Rained Out!

It has been raining nonstop since yesterday morning. Our backyard is flooded and our pool is almost flowing over. The kids went running around the water in their PJ's. Crazy kids!!

Our Christmas party is tonight....so much for using the patio and the fire pit area! We are expecting 40 people, so it will be a little crazy w/out the outdoor space. We were planning on finishing the Christmas lights today...so much for that! Beside all the complications, I am enjoying it!

Obviously we didn't go out much yesterday. Aubrie was part of the assembly at school yesterday morning, they did the story of the Hungry Caterpillar. It was done very cute. They all had something to hold, like the pie or the 3 plums, etc. They made these huge caterpillar with butcher paper and a cocoon. One of the students busted through the cocoon and was dressed as a butterfly. VERY cute!
Besides the assembly, picking the kids up from school was the only time I left the house. We spent the morning wrapping some presents and cleaning up. Ethan really got into the whole wrapping thing. I had an old roll of wrapping paper and I let him go to town. He kept grabbing toys from his closet and wrapping them up! Last night we just stayed home with the kiddos and had pizza. Boston had a reading marathon, wanting to read 10 books, I sat there practically falling asleep as her read to me. I was so tired by 8:00 pm. After he was done reading, we went downstairs while the kids played Christmas songs on the piano and my Mom read the night before Christmas. After, we watched a movie and went to bed.
Oh, last night, when Boston was reading on the bed, he positioned his bottom away from me and said "Mom I had to do that because I had to toot." I thought, "how considerate". Ben was in "that" direction and said, "what about me, Boston? My nose is burning." Boston said, "So what dad, my eyes are burning!" He is such a funny character.
The rest of the week was normal as always. Aubrie did have a problem at school on Monday. She and a friend were sent to the principals office for not getting along. Aubrie has this friend who she has been buddies with since 1st grade. The past month or so her friend has made a new best friend. That has caused problems on the playground, her being so loyal and trying to be her friend still and her friend telling her she doesn't want to play with her. It really breaks my heart. Aubrie has been so sweet, making her cards and giving her things. Her friend will be nice to her for a short while, giving her hope, and then it's back to the same old thing. Anyway, I have been telling her to make new friends, FOREVER, but she feels like she is betraying her if she does. The teachers have also been telling them to not play with one another, but they still were not listening. So they sent them to the principal and he told them the same thing. Finally, she listened to him. She has played with some new girls this week, and I couldn't be happier about it. I just can't believe there is this kind of drama at such a young age. When I was 7 I didn't care about that kind of stuff. At recess i just ran around and did my own thing, or played w/ the boys! Times have changed or I just wasn't like other girls, I guess!
Well that's it for now. Hopefully we aren't floating around on a boat by tonight, ha! Good thing we have a two story house...guess we should move our food storage upstairs. LOL We Phoenicians aren't used to this much water!

Aubrie doing the litter box. What a drama queen!

Thanksgiving week!

Today I think I have slept more than I have ever slept since I've had kids. It all started w/ a cold that crept up on me Wednesday night. Thursday, Friday and Saturday I felt yucky in the morning and right before bed so, of course, I pushed it all those three days which put my body in complete shut down today. I didn't wake up until 10:00 am and then I took another nap from noon until about 3:00. I am still feeling very weak and tired (how can that be?), but I am hoping I will be back to my old self by tomorrow...lots to do with our Christmas party coming up this Saturday...Yeah!

So here, once again, is a rundown of the week!

Monday was just another day, except for a nice surprise from Ben...a new camera. It's the brand new Cyber-shot Sony. With an iso of 3200 and 8.1 mega pixel, it smokes our old one big time!!! It's definitely a great fix until I get the "big" one!:) I love how small it is! I just slip it right in my purse and off I go! I love Technology! Monday night we had our FHE on showing gratitude to Heavenly Father. I cut and colored a picture of a turkey (without feathers). I had cut the feather's separate and let the kids write the ways to show gratitude on them. Then they got to tape them on the turkey. The kids enjoyed doing that.

