few rides I was ready to head out of the park. It got a little warm and I can only take a few hours of this park since we have gone so often. Today was the last Saturday the park was open. Not too awfully sad about that can you tell? We left and headed out for what I call a "lunar" or late lunch/dinner to Stonewerks and met up with Greg. We ate, chatted with the Gordon's and then headed over to Super-Target. I had to get Weston another pair of shoes since I lost his NEW pair the other day. We then went on to Sam's Club to pick up some stuff for tomorrow's dinner.


Tonight....which was the best part of the day Greg and Doug took the kids and Angie and I headed to the mall for two hours of PARADISE. No kids, no obligations, just shopping. We mentioned how we hadn't done this since July. Anyways, it was so fun!!! We went to find Doug and Greg birthday presents.

Don't we look like celebrities??.....
Step aside Paris, Britney, Nicole, or Jessica!!

(Doug's is next week and Greg's is on Thanksgiving) We also were on the hunt for some new jeans. Unfortunately, no such luck and I just couldn't bring myself to buy something for myself when it wasn't my birthday or anything. We got the giggles because I couldn't believe the styles of shirts that have come out or back. The girl knocked on our dressing room door and asked us how we were doing? Little did she know we were taking pictures and poking fun at the clothing at Nordstroms! Seriously, I feel like I am shopping in a time warp. Valore, long shirts, stripped clothing, rugbys, stretch pants, round colored earrings, and big belts! Oh, my!!! Now I am just waiting for the Units Store to come back. Remember those?? For some reason I find these HUGE glasses hideous on me. No offense to those who like them, they are just not my favorite accesory. We ended the evening with some hot soup from Jason's Deli. I must say I love great Saturday's like this!! Another great thing is we get an extra hour of sleep so don't forget to "fall" back and reset the clocks.

Favorites that occurred or I did this week

After spending an unwanted $100 on a tire yesterday (they couldn't fix it) I thought I better write down some of the good things that took place this week. Here is a list in a nutshell:

cleaned my car & Doug's

clean all sheets in the house (5 beds)

cleaned house

hosed out my garage (mud/dirt be gone!)

lit my yankee vanilla carmel candle everyday--yum!

finished a book/went to bookclub

got a route 44 diet coke

ate lunch with Doug

ate lunch with Angie

Doug shaved off his beard (no offense to those who like them--I didn't like it on him).

put on a ward party--and got several compliments

drove Doug's car and it actually drives nice after the tuneup (I think its gonna last)

got some good mail from my mom & lara

got an unexpected check in the mail when we needed it most (testimony of tithing still holds true!)

Doug has been home by dinner everynight this week except Wednesday

watched my kids inhale a ton of candy after trunk or treat (they were extra happy & even sharing it)

french braided Taylor's hair (glad she still allows me to do that)

opened my windows today

Maryn & Weston gave each other hugs in the store

Luke can pump his legs and swing himself

talked to Allison

talked to Chanel

drank a Chick Fila milkshake --yummy!

talked to my sister & grandma several times

discovered Jared's eyes are fine (I think he was just sleepy& maybe copying)

printed all pictures off my camera then deleted them on cartridge--love that!

my mom called and says she is flying out to help me drive with my four kids for Thanksgiving wknd--thanks mom!

Sporatic Events

--First I woke up super tired today. Normally not a good thing when Thursday's are crazy days in my house. I walked the kids out to Angie's car and found my front tire completely DEFLATED! --So much there is no way I could drive on it. I called Doug and he said he could come home between cases around 10:30am to change it out. (really I should know how to change a tire right?) My 2nd husband (as we joke about) Greg came home early and switched the tire for me. Thanks Greg!!!

--In the midst of all this I got a voice message on the phone from the nurse at school. She was questioning Jared's eye sight. I told her he has never complained and reads fine at home without squinting or anything. Long story short apparently there is a boy in his class that covers one of his eyes when he reads. I am suspicious into thinking my son is copying him. (my kids are known to do this). I will be interested to here his side afterschool.

--I have decided that after having to repair a tire and get a new one within a week I have run out of good luck. Last week I was "in luck" They were small things, but I managed to get a free movie rental, free pair of V.S. panties, and my tire repair was free. Oh, well you gotta take the good with the bad.



--Finished the bookclub book for tonight. Really a MUST read. I read the Peacegiver by James Farrell. There are several quotes that I loved, but here is one of my favorite ones:

"Being mistreated is the most important condition of morality, for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us."

