Love This Girl!

My sister-in-law, Maria, has this awesome website! If you ever get a chance to look at it you're in for a treat. I love all of her ideas and tips for organizing and making life simple. She has four kids so you can imagine how busy her schedule is. Her talk to me Tuesday was one I thought everyone should know about... Thanksgiving tips! Hope it helps those that are doing any preparation for the big feast!

Non Smoking Area...

I'm usually pretty tolerant to those that smoke. I feel it's their own choice to smoke and I can't get in the way of agency (although I don't promote it). Most of the time I hold my breath when I walk pass someone who is smoking and go on without a second thought. However, when I am with my children or I see a woman who is pregnant and smoking, I tend to be less tolerant. Still, I usually don't say anything... Well, you have to love those kids that are so innocent! Today we were walking out of a public place and within 8 feet of the door some people were smoking, one of which a pregnant lady! I of course was irritated but didn't say anything. Sammy on the other hand didn't hesitate one bit! She plugged her nose and yelled, "Mommy that stinks!!!" She started coughing and making it known to those few people that it was bothersome to her little nose. Shortly after they put out their cigarettes and left the area. I have to admit that I was pretty proud of my daughter today! We got in the car and I said, "Sammy... I love you!" Way to go Sammy for enforcing smoking laws!

What am I to do with my kids?

It's official... I gave up on potty training. After five days of potty training I've had enough. I kept telling myself, "One more day." Ashley does not seem to care one bit! She does not tell us if she needs to go to the bathroom... and what's worse, she doesn't tell us if she's had an accident. That present is for me to find on my own! I figure she is not truly ready and I will just be frustrated the whole time. So for now, we continue changing diapers for two!

Katie, that crazy little child likes to eat Desitin! I hide it and when she finds it she pops open the top without hesitation! You would think it would taste horrible! Maybe she's lost her sense of taste lately with her cold? With all that mess she also cut another tooth! She is finally starting to get teeth on bottom. For a long time she's had a lot of teeth on top and only two visible teeth on bottom. We're glad she's finally starting to look normal in the mouth... minus the Desitin!

In the midst of potty training we've been trying to reintroduce the "marble jar." The jar represents good choices. Sammy has started a jar of her own and when she makes good choices she gets to put a marble in her jar (cleaning her room, going to bed nicely, and doing things that I ask without a fuss.) For every bad choice she makes she gets a marble taken out. Lately her tantrums have been unbearable! So we told her that for every tantrum she throws she takes more than one marble out of her jar. The reward is that when the jar is full she gets to go to the dollar store and pick out whatever she wants. This week has been a very slow start for her. We started this on Monday and she only has one marble left in the jar, or maybe it's empty. Needless to say it's been a rough week for all of us!

I'm Still Alive...

I talked to my sister-in-law the other day and she said, "You're alive! I haven't talked to you in awhile and you haven't updated your blog. I was starting to think you fell off the face of the earth." So, I'm back to say I'm still alive. We went to Idaho Falls for Halloween and had a great time... the drive there and back... well I can't post those naughty words. Anyway, we got home and that night were asked to speak the following Sunday. We got through that and now I'm in the middle of potty training. Can I just say I HATE POTTY TRAINING!!! To all those mothers who have potty trained before... HELP! I've tried several things with Ashley and she is not getting this down. I know it's only the third day, but she's 3 and she should be able to at least tell me when she's had an accident. But, no! She waits till I find it! We've tried setting the timer, giving potty treats, having a goal reward, and a "potty marble jar"! The list seems endless. If there are mothers out there who actually know the secret to potty training please let me know. I promise I will delete your comment and keep it a secret... I just want to get this child out of diapers. I've been changing two children in diapers for three years and I'm done!!! In the midst of all this guess who actually went pee and poop on the toilet? Katie! She's just over a year and she's done it! I know she's not ready but she made her poopy face so I thought, "Why not?" Much to my surprise... she did it.

Okay, so this is random. I was walking through the toy section at Walmart and you know how they sometimes have Barbie dolls that represent someone from a movie or TV series? Well I think the one I saw the other day tops the list of creepy! I've seen Grease, I Love Lucy, High School Musical, Sound of Music, and many more. Well, have you ever seen the movie The Birds? It's on the top ten list of scariest movies of all time. I just saw it for the first time last month and actually thought it was pretty dumb. But, if I had seen it in the 60's when it was made I probably would have tinkled a bit in my pants. Anyway, there was a doll that represented the girl from The Birds!!! It even had two black birds on her and one was on her forehead! Is it just me or does that seem like a bad idea? Some poor girl is going to get that for Christmas and have nightmares! There's the real nightmare before Christmas.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our home to yours! We hope you have as much fun as us! We are heading over to Idaho Falls to go trick-or-treating with all the cousins... (my niece, Ally, is getting baptized tomorrow.) I'll post more pictures of the real trick-or-treat night when we get home. Everyone have a fun and safe evening!

