party time!!!!

Luckily, Natty is our only child whose birthday falls anywhere close to a major holiday (Halloween). Because it makes planning her party a little tricky trying to coordinate with all the major goings-on between school/church/community. Sooooo... even though her birthday isn't until Wednesday, we had her party this past Friday. We were on Fall Break, so I decided to have her "friend party" while Tim was at work, and then we will just have our family party on her actual birthday. Needless to say, about 5 hours before the 7 girls arrived, I starting pacing the floor wondering, "What in tarnation was I THINKING doing this by myself" considering I also had Dallin and his little friend from across the street, Brooklyn, and Lou-lou (equivalent to 5 children). But, turns out I was acting the martyr for nothing because it was actually went relatively well (aside from one little drama queen...excuse me, "little friend", who claimed as she was leaving that "this was the worst time [she'd] had in her entire [8 year, ungrateful, little] life.) I digress.
The girls had a ball- they made their own pizzas (rolled the dough and everything): decorated aprons to take home: did the typical cake-and-ice-cream thing, and Natalie is now the proud owner of every Littlest Pet Shop animal available on this good green earth. (She is in LPS Heaven).
So, we all survived, and even had a good time. Tomorrow I'm taking Dallin in to the Dr. because I think he's got strep-throat, but that's another post...

So tonight has been one of the best nights I can remember for a while. And I figured out why: I wasn't keeping one eye on the kids and the other eye on the clock making sure they were in bed by a fixed time. In fact, I didn't look at the clock once. (note to self: stop being such a time-nazi.) But that was only one reason this was such a good night; here was the other:As I was getting Brooklyn bathed, ready for bed and fed, Natty volunteered to make like a babysitter and put Dallin and Lou-lou to bed (they were having a slumber party in Lou's room since it's Fall Break). So she did- complete with reading stories and laying down with each of them. It was so calm and enjoyable, I had to capture the moment.

Here's something I never thought would come out of my mouth: "Now, where are those wire strippers?" Our *@#)(&% garage door is semi-broken and one of the wires on one of the sensors had snapped. Right then, I realized a couple of things: 1) I can't believe I even thought to look for wire strippers; #2) I can't believe I actually knew what to do with them. I believed I had a hidden talent. But alas- it did no good. Tim's job.

The other day, Beboo and Papa met the kids and I at Huber's Farm for some fall pumpkin fun- the kids picked a knucklehead pumpkin (I loved the name, so I would have bought the thing for the name alone), rode mini-tractors:

fed the animals:Lou-lou wasn't fond of the goats. They were crazy. Plus, they stunk. But dallin sure liked the baby goat.
Brooklyn had her 4-month check up today: 13lbs 11oz; 24 1/2". Croup is gone, ear infections are gone; only a little thrush issue, but will be gone within a couple days. We can't get our flu vaccinations soon enough!

I'm it....

Got tagged (I think---Meg knows 2 Ashley's, so I wasn't sure if it was me or the other, so naturally I just assumed she meant me....)

Answer the questions with one word (or a little more) and then tag three people.
1. Where is your cellphone? dresser
2. Your significant other? busy
3. Your hair? gone
4. Your mother? creative
5. Your Father? honest
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
7. Your dream last night? impossible
8. Your favorite drink? tang
9. Your dream goal? well-traveled
10. The room you’re in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? reading
12. Your fear? lost time
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? organized
14. What you’re not? mean
15. Muffins? apple-cinnamon
16. One of your wishlist item? decor
17. Where you grew up? st. louis
18. Last thing you did? general conference
19. What are you wearing? P.J.s
20. Favorite gadget? camera
21. Your pets? none.
22. Your computer? on
23.Your mood? peaceful
24. Missing someone? yes
25. Your Car? efficient
26. Something you’re not wearing? makeup
27. Favorite store? barnes and noble
28. Like someone? family
29. Favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31.When was the last time you cried? today

I tag: linda, darla, mel.......get busy, gals ;)

week of events....

Natalie had a splinter this weekend that, admittedly, was buried pretty deep. She happens to have an *extremely* low threshold for pain, so there were tears, bloodcurdling screams, and near-fainting spells that would have been blog-worthy. However, I decided that it would be horribly insensitive of me to take advantage of her in pain, so I didn't take pictures of the event; plus, I couldn't find my camera.

The other day while sitting at the computer I heard the sound of silence, which is never a good thing when lou-lou is awake. This is what I found:

"What????"

Brooklyn is finally to the fun age where she is smiling and cooing more often than not, and whenever I go get her from her crib, all I have to say is, "hi, sugar!" and this is the reaction I get (excuse the blurry quality): Life is good.

randomness...

Someone stop me. I'm afraid I'm just getting too crafty these days. I found a website that showed how to make origami bookmarks and now I just can't stop making them. They're so easy and cute, I don't lose them, and now I don't have to dog-ear my books as I read (speaking of which, I bought Wind in the Willows and Persuasion on Saturday. I can't wait to read W.i.t.W with Natty and Dallin- too difficult for Lou-lou to listen to) :









If you want to know how to make them, go here: 52books.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-make-simple-origami-bookmark.html

Here's my littlest angel with her gargantuan bow. Forgive me. I couldn't help it. And if you don't have enough websites to occupy your time, here are some fun blogs I follow:
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/
http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/
http://www.fabulousfunfinds.blogspot.com/
http://orgjunkie.com/
http://simplemom.net/
http://theinspiredroom.net

grateful, grateful, grateful.........

Sunday as we were leaving for church, the winds from Ike hit Louisville and it was a little scary to be honest. The winds topped out around 75 mph, and were strong enough to do this: (It's not our tree- just an image I got off our local news website). It was enough to keep over 200,000 people without power. In fact, many of those people are still without power 5 days later and there is a projected estimate that it may take up to 14 days to restore power. And it was enough to have school canceled for this entire week.
So in light of all this, I've been grateful for a few things especially this week:
1-We were lucky that we only had our electricity flash off for a second on Sunday and then everything was, and has been, fine.
2-It wasn't worse- I think of what it was like in TX where they received the brunt of the hurricane and I can only imagine what kind of nightmare that has been for them.
3-Air conditioning. Sunday we had church in the semi-dark and only had open windows to cool the place. It was toasty. We are so spoiled. I will never complain about the chapel being too cold again.
4-A modern-day prophet who warns us and commands us to get our homes in order in case of emergency: food storage, water storage, emergency kits, etc. Watching our bishop's family cooking on a camp grill, using the generator to power their fridge and freezer, and not having to eat out once despite no power for 5 days inspired me to get more on-the-ball. There was no panic involved. There is truth in the scripture that says "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear". I need to be MORE prepared.

Did I mention how grateful I am???

busy week.....

I am officially a big girl now. I have my own fall wreath that I actually made! See??And truthfully, my friend had all the stuff and helped me figure out how to put it together. But the point is, I started a project and *finished* it. I need to celebrate. It feels SO GOOD to complete a craft...maybe this will be the momentum I need to finish the 50 *unfinished* projects I have sitting in my closet....starting with the quilt I've been working on for 10 years. Literally.

Today we went to my good friend's house to check out the latest additions to her family:
Rhonda, L'il Red (Kendall), and baby sister due soon!:Daddy (Boomer):
Mommy (Rixie) and babies: (the "puppy train" as my kids called them)The kiddos enjoying the pups- aren't they CUTE??!
Rhonda and Ryan also have 2 pet longhorn cows that live out back...don't know what their names are, but they're toothless and they like apples, so the kids got to feed them a little treat...