One of the busiest weekends ever! I loved it!!

On Friday I did a wedding while my kids stayed at friends, dressing up, making cupcakes, & watching movies, and Clay went to the Thrice concert & came home with blood on his shoe.

Saturday was full to the TOP.

I started out early with a family session (SO cute!). Clay started attacking the laundry bright & early, took Brandt to basketball, with Brooklyn of course. Then we all met back at the house (Clay did more laundry & the dishes) & went back to the gym to work out. We ran to Costco, ate samples, pizza & hot dogs. Shared a Sprite.

Went home, (Clay did more laundry) showered & hauled out the door to get to Grandma & Grandpa's to drop off the kids. Came back to Mary's surprise party, left early to get to Dan's wedding (so sweet) & visit with old friends, left there early to get to a birthday party for the boys from high school since they're all turning 30 this year & the next. I would not let myself be included in part of the celebration. No need to rush things.

It was all very fun. I made the mistake of sitting down at the last party & the busy-ness of the day hit me & I'm afraid I turned into a couch lump.

Yeah & I totally abandoned my camera in my purse all evening, so I'm stealing these pics from Jess' blog of the last partay. Thanks Jess!




Sunday we went over to dinner with our friends. So much fun, I think we could have had a sleepover & still not be satisfied. We came out to a TON of snow. As we entered our neighborhood we noticed it was unusually dark. The power apparently had been out for quite some time. We got in, lit candles all around the house and piled blankets on the beds. Fun little surprise. I love when the power goes out & the kids were so excited. We read our book ("the enormous egg") by candlelight & put the kids to bed.

I just love spending that much time with my family & with Clay.

And now we're back to Monday. And its a BEAUTIFUL one!! Sparkling snow everywhere! I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this week I can hardly stand it. I want to cook non-stop!

the dramatics of little lives

Twice in one day! What's that all about? Especially right after moaning & groaning about how neglected my blog has been. Well, I'm back.

I picked Peanut up from school today. He had his sad face on & explained to me that he feels like he doesn't have any friends at school. Apparently there are teams (like clubs, not sports) that kids are on, but he is not. Sheesh-it rips my heart out. It's so hard having no control whatsoever & just sending your kid off with an "I love you!" and hoping for the best each day. What can I possibly do to make it better? He has friends, just not in his class that he feels good about himself with. I can't walk in & order kids to be friends with my kids. I don't want to encourage him to start his own "team" to leave other kids out.

{sigh}

It's hard to see my totally loveable, heart of gold, smiley eyes, thoughtful, so cute, fun little boy come home like that. I don't get it. I miss preschool with Issac, Jin, Tabor, & Oliver.

um, hi.

So I know I have been boring according to this blog lately. It's true, don't try to console me. But my life has been nutso busy. And I like it. Deceptive little blog, you.

I'll share a tidbit to hold you over until next time. Don't think you're lucky enough to get a photo today.

We had our final large Relief Society (for church) activity this week. It was a Feast Critique where everyone brought a favorite Thanksgiving dish or tried out a new recipe on us rather than on Thanksgiving day. Nothing actually ended up being critiqued, but we did have a "roll off." We voted on the best rolls so my friend, Michonne, can know which ones to cook for her family's Thanksgiving. It was fun. There was DELICIOUS food. I'm now going to revamp the way I make yams. I tried pumpkin banana bread for the first time. Delish. And I brought the strawberries I recently mentioned on here. They're good. We were miraculously set up about 10 mintues prior to it starting (a record.) And we had a good turn out. We all brought food, ate food, visited, giggled, said something we were thankful for, and waddled out the door. Perfecto!

conclusion

Last night I was thinking about the whole universe being created & thought about dinosaurs. Wondering to myself what the point of that was since the earth just has people and animals on it now. Kind of seemed strange to me. I think dinosaurs were created to make little boys happy.

better by 2

That's the name of a new game we're playing at our house. We start in one room & make it better in 2 ways (each one of us-the kids & I).We move around the house doing the same thing in each room. They love it. It really helps out & it's basic enough that it's a short & sweet little pick up & they usually end up doing more than that. Fun little way to get some work done!

And...

