Little Tidbits and our family Halloween Party

A number of months ago I was reading on a blog and they were touting the virtue of this particular DVD. I was intrigued enough to buy it for my own little kiddo's. I wasn't too sure that it was all that it was cracked up to be until yesterday morning while waiting for the kids to get ready for school, Tyler (my 2 year old) picked up a book and brought it to me.

I was reluctant to read it to him as I was trying to encourage my older ones in getting ready for school. The book was "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss. He looked at the first word and pointed to the letter T and started saying Ttttt, and then he did the same with the W only he mistaked it for the Mmmm sound. And then he did Ppppp for the letter P in Pocket. I was AMAZED!!! When I quizzed him on what he knows, I realized he knows more than half the letter sounds. I wish I could take credit for that, but it's not me it's this.

The Letter Factory really does work!!

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This past week while driving on a street I drive on often, I noticed this Church messageboard. The message read: "We admit our priorities by our actions." This has caused a lot of reflective thought for me this past week especially as I have tried to prepare for General Conference. I have been so busy re-staining my fence, dealing with some Super Saturday problems, throwing a Halloween Party for my kids and a few other things and I know my priorities need to be better with other good things that I neglect, like personal scripture study.

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Our Halloween Party was a great success! We ended up having more kids than we originally planned on. I let each of my kids invite 3 friends and when you have as many kids as I do that adds up!! Well, then a couple of the friends said they couldn't make it so I let them each invite another friend as a replacement and then the original invitee's came back, everyone of them, to say they could make it afterall!!

Kayla (our oldest daughter), and friends Lonnie, Natalie (who is hidden behind the hanging bat) and Emma. We had decided to make dressing up optional and Kayla was happy about that. She's starting to get to the age where it isn't such a big deal anymore.

Me explaining how to make the witch cupcakes.

We decorated these tote bags I got at Michaels for $1 each. They stamped them with acrylic paint and Halloween stamps and glued felt Halloween shapes on them and put lettering on with puffy paints.

Tote Bag.

We played bowling with Pumpkins and 2 liter bottles spray painted white with ghost eyes and mouths, we had a Spooky Walk (like a cake walk only when their picture was picked they got a sucker instead of a cake.) And we played Halloween Corners where each corner in our family room had a different picture in each corner. The pictures were all done by my kids. The corners had a Ghost, Pumpkin, Witch and Bat. When the music stopped all the kids picked one of the 4 corners. One of the corners was randomly drawn from a label inside a dish and everyone in that corner was out.

Then we made these cute witch cupcakes and ate spider cookies, Cheetos and had some Gory Punch.

Witch Cupcakes.

Spider Cookie.

Gory Punch, notice the ice in the shape of hands, some of the fingers melted rather quickly though..

It was lots of fun, but I have to say lots of work too!! I'm so glad that we were able to make the time to do this for our kids. We need to do stuff like this more often!

After 9 months of waiting...

I've waited 9 long months for this!

I'm so excited that the day finally came!! I have been an absentee blogger lately and this is part of the reason!! And no, it's probably not what you are thinking it is. But it may make you wonder since I don't believe I've posted any pictures of myself in quite awhile.

No, it's not that.

It's THIS!!!

My kitchen cabinets have arrived!!! I am beyond excited! You would not believe what a difference it has made in the kitchen even though they are not all installed yet.

The work in progress.

Friday was our hometown Homecoming Parade and I was there to watch my oldest daughter as she rode the float for her school. I took my little Rilyn along with me. We had a great time together.

Rilyn and I before the Parade began.

Rilyn watching the Band come down the street.

Kayla riding on her float. She is the one with her hand in the air! We ended up on the wrong side of the street than what she was riding on. We had been on that side but crossed over when an entire Elementary School came out and lined the street on that side and so we moved to the opposite side so Rilyn would have a chance at getting a little candy. She ended up getting a lot!

Another float, this one was for the High School Drama team.

Meanwhile, my hard-working husband was at home installing the cabinets.

