Getting Out The Halloween Bins...

I'm a big fan of getting the decorations up early,

and taking them down promptly!

I just know that if we wait it will never get done,

so we might as well just throw ourselves into it.

This year we had the pleasure of having my nephews over

for the tradition,

but before we broke out the Halloween bins,

...we played...

...gangsta'd...

...bathed...

...danced to Princess Rapunzel music...

(Over, and over, and over again... :)

...ate yummy burgers...

...and an even yummier Halloween treat...

{Thanks, Iris!}

...and then we got the starty parted!

See for yourself...

My favorite part?

Seeing how deathly afraid Jacob was of the theme song, Thriller!

Of course being the wicked aunt and uncle that we are,

we cranked it up!

H A P P Y  H A L L O W E E N  D E C O R A T I N G!

{And torturing your nephews...}

Bwa-ha-ha!

Painting + Death

We were able to help paint my mother-in-laws house,

which means the kids were left to their own devices

for long periods of time.

What did they find?

That death had struck even the smallest of creatures,

a caterpillar.

And so...

A funeral.

Note the dirty look Owen's giving me. 

Apparently it's not cool to take pictures at a funeral-

although in my defense some people ARE doing that now.

I'm just saying...

It was a very solemn affair.

And the caterpillar was certainly given

a funeral befitting of his...umm...status?

Personally,

I like the arrow. 

...

Great, job kids!

You can definitely be in charge of my funeral preparations,

but please,

no pictures... :)

The Pillow Kings

Guess who can drag those pillows from all over the house

-no problem!-

but who is completely incabable

of putting them all back?

Sigh.

But I know I will miss this one day!

And so I'll smile instead...

But I'll sigh one more time first...

Crafting

My busy bee

whose always cutting, gluing, and taping!

We never fail to get a note, letter, or craft

and it truly makes our day!

We love you, Iris!

Playing Dad + Reflections of An Aging Mom

Gabriel,

finally settled on the couch with his baby bear

carefully wrapped in a kitchen towel and

ready for a bottle of...orange juice?

Oh, well. 

It is a joy to see this little sweetheart of a boy

playing daddy and taking care of his baby!

Fast-forward twenty-years or so,
and I'll be posting photos of my children

with their real babies in their arms!

Can time really fly by that fast?

I not only believe so,

I know so!

 

 

 

This little guy is still in diapers,

and yet as I carry him off to bed

I know that soon
-very soon-
he'll be able to carry me!

And yikes-

I hope I won't be in diapers!

{sigh}

The Sacramento Temple

 

Bad To The Bone...

Mama Wars

And so it begins...

What is this?!?

I don't know but it's disturbing and fascinating all at once...

{he he}

Aughh!

A counter-attack!

Retreat!

...

Ahh.

A mama's victory is sweet...

Strawberry Waffles + Jello Parfaits + Barbie Cake = Iris' 6th Birthday Extravaganza!

I cannot believe it!

Where did the time go?

My baby girl has officially lopped over to

two hands to represent her age...

six whole fingers now!

Her day started bright and early

with strawberry and chocolate chip waffles
and strawberry smoothies-
with the special plate and cup, of course!

Y U M !

For school we celebrated with

pink-swirled chocolate brownies!

D O U B L E - Y U M !

And when dinner rolled around,

we went high-end gourment with...

Macaroni & Cheese

(from a box!)

Cheetos

&

Piggies-in-a-blanket!

Since we have essentially three birthday parties every year-

one with Samuel's side,

one with mine,

and then finally just us on the day of,

we try to mix-up the desserts to avoid cake overload!

Hence the non-cake and non-ice cream parfaits!

She was so, so excited,

and even needed serious help in

blowing out her measly two candles!

{Yes, I'm a candle-scrabbler! 

Whatever's in my drawer is what we use!}

Since I've never made any of my girls a barbie cake,

I felt like this year was my last chance.

This is definitely foreign territory!

And I still can't get over how much cake it took
to cover Barbie's freakishly long legs!

I wouldn't have that problem!

{smile}

Thank heavens for cool whip! 

So, so forgiving!

And yes,

she's sporting a faux chopstick (toothpick) do!

This is what I'm talking about!

Look at that smile!

Even my big girls were thrilled!

We love you, sweet-potato puddin' pie!

Iris Luciana,

You are beautiful,

so funny,

incredibly smart,

and just a plain ol' sweetheart,

which in our opinion,

is the very best way to be!

Keep on growin', lovebug.

It is a joyous journey!

We love, love, love you!

xoxXOxoOxo

Mom + Dad

What's So Exciting?

A notorious toy in our household is the

big blue bouncy ball.

You know what kind of ball that is.

The one that's in every toy section of every story.

Seemingly millions of balls stuffed into a sky-high bin just

waiting, asking, and begging

for little kids to come and free them

so they can bounce them with abandon

throughout the store.

Yes,

one of those kinds of balls...

Anyway,

the kids LOVE to bounce it but it's off limits inside-

UNLESS they're down the hall.

In which case they go crazy launching it

from one end to the other at lightening speed,

and all under the watchful gaze of the Savior, who,

by some miracle,

has not been hit once.

The boys LOVE this game.

And THAT is what is so exciting!