All Hallows Eve

Halloween
kind of loses some of the magic
when it is pouring down rain
and the wind is trying to knock you off your feet.
We're talking Mary Poppins
(the part with all the nannies)
umbrellas breaking
and bending
and trying to carry you away.


And hats and gloves and coats
cover up your super cool costumes.

Ryan and I even tried to bribe the kids
with all the candy we had in the house
to just stay at home and watch a movie
it was a
No Go


So Grandma graciously offered
to watch the twinkies
while she handed out candy at her house

So Ryan and I
and our neighbors Jenger and Josh


could Brave the elements
(blurb on the picture is a raindrop- we're talking serious rain folks)



We lined up for a group shot
Check out the munchkin in the middle
Mom made him wear a stupid beanie


instead of his cool transformers mask

Too bad she put the beanie on backwards
and told him to stop whining about wearing it
Poor kid couldn't see a dang thing


Quick correction
and a sincere apology
and we were back in business.
Even though he was still bummed
that he didn't have his Bumblebee mask
(but just until the first door, then he had candy and all was forgotten)


When we were thoroughly frozen
and the candy bags were loaded
we headed back to Jenger's house
for some hot Chili


in these darling bread bowls

Ryan called me to double check when going to pick them up
that I was actually going to pay extra
for the pumpkin ones
instead of the regular.
HELLO
YES!
It was Halloween after all,
I can spring for the cute ones
since they only come once a year
How could I not?
Pumpkin Bread Bowls.
The coolest.


We also made Carmel Apples


Collin was a big fan
I was too,
Probably the highlight of my evening


and


Kincade invited us
to his Halloween Party Friday night
and Ryan found out that he was going to be Phineas
from the show Phineas and Ferb
We decided it would be awesome
(and pretty easy)
for Ryan to be Dr. Doofenshmirtz
He looked seriously hot in my black turtleneck
(he refused to spend money on something he swore he would never wear again)
and he gabbed a lab coat from the scrub store to finish the look


and just for your viewing pleasure
Collin and Keegan Rocked the Party
as the little chick
and the stinky skunk.

We had a great Halloween.
Can't wait for next year!


P.S. for journaling sake. Caden was the War Machine from Iron Man 2
(the gray Iron Man thing)
and Kenna was Cinderella the first night
(tripped and ripped her costume)
and we pulled out the good old Ariel from the costume box
for the next night.

Witches Night Out

Were you at
Witches Night Out
at Gardner Village?


If you weren't,
I think you were
the only Woman alive in Utah
who was not there


There seemed to be
about six million people there.
And very few things in life
are as fun as millions of women


all dressed up
shopping
dancing
and having a party

Holly, Jen, Jovan and Miranda
Next year will be even better!

Many thanks
to the handsome husband
who complained not once
and said have a great time
as I left him at home
with 5 kids
on a Friday Night.

Jack O' Lanterning the Neighborhood One Garage Party at a Time

My Fab Neighbor
Jenger
missed her true life calling
(besides being a wife and mother- she rocks that)

She should have been an event planner


Our boring little neighborhood
has been hopping lately
thanks to her.

Labor Day Picnic
(sorry, no camera, no pics)


and now
a Pumpkin Carving Party


Which unfortunately was rained out of her backyard
and fortunately into my recently cleaned garage
(thank you honey for cleaning it even though I wished it had been the kitchen at the time)


People brought treats
(somehow, I only have a pic of the empty Cider Pot)


and pumpkins


and happy laughter


and fun


and pumpkin carving tools to share


these were our first designer pumpkins
(more than just the good old triangle eyes nose and gap toothed mouth)


and I think they
turned out pretty darn good


Poo poo for you
all you neighbors
who chose to ignore our invitations
to make merry


You missed a rockin
(if somewhat messy and slimy)
garage pumpkin party.

Thank you Jenger
for following through on your awesome idea.
Loved it.

Blogging Runs in The Family

Collin

is thinking about starting his own blog.


The only things holding him back


are his mean old mom


that keeps taking the computer away
( this makes him very unhappy)

and


coming up with
the perfect name



currently trying to choose between

I Wear My Bib Like a Superman Cape



and

Daily Expressions from a Darling Chub


Thoughts?


I wish that I had the commitment level and creativity to do
this
or this

This past six months has gone by way too fast.
Is it too late to catch up? I hope not
If only Collin could really help me out.

P.S. Philip-in case you were wondering, no laptops were harmed in the making of this blog. I Promise

And she's out...

I was feeding the twins
when Ryan asked me where the camera was.


It must be tough these days for the little bug
bein a girl in a house full of boys
you gotta keep up
or more likely, crack the whip
and boss them all around


or it could have been
the 10 times she changed her clothes today
before she landed on this
too big garage sale beauty
that she just had to have


or the 7th time she snuck out
to play at the neighbors.



