Halloween Payday

Halloween evening Eleanor came down with her first fever. Thankfully, it lasted only a day and had no other symptoms. She was a somber trooper, gave very few smiles and recovered quickly. She did love her bath after a dose of Ibuprofen. She is so sweet, funny and inquisitive. I can't believe how fast she is growing!

Ward Trunk-or-Treat

Two witches, Luke Skywalker, a Fashion Lady, Puppy Dog and a Dinosaur

Eleanor's trial costume which we decided was too snug.

She ended up as a pea-pod and I was the farmer who grew her. Kate decided to switch to a fancier Traveling Fashion Lady.

Is it bad when your child wants to quit trick-or-treating early and you encourage them to hit just a few more houses? What is it with kids these days? No drive, no passion, no endurance.

I tell ya, when I was a child and shamefully into my teen years, I dressed up and trick-or-treated until all the porch lights were off on the whole block. My friends and I appreciated free candy.

These days, I appreciate my childrens' candy. Too bad it's all gone. I promise I didn't eat all of it. I consumed only what I thought they would not miss. My evil plan worked extremely well. They didn't miss a thing. Maybe it helped that we went to the zoo for Spook-tacular, attended the church Trunk-or-Treat and then hit the neighborhood on Halloween. Wow, we had a LOT of candy. Mmmmmm, was it delicious!

Yes, I admit I am addicted to sweets. I type this as I munch on a freshly opened bag of generic Oreos which I was saving for Oreo Cheesecake. Oops. I can make it New York Style Cheesecake instead. About how many cookies is an appropriate number to consume late at night? I'm sure I have passed the limit, but I haven't gotten the milk out yet, so I'm not quite finished.

I really was trying to be good. I started off with some iced orange juice and then moved on to juicy grapes. Before long however, I found myself back in the kitchen hunting for something with a bit more sugar. With my teeth full of chocolate and my tummy full of milk, I believe I am temporarily satisfied. This trick is to get in bed before the next craving hits.

Yes, I admit I am guilty of having a sweet tooth late at night. You want to know what else I am guilty of? Taking pictures of myself after arriving home from a girls' night out. Have you noticed that it is completely acceptable behavior to photograph yourself? Teenagers do it all the time. What is hilarious, is the fact that before digital cameras were around, I used to waste real film on self portraits. Then, I would hide them in a photo album in my room. Oh, how William laughed at my plethora of photographs with Me, Myself, and I.

I fully intended on snapping this pic, attaching it to an email, and sending it to William while he was in Alaska, but he made it home before I got the chance. Oh well, now I'll just have to save it until I'm old and wrinkly. Then, I can show it to my kiddos to prove I wasn't always in my pajamas teaching math at the kitchen table.

Tell me, do you take self-portraits often? Is it only when you are looking your best? Do you delete all the awkward ones and then never show anyone the good ones either? Do you?

Whistle While You Work

Sadly, my 300th post is about too much playing and not enough working. As a result, I had the pleasure of staying up late with children who put off correcting their papers due tomorrow. Let's just say, I wasn't whistling cheerfully. Did I mention my laptop will not charge? I can't figure out if it is the power cord or the connection in the laptop. Bummer! It is my fault though, I admit. Instead of constantly checking to assure all work was completed early in the day, I traveled up the road, purchased 5 1/4 bushels of apples to make into yummy applesauce, renewed my zoo membership for another year with a half-off certificate, watched a child at a make-up gymnastics class, attended an extremely crowded Spook-tacular at the zoo, and consumed two ice cream cones at Braums Ice Cream Shop. I suppose letting the children eat all their candy before we went to eat ice cream was not such an intelligent idea. Actually, maybe it was taking them to ice cream after they had gorged themselves on candy was the silly thing to do. I loved my Sicillian Orange cone,

but was unable to savor Hank's Rocky Road cone

because by then, by belly was feeling quite stuffed. Kate's Birthday Cake cone and Walter's chocolate cone went in the trash after only a few licks. I deemed it a lesson learned. What was I supposed to do, start yelling at them to eat their ice cream or no breakfast tomorrow? I felt so wasteful. Thankfully, B and Papa, who purchased the ice cream, were understanding and still gave lots of hugs, cuddles, and loves to the full and sleepy children.

