costumes + 2 spooky images

Costumes

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Spooky images


Tuesday morning Megan's dance class did a spooky dance for their parents. They turned on the black lights and danced with ghosts on a stick. I loved the haunted feel it gave.



Adam made these drippy candles and I thought the wispy smoke had a ghost like spooky feel as well.

Happy Halloween!

the party

I woke up this morning at 9am to a quiet house. Adam and I were able to unwind alone after the party thanks to Jill and Robyn who took our kids home with them. I couldn't have planned that better myself...the party definitely took it out of me.

The party was crazy. At some point during the middle of it I thought, We've made a huge mistake (said Will Arnett style from Arrested Development). Adam, of course, was amazing with the kids. He can easily get them to laugh and he's so great at making them feel like a million bucks. I, on the other hand, felt like a chicken with my head cut off...trying to over see one game and take photos of another, forgetting to cook the hotdogs on time, and scanning the crowd for the one child who was left alone to get them involved. Madness I tell you.




mummy hotdogs


Lori thanks for helping frost the cupcakes on your day off.


eyeball relay race


witches hat toss




[Our bowling game idea was the best idea of the party. It entertain kids for hours on end. Here's a close up of the pins.]

When it was all said and done I was worried it wasn't as fun as it could have been, but everyone assured me it was fabulous. I need to do better at reminding myself that friends + games + treats = a good time. All and all I would say it was a learning experience, I will definitely know next year, if we do it again, what not to do.

One more thanks to Jill, Robyn, Lori, Jared and my friends Marissa and Joe for helping us clean our house after the party. I've decided as much as I like to think I can do things myself I really do need help.

halloween preps

We're busy around here getting ready for our first annual kid Halloween party. We Adam wanted to do it last year, but it didn't get put together in time so it didn't happen. This year we started way in advance, which is to say the invites got out (see a peak here it's an adam&amy combined effort), but all the other preparations are still in process. This past weekend we all went shopping for various items and the last few days we've been trying to put it all together. I will share all that we're doing when I document the party, but I just wanted to share a few today that are actually done. I realize it's such short notice for any type of Halloween ideas, but honestly I'm just finishing them now so thought I would share anyway.



One of the games we're having is the popular guess how many candies are in the jar and the closest one wins. I was just going to add candy in the jars with a ribbon on top or something like that, but then I found this great idea. You can find the labels here. My photo is not doing it justice, but it's such a simple way to make the jar more festive.



Adam decorated pingpong balls to look like eyeballs for a relay race.



Each of my girls are inviting several friends from school and we invited cousins as well so we're planning on a bunch of kids. Instead of doing treat bags I bought random party favors from target and with the help of these tags I made, I'm going to put them together as the prizes.

items in the works: I've made cupcakes and with Lori's help we'll finish them up on the day of the party. We're doing pumpkin bowling and the bottles (or pins) have been spray painted white...all Adam needs to do is finish them off to look like ghosts. We're having a witches hat ring toss and I'm still looking for two good witches hats, however, I do have the rings...glow in the dark bracelets. I've bought all the food and like the cupcakes, it just comes down to getting it all put together that day.

I admit to being a little uncertain. It's a busy time and it's one more things, right? Well, today I'm singing a different tune. It's fun to see it all come together and watch how excited my girls are for Halloween to come.

Have a great day.

feels like Christmas

I knew it was coming, they said it was coming and still I hoped they were wrong. It wasn't so much that I'm not ready, even though I'm not, I just would love to celebrate Halloween in the fall. Now winter is upon us. I heard a Christmas commercial on the radio while I was driving today and it felt like Christmas...such a weird feeling.


[view from my car window. I was in my car almost all day which was highly inconvenient on a day like today.]










[love the look when cement is too warm to collect the snow, but the cracks will]


[recent preparations for a long winter]




[after school snowball fight]

I hear it's suppose to snow through the night so I keep wondering how many more inches we'll wake up to...we're at about 5 inches right now. Perhaps it will melt in the next few days and Halloween will look like fall after all.

