Bad Mom of Halloween Memories Award.

Although I have 4 children -

I only have pictures of one dressed in their Halloween costume.

(these were taken before his pre-school party)

I'm sorry my 3 other children that I adore...

maybe next year.

Cross your fingers for the pictures taken by the ward at trunk or treating to surface.

P.S. Lou  - I do love your awesome ninja skills though.



I Love These Moments -

 

 

I love observing my kids caught in the act of play.

Deep, creative, imaginative, loving it, PLAY.

Stamp of Approval!

 

Uncle Fultray arrived at our abode for a visit accompanied by his "friend" and before the weekend was out he left with his "girlfriend".

Hurrah!

We like this one Fultray -

she definitely received our stamp of approval!



Chef The Beloved

A couple weeks ago The Beloved was running to the store and I asked him to pick up something easy for Sunday dinner.  -

... Like a roast or pork chops...

At the end of the evening when dinner time rolls around sometimes, okay most of the time, the last thing I want to do is cook :(. I am not a bad cook but sometimes I just hate to get a clean kitchen dirty - then the games galore once the food is ready to get my younger children to eat - and finally the glorious clean up at the end. I know - poor me - I'm a big baby.

So, when The Beloved returned home from his shopping trip he had PLANS.

BIG PLANS for Sunday dinner.

And I said Negative Ghost Writer.

The Beloved could be a gourmet chef. He is suuucchhhh a good cook and I love when he decides to get his groove on in the kitchen.

The ingredients he came home with -

Fondue all you could ever want or desire.

Apples and Bread dipped in a cheese sauce to start us out.

Steak and Pork cooked in a red tomato sauce for the main course.

Bananas and Strawberries covered in chocolate for dessert.

Yummy.

But... not going to be the creator of it all. (Because remember I'm a baby).

So Chef The Beloved stepped in and made us all so happy with this fab feast of love.

Thanks Dear!

 

 

 

B.L.I.N.G.

He looks like he's worth a million bucks...

and he is...

plus so much more!

We love our Ruckus.

What Makes you Lose Your Cool?

 

This kind of makes me freak out a little bit -

I'm never buying Goldfish crackers again.

Travels...

 

Another trip upward to visit another well loved sibling of mine - Seester #1.

 

Little C helping his older cousin mow the lawn.
You can kind of see my sister's little farm (well not really, but pretend) -
she hosts: cows, chickens, goats, and turkeys plus two cats and two dogs.

Sister #3 traveled over for the party - here we are trying to take a semi-decent photo of ourselves. It took a few tries.

From L to R -
Sister #3, #1, yours truly and Sister #2 on speaker phone.
 

We went out to dinner for a little Sushi and girl time chat.

Love it, love it, love it.

 

Sister #1's spouse of love watched our kiddos while we were out. He's a natural.





 

And it wouldn't be a visit to see Sister #1 without attending a Zumba class.

L  to R
Sister #1, Me, and our lovely cousin.
P.S. not covering up sweat spots... we just really smell like flowers - all of the time. I'm sure of it.

 My sister loves zumba and is great at it - my cousin and I may have potential but mostly...

we just laughed and laughed and laughed...

trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

 

Lou's Latest

Soccer Experience

 

Lou races to make a goal during his last game.



Cold yet Adoring Fans -

 

The Beloved cuddling with our joyful bundle

Me and the C dog

 

This is Ruckus sitting on his much smaller cousins lap. Not sure how he talked her into this one - Or maybe she was wise and thought it a genius staying warm idea?

Ruckus with white-out all over his mug. Do you know it is almost impossible to remove white-out from ones face?

 

Hello you beautiful baby!

Lou testing out his goalie skills

Lou's cousin (in the red pants) tracking the ball down

 

Parents playing sharks vs minnows with the kids. On the very left you can see little Cousin TA chasing his Papa. On the R you can see Lou chasing after The Beloved in his red sweatshirt.

Both are sporting very impressive running/dodging techniques

Lou with his bud, teammate and well loved cousin

 

 

How did Lou feel about soccer?

Early, cold, Saturday mornings... Not his thing.

Did he improve - I believe so.  I don't really think he realized he enjoyed the sport until his last game when he made a goal. It was almost like this light went on  - "Wow, maybe this is fun. Let's try that again."

 The funnest part for him was being able to participate on the team with his second cousin. The Beloved's cousin and his fam moved here almost a year ago and we are so enjoying their company. My kids are IN LOVE with their cousins and I am so glad The Beloved's cousin married such an awesome gal who could move here and be my pal. I needed a pal.

We'll keep searching for Lou's sports love.

I think next up is T-Ball....

but my own selfish heart can't wait for him to be old enough to test out basketball. Hurray!

