Disneyland Trip

Well, we're on the countdown to Disneyland. We're going as our big Christmas present this year. The boys will each get one gift, plus a few books. They've also reminded me that's really okay because Santa will bring them what they really want. :) So we'll be spending Christmas day at home and then off to California. We'll take 2 days to get there. There's a roller coaster in Primm, Nevada just south of Vegas that used to be the world's tallest back in the 90's. The drop is seriously almost straight down. We go on it every year. They also have a small log ride where you can shoot targets that the boys like to do. Bubba did the coaster for the first time last year. He went with me and as we were going up the huge climb at the beginning he said, "I don't know if this was such a good idea mom." I started cracking up. He ended up screaming his head off, but loved every minute of it. JP was tall enough last year, but we didn't think he'd be ready for it, so he's really looking forward to it this year. We will get to CA Sunday afternoon hopefully so we can visit with my best friend from high school. She lives in San Diego now, but said she'd come to the OC to see us. That night we will stay with my grandma and aunt along with my sister and her husband, and my brother and mom. It will be crowded, but it's just the one night.
The next day will be Disneyland all together. Yay! We look forward to our annual trip all year long. Usually we go during the summer, so it's been hard for everyone to wait this long. :) That night we will get to stay at our friend's parents house. So his parents are actually in my grandma's ward and his mom taught my mom in Young Women's, and he ended up in our ward here! Small world. Anyway, his parents will be out of town for the week and his sister is staying there before us, that's why we have to wait until Monday night, but they're letting us stay the whole week. Yay, no hotel bill!

Here are some of last year's pictures-

Running away from the big rolling Indiana Jones ball. Oh no!


Such a great smile. Need I say more?


JP getting ready for the crazy California Screamin' roller coaster that goes upside down!

Tuesday just our family will be going to California Adventure. Bubba is looking forward to going on the only ride he hasn't been tall enough until now-the Maliboomer. Look it up becuase I can't really describe it. After they close, we go over to Disneyland until it closes. We are definitely die hard fans to stay until close every night.

Monster's Inc. ride at CA Adventure

Wednesday will be another Disneyland day. Thurs. we will head over to AZ sometime in the afternoon. We plan to stay the night and visit Friday and stay that night and then head home early Sat. morning so we can get home by Sunday night in time for the boys to start school on Mon. Everyone is looking forward to seeing grandparents and cousins, aunts and uncles in AZ since we haven't been in 3 yrs. We are very much looking forward to eating at In 'n Out as much as possible as well since they have them in Vegas, CA, and AZ. Yippee!!

My brother Todd who got to go with us before he left on his mission. This year we get to go with Chad who just got home!

Today we went to the craft store for some last minute things to make parent gifts. Don't ever go out the week of Christmas. I was done a long time ago, but we decided we'd better do at least SOMETHING for the parents. That would be pretty rude if we didn't. Anyway, we're standing there looking at stuff and Jo Jo says, "1,2,3,4,5,6" completely in order and plain as day! We were all in awe of his intelligence. :) I had bribed them all with a Krispy Kreme donut if they were super good in the store because usually with all 4 they are really out of control wandering and asking for stuff. It worked. We got a donut on the way home and even got to eat inside.

Welcome Home Elder Williams

He's 2nd from the bottom w/the glasses on. It's a little hard to see.

With my sister Alicia and I.

Happy to see all of the family.

We went to Utah this past weekend. My awesome husband was willing to take on the nasty, snowy drive for me to be able to see my little brother Chad come home from his mission and give his homecoming talk. It was a hairy, white knuckle drive down and it took longer than usual, but we made it. We actually made it just in time to see him arrive at the airport. We made it about 30 min. early, plus it takes 15 min. or so for you to get off the plane. We were even there before my mom because she got stuck in traffic. She made it there in time with cool signs in hand. She had a ginormous banner that I forgot to get a picture of. There were 4 missionaries all together coming home from Australia so the bottom of the escalator was packed with families. We had a prime spot right at the bottom. You would have thought they were rock stars with all the cheering and noise the families made as we saw the first missionary. It was so exciting. The first dinner he wanted when he got home was Panda Express so that's what we had for dinner. We visited that night and got to hear some stories before going to the hotel. It took the baby FOREVER to settle down and go to sleep. He wouldn't stay in his pack and play and thought it was fun to get in and out via the bed. So he ended up screaming in our bed until about 11pm. Which means no one sleeps until then. Then for some reason the hotel alarm clock went off at 5:40 am-probably having to do with a certain baby playing with it before bed. I couldn't find the switch and had to use the light on my phone to find it-after waking everyone up of course.