Tuesday was Aubrie's field trip to the Food Bank. Her teacher started a canned food drive at her school, and for the past month the kids have had their jobs of going to their assigned classroom and picking up the cans and organizing them in boxes. Tuesday the Sheriff Department brought a rig and loaded it up and followed us over to the food bank. The kids got to unload the food into huge boxes and got a short tour of the Food Bank. I'm glad Aubrie got to experience that opportunity of service! I can't think of a better field trip than one of service!

Wednesday Aubrie and Boston had off of school. Ethan still had preschool and surprisingly had no problem going. While I was gearing up for Thanksgiving, I decided I was going to take the kids to California Friday morning. I hurried around doing laundry and making the casseroles for Thanksgiving that night, so I could pack and get ready for our trip on Thanksgiving day. That night my Mom and I got sick and that blew those plans right out of the water. Looking back I'm a little relieved, b/c as fun as that trip might have been, it would have also been very short and CRAZY!!@!

Thursday morning we set up all our Christmas stuff and Ben put up the Christmas lights. A day early, I know, but there was really nothing else to do since I made all the food the night before!:) We headed to Ben's parents around 3:15 and ate dinner around 4:00. I brought a new appetizer, cream cheese covered in this raspberry chipotle sauce served with crackers, YUM! By the time dinner was ready I was pretty full! YIKES!! I enjoyed the left overs the next day, though! After dinner we took the the kids to the park in Ben's parent's neighborhood. After about an hour we came back home and everyone else followed, for dessert, games, etc. Julie and Brian showed up, too! It was great seeing them. They have been living in Utah for the past year and just moved back the beginning of this month. The kids were excited to see their kids and they played in the backyard the whole time they were here. After everyone left, the twins and Krista stuck around for some hot tubing and cards. We were up until midnight, I definitely felt it the next morning!

Friday was Ben's 35th Birthday! He got to spend it golfing with his brothers. He took Aubrie along, she loves driving the cart!! It actually was a little cold that day, and since they had a late T-time, I'm not sure they even got to finish their game. It's a tradition for these boys to play the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas. I need to start some tradition where I go and do something really fun w/ my friends for 6 hours!!! When Ben got home, we headed to the Outback to celebrate his birthday. Sophia was still sleeping when we were ready to leave, so my Mom said she would stay and watch her since she was still not feeling well. It was so weird going out w/ just three kids! After Outback we went to Lamps plus to finally buy lights for our posts in our yard, 6 months later!!!! I then got a call from my Mom that Sophia wasn't doing well, she cried when she put her to bed which she never does!!! So we rushed home to take care of her. She has a cold, too, and I think it's throwing her off! After I got her to bed, I pulled out the traditional cake I make for Ben every year (Lemon cake w/ orange frosting) and we sang Happy Birthday! He didn't have anything to unwrap b/c his gift from me is a new wedding ring. Since he still hasn't gotten his finger sized I have been unable to purchase the one he has been eyeing online!!! He buys himself almost anything he wants anyway, aside from the Mercedes he has been wanting so badly, but that's not going to happen!!!

Saturday we ran errands; Ben had some birthday returns! He made out pretty good, after the returns, with a new Polo dress shirt and the new Cologne I LOVE so much, RSVP! I'm not sure if that is my present or his? Hee! Hee! We had to go to the mall to get that, which was a little crazy!!! The parking lot was PACKED and we also forgot the stroller. Luckily the kids behaved themselves, after bribing them w/ a stop at the pet store and the toy store. After our errands I met my Mom at Micheal's to get some flowers to do some more Christmas decorating. While my Mom and I worked on the house, Ben worked on the electrical for the post's outside. The kids caught up on some reading and piano. Boston's reading is really coming along. I'm sure he will be reading Junie B. (if I let him) by the end of the year. I wish they made better books for boys to read!

We'll that's the week. I'll leave you with an "Ethan funny". When we were at the Outback, the kids all had their jackets on and Ethan looked at us and said, as he was putting his hands in his jacket pockets, "Look I have two hand holes in this jacket". We finally realized that was his name for pockets. Enjoy the pics!

A few more pics

An Arizona sunset!

Ethan's impromptu nap! He set it up by my bed while I was resting!

Result of the first night around the fire pit!