Andy-didn't dress up for the carnival. Sammy-witch. Ashley and Katie- BSU cheerleaders... Sammy said there was no way she was wearing one even though I borrowed one in her size. And I was the BSU cheerleader coach... it's on my shirt!

I love these costumes! A lady in my ward made them and let us borrow them. They all fit my girls perfectly! Sammy said, "Mom, I am NOT being a cheerleader." She said it with quite the attitude. But, I couldn't beg too hard since I finally convinced her to be a witch. Someone had to stick with my Wanda Witch theme.

Brandon, Brigetta, and Porter dressed up to match. How stinkin' cute is Porter? Brigetta made that costume. I like to think that I helped... really I just provided the turquoise, flannel fabric.

Wanda Witch Party

Hold on for a few minutes! This is a long post!!! I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!! And this has been so hard to keep a secret. I'm glad it's done so I can talk about this awesome party!

These last several weeks have been so busy for me since I have been planning this anonymous Wanda Witch party! We had a blast! I sent out invitations to lots of people in our ward... most I didn't know and hoped they would show up. They had an email to RSVP to and surprisingly we had a total of 18 couples we planned for. Team captains were assigned along with their teams and they were to arrive at the church in costume, Friday night at 7:00 pm sharp. Our team captain called and said to be there early, not knowing I was Wanda, and I told her I would try my best but I might be late. She said, "That's it, we're picking you up on the way." I quickly told her I would be early. At the church they all received cauldrons with their team color and their first clue. At that point they had to figure out where they were supposed to go and find the next clue which also had an item for the witches brew. They had six clues and some apparently were pretty hard. The sixth clue lead them to our house where we had refreshments and revealed my identity (most of them still didn't know since we only have wedding photos up... we look a bit different now.) After chatting about how much fun we had and different ideas for what the clues could be I announced the winners and gave the best costume award to the Bishop! His 2 face costume was priceless. Someone yelled, "Suck up!" The bishop laughed and said, "All right, I won't call you to the nursery." It was totally worth it just for that comment. Of course we had some problems such as 4 couples bailed out, 2 of which were on the same team and that left one couple by themselves on a team... she didn't know what to do so they ended up going home. If I had known what was going on I would have insisted she join our team. I later went to her house and apologized in person profusely. I asked her to please come to our next party and she could be on our team so we know that would not happen. Another oops... no matter how hard my husband and I tried to slow down and throw off our team mates... they still won. They were way too smart for the Wyne's. And the last mess up was that one team said their clues were screwed up. I later found out as I was gathering left over clues and items, that they opened a wrong emergency clue. One team searched for about 45 minutes before opening their emergency clues... that is dedication! Since some of you have already asked me I am going to post my locations and clues.

Today, many people are surprised to learn that there was a lake in this park, named Lake Ethel, used for swimming and fishing. Lake Ethel was a man-made lake constructed originally to store irrigation water from Mason Creek. This park of 44 acres is no longer home to Lake Ethel. But your eyes can track a few landmarks across its planes. (Lakeview Park has a huge airplane and train which turned out to be one of the hardest clues. The clue was also hidden in a cauliflower covered in red jello so it looked like a brain.)

Located at the Blockbuster on 12th Ave. you will find a movie that made the top ten list for the scariest movies of all time (sorry, it is rated R). This particular movie was made in 1980. We look back on the 80’s as a wild and funny time. However, this movie directed by Stanley Kubrick is not a “joker”. In fact Stephen King, who wrote the novel this movie was based on, said, ''I think [Kubrick] wants to hurt people with this movie.'' King later made his own six-hour TV version in 1997. Once you think you’ve found it take the case to checkout and if you are correct you will receive your next clue. If you are wrong, try, try again. ''Heeeere's Johnny!”
We gave an extra point at the end if you could name the #1 scariest movie of all time.

One clue was a maze with numbers and letters scattered throughout. On the correct path they picked up a phrase and then it ended at a picture of a building. The phrase was 40th president of the US. From there they had to go to the Ronald Reagan Elementary School.

One clue was a bag of M&M's and the actual clue was inside one of the M&M's in place of a peanut. (Mt. Calvary Cemetery) The Bishop ate the clue! Thanks to the blue team bailing out they had another bag sitting there. Another team counted out the M&M's (68) and tried to tie it together with the brew item. Someone said, "Who owns a 68 Cobra?" That was pretty funny!

Whisked away by devils delight
Trouble may be found day or night

Ere you pick one or two
Does not matter for this witches brew

Take Amity and head east to Linder Road
Beware for witches are in haunting mode.

Pumpkins, here you will find many
But keep a watchful eye yours could be any.

Once you’ve found the correct choice
Find the person with a Sherrie voice.

