NEEWOLLAH

I'm not much of a backwards blogger but it occurs to me that my lovely and loving family have missed a lot of the kids. So I decided to do just a little backwards blogging.

We thoroughly loved Halloween in our new neighborhood.

We, of course, went to grandma and grandpa's ward party then our own ward party plus the Halloween Parade & Party at school THEN trick-or-treating.

We got some serious use out of this year's costumes.

Ella decided to be a vampire weeks before Halloween and stuck with it. She INSISTED on having black hair and blood dripping from her fangs. She looked really good. Heidi (3 years old) was so scared she wouldn't come near Ella. Thankfully Sean was able to convince Heidi that it was really just Ella and the fun continued. It was hilarious!

Grace was a ga-zorgous "Queen". She discovered she loves ringlets in her hair and blush. We did two solid weeks of ringlets and blush after Halloween. She also discovered that Queen dresses are very itchy. Oh, the price of beauty!

Joseph wanted to be a spider, a ghost, a race car and 14 others things but finally decided on a horse when I pulled it out of dress-up and got him to try it on. He would only wear the "head" for pictures, wouldn't gallop and refused to say "neigh" more than once. But it all turned out pretty cute!

When Halloween night finally arrived Grace had worn the Queen dress three or four times already and was tired of it itching her (despite tights, a full slip and a shirt underneath). Grace decided to be a fairy (shocking!), but not a matching fairy. This is exactly what she wanted to wear and she love, love, loved it!

We had an awesome Halloween trick-or-treating with cousins with aunts, uncles and grandparents in tow.
Happy Halloween
(in January)

Only Children

When I took this picture is was literally 20 degrees outside.

Only Children!

Seriously! He was having a blast on his "Superman" scooter. Its actually Spiderman but Joe will NOT call it his Spiderman scooter. Its ONLY Superman.

"Just Supaman, mom."

Only children would think to themselves, " This would be awesome . . . on snow."

(okay, children and the cast of Jackass)

Oh and it was fun . . . for about 30 seconds.
Grace shovelled and Joseph rode his scooter, on a very chilly afternoon.
VERY CHILLY!

Does This Happen to You? (Blessing #1)

I used to do laundry a load at a time throughout the week. Then I noticed that Ella was wearing the same two or three favorite outfits over and over and over. So I started doing laundry once a week.

This is the kids hamper!

I don't think it normally gets this bad but honest to goodness, this is only one week's worth of laundry (and there aren't bedsheets in there either). We must have had a very dirty, messy week!

For example, if every child spills breakfast on their pajamas every day for seven days (not that hard to imagine, honestly) that's 21 pair of pajamas. Then every kid wears at least one outfit a day (and inevitably spills on, falls down in or otherwise dirties it) that's 21 outfits and that's only if they don't change clothes a single time during the day. If you have children you're laughing right now because we all know they love to change clothes a gazillion times. Then there are dress-up clothes that get spilled on at tea parties and boogered on by playmates.

And did I mention that we bathe around here every so often? So that adds towels and wash clothes that aren't included in this picture.
And this isn't even a bed changing Monday!

Do I have a point? Point? Point?

Oh yeah, my point!

I LOVE washing machines AND dryers! I love yummy smelling detergents and fabric softener. I am a million, zillion times thankful that I don't have to wash on a rock or board or even roll a machine out into the kitchen and attach it to the sink. I LOVE not having to hang dry my laundry (especially since its like 20 degrees outside).

Happy Laundry too all!

p.s. I have an odd laundry room I'll show you later this week. promise!

(another p.s. washers/dryers are my blessing #1 this year (but not my #1 blessing))

Why oh Why

I've been going over and over in my head why I'm not blogging.
I think I've discover it!
My parents taught me right. Blame them!
I heard a gazillion times in my childhood that, "If you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all."
That's it!
I have been in a terribly sarcastic mood and funky rut for months now! So instead of being sarcastic, negative and/or whiny, I just keep quiet.
So there you have it, my grand revelation! with no picture because, because, because . . . just because. (see, "if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all)

Fiddling

"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what? " says the Man in Black to Fezzik.

Joseph and I aren't fighting to the death but he is definitely "fiddling around with me."

Although, some days I feel like my brain might explode if he doesn't potty train soon so maybe it is a fight to the death! My death! Exploding brain death!

Whenever I bring up the P word he'll have NOTHING to do with it. But every now and again he'll come running into wherever I am and exclaim, "Poop is coming!" So in we go to the bathroom, sit him on the potty, one of the girls usually brings in entertainment (books and cars) and then wait.
He reads, plays, sometimes has juice, chats with his sisters but doesn't get around to actually putting something in the potty.
I know he can do it. The other day he was in the tub and exclaimed, "Poo is coming." I pulled him out of the tub and put him on his potty. A few minutes later . . . ta-da! Poo!
Maybe I'm ready but he's not.
Maybe its too fun with the books and cars.
Maybe I haven't found the right motivation yet.
But maybe, just maybe, he's playing me.
Am I being played?
I just can't decide!


"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?" says the Man in Black
"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed." replies Fezzik.
Okay, so he's only three. I'm certainly not embarrassed but I am most certainly frustrated.
Do I need to take a deep breath and just relax and let it happen?
Does that mean I'll send him to kindergarten in diapers?
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" (that's me screaming in tired frustration)

Do-It-Yourselfer

Ella lost a tooth yesterday. Its only her third loss but its a big one, a front one!

AND

She did it herself!

"I was kind of like twisting it and then I heard a pop noise and then it came out really easy."

She is so proud to be missing that tooth and can't wait to show her friends at school.

(And its kind of sad for me and Adam. Our little girl, who is seven going on 17, now looks older too. She's all snaggley like the other second graders. Where did our baby go? )

My Dad's Fault

Friday night is Movie Night at our house. At the end of a long week of school, its nice to have the girls excited about something we do at home.

And do they ever get excited about Movie Night!

Usually I choose a movie (they would fuss for hours if I let them pick), let them pick dinner (within reason) and a treat (we make a special trip to the store).

This particular night was Halloween Eve and I was feeling especially lenient so they got two treats and Spooookiwi soda in little Frankenstein cans (btw, nasty stuff). I was declared the best mom ever (which is normal for movie night) and we watched Hocus Pocus (the best Halloween flick ever) on our bed (wins, hands down, over the couch every week).

I love our little tradition.

Its my dad's fault because a thousand million years ago my dad would have "junk food night" with us. We got to choose soda (which my mom never allowed), a TV dinner (this was the 80's folks) and Little Debbies. We'd get to eat in front of the TV (usually taboo) and watch a movie. My dad continues the tradition with the grand kids but we live too far.

So the tradition lives on at my house and I hope my kids will remember "Movie Night" as fondly as I remember "Junk Food Night".

And who doesn't like to be the "best mom ever" once a week?