Youngstars Halloween Party

A BIG, BIG thank you to Barbara and Brenda for the fabulous party they put on for the kids.  I am always so amazed at all the work they do and I just can't believe they have the energy to deal with these kids.  I mean seriously, it's exhausting.  I am amazed.  

Frankenstein was a hit with my kids.  As we know from my Juana and Ito's house, they love the guys that dance and sing!

The trick-or-treating part of the event was a bit chaotic, but what do you expect from 17 kids between 3 and 4 years of age?  Lunch calmed everyone down though and I think they all suffered through the healthy stuff just so they could get the treats on the table.  Well, I know my kids did.

Finally, the part I was waiting for - PERFORMANCE TIME!  Last year, as a three year old, Jackson DID NOT perform.  Seriously, he sat or stood there with this scowl that was so not entertaining.  This year it was an entirely different story.  I am still so proud of him for getting out of the shell and actually doing all the motions and singing all the words.

Andi spent the first hour attached to my leg, lap, or whatever she could clasp.  But by the end, I couldn't even find her.  Ryan had fun getting out there although he's still a bit shy.  But, for the first time ever (such a bad mom), I learned how much he loves play-doh.  Ok, so we so need to get some for Christmas.  I mean, like the whole set.  I love the picture with his tongue hanging out!!

Fabulous party Grandma K and Grandma Brenda - we so appreciate you and we wish Grandma K a very Happy Birthday!!

Project Runway Finale

Last night we had plans that required getting a sitter.  The kids haven't had a sleep-over in so long and I SO needed it.  Andi has never been a real good sleeper, but the last two weeks have been awful.  She is crying three or four times a night, Jackson has been in our bed, I have been in pain from working out, and really, it's just been miserable.

We took the kids to my parents and Mark made us all dinner.  After dinner, the kids were doing to be distracted making cookies, so we decided to slip out.

It didn't work.  Jackson freaked out.  This has been Jackson lately, very clingy.  Tantrums, fits, emotional breakdowns - who is this kid?  Anyway, we tried everything and nothing was working.  We finally had to sneak out one by one.  Unfortunately for my parents, once he realized we were gone, things weren't pretty!

But it's funny - you can't wait for them to be gone, you wait all day until the moment you get to drop them off, but then it's sad.  Then when we got home last night, we arrived to our empty house, and it was so sad.  It's always so sad.

But, I am glad we did it because we had a lot of fun and a lot of yummy stuff I shouldn't have eaten.  Andrew was inspired by Cake Boss and we even had to make sure we were home an hour before the gathering so he could prepare his cake.

This morning though, I'm not going to lie, I woke up and realized it was 6:30am and I had been sleeping since 11:15pm.  Seriously.  That was heaven!  So overall, a good night.  Well, for us, maybe not for my parents!?!?  HAHA

It Blows My Mind

My blow dryer died.  I was so bummed because who wants to spend money on something like that.  But you need it, or at least, I do.  My frizz ball of a head needs to be tamed!  Luckily, I got an awesome gift card from my grandparents so essentially, my blow dryer, and other needs, were free.  This allowed me to spend more than I normally would.  I mean, I always buy the cheap ones - ALWAYS.  I have never thought to spend that extra $10 or $15 on a blow dryer.  Why would I?  

WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?  I have so been missing out I am telling you.  At first I thought it was a waste of money because when I went to use it, I wasn't getting overheated.  Well, apparently you don't have to get overheated in order to get dry!  I don't even have to straighten my hair now.  Yes, you heard me, it's that good.  Of course if I want that real polished look, I will, but for day to day it's so not necessary now.

So yes, it's worth the extra money in my mind!

One Down, Two To Go

Monday Andrew promised the kids that we would carve pumpkins.  But by the time they woke up from naps, Andrew finished working, we completed our errands and dinner, it was too late to do them all.  We opted to do the VERY large pumpkin Shay brought to us from Utah.  The kids' faces really are spectacular in these pictures - they crack me up.  

The boys took no time getting into the spirit.  Andi on the other hand had to be coerced.  She didn't like the feeling on her hand but later, I turn around to find her on the table helping out - go figure.  All in her own time!

