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?

What I'm Lovin' Right Now

First and foremost--the glorious fall weather...and the gorgeous red and orange trees. My yard looks it's best in the fall and that's saying something.

Second, Kneaders artichoke portabello soup--pure comfort food. Enjoy with a turkey, bacon, avocado on focaccia and a diet coke. Get a cream cheese brownie for dessert. Clearly, I will be packing on the L Bs for the winter.


Third, impactfitnesswear.com. Seriously folks--the best work out clothes I have ever worn, hands down. Plus they are dang cute. If you live in the greater SL area, I beg you to make an appointment with Megan and go to her studio at her home. She was down to earth, helpful, and non intimidating and I am in love with my new stuff. I am a big believer in buying nice workout clothes that you love--then you will love to work out.




Fourth, The tv show Glee. Maybe it's just because it's new and different. But I can't get enough. I love the songs, I love the dancing. The cheerleading coach steals the show and I love Will's wife too--all great, all hilarious.


Fifth and Finally, Snapfish Christmas Cards. I love the look of nice stationary quality Christmas cards from Tiny Prints. I was all geared up to order mine from there when I got an email from Snapfish announcing that they now carry stationary photo cards--and guess what--They are half the price of Tiny Prints! I downloaded my pictures and ordered mine in about 10 minutes. They already came and I love them.
Come December, I will be sitting on the sofa, drinking a cup of hot cho and patting myself on the back for my discriminating taste and exceptional forethought in ordering early. Go check it out. Use coupon code Fall2009 for a 35% discount (expires Nov 2.) The best part is, there is no additional fee to have pictures on the back of the card--I have six small pictures of my family. You can also personalize the card with your family names, etc.

Life is Good

I don't talk about serious things a lot on this blog and I usually don't talk about my Faith, but I do want to say how grateful I am for the peace that the Gospel brings to my life.

My good friend's baby girl passed away this week and we attended the funeral yesterday. It was beautiful. Though it is extremely sad that she is no longer here in this mortal life, I'm grateful to know that she is with Heavenly Father and Jesus and will be reunited with her family one day. I will probably never understand why life can be so hard, but I do know that the Lord has a plan and that comforts me.

On another note, I know I'm just about the last person to post about this but I loved seeing Nie Nie on Oprah.


I thought she looked radiant and happy and her story was so inspiring. I love how much she loves doing the little things for her kids like making lunches and getting them ready for school. It killed me to see how she still can't hold them, even though they want her to. I have just been more grateful than ever this week for my sweet kids.

The blog has been on the back burner as I've spent more time cuddling and reading books with my chubby baby and playing with my older kids. I realized as I drove to pick up the carpool for the zillianth time, that I have a good life. I have a funny, generous husband who slaves at work every day so I can stay home and go to lunch and hit the mall and drive kids around and do the mama thing that I love so much. I have fantastic friends and a great family and I am one lucky girl.


Finally, Since I'm celebrating my one year blogging anniversary this month (I know I've already brought that up--but can you ever celebrate enough?) I have updated the blog a little bit. I decided to put my favorite posts on my sidebar. Since basically just my mom and Ashley were reading in the beginning, most are from my early days but some are just posts that I really like for one reason or another. There are sixteen. Does that make me self absorbed? That's okay--look at the title of my blog. I can relate to this:

My Life Lately

I know I've been a little AWOL lately in the blogging world. I have a good friend going through some really tough stuff right now and it's hard for me to focus on the Silly (and let's face it, 99% of this blog is just silliness.)

I am coming up on my one year blogging anniversary this month. Please don't send gifts--that would just be weird. I feel like I've been blogging forever. Lately, I've been considering leaving the blogging world entirely. But then I come to my senses and realize I'm just in a funk and need to snap out of it. I have met some really fun people this year through blogging. I have also reconnected with people from my past. I could go on and on about why I love blogging, but I will spare you. I won't be giving it up any time soon.

But I do want to say that I LOVE Fall. The picture at the top of this post was taken out my car window as we were driving up to Park City last week to do the Alpine slide. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I will say I have been all over this world and nothing takes my breath away like our mountains in the fall.

Last year, I told you how much I love the season. I love pulling out my good clothes again--do you all just wear crappy tees and shorts all summer like me? I love wearing jewelry and cute flats and jeans. I love the crisp air. I love having Luke in school allllll-day. The last few days he was out for fall recess and it dang near killed me (and he's my good kid!) To give you a little perspective--Sam came home with flowers yesterday just to say "thanks for not killing the kids." That's what I love about him--He's not a flowers on Valentines type, never has been. But he knows when to deliver and yesterday was that day. Then he said, "go to the mall." And I did and I felt better.

Look how forced Luke and Sammie's smiles are:


I also want to say how much I've been enjoying this little guy lately.


He's my little buddy. Even though he is only 19 months, he totally can make me laugh. He reminds me so much of his dad. Not only does he look just like Sam, but he walks and dances like Sam too. Sam taught him to love Flo-rida's "Low" and the kid has some serious moves. He also loves to give me spontaneous hugs and kisses and I'm grateful everyday for this chubby little boy.

If I'm talking about Ryan, I have to include this picture. He loves his sister's high heeled princess shoes and is pretty adept at getting around in them:


Sam will be thrilled to learn that his "mini-me" loves princess shoes. Speaking of my better half, Sam ran the St. George Marathon on Saturday. He went down with a buddy and I was at home with the kids all weekend (which probably contributed to my desperation by Monday.) Sam's a big guy and surprisingly fast despite his Clydesdale status. He finished with a good time, even though he battled serious leg cramps from about mile 16 until the end. I wish I could have been there to yell "Get the piano off your back!" at mile 21 but there's always next year.


This is not Sam and his buddy but it could have been because they had threatened to wear their medals down to the hot tub after the race.

So if you're still here, you deserve a medal. I should hit delete but I guess I'm going to hit publish and call it a night.

Rules of the Road

Are you guys tired of looking at my new shirts? Me too.

Lately, I've been thinking that if I were in charge, I would change the rules of the road. Not just the laws, mind you, but how we treat each other on the road. Let's get right to it.

1. It is us against them and by them, I mean the fuzz. No more white cars, except for police vehicles. I am so tired of slamming on my brakes when I see a white Taurus stopped on the side of the road, only to find it merely parked there. No more heart attacks when a white Crown Victoria pulls up behind me when I'm in the fast lane. Only police vehicles will be white so we can all be on the lookout for them.

2. On the same note, we need to re institute the practice of flashing our high beams to alert oncoming traffic of a speed trap. I do this religiously, but have never in all my life, been alerted to a cop by this method. Are you all doing your part and warning your fellow drivers?

3. For the love people, get out of the carpool lane unless you are going 80 mph. The carpool lane is for our convenience to speed and not be held back by the snowbirds going 55 mph in the middle lane. If you are not going 80 mph, get over and let me by!


4. I would institute the death penalty for anyone who has something come flying off their truck on the freeway. I was nearly killed last year when a humongous tire came off the back of a guy's truck right into my lane. Luckily I have the reflexes of a cat and was able to steer around it in time. Ashley feels the same way.


5. Be polite. Don't ever give anyone the bird. It may be someone you know. Trust me. You will live to regret it.

6. Be conscientious of cars around you. I always appreciate when cars leave space when they are backed up at a red light so I can get through. I try to do this for others. I also wave people out regularly who are trapped and hope that it makes up for all of my tailgating.

That's it folks. I'm not a great driver, heck, I'm not even a good driver; I'm a Warner. Bad driving is in my DNA but I'm trying. Do you agree with my rules?