Boo!

In order to boost my blog entry numbers for the month of October I decided to hurry and write before the Halloween festivities tonight instead of after. Yesterday Korinne had a little Halloween party with her joy school. She decided to be Tinkerbell for her preschool party and a Dinosaur Halloween night.



Here are all of the kids in the Joy school singing songs for their program.




Britton and Jenna's school had a Halloween carnival Friday evening with families in lieu of having class parties during the school day. It was kind of nice not to have to go to the school and get my kids all dressed in costumes for a 30 sec. parade. We attended the carnival last night and while the kids had a great time I found myself suffering from "too many people in a small space" syndrome and couldn't WAIT to get out of the crowd. I guess that is what happens when they hold it inside the school instead of outside. (Yes, I am my father's daughter, only he wouldn't have even gone inside the school after seeing how many people were in each hallway!)

The kids ready for the school Halloween carnival.

This is the first year Britton has opted for a costume outside of my Mom's closet of awesome and warm Halloween costumes in every size. It is a good thing he wanted to be a vampire because my mom did have a cape and he only needed to wear a white church shirt and black pants. That is a costume I can do! The girls picked out of Grandma's closet. Yeah! Another year of worry free costumes. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when they have stronger opinions and I don't have the stuff on hand. Me, search for and actually buy a Halloween costume??? I shutter at the thought. As you can tell we LOVE Grandma's costume closet! It has served us well for 8 years now.

Here we go. . .

This was yesterday.

This is the same area less than 24 hours later.

What a difference a day makes. I've spent the entire day psyching myself up for another winter. There are some positive aspects to winter. . .I guess. I like to wear layers and I'm all about a nice comfy sweater. I also enjoy a nice cup of hot coco and I must admit it is a little annoying to have to slather my kids in sunscreen every time they go outside--looks like I'm off the hook on that one for at least a few months. Um, let's see. . .I'm sure there are more. . . . . . . . . .yeah, I may have to get back to you. The ideas aren't really flowing right now. I am determined, however, to have a positive attitude about the cold weather so stay tuned for a super duper list in the future. (Too bad I'm not a skier, that would make my list a lot easier to make.)

It just looks cold, doesn't it?

Invasion

Things that make you go "Ewwww!" All of the little black spots in this picture are box elder bugs.

I took this picture so you could get a feel for the infestation we have been experiencing the last few weeks. They were all over the outside of our house. Every time I would look out the window I could see several of these things looking back at me. Yuck. We finally got some spray to take care of them, but I'm sure they will be back next year. I do remember having them last fall, but not nearly as bad.

Do you have the creepy crawlies yet?

Wiser

I'm officially another year older which in theory makes me another year wiser, of course. Adam took part of the day off from work on my big day so I got to do things like take a hot bath and have a nap in the middle of the day while he watched Korinne. It was sublime. Adam made sure I had chocolate cake donuts for breakfast and Cafe Rio for lunch. He was prepared to let me have anything I wanted for dinner, but in my world a huge Cafe Rio salad is really a 2 meal deal so I wasn't hungry when dinner rolled around. OK, so I might have squeezed in a few treats, but just a few. (Ha!) Adam knows exactly what I like and always comes through. I make it easy for him, however, because I'm a cravey (is that a word?) person and I go through phases. There has been the salt water taffy phase, the Little Debbie nutty bars phase, the chocolate cake donut phase, the Cafe Rio salad phase, and the chocolate covered cinnamon bears phase. On any day Adam can tell you exactly what phase I'm in. (Now you know why I have to run marathons) All he has to do is walk in the door with one of the above items and he is a super hero. Unfortunately for me Adam isn't cravey or phasey. (I'm creating my own words here, but you're following, right?) What's his favorite breakfast/lunch/dinner? Um, I dunno. He likes everything. I do know he loves orange juice but I can hardly plan a day around that now can I? My birthday and Mother's Day are great days because he always makes sure I have plenty of the things that I'm craving at that time, but when I try to make his birthday special I'm stumped time and time again. It's an injustice, really. When do I get to be the super hero? Ok, I digress.

This weekend we attended the Kim and Ben wedding part 2, an open house in SL. We got to spend some time with members of Adam's family and the kids had a little bit more cousin time. I forgot to take my camera this time so sorry, no pictures.

The weather is getting colder. I think there is a chance of snow this week. Yikes. I don't think I'm ready for winter yet, but I guess that doesn't really matter, now does it? So, here we go again. . .

My Peeps

The K-1 crew came to town for lunch today. The official reason was my birthday tomorrow but really it was just an excuse to get together at Firehouse for a super yummy lunch on a day when the kids eat for free. We get together a few times every year and it is always a lot of fun. One of our fellow K-1 crew members moved to Hawaii a little over a year ago so I'm thinking I know where our next get together is going to be. . .

Sunny Day

This last weekend the kids missed a day of school and we headed down to St. George for Aunt Kim's wedding. It was plenty hot, about 90 degrees, but the weather was great and so was the wedding.

Hanging around the Temple.


The girls loved helping Aunt Kim with her dress.

Adam didn't mean to take this picture of Korinne, but it turned out to be one of our favorites.

