Halloween Party 2010!

This year THIS gal threw a (adults only) Halloween party (Click HERE and HERE to see past years) The theme was black and white. I thought forever and finally settled on 1920s Gangsters for our costumes. I couldn't find a sort of 1920's women's suit so Just went as a flapper to accompany Jonny's Ganster (minus the tommy-gun) I made my dress and headband and made Jon's vest but otherwise bought everything else.

(Me having fun wit' it!)Da Girls!!!
I came out of the bathroom with my fake (feather) eyelashes and asked Jonny if they were put on right. He said, "They just look weird." I guess at least I got a straight answer (hee hee)

It was a great night. Thanks Debbi!!!

(Next to come- The kid's costumes)

Carvin' Dem' Pun'kins

I think these pics are pretty self explanatory- so I will let the them speak for themselves!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Fri we went to go to the pumpkin patch as it was the night that Jonny's work peeps were there. Bridger had already gone with his class at school to the pumpkin patch and Nolan went on Monday with school- but we wanted to go as a family and I am glad that we did. Here is one that I had a man accross from us take. It was blurry- but still captured the moment. We were in the trailer- thing (pulled by a tractor) getting ready to go get our pun'kins.Jack was jabbering up a storm and pointing to every pumpkin.
The kids like to climb the hay bale pyramid.

They went wild in the hay maze The moon came out of the clouds and with the hay bales next to it- I thought it was the most perfect Autumn night picture. Unfortunately, even though I played with different settings on my camera- This was the best I could do.
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Carli and Nolan and I went through the corn maze. It was funny to watch them choose which way to go. I just followed them for the most part.

The kiddos liked to spend time in the petting zoo.

They had a few rides there like a carousal and these airplane rides that went up and down. It was a fun night and then we carved our pumpkins on Monday night (but that is another post).

2 Boys and 90 Cents.

When I was at Target the other day, I passed by Toy Story mac and cheese. Knowing how my little guy has 2 pals named Buzz and Woody- I thought he would enjoy this treat.

Yesterday, when I pulled this for lunch outta the pantry- Jack studied and studied the box. I couldn't get it away from him. Luckily I bought another box- so I made that one for lunch- but Jack opened the box that he held and was looking at all the characters.

Then he played with all the characters.

Then Bridger joined in the fun. They ate their lunch and then played for about 1/2 hour or more with the raw pasta pieces.

Bridger even grouped all the characters. It is so rare (really, really rare) that these two can play together without Jack losing it. But they did. And it only cost 90 cents. (for my sanity) Most of the Woodys didn't make it as Jack spilled his juice on them and he continued to carry the rest of the pasta characters around and dump them out throughout the house to get a better look at them. Needless to say, they found a new home in the garbage can after Jack went to bed last night, but it was sure fun and cute for the day.

(oh and nevermind the Jammies that Jack wanted to wear all yesterday- thats okay- it was a kind of jammie day the both of us!)

My favorite time of the day........

Dinner Time!!!

Here are a couple of yummy recipes. I got this one HERE. It is more like an alfredo dish than a lasagna- but Jon and I loved it just the same. I put a lil' bit ground sausage in mine tho.

Also a couple of years ago our ward put together a cookbook. One of the recipes (submitted by THIS girl) was Dinner in a Pumpkin. I like it cuz your family can eat just the mixture inside or scoop out some of the pumpkin to eat also. I usually get the little pumpkins that have the painted faces on them at Walmart, cuz they are the perfect size (and then scub off the painted faces cuz I don't know if the paint will burn- and I don't want them looking at me while I bake them.) But this year the little painted face pumpkins were almost twice as much as the unpainted large pumpkins. I chose to get a bigger on because of price and was laughing a the size as I put it in my cart.I had to double my recipe (everything but the hamb.)- but it wasn't tons like I thought it would be and filled it quite nicely.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 med. to small pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

2 T oil

1-2 lbs. hamb, browned and drained

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. brown sugar

1 (4 oz.) canned mushrooms (I always use fresh that are sauteed in butter)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 (8 oz can) water chestnuts, drained

Hollow out pumpkin and put on a cookie sheet. Mix all ingredients together and put in pumpkin. Replace lid and bake at 350 for an hour or more. Pumpkin should be soft. Great for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

(Note:- I also put some diced yellow bell peppers from the garden as we had tons. I liked what it added to the taste of the dinner).

Weekend Update.

Thurs night the 2 oldest kids and Jon and I went to Oklahoma. (The play, not the state) I LOVED the music as I have heard some of it growing up but never knew it was from that play. It was a nice night.

This weekend we prepared for and had a yard sale with our sweet neighbor. Both of us had big plans to spend all the money we were gonna make. Both of us spent most of it that night.

That night Carli and I went with these guys to see a Cinderella play put on by these guys. It was awesome and when it was over we went to Appleby's to spend more of our yard sale moula.

Late, late Sat. night Bridger was visited by the stomach flu fairy. It wasn't a nice visit. She isn't a nice fairy.

Sunday at church, the primary prepared for their annual primary program. I think (hope) it goes well next Sunday.

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Sunday for lunch all I wanted were onion rings (cuz I couldn't stop thinking about the yummy ones at Abbleby's the night before) We have tons of big, beautiful onions from our garden, so we made these for lunch. I am LOVING that recipe!

Sunday night, we all watched Apollo 13. I was thinking the kiddos would like this as the 2 oldest can handle serious movies now and they were fascinated that it was a true story.

