Halloween

Just wanted to share a few pix of our Halloween before out Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

Justin's outfit was my favorite to put together this year. 

I got his leather (vinyl) coat at our local thrift shop, trimmed the sleaves to fit, and sewed them up.

He's the Lone Ranger. Yes I know his hat should be white, but we did what we could, m-kay?!

He enjoyed the night with our neighbor with hamburgers for dinner, school Halloween party, and trick-or-treating. He made off with a killing of candy! (get it? haha!)

                                                              Here are the 4 Musketeers. Yep, 4. These kids Pal around together non-stop when able to, and it was no different Halloween night. They enjoyed trick-or-treating with each other led by their friend's mom. 

(sorry for the blurry photos...issues with the camera AGAIN. Need me a new one. *sigh*)

                                           Alyssa was a beautiful Princess Fairy

              Amy was a darling witch. She wanted to make sure everyone knew she was a good witch.

Michael was a brain surgeon. I know, YUCK! What isn't shown is the heart he's carrying in pocket. Eeek!

                           Jeremy was a Karate Master. He shared some pretty amazing moves!

After going out for a couple hours, the boys came back and changed into Ninja costumes and shared their skills with one another.

                                 Alyssa and Amy enjoyed going through their candy and trading. This brings back so many memories from my childhood days. I have fond ones of trick or treating with my dad and sharing with my brothers and sisters. My mom always made our costumes so great. 

Alyssa taking a rest after changing into her pajamas.

                                                             Michael gave Justin a candy burial...

                             I think he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. (hehe! I made that one up myself.)

Tyler spent the night studying and watching a movie, and Steve was out of town at a class. 

That leaves me. Scarecrow Mom. 

With a nice night off, I enjoyed passing out candy to trick-or-treaters and watching Man of Steel. 

It was a GREAT Halloween! 

Austen Fans

For those of you who don't know, I'm a hopeless Jane Austen fan. I love the time period, the stories, the romance, the hopelessly smitten love and the main plots to all of Jane Austen's novels. I have read most of them and seen as many of the movies as possible, in a variety of each version. I just finished the last book she wrote, but never completed, called Sanditon. It was finished by another, and, I might add, very well done!

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Being the Jane Austen fan that I am, and a part of a wonderful book group, we recently read the novel "Austenland". 

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It was hilarious and fun in a degree only an Austen fan can fully appreciate. So you can imagine our delight when my friends and I found out that the movie had come out! 

I went with a long time friend, fellow Austen lover, and book group member. 

We laughed until we were almost literally in stitches!

  

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If you haven't seen it, you must! You'll be glad you did. 

Snow Days

5 Days ago we got snow.

To people that live in colder climates, that doesn't mean anything unusual. But here where we live in Eugene, Oregon, it's a rare deal. So they say.

 When we first moved here 9 years ago, the real estate agent told us that we wouldn't see much snow because it was so rare. It's snowed every year since we've been here. Granted it isn't a large amount, and when it snows, all the schools close and buses don't run. They just don't have the equipment for it. For the first couple years this would upset our older boys, being from Spokane WA and Utah. They were disappointed at how once the sun came out, all would be melted by mid afternoon if not, mid-morning, and they missed school that they knew they'd have to make up later.

 This time, however, we have gotten so much snow, that the buses can't run and many churches have canceled their services.

Everything is capped in white and the the temperatures are making no promises of rising above freezing real soon, leaving a layer of ice on the roads.

School has been delayed giving the children time to play and enjoy sledding, tubing, and hitching. Our neighbor across the street even took them snowmobiling (They frequently visit their family in Montana). 

                                                   We received 8 inches of snow in total.

                                                  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Being Mom

Some days, many in fact, are challenging. I won't lie to you. There are times, lately, I envision myself on a warm beach somewhere...anywhere, 

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I don't seem to care, drinking a virgin pina colada. And as one ends, the beach waiter (like in Mexico) brings me another. I just sit there, doing nothing. Not even reading. Just enjoying the sun on my skin and the drink in my hand. I'm just me for awhile. 

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No one yelling my name to get me this, or asking where is that, or blaming me for something they couldn't do on their own and, for some unknown reason beyond my understanding, I should'v known and been there to help, prevent mistakes or make things work out. But then reality hits.

 I'm back in my own busy, chaotic, hectic, crazy, on call 24/7 life. And I realize, that if I did leave, I might never return, 

                            and how that would be a shame. Because truly. 

          I'm where I want to be. I'm happy being Mom. No matter what that entails.