When you are 1 of 10 kids it is not often that you have all 10 kids in one spot. Here is Adam with his parents and all of his siblings.

Congrats to Ben and Kim!

Typical

I'll tell you about my day because it was a pretty typical one. Around here life starts around 7:30 a.m. Britton is usually up and will start to practice the piano around 7:30. That is my cue to get out of bed and help him go through all of his songs. There is a good chance that one or both of the girls snuck into our room during the night and is sleeping on the floor by the bed. (Believe me when I say we are working on this.) This morning Jenna was up early trying to get her room cleaned up before school so she could get all of her daily points, but usually we have to wake her up at 7:45 a.m. Adam handles the breakfast and I take care of the clothes/hair/backpack/clean room situation. We have family prayer at 8:10 and Britton and Jenna are off to the bus after a round of family hugs. (Korinne will not let the kids leave the house until she has had a big hug from both of them.) After cleaning up the kitchen, getting ready, cleaning my room, getting Korinne ready and checking my e-mail and reading the newspaper Korinne is ready to go to preschool. After she is dropped off I head out to a primary meeting where the big topic on hand is the upcoming primary program. After the meeting and arranging for Korinne to get picked up from preschool, I went to the school to have lunch with Jenna. It is national school lunch week and today was the day parents were encouraged to come and eat with their 1st graders. (Tomorrow I will get to go and eat with Britton.) Jenna was so excited to have me there and they served pizza hut pizza with breadsticks, pears, and fresh carrots. (Definitely a step up from the sloppy cooked spinach they served me as a child.)

After lunch Korinne and I were off to run some errands. First we headed to the Sprint repair store. I got a new phone a few weeks ago and during the Vegas Ragnar it suddenly stopped letting me hear and talk on regular calls. Texting worked, earphones & speaker phone worked, it just wouldn't let me make regular phone calls. I tried everything and even had Adam "the genius" look at it (seriously, he can figure everything out.) Well, we decided it had to be taken in. As soon as I walked in the store and explained the problem the guy called my phone and miraculously it worked just fine. Aghh! Of course I felt super silly. What is up with that?! Anywho, it was off to the next errand-Kohl's. I put on my friendly smile and proceeded to beg them to take my Kohl's cash that expired on Oct. 7th. "Pleeeeeeeaase have mercy on me!" I tried not to sound too desperate, but losing $30 of free stuff was just too much for me to bear. Well, whatever I did worked. Gotta love customer service. While there I tried on some sunglasses and asked Korinne what she thought. She looked at me and said, "You look, um. . .(pause) different" said with a slight smile. I just laughed. It was clear she didn't like them, she just wasn't sure the right way to tell me. I tried on a few more pairs and Korinne had a definite opinion about each one. You know, I never have Korinne with me at places like Kohl's but I can see she definitely has potential to be a shopper when she gets older. "Oh Mom, all of this is just awesome!" "Mom, look at how cool this Disney underwear is!", "Mom, I definitely need a new watch, like this tinkerbell watch." She got over the fact that she wasn't going to get her tinkerbell watch, but wasn't happy about it. She walked around the store with little stars in her eyes which brought 2 words to my mind, "Uh-Oh."

We went to the bank and the distribution center before heading home. We got home 5 minutes before Britton and Jenna arrived home from the bus stop. Britton always comes in like a whirlwind, "Mom, finished my homework on the bus, can I go play?" Before I can say yes he is out the door playing in the circle with his friends. Korinne was right on his heels. This is the time I spend with Jenna. I go through both backpacks and help Jenna with her homework and then read with her. She calmly gets through everything and then goes outside to play. Tonight she wanted to read twice as long as usual because she wants to help her class win the kite readers award or something like that. Britton would rather practice piano in the morning and read at night in his room. Jenna likes the one on one time with me after school.

After making dinner it was off to scouts for Britton. The girls played outside until it got dark and after Britton got home they watched an episode of "Ruff Ruffman" that had been recorded. We started getting the kids ready for bed at 7:30 p.m. Pajamas, teeth brushing, scriptures, family prayer. Our goal is to be done by 8 p.m. Britton usually is awake for a while longer in his room, but spends his time reading. He has been known to read 15 chapters of the Book of Mormon in his room in a typical night. I asked him one night if he knew what was going on when he read that much in a night and he proceeded to give me a 15 min. synopsis of the chapters with details even I wouldn't have remembered. Ok, I thought, this kid is getting it. Jenna will usually read the kids version of the Book of Mormon and a few other books to Korinne in Korinne's room. Then they will fall asleep next to each other on the floor. As idyllic as that all sounds just know that there are a few "I shouldn't be hearing anything up there!" and "Get back in your rooms, please" coming from us, and a few "Mom, I need a drink of water" and "Dad, I can't sleep, Korinne is bugging me" coming from them. Adam is always more sympathetic to their calls for help, so they usually ask for him. (That is what you call a no brainer)

Now I'm catching up on random things and blogging. It was just a typical day, but I realize that these "typical" days are what I'll want to remember years from now when my kids are out of the nest. Unfortunately time goes by way too fast.

