Trick-or-Treating

Sophie (Mike Wozoisky), Peter (half Power Ranger), and Max (Dumbo). I make them wear warm costumes on Halloween night. I have this thing about wearing a coat over your costume. YOU CAN"T SEE IT!!! I insist on being able to see the full costume at all times. So they either have to pack it on underneath, or wear a big warm one. Even though this was an exceptionally warm Halloween. RIch and I had short sleeves all night. Even the light rain didn't make it too cold for anyone.

Sleepy baby, fully co-operating for our fun night out. All bundled up in his Pooh Bear flower sack thingy.

Max was such a cute Dumbo. He insisted on carrying his bucket the entire way. I think he was afraid he would loose his candy if he let go. But we were sneaky and kept emptying it out so it was light enough for him to carry.

Yum Yum, What a great day. Starting with a late almost brunch of pumpkin pancakes with all the fixin's. Followed by mid day pumpkin carving. And the traditional yummy dinner in a pumpkin(and spaghetti squash) followed by funtastic trick-or-treating. Steve and Cyndi were still here and took Shelby trick-or-treating with us for a while and then she needed to go to bed. We kept going because Gavin fell asleep in the stroller and we couldn't go fast enough for Sophie and Peter. Max loved it too this year, but was a little slow on the go. I eventually came home with the babies. Peter came home a little after that and Sophie had Rich going till HE finally had to make her stop. I will say this, we got a lot of full sized candy bars this year!! Thanks to some great tips from the neighbors. And the other neighbor had a cool haunted house set up in their garage for trick-or-treaters to enter... if they dared! Peter was back and forth all night about wanting to go through it. He finally made his decision of YES after the babies were in bed. The night was near ending and trick-or-treating was slowing so it was just us. They asked us if we wanted less or more scary. Less. So they pretty much did nothing as we walked through the human statue, spooky music, foggy and dark garage. He clung so tight to me as I carried him, and wanted to leave part way through. Then had the gaul to say he wasn't scared at all in the haunted house!! Short term memory loss I guess. I'm glad he wanted to do it though. It was a great night. I love Halloween, dressing up and going from house to house trick-or-treating. It's never been about the candy for me. It's about the experience and the memories. I hope we can make it great for our kids year after year.

The Family Halloween Party

I'm so glad that we made the rootbeer out on the deck. It was super good, and also super messy. The bees loved it the next day. And who was supposed to clean it up again??? I guess I get stuck with it because I live here. We need to make assignments for things like this. Everyone loved it.

Halloween charades. So Spooky!

Starting at the top, left to right. Sam (Mr. Incredible's), Jacob (dinosaur), Ben (Squirt from Nemo), Hyrum (Blue M&M), Natalie (Fairy from new Tinkerbell movie), Rachel (BYU Cheerleader - let the tradition live on!), Derek (Spiderman), Peter (Chinese man), Thomas (Lightning McQueen race car driver), Shelby (lady bug princess), Sophie (Chinese girl), Macie (Supergirl), Max (Chinese Man), Gavin (Chinese Baby).

Grandma throws a mean Halloween Party. This year Steve made the chili, Cyndi made the cupcakes, and I cleaned and decorated. Steve also had a great idea to make homemade rootbeer. Then it was ready for everyone to come and Grandma to do her thing. The kids co-operated for the cute group picture and had fun playing games and decorating their cupcakes. Glad that everyone who lives close could make it to the party.

Trunk-or-Treat

Visiting at Grandma's Trunk for some candy.

Sophie feeling inside the mystery boxes. She liked this game so much we had to come back again after all the other games were played. Peter did not like it and wouldn't try.

Max didn't want to play the game, he just wanted to eat the donut.

Derek eating a donut on a string.

All my kids are Chinese Children for Halloween this year. Rich picked them up in China town on a business trip 5 months ago. They looked so cute and we got a lot more comments on them than I would have thought. I think it was because they were all dressed the same.