Weekly update and the YW Retreat

What Ethan's plate looks like after lunch every day! He is my only kid who eat's two PB&J's! I'm going to have to get a job when he is a teenager just to keep him fed!

Ethan's other passion, besides eating, is cleaning. If only his future wife could see this!

Sophia's newest past time!

Whew! What a week, made obvious by my lack of entries. Monday the kids had off for Veterans day. We spent the morning getting caught up on responsibilities, piano and reading. Ben was going to join us at Chuck E Cheese, but got an emergency call so he wasn't able to join us:( I thought of bagging the whole thing, but the kids were looking forward to a surprise, so I sucked it up and took them all myself. I was mainly worried about Sophia b/c we went during her nap time. She did great! She sat in the high chair and ate soda cracker the whole time. The kids blew through their tokens really fast. Boston and Aubrie combined their tokens and dumped them all in one machine to see how long their ticket ribbon could get. They ended up with just under 200. Ethan found a machine of his own and ended up with about 80! He was so excited. I was, too, because we were in and out of there really fast and they were all as happy as could be!

I put Aubrie in charge of the FHE lesson b/c she skipped dance and had some extra time on her hands. She was really excited to do it. She did it on serving one another. She wrote "Serve One Another" on paper and cut out each letter. She put candy on some of the letters. She hid all the letters around the family room and even drew a map ( a pretty detailed one) so she knew where to send people to find the letters. She spend over an hour cutting, putting her Halloween candy on some of them (being mindful of our favorite candies), making the map and making sure we would find them in order. I was was proud of her enthusiasm!

Tuesday was Boston's birthday. We started it off by making his favorite breakfast, French toast! I then met him for lunch and went out on the playground with him. I never do that b/c I usually wait around for Aubrie, who has lunch right after him. He was so excited to have me out there. All his friends were gathering around me asking me questions and telling me about anything and everything. Boston was the center of attention. I love how, at this age, they think it's "cool" to have your parents visit. In a couple of years I'm sure they won't be thinking it's so cool! I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Tuesday night, Boston had his last T-ball practice, and afterwards we let him pick anywhere he wanted to eat. He picked McDonald's of all places. Definitely a sacrifice on our part, but the kids were happy about it. When we got home from dinner, Ben's parents came over w/ some presents. Boston had a full and happy day. I still can't believe he is six!

Wednesday was a normal day of getting stuff done (two trips go Target included), running the kids to school and piano, and Young Women's. This week was Young Womens in Excellence. It was definitely more enjoyable for me than last year, b/c I didn't have to plan it!!! Everything was very organized and focused on the girls uniqueness. It was great as usual.

Thursday...hmmm, I can't remember what I did. That's what happens when I don't keep up on journaling, ha! Oh, I remember now! I met up with some of the Young Women for lunch at one of my favorite places, Paradise Bakery. They just opened one by my house this past Monday and I have already been there 3 times! I love that place. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning house and trimming our tree's, ouch! We have Palo Brae's which are covered with thorns! Not my first choice, but the required "theme" tree by our HOA! Thursday night was me and Ben's normal TV night! We Tevo 5 shows (ER, Survivor, Smallville, Office and Scrubs) and watch them all; pathetic I know!

Friday was a very full day. It started with Bostons assembly performance. Boston did a good job; speaking clearly, remembering his line, and flashing his cute smile. I then headed over to the Cibola Vista Resort to help set up for our Young Women Retreat, that started that evening. The decorations were a Fall theme. It looked very nice against the rustic look of the convention room we had. The Retreat started Friday and 4:30 and ended at 4:30 the next day. It was such a great experience for the girls. I hope they know how lucky they are to have all these wonderfully opportunities that I never had. I'll quickly run through the schedule.

Friday

4:30 meet and mingle

5:00 dinner....steak, potato and salad. The Bishopric was in charge and several men in the ward (including Ben) helped serve

6:00 Scrapbook class by Becky Higgins

7:00 Concert by Sam Payne (great Mormon folk singer)

9:00 clean up and home

Saturday

My day started with Boston's last T-ball game. It ended with trophies and their pictures being handed out. Boston was so excited to have a trophy, and Aubrie was a bit jealous! Boston got home and put his trophy on his dresser and put his pictures up on his wall, even the paper inserts that were included in the packet..LOL!