With all of my handsome boys after church.

Church was at 9am, so we had to get up at 7am to make sure we made it on time. He gave a great talk and used his accent a little. He has a great sense of humor. When he left, his farewell talk took the whole time, but they told him to keep going as long as he wanted. Same thing happened this time. But they had 2 musical numbers, so it wasn't his fault. After sacrament, we went to my mom's for breakfast, but our kids had already eaten a little at the hotel because they didn't want to wait. I only ate a little bacon because we were all saving room for In 'n Out. Totally worth the trip there. We are truly sad and annoyed that we don't have one here yet. We're looking forward to CA and AZ after Christmas so that we can eat there multiple times to get our yearly fix. I was really bummed, though that it was so snowy so we couldn't eat the big yummy breakfast and then have a full lunch at my mom's. Oh well, maybe next time. We drove in slushy snow pretty much all the way thru Utah, but when we got close to our border we had pretty clear roads all the way home. Just a little wet and foggy. We even got to stop and visit with B's step-mom for about an hour and a half. The kids really needed a break from the car after traveling all day the day before too.


Jo Jo was so excited to have this hat and actually left it on for quite awhile.



The morning before when we left, B had me say the safety prayer. Bad idea. I totally started bawling and had to pause several times. I was just so happy to be seeing my brother. He and I are 12 yrs. apart in age so he was only 6 when I left home for college, so we really got to know each other thru letters and emails while he was gone. I am so proud of his hard work, sacrifice and wonderful example to my boys. I am so thankful for his strong testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. What a wonderful memory this will be for my boys.

My Sweet Boys

So I'm not copying my friend's blog. I've been wanting to do this for awhile. I just want to take the time to record how much I love each of my boys and where they're at right now.



Bubba
My first born. So tiny. You came out grumpy and stayed that way for the first year of your life. You earned the nickname Professor Grumpy Pants. You were so mischievous and daring. You are such a sweet big brother. Such a great example to your little brothers. You were so responsible and independent from such an early age. I'm so proud of your decision to be baptized. I can't believe how big you are. You don't like little boy toys anymore and you're growing up way too fast. Even though you're bigger now, you still come up to me every so often and ask for a kiss. Yesterday I was in the laundry room and you came in and said, "Mommy I need a kiss." Then I kissed you and you said, "Now I feel better." You still melt my heart, even though you argue to the death with me daily.




JP
My sweet little fluffy boy. You still have the most buttery soft skin. You are my tenderhearted boy. You are sensitive and used to be shy, but you have really come out of your shell. Such a good eater from the very beginning, you will still try and eat almost anything. You have always had smiling eyes and are still so silly at times. You are so smart and I can't believe you're reading skills. Such a good big brother, you have been so helpful and tender with the baby and still play little boy games with Peanut sometimes. You love to give me kisses and hugs daily. You have been known to throw yourself onto the floor when asked to work, but you are a good worker when you finally do it.



Peanut
My sweet little Peanut. Hot Lava Man. Still my sweet little boy. My boy who loves puzzles, building massive structures with Legos, and anything that makes your mind work. You amaze me. Truly my boy with your organization of your "stuff." I love when you make silly faces. Such a sweet brother to play with your baby, but you don't like when he knocks down your towers. Your speech is so mature and sometimes I can't believe some of the things you say. My picky eater who "hates" this dinner every night. You live off of fruit snacks and frozen waffles. Your laugh is contagious. And I love your poky hair that never wants to lie down.