Our ward does THE BEST trunk-or-treat every year. Potluck soups and chili, a carnival put on by the youth. I look forward to it every year. And the costumes that everyone wears are so great. Even 1/2 of the adults dress up too. We were actually there before the prayer this year and had time to eat 2 bowls of soup and play all the games. The kids got so much candy (which I re-use on Halloween to pass out to kids that come to our house) and I ran out of candy to pass out before everyone else so I got to walk around a bit. I wish I would have taken some pictures of some of the trunks. People go all out with the decorations, lights and special effects. It was really fun this year because Karolee and Steve and Cyndi came with their kids too.

Sophie's Halloween Party

I had promised Sophie months ago that she could have a Halloween Party this year. She reminded me on Wednesday last week. And with a crazy Halloween Week, the only day we could do it was on Monday after school. She was so cute! She hand wrote all the invitations. I said she could invite 4 friends from her kindergarten class. She picked the treat, cookies to decorate, and helped plan and make the games. She colored a mean pumpkin for pin the nose on the pumpkin game. She even helped me make Halloween bean bags for each friend to take home in their goodie bags. Well, Peter would obviously be there too, so I said he could invite one friend from his preschool. He picked a girl named Kaitlyn. He told me that she is his girlfriend. Sophie had invited 3 girls and 1 boy named Korbin. She said that he is NOT her girlfriend, but she likes to stand in line with him and he makes her laugh. Too cute, puppy love!


Playing pass the pumpkin (like Hot Potato). Korbin won the first round.

Here they all are decorating cookies. Lauren, Sophie, Camryn, Korbin, and Madison.

Yum Yum!!!

Peter and Kaitlyn. I did not think it was possible for there to be a girl version of Peter out there, but here she is!! They are so much alike it is scary! They even both have blond hair and blue eyes! And are both crazy and loud running all over the place. But I really like her. She is so cute. When Peter was telling us about her today he said that she had a beautiful shirt on. I didn't know he noticed things like that on other people.

But the party was a huge success. Max and Gavin slept through the whole party which was 1 1/2 hrs long. The kids all had fun, no tears or fighting. Everyone took turns and played nice. It was great fun. Maybe we'll do it again next year... Maybe...

Twelve Weeks Old

Let the drool begin!!! I am starting to wipe the clear, slimey, dripping liquid from his mouth often... So fun!

The Corn Maze

It was our annual trip to the Black Island Farms. It is a corn maze, pumpkin hay ride, and activities galore! We were there for more than 4 hours and could have stayed longer, but it got chilly as it got dark outside. It was also Ronald McDonald's birthday and their were hidden paper shoes all over. Find them and win a prize. We found 4 and the prizes were coupons for Happy Meals!! So that's what we did after for dinner. We had so much fun and have to give a big shout out to Grandma. Thank you so much for volunteering to babysit Gavin! It made the whole day that much more fun! Also, when downloading my photos I realized I took almost 100 pictures while we were there. I knew I took a lot, didn't realize it was that many. I was just snapping away I guess. Whoops... So here is my favorite selection. The ducky run was wet-ly enjoyed for a long span of time.
Animal alley was Max's favorite. I finally had to rip him away from the pigs kicking and screaming. Oink, oink!!

Why do boys love to play in the dirt?

I love the determined look on her face to race her duck as fast as she could...

The pigs were so entertaining as they ran around, ate their food, leaped up at the fence, and dug holes in the ground with their snouts.

Ride 'em cowboy!!

The kids loved the hay ride

This is how Max chose his pumpkin. He got the first one he sat on.

The little train was everyone's favorite this year

The kiddie corn maze was just our style and we had fun splitting up and scaring each other!

Sophie's pumpkin was so big, it was almost as big as she was!!

We rode the little train into the sunset. Over and over and over again.

All the slides were fun. Sophie especially, loved the tall and fast ones!

I thought this was so cute, my two boys waving as they rode away on the train

The pumpkin bounce house was great. I loved it when Peter would do fighting moves into the wall and fall over!

What We Did On Our Rexburg Vacation

We left Friday afternoon - it was supposed to be mid morning.

We each chose out a special snack for the car. So with our Walmart bag in hand full of Goldfish, Apple Jacks, Halloween Candy, Mini Powdered Donuts, and Bottled Water we were ready to hit the road. Two movies later we were there!! Yeah!!

Why Rexburg???? What did we do there???

