trick or treat

Emma asked me this morning why we celebrate Halloween. My thought was, "That is exactly my point as to why am against this holiday. There is no reason to celebrate Halloween." I admit it. I am a Halloween hater. Love fall. Hate Halloween. Wish we could do away with the whole holiday. I don't like spending money/time on costumes. I don't like going door to door for candy. I don't like my kids getting candy for no good reason. I don't like having to become the Keeper of the Candy who must dole it out (never in the amount the kids want) for the next few weeks. I don't like Halloween.

I do have kids though. And I do like them. I think the Halloween festivities this year were satisfactory to them. We made sugar cookies in the morning and then decorated them with our homeschooling neighbors (we get together every Wednesday).
We raided my sister in law's costume box this year so I managed to spend no money or time this year. We ended up with a witch, Obiwan Kenobi, Spiderman and a Musketeer.
I was so grateful for the mild weather this year and for the fact that Daylight Savings starts next week. Emma went off with a friend so I headed out with the boys to trick or treat in the neighborhood. We lasted for about an hour and a half. Dave made it home from Boise (YEAH!) around 7 and went with us for the last street.

Every year I want to plan a big party a few days before Halloween and then do away with trick or treating. Every year I don't. Perhaps, it is the fact that I don't want to warp my children even further. They are homeschooled after all. And their friends aren't supposed to bring presents to their birthday parties. And...and...and a whole lot of other things. So even though I don't like the holiday, we will probably keep participating. Maybe next year I'll get into it a bit more but don't count on it.

Kellis Family sneak peek

I posted a few pictures from this session on my photography blog. That blog is rather rough still but I'm working on it. I also liked this photo. Sad but cute.

a better week

This week did prove to be better than the last. I cooked dinner every night, kept the house clean, and mostly kept my cool with the kids. It is still not pleasant to think of doing this for several more weeks. In fact, one night I was so upset by that thought that when Dave called I told him I couldn't talk to him for long because I was mad at him for being gone. I do try to keep it all in perspective. I do not have to deal with him being deployed for a year like two amazing women I know. When he came home this weekend, we did talk about the realities of continuing in this job. This is his dream job so we need to figure out how to make it work. I think part of the reason this is so hard this time is that we just did this six months ago. In the future, transfers should only happen once a year and hopefully will get shorter as the process gets streamlined.

Anyhow, back to my week. There was Girl Scouts, Jill coming over to give me a Smugmug tutorial (thanks again, ever-so-fabulous Jill), playgroup at the park, piano lessons, violin lessons, our first class of Kids Co. Christmas session, a ward Halloween party, AND I got to do a photo session with some friends (sneak peek coming soon).

Saturday was such a beautiful day. Emma and I went and got haircuts in the morning. Our Kids Company performance was in the afternoon. It went well despite some rather annoying technical difficulties.

Then we went to dinner with Dave's family to Emma's favorite restaurant, Golden Corral.

Keri and family plus Colin and his "date" came came over for dinner and games tonight. Dave won our Settlers game just in time to head out for the airport. The Vances stayed a while longer, talking, eating, playing video games, and wrestling.

Two weeks down. _____ to go.

spt-black and white

A simple challenge this week. Black and white. What do you see? Can you see my true self?


I see slightly crooked lips, eyebrows that are in major need of a good plucking, and the plethora of moles/freckles that keep company on my face. What I don't see is my green eyes. I rather like them. Sometimes I think they are the only thing I've got going for me in the looks department. While this was a good chance for me to work on my black and white conversions, I must say I do prefer COLOR.

crazy Utah weather

Friday was a most glorious fall day. I took the littles on a walk. First we stopped at the park for a bit. Then we continued on the "paff river" as Nathan calls it. The kids had a grand time collecting leaves, throwing rocks, playing with sticks, and Sawyer, sadly, even took a little swim.

Then Saturday, we awoke to rain and harsh, freezing wind. Just the kind of weather you wish for on the last day of soccer season. Slade's game was at ten. The rain had stopped but the wind was just awful. Emma, Nathan and Sawyer escaped to the car. Slade tried to escape also but since I wouldn't let him he actually did go play for a few more minutes. When we told him this was his last game, he said, "Good. I hate soccer."

Emma's soccer game was equally as cold though not as windy (but I forgot my memory card for the camera). She made some awesome assists and came oh so close to scoring a goal. Dave headed off early to go to the football game. The kids and I went home to hot chocolate and warm showers.

It started snowing in the late afternoon. By six it was coming down rather hard. I got a babysitter for the boys and took Emma to see Hairspray. Must say, I was rather disappointed. It was fun to go with Emma though. She thought it was great and showed Dave some of the dance moves this morning. We went to Barnes and Noble afterwards. It does my bookworm heart such good to see Emma starting to develop a love for reading. She just finished Little House in the Big Woods. This was her first long chapter book. She chose Island of the Blue Dolphins to take home.

Dave braved the cold and snow for the football game. He said it felt like being inside a snow globe. He is "fully invested" after all and he stayed to the bitter (cold) end. The Cougs were easily victorious, 42-7.

