Halloween

Chet & Jasmyn on their way to school (wyatt was sick that day and Kolton & Hayden didn't get to dress up for school).. it was cake getting only 2 kids dressed for school this year. Chet changed his mind so many times on what he wanted to be so he was a little bit of everything.. LOL. We wore a little of this and a little of that and then I made him a sign out of a pizza box that said "100% Recycled". He loved it... (easiest costume ever!) I don't think I've met anyone so indecisive... poor guy has the hardest time making decisions sometimes.

Jasmyn was a cute little witch but decided she didn't want to wear her wig at the last minute because it was too itchy

Cute pumpkins huh? Pumpkin carving was a little stressful this year.. by the time we got dinner & homework over with we were in a race to get some pumpkins carved and of course couldn't find a decent knife.. we thought they turned out cute though. Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite things about Halloween (that and picking them out).. I love lighting the candle, stepping back and seeing them come to life. (Kolton carved Jack the pumpkin King and he was my favorite)

Our Annual Family Costume Party

Steve & Erica hosted this years Halloween party and it was a blast. We had a couple different kinds of soups and the bread bowls, Dad made his famous homemade root beer, and then had cookies and cake. After dinner the kids broke open the pinata that Steve & Erica had filled. That was a hit! The kids (and some of the adults but names we won't mention) went crazy. We had a good time.

It's always fun to see what costume Dad is going to wear.. for someone who doesn't like being center stage.. this is the one night he really seems to enjoy it. He was a woopie cushion with a hand held button and boy did he have fun with that button... he was tootin all night.

Sarah dressed up as an ACORN worker and brought Dave the voter with her.. it was hilarious! Sarah carried a clipboard with names on it that had been registered.. mickey mouse, dead people, 2nd graders etc.

We had a super fun time. Thanks Steve & Erica for all you did to make our family party another success!

YAY!!

We got carpet in Saturday afternoon so we are one step closer.. now we just have to do a little bit of paint touch up, and replace a few doors (oh, and save for some furniture) and we are done!

during and after

Before Pics..

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Yay! Weber high school's sophomore football team won their last game yesterday.. undefeated.. 9-0! They played Layton High and won 21-48.. they did so good. We are so proud of this awesome team! Never has this been done in the history of Weber's football. What a great team.

LOVE'N & LEAF'N

We Heart Fall!

Some of the things we love about fall are.. playing in the leaves, caramel apples, scarecrows, spooks, the cool, crisp air, the beautiful colors, pumpkins & the traditions

He's Got Class!

As I watch my kids grow and learn everyday I am so proud of the little people they are growing up to be.

This week Kolton was asked to go to the Girl's Choice Dance. The girl is a girl he knew in elementary school ( kindergarten) and then she moved away for a while and then came back. He went to a year of Jr. High with her but hasn't really talked to her since about first grade. She had left 2 plates of sugar cookies on the door step and each cookie had a letter on it. He had to unscramble the letters to find out what it was for and who it was from. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was worried about having to turn someone down (not 16 until new year's eve) and then when we got it figured out (which took FOREVER!) he was even more worried. He kept saying he always thought he was going to make it without being asked before he turned 16.

We thought and thought of a creative way to say "sorry, I can't". A friend had mentioned a 2-liter of crush and a note saying "I'm crushed but I'm not 16".. we thought that was cute so we printed off a note and went to by the crush.. they don't even carry it anymore.. grrr! So Kelly, Kolton & I sat in the van for a while in the store parking lot trying to think of something else. We decided on a squash and a dozen rose buds. We hurried home and typed up another note saying "I'm sorry to squash your plans but like these rose buds, I have not bloomed yet (I'm not 16)". We get in the car and headed down to her house. The whole time he's telling me he's got butterflies.

As we pull up across the street he tells us he's not going to set them on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run.. he was going to talk to her face to face. He felt that was more meaningful. Her big sister answered the door and said she was at work so he gave the squash and flowers to her and came back to the car. Once he got back to the car he decided that he didn't even want to do that.. he needed and wanted to talk to her. So he went back to the door and asked the sister what time she'd be home and if he could get the things and come back. By this time the parents had them and I'm sure they had read the note so they knew their daughter was going to be turned down. The sister had said she'd be home in about 25 minutes. We went for a little drive until it was time to go back.. he was shaking and still had butterflies.

