Happy Halloween

We had such a great Halloween this year. The girls all picked something easy out of our costume box, which is probably why Tyler and I went all out. I think he looks pretty hot as Wolverine.

I don't pass very well with light hair, but I think everyone was distracted by my pants. I bought them for a buck at Walmart ages ago and I didn't try them on until a week ago. True, they were tight, but I didn't think much of it. However, I got a LOT of comments. We'll just pretend they were all good. Here I am controlling the weather. And it was the most gorgeous Halloween in ages; meaning Friday night, not Saturday when it poured.

June was the gypsy that Robyn was last year.

And Robyn was the cat that June wore last year. Nice little switcheroo there.

Ivory opted for the skeleton.

And Daisy used the Nemo costume. (I have gotten so much use out of that costume. Yay!!)

Sadly,  I never found the right stuff for Pearl, so she did not end up being the little old Chinese Man I wanted her to be. But she did make a cute Tiger. I realize this picture is not in focus, but she is scrunching up her nose in the cute smile I like, so I wanted it in here anyway.

Plus, it shows that we were friends again. Pearl was not a fan of the wig. She would cry when I picked her up. I spent most of the night holding her face out so that she wouldn't see me.

It seems that every year one parent hands out candy and the other manages the kids. This year, I split them up and sent them out. Robyn and Ivory went one way.

Daisy and June went the other. It always makes me smile when I see the older ones helping the younger ones.

Tyler and I were able to take turns at the car which means I got to see the other vehicles this year. Some people go all out.

And I love seeing grown-ups dress up. Check out these two.

Daisy was in candy heaven the whole evening. Every time I turned around she was eating another treat. Mind you, none of them came from me or from her bag (which I had taken away). I have a strict no treats until you get home policy. But that didn't matter. Daisy has some quick fingers and I am pretty sure most of her treats came from unattended candy buckets. Every time I would catch her, she would give me this same startled bewildered look, as if she had no idea how that candy got in her hand.

I do not look forward to the battles that ensue once there is massive amounts of candy in the house. Daisy has no respect for others property and Ivory begs and pleads for candy every hour. I am thinking that we will need to sell some candy to the dentist and quickly.



Happy Halloween Everyone!

Carvers

Every Monday before Halloween we carve our pumpkins. I wish I had cute pictures from when we picked them out, but sadly I am either taking pictures OR participating. I was looking for my own pumpkin in particular this last time, so no camera. Also, when we got to carving, every hand was needed considering there were technically seven pumpkins to carve and only two adults. So I do have a few pictures, but only of the finished product and not the actual carving. Sometimes I do okay going back and forth between activity and pictures, but when my hands are covered in pumpkin guts...not so much.

June did her own carving this year, and Robyn worked really hard at scraping out her own guts. I was very impressed. Tyler spent extra time getting us a cool night shot. Check it out.

From left to right: My haunted house pumpkin (don't you love the flare in the doorway?), June's two face (he had a face on both sides), Tyler's Ralph, and Ivory's BOO.

We had some friends over to carve with us. Crystal and Corbin were very nice. They don't have any kids of their own and Crystal said it was very amusing to watch our kids. (Amusing is better than annoying, right?) Here is their finished product and Robyn's pumpkin on the right. (And yes that is Ivory in the picture, not Robyn.)

And not to be forgot, we did think of Daisy and Pearl, but once we had five pumpkins carved, we called it good and used the fun faces. (Left to right: Pearl's and Daisy's)

 Daisy actually loved hers. She would proudly stand in front of it and say, "Daisy pumpkin."

Pumpkin carving may be messy but it is one activity that I would really miss this time of year. That said, I think I may have to try this instead next year.

Under-cover

So I am feeling overwhelmed by posts that haven't even happened yet. Halloween means plenty of photo ops and craziness. But let's spin this to the positive again. The more posts I have to write, the easier November will be, right? And why do I feel compelled to write a post per day in November, you ask? I don't know. It just seems like a cool challenge that I can actually do. You know, something that I can control. (I am a bit of a control freak sometimes, and with five kids, I am out of practice.)

Last night, we had a great Halloween party. There was plenty of great black-mail photos that will come later. For now, let's focus on the costumes. I am still a kid at heart and I like a good excuse to dress up. Our first place winners were the Moses'. I am still loving this idea and I think Darin makes an excellent Ed Mcmahon.

Second place was yours truly: Storm and Wolverine. (The awesome wink is to hide my devil eye.)

Third place went to the Neilsen's, a.k.a. Hot 80's rockers.

I loved the Jett's idea for everyday condiments.

We weren't the only super people there. The Sondrups were pretty super too.

This is how you look when your sitter falls through and your husband stays home with the kids. But Aubry was a hot solo pirate.

I wouldn't mess with the Ah You's. They mean business.