Jo Jo
Sweet baby boy. You will always be my baby. You are the craziest of all. You will jump off of and climb anything you can find. You want to be just like your big brothers and throw yourself into the mix. You remind me of Bubba because you want to do everything yourself. I can't believe how much you are talking. You are like JP in that way. My snuggly boy that insists on mama holding you a lot. You like to follow me around and do what I'm doing. When I'm not around you have to make sure that you know where I am. You warm my heart when you get so excited and yell, "Mama" when I get home from being away from you.


I really have the best boys on the planet, though they drive me crazy on a daily basis and often send me to my closet for a time out. The sweet memories outweigh the bad by far. Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he sent you all to me.

My Cute Little Bear Scout

My Bubba earned his Bear at Thurs. night's cub scout pack meeting. He has completed it 6 mths. before his birthday. We had no idea he was ready until I talked to his leader and she said he had done enough. Silly me thought he had to complete all the achievements, but he only needed to do 12. So he was thrilled. He was NOT thrilled however to be getting his face painted by mom. Can you tell he looks a little nervous in the picture?




Okay, so I realized I've posted a zillion pictures of Curly Sue's hair, but I don't think I've gotten one of the top which is also curly if you let it be. And so I just had to post his hair after his bath. That's when it always looks the best.

Thanksgiving and Other Junk

So Gramma and Dad-here you go. I don't post as often as you want me to because my life really isn't that exciting. Just the daily grind-changing wet sheets, washing them, making the bed again, folding some laundry, huge 2nd pile of Thanksgiving dishes, sweeping play-doh and food crumbs and dirt clods off the kitchen floor, and putting baby down for a nap. After I put him down, I did get sucked into a book, which was a nice little break. I always read something while I rock him to sleep, but after I layed him down today I decided to keep reading a little. I'm reading Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." He's the one who wrote "Davinci Code," and "Angels and Demons." This is the 3rd book and it deals with the Freemasons. I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with Freemasons and Knights Templar. If I ever went back to school I would want to get another degree in History. European more than American. Maybe because I majored in English Lit. with a European emphasis.

FHE was a little crazy tonight. But isn't it always. We talked about tithing since it's tithing settlement time. I told about Heavenly Father telling Joseph Smith about paying tithing, what we pay it for and how it helps the church. Then we played a matching game with dollar bills with different pictures on them of the different ways it helps. We started off really well with Peanut not deciding what primary song he wanted because he wanted London Bridge and we said it had to be a primary song. We gave him several options of which he wanted none, so dad chose Do as I'm Doing and he screamed the entire time. We let him choose after that and he picked Ring Around the Rosy and since Jo Jo was dancing around we figured that would be okay. Then of course JP was pouting because Bubba always gets to read the scripture, but he was already on treat. And Peanut was mumbling something rather than listening. Then Jo Jo freaked because he wanted to sit on dad's lap and wanted JP out of it, so he decided to throw his head back into JP's head 3 times until he moved. I was finally able to start the lesson at that point. Welcome to my world...

