Crazy Hair Day

Each year my boys anticipate Crazy Hair Day at school on October 31st. Our school has a NO COSTUME policy, so having cool hair is really important. I actually think that sometimes "less is more." A few years ago James had bright blue hair. It was a hit because his blond hair makes for an awesome canvas. The boys however think that the more color you pack in the better. I haven't bought new paint for two years, so it's starting to look a bit the same.

Last year we skipped the haircut until AFTER Crazy Hair Day at school. The night before I cut only part of Jake's hair (just like this year) so that he could live the dream of having a mohawk. He wants me to keep it this way and not finish the cut tonight. I don't know, if I don't comply he might start shaving more strips on his scalp.




Look closely below and notice that Jacob's bald strip is painted yellow. That is NOT going to look great tomorrow.


Here's a view of past hair dos.

Princess Aurora

Our little Sleeping Beauty is lovely as can be. She is especially graceful when SLEEPING. By day she is naturally feisty and has an exact idea of how she'd like things to be done or left undone. She has refused to follow her bedtime routine and chosen instead to pitch MAJOR tantrums at bedtime. She has cried for nearly 45 minutes each night this past week. Tonight she has fallen asleep on the couch so I type peacefully tonight.

She enjoyed her costume party at preschool today. Thank you Sara for sending me the picture!

That's His Story

Last night Jacob was screaming in horror after his shower. He came to me dripping wet in his towel explaining that his finger was hurting, but nothing was there. Upon closer examination and my mighty motherhood powers of the mind, I could see that there was a cut - make that multiple cuts on my son's thumb. This was the work of a razor. So I asked, "Jacob, did you use mom's razor in the shower?" He was too busy crying about his pain-filled thumb to reply. I explained (though he wasn't listening much through his tears) that this kind of cut comes from running your finger alongside a sharp object like a razor blade or scissors. Again he indicated his denial. I sent him screaming to his room to get dressed before I bandaged the thumb with ointment.

Later that evening Jacob did come to me with some tall tale about how Jessica had a razor and he was trying to get it away from her and she cut him. (Nice blame on the three year old who was in a separate bathtub where I DON'T keep razors).

So this morning I was in my shower and there on the floor was a patch of hair - not mine. You can imagine the thoughts racing through my mind - was Jacob missing a sideburn? I met him at the breakfast table whereupon I saw the side of his head - the side with the big bald spot. "Jacob, you did use mom's razor and shaved your head." "NO," was his immediate reply. "Jacob," I exclaimed "I can SEE what happened. Your head doesn't just get bald - this happened with a razor."

Although I saw a slight grin when I described the scene with exceeding accuracy (just like the CSI guys do at the end of each episode), Jacob continues to stick with his story. He doesn't know HOW that spot got there or WHY there are cut marks on his thumb.

Dreamin'

James was home sick today. He spent some of his resting time adding up how much it would cost to get a new Wii video game system including controllers and games for Christmas. He even cut out a couple of the games for reference.

Later I found Jessica on the stairs pouring through the pink pages. She loves all the doll things, dress ups, kitchen sets, and Polly Pockets. I sat with her as she expressed her delight on each page. She wanted to "read" this book over and over. I remember marking pages in the toy section of the Sears or JCPenny catalogs that we had growing up. She kept saying, "I want to bring this one home... and this one home.." It was fun to dream with her about what might be inside her Christmas presents.

After school Jacob got hold of the catalog. He found the Nintendo DS & the Sonic game he wants to go with it.

For once I kept my mouth shut about how there's NO WAY that we are going to buy all that stuff. All the dreams were alive today and it was kind of fun.

Who Am I?

Do you ever have days where you don't really know who you are anymore? You know who you've been and have ideas about the you you'd like to become, but aren't quite sure who you are now. I've had several days as of late that I've kind of wished I was somebody else entirely. Perhaps that's why when I found this quiz, I decided to find out which heroine I could be for Jane Austen.

Take the Quiz here!

One Day

Do you ever wish you could go back and visit one day of your past? I can't believe how fast time flies. Here's my little pumpkin:

What Color?

I found this test on a friend of a friend's blog. It was easy and fun. It reminds me of the hours I spent in college with my friends analyzing "The Color Code." We loved trying to figure out how we perceive our own personality and how it varies from how our friends see us. So, what color are YOU???

I am Pale Turquoise which means:

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.

Your saturation level is low - You stay out of stressful situations and advise others to do the same. You may not be the go-to person when something really needs done, but you know never to blow things out of proportion.

Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.


You can take the text for yourself HERE.

100 Days

Can I just point out that my baby ticker says I've reached the 100 day mark before welcoming this baby. I'm counting each one - especially since I'm heavier than ever and my legs are giving out on me WAY sooner than I remember. I definitely WADDLE. I'm in pain almost every minute or out of breathe every other. I know all too well that it's only going to get worse before it gets better. I try not to complain because I'm SO HAPPY to be expecting this little one. He may be our baby forever. I don't know if it's humanly possible to do this again with my body.

Under Construction

Due to the destruction our children have inflicted on our home, Jon has been hard at work repainting the living room, former playroom, and upstairs hallway. The fingerprints, smudges, dings, & works of art that were resistant to the magic eraser are vanishing.