I'll give you a minute to figure out Mr. Oak's costume (he's on the right, look closely).

Okay, are you ready. Facebook. Get it? (Yes, the 'BOOK' is pretty hard to read, so 1000 bonus points if you got that.)

I am loving this group. The Buhler 'Dear' is cute, but I can't get over the ladybug.

We had some gypsy crashers. (Just kidding, Rachelle's sister Sarah and her friend Morgan were good sports for the hoops I made everyone jump through.)

So stay tuned for more party madness...perhaps in November.

Wordless Wednesday: The Wait is Finally Over

Mice?

We came home from the store last weekend and found the bread like this.

There were two holes and lots of gnawing that had taken place. Likely, you might think it some rodent, but alas...it was just Daisy. She had taken the loaf out of the cart and started working on it. I swear, that kid.

And I do have other children; it is just so much fun to talk about Daisy. Today, Ivory had her school orientation. This year I braved it alone with the three youngest. Daisy was very well behaved while the pre-schoolers sang and it wasn't until two-thirds of the way through that she even got restless.

I put Pearl down on the ground to 'crawl' around. (She hasn't quite figured out how to crawl, yet she doesn't stay in the same place she started either.) Daisy was happily organizing some chairs behind me. I turned to talk to another mother for a few moments and when I turned back around, Daisy was gone. Odd, I thought. I looked around the room thinking I would find her over with the pre-schoolers at the center tables. But I couldn't see her anywhere.

I thought that maybe she had left the room, but this seemed improbable because the room was swarming with parents and high schoolers and everyone had just learned the rule that only adults were supposed to touch the door knobs. (Not that I thought Daisy was paying attention, but I was pretty sure that no one was going to let her out the door by herself.) I continued to scan the room, and finally decided that she must be outside.


Oh, and not only was she outside, but she was at the end of a VERY long hallway. And not only was she at the end, but she had taken a chair with her. This boggled my mind. I could see her escaping out a door while someone was not paying attention as they left, but to get a chair out with her was truly cunning. Never ceases to amaze me, this one.

I know she will read this someday and think that I was overwhelmed by her. (Which I am.) But I am also overwhelmed with love for that little duck. Last Saturday the older kids and dad were out somewhere and Pearl was sleeping, so it was just Daisy and me. I thought I would get a lot done, but she curled up in my lap at the computer and we just sat and watched youtube music together. It was so fun and she is so cuddly. Daisy liked Bruno Mars in particular. It sounds crazy, but I might actually miss this two year old phase when it is gone.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

There is no doubt who is a favorite in this house. Mom still ranks pretty high, but when Daddy comes home, there is a rush. I was making dinner one night and found them all like this. Right before I took the picture, Ivory was working on his one foot (the one Robyn was not working on).

Tyler likes a little pampering now and then. (Huge understatement!) And now he has four little girls to do his bidding. They do his hair, they lotion his feet, they give him massages, and they pluck his white hairs. (His is a little vain about his youth.)

They say you should not spoil your children, but they didn't say anything about daddies.

Wordy Wednesday

I have lots of random mini-posts in my brain and they need to get out.


June has been saying a lot of funny things recently that really make me laugh. We were discussing eternal judgment at scripture study and I was trying to make the point that only the Savior could judge us, but I must have worded it wrong because she took her job seriously.

Me: June, can you judge me and tell me where I will go after I die?

June: Well, I think you will go to heaven, but I'm really not sure.

Well, maybe she will put in a good word for me once we get up there.




Yesterday we were reading about Hippopotamuses and how there are only two kinds; the common Hippopotamus and the Pygmy Hippopotamus. I told her how pygmy means small, like a smaller version of whatever you are talking about.

Me: In fact, there are even pygmy people.

June: Oh, you mean like Jake.

June talks about her friend Jake all the time, but has never mentioned his height. Poor short kid. I feel for you.




There are a few things that I like to eat that no one else in the family enjoys. One such thing is rice pudding. I don't make it often, but when I have leftover rice, it seems like a good idea. Then of course I have to eat the entire thing myself. So yes, I had six helpings yesterday and I plan on finishing it today. I really need to find a friend who likes rice pudding.




I have found Daisy's calling in life. She can open anything. ANYTHING, I tell you. I am going to rent her out to the FBI or the CIA. I am sure they can use that talent somewhere. Recent accomplishments include opening a new lipgloss still wrapped in plastic, finding, opening, and stealing candy from June's treat box several times, getting into a cooler (which I watched Ivory try to get into for ten minutes without success) and disassembling a pair of nail clippers. I don't know how she got them apart and I'm not sure I can put them back together. Impressive I tell you. Oh, and when she is being helpful, she can unload the whole dishwasher by herself (putting the silverware in the right spots) and she can fold washcloths like a pro.

