Wednesday, October 31, 2007

No tricks, ALL Treats

We kicked the day off with a Halloween party here this morning for play group! The kids played pin the spider on the web and had a bean-bag toss. Then we decorated cupcakes to get the sugar high off to a good start early in the day!Everyone helped me serve up some Wacky Witches Brew...Even my little Nathan sat and listened to the story!The boys were so ready for trick-or-treating after the party...but it was only noon...talk about a LONG day!

Happy Halloween!

May the FORCE be with you this Halloween!With as much as my boys love Star Wars, I wasn't a bit surprised when this year their costume choices were Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. But when I found this baby Yoda costume at Target too, it sealed the deal!
My costume, however, was not as easy. The costume store in Carson City said they had a Princess Leia costume so I sent Willie to retrieve it for me the night of our ward's trunk-or-treat. Turns out it was the metal bikini, slave-girl outfit...not exactly appropriate for a church activity, and might I mention a tad chilly, too?!! So I ended up with a toga and a long brown wig that I had to put in buns myself. It figures I would need a hairdo like that after I chop it all off!

Pumpkin Time

We carved pumpkins for family night and here are the results! The boys helped clean out the guts.
They were both much braver about this step than they were last year!And since this is Nathan's first Halloween...he was content to look at, hold, and slobber on his little pumpkin!We told Jacob to draw a face on his pumpkin and Dad would cut it out for him. We couldn't help but smile when he showed us his drawing...too cute!
Our three little boys thrilled with their creations (and a little tired, hence the glazed-over looks)!

Back in Action

Whew! Okay, I'm finally back...vacations can really take it out of 'ya (and I still haven't unpacked everything). Our visit to Las Vegas was great. My mom kept the big boys and Nathan and I stayed at Grandma Truman's. She just had a kidney removed and I'm happy to report that she is doing well! Here is a picture to prove it. She was disappointed that she couldn't hold/lift Nathan because she was recovering from surgery, but he was content to sit by her! Here is a picture of us in the Reno Airport. (Such a nice, calm, slow-paced place.) We flew without a glitch (Nathan's first flight!), until the escalator episode in the Las Vegas Airport. (Such a busy, crazy, fast-paced place.) When we stepped onto the escalator, Josh froze at the top as Jake and I (carrying the baby and diaper bag) rode down. He would NOT move. I was yelling for him to step on and he was yelling, "NO!" right back at me. The traffic flow was clogged and a crowd of people were waiting behind him as I was gliding further and further down. I finally had to yell up to the lady standing next to him, "Would you please grab his hand and help him ride down?!" which thankfully she did.

At the bottom by the baggage claim we found Uncle Scott holding a sign that said "Kahumoku" and an eager Grandma Nelson waiting to whisk her boys away. Here is a picture of them holding hands walking through the airport. They had a fabulous time and Jacob did not want to come home (seriously) and really carried on about just wanting to stay five more days...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Viva Las Vegas!

Well, I'm officially off to Vegas tomorrow! I am so excited to see everyone and have a little break from the usual daily grind. The thought of flying with the three boys by myself does send tiny chills up my spine, but it's only about a 45-minute flight. I can handle 45 minutes...right? Sure, I still need to finish packing, Jake has a field trip for preschool tomorrow, and I still need to pick up a few things from the store, but I'd rather gush about my upcoming trip!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Don't Blink

I heard a country song the other day called "Don't Blink" (sorry, don't know who it's by) but it talks about an old man that turned 100 and his age-old advice was don't blink because even 100 years flies by fast.

I feel like I've blinked and my Baby Nathan has really grown! He has been in our family now for six months...half a year!

Josh has a doll named Baby Paul and I've occassionally taken pictures of Nathan and Paul together. Here is Nathan posing with Paul in April (newborn), June (2 months), August (4 months), and October (6 months).



Nathan and Paul could pass for twins in the begining (I used to freak when I'd see Paul face-down on the floor, mistaking him for the real baby) and now Nathan could eat Paul for breakfast. Where has the time gone? I'm trying not to blink!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Shabby

I'm officially a Shabby Princess. This is now one of my new favorite websites. Here you will find FREE and adorable downloads that take creating (handouts and flyers in my case) to a new level!
Here is a flyer I made for the stake talent show using the Urban Kiwi collection.And a handout for our next Enrichment with the Holiday Sampler set.I am so pleasantly pleased! (I know, I get kicks off the weirdest stuff...)
The only problem is now I need to make color copies. Can they seriously charge almost $1.00/page? I guess I can opt for black and whites, but the colors really make the whole thing!
Thanks be to Natalie for turning me to Shabby!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Jacob's 12 Tribes

Jacob informed me the other day, "Mom, I want my sons to be 12." I had no clue what he was talking about and after a little more prying he explained, "Just like 'Jacob's sons were 12 tribes, so the Bible tells'...I want to have 12 sons." Whoa. I hope his wife up to the challenge.

Jacob's favorite song is "Follow the Prophet" and his favorite verse is about Abraham because his very own name is mentioned. Once I figured out what he was talking about and where it was all coming from, I asked him what he would name all of those kids and here is his list:

1. Michael
2. John
3. Eric
4. Lucy (I mentioned to him that this was a girl's name and he said he'd have daughters too.)
5. Isaac
6. Wendy
7. Ethan
8. Joshua
9. Aidan
10. Adam
11. Will
12. Sam

He is such a character. I'm pretty sure this goal of his will change in time. But who knows, maybe some day I'll be a grandma with LOTS of grandchildren.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Talk About a Toilet!

My Uncle Grant and Aunt Pam have recently done some home remodeling. Check out this commode! It actually has a little control panel mounted to the wall. In case you can't clearly read the buttons, here's what your choices are once you've done your business:

  • Rear Cleansing
  • Soft Rear Cleansing
  • Front Cleansing
  • Dryer
  • Oscillating
  • Pulsating
  • Of course arrows to control the pressure and position.
  • And in case of emergencies...a RED stop button.

I truly wanted to test it out but Willie was giving me the "are you crazy?!" look so I declined the offer. I've used other peoples' toilets before...what's the big deal? I think it's a great idea to have such a functional toilet. It would certainly cut down on toilet paper expenses. I wonder if I could get one that did all the cleaning this one offers and cleaned itself too.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

HAIR Today Gone Tomorrow

For your visual comparison...here are before and after pictures of my hair. This is when it was long (but usually I wore it in a wet ponytail).


Here it is short.
VERY short.
Thanks, Cynthia! You did a great job cutting my hair. We all really enjoyed your visit!

Locks of Love

I had been thinking about cutting my hair short for quite some time but was feeling a little nervous about leaving behind the comfort of my good 'ol ponytail! But while my sister was here visiting, she chopped it for me. She cut off a 12-inch pony that I donated to Locks of Love. Here are the dramatic pics.



Nervously awaiting the snippity-snip of the scissors. As Cynthia cut the ponytail off, I could feel the weight of it dropping and I started to scream! I kept on screaming while she handed me my hair. Unbelievable!I could not believe what I had just allowed my sister to do...and yes, I was still screaming!All of the screaming caused concern and curiosity from Jacob (Josh didn't really care). He was making my doubts even worse with comments like: "Mom, why do you look like Aunty?" "Mom, why did you cut your hair? Put that back on!"And once while Cynthia was trimming it up, the hair was covering my right eye, "Mom, what happened to your other eye?" (As if Cynthia had gone a little too crazy with all of the cutting.) Willie came home early and we were still finishing up. This is what he found sitting on the toaster oven...welcome home, honey!