Because the story took place in the 70's, everyone at NASA used slide rulers instead of calculators. It made me thankful for modern technology. Really, really thankful. I think the sliding ruler will stay with me the next 50 times that I post something on my blog!

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Now, recovering still from the weekend, we are tired and ready for a break. (But not wanting to get the tummy flu- we are not ready for that kind of break-lol)

Boys Will Be Boys!

The other night we were all sitting on the couch, getting ready to read scriptures. I scooched on over by Carli. She said, "Mom, you smell like peaches." (I had just popped a peach candy ring into my mouth). Nolan said, "What? Mom smells like pee-juice???!" What a boy-thing to think. Good thing I have 3. (More future Pee-juice kind-of comments for me.)

Our Family Pics 2010

It has been 2 years since this girl took our family pics, so we thought it was time again. I have had it in my mind for just about 2 years that I wanted to have them taken in an apple orchard ever since I first saw Nie Nie's beautiful family pics. Something about the sun and the eternal rows of trees that says, "We are a happy family." I liked that. Here are some of them.

Thanks for Working with us Sonja-

You did a Wonderful Job!

Gonna Miss it.

I desperately want to go to this. However, since I don't live in Utah- it is a little tough for me. You will have to go for me. (if you live in Utah, that is) I have been following her blog ever since the plane crash first happened. She has grown in my heart and I wish I could be half the woman that Nie Nie is! My kids know her as the "woman in the plane crash" that I always talk about. My daughter asked if I know her personally. I wish I did. Sometimes I feel as though I do through her blog. She amazes me.

If you haven't already, start laughing and crying with Stephanie at the

Nie Nie Dialogs.

Carli-isms

Carls cracks me up sometimes. She gets words mixed up like kids do. Sometimes it takes everything I have not to crack a smile- let alone belt out a laugh at her choice of words. Here are a few since I can't remember all.


Cherrio= Churro (her favorite warm treat at Costco)

Hamster= Hamper "Mom- My hamster is too full to carry upstairs"

French= France She confuses the country with the lang. "When you are in French..."



And my new favorite:


As we were sitting at Bridger's soccer game tonight, (Bridge in soccer is a whole other post) I told Carli that we were going to Mc D's for dinner tonight. Carli asked me what was the healthiest thing at Mc Ds. We talked about it and then she told me the reason she asked. She said that at school they learned about eating behaviors and obtuse children. It took me a minute. "Wait... Do you mean obese???"

Obtuse= Obese

She covered it up by saying that she had angles on her brain- but I hope she never stops her Carli-isms!

Propaganda.....Yet Again.

Dear Friends and Family- It is that time of the year again. The kids have come home with their school fundraisers. Every year the kids get a booklet that asks us to fill out 7 names of friends and family and addresses and give it back to the school. In turn, ads for magazines are sent to our friends and family. Although I am not a big fan of fundraisers, (I think they're crap) I feel bad when the school promises an item to the kids that return their booklets. School is hard enough without kids feeling bad for not getting a (somewhat popular) item that every other kid in the school gets. So I am a sucker for turning in these dumb booklets. Every year I feel bad for sending them out. If you receive one, please don't feel that you have to buy anything from them. (unless you just really, really, really want a magazine- :) The kids really just want the prize for turning in the booklets. Thanks for being awesome friends and family. (Please enjoy these cyber- flowers-lol)

Anchor.

Can you fall in love with a song?

If you can, then I think I am in love with this one.

Nolan and I have a special relationship with it.

We get it stuck in our heads all day long.

We like the video too. (don't forget to push pause on my playlist to watch video)

Note to self: Next time I'm on a motorcycle, I will most definently wear butterfly wings- it just looks cooler that way.

I am (impatiently) waiting for my Mindy Gledhill cd to arrive in the mail.

Buzz and Woody

On wed, Jack and I had some to go shopping and get some things that the other kids needed to supplement their school wardrobe. While we were at Kohls, Jack spotted this Buzz outfit and pulled me across the store to check it out. He kept pointing and saying, "Buzz, Buzz!" When I saw it I immediately started laughing cuz it was so darling and I could see him doing all his Buzz moves while running around in it.

Upon further inspection, we realized that Woody also came with the set. He really wasn't as big on Woody as he is Buzz-(It's all about Buzz these days) but he seemed to be pleased holding both in the cart. They cost more than I would have liked to spend on Jammies for a boy that didn't really need any- but he has been treating them like costumes for 2 days. He wears Buzz for 10 mins and then Woody for 10 mins and then we have to help him back into Buzz! But really- who couldn't get a kick outta that face and those moves in that darling sleepwear?

Birthdays, School and Jack!

On sat, we finally celebrated Nolan's and Jack's birthdays. Nolan wanted a wii cake. I found an idea HERE to make a wii remote and am pleased with the way it turned out.

We had a low-key birthday. Even tho, my two oldest had already watched Despicable Me, Nolan wanted to see it again with his friends. We took 2 other boys to the theater with our family and laughed harder than I thought we would. Then we came back home for cake and ice cream.Then, school started on Monday. First it was Nolan off to Jr. High. He loved it the first day, hated the 2nd and was more at peace by the third. Only time will tell!Then Carli has a new bus-buddy as she went to fourth grade and Bridger started morning Kindergarten. They are both liking their classes so far. Monday night we went to a Chinese buffet (that our family likes)to celebrate the start of the school year. Carli eats 424 boiled shrimps and Nolan scarfs down just as many pot stickers. (Which look suspiciously like Costco's) But the fun part came when Jack's fortune cookie read, "Appearances are not what they seem" We though it was fitting for 'sweet' lil' Jack.