When she is not being destructive, and sometimes when she is, you can find her singing. It is this cute babbling singing that sounds just like Boo in Monsters Inc. I love it. Although I spend an exorbitant amount of time cleaning up after her, I can't get enough of her giggles and hugs. She is such a sweetie.



I ordered another blog book yesterday. I am caught up through the middle of this year. I love that feeling. Now, scrapbooking is another matter. NOT caught up with that.




I have been wanting to make an apron for some time, since they sell such cute ones at the Mall. I even went as far as getting a pattern, but when it comes to sewing, I am a super slug. (Hence the three years it took me to hem those pants.) BUT, I saw these aprons-in-a-bag so to speak. They had all the pieces for you and simple instructions. I whipped it up during one of Pearl's naps. So you know it had to be easy.

 

I am fairly impressed with the finished product. Here is Robyn wearing it after I put the pocket on. (Okay, so the pocket didn't get finished during Pearl's nap, but the rest did, so I call it good.)

Oh, and about the throwing up. I guess I wasn't very clear in that other post who threw up. It was Pearl that day, but almost everyone had a go. It started on the ninth with Daisy and Ivory. The next week Tyler and June had hurty tummies while Pearl was the only one to throw up. Robyn didn't get it until this last Monday night. It seems to come on rather abruptly while they are sleeping so everyone has thrown up on themselves, and their pillows. Sadly, we don't have plastic pillow covers right now (we used to, but the zippers broke) so Tyler has been trying to wash the pillows. Robyn's down pillow did not do well in the wash. Tyler tried to put it soaking wet in the dryer and it sounded like the dryer was having conniptions. So we went down together to retrieve the contents. I noticed that everything was drenched, so I told him he should at least wring out the laundry before putting it back in the dryer. Here, hold this, he said, handing me the pillow. The thing weighed like 50 pounds. I about threw out my back trying to lift it back into the washer so it wouldn't leak all over the floor. I thought that would make an excellent headline: WOMAN THROWS BACK OUT LIFTING A PILLOW.



Anyway, enough wordiness for now? I really should be saving these mini posts for November when I plan to try blogging every day again, but I am sure there will be more by then. Ta ta.

The Sweet Spot

A neighbor of mine was holding Pearl the other day. He noticed that she was very alert and smiley. She would respond and play. He said, "Wow, I've been coming over for a while and it always seemed that she just sat there, but now you have a BABY!"

I would say to him that before I had a baby, but now I have a little person. My favorite stage of babyhood is right around 8-9 months old. They just get so extremely cute and fun. They play and crawl and giggle and eat and love you back. Pearl is just shy of that stage, being 7 months. She is already adorable and friendly, but I know it is only going to get better. I can't wait. It makes me miss all my babies.

Here they all are at seven months:

I am so lucky.


p.s. If you are wondering who is who, they are in alphabetical order. 

This is the Post That Never Ends

I feel like I have been talking about June and her birthday forever. And today I realized that I never posted pictures of her Color Me Mine trip. And so you get more. But this shows that I keep my promises which means that someday I really plan to post about Martin's Cove too. (See, I was waiting until winter time so you could get more of a feel for how it was for the Pioneers...does that sound believable?)

Anyway, June and I had a great time at Color Me Mine. I won't say it was the cheapest trip, but we always love the results. She takes painting very seriously.

She tried some new effects like the sponge this time.

Here is her finished product, pre-firing.

My favorite part of the whole experience was at the end. June was putting her name on the bottom of the piece. She was talking about where we would put it. She asked for it to go outside so the birds could enjoy it. Then she paused and said, "Could we put in on something, instead of hanging it?"

"Sure, " I said. "Why?"

"Because I don't want the birds to see the bottom."

 

Here is the finished product, post-firing.

I think she did a terrific job. Oh, and naturally I had to paint something too. I did a spoon holder for the stove.

If it weren't so expensive, I would definitely go more often. It sure is fun.

Some Days are Better Than Others

I am thinking that today may be one of those others.

Currently:

My dishwasher is going
My washing machine is going
I have one child in the tub
I am covered in vomit
My baby is sleeping
It is 10:35 and I haven't gotten breakfast or a shower (although the shower seems more necessary at the moment)

Tender Mercies:

My body caught most of the throw-up thus saving the newly cleaned carpets
Robyn held Pearl in the tub while I cleaned up the incident (what did I do before I had older children to help?)
Daisy has been busy all morning, but hasn't destroyed anything yet (YET)
I slept in until almost nine this morning


I am thinking that you can find the good and the bad in any day. After all, it is Fall Break. Normally my older children wouldn't even be home to help out. I'm glad they are here today. I hope your morning is going a bit smoother than mine.

Eight Year Old Pictures

I am behind on posting these, because I was saving them for her baptism. Now that we have gotten that done, I am finally getting around to putting them on here, not to mention my wall at home. June really is a beautiful girl. Enjoy.