Halloween

The fastest turtle in the world

Our first stop was at my Grandma's house. We were there pretty early - Grandma had her usual treats: caramel apples, pumpkin cookies, banana nut bread and carmel corn. She also had goodie bags for the kids. When I was little we went trick-or-treating to her house every year so it was great to carry on that tradition with my kids. By the way, how cute does Evan look? I'm sad I didn't get a close up photo of him with the hood on. Thank you so much for lending me the costume Sharon!

After trick-or-treating in the neighborhood across the street from us, we picked up Ian from work and headed over to Nana & Papa's house (Ian's parents). My kids look forward to going there every year because they go all out for Halloween and they love seeing their grandparents :). We had Michael with us again this year and he remembered last year that J.D. (Ian's brother) tried to steal all of their yellow laffy-taffys. The boys had a blast handing out candy, playing football in the front yard and seeing the puppies. Evan loved all of the decorations (Max was a little freaked out at first - but warmed up).

Kohl as a hot-dog :)

Even though it was late, the kids insisted on stopping at the Dorsey's house on the way home. I wish I could have taken more pictures. Their house is AWESOME! Alexander is going back over there this weekend so hopefully I'll get more pictures then. The house is fully decorated inside and out. I think they should charge admission. The one picture above is of the Halloween village in the Dorsey's front room.

We had a great fun-filled night. Halloween is so much fun with kids. I love it but am glad it only comes once a year!

Trunk-or-Treat

Saturday was our church's Halloween celebration. There was a chili cook-off (which my mom won - hmmm could it because she is related to atleast 1/2 the ward?) There were games (my favorite was the dangling donut that you had to eat without using your hands) and prizes. At the end we all lined up our cars and the kids went around "trunk-or-treating". Fun, fun. I dressed up as a witch (I've been feeling a little like one lately), Max was a pirate-skeleton? (to tell you the truth Max wanted to be sooo many different things that he settled on two), Alexander was a skeleton and Ben was the Scream but since he couldn't wear his mask and didn't want Ian to paint his face he was the grim reaper. Evan? Well, I couldn't bring myself to put that hot costume on him in. So he was a cranky, tired, screaming baby. My friend Sharon lent me an adorable turtle costume so I think he'll be that for Halloween. Afterall, I already got a picture of him in the Pooh suit so he won't feel left out and he'll still need therapy with the rest of them ;).

I let Alexander & Ben bring friends. Before the party Kim organized the annual haunted house at my mom's house. The boys have so much fun doing it. I've never experienced it because I'm too chicken. I can't stand the thought of something grabbing at me in the dark. It was pretty low-key this year. But the boys love it - thank you Kim (and grandma ofcourse)!

It was a long day but the kids all had a blast. Alexander got to go to Thomas' church carnival with him afterwards - which according to him was sooo much better. Ian went to Jared's after to watch the ASU game. It was a fun but exhausting day. I fell asleep watching an episode of Grey's.

Fashion Advice from a 4 year-old

Both Alexander and Ben had 8:00 am games Saturday morning. As we were rushing around getting ready to go, Ian grabbed a jacket. Max was getting a glass out of the cupboard when he turned around and said, "Umm... That does not look good."

"What doesn't look good?" Ian asks.

As Max continues on towards the fridge to get water he says, "That white thing you are wearing."

"You mean my jacket? It's not white it's grey."

Now he is at the fridge pouring water, and looking at Ian sideways with a disgusted look and says: "Yeah whatever Dad, it just doesn't look good."

This is coming from a child who wears his shorts and shirts backwards and thinks underwear is an optional piece of clothing.

Pooh Bear

All of my kids have worn this costume and all have hated it. It's an unusual form of torture - but they look sooo stinkin' cute. What do you think? Should I make Evan wear it for Halloween?

New Shoes

Max wasn't wearing his shoes because he has a cut on his foot

Is there anything better? Alexander and Ben have been needing some new shoes for a while. What's funny is that they both wear the same size shoe! Anyway, last night after dinner we headed over to Kohl's. I walked with the boys and Ian drove the van over (and heckled us on the way - might I add). I'm all about getting as much exercise as I can. First we bought Alexander some church threads. The Primary program is on Sunday and I want him looking his best - plus he's really into ties right now and he only has one. After that we headed over to the shoe department. It was very hard for me to walk right past the women's shoes but I did it! I was really proud of myself. I pretty much let the boys pick out what they wanted. Alexander would've rather gone to Tilly's but I didn't want to go anywhere else plus Kohl's had 50% off their shoes. Xander ended up with some Vans, Ben got some Sketchers and Max (who wasn't supposed to get anything) got some Transformers shoes (which he wanted to sleep in). I felt bad for Max - he never gets anything new.