And I have to tell you about the funniest thing that happened last week. Well, it's embarassing and funny all at the same time! I went into my urologist (aka Kidney Doctor) and found that both of my stones in my right kidney were successfully blasted at my surgery a few weeks ago, YEAH!! But we also found another stone, 7mm (which is pretty large), in my left kidney that is in the lower lobe and could pass sooner or later but most likely sooner. He had a bunch of tests run on me to try and find out the cause of these stones. One of the tests was a 24 hour urine test, where I have to collect all of my urine for an entire twenty-four hours!

Well, I had recently found out that the closest lab to me is inside a Walmart Store. So as I casually walked in on Friday morning to turn in my day's worth of urine I was stopped by the Walmart Greeter as he wanted to put a "return sticker" on my gas can look alike urine jug. I about busted a gut! I mean, what would they give $ me for returning my urine to them? It was hilarious!!!!! I told him no that this was a return for the LAB and he finally understood and let me go. I never did tell him the contents of the jug though!!

A picture of not THE Jug, but another similar one that I used on a subsequent test! Doesn't it resemble a Gas Can?

In other news, my kids and I are planning a Halloween Party for later on in the week. Last night we sat down together and hand stamped some invitations with an Apple and Orange paint. They thought it was great fun and we managed to do it without too much of a mess!

Now I've got to get to work and figure out some fun crafts, games and yummy treats for 5 kids and 16 friends between the ages of 2-11!!!! If you have any super suggestions, send them my way please!!

The kids and I stamping our Pumpkin Cards last night. I'm always so worn out after wrestling Sunbeams during Church that I can't wait to get something comfy on, hence the pink Warm-ups.

Alyssa and I having fun stamping.

Men Are Just Happier

What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant.

You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay.

Wrinkles add character. Graying hair adds attraction. Wedding dress~$5000. Tux rental~$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.

New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes. No wonder men are happier.

My friend Amy, who is serving in Iraq sent this to me and it was so hilarious I just had to share it on my blog! Thanks Amy, for the good laugh!!

Procrastinating

Procrastinating

I have a gazillion things to get done today and I just can't seem to get my feet moving!

Maybe that's because my top priority is getting beneath this pile of papers on my desk?

My messy desk.

My messy filing cabinet.

Maybe it's also partly because my mouth is sore from the temporary crown I got put on yesterday? Maybe it's because I'm a little depressed about my kitchen cabinet delivery getting pushed to tomorrow? Maybe it's because if I get it all taken care of today there will be another pile tomorrow?


Maybe I should just get BUSY?

Time

Sometimes the biggest difficulty in blogging is the time to post.

We have been in the throes of more yardwork, what else? Laren finally got the seed in at 10:50pm Saturday night in our backyard - now I really hope the warm weather sticks around because I need that grass in so I don't have to put up with dirt and mud getting tracked in all fall and winter long!


Freshly planted grass. But it just looks like nice smooth dirt!!

I decided to stain our fence because the fence has been up for awhile now, each side has been up a different length of time based on when our neighbors decided to put their respective fence up.

The Cedarwood fence color.

The oldest section of fence has probably been up 3+ years now and that section and another were really starting to look old and I wanted to catch it before it turned "black" on me. It's hard to make a blackened, weathered fence look good.

So I got a Redwood Stain from Lowes to match the Redwood Semi-transparent stain that I did our wood swingset with. Well after painting just over half the fence, including part of the back and part of one of the sides and the front wing fences on either side I realize that the stain is not Redwood but something different, maybe Cedarwood. So I go back to Lowes and ask them to give me a 5 gallon bucket of stain for free and explain the whole situation to them. The clerk said she could not do that for us, so I promptly requested to speak to her boss. Her boss happened to be the Store manager and he was very helpful because he said, "Yes!" So we got the Redwood stain and came home and this time I solicited my oldest daughter's help.

Well, she was going to start staining on one side going OVER the Cedarwood color. And that she got about half way through before I noticed how dark (and ugly) it was turning out!


