Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween as usual. Agent J was a version of Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe. He would say, "I am Snake Eyes - ish."
Princess was a Star Trek girl. I was crazy and made this red dress the day of Halloween. It turned out cute, just don't look too close. She loved it and that is all the matters.
RHM was Wolverine. He loved that Daddy spiked his hair.
Sweetie was a witch. She hated the hat that I am holding behind her back.
This was the first year Travis dressed up. He was a good sport. We loved the Star Trek movie this year and wanted to be a Star Trek family, but the boys didn't like that idea. Ah! At least we were all happy with the costumes we dressed up in this year. That is all that matters.


Travis was thrown in as a last minute replacement for the pie eating contest, and he WON!

The trunk or treat was amazing this year. Games, carnival, costume contest, FHE raffle, chili cook off, and a trunk or treat. We did it all in 2 hours and then went home and rounded up candy in the neighborhood. We had a ton of candy. So fun. Our family had to hurry off to bed, because we woke up at 4 am on Sunday morning and drove to Vegas for a baby blessing. More to come.

Phoenix Zoo

My friend who had passes to the zoo invited us to tag along today.

My Sweetie and ME
"A" and Sweetie petting the goats.
Milking a fake cow.
Sitting in a fake clam
Look in the bushes for the peacock.
There he is. This guy is real.
Sweetie sitting on a fake pumpkin
"A" and Sweetie sitting on a tracker.

"T" first zoo trip.
Construction is going on at the zoo. This is REAL, too.
I told Sweetie to smell the pretty yellow flowers.
She blew. So cute.
It was a beautiful day and so fun to be around adults.
I forget how fun it is to get out with friends!
Thanks Becca and Torrye!

My Mommy

This is MY SWEETIE.
She calls me MY MOMMY, lately.
Most toddlers call any female adult, Mommy,
but recently Sweetie is calling her friends' moms' by their names.

Olibia's Mommy (Olivia)


Nate tan's Mommy (Nathan)


Au drey's Mommy.

Gum mer's Mom (Gunner)

Along with my new name of MY MOMMY, Sweetie has started to snuggle with me A LOT after the kids go to school in the mornings. It is cute even if at times it smothers me. I love my Sweetie and wanted to remember this sweet time with her. There are days where I need this hugging time with my youngest child. It reminds me of how we all need a hug sometimes.

When we get home from driving the kids to school and start to head down our street, Sweetie screams! Not of joy. But of regret. She doesn't like to go home. In order to get her out of the car, I have to promise that we will go somewhere after we eat, get dressed, etc. She comes in reluctantly. The whole time we are home she say, "Go home? Go home MY Mommy! Go home!" It is almost like she is playing the opposite game. She says this, but actually means, "Let's GO! I don't care where, just get out of here! Go, go, go!" It is kind of cute, if it didn't happen everyday. I have learned the art of distraction. I have also learned to spread out my errands throughout the week.

Famous Sweetie Phrases:
Laura's house

Meaning:
any tan Suburban that looks like Laura's car

Famous Word:
Maymee

Meaning:
Amy or candy, so most of the time we end of calling Amy to distract from the request for candy.

Boo Fest '09

After a busy Saturday of Primary Program Practice, RHM's soccer game, and Agent J's flag football game, we grabbed a quick dinner of salmon and salad and headed to the BOO FEST at the local park.

It is FREE event and loads of fun. This was our first year attending.
Princess has always had a dream of going up in a hot air balloon. She came the closest tonight.

She sat here for a quick picture and then the man blew the fire and scared her TO DEATH! Not sure if this is her dream anymore. Seriously, scared to death when the fire was right above her head.
RHM loved the bouncy houses. He also loved his Wolverine claws.
He waited the longest for the rock wall, but hey - the whole night was FREE. So it was worth waiting for.
This is Agent J as Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe. If you look close you can see his eyes and serious face. He loved this costume - but I sure he would never admit it.
Sweetie had a lot of fun dancing to the live band, riding the hay ride twice, stealing her siblings candy, and charming candy from the other booths. The balloon flower in her hand was another popular booth. I think Travis waited in line for 40 minutes so RHM could get a balloon sword.
We bumped into a bunch of friends. This is Kathy from my old ward and she and her husband are the best. They are also King and Queen of the kettle corn.
This is Sweetie on the first hay ride! Guess what? She just happened to sit by Olivia and Olivia's mom (that is what Sweetie calls her) and Annie and her dad, too. This is a great friend and partner in fundraising crime at the kids' school.
We ran into Vicki, my favorite person who told me about this event. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have gone. THANKS Vicki! Vicki is also my partner in crime with the Spring Festival. She puts up with me in SO MANY ways!
This is my favorite piano student and her friend (it's a girl under that mask). For safety I won't name names, but they are great girls!
BUT mostly, it was a fun family event. It was a great pre-view for Halloween next week. (The boys costumes will stay the same, but I have a feeling we will see new costumes for the girls. Stay tuned.)

Fall Piano Recital

So, this year I decided to have the recital at my house.
It worked rather nice, if I do say so myself.
I cleared the front room and dining room and borrowed 10 chairs from a good friend.
We had seating for about 35. (Don't you love the couch in the dining room under those light?)

The piano students sat in performance order here. (Notice Princess in the background helping herself to some food.)
These are a few of my students before the recital started. Some of them look more nervous than others.

They all did great. Some need more confidence in their abilities. They had the song memorized during their lessons, but decided to use the book just in case. (Not this student, but others.) I wish I could instill in them the knowledge and confidence of just how good they really are at the piano. IF YOU ARE A PIANO STUDENT, mine or someone else's, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! That statement is more POWERFUL than you will ever know.

AFTER PARTY:
Princess and I started to play around with the camera after the recital was over. (Travis took the two youngest to a soccer game tonight, so amazingly the house was quiet after the 45 minute recital.)
We took pictures of ourselves with the flowers.
Ah! Don't they look like they smell good?
WHAT?! No more cookies! Shocking, but they were the first thing to go.
We had cake too. I was debating between chocolate filling or strawberry. I picked strawberry and Princess and her friends thought the real strawberries looked like...
well...gross things from your nose. I just can't bring myself to say it. She had fun re-enacting her funny moment with her friends.
It is always a good night when the shoes come off at the end of a successful night. LOVE TEACHING!