Just keep smiling

When we were in Grand Junction for Thanksgiving everyone rode the train at the mall (including Julia).

There are days when I wonder if my kids were sent to destroy me...and then there are days when they won't let me stop laughing. Lately, Hadlee has been pretty funny. She found the vampire teeth from Halloween and came into the room like this:

She was pretty proud of herself and thought she was quite funny (so did I). Tonight we were walking to the choir concert at the high school and she said, "Wow, mom, my face is cold." (pause) "I wish I had hair on my face like dada to keep my face warm." Then, while at the concert, this cute brown-haired high school girl sat in front of us with her parents and Hadlee started talking about how she smelled weird. I had to lean forward and tell the girl that I didn't think Hadlee was talking about her. A few minutes later cute brown-haired girl's boyfriend showed up and I was glad the weird smelling comment came before his arrival.

I think I am going to carry this picture around with me to look at on the days that I wonder if Calvin might be succeeding in destroying me. He looks so cute cuddling with Elmo like that.


Hadlee had parent's day at dancing last week and they did their dance that they have been practicing. She is quite the air guitar player.


Tyler has been working on the living room which includes re-rocking our fireplace. He looks like he joined the family coal mining business. I thought it would be a good one for the blog, and when he protested, I reminded him that I wasn't taking a picture of his sunburned butt crack, so he played nice and smiled for the photo.

We wanted to take pictures for the Christmas card Sunday before Church. I figured we might as well have somewhere nice to go once we were all dressed up. We all got into our new Christmas outfits and of course, it went just as planned. Everything I plan always goes exactly how I plan it.
He was in such a sunny mood.

My motto, apparently, was: "Just keep smiling." Eventually he will come sit nicely for the picture with the rest of us, right?

Maybe we can entice him to come and sit by us for the picture, I was really hoping jealousy would suck him in.After several failed attempts and making ourselves late for church, we finally put Hadlee and Calvin on a chair and kneeled on either side of them. (top of the page) I guess he just wasn't interested in supporting his own weight for the picture. I guess I should have just known that, but I had to figure it out the hard way.

Bitten

From reading the blog, I am sure everyone knows how much I love Twilight. I couldn't imagine knowing that other people were going to see the movie before I would. I really wanted to go at midnight, but Tyler didn't want me to drive to Salt Lake to see a movie. So a couple weeks before Twilight was going to come out, I talked to the guy in Price who owns the movie theater and this is how the conversation went:

Me: Are you going to show Twilight at midnight?

Him: Yep

Me: Are you going to sell tickets in advance?

Him: Nope...wish I was computerized like they are "Up North."

So, if I was going to see the movie at midnight, I would have to stand in line. Or would I? I started to come up with a scheme that included me making tickets for movie theater guy to pre-sell and then I would be able to buy one and not have to stand in line. I was pretty excited about my plan and started explaining it to Tyler. I got about to the part where I was going to make the tickets and he stopped me and said (a little defeated), "Why don't you just drive to Salt Lake."

Yay!!! I got online and the closest theater I could easily find that was selling tickets in advance was in Sandy (the others were sold out). I talked my dad into letting me take Chrissy and made sure Jenny was serious about wanting to go to the movie with me, and I bought 3 tickets.

I have never been to the midnight showing of a movie before, but I loved it. Everyone was so excited in the theater. If I were a screamer, I would have been screaming and clapping with them, but I just laughed. The excitement was so infectious, you couldn't help but be giddy. (Even though, I am an old mom, I was still as giddy as the teens who were there.)

Here is a picture of us before we left.

Jenny made us these shirts with her embroidery machine and they turned out really cute. If you are going to be fanatic enough to go to a movie at midnight and get out at 3:00 in the morning, you might as well have cute shirts.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Who, Me?

I thought I had avoided being tagged, but it has happened. Crystal tagged me a couple weeks ago and it has taken me that long to think of 6 quirks that I have. It wasn't easy to think of 6 that I could share with everyone, and when I would think of one or two, I would forget them soon after. So, finally I started writing them down and I think I have them. Sorry about the pictures, I just think blogs are more fun with pictures (I guess that could be another "quirk").

1. I have a hard time being serious even when the situation calls for it. I sometimes succeed in biting my tongue before making a ridiculous joke, but most of the time just end up looking like an idiot.

2. For some reason I HAVE to shower every night before I go to bed. I have tried not showering and then I just lay there and can't fall asleep and will finally get up and shower. After almost 10 years of being married, Tyler still seems surprised by it some nights when he thinks it's late enough to skip it.


3. I think shoes are stupid. Especially the kind with laces. I used to wear flip flops through the winter but have started wearing socks and slip on shoes to be a good example for my kids. I think it's mainly laziness. I really don't want to take the time to put on socks and tie shoes.

