Cancel that!

You may remember this post that mentions Gage and his girlfriends. Well, he has been doing some thinking.
As I was driving with him yesterday he out of the blue says to me, "Mom, I'm going to have to cancel my girlfriends."
I'm thinking, cancel? Did he have a date planned with them? What is he talking about? Turns out he wants to "break up" with them.
So I asked a few questions, "why do you need to cancel them?"
Gage answered, "well, they are Ute fans so I will have to cancel them. I'm a BYU fan and BYU fans can't have Ute girlfriends, so they are getting cancelled."
WOW! I had no idea we have so effectively brainwashed our children, now if only I can somehow do that with them picking up after themselves, cleaning and flushing the toilet, giving me daily foot massages, changing all the dirty diapers, etc.
We had a little discussion afterwards and decided that he wouldn't have to cancel his girlfriends after all, we can be good friends with people who like different teams than us. So I guess it is girlfriends back on! He even found a red Hershey's kiss to deliver today and leave on her porch. Only, it is rivalry week ... so we will be looking for blue kisses to deliver!

Holiday Boutique

Its that time of year again!

Holiday Boutique
Saturday, November, 21st
Open House 1-4pm

6865 South 3370 West
801.964.0233 (Deena)

Jewelry, interchangeable watches,
crocheted hats/headbands/flower-clips,
advent calendars, paper bag albums,
nursing covers, baby BOOTies,
fun & unique handmade gifts....

Seriously, so many talented ladies - these are the hats and headbands and flower clips I have for McCall, each time she wore one I had so many people asking me where to get them. You can get there HERE! You also have to see the to die for little baby booties - cowgirl/cowboy boots, McCall has some and they are ADORABLE!

Can't wait to see you all :)

Broken

That about sums up our week around here. I am documenting this week for myself, so one day I can, perhaps, look back and laugh and smile with fond memories of it. At this moment fondness does not enter the equation, laughs are absent, and smiles are rare. Let me just give you a run down of the past 10 days and things that have broken around our household.
1. Ryan's car - I drove it to the gym in the morning and made it home with no incident. Ryan left to go to work and the car wouldn't start - nor has it since then. It sits in our driveway awaiting a tow truck.
2. Kara's van - Ryan crashed it into the curb yesterday during a snow storm. He will have to tell the story as I am still unclear how it all happened. Anyway, it does not drive now and also has to be towed. So we will be calling the repair shop and see if they give a discount for having two vehicles from the same pathetic family at the same time. A big THANK YOU to Brad and Tara for lending us their car - at great personal risk if you ask me!
3. My Computer - wireless card gave out, riddled with viruses, slow as tar - haven't missed it too much because Ryan let me borrow his old one until we can fix mine.
4. Ryan's old computer - that's right, it has also crashed, can't even get it to start. Not sure of the problem ... just aggravated at the moment!
5. Purse - while technically a purse cannot be broken, it can not be properly functional. My favorite (and only) purse that can double as a diaper bag had a sippy cup of milk poured into it by our sweet little girl. It covered my wallet, check book, carry along camera, cell phone, diapers and wipes and all those other great things found in a mothers purse.
6. Drill - our drill and/or both batteries for it died completely. This of course happened when I went to drill all the holes in the advent calendars that I made for the boutique this weekend. None of them got holes drilled in them and thus were not finished.
7. My favorite bowl - as I started this post I sent the boys with fresh scones to give to their dad and the other men doing tithing settlement tonight thinking that the poor fellas would be starved since being at the church since 8am this morning. Not the case, apparently their office is full of treats! But on the way back with an empty bowl Tate dropped it on the icy cement and brought it home to me in fragments and tears.
But he wasn't injured so at least he is not broken, except his little heart - but that was mended easily with a hug and reassurance that it was not his fault. I guess the most important things have been fixed and healed this week - all the rest are just expensive conveniences.
Here's to a better and less expensive week.

It's Coming... and I hope you do to!

I love the holiday season. Everything about Christmas appeals to me. But the Christmas Boutiques are probably one of my very favorites! And this year I am making things for one - and I will definitely be buying as well!

