Halloween...

I think Halloween is cute only because my kids look cute all dressed up. I hate the candy because when it's around I eat it, and then I feel like poop. ugh! Travis loves it and strategically plans out how to get the kids the most candy so he can celebrate the holiday with them....ah, the joys of childhood. Here are our Halloween rules: We get candy and come home, Travis gets first picks out of the buckets and then they can have the rest of their treasures. Here are a few pics of us this halloween season. Hunter dressed as a ninja- his hood/mask covered his head, but he wanted orange hair anyway...so we sprayed it. Gwennie was a ballerina with brown boots....it was lovely. Tyler refused to be the pumpkin I had for him, I even tried a superman cape, but he wanted nothing to do with any costume. Dallin wore a sleeper with a ghost on it. :)

A few years back before we moved back to Idaho, Travis got laid off his job and had lots of time on his hands...he carved these pumpkins, one is the 9/11 firemen with the flag picture and the other is Bruce the shart off of Finding Nemo. I couldn't get them the scan so these are digital photos of the hard photos that I had....I think you can still see how great of a job he did.

Yes, he has the mask of Hunter's costume on, and it's upside down...the mouth hole is one his forehead.

Welcome Home!

So, my mom and dad are done with their mission. So, they are on their way home. Monday evening we decided to make a big giant poster to hang or hold for them when they get here tonight. Here are a few pictures of the poster. I will insert more pictures of them holding it after they (mom and dad) get home. All the grandkids that live here helped. Even Tyler and he loves to color on everything...take not of him under the table with a marker coloring on who knows what.

Tyler and dad have always had this bond - seriously since he was born. Tyler saw "papa" and ran right to him. It was very sweet. Mom and dad met Dallin for the first time and we enjoyed just having them back!

Who loves Hunter?

Well, Tuesday evening rolled around and Hunter came home from school. He's a good boy. I look at his pants and see that there is black marker writing all over the legs. So we had a little conversation:
Mom: Why is there black marker all over your jeans?
Hunter: Well, Aliza, and Rachel, and Abby, and Kennady wrote on me.
M: Why didn't you tell them not to?
H: I did, but they wouldn't stop.
M: So you just stood there and let them write on you, why didn't you run away?
H: Mom, we were in the classroom I couldn't run anywhere.
M: Did they do it because they love you?
H: (blushing) Yeah, i think so.

So, here's the proof of how much the girls love my son. Is this a shadow of things to come? Yikes!

The Big 4!

Gwendalin turned four on the 24th. Yippee! We had a party scheduled for Saturday the 25th, but we have been battling the flu with the three older kids and she ended up getting it on Saturday morning so we had to cancel the party. It was so sad, we had told the girls to dress like princesses or fairies or ballerinas and we didn't have the phone number of one from preschool and she came all dressed up. We felt horrid, but we did give her a party bag before she left. I think Gwennie ended up having a good weekend in spite of it... we started celebrating on Thursday with opening one present and then another Friday and the rest on Saturday. We had cake today. She helped me make the frosting for her princess castle cake and it turned out cute. Here are a few pictures...


Blowing out the candles...(dad always helps.)


The "Swim to Me Puppy" was a huge it with all three kids - as was the Dora Backpack...I debated taking the puppy back, but then she was sick and we canceled her party so I took it out and wrapped it.

She loves to snap her fingers- she just figured it out and she is snapping in this picture in her new birthday outfit before the presents are opened.

Here's the final cake....it's nothing fancy (2 squares of cake stacked with plastic turrets and princesses on the corners.)

The powedered sugar didn't go in the bowl so well... but she had fun trying.

So, to sum it up, here are a few tidbits about Gwendalin and the 4th year of her life:

*She loves to dress up

*She loves make up and calls it magic (because it sparkles)- thanks to her Aunt Lynn

*She hates doing her hair - acutally I think despise is a better word

*She loves to help with Dallin

*She will do her chores sometimes with no questions and other times with lots of encouragement

*She won't go to bed or sleep without her blanket

*She still sucks her thumb

*Her favorite food is hot dogs

*She has discovered the fun of playing at girlfriend's houses and wants to all the time

*She loves to look at herself in the mirror and see how pretty she is

*She shares everything she has

*She loves to sing songs with her dad that they make up together

*She loves to be outside and see flowers

*Her favorite princess is Ariel

We are so glad we got a Gwennie girl at our house! We love you Gwendalin!