Dinnertime

I hate dinnertime. It's the most stressful time of day. The kids are always hungry (duh!) and I never want to cook because there is hardly anything I can cook that everyone (meaning Max & Ben) will eat. The other day I was having lunch with Tiffany and her friend Holly when Holly mentioned an easy, yummy dinner idea. All you do is get some boneless pork ribs at Costco, squirt BBQ sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish, put the ribs in the dish, squirt BBQ sauce on top of the ribs then cover the dish with foil and cook at 250 degrees in the oven for about 5 hours. Yesterday I decided to try it. I made wild rice and broccoli to go with the ribs. I must admit that it smelled soooo good - everything looked good too.

So all day long I am anticipating that Max will NOT eat this dinner based on his track record. I even tried telling him that it was Batman's favorite meal. I went on and on about how the broccoli makes Batman quicker and the ribs make him stronger. By the time dinner rolled around Max was actually looking forward to eating. Well, I think he ate one whole bite. Ben ate about half of what was on his plate but I have to admit that I bribed him to even eat that much. Ian and Alexander cleaned their plates (as usual).

I'm cleaning up, feeling somewhat frustrated because I really was excited to have a meal to add to the 3 others that I cook. I see Max coming toward me and he starts stomping on the floor - right on the broccoli and rice that Evan had thrown down. "What are you doing?" I ask him. "My feet are going to be so fast and strong after this," he replies.

Zoo Day

Our little monkeys

When Alexander was younger we went to the zoo alot (o.k. maybe not ALOT but we went a few times a year). Anyway, I haven't been in awhile so I was excited (maybe excited is too strong of a word) when Trina called and invited us to go. She said she could get us in for free because she has an annual pass. Free? Even better - now I don't have to rush around seeing all of the animals so I can feel like I got my money's worth.

We got there a little before noon on Friday and it was PACKED! I didn't think we were going to be able to find a parking space. But we did and luckily most of the people were leaving. Going to the zoo with Trina and her s.i.l. Lexie was a different experience for me. They are all about the kids and letting them do what makes them happy. This is how it should be. Instead of me rushing the kids to see everything, we took our time. We probably saw about 5 or 6 animals total but Max had a blast! He climbed on a tree for about 20 minutes and spent another 15 -20 minutes playing with the girls in a cave. We also visited the water area where the kids had a great time running around getting wet. Trina's niece Kylie was so funny. She must go to the zoo alot because she knew exactly where all the animals were but still acted excited when she would see them. On the way home Max said, "Sheez, that Kylie sure does love zebras and mangos (he meant flamingos). She screamed everytime she saw them." "Max", I replied, "it's a girl thing."

Saturday

Today I slept in (a little) which was bad because we missed Ben's soccer game. Ben really didn't seem to care - so all was well. I went for a run and then spent the morning cleaning my house. I also went through old pictures because we are getting together with some friends from college in a few weeks and Tiffany is doing a slide show. It brought back floods of memories - all good of course! The ones of Mission Beach were the best. In college we went there with friends two or three years in a row. Good times. I also loved looking at the ones from New Orleans and D.C. Great memories - I'm glad we're all still friends.

When I was up in the studio looking through pictures Evan crawled up the stairs and lost his diaper in the process. When I looked up and saw him naked I couldn't stop laughing - which caused him to laugh too. I eventually got the diaper back on :)

Alexander had a game this afternoon and they won! Yeah! Their team is in first place. When his coach was talking to the kids after the game I realized how lucky Alexander is to be a part of this team. His coach is such a great guy - he's so positive with the boys. He's exactly the kind of coach Alex (who puts endless amounts of pressure on himself) needs. After the game we all headed over to the Grimes. They had hotdogs for the kids and homemade-to-die-for chili for the adults. The boys had a blast running around playing football and I had a blast admiring their house! I wish I had Stephanie as my decorator.

On the way home I dropped Ian off at Jason's - they are watching "Ultimate Fighting" or something male like that. I don't even want to know. When we got home we saw that the Halloween Phantom had hit our house! I won't tell you what exactly that is but it's a good thing and be on the look out! Now the kids are in bed and I think I will watch an episode of Grey's while I cut out things for nursery tomorrow. Good day.