4. I used to like some pretty disturbing movies back in the day but now only like movies with happy endings. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites and for a while Tyler and I would watch it every night. It never gets old.

5. I carry a giant mug with me every where that is Tyler approved. I would probably take it to church and the store but he thinks there are limits. This is actually the mug. When people ask what is in it, I sometimes tell them it's Mt. Dew to make myself sound more exciting, but it's always just full of ice water.

6. I can not dance. Well, I will hug someone and turn around in circles for hours, but when a fast dance comes on, I can't do it. I have tried, but I have some kind of dancing block. I will dance with my kids when nobody is watching, but that's as far as it goes. I would like to take some ball room dancing lessons some day. I think if Tyler were out there with me and I knew what I was doing, I could handle it. Maybe after I am famous, I will sign up for Dancing with the Stars. Don't hold your breath.

Happy Halloween

We had a fun night on Halloween at our ward's Trunk or Treat activity. Hadlee dressed up as a Bumble Bee, and wore her new tutu with it, and Calvin became Calvin "Lightning" McQueen for the night. Calvin loves Lightning McQueen.

Hadlee can't take a picture without posing.

Amanda made Hadlee's bag, and came up with the idea to use a gas can for Calvin's bag. I thought it was pretty clever.

The kids ended up with alot of candy, and started shoving it in their faces before we even got home.

Amanda and I put on our Vampire costumes again, and everyone kept coming up to me and telling me how beautiful Amanda looked. I would just say to them "I know right" and smile. She looks more scary than beautiful in this picture though.

We had fun together all dressed up. Hadlee really seemed excited that her mom and dad were vampires.

Primary, Tutus and Vampires

On Sunday, Hadlee had her first Primary Program. She did a great job with her part, "I can listen to His words and pray." The singing was funny because it seemed that she was singing louder than anyone else and somehow never needed to breathe, even when everyone else would take a breath. By the end, she quit singing all together and just started laying her head down and playing with her friends. I pointed to my mouth and mouthed the word, "sing." So she yelled, "What?" After that I gave up and decided that only so much can be expected from a Sunbeam.

We were in Grand Junction Friday and Saturday and Julia taught us how to make tutus. Me, Kate, Julia, Jared and Heather had a tutu party. Heather and Jared mainly helped cut the material, but that was a great help. They were fun and easy to make. Hadlee is going to wear hers for Halloween (the black and yellow one.) The pink, blue and purple one is the one Kate made for Ellah, and the pink and green one is Tatum's.

Saturday night Heather and Kate had planned a Halloween party. All the adults dressed up for the party at Heather and Tate's and they had a babysitter at Kate's house. It was nice to not have to worry about finding a babysitter and have a night with adults. We played games and awards were given and we had some great Halloween food. My favorite was the punch with ice cubes shaped like a face and hands. They put a lot of work into the party and we all had a great time.

Tate was Fred Flintstone and Heather was Wilma. We also had two sets of the Rubble's at the party. Tate told his brother Kirt and his Co-worker Kerry Blood to dress up like Barney. Both said no, but they must have both changed their minds.

Tyler was in character most of the night. Here he is preying on an unsuspecting Wilma.



It paid off and he won scariest costume. Tate won best over all costume and Jared won funniest costume. Is anyone suspicious that Tate and his two sons won the awards? I am starting to think it might have been rigged.

Tyler and I went as vampires. I am not sure I was pale enough, so I will have to fix that for Halloween. You can't tell in the pictures but we are also sparkly. I know "real" vampires don't have fangs, but we were afraid no one would know we were vampires with out them. I am trying to look scary and not blink. Apparently, I can't do two things at once.

The only fangs we could find in the Halloween store were very yellow and very long. We all know (us Twilighters, anyway) that vampires don't have fangs or yellow teeth. So, we made some teeth that were very white and not so much fang. They kind of snapped over our regular teeth, and were nice because they didn't fall out like regular vampire teeth. I am thinking of making them permanent you know, just wearing them around town. I took a picture of Tyler's teeth because you really can't see them in any of the pictures. You would think he could break character long enough to smile.

So Much to Entertain

There is a lot to do in the big city!!! We have lived in Price for almost 2 years now and I think we have forgotten how little there is to do here. We went to Salt Lake for fall break and had a mini family vacation. It seemed like there wasn't enough time to do everything and see everyone we wanted to see. Thursday we met up with Jill, Jackson and Bowen at Thanksgiving Point and went to the Farm.

Hadlee and Jackson feeding the goats. I think it's funny that they are feeding them one kernel of corn at a time.

