Halloween 2008

This is making me laugh...posting Halloween pics at Christmas. I swear I will stay on top of this someday! I wish someone would tell me when life will slow down so I can plan for it!

This Halloween Dax wanted to be a Ninja, but not just any Ninja, a black Ninja. We found the costume with the matching swords that crossed in the back (which were broken within 15 seconds of buying them and they were $10! ARGH!) But Dax was thrilled.

Gage wanted to be Goofy because he had chosen a Goofy hat as a souvenir at Disneyland in the Spring and thought it would be fun to dress up totally like Goofy. He made an awesome-lookin' Goofy.

Hailey wanted to be a cheerleader with her friends, at her age it's all about dressing up with friends.

They all had great fun at school and then went trick-or-treating with dad while I handed out treats at the house with Aunt Ashley. It was a warm night so the kids lasted a lot longer than usual!

HOW TO....mow a lawn

So I don't mow the lawn. I never have. I had a dad and a brother who did it while I was growing up. Once I was married, my sweet husband always did it. He enjoys mowing the lawn and says he feels funny having me out there doing it cause he wouldn't want the neighbors to think he was a slacker husband. So I have really never mowed a lawn per se. I have played around with the mower and tested a few runs but never have I done the job. Well with Tom gone for two weeks and the job needing to be done, I thought, "How hard can it be to mow a lawn?" Ha ha ha...yeah...

1. Start the lawnmower. MUCH easier said than done. After trying to start it a few times (after pushing the button 3 times like it said) our good neighbor across the street ran over to see if I needed help. Much to my relief (and utter embarassment) he saw some spark plug wire and fixed it so the lawnmower started right up.

2. Mow the lawn. Really? Is that all? So after it starts and I am on my own again, I ran a few passes over the grass and the mower dies. It keeps dying when I start mowing. Out comes the neighbor again. Thankfully. (And mortifyingly.) The mower keeps getting clogged. This I actually figured out on my own. But how to fix it....after the neighbor looks it over (and comments on what a nice mower it is) he says it must have an attachment that shoots the grass out the side. Of course! I run into the garage and find it, he puts it on, and away I go. Until the neighbor comes back moments later and says the mower is cutting it so short and because the grass is so long it's still getting clogged. So he adjusts it up a few clicks and phew...that's the last I see of the good neighbor.

3. Finish the front yard. With relief I finish up the front yard (and it looks pretty good actually) I head to the back where at least there won't be anyone watching to see me struggle with this chore anymore, I can mow without being so self-conscious. Yeah!

4. Start on the backyard. So much harder than the front. And it's huge, have you noticed that too? Trying to get around window wells, tree stubs, the batting cage an oh, Comcast left a huge cable running across the ENTIRE length of the backyard, resulting in me lifting it to go under it at three different points in the lawn mowing pattern I started.

5. Watch out for obstacles. Ignore the little bits of newspaper flying around one corner of the yard because I just found out that no, the lawnmower isn't much like a vacuum and the newspaper I ran over won't just disappear! *Note to self* Pick up the other two pieces of newspaper on the back lawn!

6. Use this opportunity to teach a child something new. Might have gone better had I had a better grasp on the task at hand. It was a little like the blind leading the blind. After half a rotation, the poor kid gave up and ran in crying because I might have freaked out when he got the lawnmower a little too close to the batting cage and one of the long ropes got caught up. No worries, the batting cage was left unscathed during the entire event. But my paranoia and lack of lawnmowingness was too much for the little guy to deal with. He will benefit much more having his dad teach him this particular task.

7. Finish the back yard. I wish I could say I did. I was ALMOST done when the lawnmower died. Although I knew why instantly--no gas. And there was only a trickle in a container in the garage which got me a little closer to finishing, but not quite. Under the swingset, under the batting cage, and a sweet strip down the middle of the back lot is what is left. There was nothing more I could do.

8. Put everything away and shower. After putting the lawnmower away I walk into the house with the shock that 2 1/2 hours had gone by! Good garbage our yard is huge! That is a long time to be out mowing. I head upstairs to get in the shower, with my head pounding and the scratches on my arms from the Rowley's trees stinging. I pull pieces of sticks out of my hair and try to bend my sore arms to wash it. Add to that achy, tired legs and a sunburnt forehead!

9. Make cookies for the good neigbor. Because after all, without him this entire event would never have happened!

So there you have it. I will forevermore leave the lawnmowing to my more capable better half. Although it seems now I have learned the in's and out's and could probably do it again easier than this, I just don't want to!

10 Things I missed about Tom during the trip to Asia

Well first off I should point out that Tom rarely goes anywhere without us. He doesn't have to travel for work very often (twice in 6 years) and he'd rather take us places than go with anyone else. What a good man! So we aren't without our dad/husband very often at all. This two-week stretch was quite an eye-opener for all of us and what he really does for us each and every day. We came to REALLY appreciate our Tom. He was gone for about 10 hours when the boys had already started to complain about his absence! Did I already mention what a long two weeks this was going to be!

Here is my list of specific things I missed that Tom takes care of that I didn't even realize he takes care of!

