AnNuAL PumPkIN CarVinG

11 years...Can you believe it? We've been hosting this for 11 years now. It's become one of our very faVoRite things! I've got in down to a science now-it's called a "Carving Contest Bin" After Halloween I'll hit the sales and buy all my replacement items and put them in the bin. Next year I'll send out the invites, make the prize shirts, purchase the pumpkins and open the bin-VOILA! Party Time!!

Clyde, Jack, Monte Sr., Monte Birk, Diane, Will, Seth

(l-r) Clyde's, Seth's, monte Birk's and Jack's PumPkIns

I let the boys begin their pumpkins as soon as they got home from school this year. Sadly that means I forgot to take pictures of them actually making their pumpkins but happily it gave them more time to play at the party. And it was far less stressful than trying to help each one of them finish in time for the judging. This year Monte did his entire pumpkin alone. He was so proud and HE WON!!! Seth and Clyde needed a little help with cleaning out the GUTS and drawing but they did all their own cutting.

It was a great crowd this year with the Judd, Peterson, Reidhead, Singer, LeSuer, Bogle and Sanchez families. We are so blessed to have so many good friends.

One handed carving going on here.

Now THAT deserves an award...

My husband is truly AweSoMe!

This year we finally got smart and moved it into the front yard. Years past we've had it in the back and it ruins our freshly seeded winter grass. Either that, or we're cramped for space being relegated to the porch. It was fantastic in the front and the kids had way more room to RuN!

Hite, Seth, Clyde and Noah

(Hite is from our ward and Noah is one of our best friends from school)

The Judds w/ Petersons in the background

Tawnya, Sienna and Madison Singer with little Deja Judd

(a few of our fantastic neighbors)

Emery, Josie and Abby Reidhead

sleuthing

A family favorite. We probably put too much

chocolate in each glass of milk.

We can't help it, can you?

(If you said yes, you're probably being untruthfull with yourself. I hope so, because if you really only use one Tablespoon in each glass you are missing out!!) I try to keep it under control with an "out of sight out of mind" tactic (ie the top shelf in the pantry behind something else.) But the other day I came into the kitchen to find the pantry door open wide with the tallest stool ready and waiting. An empty glass of chocolate milk was sitting next to the gallon milk jug on the counter. As I was putting the lid back on the container and pondering who it was that had the tasty treat the answer was revealed. The culprit had left his fingerprints...

I'd say they're just about Jack size-wouldn't you?

my addiction

OK I can admit it. Once I find something I like I get a little obsessed. Booties for instance, baby booties. Call me a freak. They only take about 45 min a pair to make and they are so stinkin' darling I can't help it. Sadly, I'm sick of giving away my new passion. And too attached to sell them.

There was also this little voice inside my head that kept whispering..."William has no shoes...William has no shoes..."but when I tried the above on his little tootsies...well, you can see how that wouldn't work out. Yesterday morning I woke to the voice whispering, "aren't you tired of having the only barefoot baby at church?" So I took the pattern for the above and did a little tweaking of my own yesterday morning to create the below...William looked pretty trendy at church in his new sneakers. I think I may be on to something here!!

Fall Break

I love the brethren. I love having them home. 1 week is NOT a long time to be with your children...and yet I woke the first morning of Fall Break feeling dismal and trapped. I had planned NOTHING! There was nothing in my back pocket to pull out and say, "WOW kids, you're awesome Mom has it all under control!"...and after a morning of tv, wii and whining I'd had it!! I claimed the rest of the week as "UNPLUGGED!" and loaded them ALL into the car for a quick trip to QT for soda's-just to get them out of the house. Which led to an impromptu picnic ($5. pizza) at the park with friends. Which, of course, led to making our Halloween T-shirts at our house with friends. That invariably led to sleeping in the tent (in the playroom, mom was too lazy to have them outside) and the tent was so fun that we decided they should sleep in it all week...

The brethren entertained themselves the rest of the week with games, crafts and creations. They also lived between the neighbors house and ours for the next few days...LOVE these neighbors...the Judds...they have a movie screen and a projector...so we invited a few other families from the neighborhood to our backyard...

Then to top it all off we "left town" Thursday afternoon. To Grandpa Arnett's house. (Where Monte cut 20 minutes off his commute and was there by dinner, spent the night with us, and then went back to work the next day!) The boys woke up and helped Grandpa clean out his garage for the better part of the day before they were allowed to play the wii and watch a movie with mom. After Cousins Jude's birthday party and stories it was back to bed so they could get up early and help Grandpa clean the church Saturday morning with Dad!

...and as a side note, I made my very first pumpkin roll over spring break! Easy and tasty, even if I do say so myself! (The brethren loved the fact that the middle of the roll made a G for Gardiner!)

**families in our yard for the movie...the Susims, HoChings, Judds, Reidheads, Singers and various parent-less neighborhood hooligans...

Greatest invention EVAH!

the BUMBO...sounds RIDICULOSO eh?

Not SO!

When you've got one of those babies that thinks they are older and stronger than they truly are-one of those babies that wants to stand in your lap instead of sit-a baby that won't lean his head back but prefers to have it wobble unstable on his neck...when you've got THAT sort of baby then this little chair is the WOOT WOOT!! YIPPY! HAPPY THOUGHT you've been waiting for.

WOLF

Slowly but surely we're figuring things out. Monte Birk got his Wolf, one gold arrow point, 4 silver arrow points, and 3 belt loops at the September Pack meeting.

