No Buzzlightyear but a good Michael Jackson

Tonight Lucas asked if he could call Grandma R. so I dialed the number and handed him the phone unsure of where the conversation would go. He quickly got to the point that he would like Grandma to make him a Buzz Lightyear costume, and if she could make them for his brothers too, that would be great. He continued to make it sound so easy. "Just use your costume machine and make one." This is the same kid who I found in bed with Joey last night fully clothed in clean clothes (not in the pj's they went to bed in) When Eric asked Joey why he was dressed he said they wanted to surprise mommy and be dressed in the morning. Gotta love it!

Grandma, we'll be waited for the Brown truck to make you delivery any time! :)And yes, he's had that glove on all day. Holly wanted to wear it to school today but he wouldn't hear of it!

So much to be thankful for

We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving at our house today. Most the the VH gang joined us as well as Uncle Dave. We had way to much to eat, lots of craft making and even celebrated Holly's birthday. Holly so badly wanted a turkey cake today....isn't this perfect! :) I had attempted to make one yesterday and the batter did not turn out...turns out I forgot to add water while adding the flour so it tasted more like brownies than a cake. Thanks to Safeway Eric and Holly found this cake this morning as well as a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks to start off my morning. There was even someone in the bakery to write "Happy Birthday, Holly" on it. To cute!

Give me an H...O....L...L...Y

It is Holly's birthday next week and we had a few of her friends over yesterday to help her celebrate. She wanted a Cheerleading party so that's what we did. Not an area I was ever gifted in (cheerleading that is!) but one we had fun turning into a party. We made Pom Poms, played games and the girls just had fun playing together. Mia helped out and served lunch in the "concession stand."

What did you do last night?

Dear....Sweet...Alyssa...this is for you! Our wonderful, adorable, favorite babysitter made me take my camera along last night because she was sick of looking at pictures of my kids (WHAT!) and wanted to see pictures of Eric and I...so, here you are my dear!

I'm glad she made me take my camera. We get together with the same group of friends every 6 weeks or so and one couple plans the evening. Last night it was BJ and Cheryl's turn. After a great turkey dinner we headed to a dance instructors house (which the guys had no idea about!) for a little dance lesson. We laughed and laughed and laughed. As far as the dancing goes, some of us may have learned a thing or two. I'm feeling pretty secure in my friendships in order to post this video! :)

Just Because

Batman (Tyler) having breakfast this morning.

Joey trying to see what the grapling hook can really do.

Even Superman (Lucas) can play with Polly Pockets.

Also, some of you may have noticed the Jib Jab video is gone. Mia was watching it this week and asked who "those other people" were in the video. Somehow the video was compromised (either a computer glitch or someone messing with our account) Either way, I removed it!

All I want for Chrithmath...

...ith my two front teeth.

Holly's two front teeth have been loose since August and they finally fell out on Friday. Then on Saturday Mia lost another one. The Tooth Fairy was very busy this weekend.

The winner is....

Answer #3...Tyler did go as Batman and everyone else was a pirate.

He was quite adamant about it as well.

For whatever reason, no matter what, whenever we're at Aunt Joan's they still need their "regular" stuff. So, they got a bag loaded with candy and still needed Aunt Joan to make chocolate milk for them.
Grandpa and Grandma with their whole crew
ARG! The ultimate booty was found by Uncle Dave's house....full size Carmellos. Eric told everyone in the car if they fought, he got theirs!

We had a great night and everyone got plenty of Booty! Thanks to everyone who played my little contest! The Washingtonians did have an inside scoop but I didn't want them to feel left out. :) Lisa, are you still willing to give your winnings to the next correct guess even if it's Kathy? :) And yes, Lauri, you are always a winner to me!

A little contest

To celebrate the reversal of my ITunes charges (thanks, ITunes, for being so understanding!) :) I thought we'd do a little contest.

Four of our kids are dressing up the same for Halloween and one is going as something else. Who is it and what will that child be?