Back to the Retreat

9:00am breakfast; eggs, pancakes and ham!

10:00 Cake decorating at Souffle's. I learned a few things myself. It was a lot of fun!

12:00 Back to the Resort for lunch and my bracelet class. I think it went well! During my class Erin and Becky took pictures of the girls. The leaders got roped into getting their pictures taken as well. I wasn't too excited about that but we had a fun time with it!

2:30 Ended the great weekend with speaker, from our ward! After cleaning up and sending the girls off with grab bags, we were out by 4:30.

It was a lot of fun, but I left there exhausted. Especially knowing I was going home to loads of laundry and no dinner plans. We went to Paradise Bakery for dinner and I did laundry while Ben went to his monthly "fight night". I actually got caught up on the house, laundry and email! Yeah!

Today Aubrie and I had to be to church early for choir practice. After church, we had an early fireside. Sam Payne spoke to us. He is a great speaker, too! He taught seminary for several years and was thinking how lucky his students were to have him! He played a few songs, too! What a great fireside. Aubrie came along and really liked it. She even teared up during the last song. I don't' know where she gets that from? ha!!!!

Well there is a weeks worth of my life, VERY condensed! I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week. Life is coming at me fast!

Happy Birthday Boston

B

Boston's Assembly

Boston's Birthday Party

The Jumper (aka life saver!)














The treasure hunt!














Cake and Song














Present time!!!

Yesterday was Boston's 6th birthday party. We had to have it a little early b/c next weekend I have a Young Women Retreat. Boston was a little confused, telling everyone it was his birthday and kept telling his teacher they had to sing to him. I think by the end of the day he figured out what was going on.

His party was from 4pm -6pm, which actually worked out well. Boston invited 3 kids from the neighborhood, 4 kids from church, and 6 kids from school. So if your fast at math, you have already figured out that we had 13 boys, not including Boston and Ethan, running around our backyard. Luckily we have a big backyard!! Whew!!! I rented one of those jumpers, so that helped. Between that, the trampoline and the play house, they were entertaining themselves pretty well. After about 30 minutes of playing and eating pizza, we started a treasure hunt.

Boston has been asking me to have a treasure hunt, for his birthday, for the past 3 months! That was the reason for the repeat Pirate theme this year. The night before his party Ben and I drew up some maps that sent them from one place to the next. The first map lead them to a map under the trampoline. I put the map in a water bottle and tied it to a rope that was attached to one of the springs. (That one took them the longest to find). That map led them to the pool toy box, which then led them to the grill and then to the hot tub. The one in the hot tub was floating around in a water bottle. That map led them to the playhouse, which led them to the shed which had a huge storage container with toys, mardi gras beads, gold coins and candy! This is where I made a huge mistake. Instead of establishing order in distributing out the toys, I let them go for it. That ended up in a lot of frantic crying and chaos! So I had to line the boys up and check their bags and make sure all was fair. I have learned my lesson!

After the treasure hunt, they played pin the flag on the pirate ship, had cake, opened presents and played for another 20 minutes. Besides the whole treasure chest fiasco, everything went smoothly. The only other thing that was crazy was getting the boys out the door at 6:00. Ben and I had a party to go to, which started at 6:00, so I was feeling a little rushed at the end. We had a good time at the Godowns eating pizza, playing Battle of the Sexes, and hanging out. We left around 10:30.....I was so tired!

This morning we were up early for Boston's 8:00am T-ball game. After that I headed over to our Super Saturday. I made a beautiful Christmas Wreath in the shape of a "P" and then I etched some names into some baking dishes. One of them didn't turn out, oh well:( When I got home I was sooooo tired. Ben took the kids to the park so I could get a nap. I was dreaming like crazy, so the nap wasn't the most restful. I was rudely awakened by the neighbor kid ringing our doorbell 3 times!!!! After that it was off to Target, so Boston could use a gift card that was burning a hole in his pocket! Ha! Aubrie brought her money, too, and bought that hair tool that puts beads in your hair. That left Ethan with nothing and crying all the way to the car. Aubrie felt so bad she wanted to take her thing back and get Ethan something. I told her not to b/c I thought it would be a good lesson for Ethan to realize that he doesn't get something all of the time. Of course, I was also not letting Aubrie serve her brother. I couldn't figure out what was the better good.....hope I chose wisely!

