Happy Halloween!

Since things are so hectic here I've had a hard time really getting into the Halloween spirit, "witch" is unusual for me since I'm such a lover! I'd been stressing too because I couldn't find the lamb costume that I'd made for Callie when she was a baby & it's a tradition to have the babies be lambs on their first Halloweens. After all-out searches in the garage, shed & bedrooms, I finally found it in the first place I thought I'd looked - my closet! Just hanging up in the back. I'm just so glad I found it so Ellie could be a little lamb! We went to our ward's annual chili cook-off & trunk-or-treat tonight, and had some great chili! We'd planned on taking the kids around the neighborhood afterwards, but they got so much candy at the trunk-or-treat that we called it a night. Plus Ellie had a fever & wasn't feeling good, & Jack had been saying he was tired since 4 in the afternoon! Now that the kids are asleep we've gone through the candy - you can tell by the candy that times are tough. One thing that made me smile was when Callie sneaked her candy bag into the bedroom so she could dump it out & admire her highly anticipated treasure. She didn't eat any of it- we'd told them no more & she actually obeyed! But I can remember doing the same thing when I was a kid - dumping it all out, separating it & just admiring my bounty. So I love that Callie did that tonight too!

Done Deal!

We finally closed on our house today! We are SO excited! Not looking forward to the next couple weeks of intense work, but definitely looking forward to being in our new house!

needing inspiration

So it's been a long month & a half jumping through hoops to get this house thing locked down but we finally found out on Friday evening that we are definitely getting a loan for our new house! Our close date is Tuesday. I don't know if it's gonna happen that quickly but our mortgage broker thinks it could happen. I'm not holding my breath but I hope it's not too much longer than that because we have to pay the seller $100/day that it's late closing! But because we haven't known that our loan was going through we haven't packed a single box! So I guess it's time to get to work! No play dates this week! Anyway, I'm trying to choose paint colors but I'm having a hard time. Anyone know of any good sites to see some good inspiration rooms? I'm really just looking for living room ideas for now. And windows. Do I do bamboo roman shades? Blinds? Curtains? If I do curtains do I still do blinds?

And let me just say, I'm totally excited to have more space, but I'm SO not looking forward to the move! And the painting! And the installation of lights, ceiling fans, & shower heads. And the cleaning- of both houses! And not only that, but the house we're buying has the cheapest kitchen cabinets ever! They're like what you'd put in your garage! The doors are melamine! And I don't get it - the builder puts crown molding in the living areas & nice crown trim at the tops of the cabinets, but then has such crappy cabinets & the worst fireplace! And the tile is really bad. So I'm moving into an ugly house. There are a lot of great things about it that motivated us to buy it, obviously, but it's just a little ugly inside. Hopefully painting & decorating will make it nice until we can replace the flooring, fireplace & countertops (cabinets are a lot farther down the road).

Busy weekend

It was a busy week & a busy weekend. On Friday evening we went camping with our friends The Haws. First let me say we're so amateur! Jeremiah & I have only slept in a tent once I think in the 7 years we've been married! We bought a tent a couple months ago & this was the first time we used it. First tent camping with the kids. We got to our destination after dark which of course wasn't good trying to set up a gigantic tent for the first time! I forgot to grab Ellie's socks on the way out so I had to sit & keep her poor little toes covered up until I got her pajamas on. Callie had a hard time with flashlight etiquette & kept shining it in everyone's eyes. I'm a complete idiot & didn't take my tennis shoes! Well the place we went to was a beach & so I thought sand, right? Which even if there had been sand I should have taken my tennis shoes since it's cold at night! But I just wasn't thinking. So I guess those were the biggest problems. In the morning we met a loon that was camping closer to the water. He told us he'd ridden his bike with his son to the place we camped from CA. First of all, I don't know where in CA he meant, but even Needles, CA is an hour from Kingman. And then this place that we camped was an hour from Kingman. Not only that, but the last 20 mi was a ridiculously bumpy dirt road. Turns out the guy's "son" is his fat cat. The cat rode in the bike trailer that parents pull their children in. Later I start walking down to the water with Ellie because everyone else is down there already & I hear the guy having a conversation. I thought he must be on a cell phone but then I realized there's totally no service where we were so that's great, he's just talking to himself. There was another little group of people camping together so I thought I'd be okay taking Ellie back up to camp when everyone else took the row boat out on the lake but then the other group leaves. So there's no way I'm walking back past the crazy guy with my baby when the guys are out in the water! Then the crazy guy starts shouting obscenities & talking about heaven & hell & which one he might go to if he shoots himself in the head. I was a bit concerned. We didn't stay too much longer & I was relieved to leave the crazy guy. For all I know maybe he really did ride out with his son who he killed & threw in the lake! I've watched CSI! And even if crazy people seem harmless you never know if they're gonna snap! But aside from the crazy guy camping was okay. Okay enough that I want to do it again, but never again to that spot. There was no sand, it was just desert with some water. I tried to imagine we were cowboys out on the range to make the campsite more fun in my head. It didn't work. Jeremiah chose that place (called Greg's Hideout) because he's gone fishing there a few times & it usually has good fishing but there were not fish caught.

