Look what we got trick-or-treating!

Sorry for the blurry- I think you get the idea, way too much candy!

Halloween meomories 2009

What is your favorite part of Halloween?

Lindsey-going to everybody's house and gettin' candy.

Emily- mine too!

Tyler-That you get lots of candy.

Eliza-going trick or treating.

Grandma-seeing all my cute little kids dressed up.

Grandpa-handing out candy to the trick or treaters.
Ben-eating the kids candy!

Andrea-bedtime, so I can eat their stuff!

Spiderman, Elphaba, Cheeky monkey

Punkin' butter

Princess Lindsey

Happy Halloween from our house to yours!

Happy Birthday Party!

Sunday is Lindsey and Emilys birthday. Now I Know I am crazy, 20 friends, 2 birthday girls! Today Hannah Montana drove by our house in a limo and left a note in our mailbox for the birthday girls (it's ok to tell little white lies, right?)

Dear girls,

I am so excited that you are at Lindsey and Emily's birthday party! Will you please help them find some things for the party? Stay together and only go to the houses you know.

When you are finished come home and be ready to start pumpin' up the party!

love,

Hannah Montana

xoxoxo

Who would of thought that letter would have been such a big hit! You should have heard them SCREAM!

The hunt was on.

birthday candle Check

balloon Check
paper cup Check

Cute Brother Baker didn't realize he had to give only one thing on the list. He rounded up the whole list and presented it in plastic bag. Poor guy must have thought we were crazy. He said to me "you wouldn't mind if I don't invite them in?" Hey, even I wouldn't invite all of them in!

Emily-banana cupcakes

Lindsey- chocolate cupcakes

Happy Birthday Party my big girls!

never underestimate the power of a man, on a bicycle, with no teeth.

Gracies first taste of the cold. I think she finds it a bit shocking!

Last night I ran out of gas. I was on the freeway and barely coasted off the ramp. It was one of those times when I thought, stop for gas before you go. I ignored myself, because I didn't want to take the time. The two minutes it would have taken me to stop turned into a hour. Sometimes I wish I would listen to myself.

I called Ben and he said he would be right there. I sat back and texted a few people I was thinking about. Ben got there with Eliza and Tyler in tow. I had Gracie and Emily with me. Lindsey opted to stay home because she thinks she is so big! He put the gas in, I turned the key and it wouldn't start. I tried to start it over and over. Pretty soon the battery died. Oh no. Ben squeezed his car next to mine and jumped it. Nothing happened. I started to panic, Emily needed to go to the bathroom, Gracie was screaming, it was getting dark, and it was freezing outside. We were just getting ready to call a tow truck when a man rode up on his bicycle.

Let me stop the story and tell you where my mind has been the last few weeks. I have felt completley alone. I know, crazy, when you have five kids. I wonder how I can get the things done that I need too. How I am supposed to take care of the physical and spiritual needs of my family when I can barely take care of myself. I hate H1n1, and how confined it makes me feel to my house. I really feel like I might be at my breaking point. I have been singing the song from The Sound of Music in my head over and over lately except I skip to "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things. And then I don't feel so bad."and then I say to myself "too bad I can't think of my favorite things." Sad to say, my first thought when the car ran out of gas was "chalk it up to the things that aren't going right." And then the man came. Really he looked like he was homeless or a meth addict. My first though was don't stop. My next thought was, Ben is so nice to even talk to him. He suggested getting the car to coast to a parking lot and he would take a look at it. Seriously, he had rotted teeth and a ratty bicycle. Needless to say I was very skeptical. Why couldn't some higher power send a nice respectable police officer? He pulled out his backpack and just happened to have the tools he needed, just happened to know what to do, and just happened to fix my car. He said that he has a 8 year old and always tries to help people with children. Wow. That was a little smack in the face. Good things do happen. So heres to you Julie Andrews, eat your heart out, a few of my favorite things.

El Sol, the cheese enchiladas ( my mouth is watering)

Eliza saying "seriously mom, I need you to come right now!"

Cold weather

Logan in the fall, it was snowing leaves.

Remembering all the places Ben and I have lived.

Little babies, and cousins.

Thinking of great Christmas presents and having people who can make them for you!

Friends who bring me beautiful red flowers.

Tyler saying "Lindsey be careful with me I am tiny."

Ben Brown

Now I don't feel so bad. Thanks bicycle man for making me remember.

two things for my very pregnant sister

First:
Sara, guess who got to practice holding a baby today?! You should have heard my kids scream "NEIL" when they opened the door. Currently he is giving Eliza a ride around the block in his car (Rachels car.) What a great Uncle. We sure love him (especially since he brings great treats!) Second:
I went to see this movie last night. I really like it. If you are bored while Neil is gone tonight grab Rach and go see it!



