Even the young are affected by the election...

So tonight I warned the girls the TV would be on Mommy's show all night until they went to bed. Around 6:30 we were all sitting around the TV eating pizza. There was a quiet moment and Abigail spoke up. I literally couldn't believe what her little mouth said. She turned to Collette and said, "Let me tell you something, Collette, I've seen a lot in my life and this is BIG"

I seriously just turned and stared blankly at her.

Then the same girl when she got out of the bath and had put her princess pajama dress on and had her hair combed started singing around my room and ran to a mirror and said, "There once was a girl who loved looking at herself in the mirror...."


Oh My Gosh.

Did you vote?

Here's a look at who is the next President

Hooray for Google Gadgets!

Halloween!!

Halloween and the day before were super busy days for us. This is a long blog post mostly for family that want to see every moment of things that happen with these kids!! For the rest of you, hang in there :)

Thursday the girls had their Halloween party/parade at preschool. They had some super cute songs that they sang to everyone and then paraded around the school for all to see.

Here's Collette during her star performance:


And Abigail doing just the same. The girl to the left of Abigail is her BFF, Amelia. She will greatly miss her...


Collette right before the parade started~


I don't have a picture of Thursday night. We had our trunk or treat at church. It was a lot of fun with a good turn out. Some people really did a lot to their cars. It amazing to see the lengths people go to... it's a goal when I don't have three little kids to drive me crazy running around a parking lot, caring less where I'm at!

Friday morning we had a neighborhood Halloween party. This is one of the many reasons I will miss my neighborhood so much. Everyone came together and put on a great party. People donated their jumpy castles, talents of photography, making food, painting faces... all kinds of stuff. And this is nothing unusual for our neighborhood. Love it. The kids had a great time.

Here's the cutest turtle I've ever seen!!


Here's Collette getting her face painted.


And Abigail...


Here are some of the kids at the party. Some were too busy to get in the picture~ like Abigail who was getting her face painted at the time. Collette and Ben are on the far left of the picture.


After the neighborhood party we went downtown to Pearl St where all the stores handed out candy. It was madness but fun for the kids.


Here is Collette in a dream come true...she loves anything that is dressed up as an animal. Well, it's probably because she believes there are 100% real.

Again the cutest turtle ever!!


We then came home, had dinner and went trick or treating around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half and really didn't even make it all that far!!

And of course, at the end of the night Abigail was in love with her hair and make-up so she had Dad take a picture!

Cousin-ly love

I took this picture 18 October in California. We went to the farmer's market with Debbi and her kids.

I love the family affection being expressed here.

Here are some more photos:

Now that my phone is widely available at T-mobile stores, I can post photos that have been modified with cool Android apps! Talk to my brother, Jordan for your purchasing options.

Update: added slideshow of other pictures from this day.

Are you kidding me?

Cost per gallon $2.319: Superior, Colorado - Costco

I'm surprised we filled the van for under $40. 

Amazing. I'm sure cutting production will 'stabilize' the price. Thanks OPEC.

Update: On 10 Nov, Costco gas was $2.039. Beat that CA - please.

Tom and Jerry

Awhile back Ben fell off the couch. There are times when the kids fall down and I pick them up and see if I can find where they've hurt themselves. I knew Ben fell pretty hard but I assumed it might be the same senario. I pick him up, don't see anything, feel badly for him, and let him go play. But instead, I picked him up and immediately there was a HUGE bump on his head.

He was screaming and Abigail wanted to see what happened. I showed her Ben's head and she said, "It's like Tom and Jerry!!" I thought it was so funny that to her, a big giant bump that immediately rises to the top only happens in Tom and Jerry. These aren't the best pictures of it but it's what I could do at the time:

Girls on Bikes

I come home (again) from another trip to California. The girls, as they told me over the phone earlier, are each getting better at riding their bikes. This was something initially difficult for Abigail, but she's gotten over her fears and is riding her big-girl like a champ!

Go Abigail & Collette!

Even though I'm not going to win something...

My good friend Raysha has started her own business. She makes ADORABLE diaper bags, burp rags, aprons etc.... Please check out her site and take a look around!!

http://www.simplysunshineray.blogspot.com/

Few days left in California

I've had a nice time here in California with Laura and the kids. A lot has happened! We've looked at schools and neighborhoods for our move back, spent time with family, reconnected with old friends, and mourned the loss of another.

While I'll be traveling back and forth, we'll plan to be moved back before Thanksgiving. So, if we missed you this trip, we'll be sure to see you during the holidays.

