Pumpkin Carving

Better late than never . . . We had planned to carve pumpkins on Monday night for Family Home Evening .  But my Mom needed some work done around the house, so it turned into a service FHE instead.  So Tuesday rolled around and by the time the kids got home from after school activities, we had dinner and got homework done it was already 7pm and baths still needed to be done, so after many tears and gnashing of teeth from the children it was postponed for another night.

Success finally arrived on Wednesday night, just two days before Hallow's Eve.  I don't ever remember it being warm enough to carve outside before.  I guess with daylight savings being late this year and the wonderful weather we are having it worked out in our favor.  It was so nice not having the mess in the house.

Rumor has it in his younger years Mark could not handle putting his hands in the pumpkin to clean them out.  I'm happy to report he has gotten over that.

Jessica carved almost all of hers by herself this year.  Do you like the hair?

Ashley was not the most patient, but finally got the help she needed for her masterpiece.

And the FINISHED products.

The pumpkin with holes all over it is in honor of our past neighbor, 

Cheryl, who always had a cute one like that.

Tagged

Our good friend, Lori, tagged me so here you go . . .

6 TV shows I watch:
The Amazing Race, Ghost Whisperer, Without A Trace, Heroes, Smallville, Desperate Housewives (I know, it is a silly soap opera, but it makes us laugh)

6 Restaurants I like To Eat at:
Cafe Rio, Rumbi Island Grill, Macaroni Grill, Cheesecake Factory, Wingers, the restaurant at Zermatt (okay, I've never eaten there, but I want to one day.  If it is anything like the bakery it will be worth it)

6 things that happened Yesterday since it is kind of early today:
Tried to dispose of a mouse in the house (still not caught, ugh), took care of whiny boy who stayed home sick from school (and he is home again today, double ugh), made baby gifts for new mom's in the ward (yea they are done!), laundry (pretty much every day has some kine of laundry in it), decided I need to pray and ask that I can be happy with how my life and work is now and not want something else (long story, but basically I think I'm bored), spent 30 minutes in line at the Post Office (really, can't they be helpful AND Fast)

6 things I am looking forward to:
Halloween, Miami Dinner (with Cafe Rio Pork, yum), Twilight Movie, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas (and in that order!)

6 things on my wish list:
New washer, new dryer, make more money, always have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, healthy household (I'm sick of someone always being sick), new monitor for the kids computer so they won't try and use my laptop and we can watch TV in the kitchen again (black Friday better have some good deals on 19" flat monitors)

6 people I will tag:
Kim G, Janae C, Kristin C, Laura J, Kyleen P, Kathy L

Mouse in the House

I've been thinking all day I need to do a post and have come up with several things to blog about.  But our last event of the day takes the cake.

As much as Ralph S Mouse is a cute and fun loving book, when they are really in YOUR house they are NOT cute!  Mark and I were in the kitchen working on something when John tried to sneak into the pantry to get something to eat.  He backed out of the pantry announcing "Mouse, Mouse, Mouse"  Neither Mark or I believed him but he insisted he saw the tail.  A few minutes later we sent Jessica into the pantry unknowing.  (Yes we are good parents!)  We told her to open the door fast and flip on the light.  And sure enough, Mark saw it that time.

Next came setting the traps that we just happened to have on hand and always hope we don't need to use.  Within 5 minutes it snapped.  Of course all the kids had to have a turn at looking at the mouse.  At which point we discovered only it's legs were caught, YUK!!!!  In the process of trying to dispose of the mouse it escaped.  The only thing worse than a mouse in the house is a 3 legged mouse in the house.  So now we are just waiting for the trap to snap again and hopefully it will be fully caught this time.

Extras, anyone???

I've just finished reading Uglies, Pretties, and Specials by Scott Westerfeld and really enjoyed them.  But now I find out he added a forth book to the series, Extras.

I bought the first three books through a Scholastic book order and paid $12 for all 3 in paperback.  But Extras is new enough it didn't come with the first 3 and I don't want to pay for a hard back if I don't have to.  So I headed over to the library website to see if they have it.  I'm now #37 on the wait list.  So, does anyone have a copy I can borrow so I don't have to go buy it??  And anyone is welcome to borrow my first 3 if you'd like.

Who Done It????

Saturday night one of the great gals I visit teach invited Mark and I to their "Host A Murder" party.  The theme was Roman.  I even went to the fabric store and made my own costume (don't fall over laughing Melissa!)  I bought the fabric off the clearance rack so I ended up being a little shiny pink.  And it reminded me why I don't sew.  Luckily Mark's toga required no sewing, just a few safety pins to keep everything in place.

Bob has blogged about it in detail.  So go check out his Roman Ruins post.  I haven't laughed that much in one evening in a long time.  We had such a great time.  And so fun to visit with everyone.  We just wish Edna had been able to make it.  We hope you are feeling better.

Fall Break

We started Fall Break off with a bang this year.  The first day we spent at Cornbelly's Corn Maze and Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point .

The kids favorite part of Cornbelly's was definitely the go carts

But the Bounce Pillow was a big hit too!

The plan was to conquer THE BEAST

But we did not make it around the first turn before we backed out.  Mom was not too sad about it though.

And the hay slides were a big hit.

And you can't pass up a turn on the Cow Train

Dad took his lunch break and came and met us for the Corn Maze

After a quick stop at the Corn Cannons

We did get lost in the maze on several occasions

But found our way out and over to the train

And we lassoed a few cows

And enjoyed a few moments on the Pumpkin Carriage

And if that wasn't enough fun we then headed over to Farm Country and did Barnyard Boo 

We had a great day, but I was sure tired at the end of the day.  And I got to go to a Relief Society Meeting after all that fun!