So Thanksgiving was nice. I figured that even though we weren't leaving the house, I should at least get dressed since it was a holiday. I didn't wake up feeling well so big daddy let me sleep in. He's the most wonderful man on the planet. Then we had crackers and dip. The boys had more dip than crackers. They gross me out with the way they scoop a ton of dip on to one small cracker. We got the dinner started later rather than sooner. Oh well. B deep fried the turkey. It was about our 5th or 6th year and it's the best way to eat turkey. It seals in all the juices. Yum! I think I added too much milk to the mashed potatoes, but everyone else thought they were fine. I kind of started those on the stove a little late not taking into account how long it takes to boil the potatoes. I also forgot that after you cook the sweet potatoes (which ended up taking way longer than usual) you have to let them cool enough to peel them, but we didn't have time for that so I held them with a pot holder. Then you have to cook them a little more to melt the brown sugar and butter. We sat to dinner and B said the prayer and as soon as we said 'Amen,' I realized we had forgotten the stuffing. Luckily we just make it from the box and it only takes five minutes. Oh yeah, I made the jello and we had been planning on having dinner before the 4 hours of setting would be up, so I put it in the freezer in the garage. You kind of need to remember to take it out. It was frozen solid and refused to thaw enough to eat it with dinner, so the boys had it the next day. JP must be growing because he ate a ton of food and immediately afterwards was ready for pie. I make a chocolate pudding for he and I and Pumpkin (which I also eat) for B and I. After he finished that he asked for another piece. We said no, so B saw him go to the table and eat 3 more pieces of turkey. He's always been my best eater. He will pretty much eat anything. When he was a baby and ate jarred food, he would go thru 3 jars every meal! I had to bring a full tote with like 125 jars for a vacation one time. So anywho, dinner was nice. We just enjoyed the time hanging out together watching football, playing Wii and eating. We didn't venture out on Fri. until the evening. We needed Bubba to show us a few more Christmas ideas. I finished shopping on the Sat. after "New Moon" came out with my mom, but realized later that Bubba didn't really want one of the things I got him. We're going to Disneyland the week after Christmas this year, so we told them they each get one present. But I also bought them a game and then the big boys two book series'. The "Captain Underpants" and "Diary of Wimpy Kid" series. So Wed. I'll make the final shopping trip to Target to make returns and buy Bubba his gift. Oh, but I forgot about B. I have been pricing what he wants so I'm going to try Sam's Club before Target on that one.

This week-I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow afternoon to try and get my doctor to give me Ambien so I that maybe after 10 years or so, I could get some sleep. I have a problem falling asleep AND staying asleep. My friend says she takes it and it's wonderful and you don't feel groggy in the morning, which is what I hate about drugs like Tylenol PM. I'm just really annoyed that they never let me talk to the doctor. They always give me his nurse and she is totally lame and makes me come in. He used to be in our old ward and so it's totally lame because I go in, he asks what's wrong and then gives me a prescription and charges me $95 for it. I'm going to complain tomorrow. I'm supposed to volunteer in JP's class tomorrow, but the mom in charge just let me know tonight and my neighbor who usually takes them can't watch them so I'm hoping to switch for next week. Then I have RS. We're doing a fun get to know you activity that I suggested where you take 3-5 items that will fit in a paper lunch sack that would describe you and then we each take someone else's and have to guess who it is. I also have to make a dessert for it. Thurs. we have pack meeting, which I get the privilege of driving 20 min. away to buy the awards since my husband is Cubmaster. Peanut's primary teacher is having a Christmas party at her house during and after pre-school Fri. so I have to figure out if I'll just take him out early or make him an hour late to the party. Then there's a primary activity in the afternoon.

Fun Stuff- Jo Jo is a total chatterbox. I mean really really talking. One of his favorite things is "wateet milt" (chocolate milk). He says-open it, I play, candies (of course), calls the moon a ball and you are NOT allowed to call it the moon. We were looking at Christmas lights tonight and he kept saying-lights pretty. He absolutely loves football and is mesmerized any time it's on. He generally says-I play football. He has also started saying-night night when he's tired and/or bed and blankie. If he's sad or gets hurt he'll cry, "you" so you'll pick him up. I color, I do it are also favorites. He's so independent-like another little boy I know named Bubba. Of course mine and no are also staples in his conversation. He doesn't really jabber anymore; it's all actual phrases or words. I can't get him to eat. I try and he will seriously go the entire day on having milk and like one snack. I've tried just offering water all day so he'll eat, but he still won't. Any suggestions? He's having a hissy right now wanting to color with pens on everything while in my lap and also making it very difficult to type. So this is the end of my rambling, but hopefully it's enough for now dad and gramma. I had fun talking to you tonight dad. Love ya.

Spaghetti Man

We had spaghetti for dinner a week or so ago and my silly husband decided to let Jo Jo have his own bowl. Jo Jo already thinks he's too big for his chair. We have one of those boosters with a tray that he refuses to sit in anymore. He does pretty good with a fork, but spoons are harder because the food falls right off. Luckily, silly dad was NOT so silly that he would let him have sauce on it. He managed to do a pretty good job eating it, even if it wouldn't stay on the fork AND he DIDN'T get messy.