They were so very excited about the final product and couldn't wait to stick it outside.

I'm glad we were able to do this Monday night because I think it got the kids even more excited for our Ward party the very next night.  Andrew got home from work at about 6pm, just in time to get the kids all dressed up in their costumes.  It's a good thing too because I had run out of fuel.  Seriously, so tired.  But, the show must go on right?!  My role came into play when the hard part was done and pictures needed to be taken - this photo, and other recent photos, make me extremely nervous for this year's Christmas picture.  I mean seriously, can they all just smile!?!?

Ok - let's discuss the costume choices - for memory lane sake.  A while back I went to a consignment sale and they had this BEE COSTUME for $4.  I bought it because it was cute.  Funny thing is, Andi has really grown to have this thing with bees.  There was this certain book we would read often and when we see the bee, we make th buzzing noise and sting one another.  She loves it now and it makes me happy to see her in a costume that does indeed related to this time in her life.  Ry is obsesses with fire trucks these days.  Before Richard's retirement, I think Ryan got a good fill of time on the fire truck.  It has created this love and familiarity with it.  So, go figure, Jackson's costume from a couple years ago just so happens to fit Ryan this year.  Perfect.  And Jackson.  Jackson wanted to be Ironman.  Grrr, I'm really not a fan of superheroes, but whatever.  I looked for a cheap one, no such thing.  I was NOT going to spend $25 on a costume, just couldn't do it.  So we went to my favorite place, Children's Orchard, and this Pirate Costume sort of came together.  It was especially awesome that gramma nette made him a shirt to go with it.  He seriously loves it, is obsessed with it and wants to wear it all the time.  I am so excited he found something he loves and is within my idea of an acceptable price range.  Ok, moving on....

One thing I don't like about ward parties is that usually they are very dark.  This makes it difficult for me to keep track of the kids, see our food, or relax period.  Walking in a to well lit room was refreshing.  The games were super fun too - well, Jackson loved them immediately, Ryan had to warm up to the idea but because he wanted candy, he conquered his shyness.  And miss, well, she just went and stole the candy when the game tenders weren't watching.

7:30pm hit and it was time to Trunk-Or-Treat.  This was a good enough reason for Andi to finally put on her bee hat.  Whew - I am especially glad she did because it really got cold last night.  Oh, I forgot to mention when we got there, as we were walking from the car to the building, Ryan practiced his "Trick Or Treat".  So, he was excited to finally use it.

All went really well until Ryan, sleepy Ryan, became clumsy Ryan.  He totally ate it - nope, not the candy, he fell and out went his candy.  So sad poor kid.  But dad came to the rescue and on we went!

We walked straight to the car when we finished collecting the goods because it was FREEZING!  Everyone got to eat on piece in the car so of course, Andi tried to find hers as we walked to the car.

Last year, I hid the candy when we got home.  This year, I went to bed.  So, first thing this morning, they all wanted their candy.  Even if I did hide it, I think having this problem this year is much more likely.  They are all getting so old!!!!  When I got out of the shower, I found this chick with her bag and two open suckers.  Oh boy!

**Juana and Ito carved their pumpkin as well - their very first ever!

They did a FABULOUS job!

The Weekend of My 29th

 FRIDAY the fun began.  My dad and Andrew have been dying to take Jackson out to the Chica course in Valencia.  Now that he has hit the red flag at the driving range three times, it was time to get him out on a real course.  With grandpa arriving in town, it was the perfect time to get everyone out there.  From what I hear, Jackson did fairly well for his first time.  He naturally took a break from a few holes, but it is felt that he really did enjoy himself.  One thing is for sure, he worked up an appetite and Ito needed a nap!

 The girls then took a break and my mom treated us to mani/pedis.  Not a bad way to start a birthday weekend :)

What do we naturally do when we have a chance for a nice dinner.... SUSHI!  Grandma is always so excited because they rarely get to go.  She was so excited she didn't even want to take the time to put her shoes on!  And the kids are always stoked about sushi!  Andi really does seem to love spicy tuna - my kinda girl.