Did you notice that I said FORMER playroom?

I've dreamed of the gorgeous, colorful, and organized playroom. I looked forward to having this room downstairs where the kids could play, watch movies, and share with their friends. Then I woke up after MONTHS of frustration and despair and realized that this room is nothing more than a glorified dumping ground. ALWAYS there are smelly socks and sneakers on the floor. The backpacks tip and we have a daily stash of handouts, chapter books, and school work crumpling underfoot. The sorting buckets are emptied and the carpet remains unseen. To my great aggrievation there are candy wrappers, Gogurt tubes, half-eaten granola bars, & rotting sip cups tucked under dress ups, action figures, and all the pillows and blankets that are covering the floor. Am I the only one who remembers the "NO FOOD in the playroom" rule? Computer disks, DVDs, CDs, & video game cartidges are without cases and susceptible to being stepped on. How is it even possible to have the video game cords in such a gigantic knot?!!! I'm SO SICK of the fight!

The kids' idea of cleaning is to shove everything toward the corners or to pile it in the closet. It's never their mess. Jessica is always blamed and she is a BIG part of the problem since she sneaks into the boys' bins to dump their loot out and refuses to put it back. But I hold nobody blameless because I can always find something that belongs to each child.

SO... the playroom has been cancelled. I know that this means that the bedrooms are going to be the new fighting grounds, but at least we won't have their disaster zone on the main floor. The kids were allowed to fill a box of favorite things to be stored in their rooms. We packed up bags of outgrown clothing and formerly loved toys and put them out for the Deseret Industries truck. They also took the toy cabinets and entertainment center away. This room is currently posing as a tranquil guest room and will eventually transform into a newborn nursery with a cozy queen bed for the new mom's necessary rests.

All those wishing to visit our home, now is the time.

A Family Icon

Did I say Icon? I meant EYESORE. Not to be ungrateful. We received this southwestern printed couch with matching loveseat from one of Jon's co-workers nearly 7 1/2 years ago. At the time we had NO sofa in our apartment, just 2 hand me down gold recliners. They've provided much comfort. But I've never really liked to look at them.

They matched our new navy blue carpet in the Rapallo house. We wanted to ditch them when we moved here, but all our fund were poured into paint, tile, & carpet. We tried getting rid of them last December, but the water heater broke, the carpets needed cleaning, and our health insurance soaked up any extra funds in our budget.

So today (FINALLY) the sofa was hauled away. I never want another family photo with those beasts in the background. We are expecting our first set of new leather couches this Saturday. I'm so excited.

So lets bid farewell to this colorful part of our past!

P.S. Have I mentioned that our microwave nearly exploded last week. We replaced that too.

A Handful of Memories

Just a few family moments that just wouldn't be the same without the UGLY COUCH.

Carefree

We were able to go to the local pumpkin patch with Jessica's preschool. She was a little shy around the goats, but warmed up to the chicken in the petting zoo. I'm always amazed at how carefree she is. Her brothers would have been SCREAMING to get off the swings when they started whirling about, but Jessica just giggles and squeals with glee. It's so sweet.

She loved the rides, the bouncy slide, and the pumpkins - everything except getting her picture taken (not that it stops her mother from trying).

My Beauty Meets Belle

I've been visiting Disneyland regularly for six years. There was a brief spell when we thought we were moving to Texas so we didn't renew the passes and it was a grim time indeed. So I've seen little girls parade around in their princess gowns, crowns, and comfy soled shoes throughout the park. Being a gal who prefers stretch denim jeans & a t-shirt, I thought it CRAZY to wear a dress all day. Perhaps it IS crazy to expect a little girl to be comfortable in such frills all day and definitely unrealistic to keep clean, but a magical thrill.

Now that I have one and maybe ONLY one little girl of my own, I'm thinking that it would be crazy NOT to bring her to the castle as a princess. I've stopped worrying if she is going to rip or sticky the dress. I'm actually hoping that she wears it until it's worn out every penny that I invested into it. So I've intended to make a trip to the Princess Fantasy Faire and take a stroll down the Royal Princess Walk where you can personally greet & visit with three princesses.

After making our way around the small world (Jessica's FAVORITE), we entered the Royal wait line. We used our time to put Sleeping Beauty's gown on over Jessica's long sleeved shirt & jeans. And to top it off, she was crowned Aurora. Well, maybe not exactly Briar Rose - the crown had no combs or clips and certainly was made to fit a woman's head more than a child's. JessiLu tried to balance the gems on her head, but the headband fit better like sunglasses. So far the line moved: NOT AT ALL.








Jessica & I grew weary from waiting. The gum chewing was no longer pacifying and we were both hungry. That's when I pulled out the sticky, yellow, Mickey sucker. It kept Jessica busy for a while, but did nothing for the rumblings in my tummy. Jessica met Tinkerbell and they passed some time together. We waited ONE hour TWENTY minutes to greet the princesses.