Well, Rich and I both went to Ricks College (now BYU Idaho) in a round about sort of way. We were watching home movies from our days in college and Rich had a longing to go back. It was the perfect test of vacations with the kids. So we had fun doing nothing important. We walked around campus - being a spectical and feeling like a circus parade while we walked with our family of 6 and Rich's brother Steve and his family of 3. We rolled and rolled and rolled down the hill. We ran around the empty dance room in th MC. We ate like pigs at Fongs Chinese restaurant. We LOVED swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub. Big Jud's was awesome and we shared the Big Jud (a plate sized hamburger) and still didn't finish it. We ate icecream with friends from Iowa and went to church and made carmel apples with roomates from Ricks. We also did some shopping and played at the park and ate sushi.

We were so ready to come home by the time we hit the road for our 2 movies drive home.

And I say that like we were SOOOOOOOOOO ready to come home. Max and his tired tantrums were too much to handle while Gavin was crying and the kids were bored. We had too many of these moments standing in line or waiting for our food to come or driving from one place to the other. Max went without a nap for 3 days and without a good night sleep for 2 nights. He slept between Sophie and Peter in the hotel and somehow fell out of bed with a thud both nights. How did he do that?? He slept till 9:30am Monday morning and took a 4 hour nap on Monday to catch up on sleep.

I love that Peter and his buddy were talking before we left. His friend said "We're going to Mexico!!" And Peter excitedly said back "We're going to Rexburg!!!" I think we'll go back there for another vacation in the future. It was just right for our little busy family. Far enough away to be a vacation and close enough that we can drive there without a potty break. And Rexburg is really cool too.

Eleven Weeks Old

On our vacation to Rexburg we learned the importance of routine. And I had a glimpse into Gavin's life. I realized that he has some strong likes and dislikes. He likes to lay down - flat - a lot. And he likes to nap alone, away from all the noise. He does not like to be cooped up in his car seat all day long. He does not like to be held all day long. I thought I was giving him tummy time and play time at home for my convenience so I could get things done around the house, but he actually thrives on it and it makes him happy. So that may lead you to assume correctly that this vacation was a little testy for our sweet baby who was not so sweet most times during our go go going...

Sleepovers... Yea or nay...

Who didn't love throwing or going to a sleepover as a kid? The late night hours and fun were always a promise. Friendships were formed and strengthened, and occasionally a little mischief occurred.

Now I am a parent.

I thought I was against sleepovers. Seeing my kids when family or cousins sleepover. They are grumpy, whining and terrible the next day. But then again they are still so young. That could go away, right? And there is the other side too. My kids sleeping at friends houses where the rules are different. Staying up late without parental supervision after the parents have gone to bed. It can be a formula for trouble. What is one to do?

Well, yesterday Sophie was playing with her new friend, Madison, at her house after school. They played and played and even ate dinner together. Her mom invited Sophie to sleepover....

Uhh...

I said yes.

And then they came over to our house this morning and I am watching Madison while her mom is out for a while. I think all went well. I KNOW they had a ton of fun.

Now I am torn about my position on sleepovers. I know I don't want them to be a regular thing. But what is the harm in it once and a while? I guess I am looking for some advice. What do you do about it in your families?

Carmel Apples

So we have two apple trees. We wanted to do something fun with them besides the onsuing applesauce and apple pie filling and apple crisps... We wanted to make carmel apples. We bought all the stuff to make them gormet. What fun is plain carmel??? We had colored coconut, crushed peanuts, skor bar, and oreos, and mini m&m's and reeses pieces. We made a dozen of them and then shared them with the neighbors. It was so fun dipping and rolling and decorating. My favorite one was dipped in white chocolate and rolled in crushed oreos. Peter and Sophie had a blast individually placing mini M&M's and Reese's pieces all over the dripping chocolate and carmel. It was a fun Sunday night activity for sure. The funny thing was that there was only enough carmel for 12 apples and we needed 13. We thought we had kept the non carmel one (it was only dipped in chocolate and decortated), but when we got home and cut into our yummies we realized we had accidently given it away!! Hope they didn't notice. I'm sure it was still tasty!

