Happy Halloween 2011

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 Happy Halloween!

Good Ninja with Stealth and Awesome fighting moves

I am Tangled, you have to dance and make funny faces

Mashed Potatoes I think

courtesy of KFC

I wish I could sit down and type something witty, sarcastic and so funny your gut would hurt.  I have blogged numerous times during my sleepless, hacking, coughing nights, mulling through all the thoughts in my head, finding that one who would be worthwhile to actually sit down and type as fast as my fingers would allow.  They are all just mashed up like potatoes, gooey and messy.  Sticking to all the corners in my mind.  So I decided to just spread the potatoes all over the plate and sculpt them into a volcano until gravy erupts all over.

You would hope as you grow older that you would learn that others opinions do not matter in the scheme of things.  And that you would stew and simmer the little things someone has said over and over until you go a bit dizzy.  A thoughtless word or joke turns into bubbling cider that its so hot it burns.  The way you want to be.... is not how you are seen... and you have to be okay with that.  The endless talking and talking.  More thinking ....All any of us can do is our best right.  As they say 'until you walk in their shoes or my shoes".  So I have to tear down walls brick by brick.  Keep trying and moving forward,  doing and being my best, moment to moment.

Now I am choking on my next thought,  I can't swallow,  Oh, oh, oh,oh, oh
I was called to the principals office.  And not for my son, but for me.
 And if you want to get technical it was the Vice principal i actually spoke with.
Did she really just say he has been Tardy NINE times and it is only October?
Yep I am an awesome Parent.  I swear it has not been that much.

Oh, and now a private meeting with the teacher.
heart hurting again, pressure behind my eyes.......
It has happened, it is beginning.
Oh, how being a mother can hurt.
Grateful it was swiftly, artfully handled.
Noah did not even hear a thing.
Small blessings.
So nice an apology email from one of their dads.
Kids can be so mean.
Wow, my boy has so much self confidence.
Another blessing.

I seem not to be able to stay on top of everthing this school year.
I did remember picture day at Sofia's preschool.
She really is stunning.
Wow,  my girl is beautiful.  I am not bias in any way.
She is a tough one, my Fia.
Her new things is that she can't walk and I have to hold her.
Luckily sometimes her legs can still hop like a bunny,
waddle like a penquin or crawl like a puppy.
It seems to get us to where we need to go.

Picture by Ashleigh Butler

Oh, she has a kissable face.

And just for so you all know who I hung out with this weekend

My Brother in law Jason

Creepy isn't he.....

Things you might have missed

june 2011

 Kersten's work had a trivia contest.

And Team Ninja Zombie reached the final 2.

Do you LOVE their t-shirts?

Pure luck that Kersten got questions he for sure knew about

like Arrested Development and Green Day.

And as luck would have it THEY WON

and he got a gift card to the movie theatre that basically

we could take our family to 2 movies a month.

This is how we saw Pirates, Smurfs, Harry Potter, Cars 2, The boys saw Transformers,

Noah and I saw Captain America, X-Men First Class etc

So we really took advantage of this card and even got popcorn too.

We still have a bit on it and we are saving it.

We are a movie loving family so it has been an extra treat this summer and on.

Aug 2011

 Yes. this is our family at a Mustache Party.

We look totally awesome.

Everyone at Grahams birthday had to wear a mustache.

Maybe for my birthday I will have a 

Aug 2011

 An In-N-Out Burger opened close to our house.

Everyday we would drive past it.

Noah would update us on it's progress and what was new.

We have gone a couple times since it opened.

On one of the visits our kids received Hats.

For 3 days straight my kids played In-N-Out

they would take orders and make burgers.

I heard them laughing so hard once and when I asked them what happened

Apparently, Phineas and Ferb's dad (Lawrence Fletcher)

kept coming in trying to order a chicken salad.

And they only serve burgers.

It was hysterical and they were entertained for days.

Sept 2011

Hooray!

We got a new car, a Honda Pilot 2005.

My Corolla had 3 big things break in a week.

So we traded it in.

LOVE my new car.

I love the space, the way it drives.

It makes me happy.

Noah and Sofia named it the BHB

the Blue Honey Badger.

The Honey Badger is the fiercest in the animal kingdom.

Just ask YouTube. 

Sept 20,2011

 Sofia went on her first field trip to the Apple Orchard.

Her cousin Kaitlyn went to her preschool last year and came with us.

It was super fun.

We went on a hay ride and got to pick apples and leaves.

She was really excited to meet the farmer.

And was very disappointed when Farmer Randy

did not wear a hat and overall.

Sept 21,2011

For Amy's Birthday all she wanted was 

The Captain Jack Sparrow Barbie.

We went on a treasure hunt to find him.

It was delightful and delicious.  

We found him and he is absolutely beautiful.

I collect Barbies too and have not wanted one for awhile.

But Johnny Depp is just to beautiful for words.

In all forms including Barbie form. 

Sept 2011

 Sofia loves her picture taken.

She wanted a picture in the new car

Pretending to sleep.

She usually wears her jammies to drop Noah off unless it is a school day for her.

Silly little woman.

Sept 23,2011

 Noah class learned about the Constitution.

His whole class can recite the Preamble 

and do it in Sign Language.

It was really impressive.

They went on a Field Trip to the State Capital

and had to dress up like one of the delegates from 

the Constitutional Convention.