We lost Calvin for a few minutes and Tyler found him sitting on this bench, watching the horses go around in circles.

On Friday morning, we went to the zoo. I am stuffing Calvin's pockets with m&ms to prepare for the experience. (notice the necessary leash.)

These elephants were trying to eat their way free!! They were tearing the fence apart and eating it. We took pictures so people would believe our outrageous story.

Calvin and Hadlee had fun riding the carousel.

After lunch, I took the kids back to the hotel for a nap and Tyler went on a tour of the conference center. I would have liked to go with him, but they have one of those signs behind the desk with Calvin's picture, warning all employees to beware.

What's a mini vacation without swimming?

Friday night Ryan and Jenny watched our kids for us so we could go on a date. It was nice because we don't get to do that very often and when we go on a date in Price, where is there to eat? Saturday morning we went to see Heather and her cute new baby. Then we went to Gardener Village for "Wee Witches Weekend." We met up with Ryan, Jenny, Davey, Katie, Aaron, and Chrissy to do the witch hunt with the kids and get a free 25 cent cookie. We broke up into teams, each kid on a team and raced. I was on Calvin's team and, of course, we won but cheated fiercely. It has been said that Ben's team was the only team that didn't cheat, but I know for a fact they did. To prove that Hadlee's team, (Tyler and Hadlee) were actually the only team that didn't cheat, Tyler took pictures of every witch they found with Hadlee in front of it. I won't put them all on here, but if anyone would like proof, let me know and I will email you.

Hadlee and Ben (in green) got to dance on stage for the costume parade.

We went to Ryan and Jenny's house after our bout with the witches and had a fabulous dinner. We got to play games (with adults, oh my goodness) before we had to leave and end our fall break vacation. As sad as that was, we were all very much in need of sleep and our own beds.

Last night for family home evening, we carved pumpkins. Calvin was trying to help but it looks like he is just stabbing the pumpkin to death. As a rule, we usually don't let him handle knives, we took it away after we took the picture.

Chicken Noodle Soup

The past couple days I have been a little under the weather. I lost my voice and was feeling like some comfort food on Tuesday. What's better for a sore throat than chicken noodle soup? It's usually hard to keep my kids out of the kitchen so they end up "helping" in some way with dinner. While we were making the noodles, Calvin decided he might like some flour on his head. Hadlee thought that seemed like a pretty good idea and she would help Calvin put flour on his head. At this point in the evening, I still had my sense of humor so I took pictures.

I will warn though, that once your kids think you are okay with putting powdery substances all over themselves, they won't stop with just the flour. After dinner and before they had their pajamas on, Calvin and Hadlee decided that maybe they should break open a bag of grout powder and throw it all over the family room and themselves. Needless to say, I didn't have a sense of humor about this one so there aren't any pictures of my brown children. I was so mad that I made them sleep in a box that night.

Not really. Hadlee describes this as "playing camping." I am not sure when she has gone camping and slept in a cardboard box. Maybe she is comparing our beautiful camp trailer to a box. I think our camp trailer is better than a box. It's way bigger.

I have a brother?!

It has been brought to my attention recently that my blog doesn't mention my brother, Ryan's, family enough. My sister-in-law, Jenny, sent me pictures of some of the things we did together this summer. They moved to Saratoga Springs from Arkansas during the summer and it has been fun having them close. They have 3 kids. Ben is 6, Leah is 2 and Grace is almost 7 weeks old.

In July, we went to their house for Leah's birthday party. After the party was over, she decided to demonstrate how her new potty worked. She really demonstrated and then started crying because she thought it was disgusting. We had to hurry and clean it out to calm her down.

This is Calvin eating cake and ice cream and saying "cheese".

After the party goers left, we went to the park by their house. It was pretty hot, so Hadlee decided to cool off in the drinking fountain.

Chrissy had to help make this picture appropriate. I have seen blogs that don't concern themselves with those kids of rules though (Lynae).

After the park we went to Thanksgiving Point. This cow was a little disgruntled about being at the bottom end of the food chain and took it out on Calvin. I had to play tug-of-war with him to save Calvin's life.

Hadlee was really excited to ride the pony.

Ben, Hadlee and Calvin

About a month ago we went to see little Grace. Here is Jenny and Grace. I am allowed to talk about how amazingly skinny she is after just having a baby. There are some pictures of Grace with the rest of us too.

Hadlee loves babies. She was really excited to hold her and did a pretty good job.

I am also allowed to talk about how hot Ryan still is. However, Jenny didn't send any pictures of him for the blog. I guess you will just have to take her word for it. If you wanted to see more of their cute kids I would say just click on their names on the right and check out their blog, but they don't have one. Very strict Facebookers.