Thanks for

I am so thankful for my family! This year, at my parents', we had my family [with Jared- hooray!], Burke's family, Kyle & Emmeline, Joy, Alyson, my Grandpa, and my Uncle Scott. Also, Emmeline's sister Joni and her dog [which was a huge hit with the kids- Brooklyn is absolutely obsessed with animals]. Plenty of food, and plenty of time to relax and catch up on all the latest news.
Mmmmm. Lots of desserts, and a few fun games to play with family. We brought Ticket to Ride, and Kyle brought one by the same company called Shadows Over Camelot. They take at least an hour to play, but they're so worth it.

Burke and Amber, and some of my other siblings, hit all the Black Friday sales in search of the best bargains. Me? I'd rather be boiled in oil. Or have a root canal without anesthesia. We [minus Jared] played with cousins for a little bit longer, and snacked on the leftover pies, and wished we had enough room for all the great food my mom cooked. :)

There's a CD player in the living room, and the kids usually put on their CDs and dance and sing to it. Today, Hyrum decided it was time for Christmas music [NO! It's too early!] and we got serenaded about white Christmases, and Joy to the World. :) It is beautiful music, but I don't think I'm ready yet...

And I'm researching where and when we can go cut down our Christmas tree. :) But we're not decorating it until AFTER December 1st.

Tagging

*sigh* I was going to post a long rant about tagging, which seems to have started out like that cute little plant you got at the nursery last fall. You put it into your garden, hoping it would survive, and it turned into the ground cover from *#() and strangled all the other plants. Because so many of my friends have tagged me, I am now posting, once, 6 things about myself you may not know. Once. Never again :)

1. I have struggled with depression since elementary school.

2. I cry when I see cheesy movies, or cheesy commercials, or hear a cheesy song. Yet my favorite line from a movie right now is, "For so many reasons, ... No." * [anybody recognize this? I'll put the answer at the bottom of this post.]

3. I am the oldest child in my family. I am also the shortest. Well, Alyson is still shorter than I am, but she's only 9. And considering her head is already at my shoulders, I feel safe in saying that she, too, will become taller than me in just a few short years.

4. I hate being bad at anything; even things I think are stupid.

5. I love my children all the time. I like being around them a lot more as they grow out of the milk bottles and poopy diaper stage.

6. I married my husband for his sense of humor. And his cute butt ;)

Now, just to be different, I am not tagging anybody. So there.



* Templeton, the rat, in the movie "Charlotte's Web."

The other day...

on the way home from the gym, I was [as usual] only sort of listening to Hyrum. He likes to talk, and he talks a *lot*- just like Morgen ;P- Anyway, he was telling me all about his imaginary friends. [see? I was listening!] And he commented, very seriously,


"Yeah, it's a pretty good thing I have so many superhero friends. It's hard to save the day all by myself."







[I totally spit on my windshield when he said that ;) thank goodness water wipes off LOL]





Tonight at dinner, he announced, "I'm sure glad I didn't have to save the day today."

**just in case you were wondering, wearing a cape is not necessary on 'save the day' missions. Optional, and nice, but not necessary. Especially if you're in disguise.**


Now a random observation: a few years ago, Jared and I were in the car, waiting at an intersection, and we witnessed a circus trick: a woman who could drive an SUV, smoke, and talk on a cell phone ALL AT THE SAME TIME! For some reason, we both thought it was crazy funny and busted up laughing. But I figured it was a girl thing, to be talking, smoking and driving all at once.
Nope- yesterday, I was sitting at an intersection by myself, and watched a man make a left-hand turn into the lane next to my car. He was driving an SUV, pulling a trailer [with a mattress, box springs, washer, and dryer on it], talking on his cellphone, AND he was smoking. I'm calling Barnum and Bailey.