Happy Birthday Big Daddy

So the 16th was Butch's birthday. He hit the big 3-5 this year. I tell him all the time that it's not fair because he keeps getting better looking with age. Sat. night we went to dinner with the kids to celebrate. Then Monday night we got his favorite New York style pizza for dinner and opened presents and had his favorite dessert-angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Yum. So here are 10 of my favorite things about him in no particular order-
-he's and AWESOME dad and husband
-he puts the kids to bed at night
-his smile and dark eyes
-his peanut butter stew and mongolian chicken (2 separate dishes)
-how much he loves me
-his studly biceps
-he's a return missionary and holds the priesthood
-he still makes me laugh after 11 1/2 years
-he lets me have girls night out
-he's a hardworker

We love you so much Big Daddy! Thanks for being the AWESOME dad and husband that you are! We couldn't have asked for anyone better.

So I officially have the smartest baby on the planet. Monday night the boys were playing the match game. When they were all done, they were counting their matches and Jo Jo comes over and starts saying, "1,2,3." Then yesterday I was at the craft store and they had all these cool wooden toys. There was a clock with numbers that you would place on it to make different times. Well, he saw the numbers and said,
"4,5,6." I can't believe he can recognize what a number looks like and what order they go in. He also recognizes what a letter is and says, "I,E,I,E" when he sees them.

Peanut has also surprised me lately with rhyming. I asked my mom yesterday (who works as an aide helping kids with reading) what age they start rhyming at. She said that they test them in kindergarten to see if they recognize a rhyme. Well, Peanut has been rhyming on his own for weeks. He'll ask me, "Does truck and muck rhyme?" Usually he'll use one real word and one made up word, but they always rhyme. I'm so amazed at what little ones learn on their own without being specifically being taught.



I finally got these pictures to load, but the best one of Peanut still won't load the right direction. Bummer:(

I Don't Mean to Brag

So I don't want anyone to feel like I'm bragging, I'm just excited. I have been keeping a weight loss chart since last Dec. 1st and I just updated it again this morning. As of yesterday, I have lost 20 lbs., 1 1/2" in my calves, 3 1/2" in my thighs, 3 1/2" in my hips, and 5 1/2" in my belly. I was just a little excited to realize that I accomplished that in 11 mths. Now imagine if I was actually exercising that whole time. I'm glad to be in the gym twice a week and even 3 times once. I wish I could go more because I actually enjoy it now. I never in a zillion years thought I would be able to say that, but it's true. I look forward to it because it helps me unwind from my day and gives me a chance to escape the kids for an hour and a half. Thanks to a wonderful husband who is willing to watch them after a long day at work so I can go. You're the best! I always come home feeling rejuvenated. Now if I could just work on that junk food habit, I'd be able to get off those last 11 lbs. to reach my goal. That will be hard with turkey, mashed potatoes, and Christmas cookies. I'll just have to limit myself:(

And why does Jo Jo find it necessary to go in the pantry for privacy to poop everday?! It's a very small enclosed closet. He can open doors now (not fun after we've put the boys to bed at night and he goes upstairs in the dark to go in and out of their rooms). Whenever he gets in the pantry now and closes the door, I know he's doing his business. Can't he find another private place to go? And why am I the only one who knows how to rinse out a dish or turn off the lights? That includes my husband. He can leave a room with his closet light, the bathroom light, and the bedroom light all on. The boys always leave the playroom light, their closet and bathrooms lights on. They call me the electricity nazi. That's okay. I'd rather be that then have a higher bill. I'm also the remote nazi by the way.

"Why did the cookie cross the road?"-P
"Why?"-Me
"No, you say try me."-P
"Try me."-Me
"Acause he wanted to get runned over by a car."-P

"Why did the elephant cross the road?"-P
"Why?"-Me
"No, you say try me."-P
"Try me."-Me
"Acause he wanted to get to the ice cream pwace."-P

Peanut told me these jokes in the car on the way home last night. There were many that were the same as the cookie joke, but he would change what item wanted to cross the road, until I pointed out that they all ended the same and then he told the elephant one. I love his sense of humor.