Good Boys!

I am a little biased...I think my kids are cuter than anyone elses. I would hope that other mothers felt the same about thier own children. Anyway, we've had a rough little bout with the flu at our house this week. Hunter has had it twice and I got him early from school on Friday - I don't think he was still sick...he came home and played , but I didn't want to take a chance. Tyler got it mid week and has had diarreah ever since...he's been miserable. And Gwendalin got it Saturday and had it all day. No fun at all. Dallin I think has avoided it, but has been sleeping horribly...we were up 4 times last night with only like an hour to an hour and a half in between. We are going to see if the swing promotes longer sleep stretches tonight. :)

Angels and Angel Smiles

Anyone who has had children or been around babies especially knows that they "sleep smile" a lot and they often stare at nothing and have a huge grin on their face. All of this before they are intentionally smiling. Anyway, I have always loved when my babies did these little grins and have come to the conclusion that the veil is still so thin for them that they are likely smiling at the Angels they can see that I can not. I don't know if this is really what they are grinning at, but I like to think that they are seeing how they are so fresh from our Father in Heaven.

Along those same Angelic lines, there comes the sweetness of children when they are sleeping. I often spy/peek on my kids while they are sleeping and stand over them in awe at how much the Lord must trust me to have them in my home. They are so sweet, so precious.

We had our primary program on Sunday and the kids did so great! They memorized their parts and did them perfectly. Even though the practice on Saturday didn't look so promising: Hunter was on the stand doing armpit farts, and Gwennie was playing with her friends on the benches. It was chaos, but it came together nicely. They really are angels.

And then when they are sick it's hard to watch their little bodies suffer through it. I burned Gwendalin with the curling iron this morning and felt horribly about it...she went to preschool with an ice cube in a ziplock to help the burn. And Tyler has been puking since last night (Hunter had the same thing a few days back)- the little dude is just so tired and delirious.

In spite of it all, I wouldn't trade one minute. They are such angels and they are so darling!

As Is...

Note: I have had a heck of a time with the editing on this one....

My cousin tagged me on this one and I thought it was cute - someday in fifty years I will look back and probably love that I have these "As Is" pictures of my life on a day to day basis. The deal is you take these certain pictures of things in your home As they are. Without changing anything. It's a little embarrassing, but nonetheless it will be cute to look back at later. Here goes.

My kids...watching cartoons before nap time after church. Dallin was already napping since we got home...

The kitchen sink. I hate anything in it...so it's usually empty. You can tell it's fly season because the fly swatter is right there handy to impose death on any daring fly.

The kids bathroom, it is also used for visitors. I try to keep it clean and then my kids use it...so that should explain it's state.

My fridge/freezer. The freezer is crammed because my outside freezer trips the breaker all the time so I store as much as I can in the inside one. I love crystal light, water, and diet soda...all stocked items in my fridge. There also sweet potatoes, but you can't see them...they are a huge favorite at my house.

My favorite shoes...slippers...my favorite pair are missing so I took a picture of these...any slipper will do really.

My bathroom...my favorite room in the house....it is painted very calm colors and it's usually quiet.

My closet, it is a funny shape so I took two pictures....you can see I have a "scrapbooking" table set up at one end....it doesn't get used as often as I'd like. As you can see there is a "hunting" sleeping bad thrown over the chair I would sit at if I were to scrapbook....

My dream vacation at the moment...uninterrupted time with my bed...in about 6 months that will likely change to a cruise or something more glamorous, but now that's my dream...

A self portrait. Yes, I am dressed, and yes, I was freezing so I have my bathrobe over my clothes to stay warm. Anyone who knows me knows I am always cold.

My laundry room....the "shoe basket" is tipped over...someone likely looking for their shoes and left it tipped. And there are camo items of clothing on the floor...I hate them. So just in case you thought hunting was behind us, it is not and there is the proof.