P.S. Thanks Lauren for helping with Evan during the game and for "girl talk". I loved getting to know you better ;)

The Perfect Human

Some of Max's coloring. He's barely 4! I know!

I'm thinking I need a scanner. That way I don't have to take pictures of pictures.

Max loves to draw, color, write, whatever. He LOVES it. And he's pretty good. Actually I think he draws better than me. Luckily my kids have Ian for a father so they are all artistic (and know better than to ask me to draw anything for them). Yesterday I saw Max heading for the office to get paper to draw on. "Oh, no you don't!" I told him. You see, while he loves to draw, lately all he will draw is a tiny circle on a piece of paper then throw it away. We've had the "you're killing trees" talk more times then I can remember.

"I NEED to draw!" he yells.

"You waste way too much paper. Wait until I can go to Grandpa's office and get you some scrap paper."

"No!"

"Max, all you do is draw one tiny circle on a paper and then throw it away. You are wasting paper!"

"Mom, you don't understand...I'm trying to draw the perfect human."

And what do I say to that?

Comedy & Football

All dressed up with somewhere to go!

I'd been looking forward to Saturday for a long time. A while back we bought tickets to see Brian Regan at the Dodge Theater. Brian Regan is hilarious! One of the best things about his comedy is that it is clean. I borrowed one of his c.d.'s from my nephew and was able to listen to it in the car with my kids (Alexander & Ben love him too). We went with Kim, Brian, Darrel & Jared. It was lots of fun and soooo funny. He even came on for an encore and did requests from the audience. I'm posting one of his bits here. It was a great night!

The same night Alexander had the opportunity to go with some friends to the ASU football game. He had a blast! We heard about it all day Sunday. They tailgated before the game and played some football. He loved being there with his friends! My brothers & parents all graduated from ASU so they were all a little jealous. Thanks to the Stills family for taking him & the Dorsey family for the tickets :)

Look What UPS Delivered

Day 4: The Good & The Bad

I'll start with the Bad:
1. Ian & Grandpa (my dad) couldn't come
2. Not having the time or energy to spend alot of time at the beach
3. Driving home by myself with 5 fighting, screaming, crazy, tired kids (I love you Michael, but I no longer want to adopt you)
4. Ben smashing his finger in the bathroom door at California Adventure
5. Evan diving headfirst off of the stroller (where was his mother?!?!)
6. Ben's churro fit (am I really the worst mom ever?)
7. Alexander's attitude on Tuesday (he eventually snapped out of it)

The Good:
1. Being able to focus on my kids (and not a million other things too)
2. My mom - she not only took us on the trip but she's a blast to hang with too
3. Kim - thank you, thank you, thank you to my kids' second mother
4. Breakfast
5. Disneyland decorated for Halloween
6. Jedi Training Academy
7. Hanging with Emmy, Addy & Anna - the most adorable girls EVER!
8. Churros (I did eventually get Ben one)
9. Jared Ammon - mucho helpful on Wednesday
10. Hangin' with my fam
11. Max & Addy's one liners
12. Room Service

We had such an awesome time! It's so much fun to hang with people I not only love but like too. Thanks again mom & dad! No more vacation stuff (I promise!)

Day 3: 3:30 am Wake-up Call

We all were sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden a siren starts and there is a light flashing blue in my room. Then I hear a voice:

"This is an emergency. Please exit the hotel using the stairs. Do not take the elevator."

The message keeps repeating every 10 seconds or so. I groggily look at the clock and see that it is 3:30 in the morning and everyone is sleeping through it. I debate not waking everyone up. But then I think "it's 3:30 in the morning - something must have happened." I look out my door and see my mom and sister exiting their room. I quickly grab my shoes and wake up my kids. Alexander & Ben are excited - what an adventure! Ha.ha. Max is pissed off. He's cold, he's tired and he will NOT walk. Evan is a little bundle of joy glancing around excitedly. Apparently Max & I are the only ones who realize it's 3:30 IN THE MORNING! Anyway, I scoop up Max and the baby and make my way down 11 flights of stairs. Yes, my arms ached for 3 days after - but I was pretty proud that I wasn't even out of breath when we got to the bottom! A kind man in back of me asked if he could carry one of my kids but I really didn't want to inflict that kind of screaming on him or everyone around us.

