Happy Halloween!!! I guess..

OK, can I just say that I really understand the benefits of "trunk or treating". You get to accomplish an entire evening of trick-or-treating in a matter of 10 minutes, YAY! But seriously, where's the fun? Aren't our children lazy enough? Now all they have to do is walk around a parking lot or half of a street and call it good. Meanwhile, the people who DON'T live on that street or who DON'T go to church are sitting at home waiting for cute little trick-or-treaters to come...and they don't. Whatever happened to the good old days when we started trick-or-treating on our way home from school and didn't stop until all the lights on the street were off? We used pillow cases and we FILLED THEM UP! We RAN from house to house and we held out our bags and waited for the people to give us the candy. We didn't stick our fat little hands in the candy bowl and take 3 or 5 or 12 pieces of candy! Oh, but before all of this we said, you know, TRICK-OR-TREAT!

I hate trunk or treating. I think it should be banned. I'm about to go outside and turn off my cute pumpkin lights and give all the trunk or treaters the finger...well at least their parents.

On a less cynical, grumpy note...today was really fun. I think my kids go to one of the last schools that lets the kids dress up and do the time-honored tradition of the costume parade. I LOVE IT! Those kids are so dang cute! Some parents are just waaaay past clever. My poor kids had to wear store-bought costumes...which they looked ADORABLE in! My camera's battery is dead and I left the charger at Kim's :( (frown because I didn't get any pictures of Hayden and Avery in their costumes and frown because I want another girls weekend!) But Alison and I had the babies' pictures done this week so I'll post them.

I really, really, really love Halloween! I'm just buggin' because we didn't get any trick-or-treaters that weren't our friends. So, "thank you" to the Anderson's and to Kristin for bringing your cute littles over to trick-or-treat. And to everyone else, we have a TON of candy left if you're interested!
Kennedy is a spider and Harley is a bat.

P.S. Feel free to comment. Seriously. I feel like a big fat loser when nobody comments, so...you know...COMMENT!!! It's easy. Just register. Not difficult.

Some Cute Pix

Last night was Avery's first piano recital. She did so good! She wasn't nervous at all. I get nervous playing the piano in front of anyone! She's just got tons of confidence and I hope she never loses that. Yesterday I fed Harley some rice cereal. He was doing pretty good, I thought. It's hard for them to figure out how the spoon works and the texture and taste of the food is weird but he seemed to like it pretty good. It was a little difficult to feed him, though because he was too distracted by big brother, Dalton. Look how cute they are looking at each other!

And finally, here's a picture of Harley in his "bat" costume. He's gonna be so cute when he goes trick or treating! lol He gets his pix done with Kennedy on Tuesday. She's being a spider. How much cuteness can there possibly be in one place???

Where Does the Time Go?

Yesterday Harley was 5 months old. Our niece, Kennedy, was 3 weeks and a day. It amazes me how fast they grow. I remember Harley being 3 weeks old like it was yesterday. And now he's rolling over and laughing and sleeping all night and taking regular naps and eating solid food. Just 5 months ago he was brand new! And as if 5 months doesn't go by fast enough I look at Hayden and Avery and think, "where did the last 9+ years go?" It's not fair that I only have Hayden's lifetime again to have him as my "little boy". Nine more years and he'll be all grown up. And Avery will be right behind him. We, as moms, are getting ripped off! Why do kids grow up so fast? And why don't we always take the time to enjoy it? Because we forget how fast the time goes, that's why.

So anyway, here are some way cute pictures of Harley getting his first bath at home and getting a bath today. He's almost grown out of his tub! Crazy how fast the time goes!

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I'm Gonna Lose It!!!

As Newman from "Seinfeld" once said about postal workers going, as they say, postal..."because the mail never stops". Well I'm about to go "laundral"!!! I do laundry all day, every day and it NEVER stops!!! Seriously, why do my kids and husband (and me, I guess) have to wear clothes EVERY day? And on top of that, they want them to be CLEAN?! I'm not Wonder-Woman. I can't do everything! Is it not enough that I feed them every day? Sometimes even more than once a day? Nooooo, they want clean undies, too! I can't do it, people. If I had unlimited money and could hire someone to do menial tasks for me it would definitely be laundry. OK, and vacuuming and dishes and toilets, too. But other than that, I can handle it.

So other than hating laundry I did my treadmill again today. I went twice as far in less time than yesterday. YAY ME!!! And I only had THREE pieces of pizza for dinner. Again...baby steps...don't judge me!!!


I guess I can't have a post without saying how cute and sweet and adorable Harley is. Oh ya...Hayden and Avery are cute, too. JK!!! Avery has a spelling test tomorrow and for the first time this year I'm convinced she'll get 100%. Spelling is not so much her strength. Give her a math worksheet, though, and she'll whiz right through it. Hayden seems to be just the opposite. He spells and reads like CRAZY!! He's struggled in the past with math and has gotten it in his head that he's not good at math but truth be told...he IS good at math. He just needs to calm down and focus and he gets it every time.

Alright forget it...