 

 

Let's Learn Together -

I'm glad it's all pretend but it makes them look so grown up!

That's got to stop. :)

The Mamacita -

BDUEFRFR - THESE ARE LETTERS TYPED IN SNEAKILY BY RUCKUS.

We recently had the honor of celebrating my mom's birthday.

She and I had a little girls night to start the evening out, buying too many things at Deseret Book and then dining at a delicious Thai restaurant.

We then gathered at my abode for a little family favorite, boiled raisin cake. (This cakes name doesn't provide it justice - it should be named "the most glorious cake of love" or something of the like - it's magnificent- plus sister #1 and I created it, with many a phone call to our surrogate mother Teri K for instructions. It's a toughy but I am a little prideful in the turnout.  ft58;'98dddddjjjjjjjj - more found letters typed by Ruckus)

I have referenced my mom many times in the categories of service,  beauty,valiant, kindness, gossip-free, dependable, oober intelligent, best mom/grandma ever - but let me share another side of her -

She is F.U.N, has a great sense of humor, and loves a good laugh.

When I was growing up my sister and I were lounging around the house when in races my mom and dad loaded with water guns. They attacked us like crazy.

We were completely unprepared.

They demolished us and the house -
and we all laughed hysterically.

A couple of months ago my mom and sister #2 were at my house and I talked them into a game of HORSE. My mom was the first one to go outside and when I arrived she was jumping her highest on the trampoline.
 How cool is that - would you find your mom jumping on the trampoline?
I hope so.
 She invited my sister and I to join her but I guess she had done more kegals than us so we weren't as successful.

We then ventured forth to begin our b-ball game.

She informed us around the time she received the letter  S that she was actually playing DONKEY and the rules are completely different, and she was basically ruling at that game.

Some of the rules are:

You go whenever you want.

If the ball hits the rim it counts as a shot.

If you make too many baskets in a row you transfer over to the game HORSE again.

When you get too warm in the hot sun people playing DONKEY can lay by the air conditioning unit in the shade but if you're playing HORSE you're not allowed to.

I was completely entertained by this new invention of hers.
Lastly, a couple decades back one of my sisters was having some health problems. She felt horrible all the time. Her loving, sensitive sisters drove her nuts by teasing her she had chronic-gaseous-poopus.
The doctors thought possibly she had kidney stones but weren't sure.
After numerous tests and weeks of pain the doctor finally called my mom with the diagnose.
My mom hung up the phone, looking grave, and told my sister that she'd better sit down. The news was serious and life altering.
My mom looked her in the eyes and said something like,
"Honey, I'm sorry. The doctor called and informed me... that you have...
chronic-gaseous-poopus."
Hilarious-
Maybe not for my sister but the rest of us were completely loving the moment.
My mom is cool.
I love her guts!
Happy Birthday!
Thanks  for being everthing your wonderful self consists of!

 



Women's Walk

The cutest running/chill in the stroller mates alive.

 

 

 

Thanks dear friend Rami for participating in this 5K stroll with us!

Always love your company.

 

They're Closer!

 

 

One of my sisters moved closer than her previous 18 hours away! More like 6  now- hurray - we accept!

My sister will not like the below photo of herself but it is the perfect capture of her laugh - Eyes closed, head leaning back with mouth exuding the most delightful, infectious laugh alive.

 

For some reason learning about the new gifted bread maker is hilarious to her and the unseen photographer, me.

My parentals along with my kiddos and I journeyed north-ish (I'm geographically/directionally challenged) to help her and her family unpack. Thank you brother-in-law for getting a job so close!

 

Below Papa is taking care of the babies.

Cute grandchildren ready to party -

Cuddling with their pillow pets Papa surprised them with.

More pillow pet love.

 

The following are more photos of our mother trying to share her knowledge of the new bread maker with my sister.

This is her.... hmmmmm... how exciting is this moment face :)

(Mom, she really did appreciate it and thinks the bread maker is the coolest gift ever. Because it is! We are just dorks and rapidly digress in age back to the time of our teenage hood.
But, I promise your schooling is mostly always desired.)

This is my mom's "Come on now daughter, pay attention face" accompanied with the "let's focus arm on the back gesture".

 

She still loves her obnoxious children. Thank you Mom.

Me with my cute daddy-O

 

 

A little decorating -



 

 

 

And it wouldn't be a visit without cute baby/cousin bath time!

 

 

 

Being together with just my parents and this one sister is an easy role to fall back into. I have three older sisters and we were all born in 4 year increments. Me, being the baby and this sister being the one directly older than me - so basically for the second decade of my life it was just the four of us in the household.

There's a certain dynamic that's familiar and fun.

So  - Sister #3 - so glad your closer!... and this ones for you.

Luke, I am your father.

O B 1.