Party ~ Crashin'

Ahhh Halloween. The joyous holiday where we celebrate death, spookiness and in recent years, a female's ability to display sluttiness on levels we never dreamt of. {except 15 year old boys, I bet they dreamt of it.} I love Halloween, so don't get me wrong, I just think that encouraging children to dress as a bank robber or a murderous crazy person sends mixed messages. Anyway... off my soap box and on to the torturing of small children Party... =)

If you have never seen a child try to play the "eat the donut on a string" game... You have simply not lived.

It has got to be one of the most HILARIOUS things I have ever seen. Their determination is admirable...

The strategies are extremely creative... Drayden's donut kept swinging around and hitting him in the face, it was so funny.

AAAHHHH the sweet taste of success.
*FAST FORWARD 12 HOURS*

Enough partying.... on to the Crashin'!!

It was a very... very long day.

We were sitting around snacking on some chip. Chantel was chatting away... she kept getting quieter, and quieter, when finally she just closed her eyes and gave in. It was too cute. I wish I could sleep like her. Never you mind that she was sleeping on a couple of wooden chairs, with her legs all squished up in an unnatural position.

You would think whe was sleeping on a fluffy feather bed by the peaceful look on her gorgeous little face.

Ghosts of Halloween past

I *LOVE* looking back at how things were when I was a kid. I also *LOVE* that even though my mom had 8... count em... 8 children, she still managed to take pictures. At least at all the important holidays. =) Having 8 children you can just imagine how truely poor we were.

We had a HUGE cedar chest in the basement full of all the dress up junk. I still remember fighting every year so that I didn't end up as something stupid.. This is Me and my sisters, I was probably 2, I think I am supposed to be "Santa's little helper" but honestly it looks like I am wearing a red sweater and a red hat with some artificially created rosey cheeks. then we have santa of course... I think that is my sister Connie, but I am not 100% sure... {love the beard made of quilt batting... dont you?} and then there is Denise as a clown... {white cheeks, ratty hair, pom pom buttons... newspaper stuffing... oh yeah baby} lol

Oh here I am in the INFAMOUS clown costume, {note to self, newspaper stuffing is a very UNCOMFORTABLE alternative!} I bet I had to throw some punches to get it too. Looks like a mouse must have chewed off those gigantic pom pom buttons, cause they seem to have shrunk... Great grandma must have passed down her wig.. add some yarn and TADA!! I am so dang cute! =)

here is connie as a ghost,{I love that they tied something right around her neck!} alayna as a witch Lorene as an Angel, {who is apparently graduating??} Denise as a.... well I am not quite sure what she is.. and Me as a princess (of course). I specifically remember crying for like 3 days in order to guilt my mom into making me a princess dress... I don't know how she managed it, but my bratty little self got to be a princess. *thanks mom*

ah here is the witch costume from the previous picture, and a graduate!!! {yeah my brother graduated from high school and got to keep his cap and gown... Denise and I really did get in a fist fight over that one. lol! looks like she won!

I love a good ol' hilbilly Halloween!

Take lots of pictures this Halloween!! Your kids will look back on them and smile, just like you are doing right now! in fact you are probably running to go find your old Halloween pictures... if you are lucky enough to have some. =)

squishy... =)

You gotta love carving pumpkins... the icky, sticky, messy, gooey, oh and don't forget SPOOKY! All that work only to see them shrivel and rot in a matter of days... Makes perfect sense right?? The Pioneers would kick our wasteful butts... lol

L to R

{Monster} by Brittany; {Boo} by Mom; {Vampire} by Dad and Drayden; and {Kitty} by Chantel.