Friday and Saturday were not as exciting as the first day.  But Saturday night Mark and I got to enjoy the funnest evening we have had in a long time.  Some friends invited us to "How To Host A Murder" Party.  I even sewed a tunic for me and we created a toga for Mark.  We had great food and had a ton of laughs.  I'll have to post those pictures when we get copies from our friends.

But I think we will hit the Dollar Theater tomorrow for our final activity.  A nice relaxing afternoon with Wall-E!

Don't walk, RUN!!!!

I've come out of my cold induced haze from last week just in time for one of the best deals of the year.  If you haven't already done so, don't walk, RUN to your nearest Rite Aid to stock up on cold and flu medicine.  They are having an incredible Freebate sale.  Freebate is a term I've come to love.  It means you buy the product at the store and then the store reimburses the cost of the product later, so it is free except for tax.  The best part about freebates is you can use coupons in the store and you actual make money back on the product.  So for instance Triaminic Cold medicine is $3.99 this week and you can print a coupon for $2 off the product.  So in the store you pay $1.99, but Rite Aid will reimburse you the $3.99, so you've actually made $2 on the product.  And Rite Aid has an awesome rebate program.  It is all online and you just have to put your receipt number in the system and they figure out which rebates you qualify for and then at the end of the month you tell them to mail you a check.

I could not believe it when I started reading their ad yesterday and saw everything that was going to be free.  Then I went online and everyone else was saying the same thing.  I as a little concerned that everything would be gone because it is such a good sale.  When I pulled into Rite Aid this morning after dropping off kids there were tons more cars than usual on a Monday morning and I really thought I was doomed.  But they were prepared.  They had two end caps full of product right as you walked into the store.  So I got everything I wanted.  And a good deal on Halloween candy too.

If you want to print some coupons out before you go just head over to Money Saving Mom blog and she has several links to printable coupons.  I never could find off her link the one for NeilMed Nasalflo Neti Pot (but would I really use that, I'm not sure) or Simply Saline.  Be sure and scroll down and look at the comments because there were more links below that I used also.  If you buy everything there is on freebate you would spend over $140, but get it all back at the end of the month.  I only got what I really thought we would use.  I know we'll use the TheraFlu, Comtex, Litlle Cold, Triminic Night Time, Cold Sore Medicine and a bunch of sore throat losengers.


And the awesome cashier even gave me extra coupons for my Hershey Bliss.  They are on sale for $2.50 and I had a coupon for $1.25 off and she pulled out another $1 off coupon from behind, so I paid .25 a bag for those, score!  I love the 1600 North Rite Aid!

Pictures

We spent the weekend with my extended family and my sister-in-law, Kyleen, was kind enough to bring her fancy camera and take some pictures.  We were in desperate need of updating the family picture along with all the kids individual pictures and we need a Christmas letter picture.  We are so excited with how they turned out.  If it weren't for the youngest almost every picture would have turned out perfect.  Here are some of our favorites.

The Whole Gang!

The Beautiful Jessica

The Stunning Ashley

And The Handsome John

Hard to imagine just a few hours later this poor little boy was throwing up.  I guess this was the first time he has thrown up that he remembers and the first time he thought it was funny stuff came out of his mouth.  By the end of the night he didn't think it was so funny anymore.

And we even got a few good ones of just the two of us

And some fun casual pictures

She took almost 200 pictures, so I'll spare you all of them.  But we are excited to have updated pictures for our picture wall.

Thanks Ky, these turned out terrific!

I Survived!

My husband didn't think I would make it, but I did!  I survived the weekend without Internet access!  We headed up to a cabin above Sundance on Friday afternoon and didn't return until Sunday around 6pm. Two FULL days.  And I even unpacked before hitting the computer and catching up.

We had more TV stations than we have ever had at our house, we enjoyed the beauty of the canyon, we ate more food than should be humanly possible, loved having a HUGE fireplace to keep us warm . . . basically we spent the weekend in luxury except for the lack of the Internet.  But it was awesome to get away and enjoy watching General Conference and spending time with my Mom, my Brother and his family and our cute kids.  Except for the first night we spent with child #3 throwing up all night.

Must vacations end, even if they are mini ones??  I'm not ready to face life again, but I guess we do what we have to do.

My Little Runner

Okay, I don't think it is any secret that we are not an athletic family.  Both Mark and I were never good at sports, Surprise!  We try to encourage the kids, but I know our example doesn't help.

So last year when Ashley came home from school and said she wanted to run the 1 mile race at BYU we had our doubts.  But we wanted to support her, so we signed her up.  She ran the race and when I saw her coming down the last bit I was in tears because I could tell it was so much harder than she thought it would be, but she made it.  My tiny little girl ran the whole mile!  I thought that would probably cure her from ever wanting to run again.

Surprise! When they sent the info home again this year for the BYU Triple Crown Elementary School Race she was ready and excited to do it again.  It helps that her best friend, Aleena is a really good runner and was doing it also.  Ashley actually practiced this year and was a little more prepared.

Last week was the big day!  Wednesday, September 24th Ashley was excited!

Cosmo even came out to get the kids excited!

On your mark, get set . . . Ashley is ready to go with her friend, Aleena, on the right in orange and her third cousin, (I think, I get lost in the generations) Glena, in red shorts on the left.  We are so excited that Glena and Ashley are in the same class together this year. 

The race is almost over and she is just getting ready to enter the track.  I may have embarrassed her with all my screaming to encourage her!

And the very last leg of the race, she is losing a little steam, but almost there!

And how does she look this cute after running a whole mile???

And she came in 15 out of 17 girls in her age group, way to go girl!

And because of her efforts her school took #1 overall for the entire race!

We are so proud of our little runner!