She will be the one to hand you the next clue,
You need not worry, no payment is due.

They had to go to the Linder Farm and find the pumpkin with their team color on it. This pumpkin patch is 20 acres! This also turned out to be a difficult clue. Sorry, again, Smith team!

And the final clue was a word search with a hidden message that said, "Your ending location is seven houses down on the right on Wicklow Avenue." So they still didn't know it was us. Our team mates were saying. "It's the Knapps! Ginger is out of town so it can't be her. It's the Knapps!" After counting out the seven houses and saw it was not the Knapps they were surprised to realize it was us the whole time! Our team captains were the Graham's and they were so smart, and so competitive! Sean had facial hair for 18 years and shaved to look the part of McCain. He even stuck cotton balls in his cheeks!

In the instructions and rules it said we had people on the lookout to report any cheating or tampering with other teams clues... Some strangers helped out in that... I guess. There were some creepy people around who made the teams think they were a spy. So thanks to you strangers... If you are creepy, I really hope you're not reading my blog!

Overall we had a blast and it was a huge success! Thanks so much for those that came and were good sports! I hope you all come to our next party because there is definitely going to be another one soon! Andy is thinking Valentine's Day-ish! It was such a fun way to get to know people in the ward! (For those that didn't know, we just moved in last month) Thanks again! It's been so fun talking to people still about how much fun it was. Someone at the party said the questions of the year will be, "How did you get the clue inside the M&M's?" and, "How did you get the clue inside the cauliflower?" Hee, hee, hee!

Shauna Tagged Me!

8 TV shows I like to watch
1. Survivor
2. My Name Is Earl
3. The Office
4. CSI (original Las Vegas)
5. Mythbusters
6. Dirty Jobs
7. Project Runway
8. Friends (I know I'm dork for watching reruns)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Cafe Rio
2. Tuconos (I don't know how to spell that, but it's in Utah and I'm really excited one is coming to Nampa!)
3. Jalapenos
4. Costa Vida
5.Olive Garden
6. Outback Steakhouse

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. I went running
2. took a shower (Wahoo!)
3. Went grocery shopping
4. Date night at the corn maze
5. Had hot chocolate and doughnuts at Brigetta and Brandon's house.
6. Checked my email
7. took a bubble bath (wasn't feeling well by the end of the night)
8. Quickly fell asleep next to my hubby

8 Thing I'm looking forward to...
1. Halloween party on Friday
2. Sammy's school Halloween party
3. Halloween!
4. Seeing family at Ally's baptism
5. Sammy's 5th birthday (I think this year we'll do a party with her friends for the first time.)
6. Thanksgiving
7. Christmas
8. New Year's Eve (Hopefully this year we'll avoid a sledding accident and 14 stitches!)

8 Things on my wish list
1. To be done with our Colorado house issues.
2. To be finished with the cross stitch for my mother-in-law... going on three years now!
3. Start... and finish Ashley's quilt for her bed.
4. Finally make an apron for myself (I have the fabric, just need to do it)
5. To be skinny again!!!
6. Actually like to run... will that ever happen?
7. Be a better cook
8. Just be done with my million and one projects. I always have fifteen going at once! Such is my life!

8 People I'm tagging
1. Sarah
2. Chelle (Update your freakin' blog!!!... love ya!)
3. Tara
4. Cindy (So you won't get bored of your current post.)
5. Brigetta (So you can actually have something on your blog.)
6. Jen Evans
7. Amy Wixom
8. Rachel Bjorkman

Where Are We?

It was date night Saturday and we had a fabulous time! Brigetta and I took our hubbies to the corn maze in the freezing 40 degree weather! We had a lot of fun getting lost, sliding in puddles of mud, and freezing our booties off! (Sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy. I only had my phone.) We wished you came with us Corey and Hollie!

It was really fun to have Brandon and Brigetta with us... if you know Brandon, you understand what I mean! We all had glow sticks for fun... and I learned my lesson about putting them around my eyes. I thought I would be a little goofy and try to make it look like I had glasses on... well, one broke open and that toxic stuff got in my eye. It stings! Don't worry, all was well after I flushed it with lots, and lots of water.
After finishing both phases of the maze we took a stroll over to the pumpkin patch. Brigetta and Brandon decided to get a couple pumpkins. By the way, if you are close by the largest pumpkins are only five bucks! (They start at 50 cents.)
The cutouts in the picture above was actually meant for kids, but we're kids at heart!
This year the maze is the "Presidential Election." It's a picture of Obama and McCain. If you've ever been to these corn mazes they are pretty cool. If you want to see pictures of what they look like or if there is one in your area go to http://www.cornfieldmaze.com/ and have a great time! They also have coupons that are usually worth checking out.

Jammin' to "Guitar Hero" songs!