Apparently Prince Phillip scares some of the little girls. They'd rather meet Sleeping Beauty WITHOUT him by her side. He was walking around while we waited to meet Aurora. He came to greet Jessica and she wasn't shy at all. She smiled with a twinkle in her eye and gave him a big hug. She even posed by him.

Sixty-five Years

Aren't my grandparents ADORABLE?! They are the ultimate role models of faith, endurance, love, dedication, genuine-ness, & service. I love them SO much and will miss sharing this special day with them in person.

Wendy & Tinkerbell - You Can Fly

Kate came to play with Jessica and they had a great time. Jessica pulled out her dress-ups and soon I had princess prancing around the house. Then the girls changed into pajamas to dress up for their pajama party. I think they each went through a couple of pairs - girls NEED options. They watched part of the Peter Pan DVD and then started to play Wendy & Tinkerbell. They went in the backyard to their fairy dust castle and then began to FLY on the swings. Jessica ran and hid in the playroom when she saw me come into the backyard with the camera. Kate was more of a sport (I wonder why I am SO FASCINATED with taking swing shots - what a pain to get a kid in the frame without too much blur. I need a faster shutter). Kate was so cute singing, "you can fly, you can fly..." while she swung back and forth.











Jessica eventually came out to join the fun. We tried getting a cheek to cheek buddy shot, but the girls thought it was funnier to tip over. How I love the laughter that friendship bring.

A Day Unscripted

I tend to be a planner. I color code my tasks in my Palm Planner. There's a color for all the school stuff, the soccer stuff, the family stuff, the "to do" stuff, the random activities, and scheduled friend activities (there can NEVER be too much YELLOW in my schedule). I like knowing what is supposed to happen and when I can do it. That said, I don't always like what the to do list says so I don't always follow the list. Then there are the days like today that I had nothing on the list - a million OUGHT TO DOS & NEED TO GET TOS, but no commitment to get anything done. I'm telling you, it turned out to be one of my best days.

I dropped the boys off at school, made a grocery list, tried to convince Jessica to brush her hair (a trying task), drove Jessica to preschool, and then bought groceries. I wandered (painfully because of the pinched nerve the baby is giving me) around the store with NO interruptions. Once home I enjoyed a surprise phone call from my mother-in-law & from my scrapbooking friend Peggy who now lives in northern CA (she's coming to town for the Scrapbook Expo - yeah!!) A productive, enjoyable morning.

At noon I returned to pick up Jessica along with her little friend Kate - it was kind of on a whim because her mom Sara was finishing a big project today. Jessica LOVES having a playmate. They got along SO well which meant that my daughter was cheerful and NOT whining at me - another side benefit to my day. I drove Kate home when it was time to pick up the boys from school. As we were leaving campus, my other friend Sara said she was walking her kids to the park and invited us along. It was a temperate, overcast day and I knew that I had chairs in the car to relax in. The park was THE BEST! No pictures, no snacks, no sand toys - just an enjoyable, spontaneous outing. We ended up staying 2 hours instead of the 1 hour I negotiated with the kids.

Homework, dinner prep, & bedtime routine were a bit more stressful because we were rushed, but it was worth it. I even tried a new recipe for dinner (have you heard of Jessica Seinfield's new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious?" She was on Oprah last week sharing ideas of how she sneaks pureed veggies into all her kids' favorite meals). My Jessica was wiped out, so she fell asleep before dinner. This meant NO whining all evening and NO bathtime routine to pull off myself while Jon was away. I even did the dishes and kitchen clean up which Jon usually does when I cook. The shooting pains in my legs let up for a couple hours & I had the treat of feeling baby kick under my ribs while punching my lower abs. Do I get credit for Kick Boxing exercise today too?

Disney's Halloween Time

I LOVE going to Disneyland - probably more than my kids do. With over 200 pictures to choose from, it was tricky to just share these highlights :)



On October 1st my kids were out of school for a teacher work day. We made a trip to Disneyland that was VERY fun. It started out rocky since we had to wait nearly 43 minutes for a tram to take us to the entry plaza from the Mickey & Friends parking structure, but we made it.



We didn't have a valid season passport last Halloween, so this was the first year that we've gone where EVERYTHING was decked out for Halloween. The entry was a gigantic pumpkin patch. There were jack-o-lanterns throughout Main Street. The characters were in costume (we saw Goofy as a Skeleton, but couldn't catch a picture).



Of course the flowers were in beautiful fall displays - including Mickey in his mask.



Once inside the park the lines were reasonable which is why the kids got to fly on Dumbo. The new Nemo ride still had wait times close to an hour, so we haven't experienced that yet.







California Adventure was the site of the Candy Corn Acres.









One of the signs that siblings LOVE each other is that they tease, bug, & wrestle. Lot of love going on in this line.



More love on the ride.



This is the LOVE that mom likes to see.





The best part about California is being able to get SOAKED in October in Bugs Land.













We met Woody & his Round-Up Gang. They did a little stage show. This is the FIRST TIME EVER that my kids have done autograph books.





There was a fall festival with crafts, a petting zoo, and a pumpkin carving artist.



















Add to that lunch at Gepetto's & dinner in the car from McDonalds & you have ONE FABULOUS DAY!