This also really struck me about Satan and his powers:

"He leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, spoke the words around him, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever." ......"the chain looked not to be a chain at all, but a silken cord, fine, soft and inviting."

My kids are about to get off the bus and I have to assist with homework (get the low down on the eye covering) and take Taylor to dance. Chao!

New Blogger in Cali!

My Nola sidekick Chanel.....FINALLY started a blog. She started it a while ago and I just found out. So excited!! Welcome Chanel--really its about time. Come on Allison you know you want to :)

Rainy Schedule

We had many days like this living in New Orleans. I am just happy to say now my car sits nicely inside a garage on these types of days. Theres nothing worse than trying to carry in a bunch of groceries in the pouring rain! Growing up I remember when it rained we had a rainy day schedule. Usually this meant we would play heads up 7up in our classroom or do some sort of centers. Well, today I would have to say is definitely a rainy day schedule here. It's even raining too hard to take a morning walk. Since I hate dragging the kids from the car to any type of stores..........sounds like my sewing machine and book is calling me today!

Clouse's Can Put on a Party!

I have to say my long day of preparation (or one man band as I like to call it) was a HUGE success. The boys had fun helping me and after I got all the tables set up I was glad to have a few more friends come help with the decorations.

Shiver me timbers Rebecca!!
I think Doug's costume turned out the best by far.
Step aside Jack Sparrow!

I have to say I was a bit skeptical about how this whole thing would turn out. Once again we were suprised at the turn out, great food and awesome dress-up from a lot of the adults. We even got our bishop to dress up (he's anti-halloween) and one of our 60 year old sisters! (And yes, Jill & Kristi if I had smugmug I could have linked all the great pictures I got of all the adult costumes). But I don't yet...maybe soon.


Luke and Weston were big helpers this morning despite opening one of my jars of counted M&M's. These were our center pieces. We had sheets of paper and you had to try and guess how many were in the jar. The winners took them home. Even though it was a lot of work separating them I think it was worth it for the look!



We had over 20 different types of soup. The best Doug and I decided was a red bean and rice dish one of the families brought in our ward. Ironically, she is from New Orleans (no wonder we loved it!) She did admit it was Emeril's recipe though. I brought corn chowder which turned out pretty good as well. Along with our counting jars contest we had a adult costume contest and soup "brew off". Here are the winners.


Soup winners were The Powells, McBee's and Boothe's. The Reed's were our costume winners. They always have the best costumes by far and I love how they go all out. Now I am happy to say we threw a great party and I can crash into bed!



Last, but not least Weston was so funny tonight. He was very unsure about all the costumes. He was very frightened by all the painted faces and therefore was timid all night. For some reason I love when he is like this because he stays right by my side. He sure did make a cute little pirate too!

Run Down

After all the M&M counting I think my brain officially hurt and I failed to mention what my home teachers taught yesterday. Doug had asked them to give a message on reverence (something we struggle with in our home). They brought a great activity for the kids. In fact, Taylor was so excited she went into her room after they left and made this paper church. I believe he got it out of the Friend magazine-but I am not really sure. It also listed all the ideas you can do to be reverent. Such a good idea!

Monday rundown:

*Went for a morning walk (almost froze it was in the 50's) I guess I have thin blood.
* Took Luke to preschool
*Made copies for Halloween party tomorrow
* Ran over to JoAnn's and picked up this cute fabric for a quilt I am going to make!

There has been so many boys born lately, I am excited to do something pink for a change.
And of course I have really nothing but blue in my house.

*Drove around looking for 50's wigs for Greg's costume tomorrow--bummer no luck!
*Convinced Angie to eat at Chuy's for lunch. We couldn't pass it up since we had to drive by it anyways on our way home. (Weston and Maryn were troopers!)

*Balanced check book (never fun)
*Looked at junk mail
*Kids came home off bus, did homework made lunches
*Taylor came in annoucing she lost yet ANOTHER tooth at school. That makes 12!
*Made dinner for a family in our ward
*Washed my car
*Went for a second walk with Doug and kids (we treated it as a fhe)
*Ate chicken parmasagne with french bread for dinner
*Family Scripture Study/Prayer
*Watched Heroes--OFFICALLY HOOKED! Love that show.
*Almost done with my book--The Peacegiver (a must read--will write more later....)
*Off to bed--big party planning tomorrow!

This afternoon after counting M&M's.................

Taylor lost her 11th tooth. She may not be growing, (see Friday's post-compared to her friends) but she's loosing her teeth!I can't believe she has lost that many in the space of just 3 years. My baby is growing up! I guess that means the tooth fairy is due for a visit this Sunday eve.

