Fun with Syd!!

Last Tuesday I was able to go to the school and help serve the fifth grade Thanksgiving Feast. It was alot of fun to finally spend some time with Sydney in her classroom. In Wellington I was always spending time at the school and helping out in the kids' classes, but I haven't had the same priviledge here, so it is very nice when I 'can' get there.

The kids were told they could dress like a Pilgrim or an Indian for the Feast and I think Sydney was the only one in all of the fifth grade to actually do it, but she had a great time and loved every minute of it.

All set to enjoy their Traditional Thanksgiving Feast.
They got to try things like Succotash Stew(yum!), Indian Pudding(yuck!),
Bannock Cakes w/ Bear Berry Jam, and Swizzle(not bad)...
I don't remember all the correct terms for all of the things they had to try but there was a Cornmeal Corn Soup that was pretty good, Boiled Eggs which had been soaked in Beet Juice over night, Cucumbers and Onions, Baked Pumpkin and Apples, and hot nuts(which of course were yummy). The kids had to try at least one bite of each item and then rate it on a scale of 1-5. It was interesting learning about some of the things the pilgrims ate for the First Thanksgiving, and it made me very glad for all the yummy things we enjoy now for our traditional Thanksgiving Feast.

Twilight Recap!

So, these are the friends I was so lucky to join in going to the Twilight Movie, thanks so much to Brooke for offering her extra tickets to anyone that might be interested!!

Brooke, Jaime,

Kyra, ME, Ilene

I am so lucky to have become friends with these wonderful ladies, I am going to miss them terribly when we have to leave the 'greatest neighborhood on earth'. I just hope they realize I will probably be showing up on their doorstep quite often, because I just cannot stand the thought of not being around them....they uplift me and inspire me to be better.

I love each of them like a sister!

My New 'DO'

Well, I've had too many people request pictures of my new hairdo, so here you go. It ended up being a little shorter than I orinally wanted, but I'm really liking it.

Soft and smooth look.

Funky and flipped.

When I got home from getting it cut, at about 9:30 Wednesday night, I new it was just too dull and I had to get some color on it. I started with a dark auburnish brown all over, then once that was done I had to weave in a few highlights through the top. Thanks to my dear hubby for helping with one foil I just couldn't see in the crown, I finally got done at about 12:30.

Now I feel like a new woman!!

Christmas Dance Recital

Today was the girls' Christmas Dance Recital. It was fun to go see what they have been working on in dance so far this year. Their dance teacher lives right down the street and has this little show right in her home. It's very sweet, simple and to the point. I love that my girls can enjoy being part of dance and gain the experience of performing in front of people without having to pay out the wahzoo for fancy costumes and all that jazz. They love it, therefore, I love it too!

Sadie and her little friend Brooklyn.

Sadie, Cosette, Asia, & Brooklyn



Sydney

Twilight Premiere!!

Okay, so I haven't read any of the Twilight books...YET, but when I was given the opportunity to go see the movie last night, I jumped at the chance!! I went with 4 other girls from my ward after our RS Gratitude Dinner and I've been waiting all day for one of them to post the picture we had taken there, but I just can't wait any longer...maybe I'll swipe the picture to add later.

Anyway, I just had to say I loved the movie! Maybe it was best to see it before reading the books because I've heard a few people say it wasn't that great. But, I totally fell in love with Edward and the whole story line. I was left aching for more! I'll definitely be reading like MAD as soon as I can get my hands on the books.


So EXCITING!!

So HOT!!

So LOVED it!!

Tagged Again!!

Well, I'm guessing that because I haven't been posting regularly, people think I need to be tagged or something. It's not that I've been ignoring all my wonderful friends here in the blogosphere, it's just that my days have been pretty busy, my nights have been filled with reading and catching up with all of your postings, and I simply haven't had much to say. So, here is my lame attempt at letting you all know I'm still here, alive and well!