Here's to hoping.

backup plan

The ToysRus catalog arrived in the mail over the weekend and there were plenty of arguments over who got to look through it first and for how long. I think once they figured out they could do it together the fight over the catalog was replaced with trying to talk over the other to share what it was they wanted...I think Megan won that battle.

It's always interesting to see what it is they're hoping for this year and when I say, "maybe, we'll see" to their incessant "can I get it?" questions, I overhear them discuss,
"if mom&dad won't get it Santa will".

It must be nice as a kid to always have a backup.

reality

I was reading in bed yesterday afternoon and slowly, so slowly where you think your still in it and you tell yourself your still reading, but your eyes are closing, drifted off to sleep. I believe I was out for only a few minutes when Tess came in the room with her book and started reading with me. I liked having her there. That peace didn't last very long before Megan showed up with her paper airplane asking all kinds of questions and talking non-stop. She even danced around a bit on the bed while singing and I thought, this is my life. As I laid there jostling about because of her jumping I reminded myself how easy it will be to drift off to sleep when they're gone and how much I would miss the interruption.

I love where we are now.

for what it's worth, my thoughts

"I'm doing my best and my best has stains."

I said this to Adam a long time ago, could have been a year now, while I was getting into bed and he was making fun of my favorite stained pajama pants. As I said it, I didn't realize the wisdom that was in my words right away. It has since found it's way into our everyday life, I think it's stated at least once each week at game night and something we all kind of joke about. Today, however, I've been thinking about it a lot.



I'm human. You're human. We are all tying to make something out of the life we were given, which is completely and beautifully imperfect. I think sometimes we forget how alike we all are. We look at someone and believe them to be better than us or that they've got it all together. No. I disagree. I don't believe anyone is better than us, you or me, rather we are all in different stages of our life. Some have progressed a bit further, faster. Some of us are slow. We are all moving at different speeds, with different terrains, experiencing different obstacles.

Are we not bound to get stains on our travels and won't those stains stand to give us the experiences we need to move forward?

I love life and I love to experience life, but I admit, I am afraid of experiences as well. They scare me because some of them are really difficult to get through, but the older I get the more I understand that I need experiences. I am, how can I best say it...lazy. No, I am looking for the easiest road. If at all possible I would choose not to go through something hard and difficult if I could get the same result in the end without it. Unfortunately, I don't believe life works like that, which I admit to thinking, is a shame. I won't go down that road and state what we all know, what's been said before that our experiences shape us, but I will say, think about what your life would be like without them? Mine would be blah, more mundane than it already feels, and boring. (Can I say boring?) Without trying to be a huge walking contradiction...I want to feel. I need to feel. I don't mind experiencing the lowest of lows because then I know what if feels like to have the highest of highs and I think that's worth it. Yes, of course, when I'm feeling my lows I hate every minute. In my deepest darkest place I want to never feel again, but when it's over and I can appreciate the whys and what it's taught me, I am grateful.

My experiences have taught me that I need people in my life. I have said more than once to Adam, "I think I was meant to be alone". I said it out of desperation because from what I understand relationships are hard and a lot of work...between husband and wife, children, parents, friends, co workers, etc. It's not something we do once or find once, it's what we create together over time that will give us the connections we need to keep going. Yes, I think we need each other to keep us going and help push us in the right direction. I have often been amazed how Adam and I can have a huge deep talk and think, Well, that's it. We won't have to do that again. Now life will be merry and perfect. I couldn't be more wrong. I'm the type of person that likes to get everything done at once. I'm the marathon running so to speak. I would rather run it all at once than do it over a months time. Took me a long time to realize life is not like that. It's that passing of time that allows us to grow and shape who we want or who we will be. It's through my relationships that I find life to be the most rewarding.

Ok, so I know what your thinking, Dude, Amy what's the point of this post? Why have I just spent time reading this? Well, I admit to writing this for myself because I don't want to forget, but hope my point being this came across.... I believe the things in our life that are the most meaningful are the hardest to do. The things in our life that we want and need will challenge us the most. Relationships are hard, experiencing life is hard, but I am who I am because of them and so I guess that makes all the work worth it.