The "dark side" of the fence!

Meanwhile I'm halfway up the opposite side of the yard on that section of fence using the Redwood color.


The Redwood fence color.

In the meantime I realize that if we cover up the Cedarwood with the Redwood the entire fence will look awful. Furthermore, I decide I like the look of the Cedarwood better than the Redwood. I'm so indecisive sometimes!

In the process of staining the fence we managed to get the stain onto lots of things that shouldn't have it and I also got stung by a wasp. I think the last bee sting I had was back when I was in 6th grade or something like that.

So, long story short, we still have about 1/3 of the fence to stain and we already have 3 different colors if you count the Cedarwood, the Redwood and the combination of both of those. And I thought I would get to work and stain the rest of the fence today and it turns out it is rainy and cool. So much for that idea! I guess it gives me some time to think about what color to finish things up in?

Pumpkin Bars

Because Fall is almost here, officially, and because they are so yummy here is one of my favorite recipes:

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 beaten eggs
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup oil

Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, and salt. Combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar and oil; beat till combined. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Beat till well blended. Spread batter in an ungreased 15x10x1" baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool Frost with cream cheese frosting. Cut into bars.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz. pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla 2 cups powdered sugar

Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.

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I got this from another blog and thought I'd give it a try.

1.) What I was doing ten years ago: I had an 18 month old daughter and was about 4.5 months pregnant with my second daughter. We lived in Tucson, AZ and we were fresh out of college (Laren had graduated from BYU the previous April and we moved to Arizona that May, Phoenix, and then to Tucson in June.) That was also where I had my first bout with kidney stones, camping at Mt. Lemmon.


2.) Five years ago: We had just moved to the greater Denver, CO area where Laren had taken a new job. By this time I had 4 kids, 2 girls (6 and 4), a boy (2) and a 3 month old baby girl.

3.) One year ago: We had our house for sale and were hoping so badly it would just SELL! We had our 5 kids then ages 10, 8, 6, 4, and 1. Laren was still working at the same job that hired him when we moved to Colorado.


4.) Yesterday: September 13, 2007: Actually I had a CrAZy day yesterday. My oldest daughter, Kayla (11), was hit by a car backing up in the parking lot at school going in. I was with the kids as it was "my day" to go in and help in their classes. It was very traumatic, but with a good outcome. We went into the nurses office at the school, the school filed a police report, I took her to the doctor she is fine but not without some bumps and bruise and such. We feel HUGELY blessed that is ALL that it was! Also, I was running my girls to piano lessons, Alyssa to Cheerleading practice and going to a baby shower and one of my sweet friends brought us dinner.


5.) 5 snacks I enjoy: Lowfat Kettle corn, the Weight Watchers Fudge Bars, grape tomatoes (they are my NEW favorite snack), grapes and nectarines.

6.) 5 Things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million: Pay off our house, Buy 2 new cars, save/invest a bundle, travel with the whole family, donate to charity of some sort.

7.) 5 locations I would like to run away to: Hawaii, Europe, South America - Argentina, where Laren served his mission, Hong Kong, The Bahamas.

8.) 5 bad habits I have: Chewing my nails, swallowing my gum, going to bed too late, spending too much time on the computer, yelling at my kids.

9.) 5 things I like doing: Being with my family, making cards, dates with Laren, computer, and shopping within certain parameters because too much shopping also gets old.

10.) 5 TV shows I like: Oprah, Today Show, that is all the TV I watch if that.

11.) 5 things I hate doing: Laundry, paying bills, cleaning bathrooms, picking up my kids' backpacks and shoes after school, vacuuming my car out.

12.) 5 Biggest joys of the moment: Kayla is okay, Today is calm, it's FRIDAY!, Alyssa's Cheerleading performance tonight, our kitchen cabinets have been ordered for 2 weeks now and will be in soon!

I'm tagging Jenny, Cristin, Krista, Kelly and Denise.