Tonight we watched Wizard of Oz and made cookies. I love the Wizard of Oz. I remember waiting every year for it to come on TV. How things have changed since I was a kid. Now you can just rent something whenever you want to watch it! Our kids are so clueless when it comes to having to wait for things. Things are so readily accessible....they even hate waiting through commercials! ha!

Some family photo's

Here are a few pictures my friend Erin took of us last Friday. She is very talented. She has inspired me to get my act together and embrace photography again. We'll see how that goes!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of Sophia!!! What a doll! A picture of myself I actually don't mind looking at:)

Preschool Breakthrough

So I am in the middle of a dieting mystery. After watching my food intake, which is very hard when you are used to licking the peanut butter and jelly off butter knives and the chocolate off the snack pack lids, I was down 6 pounds by Tuesday. I was so excited when I got on the scale. I rushed to the phone to tell Ben my weight, when he said "Don't worry it takes time". That was a little disappointing; obviously he didn't know my beginning weight even though I moan about it all the time. So anyway, that day I stuck w/ eating right and I even threw in some extra exercise! I was thinking, "I should be down a few pounds the next day for sure"! Much to my disappointment, I got on the scale to only see that I had put half of it back on. I don't get it. I was exercising and didn't change the diet. Did I breathe in calories? What is going on with my hormonal body? I don't mean to make this blog about my body issues, but if anyone has advise I'm open to anything, except liposuction or tummy tucks!

So back to business. This week has been a little on the crazy side; but when isn't it? We did have a break through w/ Ethan. Ben had to leave work early on Monday and Sophia was needing an early morning nap, so I called a friend to pick him up for preschool. He did wonderfully. He didn't cry our complain. He simply got his back pack and walked himself to her car and was off. She said that he even talked her ear off the whole way there. She offered to take him today, and he did well again. I'm hoping we have gotten through the whole "my stomach hurts and I can't go to preschool" crying business! Monday night Aubrie complained and moaned about dance. She HATES ballet and only wants to go for the jazz. I tried to explain to her that she needs it for the technique, but she didn't want to hear it and came down stairs in her dance clothes with a piece of paper taped to her chest that read, "I hate balae!" (Yes, I know how to spell ballet, she doesn't!) I wanted to laugh, but had to keep it in and be the "parent". She does this at least ever other week. I talked to the other Moms there and even the studio owner and she said that most girls feel that way. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Tuesday was another drama day with Aubrie. Before she got home from school, I bought her a book shelf, put it together, and organized all her books for her. My Mom also made her bed that day, so since she didn't have a bed to make or a room to clean I gave her the chore of organizing her dresser drawers. I thought she would be so grateful for what I did for her she would gladly except the "big" chore I gave her. Boy was I wrong. She cried and moaned about it more than it actually took her to do it. She kept saying how she needed my help, which I knew she didn't. Finally, after her bugging me for help, I said "fine I'll help you get started" and I dumped all her things out of her drawers on her bed and on the floor. She was so mad at me she ran in her bathroom and locked the door. I calmly told her to come get me when she was done. A few minutes later I found a note on the dining room floor (the result of her throwing it over the balcony) which read, "I am sorry so much. I gust want your to help me. I don't want you to throw the stuf on my bed. I am happy becus you got me the book shelf. I love you so much. your the bestes mom in the wrold. love aubrie pribyl", with a picture of a girl frowning at the end. Needless to say, she finished her chore (with a little help) and found some things she forgot about in the process.