She Wears Curlers

 Is that a song? She wears Curlers? If it isn't, it ought to be. Sounds like a good one to play when a girl's getting ready, huh? The other day we I found some velcro type curlers at the thrift store. If you know me well, you know I love a good thrift shop trip. I found them so cheap, all of them were there, and they looked like they may have been used once. So for about 2 whole bucks, I got 'em.

                                                  Alyssa had said she wanted to try them.

 I thought Steve was going to roar with laughter when he walked by the bathroom and saw what I was doing.

The next thing I knew, he was showing me an old "for strength of youth" pamphlet that said that girls shouldn't leave the house wearing hair rollers. He was laughing because of how times have changed. 

 I have to admit it brought back memories of Sunday nights as a child. We would sit and watch love boat as my mother would roll my hair in sponge rollers. If they came out in the night, I would walk to her room in the dark to re-roll them. She was amazing! 

The girls got impatient with the process and asked for me to take them out before they ever dried, so I don't have any "after pix" for you. Let's just say, I don't think they will be doing it again. Sponge rollers are much nicer. (These ripped the hair upon removal-accompanied with a lot of screaming and crying. Poor girls!). 

I gotta say, though, it was worth the pictures! 

What They Say Wednesday

"I spy my little eye, Apple Jacks!"

                                                                                                                                      ~Amy

"I'm going to be a fairy when I grow up."
                                               

                                                                                            ~Amy

Girl Time

There was a time when the Father and Sons outing would come along that I would bide my time alone. I never really thought it would be different, but fantasized having a couple girls to enjoy the night with. I just couldn't see the future. I wouldn't have been able to wait had I known that these two darlings would be a part of my life, making my girls' night alone so much more special.

We started out the night with a trip to the store and picked up this fun and princess girly tea set.

Then we went to the dollar store and picked up the girls' favorite treats:

And had a fun night including a tea party, nail painting and Barbie movie watching {not pictured, we were having to much fun to remember to take pix ;)}. 

It was the BEST "girl time" I've EVER HAD.

I look forward to more in the future!

July 4th- with 7 camping guidelines

There are certain traditions we just can't (or don't want to) get away from. We have a few of those on the 4th of July. Every year we decorate the children's bikes and head out to the flag raising and ward breakfast. 

In the past, Bryon has been the one to decorate the bikes with the children. I was worried this year and new we would miss his help and enthusiasm. As it turns out, though, Alyssa pulled through. I didn't have to worry about a thing! She decorated she and Amy's bikes and paraded that parking lot in 

 STYLE!

 I thought she had Amy looking like Ms. Liberty.

 Michael enthusiastically helped Amy around that parade. 

 Justin took off so quickly, I never could get a still shot of him. It was a lot of fun to watch the children enjoy their traditional ritual. 

We left a little after the breakfast to Newport, which we had done a couple years ago. We decided this time to camp at South Beach and watch the fireworks from the pier again. I told Steve that if we are to camp, we are to do it my way. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I'm no happy camper. The majority of my experiences have been poor, to say the least. Steve was willing to do just about anything to help me have a positive experience. I really appreciate that, because this time I truly walked away wanting to do it again! 

Here are the steps to a good camping experience:

1. Have somebody willing to go ahead, set up camp before you arrive-The boys came up ahead of us, so by the time we got to the campsite they had the tent almost up. Steve helped them finish the job. 

2. Only take food that is easy to prepare- Steve and the children roasted hot dogs and had them in buns with ketchup and mustard. My feeling is, if you can't cook it over the fire with ease, why are you taking it camping? 

I couldn't eat hot dogs without a penalty on my feel great in 8 challenge, so I prepared chicken shish-kabobs before hand. They were all wrapped in foil and ready to go on site. They were OH, SO GOOD!

3. Have fun-We enjoyed some time together and roasted s'mores after we ate dinner. 

Amy is Tyler's little shadow when we go places. She loves her big brother!

4. Enjoy the scenery-While we were sitting on the dock, Tyler told me to look at the boat. We were amazed to see a boat named the same EXACT name as our cute daughter Alyssa. Isn't that cool?! We wouldn't have noticed this had we not been enjoying our surroundings. 

5. Have fun- While waiting for the fireworks, the children made goofy faces and goofed around with each other.

Notice the guy in the background, he even got involved!

 6. Have activities prepared- When the children got wrestless, we always had an activity to capture their interest, first it pictures, then pop-its, then it was mini snickers (after clean up), glow sticks came after dark, potty trips

                                                      after which the fireworks began.

 7. Do things you all enjoy- Nothing like a good smooch with your honey...

eating candy...

 and taking your own fun photos. 

 Follow these guidelines and you are sure to have a wonderful camping experience!

Que valle bien!;)