Have a great weekend. I have definite plans to be outside because I've heard winter maybe starting next week. I hope though, it waits for Halloween.

falltastic + winner

This has been such a marvelous fall. Adam tells me last year was memorable too, but apparently not to me because I can't remember it enough to compare. All I know is it's been so falltastic...the coolness, the colors, the smells. I don't want it to end.

Last Friday after school I took the girls and their friends up into the canyon to play around. I decided it had peeked and knew it wasn't going to last much longer...a storm was coming.






[this is them decoration the door to their house]







They had the best time running around and playing house while I walked around and took photos. It's amazing being out there and hearing nothing but the rustling of the leaves. I think we all thought we had found a bit of fall heaven. Good times.

Have you been enjoying your fall?

***************************************************************

Now for the winner of my October giveaway.
According to random.org
Congrats to #14 Tasha

Tasha I'll be sending it out this weekend so hopefully you can use it before the Halloween decorations go back in there boxes.

a drawing a day

I feel lucky when each day I'm presented with an original drawing from one of my girls (i hope it never stops). Mostly these days they're from Megan because the other girls don't have quite the leisure time she has. Today, this is the drawing Megan gave me.



I understood it right away and it made me extremely happy. I guess there's nothing like receiving a piece of art depicting you doing something you love. She said, "Mom look, it's you taking pictures of beautiful flowers." My girl knows me...I love that.

The only thing I'm a little unsure of is my see through skirt.

october giveaway

Because I don't have a lot of decorations I use a 12x12 IKEA frame and change up the photo each season to help make everything feel a bit more festive around here. I wasn't sure what to do for Halloween, but then I remembered this photo (below) from when we went to Gardener Village a couple weeks ago. See it here.

I loved the way it looked and thought maybe one of you would too. So I'm giving away an 8x10 print of it for my October giveaway.



Leave a comment if you want to be eligible. Remember this is me wanting to give so please don't hesitate to comment. I'll announce the winner Wednesday afternoon.

P.S. I also put this print in my Etsy shop if you're at all interested.

i watch...

i watch you make cookies together.
i watch you kneel down with them and teach them how to pray.
i watch you give them strong and small hugs, which ever they need that night, before they go to bed.



i watch you have tickle fights.
i watch you use your priesthood to bless them.
i watch you share your music.
i watch you play "singing" go fish.
i watch you get them to think with your riddles.
i watch you look through books of beautiful things together.
i watch you draw together.
i watch them make you laugh by the silly things they do and say.
i watch you ask what's important to them.
i watch you leave each Saturday morning for breakfast to start off the day together.
i watch you all pile onto the same couch to watch a movie.
i watch you hid behind doors and scare them as they walk by.

It's through watching and being a witness to these sweet moments between them that I know how truly blessed I am. I hope they know it too.

happy images

Photos from the past week that are bringing a smile to my face today...finally getting a chance to look through them.


Early yesterday morning this was greeting me in the kitchen when I woke up. I'm not such a fan of kid mess everywhere, but there is something I love about seeing their favorite things around the house in odd places.


We were having a marble race and trying to guess which color would get to the end first. She won every time.


Lori and Ashely watching Andrew open up his birthday gifts Friday night. This photo makes me want to hang out with her. She has the best laugh...very contagious.


We were taking a stroll through the mall and these two decided to get lost in build-a-bear.


cracks me up seeing them totally wasted


My dad came to pick up Adam on the way to the airport, they had business in Idaho. I probably wouldn't have taken a picture of this, but because it was the 12th I did and am so glad for it.


All of us around the kitchen counter making pizza. Love this site of our life right now.


Each morning Megan says good-bye to Bella and Tess by walking them out the door. It will be weird next year when the three of them go together.

new smile

After what seemed like months and months of waiting, it was, she finally has her new smile.

