In Lieu of Blow-ups
Is it an Arizona thing, or just a new trendy thing to deck your house all out with Halloween decorations? We're talking on a competitive scale with Christmas decorations here. Orange lights outlining every window and roof line, spider-webs, tombstones, ghosts, skeletons and every other ghoulish creature made into plastic lawn ornaments. But the favorite by far are those huge blow-up pumpkins, ghosts and monsters. When I was younger I recall our Halloween decorations consisting of the pumpkin pin art (those pin arts were the best) and other Halloween school projects adorning every window for all passerbyers to admire. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an anti-Halloween decorations kinda girl. I think they're fun to look at and a great way to get into the holiday spirit, all I'm saying is that I'm not willing to take out a loan to support my habit. I'm not the only one who has observed how naked our house looks compared to the other neighbors, yesterday Kylie pulled me outside and showed me this:and proudly announced: "Since we don't have blow-ups I made these instead!" My poor deprived children....maybe I should hit up the after Halloween clearance sales and invest in a 10 ft ghost....nah, I think I prefer the homemade type.

Let the Festivities Begin!

We had a fun Halloween filled weekend which we kicked off with our annual ward trunk or treat. Each year there are always lots of moms that dress up and I think that they look so cute. I'm never creative enough to come up with a costume (or gutsy enough to wear one), but this year I was forced to come up with a costume for the preschool Halloween party. Since I actually had a costume I decided to be brave enough to dress up for the trunk or treat. I went the safe route with the classic black cat. That is what Kylie wanted to be and so we pulled off the whole "mommy cat and baby kitten" look. Jason got home from work just in time to walk out the door, as he saw me come out with my skin tight black pants, cat ears, tail and playboy bunny-ish bowtie (what cat wears a bowtie?) he gave me one of those "are you serious?" looks. It took quite some time to try and convince him that "lots of moms dress up for these things, it will be fun". Finally we arrive to discover that I am only one of THREE moms that dressed up! I knew it was a bad sign as we pulled up and my friend Crystal got all excited because I was dressed the same....as her 1 year old daughter! I also enjoyed the comments like: "I have a costume too, but I wasn't brave enough to wear it tonight". Oh well, it was fun but next year I think I'll keep my black fuzzy tail at home. The kids had alot of fun, though. This was the first year that Kylie was old enough to go off on her own with her friends, it was kind of sad. Jayden was still loyal and hung out with mom and dad. He made a stinkin cute Chinese Captain Jack! I'm always amazed at how much candy we go through at these functions. I bought what I thought was enough candy for the trunk or treat and regular trick or treaters on Halloween, but my whole supply got wiped out and we still ran out early! What a fun night, though, I love seeing my kids get so excited about the holidays.


The next day Kylie went to her friend's costume b-day party at a bowling alley. They had cosmic bowling and it was a total blast. After that we went to a carnival put on by Jason's work. The kids had fun playing on the bouncy slides and running around with the other kids. It was nice to meet Jason's co-workers and put a face to the names. They had some leftover goodies when we were leaving so they were kind enough to hook my kids up with a book of 500 tatoos. What were they thinking?? Now I've got the task of trying to scrub tatoos off every square inch of their bodies before church....oh well, the kids were excited about it. After the carnival we went and checked out a new outdoor mall that just opened near our house. We couldn't ask for more perfect weather as we enjoyed walking around with the kids. They had some acrobat/magicians/circus performers there putting on a show. It was fun to watch and I got a kick out of Jayden, every time this guy did these cool tricks he would turn to me and say "Oh, I can do that too!" Typical male ego. It was a great weekend and we're excited for Halloween!

Petting zoo, seriously?

