Halloween Overload

Growing up, my mom always hated Halloween. She has even been known to put up her Christmas tree on Halloween night as she was giving out candy. Last post I told you Halloween makes me tired. That's not to say I don't love Halloween. I start out the month of October all jazzed to do Halloween right--the kids help me decorate the Halloween tree:


and the hutch:


The boys wear new Halloween pjs from grandma (Sammie already has too many pjs!):


We buy new t-shirts (once again, they each have two--don't ask!):


Please ignore how trashy Luke looks with no socks and how bad my paint is chipping around my front door. Any day now the husband is painting the door and trim black--right babe!

Anyway, we always make a trip to Engh's pumpkin patch so the kids can get a picture in the pumpkins and run through their corn maze and play on the pirate ship. We NEVER buy our pumpkins there--way overpriced:



I always take the kids to Gardner village to see their witches. They are really darling. Of course, my potty-humor obsessed children love "Witchy Poo." Their favorite:


I love these pictures of my kids:

We always go to Rasmussen Farms to buy our pumpkins. The pumpkins are only three bucks a pop and Ryan loved pulling the wagon around the yard:

This year, we started a new tradition (because obviously we weren't doing enough Halloween stuff) and went to Cornbellys by Thanksgiving Point. Ashley and her boys are in town so we've been having a lot of fun with them.

Ashley is the fun aunt:

My kids loved the slides:

Except for Ryan:

and just like Lagoon, Luke loved the baby rides:

Ashley's cute Max on a go-cart:

My favorite part of Cornbelly's was eating dinner at Thanksgiving Point afterwards. I decided they have the best fries on the planet...or maybe I was just really really hungry.

Finally, Sammie dressed as Little Red Riding Hood for her Halloween party at ballet:

I'm starting to see why my mom hated Halloween.

Halloween Makes Me Tired

I started the day volunteering at Luke's school. Then I rushed home to get Sammie ready for her preschool Halloween party. She wore this:

I was helping with the party so I wore this:


Then I busted home to get back and pick up Luke from school. He informed me that he HAD to have a beard to go with his Obi-Wan Kenobi costume. I drove to three different stores looking for a beard. No dice. I feel like the world's biggest idiot for even admitting that I did that.

We came home and I made dinner. Then we started getting ready for the ward Halloween party. I was flying solo with the three kids because Sam had a work commitment.

Then came Luke's costume fiasco that made us 45 minutes late for the party: A couple months ago, we decided that Luke would be a knight, Sammie would be a princess and Ryan would be a dragon--you know how I like to coordinate!

Well, Luke came to me about a month ago and begged to be Obi Wan Kenobi. He said, "Mom, I will even go to school in the knight costume but please can I go trick-or-treating as Obi-Wan? I relented and told him he could just be Obi-Wan for everything. I think that alone should earn me "mother of the year" right?

Tonight, as we were putting on costumes, I convinced him to just put on the knight costume for a few pictures:


Then he went to look for the Obi-Wan Kenobi costume, which was nowhere to be found. He, of course, thought I was hiding it in an attempt to force him into being the knight for the party and I was yelling and tearing the house apart trying to find it. (He's been wearing it around the house for weeks.) I finally found it under a bunch of stuffed animals in Ryan's closet and off we went.

Ryan kept staring at me and saying "hat." Luke and Sammie both told me how beautiful I looked:


I guess I should put on fake eyelashes and black lipstick every day:

We did the party and as we were getting in the car to come home, I saw the cookies I was supposed to bring to the party.


So I eat one on the way home, and two more once I get inside. They are those huge Lofthouse sugar cookies. I didn't eat them because I was hungry; I ate them because I was tired. Does that make sense? Heaven help me, I've got three more days until Halloween, one more class party in the witch get-up and then it can be over. Tomorrow I will post pictures of all the shiz we have done this month. It is out of control. Are you all as ready as I am for Halloween to be over?

By the way, when I was in Walmart today, I saw the coolest Michael Jackson costume. It came with a wig, glove, hat, and sunglasses. You can also buy the red military jacket to go with it. I almost pulled the trigger. So if anyone still needs a costume--it definately will be the "it" costume this season!

What I Should Be Doing Right Now

Here is what I should be doing:

1. I am on the stake primary board over Activity Days. I am supposed to be planning our annual day camp that will happen in March. March people! How am I supposed to get motivated to plan that until February? The bad news is we have to use budget money from 2009 to buy items that I need for the camp. So I have to start planning now. Someone make me.

2. As I pulled into my driveway this morning. Sam had the third car garage open. Is this embarrassing enough? We are totally that family. Notice all the bikes, strollers (yes, there are four and I use them all), a scooter from the early '90s, pool noodles, tools, etc. I should really be out there cleaning it up.


3. Ryan is 19 months. I am half-way through is baby book. I feel absolutely great about myself that I have even gotten that far. I really struggled with whether to do a traditional scrapbook for him since it takes so much time and I have so little will. But I made nice books for Luke and Sammie and I feel guilty not doing the same for Ryan. Plus, I like to include letters from me and Sam and hair from the first haircut etc, so the Snapfish book won't work. I finally just bit the bullet and got started. Now I need to find the will to finish it.