12of12

[Saturday, Sept 12]

We were quarantined this day in September, this weekend. I made tess' piano bag to try to keep myself sane. Adam was sweet making us good food all day, which makes staying home that much easier, especially when Megan was really needy.

a conversation

I was gone and Bella & Tess had a sleepover with Whitney last night so it was just Megan and her dad for most of the day.

This was the story I heard when I got back.


[photo taken Sept 14 while Adam was home from work sick]

meg: said right when she woke up at 8:45am, "where's mom?"

adam: "she's at a church activity."

meg: "ahhh"

adam: "why do you like hanging out with mom so much and not with dad?"

meg: "because she's so smooth and you're so hairy."


while getting breakfast together

adam: "where am I so hairy?"

she stroked his arm

adam: would you love me more if I shaved my arms?

meg: definitely

old photographs

Yesterday afternoon I was looking for something in my attic and ended up going through boxes of old photographs. I was up there for a good hour before I decided to bring the boxes down an make an afternoon of it. It's crazy how with each photograph I could picture where I was, who I was with, and the time in my life the photo was taken. As the flood of memories came back it was strange for me to recall each moment and wonder, was that really my life, did I do all of those things? It just seems like so much time as past between now and then.

While looking through the boxes one of the last prints I found was this...


[Washington DC December 1995, left to right: Randy, Jill, Robyn, Lori, me, and Adam]

I had forgotten how much I loved this picture until I saw it again. Not only do I love the composition (I'm not sure who took it, Jill was it a stranger?), but I enjoyed the day we spent in Washington DC and the trip I took to Maryland to visit Adam over our Christmas vacation in 1995.

I don't have all the details, I mean I can't even remember who took it, but I love how an old photograph can help you remember the days and help fill in the missing blanks. If you look closely there really is a lot of things in a photograph that can jog your memory.

1. I remember how smitten I was with Adam and how I was anticipating our 6 month separation while I would be in Jerusalem. I did not want to leave him behind.

2. I'm reminded again how much I loved his long hair.

3. I hated my hair then as I still do today. Sad, but true.

4. I remember walking a lot, it being on the cooler side (nice for a December day), going to the Van Gogh Vermeer exhibit (thanks Jill for the clarification), and eating at Planet Hollywood.

4. I think it's interesting I'm the only one not carrying a bag. I like to think my stuff was in Adam's bag, but the truth of the matter is I never bought anything. I've never been a big shopper and still have the hardest time spending money...well, that is unless I really really want it.

5. Adam and I laughed last night as we realized we just recently gave to Goodwill my shoes and his shirt (we had stop wearing it). I guess you could say I keep things for far too long. I am working on it and getting better.

6. I can see I'm wearing the necklace Adam gave me. It was made of clay with beads by a woman in Mexico. It was very rustic and charming, and well, I loved it even more since he gave it to me. I use to wear it everyday...just like the Celtic charm I wear today (remember this).

I'm so glad I stumbled upon my old box of photographs yesterday. I enjoyed what it led me to remember and I look forward to the other stories I'll uncover as I continue to search through my stash of old photos.

-What do you do with all your old photographs? I want to get mine out of the box once and for all..

pieces of a fall family outing

trip to the candy store















We went to Gardner Village Monday night as a family to just walk around and enjoy the fallness. It was Adam's idea. He's so smitten by the weather right now he can't help but be out in it. It seemed cold at first, the car said it was 48 degrees, but after only a few minutes I stopped noticing my cold a hands and nose...no one else seemed to notice it at all. By the time the sun was completely gone from view we had a hard time getting the girls to leave. Apparently, that's the sign of a successful family outing.

a funny note: While at the candy store everyone got a treat. I ended up with a sucker I didn't want (long story) but started eating it anyway because it didn't have a wrapper. When I was sick of it I asked Tess for her wrapper so I could save it for later and Megan leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I'll hold it for you." I gave it to her knowing full well why she asked for it. Next time I saw her she had my sucker stuck in her mouth. I think she said something like, "I didn't mean to". Gotta love her.