And they're off

Or, at least, gone. We sold the last puppy on Saturday. I'm relieved that he's going to a home where they'll take good care of him and make sure he hunts a lot. It was a lot of hard work to have 7 puppies, but they played together, and slept together, and it seems a bit lonely now without them.
And, in other news, Jared and I [on his 'day off'] got to attend the Veteran's Day Concert, held in the Jon M Huntsman Center on the University of Utah Campus. Jared was required to attend, part of his military job. But, it was a pretty good concert, and certainly an enjoyable one! And, in a weird sort of coincidence, the local high school's choir [there were some other schools there as well] participated, along with the military band. I have no idea what the band is called, but the participants come from most of the branches of the military. And apparently they travel around and perform all over. Anyway, they rocked ;)

I can't wait

For some reason, I love snow. Well, I love it as long as I don't *have* to be in it. I don't want to be in the snow when I have a time limit, because I love to relax and take my time and enjoy the slushy soft sounds of shoveling the driveway. And when that's finished, I get to come inside and make myself a nice cup of hot cocoa. Mmmm!


Today's list of favorites:
**hot cocoa
**fast, working internet
**the Container Store
**Ibuprofin [as a painkiller, it rocks!]
**telephones [since my husband is gone so much, it comes in handy]
**music
**cookies
**eating Halloween candy

and a good evening to you all ;)

Ack!!!

So, I submitted a LO to an online challenge, and *I won something*!!!!! I am still in shock- I went back and looked at all the other LOs, and I really cannot believe that I won!!! [and there are way too many exclamation points in this blog now]
*big grin and sore feet from jumping up and down*
:)

Belated Halloween photos

Well, I finished sewing costumes about 5 minutes before trick-or-treat time in our neighborhood. Then I sent them out w/Jared [Myles and I stayed home to pass out candy], and completely forgot to take pictures LOL. So today I sat them down, made them get their costumes back on, and snapped a few photos. Morgen is the red dragon, Hyrum is Peter Pan, Myles was a Lost Boy, and Walker was the crocodile from Peter Pan. He tried to talk Morgen into being Wendy, or Tiger Lily, or something else from that movie, but she wouldn't budge.
And, as you can see, the whole 'stay in one place for pictures' thing did not appeal to Myles. Being a Lost Boy, he felt, meant he needed to leave the other children and strike out on his own :) They made it home with full pumpkins, and collapsed into bed in sugar comas about an hour later. *sigh* It's good to be a kid!

In other news, Jared left today for Las Vegas. He gets to play 'evil genius scientist' down there again. And, we sold another puppy- only one left now :(

Jack'o'lanterns

Walker's into creepy things this year, hence the spider pumpkin. He chose the pattern, poked holes to trace it onto the pumpkin, and cut out the body and the spinnerets, and the front legs. He wanted help with the back 6 legs- they're pretty close together- so I cut those for him. Then Jared got his super spotlight so I could get some pics with the lights out.
Morgen wanted something scary, and this was the best pattern I could find that was also something she could cut out herself. Jared helped with the face, but the rest was all Morgen.
And this one is Hyrum's. He wanted a vampire, and I found a vampire bat [there are fangs, you just can't see them through the glare of Jared's super spotlight]. He poked holes to set the pattern in the pumpkin all by himself, then Jared helped him carve it out.
This is Myles' pumpkin, well, really it's mine, since I carved it and chose the pattern for the face LOL. But each of the kids has a pumpkin, so this is Myles'.
And he was obviously a huge help :)
The older 3 kids all helped to scoop the guts out of their pumpkins, and they saved most of the seeds. We cleaned them off and they're soaking in saltwater right now. Tonight or tomorrow, we'll roast them in the oven, and they'll be ready to eat. Mmmm!

And just a fun website for those of you who like power tools and fire. :)Yep, I'll bet you money that at least one of my kids will be making pumpkins like that next year. My favorite is the puking pumpkin.

LO challenge

for 'Gettin Sketchy'

list of supplies:
paper: Basic Grey, CI
paint: Delta
rub-ons: DCWV
chipboard: Maya Road
pen: American Crafts black marker
font: Air Conditioner
stamps: Hero Arts Vintage Alphabet
ribbon, brads, adhesive

knees, please

We have entered the final stage of babyhood: toddling. Myles is officially walking around now. Okay, it's a bit more of a drunken stagger at this point. Still, he is moving his body from point A to point B mostly on his feet. *sigh* And every time he makes it to his goal [usually a place he can hold onto and regain his balance] he breaks out in a gigantic grin.