He Had to drink Wolves blood in order to advance. The old Leaders made the wolves blood out of jello, these leaders did it with tomato soup-he was not aware of the change! So when they were pouring it into his glass Monte Birk made a show of nonchalance. He was SO EXCITED to drink..until it hit his mouth (ever had sprite when you thought you were getting water?) His gag reflexes was quick to register-poor guy. Still, he did impressively well.

Best Friends

The sweetest sound in the wide world is the voice of a 3 1/2 year old saying to his baby brother in a high sing songy voice, "Are you my best fwiend? Are you the cutest baby in the woorld?" and "EEEW stinky mustwerd buns!" TRUTH TIME...Will is never happier than when Jack is in his face!

my FAVORITE people

Does it get ANY better than this?!

Pre School 2011

(L-R Kemp, Chase, Jack, Deja, Josie)

My best bud!

the sake of documentation

Sometimes things just need documented for the sake of documentation.

Clyde (on the way home from Saguaro lake)

L- Clyde R-Seth

Jack and I were having a conversation (I was of course, talking to his backside because the TV was on) and he stopped mid sentence. After a few, "Jack, what's up? Jack what were you saying? Jacket! What's going on?"...

...I came out of the kitchen and in a little closer. Mom+TV is a tiring combination.

reflections

I love my life. I adore my husband and the home he provides for me. My 5 boys are brilliant, caring, wonderful and happy. I have a special relationship with each one of them. Yes, when I held William for the first time I still cried for my other 2 babies, lost. I want them more with every passing day. And yes, I will still be going about my daily routine and suddenly find myself in tears feeling as if the bottom has fallen out only to realise that I am missing my mother. Yes, I am scared to death of loosing my father. (Although he's got longevity in his genes. He is 74 now and just beginning to "feel" his age.) Yes, I worry about the bullies on the playground and in the parking lot. I worry about so many things but the honest truth is that Life is GLORIOUS. Life is WONDERFUL. Being a wife and mother is the highest calling I could ever hope for. I feel horrible for the women out there that choose not to do this. That choose to not experience it and can not understand this life. "Don't miss the boat!" I want to tell them. It is difficult, harder than anything else I can imagine. You give up so much to do it. The rewards seem few and far between. You will never get it perfectly right. You must be a total self motivator and you must be totally selfless to be completely happy. You can never wonder about what you may be missing. The moment you try to do something for you and only you things consistently fall apart. At times you wonder what you are doing creating road maps, guiding lives and hurdling chaos when you are completely untrained and unprepared. Clueless. You can't imagine how you've gotten there but there you are. And someone has to do it. And you're the Mom. It's all you. "Welcome to motherhood. Now it's all your fault." That's what my mother told me when I had my first. the good. the bad. the ugly. But I like to think that it's ALL my fault. the kind. the generous. the beautiful. So guess what?! I'll take the blame! It's my fault everyone! I just hope there's more positive to be blamed for than negative in the end. But you never know, right?...Motherhood.

the common cold

The strange thing about eating grapes when you have a cold is that every once in a while you get a soggy one, and that's OK, 'cause you can't taste it anyway.

Pre School

he's only 3 1/2. it's just a mommy co-op preschool. he doesn't care. he's so excited to get together with friends and wear his own backpack. he has school work and experiments. his first week he are worms and dirt! and he's gonna "beat you on the top of the coconut tree..." it's so fun to see him after school, all boy, my little man.

i got crafty

I was so proud of these gift packages I had to share...

explanation follows the photos...
girl gift

boy gift

EXPLANATION

Let me tell you what is stressful...being invited to a work sponsored baby shower when the boss is throwing the party, it's a family event (kids invited), you're the new guy, it's a double shower (2 co-workers having babies), you're going out of town that afternoon, you've never met any of the hub's work associates, and you've gotten emails for 3 weeks making references to "all the kids" that will be there when you have a sneaky suspicion that 1/2 the kids coming are yours!!
One more point begs to be mentioned...

MORMONS go to 1,00o baby showers a year (well it does seem that way at times) and we all bring a present, of course! But the Mormon way of giving is 1 outfit, if you're lucky 2 and a little home made hair bow. It's OK, it's the culture, we've come to expect it. There are times when a nice group gift happens. Maybe a stroller-from all 14 people in attendance. But let me tell you about the NON-MORMON baby shower. Boy howdy, I've been to plenty of these as well and the first one I went to I came with my little 'outfit in a bag'. No way Jose! They give real gifts, like major packages. For example, I've seen them give a stroller-from one person!-car seat included! (it wasn't from a relative) or maybe a bath package-not just the hooded towel but every item needed for the bath-tub included. So I was really feeling the pressure last week.

Luckily-I'm crafty and craftiness can go a looooong way in the non-crafty world. Especially if it's all individually wrapped in it's own cellophane envelope. Here are some close up's of my crafty. I've hit upon a new bootie pattern to die for! Someone else have a girl...PLEASE so I can make some more!!

the BEST doctor

The BEST doctor...is a nurse practitioner. Once upon a time I met a new friend at a random church function. We got to talking about Pediatricians and who we use. She told me that she didn't know, "what (she) was going to do living so far east now. (She) just LOVED the Chandler office of Mesa Peds but it was so far away now." I asked who she saw and she replied, "Oh, I don't go to a doctor there. I make sure my appointment is with Leslie Sezate, she's the nurse practitioner, she's the best."

It's worth the drive...I go there too.

This is my Aunt Leslie Arnett Sezate at Williams last appointment

I'm sad to admit that it took me 6 years of Dr's appointments to figure out to make ours her last appointment of the day so we can sit and chat endlessly. She's my dad's older sister and she's not allowed to go anywhere as long as I have children...I told her so at this appointment. She informed me that I had to keep having babies then. What kind of deal have I made?!