Post Halloween

So I woke up this morning as perhaps most of you parents did to a site of candy all over the floor which might have replaced your children breakfast. I've been picking up candy wrappers all day off the floor and I'm wondering why would you leave a candy wrapper as evidence if you don't want your mom to know you're eating candy? :) Because they know they're not suppose to be eating it! I guess I need to find a new hiding spot. My house is always a zoo on Post Halloween; with sewing scraps all over the place, laundry that needs to be put away, etc. I enjoy the holiday, but oh how I'm glad it's over. I always try to make our costumes because it's good sewing practice for me and it gives me a sense of pride in accomplishing it. Forget eating at the kitchen table when I'm sewing though. :)So, this year around the time McCain announced his running mate I thought it would be awesome to try to pull off dressing like Sarah Palin. I've always wanted Jesse to dress up as Jesse James from West Coast Choppers, Monster Garage (Sandra Bullock's husband) just because he gets so many comments from people who tell him that he resembles him...especially when he's wearing a Binni or facial hair. He pulled it off so well and every time I looked at him I had to do a double take myself. What's neat is that Jesse James was voted one of the sexiest men alive from People magazine. Nice to know that my Jesse is just as cute. :)The kids always enjoy being individuals for Halloween. Bryce was BEN 10 (a cartoon network character for those who haven't heard of him). Cameron was Frankenstein. A very cute Frankenstein. And Claire was an Olympic Gymnast. Bella was a peanut. I know, I know, Claire was also a peanut at that age. I just couldn't help myself. It didn't get enough wear and I wanted to see Bella in it. I'm going to post how I made some of the costumes on my other blog (ideas 4 you) soon for those of you who care. :)We had two days of Halloween. Thursday we went to the church for the Trunk or Treat and they decorated the gym very nice for it. It was a Renaissance Theme and there was a 20 ft tall Coat of Armor and several more throughout that looked so awesome. I should've taken more pictures. Then, the following night I made Rats in Blood with Ghostly Mashed Potatoes and then we went around the neighborhood. Claire spotted the Cinderella costume I had for her just in case she didn't want to be a Gymnast. She loves it so much it was hard to get it off her. So now, Halloween is over I can focus now on Thanksgiving (which I'm hosting at my house) and getting a head start on Christmas. There's always something to look forward to. :)
Sarah Palin
I don't know, do I look like Sarah Palin or Tina Fey? I should have cut some bangs!

Jesse James

Halloween Characters 2008

Ben 10
I was happy when Bryce said he wanted to be Ben 10 for Halloween. Nothing easier than sewing on a strip of fabric to a white shirt. We also died his hair a darker color. Even though not too many people knew who Ben 10 was he didn't seem to mind. He felt invincible!

Cameron loved wearing all of the face makeup. I could see him transform into Frankenstein while I was putting all of the green paint and stitches on.

He's so animated, just like his dad.

I made his head extension and I'll tell

how I did it on my other blog, Ideas 4 you tomorrow.

Olympic Gold Gymnast!

Claire LOVES watching Gymnastics and always proceeds to do her own tumbling. ha ha. So when I asked her if that's what she'd like to be for Halloween she got excited about it. Her costume isn't going to last long I just know it. It already has a rip in it. I guess I'm not that good of a sewer. :) I bought a Cinderella costume just in case because some days she just went on and on that she wanted to be "Cin-ella" and sure enough the next night for Trick -or-Treating we needed it.

Our little Peanut

Bella is such an easy going girl and I probably could've put her in just about anything. But, I figured why not just reuse Claire's old costume. It works. :)

Trip to Mom's

My Mother lives in Edgewood, NM and it always seems like I never get up there to see her and Larry very much so since Bryce didn't have school last Friday I thought I'd take advantage of the time off and make the trip. My mom is a pretty fun Gal and so we were going to go shopping for winter clothes for the kids in Albuq., but didn't end up going. Instead, we decided that we'd take a joy ride up to the top of Sandia Peak which is near my mothers house. I haven't been up there since I was 12 with my Grandpa Hewett. Jesse & I always mean to go on our way home, but are either just too tired or are just ready to get home. Anyways, here are some pictures of the trip.

My plan was to stick all of the kids in the guest bedroom because it doesn't get the morning sun like the other room. I was hoping they would sleep in, but to no avail they were up early and ready for Grandma to make them eggs, potatoes and bacon like she promised the night before. :)

On top of Sandia Peak.



The boys are silly aren't they. I said "smile" and this is what they do. :)

Here's Bryce again either saluting or acting like he's looking afar. :) I know, it looks like he's on the edge of the cliff, but he's not.

I love watching the kids when they're in curiosity mode.

Larry caught three of these huge grasshoppers for the kids so that Bryce can put them into his bug collection. Yuck.

This is at the CHUCKIN PUNKIN contest in Estancia, NM They shot those pumpkins out like thousands of yards. Very cool, but very noisy. It was loud like a canon. Well, I can say that I've been there, done that.

I started the trip Thursday with a sore throat, but on the way home Sat. it had turned into strep. I tried everything from gargling salt water, sipping on Emergen C and I even tried eating those little salt & lime packets (that felt like torture). I didn't get much sleep because I was feeling so bad so by about the last 100 miles I was having a hard time staying with it. I was calling people on my contact list just to keep myself awake. It's now Wed. and I'm still sick, but hoping the antibiotics will kick in soon.

My new blog addiction!

IDEAS 2 U
So, I've always wanted to have a blog strictly for the "homemaker in me" type stuff and so here it is. It's basically just a way to motivate myself to finish a task I wish to accomplish. IDEAS 2 U is still in the middle of construction as it most likely always will be because that's just me. I like a challenge. :) Here's the link...

http://ideastoyou.blogspot.com/

The Whole Enchilada!

