Halloween 2010

De-gutting the pumpkins....Lilian thought the goopy grossness of it all was something to be relished and enjoyed. Brandon, on the other hand, whimpered and whined and made twisted faces every single time his hand went inside the pumpkin.
Go figure.

Lilian aka Strawberry Shortcake

Brandon aka Alien

Julianne aka Alice in Wonderland

Rebekah aka A Teenager who is pulling together odds and ends to make some semblance of a costume that she can wear to a Halloween party....in which she more or less resembles a child of the 80's.

All three of the older kids opted to trick-or-treat with friends so it was just Lilian and me. Despite the POURING rain which drenched us even while juggling an umbrella. Despite the fact that I was wearing high-heeled boots. Despite the fact that Lilian's candy bucket quickly got too heavy for her to carry. Despite all of that, the two of us were still out pounding the pavement, ringing doorbells and shouting "trick-or-treat!!" for a good two hours. Lilian just kept going, and going, and going....I should've dressed her as the Energizer Bunny.

Favorite Photo Friday: Halloween 2005

Candy bucket practically heavier than body, this kid plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk and declared himself DONE.
Halloween 2005.

Fall Cleaning

I know, I haven't posted for almost an entire week. That's strange for me. I haven't even been overly busy, really. Just, apparently, not very creative at coming up with anything to say. But like I said, it's been almost a week. I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here but....you get to see the results of my recent cleaning/organizing projects: the pantry and the master closet. Aren't you so lucky?? (Insert sarcasm here...)




After pulling absolutely every last can, bottle, box and package out of the pantry I scrubbed down the shelves and lined them with contact paper. Then I re-organized the shelves....using odds and end baskets and canisters to hopefully keep things nice, neat and orderly.


The whole bin/basket/box/canister idea worked so well in the pantry that I decided to pick up a few boxes when cleaning out the closet yesterday. Hats, belts and bras now have a specific, organized place to be. (Umm, am I allowed to talk about bras on a public blog?)

So there you go. A beyond exciting post about my "fall cleaning." Maybe next time you'll get to see the under the stairs play room overhaul! I bet you just can't wait!!

A Conversation

Me: Brandon, you need to clean your room because Grandma and Grandpa are coming over tomorrow.

Brandon: But, why??

Me: So that Grandma and Grandpa don't think you are a slob.

Brandon: But I am a slob, Mom. And if I clean my room, don't you think that's a little bit like lying?


(Honestly. The things this kid will say to get out of putting his things away....)

Favorite Photo Friday: Halloween costumes

A collage of Halloween pictures of the kids from 1996-present.
(Click the collage once or twice to make the pictures bigger....)

Another pumpkin patch....

....this one as a fieldtrip for Lilian's preschool class. Running through the hay bale maze, picking out pumpkins, story time and pumpkin cookies as a treat....Lilian thought life was grand indeed.

"This one, Mommy! I want the green one!"

A lot of pictures, I know. And another post that is very similar to one I did just a few days ago. But when you've got a kid this cute...how do you choose just one picture, I ask you?

Spook-i-fied

Lilian and I "spook-i-fied" our front porch today:

We hung ghosts on the tree.

We spread cobwebs over the bench and added a broken apart skeleton.

Another skeleton and more cobwebs on the lamp post.

And then cobwebs and spiders hanging on our rock columns. We also strung orange lights around the little tree in the pot with more cobwebs and spiders. (We really went to town with those cobwebs, didn't we?) All of this added to the corn stalk and pumpkins we already had out there. (Used to be many more pumpkins out front but I incorporated a few into some fall decorating displays inside the house.)

I also decided to decorate my den/study/computer room in a black and white sort of theme. Blackbirds and white pumpkins, mostly. Funny enough, blackbirds seemed somehow appropriate to decorate all the bookshelves with because I kept thinking of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Not necessarily the poem itself, really...mostly just the literary-ness of it all.

