Halloween Party

Tonight was a rare treat: we got to go to a party WITHOUT kids! Our friends threw a great party with lots of food and fun.

Costumes!

I'll be working on costumes for the next couple of days. My house will be a disaster, because, as always, I have procrastinated until the last minute. It should be fun. Andy and I are dressing up this year; something we haven't done for a long time. I'm excited about that!
Hopefully I will post some photos of the finished products!

The Voice of the Spirit

http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages?v=VPbDZnrxBLM

Down and Dirty

What better way to cool off on a hot summer day than splashing in the mud?

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Baby Bibs (as affectionately named by her eldest brother) finally got over her puking long enough for us to celebrate her birthday. It turned out to be a fun party. We broke a pinate, had cake and ice cream, and then she unwrapped her presents. By the time all was said and done, she was tuckered out, and took a little rest with Daddy. Thanks to everyone who came!

Snippets

Time seems to be going by so fast these days. I've been so busy living that I don't have time to stop and write about all the living I've been doing, but I figure that's not such a bad thing.

Here are some snippets of what's been going on lately:



My oldest played tee-ball this year. He absolutely loved it! It was fun to watch him get so excited about every game. I'm pretty sure he will be playing again next year, and possibly every year after that. This was my first taste of being a "soccer mom", only it was baseball instead of soccer. Two games a week kept us busy, but it was fun.

My baby went through a fetish with tipping over the garbage can and digging through it in search of food. Luckily, she's now learned to ask for food when she's hungry instead of rummaging for it. She now signs "more" when she's hungry. I'm trying to teach her "eat" and "please", but so far she only signs "more". She'll occasionally sign "milk" when she's thirsty. I'm sure she'll learn more signs soon.
She turned one year old a week and a half ago. We were going to have a big party, but she woke up in the morning covered in puke and poop (happy birthday). Her older brother was sick, too. This had been going on with them off and on for six weeks. I finally took them to the doctor, and after some testing, it was found that their bacteria count was low. We remedied with lots of yogurt and acidophilus supplement. They've been well since then. We had to cancel the party, but we're throwing it this Wednesday instead.

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful rainstorm. I had been having a stressful day, so I went for a walk in the rain. I ended up sitting down next to the irrigation ditch and watching the raindrops fall into the flowing water. It was refreshing, both physically and spiritually. When the rain stopped, there was a huge rainbow over our house. This photo doesn't do it justice.

I have five colors of tulips in my flowerbed. The purple and white ones come up first, which I posted pictures of earlier. These pale yellow and pink ones came up later. They are now done blooming, and I planted some petunias in their place. I also have irises, but I don't think they will bloom this year. The leaves make a nice backdrop for my petunias though.


We started working on finishing the basement, which first required taking out a doorway and wall. It was a fun mess. Our original floorplan had a huge family room and a bonus room along with a laundry and bathroom. We decided it would be a better use of space to make two bedrooms out of the family room and turn the bonus room into a family room. We're just working on a little bit at a time, piece by piece. We have the framing all done now, and my husband is working on the electrical now.


I don't have many photos, but I've been working on my garden. I planted corn, green beans, carrots, beets, spinach, onions, peas, pumpkins, watermelon, zuchini, crook neck squash, and tomatoes. Some of them are doing well, others not so good. I'm a novice at this, so I'll be happy with whatever I get as far as harvest goes. We have eaten some spinach, and it tasted pretty good.

We've also been working on getting our front yard ready for sod. We had curbing poured for flower beds and hope to get sod late this week or early next. I'll try to get some photos soon.

I guess that's all for now. I need to get some sleep to keep up with all that's been going on.

My Tulips

I love tulips. They are my absolute favorite flower. Not only are they the most beautiful flower, but they are so easy! Plant them once and they will pop up year after year!

I'm It!

I wasn't actually tagged, but my sister-in-law was, and I liked the idea, so I'm tagging myself.
Here are the rules:

1. Open your first photo folder
2. Scroll to the 10th photo
3. Post the photo and the story behind it

This is what I found:

This photo brings back some good, happy memories. This is my husband and my oldest son, and if you look closely to the left side behind my husband, you can see my second son's little arm poking up out of the carseat. He must have been only about three months old here (he is now three years!), which would make my oldest two (he's now five!). It was a beautiful spring day in 2007. We decided to have a picnic lunch up in the canyon. It turned out to be a fun, sunny, wonderful family outing. One of my favorite memories, actually. This was when we still lived in the first house we ever lived in after being married. I miss that house sometimes. It is the only place aside from my mom's house that I grew up in that has really felt like home. All the other places we've been in have either been relatives houses, or we didn't stay long enough to make it feel like home. Don't get me wrong, I love our new house, but it's not quite home yet. We are still getting settled. I hope we will stay here long enough to really make it feel like home. And I hope to make a lot more warm memories like that picnic in the canyon.

Good Karma

I was vaccuming under the cushions of my couch today (something I can't ever recall doing before) when I happened upon a pile of what appeard to be candy wrappers from Christmas. When I grabbed the pile to toss in the trash, I realized that one of them was not just a wrapper; it was a Twix bar! What joy! What luck! What karma! What if my boys found out? They were just inches away from me. I knew if they discovered my good fortune, they would be as greedy as a pirate finding a treasure chest of gold, and my booty would be gone in an instant. I tried to hide not only the bar itself, but my giddiness as I dashed into another room. Phew, they hadn't noticed. I eagerly opened the foil wrapper, careful not to make too much noise with it. I enjoyed every bite of that chocolately, carmely, gooey confection. Oh, the gratification! Sometimes it really does pay to clean the house.

I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For

I realize this was several months ago, but I wanted to post some pictures from Thanksgiving. It was great to celebrate in our new home. We truly do have a lot to be thankful for; in 2009 we had a baby, built a house, and are still married! What more could we ask for?

"We're going to eat that?"

The secret to the perfect bird: lots of butter and brown sugar!

On the menu: (clockwise from ten o clock): turkey and cranberries, candied yams (my mom's recipe), old-fashioned turkey dressing (my great-grandmother's recipe), mashed potatoes with sweet turkey gravy, green beans with caramelized onions, and homemade rolls. We had sparkling cider to drink and pumpkin and cherry pie for dessert.

Pouring the sidewalk

Shorty after we moved in, we poured our front sidewalk. Here is my husband and a good friend of his getting ready for the pour.

My cute son and daughter waiting for the truck to come.

Here comes the cement down the chute. The kids thought this was awesome.

This was my first time watching a sidewalk be poured. I didn't realize how much time and work went into it. It was fun for me and the kids to watch the process, and my hubby enjoyed learning how to make a sidewalk!

Happy Groundhog Day

Well, it's Groundhog Day, and as far and I'm concerned, spring can't come soon enough! I'm anxious to see my tulips that I planted in November.

First, I had to get rid of A LOT of rocks!

My little boy helped me break up the ground.

And here are the bulbs just before being covered up! Hopefully I'll have some pretty pictures to post in a few months!

My Cute Baby Girl

I wish I were a better photographer and had a better camera, but isn't she cute!?