Halloween Duds

I am calling this post "Halloween Duds" for one of two reasons; either I will be describing what my family wore for Halloween this year, or the "Duds" refers to my lame attitude about Halloween. I will let you be the judge...

This year, we didn't carve pumpkins until the night before Halloween. It seems like every time we planned to spend an evening carving pumpkins, a major school project was discovered that was due the next day. So, we would have to spend that time frantically putting together a science project or social studies presentation. The good news is that the science project earned an A, and the social studies presentation got a B (which was very good considering this one was actually a day late - remember when I said "frantically"?)

So anyway, on October 30, we finally dragged the pumpkins off the front porch and got them carved for Halloween.

Our pumpkin carving nights usually go something like this - Mom cuts the tops off and gets pumpkin grime up to her elbows scraping all the guts out while the kids wrinkle their noses over how slimy it is.

Then, each kid takes a marker and draws the scariest/funniest/silliest face they can design on their pumpkin.

Finally, Dad sweeps in with the knife and carves their design perfectly (and gets all the credit).

Here are Adam's and Pepper's jack-o-lanterns...


...and Jessica's and Luke's. They turned out all right, don't you think?

The next night, of course, was Halloween. Jessica spent the night with her friend Braedyn, trick-or-treating and all, so I didn't even see her in her costume. I hear she was a gypsy. Pepper also went trick-or-treating with a friend; he was a football player, so if you will refer to my "Why I have no life" post, you will see him in his Halloween costume (I was very supportive of his desire to simply wear his football uniform for Halloween this year.)

Adam was a vampire, and Luke was a clown. Both costumes came straight out of the Halloween box in my basement - oldies but goodies. Adam will want me to mention that he did win the prize at our ward Halloween party for "Scariest Kid", so that is our triumph this year.

I managed to get one picture of Luke in the nose, and one picture of him in the wig, but sadly, no picture of him in both. I think you get the idea.

Brad took the two boys trick-or-treating with some friends of ours while I stayed home to pass out candy. My night actually consisted of giving candy to 3 trick-or-treaters and chatting with my neighbor over Diet Dr. Pepper. Then, we ate pumpkin pancakes with the above-mentioned friends while we watched a Brian Regan DVD. Delightful, actually!

Happy Halloween.

Chi-town

This past weekend, Jessica and I went to Chicago for a "Girls' Weekend" with Brad's family. His mom and sisters and sister-in-law all flew out to Chicago for a couple of days, so Jess and I drove over to meet them. We had a truly delightful trip!



Jess and I arrived a few hours earlier than the rest of the group, so we got tickets for "Wicked" the first night we were there. It was quite different than I expected - a much darker tone than "Wizard of Oz" - but we both really liked it. Whenever I see a professional play, I am just blown away by all the talent on stage, and this play was no exception. Such amazing singers, and the sets were unbelievable. It was the perfect way to spend our first night in Chicago.



Brad's sister Becky is morally against eating in chain restaurants while on vacation - she feels strongly that when you are visiting a city, it is lame to eat in the same places you can eat in at home. So, on Friday night when we only had time for a quick burger at McDonalds, I had to get this picture of her at a fast food chain in the middle of Chicago. Sorry Becky.



The reason we had to hurry through dinner on Friday night was because Lois had gotten us tickets to see "Jersey Boys." Yay! What a delightful show! We were all taken aback by the "authentic New Jersey profanity" (in the words of my friend Mary), but the music was so great! The show is about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and how they rose to fame in the early 1960's, so the soundtrack is all their best do-wop hits. It was all I could do not to sing along through the whole thing! The guy who played Frankie Valli just blew my socks off, too. He sang almost non-stop for an hour in this amazing, high tenor voice. He must have to go home and put ice on his throat after every show. Jess didn't like this show as well as "Wicked" because she didn't recognize the songs, so didn't it didn't have the same nostalgic value it had for me, but I easily could have sat through another two hours. It was like a Broadway Musical Biography, which in my opinion is the perfect marriage of my two favorite forms of entertainment. So fun!



We finished off our stay in Chi-town on Saturday at Gino's East Pizza. There was a long long line of people outside waiting to get in, but because we had a big group, they let us right in and sat us down. We felt like celebrities!



Writing on the walls was encouraged, so Jessica documented our visit on the window.



This is what the pizza looks like at Gino's. You can see that it is about an inch and a half thick - imagine an inch and a half of gooey, yummy cheese, sauce, mushrooms, and sausage. Oh yeah...

Saturday night, Jess and I drove home and listened to the "Wicked" CD we bought at the play. I think we got through the whole CD three times, so it was like watching the play three more times, although I must admit we listened to a couple of favorite songs many times over so we could memorize the words ("I'll make you pop-U-lar"). It really helped the five-hour drive fly by.

Thanks Lois, Haley, Kim, Becky, and Katie for letting us join your Girls' Weekend. It was the perfect mini-vacation!

More than he bargained for

Right now, Luke is really into shoes. The other kids leave their shoes by the front door, and he loves to find them and try them on. Well, this morning, he found Pepper's heelies, which are those crazy shoes that have wheels in the soles. I think they were more than he bargained for!

Luke is also cracking us up lately because he has his own way of saying Adam's name. For some reason, he can't get both syllables out, so instead of Adam, Luke says "Ass" (pardon his French). As my neighbor says, hopefully this nickname won't stick!