M&M Galore

Today our Sunday was spent counting, sorting and preparing for our Trunk or Treat party on Tuesday. (probably a good thing I don't care for these because I would be sick!) Doug and I are the activity chairs in our ward and since we are the committee we roped our kids into helping. All of our bags that were donated were the multi-colored bags so me being anal decided it would look best if they were just the orange and black ones.


We even got our hometeachers counting the M&M's. They couldn't have come at a better time since we were in the process of it. Now we are working on making ballots for our contests, name tags for our "witches brew" and "best adult costume contest" It's been fun planning it, but I will be relieved when it is all over with. Now I'm off to take the Gordon's family pictures for Christmas and to figure out what the heck to make for dinner. **edit** Gordon's offically rock!! They were nice enough to invite our crew over for her famous chicken enchiladas. And I must say they were YUM! Thanks guys for a great dinner as always and letting the kids play in the back yard.

Classic Luke

--Luke is getting to the age of curiosity and he often comes out with some pretty funny comments. Another thing he likes to do is state the obvious. For example if you are sitting on the couch watching t.v. He says, "Mom you watching t.v.?" Here's just a taste of what I remembered from this week:


--Doug was sitting at the soccer game today. Next to them was a man with several tatoos on his arm. Luke says, "Look dad he has colors all over him!" (imagine loud enough in an excited voice that the guy heard).

--This may be crude but when someone toots in our car it makes me crazy when someone doesn't fess up to it. I have often pulled over to the side of the road until someone will admit it and say excuse me. Seriously, it grosses me out. Anyways, today that happened and we all knew who it was (Jared). Of course he denied it and Luke replied "Hey maybe we should change Jared's diaper." It was pretty funny coming from a 3 year old. Jared didn't think the comment was too funny.

--Doug wore a regular t-shirt with his scrub bottoms to go into the hospital. As he was walking out Luke says, "Hey dad......that DOESN'T match you need to go and change." I didn't know the boy would notice something let alone go together!

--Luke was sharing toys with Weston the other day (kind of a change since most of the time he teases him) Out of the blue he says "Mom I'm a good big brother huh?"

--He is very particular about the music in the car as well. If he likes a song he replies "Hey turn it up" His current favorites include "I love Chocolate Milk and "I am Superman" by R.E.M. Mostly because Doug has changed it to saying I am Luke Ryan. (Doug has found each of our kids a song and added their names to it).

--I also love that he can now tell me the stories we read to him. I say the first part of the sentence and he can finish it.

The current favorite in our home is How To Be A Pirate. We have three of David Shannon's books. I think the most famous one is "No David" The entire book is saying "No, David" but I love how the pictures illustrate the whole story. It's also another favorite in our house!

Rat Race

Taylor and Mackenzi made all A honor roll!
This is Taylor's 3 year in a roll of straight A's.
Way to go sweetheart!

I know that this may sound like the same old stuff, but today was literally a rat race since the moment my eyes popped open. It's almost comical what Angie and I will do to make sure we get our morning exercise in. I took the kids to school about 15 minutes early (which meant 7:15am!) so that we could hurry up and walk. Why?? Because the girls had an awards assembly at 8:30 this morning. I wouldn't really call it a walk it was more of a jog/run. At any rate I am a bit sore today....ummm maybe this is preparing me for that CRAZY 10K turkey trot I will be doing in a few weeks.

This is our "Texas & Halloween" baskets Angie and I did
for fun fest. They will get auctioned off tonight and proceeds
will go to their classroom.
I hope they get a lot of $$ for them!

We left the school and headed to Home Depot for some more craft supplies. I must say I am offically done with projects (at least homemade ones for now). Later we layed all the kiddos down at my house so that Angie could go up and help set up for Fun Fest at the school. Oh, wait a minute..........Weston never napped!! So the two older ones slept and I had to deal with a whiney little one. I am not sure what's up...but you never see Luke falling asleep before Weston. At any rate I did manage to make dinner. Yummo Jambayla. I actually posted the recipe....so easy and delic. I have been in the mood for it since Kristi made hers a few weeks back. And since it was a little cooler today it was perfect to eat.

I was kinda bummed on top of a whiney baby, being a bit sleep deprived, and running around with my head chopped off.....I managed to get a screw in my tire. Blast! So, after Fun Fest I headed over to Sam's Club and browsed for about 1.5 hours. That was the least wait of 3 different tire places. Luckily Doug got home and was there with me and the two boys. Also, I failed to mention Angie had Taylor and Jared was with another friend in good hands. Kuddos to good friends!! Doug had to cover another football game so he will be gone until about 10pm, Taylor and Mackenzi are having a sleep over tonight and Jared is sleeping at a Josh's (his buddy behind us). I am just happy to be sitting down for once and just scarfed down a bowl of jambayla. We rented Click to watch should be a fun show.....bummer Doug has to watch Battlestar Galactica first.