A.) Mia is going as a monkey

B.) Holly is going as a princess
C.) Tyler is going as Batman
D.) Lucas is going as a Transformer
E.) Joey is going as a cowboy

The winner will receive my new favorite holiday song, Thanksgiving from Jim Brickmans newest release, Homecoming via ITunes. If there is more than 1 correct answer we'll pick the winning name out of a hat. If you already know the answer, you may still play if you want to. :) You have until Halloween night at midnight to guess!

"More like Chinaberry"

Holly got her new glasses today. Her and Eric went and picked them out last week so I didn't know what they were going to look like accept the fact that they were "Razzle Dazzle" (the VERY bright color pink on the top half of her bedroom walls). So, today we picked them up and after she got home and compared them to the walls of her room she came to the conclusion that they were "more like Chinaberry" (the bottom half of her walls). So cute....now we'll see if she notices any difference when she wears them! :)

The Birthday Boys

It was Bob's birthday yesterday and his twin brother was here so they were able to celebrate together. We had fun visiting with them today at Gary and Michelle's house.

The twins with the triplets.

Have you been Boo'd?

Last year around Halloween we were "Boo'd" by some of our friends. They snuck up to our door rang the doorbell and left a treat behind. So when we got to the door no one was there but a fun little package was. The instructions state you are supposed to keep the "Boo"ing going by "Boo"ing someone else. So this year we decided to start the "Boo"ing. The kids had a ball doing this and keep asking if we can go out and do some more. So beware, if you live around here we may be "Boo"ing you! If you want to see some instructions follow this link. I've started more of a "creative blog" to share some projects I've worked on and to maybe drum up a little work if anyone is interested. We'll see what happens. You never know unless you try, right? So, feel free to spread the word, if you like?! :)

Mental Note

Always log out of your ITunes account everytime your done! This morning one of my sons was trying to get a song that I (downloaded last night) to play. He was having a hard time getting it to work and called me over to help. Much to my surprise he had somehow gotten to the ITunes store, into Audiobooks, over to Harry Potter Book 6 and clicked purchase. Yeah....all $49.95 of it....18 hours of Hary Potter...were being downloaded. When I realized what he did I quickly paused the download and searched for a way to contact ITunes. I thought you always had to log back in everytime you made a purchase but apparently not. I sent them an e-mail and got an automatic response letting me know I would receive a response within 48 hours. Meanwhile, I'm stressing just a little bit. So, if anyone has any experience with "returning" an ITunes purchase, I'll gladly take it!

Sneak Peak

Mia did a little drawing the other night of her and Holly in their new costumes.

Pumpkin Patch

Some things that we smiled about this week

* Saturday we headed to the pumpkin patch with the VH crew. It was fun as usual and it was a beautiful sunny day.
* We took a drive after church Sunday up near Mt Baker and as we were driving through a whole bunch of trees Joey said "It looks like the sun is dancing."
* We got a replacement part for one of our Hummers in desperate need of repair and it came (still under warranty!) and Uncle Herm got it up and running again! (Thanks, Uncle Herm!)
* L,T,J and H were raking leaves (while their Hummer was being repaired) and then jumping in the pile and Tyler said "This is super, duper awesome!"
*We got a great package in the mail filled with homemade Halloween costumes (Thanks, Mom....can't wait to post some pictures but you'll have to wait and see!)
* I joined Facebook a few months ago because a camp I used to work at was having a reunion and they were trying to connect with former counselors. Since then I've "become friends" with some "old" friends, a couple of them go back even further than kindergarten and I haven't talked to in a LONG time...kind of fun.
* Someone dropped off some homemade Pumpkin Soup tonight and someone else dropped off homemade Cinnamon Rolls just because.....THANKS, FRIENDS!!!

Some things I'm still trying to figure out

* Holly went to the eye doctor yesterday for a check up and needs glasses. I'm starting to wonder if everyone who goes in there comes out with a prescription.
*Has anyone bought milk at Costco lately? They have new 1 gallon containers that are supposed to be easier to pour and better for the environment. They are terrible!
* Mia and Holly both have field trips tomorrow and we are supposed to get a terrible wind storm. Even rumors of snow?!?!