(you can pause the playlist at the bottom of the blog to hear it)

Why I have no life...

I feel like September has just flown by in a fog! This Fall, we signed Pepper and Adam up for flag football and soccer, respectively, thinking that one sport per child was reasonable. What we didn't count on was the amount of time each team spent practicing and playing games. I have honestly been driving to either a game or a practice every day, Monday thru Saturday, since September 1st. While it has been crazy, it has been fun, too. It is nice to spend a couple hours each day outside in the delightful fall weather. We have had a couple coooolllddd nights, but mostly it is around 65 degrees and pleasantly crisp.


We signed Adam up for a soccer league in a neighboring city because our town plays their games on Sundays. While the extra drive time was a drag (30-plus minutes to get there from our house, and nearly 90 minutes for Brad to get there from work), we really liked his coach and the other parents.

Even though this was his first time playing in a soccer league, Adam did very well and established himself as a star player. He scored the first goal of the season for his team, which in fact was the only goal of their first game (they won 1-0).

He didn't like playing goalie or defense much because he preferred running and chasing the ball.

Adam's last game was last night, so he will have a break until Spring Soccer starts in April. The season ended just in time, as last night was pretty cold, and it was nearly dark when the game ended.


Pepper is playing flag football and it has been a real learning experience for him AND me! He plays right tackle (I think), and I wasn't prepared to watch my little boy shoving and getting shoved so much.

That is Pepper with the blue thing over his jersey in the center of the picture. Even though it is flag football, they wear all the pads, which should have clued me into how rough the game is.


Pepper has spent a lot of time working on being aggressive and ready to move when the ball is snapped. Here he is in his little 3-point stance (is it wrong for me to think he is so cute?).


Pepper is #20. During the games, I look for the #20 jersey, or I can also tell it is him by his saggy bum in the football pants.


Don't hurt my boy!


My favorite football stud.


Watching all the sports this fall has been a dream-come-true for Luke. Pepper left his football gear out one afternoon, and Luker decided it was his turn to play. He is also quite good at squatting down and calling "Hike!" in a very macho voice.


I guess with three boys, I should get used to spending my time at various sports games. Jessica is also busy with her ballet classes, but that is easier for me to relate to. I'm glad I have at least one daughter I can live vicariously through...

Pepper turns 10!

Well, on October 2, Pepsy Lou turned 10! He is now officially a member of the Double-Digits club, which of course is the best thing ever when you are 10.


For his birthday, our family went to Chuckie Cheese (a.k.a. Up-Chuckie Cheese, or Yucky Cheese, whichever you prefer). Pepper invited his friend Landon to join us, and it was perfect because Landon had his 10th birthday the day before.


After a meal of semi-edible pizza, Pepper blew out the candles on his cake.


We got Pep a new bike for his birthday. It is huge - he wanted a "bike like Dad's", so that is what he got. It makes me nervous when he rides it because his feet barely touch the pedals and aren't even close to reaching the ground. So far, there are no major injuries to report.

Happy Birthday Magoo! We love you!

The most wonderful time of the year...

Yes, it's Back To School time again, and we are all delighted (some more delighted than others.) Here are Jess, Pep, and Adam on the first day of school, which was Sept. 2 for us. In case you can't tell by the fingers they are holding up, Jess started 7th grade, Pep started 4th, and Adam started 2nd.

This is Jessica's second year of middle school, and it is much nicer this year because she isn't a newbie anymore.


Pepper has his first man teacher this year, Mr. Cole. I'm hoping Mr. Cole will help Pepper become more independant at school. In the past, Pepper has worked his female teachers' kind-heartedness to his advantage, and he manages to get waited on hand and foot. I don't think Mr. Cole is going to be quite so accommodating.


It is hard to believe Adam is starting 2nd grade. That is the grade Jess started when we first moved here. I thought she was so grown up, and now I think Adam is still such a little boy.


Don't Pep and Adam look chipper at their bus stop? If you think they look excited, you should have seen me in my living room doing the Happy Dance!

Actually, I must admit that I had a very fun summer with my kids this year. As they get older, I find that I am enjoying spending time with them more and more (it helps that they don't need something from me everytime they talk to me). I will miss having them around, although I will not miss the messy house that goes along with it. It is truly delightful to straighten up my house in the morning after the kids go and have it stay clean nearly all day. And, I still have Luker to keep me company.

Jessica turns 12!

On August 20, Jessica turned 12 - a momentous birthday. Since most of her friends are already in Young Women, she was more than ready to leave Primary and join the big girls. In honor of her birthday, we threw a "Crazy Pants Party." Each of the girls wore the craziest pants they could find, and we had a little fashion show with prizes. Then, of course, we watched "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

No birthday party is complete without cake. Jessica decorated her own birthday cake this year - you probably can't tell, but the cake is cut to look like pants and Jess made sure they were very crazy.

Make a wish...


Jess's big gift this year was an iPod. I'm not sure this was a good idea, because now she spends all her time with earphones in. I'm kind of lonely without my buddy to talk to. With all these boys in my family, I need her for girl talk!


Happy birthday Jessica! I am so proud of you and the truly cool person you are. Our family is all the better because you are in it. You have great instincts with people and I appreciate all the help you give me with the boys without me even having to ask. Even though you will always be my Baby Girl, I am looking forward to watching you grow up and become the sweet, smart, amazing woman you will be. I love you.