Ten Weeks Old

I love it when the kids will sit and play with Gavin. He is starting to interact with the big kids a little and will coo and gurgle at them. Then the kids get so excited and shout "Mom, mom, Gavin is so cute. He just said gggooo..." So fun. Other new things he's doing? He will happily lay for a while and then start to fuss a little. I check on him. He stops and smiles at me. I leave to do my thing again. He fusses a little. I check on him and he stops again. He just wants attention. Starting oh so young....

Things about me.

3 Joys

1. Family

2. Freedom

3. Nature

3 Fears

1. Loosing a loved one

2. Having people see my house when it's not clean

3. Showing up somewhere on the wrong day or the wrong time



3 Obsessions

1. The Computer

2. Taking pictures

3. Order & Organization



3 Surprising Facts

1. Rich and I go to bed together every single night. One never stays up later than the other one.

2. I love TV! However, we have been a tv free household for over a month now. It is so freeing!! (we do sneek The Office in on Thursdays...)

3. I hate brushing my teeth... I like the feeling of clean teeth, I just hate brushing them.



8 Things I am passionate about

1. My husband and children

2. Blogging

3. Manners (especially in my children)

4. Health, Natural Health to be specific

5. Music

6. Photography. Mine and everyone elses.

7. Doing the right thing

8. My testimony



8 Words or Phrases I say often

1. "Let's have Love" or "Say it with love". I say it in response to contention or fighting between my kids. It doesn't always work, but it helps calm the storm

2. "Yes"

3. "What happened?" Somtimes the eyes in the back of my head get blocked by my hair and I really can't see what happened in the other room.

4. "No"

5. "What ever you need/needs to be done" In response to my husbands ever spontaneous life, and owning his own business. This phase of life has his needs placed first and mine on the back burner most of the time.

6. "I love you"

7. "Sophie..." "Peter..." "Maxwell..." ( I think this all counts as one )

8. "What do you want to eat for lunch/dinner?" I haven't been very good at making a menu lately. And boy can I tell a difference. Life is so much simpler when you can plan ahead. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I actually had the meat thawed before 6pm. It makes a huge difference when cooking hamburger on the stove. No lumps of icey hamburger in the middle that you hack away at with the wooden spoon!



8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Buy my own home

2. Go on a honeymoon with my husband. Someone told me that it doesn't count if it's not right after you got married, but I think that seeing as I didn't have one then, that when we get one, it will count. And I don't really care where it is as long as it is warm, we have no kids with us, and we are gone - both body and mind - from reality for at least one full week.

3. Get a bachelors degree in something, I don't know what yet.

4. See all of my children married in the temple

5. See general conference live

6. Take my children to a third world country to serve and to teach them how much we really have and take for granted here in the USA

7. Become PTA President

8. To feel like I have really made a difference in the world, or at least the world around me



8 Things I Pray For

1. That our Business will be sucessful

2. Faith

3. Health and Safety for my loved ones

4. To be a better wife and mother

5. That I will be able to answer someone elses prayer

6. Help...

7. That I will be able to follow the promptings of the spirit

8. That I will not take my blessings for granted



8 Things I've Learned

1. Money doesn't matter

2. You never know what someone else is going through

3. I need at least 8 solid hours of sleep at night

4. The Lord knows what is best for you- you don't

5. Trust in the Lord's timing

6. Sometimes playing with your kids is more important than cleaning the house

7. apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap is a really good trap for fruit flies. I hate fruit flies.

8. I don't have to be perfect.

I won't tag anyone, just do it if you want to. It was fun.

Updated Pictures

So, Sophie got her school pictures taken. How exciting, her first school pictures!! Well, I thought I should get the boys done too so they were all updated. I like Peter's and Max's, but I don't love Gavin's as much. Now he's too big for his blessing outfit and I can't retake it. We have all the kids in their blessing outfits on our wall. His will just have to do. But at least they are all done now...

Nine Weeks Old

And another weeks passes by...
And he's still just as wonderful as ever...

Sophie's Conference Art

President Monson
Choir
L. Tom Perry
Calendar
TEMPLE

I loved all the pictures Sophie drew during conference this year. She asked me for advice and I said to draw the speakers and anything they were talking about. She sounded all the words out by herself and was very proud of her own art. So am I.