The Soldier Hollow Express

We took an old fashioned train ride today on the Heber Valley Railroad. The Soldier Hollow Express was an out and back 90 minute ride around Deer Creek Reservoir. It was a perfect day for it....Mother Nature provided us with blue sky, bright sunshine, and gorgeous fall colors.
Once rolling, we were free to move around from car to car. Along with the regular passenger cars there was also a snack/dining car and an open air car. We explored that train from back to front and then back again but ended up spending the majority of our time in a less crowded car with our heads stuck out the windows. It was great fun.

The Pumpkin Hunters

With Bryan at work and Brandon spending the day with his cousins, pumpkin hunting fell to the girls this year. Brandon instructed his sisters as to what kind of pumpkin he preferred...large and tall, not short and squat...but other than that, we had the pick of the patch. And the girls took it seriously, let me tell you. I can't even count how many pumpkins I suggested only to be vetoed. But the job is done. We have, undoubtedly, the most perfect pumpkins now sitting on our front porch just waiting to be carved come Halloween week.
Rebekah has to have this book read by Monday.... if you look closely you can see that she still has quite a ways to go. Which is why why the book accompanied her pumpkin hunting.

Favorite Photo Friday: UEA trip

It's UEA weekend. Which, for many, stands for Utahns Entering Annaheim...or Utah Escapes to Annaheim...either one works.
We do not have a trip to Annaheim...
AKA Land of the Mouse
AKA The Happiest Place on Earth
AKA Disneyland
...planned. But in honor of this weekend I thought I'd post a picture from a previous UEA trip back in 2004.

Wasatch Woman Love Your Body 6K

I ran a 6K this past Saturday with my friend Heather. I was a little nervous about it because I haven't strapped on my running shoes a single time since Ragnar last June. But Heather needed a running partner, and the run was through the gardens at Thanksgiving Point so I decided to go for it. And I'm glad I did. I was happy to discover that even though I had neglected my running, my plentiful biking through the rest of the summer had made up for it in the endurance department. It was a beautiful run and we had a lot of fun. And it made me want to start running more frequently again.

Favorite Photo Friday: Elder Bryan

"Some houses are well camouflaged, but none escape the close scrutiny of a tracting elder."
Dowtown Philly
April 1991

Master Bathroom: Before and After

Painting and decorating the master bathroom has been on my mind for months. Swirling around in the back of my mind were potential ideas for colors and wall decor and I'd been keeping my eyes open every time I was at any kind of craft store with that in mind. Finally, yesterday I woke up with a hankering to tackle a big project and decided that the bathroom was finally going to see its day.


BEFORE:
IN PROGRESS:
I got half way through blue taping and started second guessing myself. I was perched with one foot on the counter, one foot on the windowsill...straddling the bathtub trying to reach the ceiling without falling on my derriere. It's not like I could put a ladder in the bathtub! Julianne came home from school in time to take a picture of my precarious position but I chose not to share it with you. Let's just say it was less than attractive.
In order to keep Lilian feeling like she was being "helpful" I gave her strip after strip of blue tape for her own "beautiful project," as she called it.

I needed Julianne's help in order to take down the light fixture and paint behind it. It was heavy and awkward but we made quite a team and got the job done without electrocuting ourselves.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT:


I bought four of these canvas squares planning to hang them all above the tub. But it looked a little crowded to me so two of them ended up hanging over the toilet.


Also, a new garbage can to replace the white, sturdy but ugly, rubbermaid one.

Our shower is one of those Roman showers that steps in and around making a curtain or door not necessarily necessary. But it makes for a rather cold showering experience...especially in, say, January. We temporarily hung a cheapy shower liner up there...where it then stayed for the next 2.5 years. A new shower curtain has been on my to-do list for a long time...


Do you have a clock in your bathroom? Maybe I'm weird that I insist on having one but let me tell you, it is essential to me getting out of the house on time. I used to have an old $5 plastic beauty hanging up there. This one is much nicer, don't you think?