Sam's visit

I took Sambo to the airport this morning and the girls woke up looking for him, then looking for his ipad. When Ben got home from a church meeting Daisy looked through the house one more time looking for Uncle Sam thinking he might have come back with Ben. We had fun with Sam and our girls are really going to miss him, Daisy especially.

Last night was the Halloween party at church. Kaylee was Silvermist (from the Tinkerbell movies) She looked so pretty even though she had a big burn on her lips. I didn't get a picture of Heidi in her witch costume and Blake just went as Blake. Daisy was supposed to be Tinkerbell but she refused to wear the outfit. Then, an hour before it started, I got an inspirational idea! Daisy could be an ipad!

So with an hour to go Ben left for the store for spray paint and the the rest of us got working on making apps to put on the front. Sam even helped get everything colored. So Daisy got to be the one thing she loves more than anything...Sam's accessory. She was so cute. Really, really cute.

Notice her word search app? I currently hold places 1, 2, & 3 on Sam's game. He's going to have a tough time beating my score!

The rest of the visit was filled with running errands, Sam babysitting the girls, eating out at local restaurants where they only accept cash, and playing with the ipad. Sam was able to go to Beale street with Ben and took one afternoon to visit Graceland. We went to Jerry's Sno Cones twice because they are that good! We only heard of that place recently and it has the best fried pickles.



My kids are having little meltdowns at an increasing rate and I'm convinced it is from too much marshmallows, halloween candy, sno cones, donuts for breakfast, eating out and the rest. now that Sam's gone I'm going to detox our house this coming week and get everything out of it. They are eating all their candy right now and then tomorrow no more!

Blake showed Uncle Sam his normal side...the crying and fussing to where Sam said he'd never heard a baby cry that much. But he also got to see Blake's better side of just being super cute. Look at how handsome Blake is! And he started crawling! He's so much happier playing on the floor because he can crawl around and get things if he needs to. He's not fast but he is moving.

halloween 2010

So. Turns out that we don't need to have a scary skull in the shed to get a video of Heidi crying at Halloween time. This year Kaylee dug the pumpkin guts out herself, flung her hand to get it off and it landed on Heidi. It made for a fun night of pumpkin carving but I'm sure that Sam can't wait to get back to his cry-free apartment.

Special Blankets

(Cute Blake went to BBQ with us and ate the lemon. He was fine with it, too!)

The kids have all been using my old blankets for their blankets that they take to bed. My blankets are super old and I didn't want them using them anymore. I went and made each kid their own blanket. I made Daisy's like two years ago so it's all old looking.

I really wanted Heidi's to be blue and even though she wanted a crazy rainbow blanket that there was no way I would make she likes this one.

Kaylee's is just fun with it's pretty yellow and pink. Kaylee said pink was her favorite color now but she really ugly princess material. This picture doesn't look like the material is very bright but in real life it is bright and happy...hopefully Kaylee will become a bright and happy kid.

And then Blake's was hard because I wanted it different from Heidi's but still blue. It's quite difficult to find material that doesn't have some sort of flower in it. I finally picked orange and blue. I really liked how it turned out. I like that each of the blankets is so completely different.

Kaylee's Comments

Uncle Sam has only been here for 6 hours and already Kaylee has marked the time with comments that could only come from a 4-year old. Already she told me that the old lady in front of us should just die because she was so old. She's already pointed out to Sam that he is not married. And she said that she should sleep with Heidi tonight because if Uncle Sam sleeps on her bed it will break.

As for the rest of the kids Sam has already said that Heidi is going to be a dork when she's older (probably true). He's heard the super sweet "Uncle Sam, you're here" from Daisy which just makes your day. And he's also endured 20 mins of Blake screaming in the car and declared that he was about ready to snap. We have a fun week ahead of us!

So Cute

Kaylee really wanted this picture to be put on the blog. She is so funny. But it was really cute that he fell asleep on her.

(I made blankets for the girls for their own special blankies. Heidi is using hers. I like how it turned out. Kaylee's is pink and yellow and very happy looking.)

A quick checkup

We've had a pretty busy two weeks that have revolved around one thing-barf. That's right. Daisy puked at 5 in the morning last week. First her bed then ours. The next day was nothing but laundry. Then two days later Kaylee threw up. First her bed then on the floor in front of the couch. The next day was once again nothing but laundry and scrubbing the floor. All weekend it didn't matter how much I febreezed the room all I could smell was puke so somewhere I missed something so once again I scrubbed the couch and the floor clean. The next night Blake puked. First on my bed, then on me again and the floor. Then the day went well, he was improving so I fed him and he puked on me, the couch, the floor and the blanket that I had just finished making for Kaylee not 30 mins before.

However, apart from the barfing Blake was incredibly good. It gave me high hopes that he was turning a leaf and leaving the screaming days behind. Not so. He was back to his normal loud inconsolable tonight. Turns out I have to pick. Would I rather have him be healthy and a screamer or quiet but cleaning puke all day. Right now I'm not sure which I would pick.