Full

Today was definitely a "full" day. I didn't waste an ounce of time today on getting things done. On our drive to school we saw this family of deer on the side of the road. Our neighborhood backs up into a big open field and acres of wilderness. It was also pleasantly cooler today. So we have gone from 89 degree weather yesterday to 59 degree weather today. One day tank tops and air conditioning and the next open windows and jeans. Crazy if you ask me.

Doug got home early and ended up studying the afternoon at the desk in our room. Since he was home I ran over to pick up some jars for our party next week. I came home to Taylor mothering Weston. She says he layed on her the ENTIRE time I was gone (10 minutes) and this made her really HOT! Anyways, she is such a good sister and is very loving at that. Thank goodness I have one nurturer.


Tonight Doug had a soccer game at 6pm. He admitted that he really isn't cut out for the sport, but enjoys going out with the guys to play. I thought it was cute he chose the same number as Jared's jersey. Actually, I think he likes the shirt more than playing. He hasn't stopped talking about it since he received it the other day. The front & side arm reads "Moe" which is his nickname--(long version mormon). And looking at this picture I will be glad once our Halloween party is over--I am NOT liking the rug on Doug's face. I will have to give it to him for going all out for his pirate costume. He will definitely be very "jack sparrowish" and a sport about going all out. He even painted his face silver for tin man (we all went as Wizard of Oz). I still can't believe I convinced him to paint his face.




Doug went on to his soccer game and I took Jared to practice in which afterwards they had a little bbq for the end of the year. These are him and his buddies eating hotdogs, chips and juice boxes. Now that soccer's over its time to move on to baskeball season. I am glad there is about a month in between. I am ready for a little bit of a break. I am off to bed for once again a early start in the morning.

Much of the same

Today is Luke's preschool day which means I normally run errands all morning. I was excited to get off to an early start this morning and get some last minute things for our trunk or treat party on Tuesday. I was a bit concerned since Weston wasn't acting at all like himself. He was extremely quiet in the car, had no appetite and was beginning to look a bit pale. I decided to end my running around early and stop at Sonic for my drink and head home. I arrived at Sonic to see some "good news" I was able to upgrade my drink to a Route 44 for only .20. So for $1.20 I left with a HUGE drink in tow. Weston fell asleep in the car and I transferred him to his room-he slept for over 3 hours! I think he was definitely a bit feverish and under the weather. He is doing better this afternoon, but still pretty lathargic.

It worked out great because I then began finishing up several projects I needed to get done around the house. Now I have more of a deadline for Christmas gifts because as of last night we are going home for Thanksgiving!!! Which means I need to get all of my family's stuff done so I won't have to mail it. We were lucky enough to go home last year as well. Thanksgiving at Doug's mom & dad's is the best! You can bet walking away at least 5lbs heavier when eating there. Who can pass up turkey, homemade rolls, homemade pies and homemade icecream? YUMMO.

This picture was taken last year in AZ at turkey dinner.
I am amazed that Doug completely looks like a different person.
Crazy what -30lbs will do to you!

I am seriously soooo excited. I called my mom and I am trying to work it so her, my sister and I can run a 10K on Thanksgiving. Doug and I did it last year and it ended up being really fun. The bummer part of it is I will be driving 14.5 hours with my four kids alone. I have done 9 hours alone before so what's another 5 or so hours right?? I feel pretty good about it because Taylor is a HUGE help to me. Doug is flying up on Thanksgiving day due to a hectic work schedule, he starts trauma on his birthday and will be finishing up with it at the end of December. One of his co-workers emailed him and said he would cover his weekend call so he could fly home. So we booked Doug's one way ticket and exactly 4 weeks from today AZ here we come!!

Creative Tuesday

Today was a day of creativity for sure. Remember those boards on the side of the road? Well, they have finally been cut, mitered, and now I am in the process of painting and sanding them. I am very excited about my assembly line of signs. I didn't realize how tiring painting and sanding would be. I just hope my recipients like them as much as I have liked making them. More details to follow later...........