F*A*T

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have a problem.
Over the past few years I have been on a weight roller coaster. Having children and the basic ups and downs in life are mostly to blame.
Yesterday I was shopping and a woman came up to me and said, "I see you are with child... congratulation." *SOB*
I am so freaking NOT "with child".... so that was a bit depressing.
I found myself thinking after she said that... { I wish I were with child, then I could be fat and everyone would just rub my budda belly and smile at me.} I don't want anymore kids, but I want to be pregnant just so I can have an excuse to be fat. That is what we call *SAD*. I don't know where the inclination came that I need to be thin, but for some reason I am just a little obsessed. I did HCG, lost 20 lbs, and now I have gained back 10... I don't wanna look at a cookie or a cupcake and think of it as the enemy!! NO! the scale, the mirror they are the real enemies! I ramble on in hopes that I will find a solution to my problem.
I want to be thin while eating like a fat person... got that? if anyone has any idea how I can accomplish this {bulimia is not an option} please comment NOW!
Maybe I just have freaky fun house mirrors at my house and I am really alot thinner than I look. Probably not. With the holiday season upon me I must stop the good cop bad cop routine and face the facts. I refuse to answer the question, "What did you have for Thanksgiving dinner" with, " half a spear of asparagus and a dime size cube of turkey flavored tofu." so I am just going to have to be fat. I can only sacrifice so much.

Transformation...

Mitch and I have had this dresser for 7 years. It is a hand me down from Mitch's mom, who probably had it for at least 10 years. It was in DESPERATE need of a facelift.

I was pretty much over the retro handles, so I took them off, and spackled the holes. (When I say "I" that means Mitch... ;-})

then "I" spraypainted it... dont you just love the "GANGSTA" look? lol!


This picture is proof that I did actually help a little.

I roughed up the edges a little and put on some new silver handles... TADA! Maybe it will last another 10 years... =)

my day off...

I woke up to kids with the sniffles, so they got an extra day of vacation for fall break. They weren't really SICK sick, I just figured better safe than sorry. So we decided that we would hang out. We made a picnic lunch and went to the "spinning" park. And of course we snapped a few pictures ;)

I liked this one of all three kids.

Is it springtime???

Or is it fall??? I guess here in sunny southern Utah it is hard to tell the difference. =) It cracked me up when I looked at the two pictures together and realized that there are probably not very many places on earth where you could capture those images in the same location on the same day...

Everything spins at the "spinning" park! Nice that Chantel is eating yogurt as she spins, that seems like a GREAT idea... NOT

After the spinning park we decided to go to the library and hang out for a while. We read lots of books and everyone got to check out a book.

That is about where the fun stopped.

When we got home I cleaned for a little while,

Helped Brittany sew her Levi quilt,

then Drayden got a fever,

We took him to the Doctor... Just a cold... whew!

then we went to Walmart... I hate Walmart...

200 dollars later we realized that we didn't even get all that we needed,

so we stopped at Walgreens,

Got home... Brought the groceries inside.

Realized that my pantry is so jumbled that there is NO way we are fitting everything we just bought in there.

Put on a movie for the little ones..

oh and now Chantel has a fever... Hooray!

Then I cleaned out the pantry.

Same story with the refrigerator... YUCK

So I cleaned it all out.

I got all the groceries put away.

Then I remembered that while cleaning out the pantry I found the ingredients for Pumpkin cookies... YUM! that would make my day WAY better...

So Brittany helped me make some.

They are in the oven.

And so here I sit... at 11:42 p.m. Blogging.

Having the day off is alot of work!

So kudos to all you full time stay at home moms...

Now I am pretty sure there is a cookie calling my name...

... Think of the children!

My poor children! They are so tired of me. Ever since I got my new camera... as Drayden put it... Every day is picture day. lol. I think I have them trained pretty good though. Today we went for a Sunday stroll and Drayden kept saying " Look Mom! I think that would be a great place to take our picture!" I am pretty sure we took pictures by every single rock and tree along the way. I thought that this picture was funny, I guess Drayden was getting bored with the whole, *look at the camera and smile* bit. I actually ended up with some pretty adorable shots I put them up on my Photography blog if you wanna check 'em out. =)

Leave your political views at the door.

If you happen to like President Obama... good for you... if you don't really care for him... JOIN THE CLUB!!

Now I understand that it is not Obama's fault that he won the Nobel Peace Prize, So I guess I won't take it out on him. It is those Damn Norwegians that need to get their heads examined. What do a bunch of Norwegians know about world peace anyhow?

Now this is not a debate on whether or not Obama is a good guy or a bad guy, but I have searched the internet high and low to try and figure out what the hell EXACTLY Obama has done to earn such a prize... and I have only found one explanation that works for me. The Norwegians gave him the prize in HOPES that he would TRY to live up to what it stands for. UUUUHHH REALLY???

We are screwed America... Royally Screwed. I feel this way because President Obama has spread far more chaos and panic than he has peace. (at least in my neck of the woods) We have guys lining up down at Walmart at 4 am just to buy some bullets... I could go on and on... but I won't.