This is what happens when you work on it at 1:30 a.m. like I do. You forget what year he was born:


4. I'm helping with Luke's Halloween party at school this week. I need to find a game to do with the first graders.

5. Load and organize my photos on the computer. Who am I kidding? This will probably never happen.

What I've been doing instead:

1. Watching this:

Sam sat down with me last night and we watched for a solid two hours. I couldn't pull myself away. Have you ever seen the really bad dancers do their "freestyle" routine. I think I laughed until I cried. Poor girls. I love how the producers show at least 30 seconds of footage of various girls sticking their number onto their bra. It almost gets obscene. I looked over at Sam and he was mesmerized.

The good news is I found what I am getting my sister Ashley for Christmas. Did you see her post about making the squad?

2. Reading other people's blogs.

3. Talking about doing #1-#5 above.

4. Making excuses for not doing #1-#5 above.

5. Collapsing into bed.

A Little More Spice than Sugar

Sammie is sweet:

1. She makes pictures for me everyday that say "Sammie and Mom are best friends" or "Sammie loves Mom." She won't make a dang thing for Sam.

2. She loves to cuddle. Most nights, she crawls into bed and snuggles up to Sam. He would never allow Luke or Ryan to get out of their beds, but he makes a glaring exception for his "Bammie."

3. She compliments me on my outfit nearly everyday. "Cute top mom!" or "I love your boots." She makes me feel good.

4. She loves to dance. Remember how she used to hate ballet? Now she takes from my cousin Liz and absolutely loves it. It warms my heart.

She is also sassy:


1. This is what she looks like in most pictures. She refuses to smile on cue. This trait alone has dang near killed me. She also picked out this outfit for preschool. I tried to talk her out of the ribbon skirt. No dice. She always gets her way.

2. Remember her comment about parking in expected mother parking? "Don't worry mom, once we get into the mall, no one will know whose car this is!"

3. A few days ago, we were driving and Sammie said to me, "Mom, you know how if you do something wrong and you feel bad about it, you have to repent?" I said yes, silently patting myself on the back for teaching her about repentance. She replied, "If you feel bad, just don't think about it and then you don't have to repent."

4. She can beat the crap out of Luke

5. She already talks like a valley girl. Today she told me she made a friend at the gym. The girl told Sammie that she was 6. Sammie said, "I was like...okay....I'm four but whatever.."

6. She has a penchant for the finer things in life. She loves shopping and bringing me clothes and saying "this is cute." She only eats salmon tacos at Cafe Rio and when she gets to choose where to eat, it is always Kneaders (not McDonald's like her brothers.)

Sammie is so much fun. She adds sparkle to my life. I adore this sassy little thing!

Meat and Potatoes

Last night, I headed over to the grocery store about 11:00 pm to find something to make for dinner tonight. You read that right. I had no recipe, no list, I just started down the aisles and hoped something would strike my fancy.

I hit the jackpot. As I was rounding the meat case, I saw a lady picking up a large piece of red meat. I could only assume she was going to use it to make a roast. I've never done a roast in my life.

I asked the lady if she made the thing in a crock pot (my only criteria) and she did! She told me to put some water in the bottom and sprinkle some instant beef bouillon granules on top and 6-7 hours later I would be in business.

I was skeptical but I bought it. This morning, I cut the fat off the meat (I'm a Warner--it's in my blood, I have to cut every piece of fat off every piece of meat before I cook it) and threw it in the crock pot. I also sprinkled garlic salt on it for good measure. Seven hours later, the whole house smelled delicious.

I dug out some frozen Ore Ida steam n' mash potatoes from the freezer--threw them in the microwave and then whipped them myself with some margarine and milk, added a frozen veggie and some crescent bread sticks from the tube and it was the best meal I ever made. It would have been even better with gravy (The picture at the top is obviously not my roast!)

The best part? No mess. Everything was done in the crock pot and microwave. Where has the roast been all my life? I will never make real mashed potatoes again! What a score. Are you all cooking roasts every Sunday? How come no one has told me about this!

Because I Still Love Tiny Prints

In my post What I'm Lovin' Right Now, I mentioned that I love stationary quality Christmas cards and that I was all set to order mine from Tiny Prints when I found some at Snapfish for half the price.

Turns out, a guy named Rick Bucich from Tiny Prints left a comment on that post. He appreciated my shout out (even though I was not using Tiny Prints this time around) and he has generously offered his personal discount of 30% off any of their cards until Dec. 31st. You need to contact him directly to use his code. Contact him here. I have used Tiny Prints in the past for birth announcements, darling birthday invitations, etc and love what they do. What a great deal. Thanks Rick!

On the Wings of Love

So it's official. Jake is the new bachelor. What a disappointment! Can you believe that ABC is actually using "On the wings of love" as their catchphrase for this season like they used "An officer and a gentleman" for the Andy Baldwin season?

Even though I don't like it, come January 4th, I will be tuned in with the rest of you to watch the train wrecks and drama. The one silver lining is that my mom will be thrilled--she loved Jake!

What do you all think? Are you excited for Jake to be the new bachelor?