One more thing. I can't wait to see your baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

dog strollers and hot lava

Today I was looking on Target.com for birthday presents for Lindsey and Emily. I don't leave the house that much with Gracie, so I am hoping to find everything I want online. Wish me luck! Lindsey handed me a birthday wish list the other night. One of the items she wishes for is a "carrie okie" machine. Since I know she loves to sing I thought this would be a great present. The only problem was I didn't know how to spell it. I typed in what I thought was right and started my search, this is what I found. At first I thought to myself "I haven't seen a stroller with a built in net before." Then I looked closer. Its a dog stroller. WHAT! Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of walking your dog? My next thought was "hmmm, that would actually keep my kid from climbing out." Just put em in and zip em up! Brilliant! I think I would zip tie the zipper pull so they really couldn't get out! I did see a show the other night on TLC about people who have monkeys for babies. And since people frequently tell me that my babies look like monkeys I just had to watch. One of the ladies had her monkey in a stroller like this one. People would come up to admire her "baby" and recoil in horror. Pretty sad! I wonder what people would do if they saw my kid in one of those?!
For your information I did find a karaoke machine (after calling sara to see how you spell it.) I am still looking for a unicycle for Emily (seriously, that was on her list!)
After the birthday shopping I started to get ready for 4:00. What's 4:00 you ask? Well it's when Oprah comes on. Just for the record I used to watch Oprah All the time when Lindsey was a baby. Then with the birth of each child she was phased out to Blues Clues, Charlie and Lola, and my personal favorite Spongebob Square Pants. Today she was going to have a guest on that I really admire. I was dying to see it. I set the DVR last night. I had my dinner ready to go in the oven (sweet and sour chicken, cousins you should make this from our cookbook, yum) I had said hello to all the kids and given them a snack and sent them out the door to play. I sat down to nurse Gracie and turned on Oprah when the back door opened. All the kids filed back in, its too cold outside! I looked, it was 60 glorious degrees. My kids have problems. They will play outside when it is 115 degrees. The minute it drops past 79 they have to pull out the winter clothes. I paused the show. Set them up with movie. Settled back in and wham! Tyler drops a full container of family sized yogurt all over the carpet. I held it together and cleaned it up, asked why he would carry the yogurt around (he doesn't know) and settled back in. By now poor Gracie was starving. I watched half of the show and it was amazing! Then I heard a ruckus and went to look. This is what I found. Eliza standing in the middle of hot lava! The pillows are the rocks the floor is hot lava. Imagine three kids bounding from the furniture to the pillows!

It was over, my carefully planned afternoon. Don't worry I finished watching it after they all went to bed. As for Oprahs guest. Do you read Nie Nie? If you don't you should. She has truly inspired me. More to come!

marathon bubbles

First things first. We hit a milestone at our house. It has been five months in the making. Drumroll please...Gracie graduated to size 1 diapers! Hip hip horray. The progression of diapers. Micropreemie Preemie Size 1

We went to the St. George marathon today. It is one of my favorite things to do in St. George. The weather is perfect and the air is filled with excitement, encouragement, and hope. For me it marks the beginning of fall. We like to stand at the finish line and cheer the runners on. It is amazing when a runner is coming that doesn't look like they are going to make it. The crowd goes wild cheering them on. I have seen people pass out, throw up, and legs buckle like jello, stand up and make it because of the support from the crowd. It is a truly amazing experience. Emily was getting restless today so I gave her my camera to take pictures. This is the marathon through a six year olds eyes.

Self portrait

Way awesome mid air stride

There were quite a few random pictures of feet, legs, and an especially great one of my behind!

picture of a girl in the readers digest that she brought to entertain herself. She also took a closeup picture of the bagel bites, very artistic!

Emily and grandpa

Huge popsicles, one of the reasons we go to the marathon.



I took this of gracie the other night and I thought it was priceless. Ben and I are still amazed every minute of the day that this little baby is ours. The red spot on her chest is a strawberry hemangioma. We like to think of it as her identification mark!

postcard from Carillon Beach, fast forward 25 years

Dear Becky, Ryan, Amanda, and Carlos.
I thought I would give you a taste of what we will look like when we are vacationing 25 years from now. I don't know about you but it looks awesome!
see you soon
Andrea Hey Randy, Do you think any of these things are swimming around Lake Powell?

No Garth, those were craw dads! Maybe I should give it a little smooch. It is soooo cute!

Wait, I didn't know that Derek went on this trip. Oh wait, thats Uncle Walt, the backwards hat through me for a loop!

Hey Ann, don't you have a purse made of one of these things?

No Stephanie I don't, but maybe I should it is pretty awesome!

Wow, I can't wait for this!

10 pounds and 120 dollars

Can you believe this girl weighs in at a whopping ten pounds now? Way to go Gracie! 4 kids selling lemonade

1 mom and baby supervising

1 cute sign holder

1 lemonade tester

120 dollar profit, priceless

We have a friend who is nine years old. Last December she was diagnosed with bone cancer. A few months ago her foot had to be amputated. Lindsey wanted to have a lemonade stand and donate the profits to Darby's family.

4 kids+4 gallons of lemondade=120.00

Today I saw the goodness in people. Today I was a proud mother.