We get outside and I call my mom (I had the presence of mind to grab my cell phone). She was in front so we walk around and meet her - my arms throbbed with relief when she took Evan. It turns out some idiot on the 3rd floor fooled around with a sprinkler and the 3rd & 2nd floors flooded. Everyone on the 4th floor and above got to go back to their rooms. :)

It was easy to find Jared

because of his hair!

After that cruddy night sleep we all woke up late. We decided to hang out at California Adventure until it closed and then go back over to Disneyland. For me, I'd rather just stay in California Adventure. The lines are shorter, it's less crowded and the rides are better. Is there any ride better than Soaring Over California? We all loved the Monsters, Inc. ride and Max went on Tower of Terror with everyone. The kid is crazy. He still wouldn't do Finding Nemo or Buzz Lightyear, but he goes on Tower of Terror.

Addy & Rowan

The highlight for me was going on Thunder Mountain with Max. He was yelling, "I LOVE THIS RIDE!" the whole time. I think Thunder Mountain and Soaring are his favorites. Ben was thrilled to finally be tall enough to do California Screamin' and Alexander was happy that I let him hang with Michael, Dallin and J. Xander's favorite ride was Mali Boomer (I think I spelled that wrong). We were so tired when we got back to the hotel. We ended up ordering room service and crashing early.

You all know how much I love lists, so tomorrow's post will be Day 4: The Good & The Bad.

Day 2: I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

James & Ben ready for some fun! Waiting in line at Space Mountain

First let me say that this really was a vacation for me. I had my doubts because Ian wasn't going but I really had a great time. It was nice that my only stress was taking care of my kids and making sure we all had a great time (which we did).

Kim (my lifesaver) and Max on the Rockets

Anyway, on Tuesday we all went to Disneyland. My wonderful mom took Evan in the morning so that I could spend some time with the other boys. First off, we went to Space Mountain. Max wasn't sure if he wanted to ride or not but ended up going on it. He was so brave! After that he didn't want to go on anything that was in the dark, though. Next everyone wanted to go on the Matterhorn, but Max was still freaked out by Space Mountain (even though he's been on the Matterhorn before). Kim suggested that Max and I go to the Jedi Training Academy. IT WAS AWESOME! Liam Ganem & Matthew Lang would love this! Basically a Jedi Master comes out and chooses about 20 kids from the audience to participate (Max didn't want to - he was too shy). All the kids get cloaks and light sabers. They are taught a combination of moves. Then 2 Storm Troopers come running in and Darth Vader appears. Ofcourse Darth Vader tries to turn these new Jedi's to the dark side...and then Darth Maul comes running in. That dude was seriously scary looking! Later I was telling my mom that his make-up looked so realistic and Max says, "He didn't have make-up! I dare you to say that to his face!" (which I totally wouldn't because he was way too scary). Each little Jedi got to fight either Darth Vader or Darth Maul and then they all got a certificate. It was so cool!

After that we had lunch then I basically followed everyone around with Max and Evan while they did rides. We did do the Winnie the Pooh ride which freaked Max out. At about 5:00 we were "Disneylanded" out so we rode the train back to Main Street then headed to Red Lobster for dinner. At this point it was only my family and my mom because everyone else stayed at Disneyland. We were definitely the entertainment at Red Lobster.

So we walk in and there is that huge lobster tank. Each of my boys immediately pick a lobster that is "theirs". Well, then the chef comes out to get a couple of lobsters out of the tank and Alexander immediately starts lobbying for him to take Ben's lobster (which Ben had dubbed "Bluey" because of the blue rubber bands around his claws). The chef eventually does choose Ben's lobster. Anyone who knows Ben knows that he hates the thought of a living creature dying (even though chicken nuggets are a staple in his diet). So Ben goes ballistic! He starts whaling on Alexander. I have to pull him off and sit him down. Then Ben starts saying things like, "I'm going to spill Alex's drink when we sit down" and other things which I am too appalled at to mention. The kid was such a temper! He finally calms down and we sit down to eat.

Immediately the boys start fighting over crayons. "He has red and won't share" you know, that kind of thing. Finally my mom asks the waitress to bring us 2 more red crayons. Meanwhile I am trying to shovel as much food as I can in Evan's mouth so he will stay happy and quiet. He chucks his sippy cup on the floor. I ask my mom to pick it up since it's right by her feet. She leans down to the side and promptly falls over. The funny part was that the chair fell over too so it looks like she is sitting sideways on the floor. I am trying to help her but am laughing so hard tears are coming out and I can't see. She layed there for about 20 seconds and then gets up. I look around and even though the restaurant is pretty full everyone is conviently looking elsewhere. My mom and I crack about a hundred "who is that crazy lady who fell" jokes. Good times.

