HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite Holidays, probably because I am a candy addict. This year has been kind of crazy and different. We had a few scheduling conflicts and weren't able to throw our Halloween Party. It was very hard to let go. I'm trying to be more practical these days. We still attended a few carnivals so my kids have had there fair share of fun. They can't wait to go trick or treating. I'm still trying to decide if I'll let them keep their candy this year or take it away while they are sleeping. I don't know why, but the thought of letting my kids have their own little stash of candy sounds insane to me, yet I did at their age(maybe I'll just start blaming my mom for my candy addiction).

Grayson wanted to be a red dragon. He made this very clear months before Halloween. I tried to talk him into being something else, but he wouldn't give up. Every time he talked to anyone about Halloween he would tell them he was going to be a red dragon. So I gave in. I thought about making the costume, but after a short visit to Joanne's I decided that was out of the question. Luckily we found this one.

Lydia wanted to be Snow White. I did make this costume, and I am very proud of it. A lot of Stress, Time, Yelling, Swearing and Love went into it. It may be the last costume I ever make. As you can tell from the pictures she really thinks she is a princess. She performed a Halloween dance with her dance class at a Davis County Carnival- I'll post a video later.
If you can't tell from this picture Kate is suppose to be a pink poodle. Basically Kate got the shaft this year. I was going to put her in Lydia's chicken costume from when she was the same age, but I couldn't find it. So basically I went and bought this costume today out of total guilt. I didn't want Kate looking at her baby book and ask why we didn't dress her up like the other kids. So here she is our adorable pink poodle.

THE WEDDING

This last weekend my big brother Billy tied the knot with Aunika. I am so happy for them. It was such a fun day and everything looked so beautiful. We were all so excited because Molly, Billy's ex, let Wyatt, his son, come out for a couple of days for the wedding. Grayson, Porter and Wyatt wouldn't leave each others side. For this reason, the three of them were in charge of the rings, since Wyatt wouldn't do it alone. But even with three of them caring for the ring, some how they managed to loose Billy's ring. When Wyatt held up the pillow that the rings were suppose to be tied to there was only one ring. We had to stop the ceremony for a couple of minutes while we all searched the grass for the missing ring. The whole time the boys were making comments like "I guess it's gone." Luckily Toby found it and everyone clapped. It was so funny. My other favorite moment of the day was when Tami's tights fell to her knees while dancing. You'll have to read her blog for the full story. We all love Aunika, what a blessing to have her in our family. I can't wait to be neighbors.

Pack's Pumkin Patch

Last night our crazy family decided to go pick some pumpkins. We braved the rain, hail, and freezing temperatures to find the perfect pumpkins. It was the only free time Jared had this week so we went despite the weather. I laughed as we drove up and I realized, "yep we're the only people stupid enough to come out on a night like this." The kids didn't care since they had been waiting weeks to go. In the above picture Jared is pretending to have a good time, but he's not, I think he was really annoyed by the whole thing. But I guess that is what makes him such a great dad, pretending to have fun for the kids. I love picking pumpkins from the fields. There is just something about finding that special pumpkin that speaks to you. I also love that you can get really big pumpkins. When we got home we drank hot chocolate and carved Jack-O-Lanterns. I LOVE Halloween.