I just found a great new way to make strawberries more fattening. Mostly because I know you all are looking for ways to do just that. :) Here's the recipe:

His Newness-Mr. Stockton Bayles

I have a new nephew! He is completely adorable in every way. He has the perfect head, he smells delicious and he fits in my arms so nicely. Kimi had him 2 days ago & everything went perfect. I am SO glad because there were a lot of pregnancy complications & concerns & we were all just holding our breath on the delivery. But it all went fabulous! I am as lame as possible & forgot my camera at home when I went to visit him last night. So you'll have to wait a week or so for when his week old pics are scheduled. Get excited!!
After the hospital I came home & went to the gym to murder the lower half of my body (I was successful). When I walked in I was so glad to just have some time to myself and listen to the crispy leaves blowing around on the sidewalk. It was warm out last night. It made me miss walking around campus in the autumn. And I can't believe I have not mentioned on here yet that leaves swirling out behind a car is one of my favorite things ever. Seriously.

I'm stuck

in a dress that I really don't want to cut. It is so cute & fits perfect! I've been looking for one like it FOREVER & finally found one at where else? Yes, Downeast. Surprise, surprise-my treasure hunting grounds come through again. It was $5.00. But I got it on and the zipper went up & now it won't come all the way back down. Hmmmmm....Clay? A little help?

blackout

So here's us at the football game Halloween night. Took the p&s camera. Regret. Such a fun time. We got to sit next to Brady, Grandpa, Grandma, & Gordon. We won!!! I love saying that like I had something to do with it. Brooklyn kept talking her hat off while she sat on my lap. Her hair was still dyed Snow White black and rubbed against my face for a couple of hours. I ended up looking like I had some serious scruff going on. Niiiiiice.

Spook City

I FREAK OUT watching scary movies, hearing scary music, or going to haunted houses. Not my thing. Somehow Clay convinced me to watch a spoof on a scary movie Halloween night & had me freaked out about zombies since. Great.

I was a good fairy (not scary at all). A little embarrassing to Clay when we went to Old Navy together. I think I was the only one there dressed up. Yes, I'm an adult. HaHa! I loved it. I feel so laaaaaaaaame when I don't dress up for Halloween, but whatever! To each his own I suppose.


I worked my magic on chickydoo #1 and #2, transforming them from adorable children into the magnificent Snow White & a magically disappearing (or "clearing" as he puts it) Army Guy. Haley Bug & I managed to get the long eyelashes on each other. Sadly for her I positioned hers so that her she had a rhinestone stabbing her in the eye the whole day. Ha!




I busted out some treats, we whipped up a fab little Halloween party at my mom's. Trick or Treated (super early) around Clay's parents hood, & beat cheeks to the Utah football game all decked out in black.




Good good day! And a whole lotta pictures. Slow down chica! I'm going to throw more on my photo blog. Check soon if you'd like.

BOO

So yes, the black dye did come out of Brooklyn's hair. Hallelujah! Lats night at the dinner table my kids were discussing the possibility of going to the spook alley that the fitness center is putting on. Wait-let me preface this by saying that Brooklyn gets scared REALLY easily.

So we're discussing & come to the conclusion that they should probably wait until they're a bit older. {Whining.} So Clay leans toward Brooklyn & yells "BOO!" She jumped & almost threw her bowl off the table trying to jump over into my arms. Then she got mad at him & told him that wasn't nice. So we explained that the spook alley would be FULL of that except w/o lights and with masks & people they didn't know. They decided to agree with our decision. I laughed so hard at Brooklyn's reaction after she had calmed down.

Well I'm off to prepare for the witching hour. Bwa-ha-ha!

And yes, Jen, I successfully finished making my first tutu. Go me!

Well, hello there.

I gave some thought to mopping the bathroom while I wait for our salmon dinner to cook. I thought for about a millisecond of watching the world series with my husband. I could make my bed that I haven't even had time to do today. But no, I'd rather write for now.

We just got back from Brooklyn's dance class/Halloween party. She kept checking out her Snow White reflection in the mirror. Can't believe I don't have a picture of her. You'll have to wait for Halloween itself to see one I guess.

We used that hair color spray to turn her hair black like Snow White's. That stuff is a mild nightmare. I'm not gonna lie. My nails have a black tinge to them now. Pretty. But she did look good and had a fabulous time at her preschool Halloween party & then the dance one. Love Halloween!

Oh-Salmon's done. Gotta go.I'm STARVING!

Whoa October!

This month has been p-a-c-k-e-d solid. Sorry I haven't stopped in for awhile. I still like ya! Hope to write soon. Lots in my mind. Gotta get it down.