Happy Halloween! Beware... Super Long!

I haven't posted for a while... I have been super crazy I guess what is new though.

Friday - The spook alley in our neighborhood was AWESOME. We have some of the greatest neighbors. We had a GREAT turnout. We had so much fun. I am not sure who liked it more the kids or the parents. EVERYONE needs to come next year for sure. I didn't have my camera so you will have to go on Julie's blog to see the pictures.

http://thesmoddards.blogspot.com/

Saturday we had an adult only party at my Brother Jarred's house... here are a few high lights.




As you can see we had a great time. The first picture is my Mom & Dad, then the group... my siblings and Mom & Dad, then Jarred & girlfriend Rachelle.

Monday I took the kids to the pumpkin patch that is always one of my favorite things to do in the year. I love fall.









I will post some Halloween pictures later today. I hope you had a great Halloween!

SPOOK ALLEY... TONIGHT

Our neighborhood is having a spook alley tonight. Our husbands have been staying up late getting this done. They are really into it. If you would like to come to it you are welcome to.

Here is the email that Karen DeMann sent out.

"YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO A SPOOK ALLEY AT DEMANN'S HOUSE BEHIND GRANT ELEMENTARY! FRIDAY OCTOBER 26TH THE EVENING!! THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT YOU WONT WANT TO MISS IT (WE HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD DINNER THAT STARTS AT 6 AND SPOOK ALLEY LATER, IF YOU COME FOR FOOD YOU NEED TO BRING SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH 10 PEOPLE...SOUPS OR BAKERY ITEMS..

P.S. WE ARE WELCOMING SMALL DONATIONS, BUT NOT NECESSARY."

Dress warm. We would love to have you all come. We hope to see you there.

Happy Birthday Little Brother...

Today is Jarred's 31st Birthday.

I looked all morning for a birthday gift. I couldn't find anything that he didn't already have. When we ate lunch together I said to him "I NEED HELP! What would you like for your birthday?" he said "I already told you... I want you to make me 3 cushions for my window seats - If you really loved your brother you wouldn't waste time with a worldly gift... you would make one from your heart"... OK - that is great and all but if any of you really know me you know that I CAN'T SEW... Steve does... well that doesn't help because he works. I procrastinated and now what. A store bought gift just wont do.

I went to JoAnn's to see if I would miraculously learn how to sew... nope. Nothing happened. I decided after wasting a whole lot of time that I would home make a HUGE fleece blanket for his motor home. It was 8 feet by 8 feet. I had to have my mom sew the straight stitch down the middle. Then Jelissa came over to help cut and tie it... We had a big whopping 1 hour to do it in... impossible... NO we did it. We set it up on my front lawn and tied it all... and guess what I think that he even loved it... it wasn't the cushions but it worked.

All the adults in the family went to dinner at Market Street and then went to see "THRILLER". If you haven't seen it... GO!!!!! It was AWESOME! I think that I am going to start taking an adult dance class after seeing it. I REALLY MISS DANCE. Shawn and Alyssa co-babysat... they did so great. They even had Cameron & Ashley in bed. They said "they had a little bit of a hard time getting to sleep but they finally did it". I said "what time was that?" they said "well we put them in bed a 7:40pm and they didn't fall asleep until 8:00pm"... uh are you kidding I don't EVER get them in bed before 9:00pm... "WAY TO GO YOU TWO... YOU ARE AWESOME IN MOMS BOOK!" How cute is that. They had the pizza cleaned up, kitchen and living room cleaned up and they were on the couch watching a movie together. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!

What a great time in our life.

I am mother of the year...

1st I got a call today at about 9:56 am from a friend...

Her "are you coming?"
Me "where"
Her "uh... (long pause) the field trip for Ashley... she said that her Mom was FOR SURE coming and wouldn't miss it"
Me "uh ya... only I COMPLETELY forgot and will have to meet you there"

Okay - I am a terrible Mom but at least Ashley is too young to realize it. I have her fooled for now. When I got to the pumpkin patch Ashley says loudly... "I knew you wouldn't forget" as if I didn't already feel dumb enough in front of all of the parents.

