13 Days of Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. We always celebrate the 13 Days of Halloween so we can take full advantage of this spooky season! We do something Halloween-ish for 13 days leading up to Halloween. Here is what we've done so far:

Oak Glen Apple Orchards

Haunted House Decorating

Apple Carving

Here is one from a few years ago. This is what they end up looking like after a couple weeks.



New Halloween Coloring Books

And today, we made sugar cookies! Kyra helped me make the dough. Breckyn helped cut them out and bake them. We all decorated! So much fun!

We have lots more fun yet to come. Happy Halloween!

Scary Story

Last night: I was sleeping peacefully and then suddenly, bam... boom... click... click. I hear funny noises. Any second now I would see Kyra pop up to tell me needs more music or a drink of water.

Hmm... No Kyra. click... clack... bump... thump. More noises. No Kyra.

Try to sleep. swish... thump. Okay, better get up and see what she is up to. Just as I reach out to open her door, the door opens, and there is Kyra, needing more music and water. Take care of that. Back to bed.

bam... clunk... thump. What the?? It's nothing. Try to sleep.

Noises on the baby monitor. swish... creak. If Ryder was awake and moving around he would be making some baby noises, right?

creak... creak. Footsteps? Better check it out so I can get back to sleep.

Don't want to wake him. Listen at the door. Nothing.

Peek out a small window with a good view of the front yard. A car drives slowly down the street. Hmm, it is a police car. It slows. It stops. Right. in. front. of. our. house. Police lights point at our house and all around.

Okay, so the police are looking for something. Something, that is in our house. Crap! Run to wake Kyle. "I heard weird noises, looked out the window, and a police car is in front of our house looking at something with his spotlight!!!"

"WHAT!?"

Run back to the window. Police car continues on, slowly pointing his light around and disappears around the corner.

Kyle emerges from the bedroom. Fully armed. Inspects the whole house. Nothing. It is a mystery. Just a coincidence with the police car?

I will probably never find out what was making those weird noises, but I do know this. People should not go poking around our house in the middle of the night unannounced. They just might get their head blown off. Kyle takes protection of his family very seriously. And for that I am grateful.

*I'm not one who just 'hears' things all the time. Last time I heard weird noises on the baby monitor and went to investigate, I found a BAT flying around Breckyn's crib!

Prop 8

Here is a good Prop 8 video that is going around.


It is very important for Californians to get out and vote on this. YES on 8!!

Picture Book for the Week

The end.

I have more to say - from Ryder

I have something very serious to discuss with you. I've decided against the whole sleeping at night thang.



I tried it, just wasn't working out for me. I enjoy my snacks. So sue me. I'm a baby. That's what we do. I figure I don't have to go out of my way to be all perfect. Afterall, it's not exactly Easy Street around here. I have to put up with a lot.



I get sat on. Poked, kissed too much, I don't even have anything to play with besides furry purple wands and princess polly pockets. It's embarrassing.



And this, this is what happens when my dear big sis gets bored.




I think I am entitled to a few midnight snacks, thank you.

Shakey Shakey

Something cool DID happen! When I least expected it, obviously. There was a 4.1 earthquake last night at 2:41 am. Of course I was awake feeding my sweet imperfect baby (remember this post, well that only lasted a week.) It was my first one and I got really excited about it. I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour. It was super short - like 2 seconds, but it really seemed like quite a jolt. I jumped up, ready to wake the girls and KC and run outside, but it was already over.

Just another day

I want to blog about how I did something really cool today but I didn't. This is just a filler blog so you know we are alive. Today I:

• read the scriptures
• fed, bathed & changed children multiple times
• created the menu for the week
• made a shopping list
• made Dr. appointments for Kyra and myself
• filled up 4 - 7 gallon containers of water for emergency use
• transferred children to dance class and observed while wrestling Ryder
• balanced the checkbook & paid bills
• folded and put away a the weeks laundry
• read books to children
• ran 3 miles
• returned library materials
• had "school" with girls
• grocery shopped for the week

Tomorrow I need to:

• read scriptures
• attend library activities for girls
• make some batches of baby food
• make a batch of power muffins to freeze
• make a hair appointment for myself
• see what I should do about our brand new dryer that forgot to stop drying
• upload 6 months of pictures to Snapfish
• organize Ryder's clothes
• find a good dentist around here
• find a good painter around here
• paint my mirror
• run 3 miles

So I probably won't be blogging about anything cool tomorrow either. We'll shoot for Friday. It is wide open.

Happy Birthday Babe!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Purple dress with flowers

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way Kyra fell in love with dresses. Then they had to be purple dresses. Now it is purple dresses with flowers. She has one favorite. If you are observant you will have noticed that she is wearing this dress in almost all the pictures of her on this blog.

What makes me smile is how she acts when she wears her special dress. She doesn't walk, she prances about. She doesn't talk, she whispers delicately. She doesn't dance, she twirls with grace. Something about it makes her feel just like a princess. And isn't that what being a little girl is all about?

Sand Castle Builder

I always knew my Mother could do many things. I did not know however, that she is an expert sand castle builder.




My Mom came out for a quick visit and we are having a great time. We picked her up at the airport and headed straight for the beach. She was born and raised 5 minutes from the ocean so I should not be surprised at her skills.



We went to Huntington Beach this time. It was very windy and the waves were strong and fast. She jumped right in and taught us all her ocean tricks. What a fun time. Except for the moment when Kyle tried to strangle me with his boogie board. Fortunately, I was able to escape.