After we got back from camping we got cleaned up & picked up a babysitter & drove to Laughlin to see Eagle Eye with my parents & brother Stuart. Laughlin was great for these reasons: The movie theater was having a grand re-opening because they'd got new seats so they had dollar drinks, popcorn & hot dogs! Eagle Eye was a good movie (at least I was very entertained). Ellie slept through almost the whole movie. I got to go into Gap & Osh Kosh before the movie (it's an outlet mall & those are my fav stores!) & Osh Kosh had some really cute $7 long sleeved shirts which was just what I needed for Jack. And the cherry on the cake was learning that Carter's is coming soon! Woohoo!!! Not that I love Carter's more than Gap or Osh Kosh (or even as much), but I've always thought that if they would just get a Carter's in I'd be set! So I'm pretty stoked.

Today Jeremiah had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. The funny thing is when he'd heard who the other speaker was (who happens to be Jonny's girlfriend's mom) he was thinking that she'd take up plenty of time & that he probably wouldn't need to prepare more than 10 minutes. He had 15 minutes just in case. When he sat down before the meeting started she told him that she was only speaking for 10 minutes & that she doesn't like it when people go over. So he was already thinking oh crap. Then (and yes, he timed her) she only spoke for 8 minutes. Several people noticed the face he made when she ended & laughed about it. He talked for 25 minutes! I don't know how he pulled it off but he did & he did great! People were listening the whole time (he's a good story teller). If you know Jeremiah you know that he's totally into wrestling! He was even a state champ in HS & went to nationals so he was pretty good! He talked about how in wrestling there are some very basic moves and his dad drilled him & his bros over & over & over for months on those basics before they ever got to wrestle a match. When they finally wrestled in their first matches as "beginners" they schooled everyone & were moved up to advanced. Those basic moves were the foundation for all other moves & throughout his wrestling career he still had to continually practice the basics. Just like the gospel. You have to do the basics all the time: pray, read your scriptures, attend your church meetings, fast - the seminary answers. If you're not doing those basics you're not going to grow & get better & it's going to be hard to withstand the opposition. Anyway, he did a great job. And to conclude our weekend we went to our friends the Porter's for cake & ice cream for Nate's birthday.

The end.

From the mouths of babes:

It was so sad! Callie woke up this morning & stumbled into my room & the first thing she said in a sad little voice was "Corinne's leaving today." Then she hugged me for a long time. Awwww!

On a lighter note, here are some funny things my kids have said:

Jack randomly says: I’m not a vacuum. I’m a Jackson boy.

Callie: My tummy hurts. Maybe it’s because I ate too much dessert last night. Let me think. Hmm. I was eating dessert while mom was making dinner & then Kenny came over & they forgot & then they went back & Jack went to & I was like where’d they go? And then we had dinner & then I ate dessert & they lived happily happily ever after. The end. That was a thinking story mom, to see if I ate too much dessert last night & I did. I’m just not going to eat any more dessert – until my stomach stops hurting. And then I can have dessert again.

Callie: Will you tell me a story of when I was little? But don’t say poop & pee. That’s not all I did. …I spit up too.

Jack: You made my heart feel sad that you did that.