Baby Girl is kicking like crazy these days. Who am I kidding? She's always been doing flips in there (you should have seen the ultrasound), but this week I can feel her fluttering those tiny feet whenever I'm sitting still. I love it! Did you know I bought more baby clothes this week? I couldn't help myself. It was not bad on the budget though, because technically they were free. See, I had a credit at the local consignment store and was able to take home $42.00 worth of clothes with only 20 cents out of my purse. You caught me. They were not completely free. I did pay two dimes for them. So worth it!

My belly is expanding nicely with my bum rounding out too, not to mention other areas. Wow! I decided I was in need of fashionable maternity wear because my plain old t-shirts with stains were not cutting it any longer. I found myself a few tops, a swimsuit for Thanksgiving with the fam in Colorado, a nice pair of jeans I can even wear postpartum, and a lovely skirt which I wore to church on Sunday and loved, loved, loved! Did I mention, this sack of clothes only cost me $40? It's true. I get such a high shopping second hand, yet I still have buyers remorse after I arrive home wondering if I spent too much from the budget? Does this make sense? Truly, how much would a pair of awesome maternity jeans cost in the mall? I don't even know. Does this ever happen to you?

Tomorrow is a big day with CC from 9-3 and Nanny McPhee Returns at 4:20.


I love Timewarp Tuesdays at the Palace Theatre with every movie costing only a buck! I'm hoping for a relaxing evening with calm kiddos, a clean house and yummy food, which means I'll be doing some cooking and baking. Maybe it won't be so relaxing after all.

I have attended three Halloween events already and have two more planned. Is this the norm? How many Halloween events do you typically schedule each year? Oh, and does anyone have a killer chili recipe


for our ward trunk-or-treat party? Is it horrible to have an extreme desire to win just one year? Help me out here. Pretty please?

Spontaneous Day of Fun

"If I say THREE then I will turn this car around and we will NOT go tonight. Hello? Did you hear me? THREEEEEEE!" I hit the gas as I crank the wheel and pull into the driveway while listening to Claire sob that it really is Jane's turn to buckle up her sister and why does she have to do it every time. Then I listen as Jane sighs and visibly rolls her eyes and says, " Fine, I'll do it. You don't have to be such a baby about it."

Please tell me, why did I take them anyway? Wait, don't answer that. I know exactly why I took them....it's the one night our city has a "Safe Halloween", we were already dressed up and in the car, I knew we would get lots of candy (I LOVE candy) and I knew I was lying as the words passed my lips....it was only a threat. Ughhhh! Grrrrr!

I know I'm not the only mom with children who misbehave at times, but doesn't it just get old? Who really wants to listen to bickering and fighting every time you get in the car? Why can't we just gleefully take turns and be happy we have the chance to serve our family members? I know I'm being ridiculous.

Today, I decided that instead of sitting on the couch bossing my kids around I would much rather prefer taking them to the Farm/Park and have a fun Octobery/Fall day out of doors. Yesterday was freezing so when the weather forecast predicted mid 60's we just went for it. On a whim I packed the kids in the van, threw in a bunch of bananas in case hunger struck, picked Claire up from a birthday party and drove the 15 short miles to an awesome Farm that up until today only existed on paper for us.

We got to play in the barn,



Jump in the hay,



Go on a Hayride,


Pick out a Pumpkin,


Milk a Cow,



and just enjoy being outside in the sunshine.

On the drive home I fed everyone a healthy banana and then swung into Little Ceasers where I grabbed two Hot 'n Ready pizzas which we gobbled up pretty quickly....okay there were a few pieces left....I think I'll go grab one right now actually. Mmmmmm.

As I neared my home I saw a garage sale I just couldn't pass up. We all piled out and perused through the junk and found a few treasures. As I was forking over four whole dollars for a few homeschool finds the lady asked if we would be attending the trick or treat at the Rec Center. When she said it started at 5:30 I was so glad I had just fed my kiddos dinner. We had just enough time to get dressed up and head out the door after a quick nursing.

We made it home with a few buckets full of candy and somehow, miraculously all the sweet children got their pajamas on, I changed costumes...and makeup, put Walter down for the night and told the babysitter good luck as I headed out the door for a fun Halloween Party with friends. Too bad I had to take a Waldo doll as my date....if you can't tell I dressed up as Wenda.

So, counting our trip to the zoo we have already trick-or-treated twice and it's not even the 31st yet.

How many nights do you celebrate Halloween? Do you eat your child's candy when they are not looking? Do you offer to buy them a toy if they give you all their candy? Tell me all your secrets... I'm always looking for new ideas.