Here is a little sampling of what I am making for this fabulous boutique set up in my friend Emilee's home. She makes the BEST jewellery and her sister, Jennie, makes the BEST cards and paper crafts. You are going to love it! Please join us for an open house - have some treats and get a jump on Christmas shopping this Saturday - November 14th. There will be many more crafters and artisans there as well. Paper Bag AlbumsAdvent Calendars

Date:
Saturday, November 14th

Address:
1071 W. River Pine Circle (12100 South)
Riverton

Time: 10:00-3:00

Call me or leave me a message if you need more details! Can't wait to see you!

Sac-relig

Seriously, who would do this to a nice family like us? Why are we being discriminated against? Pure blasphemy, sac-relig and hatred. We got home from our nice Sunday spent with family and a wonderful baby blessing to these adorning our porch - for all of the city to see. The boys were mortified, until they found the bag full of red candy that accompanied them. Our list of suspects was short, only 3 families really. I mean it's pretty easy to narrow down because there are so few Ute fans. But narrow it down we did, we have identified the perpetrators and the boys are busily planning their revenge.
It does, however, help that our dear neighbors have the cutest girls on the block! Gage openly calls them his girlfriends, and why not, he points out that they do have a yard, a trampoline and a dog! What more can a boy ask for? Oh, that's right, a COUGAR fan!

'Tis the Season...

...to catch the flu. Oh the joys. Well, at least the boys took advantage of not feeling so well and took a much needed nap. It seems that this is only a 24 hour flu accompanied with high fever and chills and aches and pains. Not as bad as it could be.
Don't let the pictures fool you though, this was between whining, crying, complaining, etc. And now they are feeling so much better and had too much sleep during the day to be able to go to sleep at a decent hour. Put away the Motrin, bring out the Nyquil.

Trick or Treatings Pics

What a night! These little ghosts and goblins had the time of their spooky little lives. Our most fun Halloween night yet.

I only doggie paddle!

I recently came across a list of 100 goals that I wanted to accomplish from college. One of my professors had us complete this list as part of our curriculum. I did it as an assignment and probably really thought seriously about the first 50 goals, then just started listing them to try to come up with a hundred.
I finally came up with 100 and got my "A" grade on the project and neatly filed the list away with the few assignments I actually saved. So when I found it I was excited to read it. I was utterly amazed at how many of the goals I have accomplished over the last 13 years (it hurts to write that!). I was surprised that I can cross so many off that list, close to 3/4 of them without even looking at that list and consciously thinking of them.
But there are two on there that have me especially concerned - funny that they both have to do with physical fitness. That is where the fear comes in.
The first unfinished goal is to run a half marathon. I actually think that I can do that one if I can keep up the training. Thanks to my sister-in-laws who got me started running again this past year to participate in the Ogden marathon relay - my portion was only 5 miles. But it was so much fun that I am looking forward to doing it again. The plan is to follow that up with a half marathon in the fall.
But the second unfinished goal is what scares me. Participate in and complete a triathlon. What was I thinking? I was hired to be the photographer for three triathlons this summer and I really enjoyed them from behind the camera. In fact it made me want to do one. But I have a slight problem - I only doggie paddle.

Happy Haunting

Happy Halloween from our scary little family to you!
We had a great Halloween, probably our most fun one yet. The kids are getting old enough to really get into all the parties, scary music and of course the costumes! The kids were good to let me "help" them choose their costumes this year, I don't think that will keep up for much longer so I had to take advantage of it. We went back to the classic Halloween costumes this year and our goal was to be home made. We had so much fun making the costumes together. The boys helped with everything from picking out material to using the hot glue gun - that's right, very little sewing here! Except for McCall's dress, I couldn't figure out how to make a dress with a hot glue gun, suggestions are welcome!