We went and took our Christmas pictures yesterday. I wanted to do them in the same place as last year since it's so pretty there, but B thought we should try somewhere else. It's really hard to get a good one of a baby looking at the camera, but I think we got at least 2 that we could work with. We even took a couple of each of us with the kids just to have, but for some reason the sweater I'm wearing makes me look way fat, so needless to say that sweater will be donated. I've actually lost like 6 pounds, so I definitely don't look that big in real life. We had a nice lady take a picture of all of us that actually turned out with everone looking at the camera. I got at least one good one of each of them individually. I got a cool frame at Pottery Barn at least a year ago to that has five individual spots for pictures, so I wanted to put one of each of them and then one of the four of them together. Since Jo Jo could walk this year, I really wanted one of them all walking away from the camera and we got a couple of cute ones. Yay! They were so good and patient yesterday so they each got a candy at See's candy. That's their favorite candy place. I wonder who they got that from. Anyway, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. For some reason blogger won't update my pictures that are vertical even though it always does. I'll post them separtely if it ever decides to work again.


Jo Jo has been holding 2 bops at a time lately and switching back and forth between the 2. This is what he came in the living room with the other night. I'm not sure what's going on with our camera, but it's being a little funny and fuzzy. Time for a new, better one.

Just a Few Reasons to Love My Boys

Peanut thought it would be funny the other night to "scare" me with his fake bug collection. So at first he would just stick one up in my face and I would pretend scream. So then he thought it would be fun to start putting them all over me, so I sat still while he placed them all over me. Today he told all the kids at pre-school that his name was Peanut, so when I went to pick him up, I called him by his name and then a little girl in front said, "You mean Peanut?" So then they all started shouting it. He's so cute. I sure love that little guy.

Last night, after a long day of washing piles of peed on bedding and dealing with Mr. Likes To Argue About Anything and Everything, I went to the gym to unwind. My brother thinks it's funny that I go to relax, but anyway, I got home and the boys were finishing a game with dad. Then we made them get in the shower. I was on the computer checking email and JP and Bubba come running down naked after the shower. They ran into the living room, holding each other's hands running in a circle singing a song that Bubba was making up as he went along (although I did hear him practicing in the shower even though I was all the way downstairs). They were laughing away and having the greatest time. They wanted us to video tape them, but we were like, "Um, not a good idea." I did tell them that I would take their picture if they went upstairs and got pjs on. So this is how they came down. Yes, Bubba sleeps in his underwear. It could be 65 upstairs and he still sleeps with the fan on and no clothes. So, needless to say, it was a great ending to a poopy day. Just when I want to strangle them and need a time out in my closet, they end the day being goofy and making me laugh. I sure love those silly little boys. (And yes, we do feed JP, he's just arching so his ribs are showing). Oh, and those ARE underwear on their heads.



Then there's Mr. Whiny Hold Me All Day. I can't ever get much done during the day. When I get home from running errands it's nap time, and the last week or so, he won't sleep unless I'm holding him. I try to lie him down and he wakes up crying. Well, this morning he just wanted to sit on the couch with me and snuggle after he woke up. I was sitting there thinking of how nice it is that he still loves to snuggle with me and he's almost 2. Not all of them were like that. So I'm very blessed. I figure I'll get stuff done and have a clean house again when he's bigger, but I won't be able to get back that snuggle time. I sure love my sweet little snuggle bear.

Okay, lastly, how many people are actually reading my blog? I mean I enjoy doing it for journaling purposes, but I don't know if anyone but 2 or 3 people actually read it. So even if you have never made a comment, please write your name in a comment box. You can sign on as anonymous, and then just write your name in the comment box.

All Hallows Eve

Warning-lots of pictures!

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. Not the traditional answer of Christmas, but I'm not your traditional girl. Anywho, we had a great time. Bubba was Harry Potter, though I only got one picture that turned out blurry of him actually wearing the glasses. We forgot the scar and glasses until it was time to go out and we were across the street and Aunt Alicia reminded me.