Today started off early, with the kids all giggling in their bedrooms at 6:15. I know when they are teenagers I won't be able to remember these days, but for now they are killing me! Then, before I had a chance to shower, I had a million worker guys coming to the house all day to fix things for our one year repairs! At one point in the day, while Ethan was at school and Sophia was sleeping, I told the one repair guy that was fixing our vacuum to get the door for me while I was making a phone call upstairs. I actually ran up to my bedroom, locked the door and took a quick shower , dressed and brushed my teeth all in about 5 minutes. Obviously no makeup applying or hair washing was involved. He never was the wiser! So after running around showing people what needed to be fixed, and double checking work and fitting in a little Christmas Party Invitation work, school was out before I knew it. Tonight actually ran very smooth. It was quite enjoyable! I didn't feel rushed before YW, which was nice.
We had a joint activity with the YM; collecting cans for a food drive. Afterward I stopped by one of the girls house, who hasn't been to Mutual for awhile, to say hi and drop off some candy. She was sick in bed, but I stuck around and talked to her 3 sisters for awhile. It was a nice visit. Perhaps I was prompted to go there for another reason than I thought.
When I got home Ben informed me that AquaDots has been recalled. I only mention that b/c it was the Christmas present my kids were wanting the most! Talk about the luck of it all. I was actually looking forward to playing with them, too!:( I don't know who will be more upset about it, me or the kids!LOL

Grand Canyon Pictures...Finally!

The Hotel The Cowboy Shoot Out The Train Ride The Grand Canyon The Ride Back The Reason For the Trip

the weekend update

Just FYI, the working out isn't going so well. Of course, I could be doing something right now... but I don't like working out late. What to do?? I bought this swimsuit on sale at Kohls and it looks awful on me....the bottoms anyway. Why would I do this??? I figured the only time I'll be putting it on is to use our hot tub and every time I put it on it will "encourage" me to lose the weight! We'll see how well it works! Ha!!! Ben and I did go on a walk around the neighborhood on Thursday. It felt good, but I need to work out a little harder.
Friday was a normal day. Sophia slept a lot, but of course I wasn't really planning on it so I didn't' get any huge projects done. I cleaned up all the Halloween stuff and cleaned the house up a bit. Friday afternoon Erin came over and took our family pictures. I always dread family pictures. I feel like it's a circus show. First I have to get 4 kids and myself dressed and keep them wrinkle and dirt free and hair looking decent. Then actually taking their pictures is like trying to ring a bunch of animals into the circle to perform some miraculous trick...to all smile and pose perfect all at the SAME time! By the time I'm done with every photo shoot, I'm sweating and swear I lose a few pounds. Aubrie and Boston do well, except for the fact they think they know where they should pose. Ethan was the main struggle, always wanting to stick out his tongue or do a funny face. Sophia was a little fussy, too, so I felt bad for Erin, trying to work with it all. I got a quick preview of a few of the pictures, and they turned out well! Now we have that out of the way, I have to make the cards.. ugh! I did enjoy making Sophia's announcement, once I got the hang of it. I'm thinking I'll have to reteach myself, it's been so long!
After pictures, Ben and I went to Ah So (one of those Japanese Steakhouse's). I always enjoy those places, put never enjoy the bill....Ouch! Those cooks better be paid well! After dinner, Ben and I went to Best Buy to look at camera's:) I gave him some hints for Christmas, we'll see what comes of it! We then went to Sams so he could look at a DVD/VCR converter. He wants to convert our family tapes over to DVD's. I am actually looking forward to that b/c I think we will watch them more. While we were there we noticed that Guitar Hero 3 was out. That somehow ended up in the cart, not like we needed it! I hardly have time to play the other two! When we got home the kids were still up watching a movie. After it was over, I put Aubrie to bed and fell asleep scratching her back. I woke up around 4:00 and was wide awake. So much for feeling rested this morning.
Today Boston had a 9:00am game and then we headed to the Pediatrician for Flu Shots. I never get the kids flu shots, but Ethan's preschool teacher is requiring it, Ugh. So I figured I would give it too all of them. I knew not to tell them about it, b/c Boston HATES shots. He is so sensitive to shots, he stared crying when he saw them give Sophia her first round of immunizations. They just thought Aubrie had an appointment for some problem she has been having. While we were in the waiting room Boston said to Aubrie, "I hope they don't have to give you a shot"! I was feeling a little bad knowing that he had no idea, but knew it was in his best interest to not let him dwell on it. On the way to room Ben told the kids they were getting shots, which I didn't want to happen, and Boston turned into this wild animal. He started having a panic attack and was literally trying to run out of the Doctors Office. We had to hold him down while he was kicking and screaming, and it took two nurse's and Ben to hold him down long enough to give him the shot. That got Ethan and Aubrie all worked up to the point of crying and screaming. I so wish I had a camcorder to record all of it, b/c it would have won the 100 thousand grand prize from America's Funniest Home Videos. I just felt bad for all the kids in the waiting room. I'm sure it scared them to death! After it was all over, Boston admitted it didn't really hurt too much. I told him he better remember that for next time!
After shots, we went to Home Depot to get some lighting and Aubrie said, "Dad it's November 3rd, can we do the kids project!" How she remembered that, I have no idea? They were cool pirate ships. They did that , while Ben went in and got what he needed. We then got some lunch at Wendy's and I dropped them off at home, while I ran to the Youth Conference. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was Sunday dress, so I got there and had to come back home. They really didn't need me b/c they were just wrapping up with testimony meeting.
Tonight we took the kids to see The Bee Movie. It was cute, but Sophia had a hard time towards the end. She was really tired, and she needs "the crib"! When we got home I surprised Aubrie and switched her bedroom furniture around while they were watching TV. I was just laying on her bed and was looking for a space to put a book shelf, and that is where I ended up. She thought it was cool, and I thought it was cool that I was able to muscle it up enough to move her double bed (with a huge pillow top mattress)! Whew, I'm ready for bed! That's a wrap!