Halloween Edition

So Holly needed/wanted a treat as well for school tomorrow. She liked the idea of Mia's treat but really wanted something that "looked" like what they were learning in school. So we came up with these...can you tell what they are?

Fun Food!

Gotta love seeing this when your kids realize what's for dinner.

M & M Hugs

1 bag waffle pretzels

1 pkg. M&Ms

1 pkg. Hershey "Hugs"

Place pretzels on baking stone or sheet. Place a Hug on each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and promptly place a couple of M&Ms on each pretzel, pressing into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool before serving. At room temperature, this takes SEVERAL hours. I snagged this recipe from Becky Higgins (one of my favorite "celebrity" scrapbookers that I love to look to for ideas. This is just a different variety of Mom's bacon and eggs...that's a cute one, too :)

Just a fun recipe I thought I'd pass along. These are great for a treat for school (which is what these are for). I was one of the "judges" for spirit days this year before the Jog-A-Thon and neither Mia or Holly's classes won. I had a bunch of whiney 3rd graders so I promised them a treat anyways (you gotta keep your kids friends happy, right!).

Quote of the Day

"I want to be a librarian when I grow up. You know why? Because it's quiet and peaceful, unlike our house." ...MiaBut, once in a while they surprise you!

Everything needs a little maintenance now and then.

This little video clip is especially for Dad and Uncle Herm. I thought they'd appreciate it since that is where these guys have learned this trade. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Amy.

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts. 2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

SUE

S - I can be stubborn! :) An example of this is my Eric and his friend, Brian take their wives fishing on the Skagit River every other year when "the humpy's are runnin' " They want to share their love of fishing with their us and figure this is a great time to do it since you are guaranteed to catch fish. I don't share the same passion for fishing but I went and I supposedly had a bad attitude. :) Poor Eric tried to teach me to cast and I was not a very good student. I'd much rather teach myself something I'm interested in through trial and error. A couple of those things would be scrapbooking or soccer. Speaking of soccer, I realized I have been involved with this sport since around the 3rd grade, and now I have two kids involved, one being a 3rd grader. Every year (accept maybe 1 or 2) either spring or fall, I have been involved with some sort of soccer team, whether playing or coaching. That's more than 25 years...crazy.

U - During a good week, I wash and fold approximately 49 pair of underwear! Enough said. :)

E - I am excited and exhausted. Eric is home!!! He has been working out of town all week. He and his dad, his brother and my dad have been installing cabinets at Rehoboth Christian School. They built a brand new gym and the Van's Cabinets crew were more than happy to help. Mandy and the girls went along to make supervise!

Alright, Amy, I did it! I would tag Kathy and Amy L. but that would mean they'd have to update their blogs! :) Instead I tag Evonne, Lauri and Jayne. Have fun!

It's that time of year, again!

It's the beginning of the soccer season. Tonight was Holly's very first game...ever. She did great. It was quite cute. Especially when her friend on the other team had the ball and picked up with his hands and started running the other way. Whatever works, right? She played in goal for part of the game and when the ball wasn't around she spent her time cheering on her team. The soccer mom in me wanted to yell "Focus, Holly, Focus!" But I think I kept most of those thougth in my head! :)

Mia's team is off to a good start. Not to many action photos of her this season yet since I am trying to coach them and my photographer hasn't come to town yet.

I now pronounce you....

Do they look ready?

These 3 monkeys, along with their sisters are all part of a wedding tomorrow. The fellas are bell ringers and the gals are flower girls. This was taken at rehearsal...lets hope for the best! :)

Holly's Humongous Sunflowers

Holly wanted some sunflowers in the garden this year. I guess I didn't read very closely what variety they were! These things are gigantic!

Tyler and Grandma picking beans.

We couldn't find Joey and when I went to look for him he was washing the carrots in the bathroom sink in Grandma's house. Grandma had said they had to be cleaned off before we ate them, he was just trying to be helpful! :)

Guess who.....