And for our friends in Colorado, we're going to cram as much visiting in as possible before we move back to the west coast.

Chatting with Abigail

Last night I was out and had a babysitter here at the house. Brooke is around a lot, even when she's not babysitting and we love her. She text me this conversation between she and Abigail because she couldn't stop laughing. This is the epitome of Abigail. Here is what the text said:

So Abigail got hungry so I gave her a yogurt. And here is our conversation:

Abigail: Um, excuse me,sometimes when I eat yogurt my arms get tired
Brooke: I'm sorry
A: Well is there anything I can do about it?
B: Like what?
A: I don't know...like somebody could maybe help me?
B: I am not feeding you your yogurt
A: Oh. Okay

Chatting with Collette

Often Joel thinks I'm too hard on Collette whenever I have to repeat myself to her. And to a degree, he's probably right. But I wanted to illustrate a typical conversation with Collette to let others know of my daily battle and why I get so frustrated when I have to repeat myself over and over again. Here's what happened tonight:

We're out on the front porch having a treat. Abigail is dressed in her Halloween costume. A man walks by and asks Abigail why she's dressed up. She explains. He walks away. Collette asks,

"What's his name?"

Me: I don't know, Collette. I don't know him
C: No, what's his NAME?
M: Sweetheart, I don't know. I don't know him.
C: No! What's HIS name?
M: I DON"T KNOW HIM, Collette. I don't know his name
C: But what's his NAAAAMMMME?
M: Seriously?
C: what, Mom? Oh, look a grasshopper.....

It's funny when I write it for others to laugh at. But really...not so funny when this happens ALL THE TIME!!! Bless her heart. We love her.

Ladies and Gentlemen~ We have lift off!

So finally, Ben is walking! He's been "walking" for awhile but still really seemed to prefer crawling to walking. He can get there so much faster and when he has to race two big sisters to a toy~ he's gotta get there quickly! But as seen in the video, he is seeming to prefer walking. He did it all over the house tonight. I might even have to bust out some shoes now (which I never put on my kids until they are serious walkers). Yeah for Ben!!!

Happy Birthday Mom (a late blog post, I know)

So my parents came to visit. They left last week. I'm really behind in my blog posting... Anyway, they came for a few days and we had a great time. There would be more pictures if they hadn't forgotten their camera. Relying on me is not a good thing. I often forget to bring my camera (many times in important situations). While my parents were here my Mom was able to celebrate her birthday. The girls were really excited to wake her up in the morning with balloons and cards. They also decided it would be fun for Grandma (Gma as they call her) to spend some of her birthday at Chuck E Cheese, because that's what someone should *want* to do on their birthday, right?

So my Mom gives in, happily, to the idea of Chuck E Cheese on her birthday. I thought to myself, "what a good sport!" However, the idea of my mother's selfless act all changed once we arrived at Chuck E Cheese. This woman was a mad woman!! She was challenging everyone to games, doing all she could to win tickets, and dare I say, upset if she didn't win the most :)

One game that she challenged me to was a water shooting game. I'm sure all you parents with kids that go to Chuck E Cheese have seen it. You shoot the water at the bulls-eye and whoever fills up the fastest wins. We must have played this game 4 or 5 times because...well~ what can I say? I'm good!! Actually the machine seemed to malfunction once or twice but the times I did win- she would immediately challenge me again. I knew my Dad was competitive but really after all these years, I had no idea my Mom had such a competitive streak to her as well. Especially at Chuck E Cheese.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for coming out here. We all had a good time.

The other students

I thought I should give Abigail and Collette their attention as the students in our house as well. Wednesday was the first day of preschool. The very first day for Collette and Abigail is a seasoned vet by this point. Both of them love going to school so much. I'm so happy that when I drop off my kids at preschool and see other kids crying~ I don't have to deal with that. Yeah for 2 1/2 hours with just one kid!!

This was right before we left the house.

The Student

Yesterday Joel started playing his saxophone. Usually when he does this, Collette goes running for the play saxophone. She did, as usual, but then she left to go pet a kitty out front. So, Ben picked up the play saxophone and started playing with Dad. You should click on the picture to get a better idea. The funniest part when you do that, is that you will see that Ben pulled out his pacifier long enough to play the saxophone and then returned it promptly. We've got to do something about that, I know...Sorry the picture is not great, but it was too cute not to post!



Oh, and please don't pay attention to the messy room they're playing in!