Halloween 2010

Holidays are always hard when they land on a Sunday.  After getting home from church at 3:00 it was a mad rush to get everything done (and everyone in bed at a semi-decent school night hour).  We started out with an idea that I blatantly stole from my sister, and I am not ashamed to admit it because it was a really good idea, and that's what sisters are for.  We had a "Cackle Cook's Cafe" (apparently there is a book with that same title that you are supposed to read before hand, which she sneakily forgot to tell me about, most likely because she was feeling threatened by me :).  I (meaning "we") made up a menu and disguised all the food names so that they had no idea what they were ordering.  The kids LOVED it.  It was funny to see the looks on their faces when I brought their plates out and they realized what they actually ordered (dinner of corn, cool whip and carrots anyone? I showed a little mercy and let them change their orders).

Here's the menu:

Slimy worms and vampire blood (spaghetti and sauce)

Poison Ivy (salad)
Skeleton bones (breadsticks)
Frog eyes (peas)
Pumpkin fingers (carrot sticks)
Goblin eyeballs (grapes)
Juicy Cranium (cantelope)
Scarecrow teeth (corn)
Pumpkin brain (pumpkin pie)
Ghost guts (cool whip)
Witch’s brew (apple cider)

Kylie took her table decorating assignment very seriously and she did a great job setting the mood.

After dinner we headed over to the neighbor's for the annual Halloween party (let's call it a "get together" for  Sunday's sake :) where the kids ran wild and we managed to eat even more food while enjoying a little adult conversation.  Then came the trick or treating.  Yes we went trick or treating on Sunday, I won't try to justify it if you don't judge. Usually I stay home and pass out candy because the last time I went trick or treating was probably when Kylie was like 1 year old and it was freezing cold and the entire neighborhood was a ghost town.  I thought Jason was getting the raw end of the deal while I had the luxury of a quiet house all to myself.  I was wrong. I am so glad I went out, it was so much fun.  I don't think I would have ever forgiven myself if I missed Maddox's first "real" trick or treating (probably the same way that I managed to forgive myself for missing Jaydens...oops).  Seriously, his little "tick-a-teat" and "dank-oo" was the highlight of the holiday.  Kylie treated the night as more of a social experience and was more interested in her friends then the candy.  Jayden, as you can guess, had a whole different agenda. He was always atleast 2 houses ahead of everyone on his quest to get the most candy.  I loved that the neighborhood was swarming with kids, there were so many people out and it reminded me of the good old days.  For a while I was worried that trick or treating was a dying sport, it seems like there were years when we would only get a handful of trick or treaters and it made me sad.  I was glad to see that begging for candy was back in style in a big way this year, it made for a very happy Halloween!

Trunk-or-treat

 So here are my pirates in all their glory.  Kylie's turned out better than expected for a last minute Goodwill ensemble (apparently the size 10, only-girl-pirate-costume-left-in-the-entire-state-of-Arizona wasn't good enough), Jayden's was a true day before Halloween treasure and Maddox's definatley looks like the bottom of the barrel with the skull adorning crotch.  Oh well, it's a good thing they're already so cute to start with.  As for the real fun, I am so sad that they have dissolved all the activity committees (I'm assuming that's church wide, unless we're just extra righteous in Arizona and get special instructions), because our new activity chairperson is awesome and pulled off such a fun trunk or treat.  Carnival games, costume parade, chili cook off and more sugar than we knew what to do with....

This was the only time I saw Kylie the entire night.  Since when did she become too cool to hang out with mom and dad? (sniff).

Maddox made sure to eat a well rounded meal of donuts, cupcakes and candy, totally refusing to even taste the chili. Can you really blame him?

 Jayden wasn't too hard to keep track of, I just had to check the lines for the games.  The competitive blood runs deep in the Young family and this kid made it his personal mission to win every single game that night.  I swear he spent an hour at the cake walk before scoring a cupcake. And the sad thing is, he doesn't really even like cupcakes.

and since he hadn't met his sugar quota for the day, Maddox and his little lady friend, Ava, hid behind the cars to inhale as much candy as they could before getting caught.  Jayden may get his competitive edge from Jason, but Maddox definately inherited my sweet tooth.

