Happy Halloween!

Leah is a ninja, Samuel is Iron Man, and Audrey is Jessie. They had a blast and we are still hungover on candy!

December

Its been awhile and I have some catching up to do. Here are some happenings from the grand months of November and December.

Leah had her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. The tooth pulling experience was apparently very traumatic, and now she will not allow any force to be executed on future teeth, which must come out by themselves. She is planning on capturing the tooth fairy to use it for pixie dust, and is devising traps and fairy houses, so you'd think she would want the tooth fairy to come back again soon...

Speaking of teeth, Audrey has two. They are sharp. She is fulling crawling and pulling herself up and has quite an appetite. We all love her; Love to give her kisses and hugs and make her smile. She did not care for Santa.

Leah turned 6 and finally got a Rapunzel Barbie. We also had a birthday party and did crafts and made playdoh...I managed to underestimate (yet again) how much work it is to have that many 5 and 6 year olds at the same time. I also made the ugliest pinata known to mankind. If you can tell what it is supposed to be, please enlighten me. It took me over a week to make that thing out of newspaper and flour and glue, and we were happy to beat it to a pulp in the end (but it was surprisingly sturdy and Chris had to get out his baseball bat).

Samuel is always ready to strike a pose and make a silly face. He keeps us smiling. And brimming with pride. But he usually forgets what he meant to do in the bathroom and we find him 30 minutes later playing in the sink water with his lower half stark naked.

We've had several visits from our favorite friends, the Swensons of Las Vegas. It is a fun, noisy crowd! That Samuel and Anna get along really well...remind me to keep an eye on them when they are 14.

Chris and I went on a "field trip" with my coworkers to see a fellow TA perform in "Savior of the World" in Salt Lake, and it was fabulous. It was so great to spend a night out (without kids) and in the company of great people!

More coming soon!

Halloween in a nutshell

Here is our unruly bunch. Leah was the most proud and the most practiced Rapunzel since Mandy Moore. And Samuel was a cute little pirate named Jake. All we are missing is the cowlick. Audrey was my little Dalmation this year, as was Samuel when he was that age. I am pretty impressed with myself for sewing Leah's and Samuel's costumes, the Jake vest I made without a pattern. I did Jake for $0 and Rapunzel for about $15 (except for the hair...that was pricey). I also did a couple comissioned costumes this year--pictures coming soon, but that is why I didn't have time to make a costume for myself. Oh, well, it was fun, and we have 365 days to get ready for next year....



At our house we have the law of candy consecration, which means that all Halloween loot goes into one candy bucket from which all can pick their one peice after dinner. This serves a couple purposes: it helps us monitor the candy, it eliminates posessiveness and "fairness" of who got more tootsie rolls or pixie sticks, and most importantly it give the grown ups equal access to the candy.

1 jumbo marshmallow=28 birthday candles

Yesterday we had an awesome birthday bash. I like to do something different every year on my birthday, and this year I wanted to have a campfire (if you know me at all, you know that I am somewhat of a pyromaniac). The torrential rain ceased just in time to set up my new firepit on the patio and roast marshmallows with friends. We had a blast! I had friends come from all walks of life, friends from home, from college, from work, neighbors in the ward...It is so nice to be loved by so many people! Thank you all for making my birthday so wonderful and memorable!


We all know that marshmallows + chocolate + graham crackers= yummy deliciousness. Let the record show that s'mores made with dark chocolate is pure heaven!

Audrey's Baby Blessing

Audrey was given a priesthood blessing by her dad in church on Sunday, July 3. One of my favorite parts of the blessing was when Chris blessed her to be "physically and spiritually triumphant." It was a special day for all of us! We were very blessed to have family and friends join us for the occasion: Grandpa and Grandma, the Stansfields, the Coombs, Aunt Sue and Uncle Jess, Aunt Janet and Uncle Grant. Audrey was so beautiful in the little green dress that I wore for my baby blessing nearly 28 years ago. (Can you tell who is who?)

Quintessential Housewife

I wasn't pregnant anymore, but I was certainly barefoot for the Father's Day's shrimp buffet I provided for my loving husband. For a girl who doesn't like seafood, this just shows how much I really love this guy. I made him shrimp cocktail, shrimp scampi, and coconut shrimp. The kids enjoyed the shrimp too, while I had tater tots for dinner.

Endings and Outings

May was a big month for Leah. Not only did she become a big sister again, but she graduated from Preschool and finished a year of Ballet!

Preschool Graduation, with Miss Carol and then with friend Julia:

Leah's Ballet Recital, pictured with Miss Jennie and Miss T (Tiare):

To celebrate the end of one season and the beginning of the next, we visited Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. There is something about that red window pane that lends itself particularly to photographing my not-so-little-anymore girl.

Now for a fun summer and then on to Kindergarten!