Jack: I want to be a spider with legs & be creepy!

Jack: I just cut off my toe and I’m gonna eat it for breakfast.

Callie: Heavenly father made super super hard glue and he put it on your nails to stick to your fingers, more harder than builders use. Cause you have to have nails if you want to paint your fingers, huh?

Jack to me: You made me upset & you made me sad so I’m going to call the police.
Callie's response: Mama, mama, I don’t want you to go to jail!

Happy Friday!!!

Goodbye Cooleys :(

We've been having lots of fun with friends lately. On Monday playgroup was at our house & we helped the kids make caramel apples. They had a great time choosing what to put on their apples. I made Jeremiah a granny with chopped reese's on it, & I made myself a gala with oreos. I should have done the oreos on a granny, but I normally don't like granny apples & even though I know & love Disneyland's caramel apples (made w/grannies), I was afraid. Silly me! And we didn't eat the oreo one till Wednesday, so by then the caramel tasted a little stale.

Our dear friends Loren & Tana Cooley are moving to Henderson on Friday. Although it's not very far away, we'll miss seeing Tana & the girls so often. Corinne told Tana that she'll have to tell me that they'll be a couple of minutes late getting to my house for playgroup since they'll be coming from Henderson. When Tana told Corinne that they won't get to come for playgroup most of the time Corinne was pretty sad. Callie's taking their move hard. Corinne & Callie are the best of friends. We've known they were going to move for a while & several times over the past couple of months Callie has cried about it. Last night we had Loren & Tana & other friends over for a farewell bbq. The kids all had the best time together & there wasn't even too much fighting! When it was time for Corinne to leave Callie sobbed. Corinne gave her a hug & said she'd never forget Callie. I've been having a hard time holding back the tears. Not just because it breaks my heart that my 4 year old is so sad to have her best friend leaving, but because I'll miss Tana a lot too! She's such a great friend! They'll only be an hour & a half away but it's not the same. Tana told me that Corinne came into her bawling this morning because she'd been watching Pocahontas & John Smith was leaving & they were in love & it was just so sad just like it's so sad that they're leaving all their friends here & she's going to miss Callie so much. Tear! Well we'll definitely have to go visit them soon!

These pictures are from our get together:

Summer, Tana, me, Ashley, & Kate

Kiera, Callie, Corinne, Kenadee

Random Pics

I just can't believe that my days are so busy while my children are so young! What's it going to be like when they're older? Maybe I'll have to get a super short haircut & tattoo my make-up on so that I can save some time! :) I'm sure not breast-feeding or changing diapers will help too. But seriously! We are going somewhere in the car every day now, whereas before it wasn't unusual for us to only leave the house once or twice during the week. Anyway, here are a few recent pics.

I love this one of Jeremiah & Jack. Jack got a couple of cans of silly string on his birthday & they went crazy with it - silly string everywhere!

Ellie got a little scratch on her cheek so Callie decided she needed a band-aid. She went & got it & had it on Ellie before I even noticed.

Ellie's big enough to take baths with the older kids now & they all love it! Callie likes to hold Ellie while she kicks her feet. Ellie loves the bathtub & happily splashes till I pull her out.

Tara sent the girls matching shirts & flowers just for fun. Callie loves it when she & Ellie match. Me too!

Callie & Kenadee (my friend's little girl) brought these adorable spiders home from school today! Callie's teacher was kind enough to give me extra stuff to make one with Jackson too! They must have been running short on pixie sticks though since Callie's spider only has 6 legs! (Kenadee's in another class)

12 on the 12th

Sunday, October 12th:


Okay, this picture is on the 11th, not the 12th, but since I forgot to start taking pictures till we'd been driving for an hour & a half I'm adding it to my 12th collection. We stayed with Jason (Jer's bro) & Richelle while we were in CA for the weekend & our kids think they are totally fun!!



In Barstow we let the kids play at Mickey D's to give them a break then we went through the drive-thru to get some lunch. You'd think I'd have taken a picture of them playing or something, but it wasn't until we were in the drive-thru that I remembered to pull out the camera for the day.