Sorry this is really fuzzy. We were driving and the road was a bit bumpy! And Katie, the little stinker, started to dance when I stopped the video! (Sammy is playing her air guitar if you couldn't tell.)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tweeze... Ouch!... Tweeze

Today while at my mom's house I pulled out tweezers and plucked my little sister's bushy eyebrows. This was the before and after picture. (Her right eye was the before.) It's hard to see but she had the bushiest eyebrows on a girl. I thought it was time for her to look feminine now that she's thirteen. It really changed her look. The poor thing was getting teased pretty bad during the process though. I can't get over how different she looks now. And the best part was right after we finished a friend came over and Ashana wanted to see if he noticed. So she said, "Notice anything different, Mitchell?" He gave the best response of, "You look beautiful!" Yes, those were his exact words! Ashana also gets her braces off in two weeks. Watch out boys! Oh, here she comes... she's a man eater!

(After this picture, I even plucked a few more because it looked a little uneven to me. But you get the idea.)
Doesn't she look beautiful?

How Stinkin' Cute Are They?

I know these are random, but I thought they were too cute not to post... plus I just figured out how to download pictures from my phone. It's only taken me seven months!

Do you think they should be witches for Halloween? We found these headbands at Michaels craft store and of course we had to try them on! (Sammy is actually going to be a witch this year... I can't wait!)
This was taken at Red Robin (celebrating Kassidy's birthday). Aren't they as cute as can be? I love that when we get together Sammy and Kelsie are glued to each other.

We've been cheated!

Our family has been cheated twice this week on food! I bought the girls lunchables today and Sammy's didn't have the crackers! What is a lunchable without crackers? And earlier this week I got out our 100 calorie packs. I grabbed the last bag of Cheetos and it had only 2 balls in it! Yes, it was sealed with only 2 Cheetos in the bag! Those must have been the real Cheetos to stay under 100 calories.

Tag

Here are the rules for the tag:

Link the person who tagged you

Mention rules on your blog

Tell about 6 quirks of yours

Tag 6 fellow bloggers

Leave a comment to let them know

Kelsey tagged me and made me get back into blogging. I've been really busy! We moved across town 2 weeks ago, that makes move number 10 in the last 6 years. Wow! I'll post more about that later when my house is clean and I can take some good pics of the inside.

Andy said I could post some of his quirks, too, since this is our family blog.

3 quirks of mine:

1. I tuck my thumbs into my fists when my hands feel dry. Don't ask me why this makes my hands feel a little better. My sister, Merridy, and my mom do the same thing.

2. I watch Friends episodes on TV when I own all ten seasons on DVD. I know, it's weird.

3. I press my lips together (as if I were really angry) when I'm cleaning. I think I do it more often when I'm sweeping the floors and cleaning the mirrors. I have no idea why...

3 quirks of Andy:

1. He leaves cupboards and drawers open after getting into them. I cannot count the number of times I have turned around and almost smacked my face into an open cupboard... or count the number of bruises due to open drawers. And sometimes he'll close them almost shut. That drives me crazy!

2. He drives a manual car and when he is at a stop he pushes the stick shift up and down and plays with it a little bit. I've asked before why he does that and he doesn't know... just habit.

3. And finally the one that makes me laugh... when he sniffs his nose he uses a pointed knuckle to pull his cheek to the side. And when it's a really big sniff he sticks his tongue out a little, too. What a funny guy.

I tag Amy Herbert, Cindy Koenig, Hollie Smart, Jen Evans, Tara Green, and Amy Wixom.

Raindrops on Roses...

Holy cow did you see the rain in Nampa today? It was coming down so hard! I went running this morning in it and I was pretty wet by the time I got home (Emily, I want credit for running, even in the rain!)... but it rained even harder this afternoon. Brigetta and I went to Costco and there were even little drips of water in the warehouse. Can you believe that? After we were done I told Brigetta to wait with Porter and I would go load the groceries in the car and then come back and get them. (There were so many people waiting with carts full of groceries, it was ridiculous.) So I ran to the car as fast as I could and loaded up the food. It was a bad day to wear a white shirt since I was drenched from head to toe. There was actually a large puddle of water at my car so my pants were soaked from my shins down! Where did all this rain come from? I still can't believe how wet I was... oh, well. Better me than Porter getting wet.

I'm SOOOO Sorry...

I have to make it known that I am such a scum bucket. I totally forgot my mother-in-law's birthday on Saturday! We even talked to her on Sunday! She mentioned how sorry she was for forgetting to call on Ashley's birthday... and it still didn't even ring a bell. Hello! Andy said that if she had paused long enough it would have clicked... I was completely oblivious till I talked to Mindy when she reminded me... my heart dropped and I'm sure I went beat red in the face. So, I am sorry I'm losing my mind lately. I hope you enjoy the flowers... even if your neighbor did want to keep them for herself. :) Happy Belated Birthday! We love you!