Is it over yet?

I know I said I love Halloween and I do, but it's getting old. Between helping with Luke's kindergarten party wearing this:

and bringing Halloween treats to the kid's teachers (to win their approval)

and letting the kids stay up late to carve pumpkins

I'm over Halloween. But here's the kicker: This morning Luke convinced me that he had to be Dracula instead of a Power Ranger to go Trick-or-Treating tonight. He showed me this whole costume he put together himself. He just needed a wig and face paint. So we headed to Walmart. (Why are there grown men in full costume trolling Walmart at 10:00 am?--I wish I had my camera.)

He went from this:

to this (before make-up--yes, he's wearing that wig and fangs all day)

The worst part for me is that he has to wear his new black Christmas cords and dress shoes!

At least these two haven't let me down.

10 more hours--Happy Halloween!

I'm Lovin' It

I Love McDonalds. I won't embarrass myself by telling you how often we eat there. All I will say is that I wish I had a franchise. Here is why:

The Diet Coke. McDonalds has the best Diet Coke on the planet. I don't know how or why, but they do. Maybe it just tastes better coming through the fat straw. When they were running the XL Diet Coke deal, I couldn't stay away.

Every McDonalds is exactly the same. You could visit a Micky D's in London or Vernal and you would get the same Chicken McNuggets with one glaring exception. There is a McDonalds in Victorville, California that was so bad, so dirty, so foul, I had to report it to Corporate and believe me, I have low standards. oh, and that huge one in Barstow that looks like a train--it's nasty too.

They have the best toys. We have collected a lot of toys from McDonalds, most notably, the Wizard of Oz Madame Alexander dolls. We also collected the Transformers, the Batman series and many many others. In fact, Luke began his obsession with Ninja Turtles from McDonald happy meal toys. He was into them for 18 months straight and never waivered. He had a Ninja Turtle birthday, he was one for Halloween. Now they are dead to him--it was a good run and it all started at McD's.



The restaurants are clean. My kids' preschool goes on a tour of McDonalds and goes behind the scenes to the food prep area. Spotless.

Ryan in a very clean McDonald's highchair

The fries--'nuf said.

Do you love or hate McDonalds? What do you order? For me, it's a 6 piece nugget with ketchup.

Fall Family Photos

Last week, my mom took these photos of us in her backyard. It is no secret that getting family photographs taken stresses me out. I usually turn into Bobby Knight (the coach who goes ballistic and throws chairs) and threaten the kids to smile or I will spank them, etc. This time it was a nice change. I bribed Luke and Sammie with a new toy of their choosing from Walmart and they both did a good job.

I have this bar from Rod Works in my entryway that I hang three photos from. I need one family shot and two other shots. This is where you come in. Please help me choose the best family photo and tell me if you like any of the other photos. I can't be objective on this. The only thing I focus on is which photo makes me look the least fat.

Family photos:

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Other photos:

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7
Photo 8

Photo 9

Man Can Not Live on Bread Alone

I got this bad boy for Christmas last year, practically begged for it. How many times have I used it to make bread? Not once. I do feel bad about it. Sam made a few loaves in the beginning--which only made me feel worse. In my defense, I really did have good intentions. I imagined myself making breadsticks, yummy whole wheat bread--heck, we'd never have to go to Great Harvest again. But, the thing is, I like Great Harvest, a lot. And the manual for the breadmaker is kind of big. So one thing led to another, and somehow it ended up in the basement storage room. Bygones.

So today I decided to dust that baby off and start using it--at least have it sitting on my counter. I made pizza dough in it. Behold the final product, Hawaiian BBQ chicken pizza:

*I know my pizza stone is pretty nasty--how do you get those things clean?

I've had my eye on this panini maker for Christmas this yearI think I'm going to ask for some restaurant giftcards instead.

The Halloween Season

Around here, Halloween is a season, not a specific day. This is how we get ready for the spookiest night of the year.

Step 1. Decorate the inside of the house.

Step 2. Put up the yard decor.

Step 3. Buy Halloween shirts. The kids talked me into buying them each two this year. I know, I'm crazy. They wear them just about every day.

Step 4. Eat all of your meals on these.



Step 5. Listen to this in the car until mom goes crazy.




Step 6. Go to Engh's pumpkin patch. Play on the pirate ship, run through the corn maze, drink hot cider. Don't buy anything.




Step 7. Buy your pumpkins at Rasmussen's pumpkin patch where the pumpkins are much cheaper and the little old men who run it are much cuter. Don't forget to get a picture of the fat baby in the pumpkins.






Step 8. Stay up late to make a Halloween gingerbread house.




Step 9. Eat a LOT of Halloween candy




Step 10. Watch this on tv

This doesn't even include the ward Halloween party, an adult Halloween party, school Halloween parties, carving pumpkins and Halloween itself!

I'm Falling for Fall

I love Fall. I love the colors and the nip in the air. I love wearing sweaters and jeans and boots. I love to see the leaves falling and the smell of pumpkin spice and I LOVE Halloween. If it wasn't blasphemous to say it--I would tell you it has become my favorite holiday. My mom hates Halloween. She has been known to put up her Christmas tree while she is giving out Halloween candy. But back to Fall. My only complaint is that it never lasts long enough. It will be snowing before we know it and you know what that means--Winter. Winter is dead to me.

Sweeter than Chocolate

I am a big fan of Gymboree but I don't love all of their lines--squirrels in purple and green just don't do it for me. But every so often Gymboree really gets it right. They come out with a line where I love every piece. I will be on my computer tomorrow night at 10:00 pm mountain time (12:00 am eastern) using my rise and shine coupon to blow the wad on their new brown and pink line. This is just a taste:

How cute is this jumper?

Love the velour hoodie

I think my mom has these same boots


These shoes might be my favorite thing in the whole line

Even the accessories are adorable



Now who is going to keep Sam occupied tonight so he doesn't see the damage?

A Blog is Born.

My sister Ashley introduced me to the blogging world about two years ago. I love reading her blog and so many others but have resisted starting my own for the usual excuses--with three little kids, I don't clean, I don't cook, how could I possibly have time to blog? (Miraculously, I find time to shop!) But a wise young man once said, "Life comes at you pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it." So this is my attempt to slow down and look around once in a while.

A lot of my friends have family blogs. That ain't what this is about--hence the name of my blog. This is just a place for me to talk about stuff I want to buy, tv shows and maybe some celebrity gossip--and a little bit about the kids for the grandmas' sake. Just promise me you won't call DCFS after you see what is going on in my home. My husband Sam thinks I waste a lot of time reading blogs. So now I can waste a lot of time writing a blog. oh, and creepy stalker/pedophile types can keep moving--I promise, you don't want to mess with me.