Ellie had been getting a little tired of being in her seat so I handed her the package of wipes since she likes to play with crinkly things. I kid you not she was entertained by those wipes for a little more than half an hour! She even got some of them out of the package a couple of times!



Thank goodness for movies in the car! We let the kids take turns choosing movies & this trip was kind of funny. Jack chose Peter Pan every time & Callie chose Sleeping Beauty every time & they'd both complain about the other's choice! In this picture Sleeping Beauty is on!



Jeremiah laughs at me every time I take pictures of myself cause I'll take one, look at it, decide it's bad & take another & this goes on & on & on & on. So not that this was a great one, but I woke up & washed my face & put on new make-up before getting in the car. It's as good as it was gonna get!



Hooray! We finally made it home! So the drive is only just over 4 1/2 hours, but when you have kids & have to make long stops it makes for a long day! We were in Barstow forever!!! Plus on the way over the kids slept a good part of the trip since it was night time, but on the way home when we leave in the morning we're lucky if any naps are taken (other than by Ellie). I have to say the kids were pretty good travelers! Callie's finally old enough that it's not so hard to go on trips with her. Jack's still hit or miss!



When we got into town we headed straight for my mom & dad's house & dropped off the kids. Somebody wanted to come look at our house (we're trying to rent it out) and we had left it only half clean so my family was kind enough to take care of our kids while Jeremiah & I busted a move it get it all picked up!



Afterwards we invited ourselves to dinner! :) I wonder if my mom had figured she'd end up feeding us since when we got there she was making a huge recipe of one of our favorite soups - chicken enchilada soup!


Jack is so good at playing with toys! Callie needs people to play with her most of the time, but Jack is very good at playing on his own. I love how serious he usually looks when he plays!



Another Hickory Kist treat! My mom brought back a grasshopper rice krispy treat. Okay, it looks kind of gross, but is was seriously good! Even when it was almost a week old! Have I mentioned I love Hickory Kist?! I'm so jealous Shannon & Leslie! :)



Jeremiah's parents got lots of toys & books at a yard sale before we visited them in Oregon last month and we brought most of the books home. Jack loves this book because you can push the trucks on the side & they make different sounds. He loves to read books & have them read to him.



Ahhh! Finally the kids are in bed, our home is clean & we can relax! Jeremiah watched tv a few feet away from me & I checked email & caught up on blogs!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

According to Jackson, his 3rd birthday (today) was great! For months he'd been saying he wanted a Diego party so as his adoring mother I was more than happy to oblige! It was Jack's idea to wear his Disneyland pirate hat & call it his party hat so both he & Callie had to wear their fun hats for breakfast! Earlier in the week when I'd asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner he'd told me pizza, and then more specifically "Hut Pizza!" I thought it was funny & cute that he requested that since a) we usually order Papa Johns & b) it'd been a couple or more months since we'd gone to Pizza Hut (we go for their lunch buffet), so that was his big birthday meal. My parents & brothers came over for cake & presents in the evening.



His 2 favorite presents (both from grandparents):





He enjoyed getting birthday phone calls from my siblings but hasn't quite figured out phone etiquette! He just hands me the phone or hangs up when he's ready to go! And when my grandma called him he wouldn't talk in a normal voice either. What can I say - he's 3 & he's a boy.



We've gotta keep a close eye on this one! I had a stern talk with him at Katelyn's party on Saturday because I think her parents would have just died if he'd stuck his finger in her cake! And rightly so - it was a beautiful cake! This cake was going to be so much cooler than how it turned out! The inspiration cake had blue fondant covering the whole thing & awesome (but very simple) jungle grass around the sides of it. I sent Jeremiah to get fondant from WalMart last night & he came back with a $20 jumbo box & said, "I thought you'd said it would be cheaper to make his cake than to buy it!" I took the jumbo box back & planned on buying the normal size box & of course they were out if it! I had a little fondant left from Callie's birthday & I had to work really hard to make it stretch as far as it did. Oh well. The important thing is that Jack thought it was really cool! And by the way he picked out his cake flavor. I took him down the baking aisle so he could see all the boxes & I thought for sure it would be fun-fetti but he picked up the chocolate box & said, "This one, I want this one! I wuv choc-awut!"