2nd I got Ashley to dance... 5 minutes early, which is a miracle how my days go. When we took her up to the door all of the little girls had on there Halloween Costumes... hmmmm... not Ashley... again I am "mother of the year" She says "oh Mom I forgot to wear my costume... I should have remembered"... as if it is a 5 year olds job to remember those things. I told her that I would run home fast and get her costume.

We did finally end the day good. Shawn received his Webelos Badge at Cub Scouts. He received His Arrow of Light award and 19... yes 19 other awards. At least "mother of the year" was able to help ONE of her Children succeed. The cool thing about the Arrow of Light award... there is only 2 badges that you can wear on an adult scout uniform from your scouting years... EAGLE SCOUT and ARROW OF LIGHT. CONGRATULATIONS Shawn.

Stake Conference

Today we had Stake Conference. We were planning on going to our own Stake when Steve's Mom & Dad invited us to go to the conference center to their stake conference. It was a multi-stake conference that included 107 stakes. Our stake was going to be watching it on satellite. We figured that it would be an awesome experience for the kids to go there and get to see & hear the Prophet in person. President Hinckley was presiding. It was an awesome experience. While we were sitting there waiting, the doors down at the front opened up. All of a sudden, the congregation was standing. I thought that it was such a great spirit in the room when he entered. Everyone was so quiet. It was so cute to see someone holding his elbow to help him to his seat. When we sang "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet" for our rest hymn it was different just knowing that he was in the room. President Hinckley has always been one of my favorites... even when he wasn't a Prophet yet. I just love his cute sense of humor. He spoke about marriage. What a great talk. It really made me want to be a better wife & mom. He was so so great. He reminded us to get up, get dressed, look cute for our husbands, take care of our self... (OK, so not in those words). Anyway, I always leave conferences like that feeling like I want to try a little harder and be a better person.

Our kids were so great at the conference. I had printed off some papers with church word searches, pictures to color, mazes, etc. They really loved it. We went with my Mom & Dad, Steve's Mom & Dad, Jelissa & 3 of her roommates.

It was kind of nice to be done with church at 12:00 noon. We came home and watched a movie with the kids & Steve and I. We all got our comfy clothes on and snuggled on the couches. The kids don't have school tomorrow so we get to sleep in and hang out all day. What a great Weekend.

Date with Dad!

Tonight I went on a date with my dad. Every year for my Dad's Birthday Jelissa (my little sister) and I give my Dad a date for a movie and dinner - both of his choice. We went tonight. For dinner we went to a fast dinner at Spaghetti Mama's and then went to see "The Kingdom" with Jamie Fox & Jennifer Garner. We had so much fun. This time we let my Mom go too. We had fun with just the girls and Dad. It is fun to go to the movies that he picks. This tradition started one year when Jelissa and I couldn't figure out what to buy him so we thought of just a date with memories. We all look forward to this every year.

Friends...

I just want to say how lucky of a girl that I really am. I am blessed with so many GREAT GREAT friends that teach me so many ways to be a better mom, wife and person.
~ I have my high school friends that I still hang out with. We went to dinner last night and had a great time just sitting at Rumbi's and talking. We had such a grown up conversation. :) I love you all and wish that we saw each other more often.
~ I have my motorhome (that is what I call them) friends that I really love. We get to hang out with them on trips a few times a year. We also see them often. I love the group. It is fun to relax with all of them and sit back and solve the problems of the world. :)
~ I have my Bonko Babe group. We have gone through so much together and I love everyone of you for who you are and what you teach me. What a great group.
~ I also have the greatest ward friends in the world. I am sorry to all of you who aren't in my ward. You should be because I would love to have you with us. We are a super fun spunky set of girls and I love you for all of the examples that you are to me.
~ I can't forget my old ward friends. I really love that we are still reading about each others lives even though we don't live close anymore. I love to see where you have ended up. I am thankful for the example that you all were to me when I was young and first married. I love you too.