We pulled back up to the house a little later and walked back up to the door carrying the squash and the flowers. She answered this time and he handed her the note and asked her to read it first (her dad was standing in the background). Then he handed her the squash and the flowers and gave her a hug and told her sorry. He felt so much better when he got back to the van.

You know.. it would of been so easy to just leave the stuff on the doorstep, run and not have to face her. But it was too easy.. he was concerned that if he did that things would be too uncomfortable between them that they'd never talk again. He wanted her to know that he WOULD go if he could, he wanted to talk to her and let her know that he appreciated the fact that she asked him. Kelly & I thought that was awesome! As he was walking up to the door (3 different times) we were amazed by him.. It took guts and it took class. Every single day he makes us proud.. proud to be his parents.. proud of the young man he has become. Also, he never moaned or complained, never asked us to please bend the rules.. he just knew it was something he had to do.

We love you Kolton!

Mother of The Year Award..

i feel horrible about this story and wonder if i should even repeat it.

Ok, so my dream as long as we've been married was to have a few chickens. So this past spring we got a few. The kids have named them, they carry them around.. love them. Well Chet has been dying for his chicken to start laying eggs. He checks the coop every single day and has been growing impatient.

Well Saturday, we were doing some yard work so we let the chickens out to play while we were out there. Chet comes running across the yard yelling at me telling me that his chicken was "rubbing her butt in the dirt and mooning me". He said he believed she was going to "lay a baby". He said she has scratching at the ground and making a hole to lay in. Well, i told him how exciting that was and acted like i was super thrilled. Then i got this evil idea.. (yes.. this is where the mother of the year award comes in to play)..

I told Hayden to run to the house and secretly bring out an egg from the fridge. I kept Chet busy while he grabbed an egg and hid it where the chicken had been digging in the dirt. I turned on the video camera after a few minutes and slyly asked chet to show me where she had been laying. It all worked out.. he walked over there (me following him with the camera) and totally freaked when he saw the egg. He was super excited. At first i thought it had been a good idea but after like 10 minutes of him carrying that egg around in his shirt and breathing on it to keep it warmn naming it, and after calling both grandma's and grandpa's to announce what had taken place i started to feel like a heel. I felt horrible. i started panicking wondering how i was going to get myself out of this mess. He really thought this egg had come from his chicken and that it would hatch (so really i was on the edge of opening a can of worms too.. (what an idiot!). We could of gotten into the whole birds (literally) & the bees talk too but thank goodness there was so much drama going on that we dodged that bullet)

Finally, after feeling guilty and struggling with knots in my stomach i called him over to tell him the truth. As i told him the look in his eyes broke my heart.. "no mom, my chicken laid it" he said with huge crocodile tears in his eyes (yes, i got that on video too). He slowly turned and walked away with his head down crying.. trying to redeem myself i called him back over and said "chet.. that egg really came out of the fridge, but do you want to believe your chicken laid it?" He replied yes and i could tell he felt better. He carried that egg around the yard the rest of the night and even showed it off to every one in the family when they came for our party.

sheesh.. i felt bad. i really don't know what i was thinking and how i thought this whole thing could of been a good experience. The very worst part of it all.. (yes, it gets worse) .. he carried it around all evening, he put it in a baggy to keep it safe, and then found it a nice warm place on the patio to sleep since it wasn't aloud in his bedroom, he ran home from church to change his clothes so he could check on it then... he was running around the side of the house with it to take it to Grandpa Orville's house so he could show him and he tripped.. the egg smushed . More tears and more heartache (all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't of put that egg together again.. LOL)

You'd think the mother of the year would of ATLEAST ditched a hard boiled egg

Happy Birthday Kel!

I started this post the other day but got busy doing other things and never finished... I just wanted to wish Kelly a Happy Birthday. Wow.. I can't believe we are 35 this year.. I can't believe we have been together more than 1/2 our age.. together longer than we weren't. Crazy!

Thanks for all you do for our family Kel.. Thanks for working your tail end off so I can be home with the kiddos and do what's most important to us.. Thanks for all you do to take care of us. You're such a wonderful husband & Friend... My very best friend. Thanks for being such an awesome Dad to our kids who look up to you more than you'll ever know.

We love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!