This afternoon we put the kids down for naps and Angie and I worked away on their Halloween costumes. It was definitely a little more time consuming than originally planned. But I guess that's what happens when you are alternating a kid size 3-4 to a 9 year old and adult pattern. Needless to say after Angie's precise cutting (my least favorite part) we were able to sew them together. I must say they turned out pretty cute and these Gordon girls are gonna look darling in their 50's attire. And I hope I didn't steal Angie's thunder posting these skirts. I couldn't resist how great they turned out!

I also have to document this is the third night in a row we have been able to sit down for dinner as a family. Seriously a MIRACLE. It's been so nice having Doug home by dinner time. After dinner we hooked up with the Gordon gang for $1 scoops at Baskin Robbins. I didn't take a picture, but Angie got a cute shot of the kids. I am off to bed since it's super late........

My Very Own

Today is Maci's birthday. Happy B-day Maci! Jared and Maci are definitely buddies. Poor Maci has to dress up in boys costumes when she comes down here and Jared will play Princess games at her house. They make a great pair. Thanks for being such a great friend to Jared!

This may sound silly, but I am officially glad to be back on my own p.c.! Our internet has been out since last Thursday. You may ask how I have been posting? Well, Doug's laptop has wireless connection and for some odd reason his signal picked up--and I was able to use it. It hasn't been terrible, just a slower process since I don't have everything at my fingertips like I am used to. You know you just get used to your own computer and desk. The funny thing was he had to take his computer to work today and asked if I would survive an entire day without the internet? Ha! I did. Enough of that.....

It's my week to drive the kiddos to school which means I normally try and get up a tad earlier so I can get out the door ON TIME. I successfully dropped the kids off and was ready for my ritualistic walk and it began to down pour. Great... a HUGE damper on my day. Seriously, walking for some reason kicks my motor into gear. Anyways, with the weather not cooperating I decided to utilize that 40 minutes before taking Luke to school to clean my bathrooms and mop floors and change my sheets. Not too exciting, but at least I finished it.

At 9:40am I went visiting teaching. So happy about that because I can check off one of my to do's for the month. Always a good feeling and I really like the people I visit. I then was able to hook up with Doug for lunch. Another unique thing. He had an hour and I happened to be in the neighborhood. Going to lunch is probably one of my most favorite things to do--and who better to go with than my husband?

The kids came home from school and Angie was nice enough to take me to pick up Doug's car. It has been running terrible and we broke down and took it to the mechanic. Surprisingly it just needed a tuneup. So it ended up being okay--and now the car is at least running without an awful noise. I told him I hoped I wouldn't have to visit his shop for a while now :)

I am always amazed at the kindness I receive from different people. Especially those I don't know. I got this cute package from Jana today and I am sure she sent it just a day before delivering her 4th baby! I especially love the cute jar of flowers. These dried flowers are my newest addiction since Jill put some in a package she sent me. Now I just can't get enough of them. Anyways, thanks to Jana and congrats on her newest addition to her family!

My dear friend Chanel sent me some pictures she found of Taylor. These were some of the first photos she took when she started doing photography. (These still hang on my wall today) Taylor says she remembers borrowing this dress from Haley because Haley didn't like it. And Chanel telling her she was like a princess. I was amazed she remembered so many details only being 2 years old. Crazy! These are some of my favorite pictures and I was just happy my daughter could be her little model for pictures. Chanel wanna come and take some more pictures for me??--I miss having you as my next door neighbor! Well, I am off to read our book club book. Yes, I am reading--can you believe it! You can now close your jaws.

Good Times

Last night we decided to go out and eat at Champps for dinner. The kids love this place because their are t.v.'s all around. We also don't have to worry about them being loud because they play really loud music. Afterwards we headed out to the new Target at La Cantera. I don't know why I was so excited to go since we have several by us, but there is just something about a brand new store. We were actually able to sneak a few Christmas items in the basket for the kids. I am already on the hunt for little things. I especially love shopping for stocking stuffers. That is my favorite part of Christmas.

Today after church Taylor and I planned the FHE for the afternoon. It was kind of a fun little activity and she really liked doing it. We had a scripture treasure hunt. She did such a good job and looked up and marked all 15 scriptures we had to find. Afterwards we made Amy H.'s special treat. The kids loved decorating and eating these fun Halloween treats. Yummy!!

We ended today putting on the new cd we got last night. This is Doug's all time favorite group. For some reason our family just loves to put on the music and dance away. They were jamming out to It's The End Of The World by REM. I love it because we all end up laughing and having such a good time. I was able to catch Doug and the kids in motion. Overall it was a fun Sunday kind of day. Doug and I were even able to catch a power nap in! Woo hoo.