I'm a Loser

So, here is a little story about me and what a loser I am. Yesterday morning after running on our treadmill I went to the fridge to get some water. (for those of you that don't know, I am a water snob and only drink bottled water, I'll gag if it's not. I know-lame). Anyways, I open the fridge to find no more water. Dang- I'll have to go out to the car to get some. That's when I realize I already took off my tennis shoes. I'm lazy and just slip on a pair of dress shoes sitting by the front door. I peek outside, is anyone going to see me in my stylin workout clothes (tank top and shorts) and dress shoes. There's only a million people flying down the busy street to the side of our house. Hopefully none of them will notice me. As fast as I can I start running for the van.
On the way I notice one of the construction workers from next door sitting in his car. Crap- he has definitely seen me. I open the back of the van and decide not to just take one bottle of water but the whole case, as I grab it the plastic wrapping rips and water bottles start rolling everywhere. I can't believe this is happening. At this point all I want to do is Abort mission and run back into the house, but that would look even more stupid.
So I'm bending over trying to recover all the bottles when I see the worker walking up to me. Now I'm really stressed, I've just remembered I still have black eyes from my makeup (I usually wash them off after my shower). I look up and try to pretend that, A. I'm not wearing dress shoes with my workout cloths, B. I don't look like a freak with big black eyes, and C. I don't feel like a complete loser chasing bottles around. Then he goes on to ask if he can come over and work on something with our windows. I can't quite concentrate on what he is saying because I'm still thinking about me. He asks when a good time to come over would be, and I tell him, "I'm about to jump in the shower, so give me a half hour but I'll be home all day." I was thinking he wanted to come in and install the hardware on our new windows. Well, a while later he came over and started working outside on one of our back windows. Apparently he was just worried about making to much noise and didn't want to come in. So he was probably wondering why he had to wait for me to take my shower before he could start making noise. I wanted to go explain the whole misunderstanding but decided that would be even weirder. I don't' know if that made any sense but that point is I'm a loser and will probably be a little more careful before my next emergency trip to the van.

Our own little chef?

Lately Lydia has really been into helping in the kitchen. It was really cute at first, but I starting to worry this could get really annoying (I'm a mean mom).If I spend anytime in the kitchen she is right there with me. She pulls out her little stool and asks "What you makin." I just hope it will all pay off and she can start cooking family dinners when she's, like ten. Grayson likes to tease her and say she's not a real baker, cook or chef. It makes her really mad. So far she is showing all kinds of signs that she will be the responsible older sister who thinks she is in charge of everything. Great for me, not so great for future siblings. For now I'll try not to get annoyed and teach her all I know about cooking, which isn't much.

GRAYSON'S SUPER PARTY

Grayson celebrated his 5th Birthday with a superhero party. It was so fun to have all his friends over. We had to import some boys since there aren't any in our area. At the party we trained the kids to be superheros with different activities. Just before having cake and ice cream we told all the kids that a bad guy "The Hungry Hairy Hunter" was coming to try and steal Grayson's cake. We told them they would need to use their new skills to stop the Hairy Hunter, and then armed them with silly string as their weapon. When the Hungry Hunter came half the kids loved attacking him with the string and the other half were scared for their life, it was pretty funny. We didn't mean for it to be so scary. After he left we had him come back without his mask on to show the kids it was just Grayson's uncle chad (who happens to be a very nice guy). They all seamed to be okay once they saw he wasn't really a bad guy. Below is a video of the attack.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY GRAYSON!

HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY!

Kate is 6 months old today. I can't believe it. Wow time flies when you have three kids. She has been such a joy. She has been our smiliest baby. So many times I'll be running around and glance over to make sure she's okay, and there she is smiling away almost laughing at my craziness. She loves to be part of the action and won't let us leave her alone in a room. As long as she's with the family she's a happy girl. We just hope the next six months go just as well.

WHO DO I LOOK LIKE?

Everyone is always asking who Kate looks the most like.We've had a hard time deciding. You tell us, does she look more like her Mommy or Daddy?

JUST CALL ME

But not the kind you think, my life isn't in perfect order, with perfect kids and home. It's quite the opposite. In preparation for Grayson's upcoming superhero birthday party, I was doing some research on all the superheros and discovered, Oh my Gosh, I have some super powers of my own. Here are a few.
* Supersonic Hearing- It's amazing how I can hear the smallest sounds at a great distance, like my baby crying or a phone ringing. Sometimes I find it even more amazing that I can tune some of the loudest noises out, like my older kids crying or screaming.
*Ability to sense trouble or predict when a situation is about to go very bad. Even if it's in another room.
*I'm fluent in languages others have never heard before. The down part to this power is I get stuck translating a lot. Now that I've had my third baby I am amazed at how well I am able to understand Kate's different cries.
*It's been years since I ran track but I can still out run my runaway toddlers (It can be fast for a tired momma).
*Amazing reflexes- I can be doing three things at once and still catch a falling pacifier, cup of juice, or even baby.
*I am the keeper of Time Out. I am still amazed that I have the power to tell my kids they are in Time Out and they will stay where ever I put them.
*And my favorite, I have a magical kiss that somehow makes everything all-better.