Another happy procrastination Halloween

I do this every year. I wait until the last minute to cram in all the Halloween festivities and it always makes for a fun, but crazy weekend (the fact that it's almost Thanksgiving and I am still not caught up on Halloween in no way implies that I am a procrastinator.  In my defense, the power cord on my laptop started a small electrical fire and now I am at the mercy of Jason and his work computer). I end up scrounging for costumes and driving to 10 different stores to find the right sizes. I actually did get the pumpkins just in time before all the stores ran out, but couldn't find time to carve them, so a half hour before the first trick or treaters come a knockin' I've got the kids sticking in plastic body parts and calling it good. The only thing I didn't procrastinate doing was buying the candy, which was a big mistake since I ended up eating half of it all by myself.  The traditional pumpkin patch visit isn't always so traditional (after our one time splurge to Schenpf farms we haven't found a good pumpkin patch that isn't equivalent to the cost of a weeks worth of groceries), but when we do go, it's the typical Young style and added to the the festive overload weekend to do list.  This year was no different, except that we found a new place that we love. At five bucks a pop and a whole lot of fun, Vertuccio farms was the winner. We had just enough time after soccer games and before the ward trunk or treat to squeeze in a couple of hours and we we are so glad that we did.

Maddox would have been content as can be doing this the entire time

Jayden found his calling in life and would have been content doing this the whole time too (I was just worried that he and Jason were going to get kicked out for playing bumper cars with them)

You don't think she is permanantly scarred from the alligator episode do you? I didn't know a little jump from a little donkey could get such a big reaction.

and then came the corn maze.....

Busy day, serious fun.

Signs

Cold cereal is my life line.
My usually not so good sense of smell is in overdrive.
My emotions are a wreck.
I cracked open the tums for the first time in 2 years.
I wake up at 3 AM to eat cereal.
My favorite pasta dish made me throw up.
Maddox is constantly lifting up my shirt to look in my belly button.
I couldn't ride any of the big roller coasters.
Even the little roller coasters made me sick.
My weekly cleaning day has been pushed back to every other week.
Kylie has to plug my nose for me when I press garlic.
I can't kiss Jason unless he brushes his teeth.
I love the excuse to not fast.

Yep. #4 is on its way, and we are thrilled.

I went in for my first appointment today and they couldn't find the heartbeat. First the nurse tried. Then the doctor. Then the nurse started rubbing my leg sympathetically and handing me tissues.  The doctor tried to sound optimistic but I could tell he was concerned and ordered a vitality check ultrasound. I just wanted everyone to leave so that I could cry.  It seemed like an eternity while I waited for the ultrasound.  I tried studying up on Allure's version of the sexiest new styles for Fall so that I could distract myself from crying. It didn't help, I just kept thinking about how I was going to tell the kids and how I wanted Jason to hop on the next plane back from Vegas.  Finally they walked me down to the ultrasound room as I tried to avoid all the sympathetic smiles I got from everyone I passed in the halls.  They found the heartbeat.  I could have hugged the technician.  I must have just ovulated late that month because the baby is measuring 9 days smaller than it should and that's why they couldn't find the heartbeat.  I don't care that my due date got pushed back. I'm having a baby.  My heart aches for anyone who has had a miscarriage.  The heartwrench I felt in that short period of time was so difficult and I can't imagine the pain of really going through with it.  So while I am more than grateful that this little bean will be coming into our family around June 13th, today I am also sympathetic for those who have experienced a loss.  Motherhood is an emotional rollercoaster that you get on from day one and never ever get off.

Thirty five



Unfortunately for Jason his birthday landed on the day after our vacation so I didn't have much time to prep (otherwise I totally would have planned a party that would have blown his mind).  Between cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping we managed to pick up a couple of presents for him (we went with a "35" theme-35 pieces of his favorite candy and gum, a coupon for a 35 minute back massage; a $35 gift card (Jason was emberassed that it was for JC Penny's but he said he needed new work clothes and beggers can't be choosers).  We met him at a park for lunch and then made his favorite dinner that night.  Thankfully he's not a diva like me and is cool with a low key birthday. I hope he knows how much we love him and appreciate all that he does for our family! 