This is our 3rd Halloween here, but I'm still in search of the perfect pumpkin patch to become our annual family tradition. Two years ago we went to a really fun one, but considering it costs about $60 for our family to go, it definately got vetoed this year. Last year our pumpkin patch came in the form of the big boxes sitting outside of Wal-mart. This year I was excited when my friend told me about a pumpkin patch that they enjoy going to. We researched it on-line and it sounded like a lot of fun. They boasted a petting zoo, hay maze, hay ride, pumpkin decorating, etc. The kids were especially excited about the petting zoo, so we all got a good laugh when we showed up to discover that their version of a "petting zoo" consisted of a solitary pig dining on rotten pumpkins, enclosed by two sets of fences to prevent any form of "petting"--not that you could convince anyone to get within 20 feet of that nasty beast on their own free will...

Despite the disappointing animal encounters, we all had a lot of fun. The kids loved exploring the pumpkin patch, riding the hay ride, going through the pint-sized hay maze (once again, it wasn't quite what I expected from the web-site, but it was the perfect size for the kids-they loved it), decorating their own little pumpkin and spending time together as a family doing something other than yard work on a Saturday.

The Big Three-Two!


Jason's birthday was this past Friday and unfortunately he had to spend the majority of it at work. I woke up at 6:00 am to make him breakfast (kudos to me), and his co-workers took him out to lunch, so that was nice. The kids were excited to make him a cake and unanimously decided on a monster cake. It turned out cute, although it does look a little sadistic with the candles when the eye looks like it's on fire. We got to go out on an exciting date that night to dinner and shopping (thanks Michelle for watching the kids!). I never know what to get for him, so we usually just go shopping and he picks out what he wants. This year he needed more work pants and the fact that he is getting old really hit us while we spent his b-day shopping at JC Penny's. Not only is that his mom's favorite store, but we also ran into a member of the high council out shopping the same racks too. I think it was a devastating blow to his ego :) Don't be ashamed, honey--buy one pair of Dockers and get the second for 88 cents is just to much to resist, and besides, we know you are only there for work related attire....you're still cool in my eyes!

There are so many things that I love about you, hopefully you already know that, but here are just a few....(yes, some of them are repeats from the Father's day entry, but some things are just worth repeating :)

-You always make me laugh. You were voted class clown back in high school and you've still got what it takes to make me laugh. When you were the emcee (or however it's spelled) at your 10 yr high school reunion, you were so funny and had everyone cracking up, it made me proud!
-Your determination. Whenever you say you're going to do something, you do it, no questions asked.
-Your motiviation. You are such a hard worker! You don't get home from work until after 7:00 each night and you spend every Saturday out working in the yard or on some project. You never slow down and you never complain about it.
-You know how to work it. You pride yourself in always getting the best deal, and you're pretty darn good at it.
-You love to play with the kids. It's all about quality vs. quantity. You're not home much, but when you are you make the most of it. I love watching you play with the kids, whether it's hide-and-seek, riding bikes or just wrestling and having a good time.
-You are a loyal friend. I'm still amazed at how close you are to your high school "homies". Even though you're all spread out in different states you're just as close as before. When I was going through your pictures for the slide show, I had a hard time finding pictures with you by yourself. You're always the life of the party and your friends are as close as family to you. Just yesterday when you were talking to Shawn on the phone you mentioned Trent's name and Kylie told her friend that was over "oh, that's my uncle".
-You had the best pick-up line ever (I'll clarify that you were kidding around, but it still worked)--"You ever kissed a Chinaman before?" I can't say that I had, but I guess the saying is true: once you go Chinese you don't go back (okay, so maybe it's "once you go black you don't go back", but in this case I'm sticking to Chinese!)
-You've still got it. Even after 8 years of marriage, you still know how to melt my heart. I love having our late night conversations when we're laying in bed after the kids are asleep. We both keep saying that we better go to sleep because we have to wake up early, but before we know it an hour has passed and we're still laughing and talking about who knows what.
-You're a cutie. I love watching you on the wakeboard and snowboard, you would never guess that you were 32 :) I also like hearing stories about you back in the day when you were a little punk. There's no way we would have dated back in high school, but you've mellowed out now and it still makes me laugh to hear about your "bad boy" days. I just hope those mischevious genes of yours don't pass on to our kids!
-You know me better than anyone else. You can sense when I'm sad or upset, you know what makes me happy, I can never hide anything from you, I trust you to buy clothes for me because you know what I like, and you even know exactly what to order for me at any restraunt we go to.
-You're a worthy priesthood holder. This one is probably the most important quality. There's a peace in our home that can only be brought about by your priesthood power. I'm grateful for your righteous example to our kids and how you honor your priesthood, thankyou!