I know that nobody likes a bragging blog but I really feel greatful for my girlfriends today.

1. Who is your man? Steve
2. How long have you been together? Eleven years
3. How long did you date? A year
4. How old is your man? 34
5. Who eats more? Depends - I do more in times in the day... he does more at one sitting
6. Who said I love you first? He did for sure
7. Who is taller? Steve
8. Who sings better? He does for sure - I LOVE his voice. He sang a song at our wedding
9. Who is smarter? On what subject? Steve is forsure much smarter
10. Who's temper is worse? What's worse? I lose mine more frequent, but Steve is more intense.
11. Who does the laundry? Neither one of us - It just piles up :)
12. Who does the dishes? Either one of us - He is always great at this
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are laying in the bed... me - If you are looking at the bed... him
14. Who pays the bills? I do
15. Who has bigger feet? Steve - size 10 1/2 : Me - size 6 1/2
16. Who has longer hair? Me
17. Who is better at the computer? Steve
18. Who mows the lawn? Steve
19. Who cooks dinner? I do
20. Who drives when you are together? Steve
21. Who pays when you go out? Him
22. Who is most stubborn? Both of us on different subjects
23. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me, most of the time
24. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine for sure
25. Who kissed who first? Me - ask Steve about it - it is his favorite story
26. Who asked out who? He asked me to go to work with him to "The Cult" concert. He worked for X96 at the time
27. Who proposed? Him!
28. Who is more sensitive? That's hard....outward appearances, surely me, but Steve is very sensitive
29. Who has more friends? I would say that's a tie.
30. Who has more siblings? I do with 3 - He doesn't have any
31. Who wears the pants in the family? Me - He just lets me decide everything... smart man!

Me trying to be a photographer...

Just playing around.

Oh and I finally figured out how to put the pictures the right way. :)

St. Anthony ID & Conference

I haven't posted for a while. We have had a fun week. We went to The Sand Dunes in St. Anthony, ID last weekend. We had such a great time. It was so much fun. We really like it there. It is always nice to hang out with Steve and the kids with out any of the normal every day distractions like laundry, house cleaning, working, etc.

It was so nice to have the weather a little colder because we had a reason to keep our kids in a little more to watch conference. I really loved the talks at conference this time. I say that every time but I really feel like the church leaders are talking to me directly. I love all of the talks on Motherhood and being a closer family. I loved the talk on simplifying our lives. We really need to do that. We have our family way to overbooked.

Anyway, we had a great trip. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

OK just kidding - I am about the dumbest person in the blogger world. I can figure out how to post picture but some of them are turn sideways. I have even turned them in my file so they are the right way. I will figure it out some other day.

I will just introduce you to our dog Harley. Some of you have met him. I am not sure if you remember but I really don't like dogs... at all. I am however completely in love with Harley. I just think that he is cute. Here is a picture of me and Harley - Just ignore my soaking wet, - just out of the shower hair & no make up.
He is cute huh? Okay I am tired from trying to figure out this stupid computer.

Is everyday crazy?

Today my friend Nicole and I were in charge of the Room Parent Orientation at school. First of all I love to volunteer at my kids school... don't get me wrong... but this was maybe the worst PTA job you could ever volunteer for. I wont ever do it again. It was so much work for a quick 45 minute (at the most) meeting with the teachers and the mom's. We typed, typed and typed to get ready for it. In all both of us worked for about 28 hours each on it. It is over YEA! Now I can move on the the next project of craziness.

We have such great neighbors. I just love this neighborhood. Every year at this time (the weekend before Halloween) we have a soup, bread, and dessert night with the neighborhood at our house. Then after we have a spook alley at the DeMann's. The first year it was just little and every year it has grown... to now this year we are going to have a scary chainsaw man - We had a brainstorming meeting tonight at the Decker's and then we have a second one next Wednesday (didn't I say that it grew). It really is fun and the kids just look forward to it.

I love this time of year. It is my very favorite time of year with sweaters, jeans, boots, soup, homemade rolls, colored leaves... I could go on and on and on. What a great season.