My Birthday - SATURDAY was a long but oh so good day!  That morning I took a shower on my own - woohoo.  I have to admit, I was surprised I didn't have a little visitor join me, but when I got out and found her on a mound of books, I knew why I got that moment of freedom.

Truth be told, I didn't clean it up until Sunday afternoon.  Oh well.  Andrew scheduled to have me get a massage at 10:30am and I was so stoked to have Michalle join me.  It was a nice chance to catch up - oh wait, her guy wouldn't let her talk.  Yes, he actually tried closing her lips!  How rude :)  And then for me, they were so concerned with me being pregnant, the guy did my arms the first ten minutes, and then only focused on my legs and feet.  Hello, do you not know that when you're pregnant you're not going to break and yes, your back HURTS!?!?  Either way, it was a nice way to start my morning.  From there, I had to rush home to meet up with Andrew.  The afternoon brought me a surprise - no, a complete shock.  My family and friends put their heads together to surprise me with a little gathering.  Who can complain when you have enchilladas, rice, beans, all sorts of chips - heaven!

Ir really was so very relaxing and it made me so happy to see all the love and support.  But I can't lie, one of the best parts was sitting there, yes, on my big butt, watching everyone else clean up!  Well, I guess Ryan joined me in that category.

SUNDAY we woke to some real cranky kids.  Considering Ryan was the only one that decided to take a nap Saturday, and considering we didn't get until until 10pm or so, the kids were beat.  Seriously, beat.  Oh, and Friday night was 8:30 or 9pm, so yeah, it added up.  We were late in getting bathed, around 9am Jackson even asked why we were still in our PJ's.  Yes sir!  We bathed and immediately put the kids down for a way early nap.  I headed out to have menudo with my dad and grandparents while Andrew held down the house.  Luckily for us, everyone did sleep!  This made things much more pleasant when we headed out to Lombardi around 2 or so.  We are so grateful my grandparents were able to make it out this year afterall and we're so grateful for the tradition that began years ago.  Unfortunately, everyone else thought this was the perfect day as well - HOLY COW it was packed.  Luckily, it wasn't awful inside, but looking at the parking lot it truly was intense.  The funny thing to me was that here we are, a group of nine, trying to take a group photo despite the large crowds around us.  Not one person offered to take the picture for us.  Nope, they all just watched.  This didn't really matter because I am an expert camera propper, but seriously people, no one offered to help out??  Whatever.

We didn't stay too long I don't think.  Well, maybe it was a tad longer than one would plan but that's only because it took time to get from one point to another and it took nearly a half hour to buy tickets and another half hour to wait in line for the train.  Luckily for us the train was the only thing we decided to do!

 Originally, Jackson told us he didn't want to go on the train.  I bought him a ticket anyway.  Later we found out the reason he didn't want to ride the train was because he thought it was going to take us and drop us off somewhere.  I was so happy he joined us and that he LOVED it!  The train is Ryan's favorite and he has been dying to ride it since we went with preschool.  He was one happy camper.

Now I guess you go to Lombardi to pick a pumpkin, an expensive pumpkin.  Seriously, this place is such a rip off - they abuse the season I think.  Oh well.  The kids all picked out their own pumpkin but of course, not one of them picked one they could actually lift.

Considering we're following traditions here, grandma had to have a picture in the "tractor"!

Jackson is officially in that awkward stage where pictures just don't go over well.  Not sure when or how this happened, but it did.  So, I tried to get a few of him smiling.

We waited at the Fire Truck while grandpa grandpa and dad paid for the pumpkins.

By now, it was 6pm and we were starving, so ready for dinner.  When you're already near that end of town, you have to hit up CPK.  Ok, maybe you don't think the two places are that close, but it was close enough for us.  We had the pleasure of enjoying a nice evening  under the heaters outside.  The kids played around the pond before and after dinner and we all loved the Four Seasons pizza.  Ok, I'm hungry NOW!

That night we were sleepy, way sleepy.  All kids were in bed by 7pm.  They took a while to fall asleep, but it was a nice relaxing evening after such a busy weekend.  Busy yes, but wonderful!  I felt truly blessed and loved and I am forever grateful to those that contributed to my 29th weekend :)