Sixes Tag.....
6 TV shows I like to watch:
*For those of you who don't know, we have no cable or dish at our house, so the only channels we're able to pick up are the Spanish channel and the Infomercial channel. At about 4:00 ION Television (the Infomercial channel) plays regular shows so we occassionally watch:
1. MASH
2. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
3. Family Feud

6 Restaurants I like to eat at:
1. Los Hermanos
2. Olive Garden
3. Chili's
4. Rumbi
5. Cafe Rio
6. The Italian Place

6 things that happened today:
1. Helped Sydney with a homework assignment, then took the kids to school late.
2. Babysat Memphis and played with my kids
3. Found a bag of doll clothes for my friend on freecycle, picked them up and presented them to her (she was thrilled, they'll be perfect for Christmas!)
4. Deposited checks and paid bills, Yuck!
5. Got my hair "chopped off"
6. Colored my hair, then added highlights

6 things I am looking forward to:
1. Finishing my hair so I can get to bed.
2. Finishing Sadie's quilt.
3. Selling our house and paying off ALL debts!
4. Putting up the Christmas Tree.
5. Sewing Christmas PJ's for my kids.
6. Finishing this tag so I can go to bed.

6 things on my wish list:
1. For Matt to get a better job.
2. To sell our house!!
3. To stay in SS 4th Ward.
4. To LOSE 50+ pounds.
5. To be a better mom and wife:)
6. For Matt to get accepted to BYU.

6 people I Tag:
1. Kyra
2. Bonnie
3. Bev
4. Staci
5. Kim
6. Callie

I've Been Tagged....

The rules are:

1. go to your pictures.

2. upload the 4th picture in the 4th folder.

3. post an explanation of picture.

4. tag 4 friends.



This is a picture of Stetson one Sunday after church when Matt and the kids were being silly and trying to see how many grapes they could fit in their mouth. I'm not sure what brought on this perfect shot, but Stetson came skipping into the Living Room singing "Here I Come to Save the Day!!" and we were lucky enough to snap it just in time.

I tag....Tara, Ilene, Brooke, and Jonie.

Frosty, the Snowman...

Winter is coming on us in full force. We got our first snow of the season yesterday, we awoke to a beautiful blanket of white on the ground. The kids were so excited and couldn't wait to get out and play in it. I assured them it would most likely be all melted before they would even get a chance. Which, of course, it was....



But, we went into Grammy and Papa's house tonight to see Uncle Erick and their backyard was still snow covered. It didn't matter that it was already 8:30 p.m., it was freezing cold out, and they were all dressed for bed. They just had to go out and play in it! And, of course, they just had to build a snowman!



I love how easily kids get excited. Their love for life is what keeps me going sometimes!

Halloween is always a fun time for kids and I've always tried to make it a priority to have the best costumes for my kids. This usually involves alot of money spent on fabric and patterns for costumes I get to stress over for a couple of days anyway, and I don't think I've had a full nights sleep on the night prior to Halloween for a good six years, at least. Well, this year we are so lucky to live in a ward and neighborhood that is the best in all the world! One of our Enrichment Meetings in September included a Costume Exchange, so that all those costumes we keep in storage could get a little more use out of them. So, all of our Halloween expenses came to a whopping $5 for a shirt we got from DI for Stetson's costume, and I didn't even have to break out the sewing machine. HOORAY!!


Sydney made a very lovely Geisha Girl, and got to use the pretty Oriental Umbrella she got from the State Fair.


Stetson finally decided on the Phantom of the Opera for his costume two days before the big day, and it turned out to be very cool!


Sadie got the cutest Lady Bug tutu and accessories from her aunt Racquel for her Birthday, which goes perfect with our little Sadie-Bug!


McCrae kept telling me the week prior to Halloween that he was going to be a golf guy, but I just wasn't up to making knickers for him and didn't know exactly how else to pull that one off. We had borrowed a Spiderman costume from a friend for him, but when we were trying to get everyone else ready for the big day he went down to the dress up box in the playroom and brought up our very old Superman costume, this picture was taken before I fashioned a cape for him using some of Sydney's red athletic shorts, which actually topped off his costume quite nicely.


Matt got his costume from our Stake Clothing Exchange back in July, he thought it was the greatest. He loved lounging in this gown around the house, and actually wore it to the pool as a cover up one time...that is when I kinda misplaced it after washing. But, after much searching, I finally found it in the 'junk' room with a few other DI items. I'm so glad I did, it turned out to be a great costume for him.


Everyone else was all dressed up and ready to go, and I was feeling a little left out with no costume, so I ran to my closet and dug out my red gingham shirt, denim overalls, put my hair in pig-tails, threw on one of the kids' dress-up hats, and drew on a few freckles...voila, Ellie Mae!


Here we are at the end of our Trick-or Treating adventures at Grammy and Papa's house, McCrae had had it and will not cooperate for the picture...notice he is now wearing the Spiderman costume. What a fun filled day!


And this sweet picture of Sadie-Bug sums it all up. This is how we all felt after our Halloween shenanigans.