...I can't get the video to upload on this blog or on youtube so you'll just have to take my word for it. That he rolls and that he's ADORABLE! He slept for a long time today and I wonder if he's getting sick or teeth. I don't want him to do either but of course I'll take teeth over being sick. Or maybe he just thinks that being off the charts for his height isn't tall enough. Either way, I don't think he feels very good today :(
So I started exercising today. (Thanks to my BFF from high school, Heidi. She's given me the inspiration I need!!!) I went a mile on my treadmill in twenty minutes. Yay me! Then I proceeded to eat french fries and red vines and ice cream/cake for dinner. Baby steps, right? I'm firmly resolved to get in shape. I absolutely hate the way I look and feel right now. I used to think I was the FINEST thing ever. I was confident in walking into a room full of people and KNOW I was the cutest one there. Whether I was or not...I felt like I was. Now I don't have that self confidence and I want it back. So my goal is to get in shape this winter. The time is going to go by anyway. I might as well not get mired down in depression like I do every winter. Come next spring I'm going to have my self confidence back. I'm going to hold my head high again. I'm going to be the "cheerleader" Tavis married. And I'm going to run/walk a 5K with Heidi. Just telling the kids that I went a mile on the treadmill today made my kids want to outdo me. They both got on the treadmill and ran and ran. A lot faster than I did, in fact. (Oh to be 7 again!) I want to be a good example for them. I don't want them to grow up unhealthy. They don't lean toward being overweight now but who knows what their futures hold. I am NOT backing out of this. This is happening!!! Now that I've put it on paper...well computer, it's sooo going to happen!
K, well, that's it I guess. We have a pretty busy weekend ahead. Friday Avery has a piano recital. Sunday they have their primary program. Should be fun.

He is the SMARTEST baby EVER!!!

So Thursday night I put Harley to bed on his tummy (bad, I know but we have a motion sensor under his mattress which helps give us a little peace of mind) and when I got him up Friday morning...he was on his BACK!! (No wise cracks about who he learned that from.) So I got him on video doing it again but it's kind of long (like 2 or 3 minutes) so PLEASE just bear with us. I'll try to edit it to make it shorter but if I can't figure it out (I'm not holding my breath) just watch the whole thing because he's freakin' DARLING!!!!!
OK, so it looks like you're going to have to look at the video on youtube or something.

Girls' Weekend!!!

Oh my heck! We had so much fun! Avery and I and mom and Jill and London got to Cedar City on Friday night and went out for some Mexican food. YUM! Then we just hung out that night. Avery got to have Coke with her dinner because we were on vacay & some rules were going to be ignored. The main reason I don't like the kids to have Coke or Pepsi is because of the caffeine. Plus it's bad for their teeth, etc. So after TWO refills at dinner I cut her off of the Coke. Later that night she proved me right by staying/keeping me up til 1:30 in the morning!!! She read a couple of books to me and then talked my ear off! Needless to say, she had Sprite or water the rest of the weekend.

The next morning she was up bright and early! I slept in a little. We had a mellow morning. We went to an art show at SUU and then went to St. George for lunch and went to a craft store. We were hoping to meet DeNae and her girls for lunch but ended up not being able to hook up. They were on their way to Cedar so it was OK.

When we all got to Cedar that evening we bought our stuff for the stitching project we'd had planned and then went & got a TON of junk food and went back to Kim's to eat and sew. We also took tons of pictures. So fun! That night was so much fun because we were all able to hang out and enjoy each other and laugh. The most important thing we did was make memories. For all of us but especially for our daughters. I love Love LOVE this tradition and I hope we'll always keep it.

That night we all stayed up til about 1:00 am and when Avery and I went to bed she read to me some more so we didn't get to bed any earlier than we did the night before. It was OK, though, because we made more memories.

The next morning Dennis made us a yummy breakfast and we visited some more. DeNae and her girls left first and the rest of us left about an hour later. It was another successful girls' weekend!

We really do miss our sisters-in-law! They are our sisters and we feel their void when they're not with us. I know I speak for all of us when I say I hope they'll join us next year!!!

Thanks again, Kim and Den for hosting all of us! Dennis is such a good sport! I'm so thankful to have sisters. I hope Avery gets to have one but if not, I'll make sure she and I are always close.

Such a Good Week

This week has gone by so fast! The best part of this past week was the arrival of our new little niece, Kennedy! She's absolutely adorable! She arrived on Wednesday, Oct.1st. Weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz and 19" long. She's so tiny and sweet! Just in case you missed the last post, Harley is almost a full 8 lbs bigger than her and 7" taller! It's amazing how fast they grow. Of course, Harley was still growing on the inside when he was as little as she is.

Congratulations Jason and Alison!!!




Speaking of Harley...he just continues to bring so much joy and happiness to our lives. He's the most good-natured baby ever. I know I've said that a million times but it's TRUE! Lately, he laughs (he likes to see himself in the mirror) and he pulls his feet up to his mouth and he just "tells" the most amazing stories. Hayden and Avery and Dalton still think he's pretty neat. He'll almost always have a laugh for his siblings. And they love to be the one to make him do it. Up until this point he's been really enjoyable and I've loved every second of his life, but now it's turning into real fun. He's so much fun!

Look how cute my boys are!!!




This coming weekend will be the annual Girls' Weekend!! Avery and I are so excited! We're going to Cedar City to do crafts and slumber parties and eat and probably laugh our butts off with the other girls in our family. We were hoping (long shot, I know) that Alison and Kennedy would join us but it looks like Ali's going to milk this whole "I just had a C-section and now I have a new baby" thing so they'll have to wait till next year :)

I'll for sure post pix of the weekend when I get back!!