Whatever it was
she was out for the count
for the rest of the night

Cohen turns 3

So most of you know
Cohen's 3rd Birthday was in March



It is now October


But 3 is a big year
and I could not let this pass us by without a blog post

I have major guilt about all the things that slipped past
or were knowingly shoved to the side
while I was pregnant with the twins,
and yeah um...since they have been born.
No Halloween decorations?
Minimal Christmas decorations?
almost no blog posts while preggo or since.
The pictures are there and just begging for face time
and I want to remember the fun
and the awesomeness of everyday life
with my HILARIOUS kids.
So have patience
and pretend like these next several posts happened days ago
instead of months ago.
Deal?


I am a big believer in BIG DEALS for Holidays and Birthdays
and this kid is a big deal.


Hello!
He potty trained himself
(once he learned he could get out of nursery at church to use the potty)
and thinks that he is turning 6 like Caden is instead of 3.


His favorite foods in THE WORLD are macaroni and cheese,
and hot dogs, and avacados, and tomatoes, and strawberries, and watermelon




He is very expressive and makes the best faces.
Definitely the clown at the dinner table
or any other time he thinks it will get a laugh


He is my best sleeper ever
and has been since 7 weeks old
Bed at 8
Lays down and rolls over,
says
"Sweet dreams mommy,
I want Swamp Fire and Chromostone for my "bird day"
and I love you"
then closes his eyes and is out.
Every night.
Don't hate me for that.
He wakes up every morning between 8 and 10 and says
"morning mommy,
I sleep good,
I want pink milk and watch Ben 10."
and then repeats
"pink milk and Ben 10."

He is a great sport when his sister dresses him up in her clothes

He is scared of all kinds of things, but especially bugs
and is constantly saying "You hear dat?" "I heared that."
and uses the excuse that "there is a bug so he can't"
whenever he wants out of something.


He is a huge BYU fan
and claims anything BYU he finds as his own
"That my shirt huh mom? Cause it say BYU cougars on it."



He is constantly challenging me
to see just how far he can go
or just how much he can push it
(i.e.-painting himself with my mascara)
Sometimes he is a little bit stinky and hits other little kids.
It takes a while to get him going, but once provoked,
he does not back down or walk away without a push or a kick.
I cannot seem to break him of this
no matter how many time outs and bedtimes and talks.


He cannot fathom the idea
that he is not just as big, strong, tall, and capable
as all the older kids.
He takes it for granted that he is always invited
and gets himself stuck, or hurt, or mad, all the time.
When I try to tell him he just replies
"But I big mom, I big. Big like Caden."


He loves going places
anyplace
he is always terrified that we are going to leave without him
so he is always running with his shoes in his arms
and half falling down the stairs
in an effort to not be left behind
He takes it very seriously.
"I gotta help Dadda (his name for Ryan) at the store"
"He need me, I gotta go"


My amazing friend Caitlin
said she thought her cousin Jeff might do a party for me.
For the big day
Sure
why not?
8 months pregnant with twins
I was not feeling so into party planning.
But she convinced me that it would be awesome,
and man was she ever right.


He showed up with some of his animals
and put on a great show.


I mostly took pictures of the kids
(who were enthralled)



but I should have been
taking pictures of all of the adults
they were just as fascinated
and entertained as the little ones.


I think that the adults squealed and screamed
more than the toddlers did.

He said that if I would have given him more notice
he could have gotten even more animals.

Are you kidding me?
With all the snakes and lizards and turtles and bugs,
my house did not need one more reptile
or insect
in it.


But like I said,
great show.
Perfect mix of fun and information
He let the kids feed the turtles
and taught them how to tell if a snake is poisonous

Caitlin also knows my history with last minute cakes
and no themes and so on
and it drives her crazy
(and she knew I was not feeling so hot)
so she offered to make the cake for me
for Cohen's big day.

She asked me what I wanted
and I laughed and said go for it
expecting cupcakes with frosting
(I would have been totally thrilled with that)
But of course she goes above and beyond.

She knew the theme of the party
According to Cohen it was a "Nake Party"
So she did some research and came up with this.


Are you kidding me?
One of the coolest cakes I have EVER seen!
She looked up the snake on the internet
and HAND PAINTED this one with food coloring
to look like a (kick me if I'm wrong)
Burmese Python.


I could not believe my eyes
when she walked in with it.

So cool.

Complete with M&M eyes and a licorice toungue
I really didn't even want to cut it up
or let any of the kids touch it.



It looked so real
Cohen was even a little afraid of it
when we set it in front of him.

Seriously Caitlin,
you are thewinner of
the coolest cake ever award.

And it tasted so good.

I hope that it was a really fun party
for my really amazing little man.
Like a said
3 is a big year
and so far it has been really great.