We awoke to snow covered ground this morning. I am so not ready for winter! The kids begged to go out and play in the snow but I made them wait until after church.

Dave, wonderful Dave, decided to wake up in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow to drive back to Boise so we got to enjoy a nice Sunday evening together. I made soup and rolls for dinner. I killed my breadmaker in the process by failing to notice the cord was touching a burner. Bummer. Fortunately it was after the roll dough was finished.

I am going to try really hard to make better choices this week so things aren't so hard while Dave is gone. Everything felt so out of whack last week. The kids weren't sleeping through the night. The house was a disaster. We had cereal for dinner. I stayed up WAY too late watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix. I am married to such an amazing man and it is hard when he is gone. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective though and will hope for a better coming week.

bad idea

Yesterday I was having a bit of a bad day. I decided that I would try and eat up some time with an attempt at fun so I took the kids to a movie. BAD IDEA. Extremely bad. We were a bit late getting there so we had to find our seats in the dark. Sawyer actually sat in his stroller for about ten minutes but then that happiness ended. All the snacks I brought were eaten within twenty minutes. Sawyer didn't want to sit so we went to stand in the back. All was well until Nathan decided that just sitting or even walking quietly was no fun. He resorted to running, jumping and making entirely too much noise so I took Nathan and Sawyer out into the lobby. All was well again (except for the fact that I was missing the movie) until Nathan pulled the fire alarm! Total humiliation. We were able to go back into the theater for the last twenty minutes. After it was over, I made a mad dash out of there to avoid all the "why can't that mother control her kids" and "what was she thinking" looks. Really though, what was I thinking?

spt-comfort food

Each time one of my neighbors called me yesterday, she was greeted with the sounds of children screaming in the background. I let her know that my day was not going very smoothly. Unfortunately what she had called to tell me did not improve things at all. Bless her heart though she decided to bring me some comfort food later that day. Cookies, banana bread and juice. It was so thoughtful and went a long way to help end the day on a bright note.

I can always be comforted with food. Especially of the not good for you carb variety--ice cream, cheesecake, french fries, bread, cookies. My waistline wishes this were not so. If I weren't still in a bad mood, I would talk more about my favorites. Perhaps soon I will feel like really sharing my comfort food and the yummy recipes that make it. Until then...

wishing

Anyone have an extra 10K lying around? If I had that I would buy:
--a Nikon D300
--Photoshop CS3
--a new computer, preferably one with a Quadcore processor, so my photo-editing would be so fast!
--Epson r1800 large-format printer--a good scanner

Add another 10K and I would decorate my house.
--new paint for every room on the main level (except the piano room)
--new couches without holes from steak knives for both the living and family rooms
--four poster bed for the master bedroom
--built in bookshelves and a nice entryway table for my living room
--cool storage for my laundry room
--Expedit shelves from IKEA for the guest room/studio
--lots of frames, shelves, pictures, beautiful accessories all over

Add another 10K and I would landscape my backyard.

I should stop. I am starting to feel a little depressed.

goodbye again

Dave is headed off to Boise for work for several weeks. It wasn't very fun the last time. I am trying to keep it all in perspective though and remind myself it is not that bad. Not fun but it could definitely be worse.

fall fest

One thing I love about fall is getting to go to all the wonderful festivals around. On Wednesday we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point with a homeschool group. We stayed for three hours (leaving only because Sawyer needed lunch and a nap) and had a wonderful time. I found it interesting that my children felt no compulsion to stay with the group. They immediately set out together to do their own thing. We jumped on the Jumping Pillow, raced ducks, played in the Corn Box, slid on the big slides, and rode the cows. We finally came back to join the group for the hay ride to the pumpkin patch.
Last night, my cousin called to offer us tickets to go see the Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the AF amphitheater. Before the show, there were hay rides and other games to play. I thought the show was fun to see, though I'm not sure anyone else in my family thought the same. My cousin's husband was in the show and was definitely the highlight of the whole production (shout out to you, Nate!).

We have been off school yesterday and today for fall break. Most of the kids' friends are gone so they are bored. We probably should have just done our schoolwork. We did have Katie and her family come over this morning. Katie scrapbooked. I thought about scrapbooking. Its what I do best. Tonight we are watching Nightmare Before Christmas on the front lawn of our neighbor's house. Let me revise that. Dave and the kids will be watching a movie while Sawyer and I stay at home.

What have you been doing to celebrate fall?

a birthday boy

My sweet, happy baby is one today. Look at how much he has grown.
It was a cold and very wet birthday. The Vances came over to celebrate with us in the afternoon.
While Sawyer napped, the rest of us had one year old food: grilled cheese sandwiches, corn dogs, nuggets, and chips and dip. Really healthy! Sawyer finally made it to his party when Slade woke him up because he couldn't wait to eat the birthday cake.

Dave headed off to Priesthood session while we finished out the evening with the kids playing with friends, Sawyer taking another nap, then baths and books.

Sawyer, you are a joy in our lives. We thrill to watch you learn and grow. What a blessing you are to our family.

Happy Birthday Sawyer-man. We love you!