But today the coolest thing happened! I was running and found a lost puppy! Dream come true it was Shih Tzu, male, white and cream (so cute) and the friendly, best behaved dog I've met. The only downside was that he was covered with fleas so I had to run to the store and de-flea him so my girls could play with him. But I'm an honest person I we put up signs and the owner called within 10 mins. The girls said I never should have put up signs and part of me wishes I hadn't. He was so perfect. Daisy loved him, cried when the man took him back and spent the rest of the day thinking that her doggy was coming back whenever someone opened the door. I called Ben and told him to just get a dog a bring it home for Daisy but Ben is the meanest dad ever and said no.

In the first picture he looks like Riley all scruffy and snarly but I blow dried him and he was just the cutest, fluffiest guy. He looks like Tucker in the second picture. And look at how Daisy is holding him...he didn't even growl. Just sat there and let her have her fun with him. Stinking Ben! Anyway, that's what we've been up to.

The Temple

I'm not the type to talk much about religion on my blog even though I am a devout member of my church. I just don't do well with talking about feelings and emotions and things like that. Normally I just either tell funny stories about my kids or vent about my kids. But I feel like I should talk a little about the temple today.

Ben and I have started trading off on saturdays between going to the temple and watching the kids. I've really enjoyed this. Each time I get to go I feel so blessed to be a part of this gospel. I felt a special connection this last time to my posterity. I don't know them yet but while there I was praying that my service in the temple would bless them. I hope that one day me and generations of children will meet together in the spirit world and we will all have lived worthily to enter into the celestial kingdom. I love the peace the gospel brings in the reassurance that if I remain faithful the sealing power can save my children even if they are not valiant in the faith.

I love how simple this gospel is. The ordinances are simple. The temple is simple. There is a divine beauty in simplicity. I want to share my testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's church on the earth. No other religion can make that claim. This is the true church, the true religion, His gospel. I know that to be true and testify that anyone can gain a testimony if they will read the Book of Mormon. They will be able to resist temptation and bare their burdens better by attending the temple. There is a power within the temple walls that you are entitled to by serving in the temple. It will be a power that will influence you, your family and your life. With the promise of so much heavenly help how can you not want to attend the temple?

Fun Friday!!

Fridays have now become one of my busiest days of the week! I'm enjoying it though because it is a day for Kaylee. We do a Kaylee's Cooking Class each friday and try new recipes. I love it because I get to do fun recipes yet send the food home with others (normally I would eat them all myself). Last week we made these delicious banana split muffins. The muffin is cookie with a banana, with ice cream on top, with fudge sauce on top of that, with whipped cream on top of that, with m&m's next and a cherry on top. They were SO GOOD! This past week we made Mr. Bones cupcakes and also some halloween pops which didn't turn out right. That is the other nice thing about the cooking class...I can try new recipes, mess up and then do them correctly the next time. (PS-a sad side note-the infamous Mr. Bones no longer resides at our house so I don't foresee any videos this year of Heidi screaming her head off. So sad)

I've also started a goal to do all the Biggest Loser challenges myself. I wanted to see if they really were that hard. So last friday they ran sprints to win the challenge and luckily I have a sporty friend who is willing to do all these crazy challenges with me. We decided to do a field day! The moms would run sprints and then also have a few fun races for the kids. It was so fun for such an impromptu activity. I recommend it for those looking for a fun way to hang out. We did jump rope races, kicking the ball races, running races, and even a dressing up race. The kids loved it but I had just as much fun.

Marissa beat me in the sprints but this week the Biggest Loser challenge was putting tennis balls in a tube thing. We didn't have any bleachers to run up so we improvised and ran up this steep hill and put tennis balls in buckets. It was a part of our double date so Ben and Jesse had to do it too. We won (barely) and it was all thanks to Ben. I don't think I was able to run up the hill the entire way even one time. It was so hard and I did look like those fat competitors have to walk up the hill huffing and puffing. It was hard but another fun way to get exercise and hang out with friends. I can't wait to see what happens on Biggest Loser this week!

Witch

I got an email with a cute, cheap Halloween costume sent to me yesterday but it was too late! We are ready to go for Halloween. I'm just the type that gets things taken care of early (in fact I've got Christmas already finished as well). This year Heidi wanted to be a witch. I tried to do it as cheap as possible but I really liked the purple material. Overall it cost me $2 for the hat and like $15 for the skirt. It was fun to make, not as cheap as other costume but she LOVES it. And who wouldn't love a big, foofy skirt? I'm going to embroider a spider web over the princess crown on her shirt for the day. She is really excited and I had fun making it. Kaylee picked out a Silvermist costume and Daisy will have to be tinkerbell again.

Even though Halloween is on a Sunday we will still have our traditional Weenie stew. I love this time of year!