Saints & Sinners

Here she is:


This oh so coveted Saints & Sinners medal is from the Ragnar Relay Series. What did I do to earn this heavy (and did I mention coveted?) piece of hardware? I went down to Las Vegas with my crazy running friends from High School and ran a 171 mile relay in the desert. Why did I do this? To earn this coveted medal, of course! So when I say "Here she is" what I really mean to say is, "HERE SHE IS!!!!!!"

What? Running 5 miles at 2 o'clock in the morning after running through the desert in 80 degree heat the day before and then running again the next morning after only an hour and a half of sleep doesn't appeal to you? That is where we differ, my friends, because to me it actually sounds like a good time. After the Wasatch Back in June (The 180 mile relay from Logan to Park City), the organizers of the race announced a new relay that was kicking off in Vegas in October. All of the runners that ran the Wasatch Back and then ran the Vegas Ragnar in the same calendar year would receive an extra (and might I add special) medal--the "Saints & Sinners" medal. My WB team decided that we were going to go for it. Since not all of our teammates could make the trip we teamed up with another car of runners from Arizona who had run the Del Sol relay earlier in the year. Here we are just moments after meeting for the first time.


Just in case you couldn't tell, orange was our signature color. Against a desert background we were able to see our runner from literally miles away. We had a blow horn and looked absolutely ridiculous.

These were the kinds of questions being thrown around the van, "Oooh, where did you find that suh-weet Mr. T orange Tee shirt?"

Yup, we looked ridiculous and had a great time.

Adam was great and didn't think twice about letting me travel and run another Ragnar Relay. Not only that but I came home to a clean house and happy kids. And when I say clean I mean clean. He had cleaned out the garage, the pantry and hall closet, and the kids were bragging about the extra things they had cleaned, "Mom, I cleaned the whole playroom by myself!" and "Mom I cleaned out and organized 4 kitchen drawers and the plastic container cupboard!" Fabulous. Maybe I should run more relays. Ha! Just kidding. But Adam really is my hero. They don't come any better than Adam.

We're "Fall"ing

The kids were out of school for 3 days this last week. We usually go to St. George for UEA, but since we will be going there in 2 weeks for a wedding we decided to be SL tourists instead. It was a great idea, right up until the weather dropped 35 degrees overnight and it started to rain on the first day of "fun." The September weather was positively blissful. It was in the 80's and so nice for pretty much the whole month, but then virtually overnight we have officially entered fall and the chilly rain that comes with it.

Day 1 of the "U-E-yea!" fun plan:

My Mom and I took the kids to "This is the Place Park" for a little bit. Yeah, there was a reason why we were the ONLY ones there. The locals were still in school and the weather left much to be desired. But we saw some cool things and then left in search of some much needed hot chocolate.

Day 2

Much more successful thanks to the "Happiest Place on Earth." No, I'm not talking about Disneyland, I'm talking about Chuck E. Cheese. Last Feb. on our way to California on a super secret Disney Vacay I asked the kids, "If you could go ANYWHERE in the world, where would you go?" Britton's responded with an enthusiastic "CHUCK E. CHEESE'S!" Boy was he disappointed when we went to Disneyland instead. The point of this story is that Adam and I didn't tell the kids that we were taking them to Chucks so when we pulled into the parking lot it was complete pandemonium. They were jumping and yelling and waving their arms. Woohoooooooo! You know, I've come to appreciate my children's low standards when it comes to having a fun day out. Low point of the day--Jenna's inability to decide what to get with her portion of the ticket points. 20 minutes, and 3 requests to the employee to exchange what she had so painstakingly decided upon and we were FINALLY on our way. No one was more happy to see us leave then the staff in charge of the prizes. I think I may have seen them high five-ing each other as we walked out the door. Ok, not really, but you get the idea.

On our way back from Chucks we made a spontaneous decision to stop at Gardner Village. They were having a Wee Witch Festival aimed at kids so it was a great time to stop in. Surprisingly we all had a great time even though we didn't actually spend any money or go in any of the shops. The kids danced to the music and walked around and saw all of the festive Halloween things and played and the weather was really quite pleasant. Check out Korinne strutting to the music "Ghostbusters" in this clip.





They were all tickled pink to get a little "prize" from one of the shops.

The witch with the hula hoop was moving. The kids loved it.

Day 3

I have 2 words for you: Target, Costco. 'Nuff said. I love where I live, but with a Target and Costco it really would be the most perfect place on earth. Ha. As it stands I have to settle for frequenting these establishments only on our visits to SL. When I got to Target I texted Adam, "I miss having a Target!" His reply was simple, "Maybe it's for the best. LOL" It's true, I probably spent more than I would have simply because it was a novelty.

That night Adam and I went to my mission reunion and the kids got to hang out and sleepover at Aunt Kim's house. Adam and I battled MAJOR traffic and other frustrations, but the kids had a great time. It was the highlight of their trip.

Day 4

Home. We drove home listening to the first session of General Conference. Seeing all of the fall leaves coming through the canyon and listening to conference made it a pleasant drive. Upon arriving home we had to turn on the furnace. Brrr.