There's so many other reasons that I love you. You are an amazing person and my perfect match. I love how we balance each other out so well, I can't imagine my life with anyone else but you! Thanks for being my best friend, happy birthday, Babe!!

Pictureless

I'm bummed, my camera broke! It's just not a blog without some pictures, but I guess I'll have to make do. I just hope we can get a new one soon so I don't miss out on cute Halloween pictures!

Last night some friends were so nice to invite us to the ASU/Washington game where his company has some great seats in the "loge" section. Don't ask me what that means, all I know is that it's a great view, has free food and we were probably the youngest people in that section. We had a blast but I was sad when I realized that I haven't been to a college football game since my BYU years so long ago. It brought back some great memories, although it also made me feel really OLD. Not only did I feel old when we were walking up and reached the obvious seperation point where the youngin's proceeded to the student section and we headed up to the "old fogie" section (as Andrea and I called it), but I felt even older as I found myself rolling my eyes when I saw what all the "younger generation" were wearing. I must admit, I was very impressed with the creative skills of these ASU women, I have never seen so many masterful displays of clothing alterations done to a simple school t-shirt. There were halter tops, midrifts, the one sleeve cut off cave woman look, tank tops, major scoop necks, tops cut off so it hangs off their shoulders displaying all sorts of glittery bras, tube tops, bikinis, and my personal favorites--a t-shirt turned into a mini dress and a t-shirt cut up and held in place by tying the strips of fabric together to prevent a wardrobe malfunction. There may have been a time that I would have been jealous with their clothing recycling skills and yes, I admit I was sheltered at BYU in the world of knee-length shorts and BYU t-shirts that might turn a little risque when somebody rolled up the sleeves to expose a little shoulder. It made me laugh and I realized that I still do live in a little bubble here in Gilbert. It was a fun night, with a great win. ASU is still undefeated--GO SUNDEVILS!! Thanks Andrea for the tickets, thanks Sheba for watching the kids and thanks Jay for a fun date night!

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks, but since scanning this in would require me to actually go upstairs and access the other computer, I've been putting it off.

Last fast Sunday Kylie was sitting next to me drawing pictures when she brought these papers to me and announced that she had written down her testimony and wanted me to go up with her so that she could read it. It was the sweetest thing and I am grateful for her example and the little nudge to get me up there. You may notice the obscure picture of a nose, ear and eye on there. I asked her what they were for and she said very matter-of-factly, "well mom, I have a testimony that there are some people who can't hear, see or smell" (I'm glad to know that she considers my lack of smell a disability). We managed to edit that part out of her testimony when she went up there, I wasn't quite sure how that would come across. The man she drew is Pres. Hinckley and here is the translation: "I know Jesus loves me. I like myself, I like my mom, brother, dad, name of Jesus Christ, amen." So precious.

I'm really enjoying these sweet moments of innocence with her because she seems to be growing up way too fast. The other day I overheard her talking with a friend who was saying "Hannah Montana is so much more fashionable than Lizzie McGuire" (hello, these girls are 5!) and Kylie responds, "yeah, I LOVE Hannah Montana and I know ALL of her songs. Well, sometimes I forget them, but I know them all." Truth be told, she's seen maybe 5 minutes of one episode of Hannah Montana, but I didn't have the heart to say anything. I thought it was funny and sad at the same time that she is growing up so fast and trying to be cool. She also knows that High School Musical 2 is the big craze and talks about it all the time, although she didn't have the attention span to actually sit through the whole thing. I'm not ready for Cinderella to get replaced with Hannah Montana, or Barbie to get replaced by Sharpay, and I'm definately not ready for my baby to grow up!