JP was Commander Cody. I'm not sure which Star Wars movie he's from, but he looks like a storm trooper. I have a feeling he's a good guy though if I'm remembering right. I haven't watched the movies 2,000 times like they have. He could only wear the mask for pictures because it squashed his nose. It looked pretty funny how it made his nose completely flat.

Peanut was "Dark" Vader, which was kind of surprising for a 4 yr. old to be someone bad. He had to give up his mask halfway through trick-or-treating because it was bugging him.


Baby Jo Jo was Mickey Mouse. He totally loved the gloves and left those on the whole time unless he was eating candy. The ears he kept pulling off. He was really digging the candy.

I decided at the last minute to dress up. I do ever year, but I wasn't feeling it this year. Peanut was begging me to dress up so I got out the old costumes. I was thinking of being a witch again, but the wig was really tangled. I tried the pink rocker wig, but it looked funny, so I thought quick on my feet and improvised with my jeans, black boots, a somewhat rockstar t-shirt, and teased hair and rockstar make-up. The kids got a kick out of that.







We started the afternoon by making chocolate suckers for all of our friends and a few left over for us. Mom did the pouring, but JP and Peanut chose the colors that they wanted each sucker to be. Then we went over to our neighborhood clubhouse where with 3 other families we had a small potluck and games for the kids and Halloween house making out of chocolate graham crackers and candy. Then we came home to meet my sister and her husband. B opted to stay home to pass out candy because he's the official Halloween humbug at our house. Plus, the 3rd game of the World Series was on. AJ decided he'd stay too even though he dressed up. He works for the forestry service so he wore his uniform and Alicia was a lumberjack. She went trick-or-treating with us. We had the perfect weather. We actually didn't need long underwear and parkas this year. It got a bit colder as the sun went down, but I still didn't need a jacket. With the nice weather we were able to hit all but about 3 houses in our neighborhood this year. We dropped baby off about half way through and kept going. Then we came home to get AJ to go to the bishop's spook alley. Oh my gosh it was amazing. They really put a lot of work into it. It was really fun (although not too scary for big boys). Peanut had opted to stay home with dad and Jo Jo which I realized after going that he had made a good decision. Then on the way home, we stopped at several houses along the way. There weren't many in their neighborhood since the houses are all on 2 acre lots and you have to walk quite a ways to each house. So we drove to each one that was lit up. We hit the neighborhood behind ours on the way back home, which a lot of our ward members said was a good thing because they hadn't had many trick-or-treaters. I found that odd since we got a gazillion this year. Way more than last year. I saw families parking their cars in front of our house and then going through the neighborhood. We also have a fire station in our neighborhood and we went there as well. All in all, they cleaned up. Excuse the expression, but they got a butt load of candy. They've never gotten that much. Probably because we've never been able to stay out that long due to sub-zero temperatures.

Peanut's spider and web sucker already being eaten before mom got the picture.


Bubba made a sad face house, hence the sad face in the picture.


Peanut got a little help from dad on the construction, but did the candy himself.


JP and I worked on the construction together and got our roof to stand together.

We had carved pumpkins on Thurs. so they wouldn't rot before Halloween. The boys opted to do their own this year rather than having me carve one of those intricate designs from a book. I liked this since I usually spend hours carving and my hands cramping. All I had to do was gut them. This wasn't fun, though because they had been sitting outside in the cold and the pumpkin guts were freezing. I forgot to take pictures of the momentous occasion, but got some the next day with them all carved.

Bubba pumpkin head. He thought it would be cool for me to take this picture.

Peanut colored both his pumpkins with faces by himself.

JP was very proud of his big pumpkin, almost too heavy for him to lift.

Then on Fri. we went to B's office to trick-or-treat. Our car was in the shop and Jo Jo's costume was in the car. Fortunately, we still had Bubba's clown costume from when he was that age. He wouldn't wear the wig, but I figured his hair was curly enough, so I just added a lipstick nose. Silly me forgot to take any pictures :(

If anyone has advice on taking better pictures or on a good camera please help. I love my SIL's and would love to know how to do that.