I just feel like there are at least 100 people I could think of off the top of my head that have brought more peace to people around the world than President Obama. So Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee... In my opinion you made a poor choice.

Family Update

Chantel. Age 4... going on 20. Little miss independent. Silly, Funny, Strong willed. Favorite activities include: Going to Preschool (she loves her teacher Miss Annie), Torturing the dog, Antagonizing her brother, "bake day", playing at the park (she is getting pretty good at the monkey bars). She loves polly's and littlest petshop toys. She is a sleepy head! this child can fall asleep anywhere. She is a joy and a blessing... (I figure if I say it enough, it will ring true.) lol! I think that someday when we find a balance of wills I will enjoy her alot more. =) I say smile, she hears make a monkey face... What am I to do?

Drayden. Age 6. Comedian, tender hearted, smart, caring, (did I mention the child is hilarious?). Favorite activities include: Going to school (he loves his teacher Mrs. Evans), Playing at Sam's, Playing at Bodee's, playing at Breckin's, (There just aren't enough days in the week for Mr. Drayden Popular pants). Star wars, Legos, and the Wii are his favorite toys to play with. Drayden has become so much more grown up lately, it is so amazing to see him reading, and tie his own shoes. Where did my chubby cheeked baby boy go? I love that he is always happy to see me when I come home... it makes everything else disappear when I see those beautiful eyes light up.

Brittany. Age 13. Need I say more? Strong willed, know it all, blossoming, beautiful, sweet spirit, bossy attitude. Brittany wants so badly to be all grown up, (didn't we all at that age?), She is a bit clutzy, But we love her anyways. She is into boys now, so daddy is secretly working on his aim with the shotgun. She is quickly becoming a beautiful young woman. She is very good at reminding me to do things, which is good because I have a terrible memory. She is always willing to help (go do the dishes or no cell phone for a week!) yes she is very willing to help. =) She loves to steal my clothes, grrr. I love Brittany to pieces. She is a wonderful blessing to our family.


Mitch. AAAAHHHH, my Edward... o.k. so he really reminds me more of Jacob. (If you have no idea what I am talking about you need to dig yourself out from under that rock and go read Twilight) Funny, Sarcastic, sometimes very obnoxious, and yet, I love him more than anything. He is such a giver. I often feel very selfish in comparison, he would literally give you the shirt off his back (he comes equiped with his own fur coat) lol! *that one was a knee slapper*! I love him 100 times more than I did the day I married him, and it just grows and grows every day. I am so blessed.



Lynnette. Scatterbrained, crazy, moody. I love Zumba, photography, my family, my faith, blogging, and chocolate... not necessarily in that order. I try to be positive, I try to be upbeat, but (and I hope I am not alone) I fail more than I suceeed. My only redeeming quality is that I pick myself up, give myself a good talkin' to, and try harder the next time. "If at first you don't suceed try try again." I have trouble with procrastination and balancing my time. I am constantly being pulled in 10 different directions, I mostly bring it upon myself, but what can I say... I have a hard time saying NO. Unless it is following the phrase, "Mom, can I...." then it is pretty easy to say NO.


So that is us. Right now, Today. Tomorrow is another day, and just as you can be sure that the sun will rise, You can also be sure that I will find a way to screw something up, and cuss, and I will try to fix the screw up, and I will put a quarter in the jar for cussing.

I love to see the temple...

I am so proud of my big sister! She was sealed to her family today in the St. George temple. It only took 20 years! =)

L to R: Martha, Len, Amelia (10), Samson (4).

Such a beautiful building, and an even more beautiful purpose... Families are FOREVER!

welcome home

This week has been so exciting! My oldest sister Martha and her family came to town from North Carolina. I haven't seen them in about 3 years, so it is super fun to have them here.

A few of the cousins waiting by the window to see the plane land.

The relief and love is very clear in my mom's face.

And then I remembered why it is best for everyone that Martha lives half way across the country. When we get together things get a little cookoo. (where is Martha? oh there are her hands... uh) lol

When I was growing up everyone told me I look exactly like my big sis, and you can see the resemblance... =) look at those smile lines! We only have her here for a few days, so we are off for more adventures... more to come I am sure!