Trick or treating was so much fun this year. The weather was great and the boys were ready to conquer the neighborhood. They had practiced their "trick-or-treats" and even had a great trick up their sleeve for our bishop. His family happens to be Ute fans so the boys carefully picked out a great big pumpkin and carved it all up into a nice Y for BYU. They helped sneak it onto his front porch and leave it there all lit for the neighbors to see. Unfortunately, Gage has a hard time keeping a secret and immediately told them as he asked for candy.
Just the same it was great fun. We later found a nice red U pinned up over our large BYU flag on the front porch, the boys and their cousins wasted no time in getting rid of it.
Back to trick-or-treating, Brad and the boys joined us this year through the neighborhood. The kids were literally running from house to house, Gage didn't even bother to hit the sidewalks, he took shortcuts to each house by running through the yards - aaaggghhhh! He was so excited about the whole thing this year. He ran his little heart out, had a few collisions with candy buckets and treats going flying, and only a small bruise to show for it. He was slightly upset when the bath water that night would not wash it off.
Tate was thrilled to have received an entire candy bar, not a small one, but a real big one. But it happened to be his father's favorite kind so he generously handed it over without a second thought.
Connor was done with trick-or-treating after just a few houses and wanted to go home. He was concerned about getting cavities and was happy with his few treats. He was nice enough to accompany his little brothers around Grandma's neighborhood, leaving his bucket behind. But he was thrilled to find a dollar bill in his bucket amongst the candy. Which he gave me this morning to help us buy a house. I gave it back to him and told him he got it for being such a great big brother.
The boys have counted and recounted their candy, they have sorted it many times and in the end we combined it all and they all get to share it until it is gone, or until I get tired of picking up wrappers. I wonder which will happen first. Good times, great life.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

2009 Pumpkin Patch was a success. We went later than usual this year, as somehow October just passed us right by. But we had a lovely evening going through and picking out our pumpkins. The boys were looking for the biggest and fattest pumpkins they could find. They had big plans for their jack o lanterns this year. They found the perfect pumpkins, one with blemishes all over it, they were convinced that that particular pumpkin had swine flu. So it was a must have. Gage preferred the rotting ones, we nicely declined and had him pick a less soft and mushy one. McCall could care less and was just along for the ride.
Uncle Korlyn accompanied us, as he was here visiting from Canada. I think this was his first trip to the pumpkin patch.
McCall just happy to be along for the ride.
It shouldn't be so hard to get 4 kids to look and smile at the same time should it?



Korlyn is a big fan of Nacho Libre, he thinks that he has some great moves. I don't necessarily agree, but it made for a funny shot that he will probably regret most of his life!

Gage insisted on his own wheelbarrow and was pretty good at directing it in the right way.



We have this same picture from last year, fun to see how the boys have grown.
I love this time of year. Things are still crazy busy and hectic, but it seems we spend more time at home and with family and for that I am grateful.

Emma turns 5 in Utah!

We were pretty lucky to celebrate Emma's 5th birthday at our house! They came to visit from Canada and we got to go to the movie, play in the bounce house, have pizza, cake, ice cream and of course girlie presents! What a fun day. Thanks for sharing with us Emma, and of course for bringing Grandma Fox for Gage to see! Although, he did get a little shy, he was thrilled to have seen her.
Happy Birthday Emma!

Gage's Homework

Not to be outdone by his older brothers, Gage has started "homework". He begs to do it everyday, including weekends. Of course if I had his homework, I too would beg to do it. He spends a good amount of time each day drawing pictures for Aunt Jana. Then he tells me what they are and I am supposed to write on them and send them to Jana.
When he is through with his drawing and writing exercises he then wants to watch Letter Factory or Talking Words Factory, without interruption from anyone. But he wants me to sit with him through this torturous ordeal.
We have a lot of fun just the two of us when McCall naps and the older boys are at school. He has quite the imagination and loves his one on one time with mom. I don't think that I talk at all, he carries the conversation well enough for the both of us.
I love this time of life.

Flag Football

C

Connor begged to play flag football this year so we signed him up with his good friend and neighbor, Brayden. Brayden was a force to be reckoned with, Connor was fun to watch. Not too aggressive or competitive, but he loved being there. He was in every play, but from a distance. He stayed in his position and knew where to be, but shied away from any kind of contact with a flag.
We'll see if he wants to play again next year. He is now looking forward to basketball to start.

Crafting Updates

I found this pretty hideous frame for 50% off and decided to buy it so I could paint it. Oh so cute, and oh so easy!
Before:

After:Cake platters - I saw these adorable cake platters at a recent boutique and fell in love with them. They were so much fun to make and even more fun to shop for the plates and bottoms. Oh the possibilities!
They are a cinch! Just find yourself a cute plate and a candlestick or goblet and adhere them together with epoxy glue. Seriously so much fun, so, you can be expecting these for Christmas!