Then we go back to the hotel and crash. Check out my blog tomorrow for Day 3: 3:30 am Wake-Up Call.

Day 1: Are We There Yet?

Football at the beach

Room with a view

We left around 9:30 Monday morning. Ben rode with James in Tricia's car and we took Michael with us. Really, I want to adopt Michael. He was so pleasant and helpful. Anyway, the whole way there Max talked about the hotel. You see, my mom has a love affair with Embassy Suites. One of the reasons why she was able to take us on this trip was because she had a few free nights there. Last September my parents took Max to Disneyland as a treat for being potty-trained. He remembered the hotel and knew we were staying there again. He was so excited! "You can have pancakes and sausage and bacon for breakfast. And grandpa will bring you orange juice and then the lion will roar." Let me clarify - one of the major perks about Embassy Suites is that you get a complimentary breakfast. This basically includes ANYTHING your heart desires. Eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, made-to-order omelets, cereal and the list goes on. Apparently it made a big impression on Max. He also remembered the fake lion on top of a rock that roars every hour or so. So everytime we stopped, Max would say, "I don't want to eat here - I'm waiting for the hotel". We had to explain that we could only get breakfast there and he might want lunch and dinner before that.

Every 30 minutes or so someone would ask, "Are we there yet?". I really didn't mind it until the last 30 minutes or so when they started to ask every 2-3 minutes. Anyway, we finally made it about 5:00. We were on the 11th floor - which scared the bajeebies out of me. I had major vertigo at first. Then I just stayed away from the railing that overlooks the atrium area. The boys were facinated with how big the bathroom was. That's another great thing about Embassy Suites - LOTS of room! We had 2 seperate rooms, 2 t.v.s, a dining room table, microwave, sink and refrigerator. The room could've slept 6 comfortably.

After unpacking we headed for the beach. We forgot that it was Columbus Day and therefore the beach was crowded. Oh well, we hung out there for about an hour until it got dark and I got sick of trying to keep Evan from eating sand. We got back to the hotel and my mom got us a pizza from room service. It was one of the best pizza's I've had in my life! Part of that could've been that I was incredibly hungry....

Stay tuned for Day 2: I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up (sorry mom - you knew it was coming...)

*Note: Don't expect alot of pictures - I was busy just trying to keep track of all my kids and trying to keep everyone happy. Hopefully Kim & Tricia will e-mail me some of their pictures.

My house is clean :) . My bags are almost packed ;) . I still have work to do but...

Max's new favorite expression is: "I'm going to let you in on a little secret". It's so funny. He just said to me, "Mom, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...I like pizza." He's used the expression quite a few times in the last few days and each time we all crack up.

On another note...a few weeks ago we had a celebration for my grandma's 80th birthday. I can't tell you how much I love my grandma. When I was little she used to sew dresses for me and then a matching one for my Barbie. She is such a talented, intelligent, wonderful person. Anyway, we all pitched in a bought her a flat screen t.v. I think she was pleasantly surprised. We were lucky enough to see Gail (who was down from Oregon) and the two newest additions - Tim & Becca's baby girl and Stuart & Teresa's baby boy. We had a great time chatting, eating and playing football. Happy Birthday Grandma - We love you!

Matta-fied

I'm not going to lie to you - I seriously have ALOT to do before we leave Monday morning, but here I am, blogging away.

I LOVE mexican food. That's one great thing about living here - you always can get great mexican food. My favorite places include: Elmers, Serranos, El Sol Bakery and Mattas, ofcourse. Ian's family has been going to Mattas since he was a little tyke. When we started dating I was quickly converted. The homemade salsa is to die for! Now the kids are hooked too. Max has been craving Mattas for weeks, but we haven't had the time. We finally went today. It's great because it's the one place where all of my kids will eat! That's really saying something. Excellent food, cheap prices and a family friendly atmosphere. What more could you ask for? I also like the fact that my kids are learning how to behave at a sit-down restaurant - you know - no burping, no throwing food, saying "Please", chewing with your mouth closed - O.k. so maybe they should be learning those things at home too but it's better to put into practice at a public place. The only bummer is that it's kind of far away...(on Main Street between Stapley & Horne).