Halloween

Funny how something is staring you right in the face, and you know it's there, and then one day your like how did this happen?! Yeah, that was me when I got out of the shower today. I know I'm still carrying some pounds and my body is less than desirable, but today I had more of a reality check. I guess I knew it all along, but figured it was baby weight that would eventually come off. After looking through baby pictures of Aubrie at Sophia's age, I'm realizing that without some work my body isn't going ANYWHERE! So after talking to Ben this morning about it, the only time for me to do anything about it is at night. Of course, I was asking him when? "By the time I get the kids down", I said, " I have projects to finish up, a house to clean, my blog, and TV shows to catch up on". He made me realize I can watch TV and do our elliptical at the same time. As for the blog, I'll probably have to bring it down to a couple times of week. We'll see what happens. Just a heads up!

I did get some exercise last night! The kids were planning on going up and down a few streets in our neighborhood, but ended going up and down every street. Of course our particular section of the neighborhood is set up against a mountain, so we we going up and down hills. We all know that in the beginning the kids are so excited running with their empty bags from house to house. However, by the third street I was holding Ethan's bag and Ethan was sitting in the front of the double stroller between EVERY house. He wouldn't even take his bag to the door. He would just hold out his hand and then walk back and hand the candy to me and get back in the stroller. How lazy is that?!! Oh the life of a kid!

We kicked off our Halloween night with a Halloween dinner. I made blood(red sauce), guts(spaghetti noodles), eyeballs(meatballs), and green slime( applesauce dyed green). The kids thought that was cool, but Ethan wouldn't touch the applesauce which usually is his favorite. The kids then got all dressed up; Aubrie, Sophia and I were cats, Boston was Batman, Ethan was Superman, my Mom a witch and Ben....well he was the party pooper! We then met the neighbors at 6:00 to go trick or treating. It ended up being about 4 Moms following the kids and having their hands full of all the accessories they didn't want to keep on anymore, and about 5 Dads ignoring what was going on around them as the talked about who knows what! They should have just stayed home! ha! My Mom stayed behind and passed out the candy. I failed to give her instructions and when I got back all the candy was gone!!! I asked her how all that candy was gone already ( I had a large cauldron full of chocolate bars) and she said I only gave THREE to each kid!!! I was so looking forward to my Almond Joys! Oh well!

When we got back we put Sophia down and headed up the street for Chili Dogs, bobbing for apples and socializing. They offered us a beer, but they probably felt dumb after Ben made the comment "You know us Mormons" referring to a comment made my a neighbor about us having so many kids! It's still weird for me to see people drink in front of their kids. We do have some great neighbors , though, and I'm so glad we moved on this street! After the street party, we came home and had the kids finish up some homework while we watched the Haunted Mansion. They ended up going to bed at 9:15! Best of luck to their teachers today! LOL!