Noah was assigned a delegate from Virginia

named Edmund Randolph.

He could not make up his mind so he didn't sign.

Luckily we have hookups.

Papa Al has period clothes.

So everything but Noah's socks and shoes are period.

He was the hero in school.

I came in the day before to show them the clothes and a powdered horn.

I love the hat.  I think he looks rather dashing!  Don't You?

Fly Like an Eagle

I helped out at Noah's school on Monday.
I was the spelling helper.
One of the words this week is eagle.
I asked the kids if they knew how to fly like an eagle.
One kids said he could if he used a hang glider.
Most of the kids gave me blank stares.
Which made me sad, cause this means they are growing up.
After I demonstrated flying like an eagle across the room
while spelling the word eagle.
Some of the kids totally got it after that.
I had a lot of fun helping out.

Later that night, I asked Noah if he liked me helping out.
'Oh Yeah"
I said that it was fun seeing his friends and meeting his new friends.
Then he proceeds to tell me that Tyson said at recess

"Your mom is kinda weird"
Noah responds  "yeah she is"
Tyson says "Is she always like that ?"
Noah clarifies  "yep all the time'

I have arrived..... My sons friends think I am a bit crazy.  I love it
This has made me smile all week.

Eyeshadow

 Imagine me sewing, happily talking to my friend, while Sofia and Dylan play downstairs.

All is peaceful and their is enough noise that your not worried to much.

Sofia comes running upstairs so so excited.

"Mom, mom look at my eyeshadow"

Yes that is blue marker and she is elated about how beautiful she is.

 Dylan looked so guilty so we asked him what happened.

It was all Sofia's idea and he watched. 

Even though it is washable she still has a bit of blue on her eyes.

What a silly little woman.

Best Sunday of the Year

The Primary Program is really the best Sunday of the year.  Yesterday was no exception.  My kids were pure entertainment.  We spent the week and morning before church beautifying them and practicing their parts.  I look forward to this every year.  And I know the Primary Presidency works really hard on this.

Now for my kids,  Shall we start with the oldest

Noah:    who is 7 

The entire time he looked like he was extremely tired and totally bored.  He had a dead pan look on his face.  He was wearing his "James Bond outfit"  from Ginny's wedding with no tie.   He rarely sang the songs except every once in awhile one of the sentences.  Kersten made the comment that he needed to teach Noah the "watermelon" trick.   The boys and their Dads sang the 3rd verse of Praise to the Man together.  Noah just stared into the microphone.  One of the Sunbeams was singing his heart out,  which made this fabulous.  

When it was his turn to do his speaking part
which was to be about how he loves the stories of war in the Book of Mormon, such as the Armies of Helaman and Captain Moroni.
He swaggers up to the microphone as if to say "I am going to nail this"
and says " I love the temple because we get married there, not on the beach or in a church but in the temple" and struts back to his seat.
Kersten and I were laughing so hard that the bench was shaking.  A couple behind us tapped us on the shoulder and said that it was their favorite part of the program so far.  He spoke with such confidence and was factual.  This is the boy who at the age of 3 played Star Wars and flung Spiderman webs all over the stand during the program.

Now for my Sofia: who is 3

This girl said she looked Perfect.  She wore her Easter dress and a flower headband

 she got from Avery's birthday party (Kieran's daughter).

She threw a huge fit before church because she had to wear makeup,

so chapstick was smeared all around her mouth and on her cheeks.

because it was a "special occasion"  I gave in and put a bit of eyeshadow on her eyes.

When on the stand her hair had flipped over the headband and was in her eyes.

She attempted to sing only her favorite songs. 

She started rolling her eyes into the back of her head and 

pulling on them so you could see the whites of her eyes. 

She has dancing fingers so they were all over during the music. 

Our favorite part was when she starting swaying back and forth like Stevie Wonder, 

looking up toward the ceiling, bumping into the kid next to her. 

When her turn came up for her speaking part... That morning she had it down pat.  

She was suppose to talk about how she loved the temple because her mom and dad got married there.  

And that we are a family forever.

She talked all week about how she got to talk in a real microphone.

She says "I love the temple, it's great.  I go there. "

Gives her million dollar grin and bounces back to her seat.

And her parents go into another round of hysterics.  

Their performances were really quite epic.  

At least our children offered up some entertainment in church yesterday.

They made me proud.

Painting Sofia's Kitchen

Before

 Last weekend Dad went backpacking, so Sofia and I decided to do something fun.

We painted her kitchen.  This kitchen used to be mine when I was a girl.

As you can see it needed a little tender love.

Sofia had to help so I put one of my paint shirts on her.

And we began.

I love painting furniture.

I love the evolution of it all.

As something old looks fresh and new.  

After

I painted it a retro blue color.  

I matched the color of the paper that I made her light switch and the letter I in her name.

I LOVE how it turned out.

Originally I was going to get some red and pink flower handles from Hobby Lobby.

And I still might get them.  I had these knobs hangin around so I used them

Sofia loves her new kitchen. 

That is blue, the "color of moonlight" just like Cinderellas dress.

I am very happy with how it turned out.

I was nervous how it would look on her bright pink walls

I think it turned out fantastic.

I bought 3 cans of paint at Home Depo 

and all of them were different shades of blue for different parts of my house

Hmm,  I see a theme right now.