Last weekend the kids and I went to the Whole Enchilada Parade because Greg(my father-n-law) was going to be in it and plus, we've never been. Greg is running for County Commissioner and so he decided that he'd ride his little scooter around to promote himself. The kids thought it was pretty neat to see him in the parade, but didn't know what to think of it. :)

Welcome First day of Fall!

So last Monday for FHE we decided that we would make caramel apples to celebrate the first day of Fall, which I think is my most favorite part of the year. I love how the air feels light and crisp. We had a good time, didn't make as much of a big mess as I thought we would and I satisfied my craving for something sweet!

First we dipped the apples in caramel and then rolled them in honey roasted peanuts. Cooled them, and then as if that wasn't enough we dipped them in chocolate. YUMMY! My mind was just racing that night thinking about what other flavors we could dip them in. I suppose I have a few months to try some out. :)

OUR WORK IS DONE, TIME TO INDULGE!

PURE SATISFACTION!

DOES THAT JUST MAKE YOUR MOUTH WATER?

UH-OH!

WHO DOES CLAIRE'S FUNNY FACE REMIND YOU OF?? HA HA SHE'S SO ANIMATED!

Go Speed Racer!!

So, let me tell you a little about Jesse's newest addition to his Lexus car family. This car is a Lexus SC 300. But, it's no ordinary SC 300; this car has one rocket packed engine. It has 650 horse power on low boost (Turbo turned down low) and when it's juiced up with high boost, up to 800 HP. Just to give you an idea how fast that is just think of the new corvette and it has 650 HP. Yeah, I know. I got to ride in it for the first time yesterday and I must say that I had an interesting experience. I'm sort of a speedster myself, but I must say that I nearly had tears in my eyes I was so scared!! Jesse put it into 2nd gear and we took off quickly, and I'm like o.k. cool this is fast and then he shifts and then I hear the booster and the tires spinning, then I'm looking for the OH S*!#$ bar but is wasn't there! We got up to 110 mph in like 5 seconds. I seriously thought this car was going to sprout wings and fly! Or I felt like we were blasting off into a rocket! When Cody (my sister-n-law) took a ride her words were, "It made my toes tingle!" Well, let's just say that I was having that tired, groggy feeling you get on Sunday afternoons, but after that ride I felt wide awake! Jesse's going to have a lot of fun with this car at the El Paso drag way. Thankfully he's a great driver and that it has a roll bar inside. I know, crazy!

Here's a look at the engine. I know nothing about engines, but I do know that this engine looks fast!

Bellissimo!

I'm experimenting with my new camera and with some props to have some glamour shots of Bella. She's supposed to look like a little bouquet of flowers, but it didn't work out the way I planned. I made the headband myself...don't make fun. :) ha ha. She can pull it off.

I love this picture of Claire. She's totally in deep thought mode. I love how her left eye is seen through her hair. Such a beauty...inside and out.

Our 2nd Try at Hiking...Success!

Hiking was much better this time. We went at the later part of the day and the weather was PERFECT! We tried another trail this time and it had a stream that I'm assuming is usually dry, but with all of the rain we've had it was a fairly deep. The boys and I got wet trying to cross, but Jesse managed to push the jogging stroller through the stream absolutely dry. The kids always look forward to all of the insects we see as we hike, but this time around we noticed about 6 baby frogs and of course tons of grasshoppers! We've been trying to make it to the Mountain every Monday since the weathers great, but I have a feeling life is going to get pretty hectic now that Fall is approaching and all of the activities that are involved with the season. O-well, I'll enjoy it while I can.

This is the Trail we took.

I guess this was how the Grand Canyon was formed! ha ha

This is when we decided to turn back. Pretty difficult to get the stroller through.

Un-Prepared & out of shape!

Last weekend the weather was so nice. It was in the high 70's and cloudy; a nice break from the summer's heat. So, I thought it would be nice if we were to go hiking. I've always dreamt of our family being the kind to be a bit more adventurous and go and do a bunch of outdoor activities. So, after getting a lunch packed and everyone finally out the door (a few hours later than expected) we were as Jesse says, "Out like a heard of Turtles." We didn't go far. We just went to Dripping Springs, but it feels like your packing for an all day trip!

On the way over Claire fell asleep which was my first uh-oh moment, we got out of the car and the sun was blazing hot (the weather man was wrong that day!), I forgot to bring a back pack to put our big jug of water in so we had to use whatever bag I had in the car. To top it all off it was lunch time which meant that my visions of having a picnic by the springs was shot since it was going to probably take an hour to two hours to get there! Needless to say this hike was not turning out the way I had envisioned it.

Luckily, Claire was happy even though her nap was only 10 minutes long. We ate our lunch and started up the trail thinking what are we doing making this hike with a bunch of little kids. We totally looked unprepared. Although, while on the hike I couldn't help but think of the Mormon Pioneers and others like them who just had to leave everything except what they could carry or push behind. I kept thinking how much easier it would be if I were in better shape and not 4 WEEKS POST PARDOM, but the Pioneers didn't have the luxury to "train" for their treck across the west either. (Although, I'm sure they shaped up pretty quick) Anyhow, it made me appreciate their sacrifice that much more. We obviously didn't make it the whole 1.5 miles that afternoon...Jesse ended up having to carry Claire and the boys started getting tired, but all in all it was a funny memory and a lesson learned in preparedness. We're hiking the trail again tomorrow for Family Home Evening and hopefully the experience will be better.

Look -a- Like

It's amazing to me how much my children look like each other when they're born. Now that they're older they're much more different with just some similarities. But, I was organizing my pictures and thought it would be fun to compare all of the newborn pictures and see if you guys can guess who is who. This is actually going to be pretty easy.

A)

B)

C)

D)