 On the loooong plane ride home I was sitting there thinking about all the fun vacations we have been on together.  I know he's got 35 years worth of memories packaged into his little brain, but I hope that the ones we've made over the past 11 years are some of his best, I know they are for me.....snowboarding on the Utah mountains; strolling along Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco; getting rained out at a baseball game in Baltimore; seeing the Liberty Bell in Pennsylvania; watching him surf while I soaked up the sun in the OC; visiting the White House in DC; buying cheap junk in Tijuana; riding the ferris wheel at Navy Peir in Chicago; slummin' it in Jersey; visiting my sister and the cornfields in Iowa; listening to live jazz music on Bourbon street in New Orleans; getting massages on the beach of Costa Maya; exploring pirate caves in Guatamala; touring the island of Cozumel on a scooter; hiking the Mayan ruins in Belize; collecting shells on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Florida; finding crocodiles in the swamps of Georgia; doing a whole lot of nothing in Rhode Island; walking the cobblestone streets in Boston; visiting the graveyard of the Salem witches in Massachusetts; speeding by the Talladega Speedway in Alabama; catching frogs on the beach of Lake Michigan in Indiana; watching one of BYU's best games in Texas; riding a train along the beautiful coast of Connecticut; ringing in the New Year on the Las Vegas strip; walking the pioneer trail in Nauvoo; sitting in Joseph Smith's Liberty jail cell in Missouri; visiting the happiest place on earth in Disneyland; posing for pictures on Hollywood's Walk of Fame; biking the Brooklyn Bridge in New York...I can't wait to make more memories.  Happy birthday to my favorite little traveling buddy :)

Loves.

a little late on the birthday interview, but here's what rocks this two year old's little world....

Dora*flip flops*swings*free cookies at Wal-mart (he thinks the store is called "walmart cookie")*trains*cheese*ice cream truck*bounce houses*Ky-wee and Gigi*singing "good morning to you..." to wake the kids up*his blanket (he still calls it "nnngggshhhh"-the snoring sound)*my flat iron (the "snapper catcher")*his friends Tyler and Stratton*anybody named Ava, but esp. Ava H.*Kylie's friend Mia, he thinks she comes over to play with him, not Kylie*candy ("nandy")*race cars*pirates and the pirate song ("yo ho, yo ho, pirate me!")*birthday presents, birthday cake, birthday candles and the birthday song*fast boats*wheels on the bus, row row row your boat and pop goes the weasle*the red racecar shopping cart at Fry's*popsicles*breaking Jayden's lego creations*having Kylie put ponytails in his hair*spray bottles*nursery*bubbles*his ba-ba (I swore I would take the bottle away when he turned 2, but I just can't do it)*slides*bikes*chapstick*drooling*giving hugs and kisses*balloons*making us smile*being the cutest little 2 year old around*we love you Madds!!!

The Gulf

Oh man, there is nothing like the white sand and beautiful, warm, clear water of the Gulf of Mexico.  The only day we could fit the beach in was the day that we left.  The couple of hours that we had at the beach finding shells and jumping the waves were not nearly enough, but it was the perfect way to end such an amazing vacation. 

Rumble

I don't know how Jason and I managed to escape the dating scene at BYU without even one game of miniature golf in the whole 8 months we dated. To make up for lost time we took the kids to Hawaiian Rumble and had a friendly little game. Even after spending four days straight at amusement parks we were somehow able to find enough energy to squeeze in some fun in the evening, and I'm glad we did. Besides mini golfing we also went swimming at the fun pool at the hotel and spent one evening strolling through Downtown Disney, which has the funnest stores and such a great vibe.  Anyways, I'm too tired to write more, besides that it was fun.

Busch Gardens

There's not a whole lot to say besides that the two days we spent at Busch Gardens were fun and exhausting.  Maddox loved the log flume, until the end.  So sad (and funny) to see his smile change.  Obviously Kylie hasn't gotten over her fear of big drops.  I told her I usually hold my breath and clench my teeth.  She did just that. 

The log flume wasn't a big hit and Thunder River still made Jayden nervous

But they discovered the mother of all rollercoasters when it came to the Scorpion.  The loops didn't bother them, as long as there were no drops they were good and begged to go on it over and over and over....

Maddox thought the 4D movie was so cool, until the water squirted all over his face and the whole theater could hear him scream.

The "melmo" sightings made up for it. He was in a trance watching all the Sesame Street characters.

And then there was the swing episode. He was on his third round of the swings and excited for it to start again when we noticed a questionable puddle forming under his swing. Oh crap. Yeah, he was the kid who peed his pants and made everyone get off the ride and made all the kids waiting in line cry because they had to shut down the ride. I was too emberassed and made Jason go get him off the swing. He had already soaked through his diaper and the only back up I had was his swimsuit (so he was already looking a little homely).  Apparently all the right parts didn't get tucked into the diaper when I changed it. . 

  So now he looked like White/Chinese trash in its finest.  Life's good when running around in public in a diaper is the least of your concerns