CA weekend trip

Another quick trip to CA for the weekend. I wanted to go to Disneyland before Jack turned 3 (which means we'd have to pay for him) so we timed it so we could also go to our niece's 3rd birthday party. We headed over Thursday night & left to come home Sunday morning.

I normally check the SoCal school schedules before we go to Disneyland but I just didn't think about it this time & that was a mistake! Not that I've confirmed, but I hear it was a week long break for the year round schools and that's why Disneyland was so busy! We didn't get to go on so many of the rides we usually do, but we (and when I say we I mean the children & I) had a really fun day despite the crowds! Probably one of the best parts was taking Callie & Jack to Tom Sawyer's Island, now renamed Pirate's Cove. Jeremiah & Ellie stayed on the "mainland" while we played over there for an hour! I had to drag the kids to the raft to take us back! They loved it! What kid wouldn't?! This was their first time over & there was so much to explore. One thing I thought was funny was that Jack & Callie were both scared to go into the little caves until I used a pirate voice & said we needed to find a place to hide our treasure. It was like I'd flipped a switch. Suddenly they were fearless pirates and were excited to explore all the little corners & nooks of each little cave. At some point on the island I told the kids to hold my hands and Callie says "Pirates never hold hands, me hearties!" My only regret for the day is not going on Peter Pan. It's my favorite (nostalgia) and Jack really wanted to go on it - Peter Pan is his favorite movie. We got to the park just after 9 and by 6 Jeremiah had had it & there was no way he was staying for the parade at 7! Here's some pictures from our day:

While we waited in line for Buzz we had to hold Jack back from walking right up to him, but when it was finally our turn he was too shy!



This is how Jeremiah spent a bit of our day. I can't get too upset though - it lets me enjoy a charmed life!





Gotta love the way Jack relaxes!

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The kids especially loved Katelyn's birthday party on Saturday! This was their first pinata experience & they think it was the best thing ever! Callie has already requested one at her next birthday party! :)

The birthday girl, Katelyn, with her m/d Justin (Jeremiah's brother) & Jamie.

Halloween's going to suck this year...

(my friend Shannon sent me this. i particularly think it's funny since we're buying a home [which happens to be a foreclosure!])

Blogworthy

Per Tara's request:

Every time Jack holds Ellie on the couch he wants me to take a picture! On the one hand, he's a very sweet & gentle big brother. Then again no matter how many times I tell him to leave Ellie & her binky alone he continues to torment her (and me). So often when we can't find a binky I'll ask Jack if he knows where it is & he'll tell me just a minute & come back with it from some hiding place. At least he remembers where the hiding places are since it's never the same place! I happened to see it on the floor yesterday in between our sofa & the repositionable chaise so I picked it up & then called for him & told him I needed him to find it & he went right to the place I'd found it! She'll be happily playing & he'll just go over to her & take her binky out of her mouth. He's even woken her up before because he'll sneak into the bedroom & snatch it out of her mouth while she's sleeping! Augh!!! I think he thinks it's a funny game. Funny that this is how my almost 3 year old gets his kicks I guess!



He was climbing a mountain they'd built on the bed & fell down & got his eye on a canvas basket that had been left out. I'd gone to get my hair done so this is how it looked when I got home. But at the time I left (an hour after it had happened) it just looked like scrapes on the corner of his eye - the rest of the redness wasn't there! Then again I might have missed it if it had been because I left him with marker & dirt all over his face! :)



Callie got a new haircut last week. A gal in my ward Denise cut it & since I know her well & she cuts my hair too I left Callie with her at the salon while I ran to the post office. They must have had a conversation about Callie's bangs because now Callie tells everyone that she got a haircut but not her bangs because her bangs have to grow out and it's going to take a little while but that she looks different with her new haircut. I keep catching her looking at herself in the mirror! :)

My mom got home from a week in Utah & surprised me with a pound of my favorite thing from my favorite deli ever! Smoked turkey salad from Hickory Kist in Spanish Fork! Hooray! I love the stuff. When I worked at Caselle in SF I ate this sandwich at least twice a week on average! I try to get a lunch in at Hickory Kist every time I go to Utah, although it doesn't always happen.