1. Grating ginormous blocks of Costco cheese (My arm is still recovering)
2. Taking the garbage to the curb. (Since I forgot Sunday night and are now paying for it!)
3. Mowing the lawn (I still may attempt this feat!)
4. Putting the toilet paper on the roll instead of leaving it sitting on top of the roller (which is where it is right now!)
5. Calmly handling kids injuries (and of course, I get two pretty good-sized injuries!)
6. Rubbing my shoulders when I have a headache (which I had one for three straight days!)
7. Company while watching shows (I actually talked to him out loud the other night, only to realize I was alone in the family room!)
8. Help running kids to all their activities so a parent is always at a kid's event (I missed Gage's game one night cause I had to get Hailey)
9. Getting the mail (how did I ever get out of that habit??)
10. Hugs, kisses, hugs, more hugs, more kisses, and that he always lets me lean on him whether it's watching tv or sleeping (Did I say HUGS?)
11. Bonus: Feet touching at night
12. Double Bonus: "Movie Night"
13. Last Bonus: Letting me take sips from your can of soda so I can get my pop fix without the calories of drinking an entire can!

UPDATES!!....and a New Year's Resolution

Riding an elephant in Thailand

So on the 18th of October Tom left early in the morning to head out of the country for work purposes. He flew to Thailand, Singapore, then Hong Kong. The trip lasted two weeks and was quite possibly the LONGEST two weeks of my life!

Tom was able to see a lot of the sights out there, he saw some cool Buddhist temples and even rode an elephant! He liked Singapore the best because it's so clean there. He says the government even outlawed chewing gum so the streets are spotless! He did have a scary night in Singapore though, he ate some fish dish at dinner and that night in the hotel when he was heading to bed he had a pretty severe allergic reaction and broke out in hives and his face and throat became swollen. It was very frightening. He just went to bed...typical man! When he woke up the next morning I noticed on the webcam that his face looked puffy and he told me what had happened and it made me very uneasy for the rest of the trip!

Hong Kong was fun because of all the shopping and cool stuff to see. He was able to pick up some neat souvenirs for the us that were a lot of fun. The kids and I missed him so much and were so happy to see him when he finally made it back on Halloween. Here are some fun pictures of his trip.

Tom in Hong Kong

Tom and McKay in Thailand

Scarecrow Festival

We are so happy that the Scarecrow Festival is at Thanksgiving Point. We have been going to this fun fall activity for years, ever since the kids were really little. Back then it was held at Gardner's Village and it was so great! A few years ago it had grown too big for that venue and was moved to some parking lot in Salt Lake. We went one year and were so disappointed that we never made an effort to go back. We found out that the last few years it has been held at Thanksgiving Point so we headed over on the 17th of October to check it out. The kids loved the bouncy slides, haunted house, and snowcones.

Riding go-carts was a hit

Hailey and Gage climbing the wall

Dax climbing - both boys made it to the top and rang the buzzer!

Stewart Falls

This Fall has been the most incredible Fall in Utah I can remember. Usually we get two weeks maybe at the most of mild temperatures and changing colors. This year has been amazing. It was 73 degrees yesterday! My boys wore shorts to school this morning! Finally all four season instead of the usual snow and freezing - straight to 100 degrees and melting.

To take advantage of the beautiful weather and the changing colors, we all headed up to hike Stewart Falls a few weekends back. We first took a picnic lunch to the park and played tennis and rode scooters. Then we grabbed some water bottles and headed up. We took some great pictures of Utah's beautiful landscape. The kids loved playing at the waterfall.

On the way up the trail

SO PRETTY

Hailey and I by a pink tree - we were loving the pink shades up there!

Taking a quick break on the way up

And Another Month Goes By....Shout out to Gage

Wow, I am not very good at keeping up on this! I will try and do better....

We have had a busy month this October. I think I will start by giving a shout-out to my boy Gage.

As I have mentioned, Gage has been playing flag football for the Orem Elementary 5th/6th grade team. A few weeks back his team, the Gators, were playing their normal Saturday morning game. Now, the Gators are halfway into their season and have yet to win a single game. The boys are troopers and trying really hard to stay positive and be sportsmanlike. But they really, REALLY want to win a game!

My sweet Gage has played football every year since the first grade and while he's fast, a strong, accurate thrower, and a great catcher, he has been known to be hesitant when it comes to rushing the guy with the ball and pulling his flags. Imagine my elation when during the course of this particular game he pulls 7 boy's flags! He was so excited and it got him pumped and jazzed throughout the second half. Well, the game was tied and it was the last play. The other team had the ball...not looking good for the Gators. Gage was between two of the other team's players and when the quarterback threw to the pair, Gage jumped up between them and caught the ball!!

All the parent's on the sidelines jumped out of their seats, screaming and cheering (I the loudest) while my sweet boy ran that ball all the way down the field, dodging in and out of the way of the other team, and into the end zone!!!!! It was AWESOME!

Cute Gage came running over to me, giving me an enormous hug and smiling bigger than I've ever seen. He was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself and kept saying over and over, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

The other parents were congratulating him and his team grabbed the big container of water and dumped it on the coach. What an amazing day for a group of sweet 5th and 6th grade boys.

We are so proud of you big man!!