The other day I used a purse that I hadn't used in a while and I was surprised when Jayden saw it and said, "new purse mom?" I was even more surprised when I was wearing a pair of earrings that Jennifer gave to me and he asked "Jenzy's earrings?" He also found a hair clip Jennifer had left and brought it to me telling me that it was for Jenzy's hair. I didn't even remember seeing her wearing it, so I don't know how he did! I am very amazed at his observational skills, I only wish that we would use them on something other than women's accessories!

What is wrong with these pictures?

I'll tell you what's wrong with these pictures---it's OCTOBER!! (by the way, don't you love Jayden's goggles? He can not get within a 50 foot vicinity of water without them) Fall is always the hardest season for me here, pretty much because it is non-existant. I loved fall in Utah, where you drive through the mountains to see the leaves changing, snuggle up in sweaters and blankets, eat warm soup on chilly days and just get excited for the holiday season. It's hard to start thinking about Thanksgiving, Christmas or let alone Halloween when it is still freaking 100 degrees! I would gladly give up the cold snowy winters, but just give me my Fall!! Atleast in the summer I expect the triple digits so I can't complain, but come October it's a whole other story....

Enough of that tangent. It's the so called "Fall break" (more like the-summer-that-never-ends-break) for the kids right now. They have Oct. 1-17th off and it has been so fun to hang out and do things that we haven't had a chance to do since school has started. I was a little nervous that the kids would be bored (and a little nervous that I would go crazy, especially since the first day of break Jayden managed to have a stabbing war with a pen on the table, which the table lost by a long shot, and put a nice big eight inch scratch in the front of our fridge. uggg.), but we have managed to fill the time with trips to the library, picnics in the park, Barbies and trains, going to the movies, lunch with Jason, building forts, going to the infamous "Dewper" show, play dates with friends we haven't seen a while and other things like that. It's been a lot of fun and it made me realize how much I miss having my kids around! Kylie has been begging me to let her have sleepovers with Jayden and so I told her that she could during the break. I didn't plan for EVERY night, but they both beg and plead and get so excited when I let them. It's really cute, but the only problem is that they wake each other up ridiculously early (we're talking anywhere between 5-6:30!). One morning they even came in at 2:30 ready and rarin' to go, that was not happening. Atleast they are really cute and happy when they wake up (come 4:00 pm it's usually a different story). They've been playing so cute together and haven't even watched as much TV as I thought they would want to, it's been nice. I can gage how much tv they've been watching by how clean the house is. It's definately been very cluttered lately, but I guess that's a good sign. We've still got another week of break. We all may be ready for school to start by then, but for now we are just enjoying hanging out and having fun!

The kids really wanted to decorate sugar cookies. The only cookie cutters I own are Christmas ones, nothing like decorating snow men in 100 degree weather to set the mood.

The kids spent hours one day building and playing in their "houses". They topped off the whole "worker" ensemble with work belts and hats.

My friend and I went to this incredibly awesome Fall festival, or so we thought. Apparently the whole state of Arizona thought that this free festival put on by a local church would be totally awesome too. They did have cool stuff like monster trucks, pro-skateboarders, BMX bikers, rides, food etc. The only problem was that there were so many dang people there that in a matter of 2 hrs. we managed to get one ride down a bouncy slide and a chance to stick their hands through the fence at the petting zoo because we weren't about to wait another hour to get up close and personal with the animals. Good times.

Kylie decided to open up a tatoo parlor and ink up herself along with Jayden and her friend. I got a kick out of her twist on the classic "mom" tatoo. I asked her if she did it so that I wouldn't get mad at her and she innocently replied, "no, I did it because I love you so much and want to always remember you". Nice try.

So the other day Kylie brought me the newspaper and said, "look how cool, mom, it's a picture of the inside of your ear". I thought it was kind of fascinating until I read the headlines: "Alternative Methods to Invasive Colonoscopy". It was definately a picture of the inside of something....just not an ear. Happy Tuesday!