BOWS

Recently I've wondered how I can get my girls hair to stay in place and look cute at the same time. Instead of struggling with elastics and basic hair mousse--I found that I can contribute to the "cute hair" society by making my own bows! Yes, I know this has already been discovered and popular in all areas of the country...but I've finally found myself the time and resources to make them myself! I really enjoy color, putting things together and creating something new. So, in discovering some ribbon and alligator clips from an online seller, I bought some stuff, got my hot glue gun out and this is what I've come up with! It's been sooo fun, easy and relaxing for me. A new "out" has been released in my favor! Scott believes I've got too much ribbon--nonsense..I haven't even scraped the tip of exploring my ribbon possibilities!

PS. My camera struggles with accurate colors. So where there is an orange color, it's really either red or a "shocking pink" color! Much cuter in person, I think.

Watch out Hollywood!

Eden is always singing a song .
Nov. 30, 2008
Barbie and the Diamond Castle is one of the more popular movies she has learned songs from. This clip is just a sneak peek of what she is capable of doing! Watch out Hollywood!

Family Pictures

October was such a beautiful month. The rains have finally started as of this week being November. We had a picture day at the Temple with some friends assisting us as our photographers after Stake Conference last weekend.
It was too much of a challenge to get the kids to sit still without throwing them into the reflection pool, so for most of the pictures we let them be kids and took random shots. It works out better that way, especially due of the fact that your not yelling at your kids on temple grounds on a Sunday.

Halloween

Isn't Halloween fun? Here we have my good friend Laurel as an"Obama Mamma" and Scott as a "red-neck-got-hit by a baseball bat-dead beat dad" They both were pretty great looking. Poor Evie got stripped from her warm costume to be a staged "diaper baby"--what a good sport!
We had a dinner party with some friends in our garage before we went trick or treating. Pretty painless; pizza, salads, root beer and a Goosebumps movie for the kids.
We had pumpkin pies, donuts, and hot chocolate after the candy collecting was over. We had a fun group of people coming in and out the entire night.
This is part of the gang. Lets see.. Tate has a skeleton mask on, Madison is the mummy (Cleopatra--and so proud to announce during the evening that she had killed her husband), Eden is a kitty. My friend in the center is Karen as Miss Wasilla (Sarah Palin) in her modeling days. (I thought it was fun and creative)
The kidos dressed for fun a few days before Halloween! Evie is a poodle, Madison as a taekwondo kid, Eden is the kitty and of course Tate as the skeleton. (I made his costume--not the gloves though) All and all we had a really great night--it has come and gone (just as quickly as the candy)and look forward to another eventful "gala" next Halloween night!

Rock Hounds

Carl Worth and I took the teachers quorum rock climbing this last weekend and had a great time. A few weeks ago we spent time teaching them the basics of rock climbing, safety, equipment, and knots necessary for our outing. I wish there would have been more time to truly show them how its done, but there is always another day. The above picture is not of me , but was cool nonetheless (I can dream.)
We took the boys to a place called Rocky Butte. It is close in proximity to the Portland airport and extremely easy to get to. The road was literally 30 feet from the cliff side where we top roped and then followed a somewhat scary trail to the bottom. The Trail was almost harder than the climb itself.
We had two routes going. The route I was belaying was harder and only one the boys was able to make it to the top, but each of the boys were able to make it to the top on the route Carl was tied into. The parents all said their boys had a great time and thought it was a fun activity. The young men are working on their climbing merit badge and varsity pin.

Arm Chair Mechanic

This week I put Evie down on the rug in the middle of the room to get something done in the kitchen and when I returned I found her under the chair just smiling.

She looked like a mechanic and was just working her arms as if she were fixing something under the chair.

Aquatic center and Urgent Care

The kids have been out of school the past couple of days with teacher work day, so Scott took the day off and we went to the Aquatic Center. What a great place to relax. Slides, kiddie pools, a lap pool, a wave pool, and the best part; a first aid station!

It couldn't have been more than 5 minutes into the afternoon and Tate rubbed his chin on the bottom of the wave pool after one crashed down on his head. He was bummed especially when he heard the word stitches. You can tell from these pictures that he is disheartened (?). Boredom set in long before and he decided to play doctor while waiting for the real one to come in the room.Imagine that, still waiting!Finally, he was all fixed up. The best part is that he didn't have to get stitches. The life guard at the aquatic center put on a butterfly so well that the doctor said she didn't want to pull the wound apart, so she glued it instead. I don't think she could have held Tate down by herself if he had gotten stitches anyway. It took 5-6 people at the ER in Twin Falls when he was two years old. Anyway, he's ready to face another day.

Note - Tate's injuries include, but are not limited to the following in his 5 yrs of life:

* Two broken clavicles

* Staph - Scalded skin syndrome

* Cut Eyebrow - Stitches

* Chin (x2) - Stitches and Glue

* Cut Leg - Glue

* Leg Burn - 4 wheeler exhaust

* More that are not recorded.

Sort of, but not really

Check out my Sept. 3, 2008 entry. It's sort of , but not really about my brother, Ben's wedding. Laugh...or not...life is an experience. Let me know if you've had any experiences like this before.

Glass Dolls

This is a random picture of Maddy and Eden~ G.C. weekend playing around on the couch together.

This morning Madison came in to our room to wake me up and tell me it was time for me and mom to move bedrooms. I asked her where we should sleep and she said, "I don't care, just pick a room." She said that Grandma Black promised her a porcelain doll when she turned 8 yrs old and didn't want the other kids in our family to get close enough to break the doll. Logic told her that by kicking out mom/dad of their room she could lock the door and play with the doll. Her birthday is still 7-8 months down the road. Maybe we should tell Grandma Black to rethink the doll because I like our room, or just accept that our 7 year old wears the pants in the family and will until she's 18!

5K

Saturday, our stake held its annual 5K fun run. We hyped it up to the kids all week about how well they would do and how much fun it would be. Tate and Madison have already run in a mile race held earlier in the summer for a local bridge opening, so we thought we would push them a little harder for this race.

Saturday came and we had our two bob strollers ready to go. Michelle pushed Eden and Evie in one and I pushed Madison for about a 1/4 of a mile in mine before ditching it at the starting line after our first loop (it's harder to push an empty stroller while trying to run). Madison said she originally didn't want to participate because of a hurt toe, but jumped out of the bob and ran in crocs with the missionaries from our ward for the remainder of the trail. I think she was energized with how many people were running. The path was absolutely beautiful. It seemed as though we could have just kept running the 1.5 mile circle. No boring sidewalks, roads, or intersections that makes one wish they never left the comforts of their soft warm bed. I was impressed with Madison and Tate and how well they ran. The first time I ran in a 5K I was 32yrs old, not 5 and 7. I didn't get the courage to start running until my metabolism slowed and I started getting portly around the mid section. I am pleased with how well they all did. Eden ran a mile according to Michelle, and well Evie; she needs some more encouragement, but one day she will get there to.

Say Cheese

We are temporarily out of commission until we buy a new camera. We are sorry to say that the kids loved the camera to death, right up to the point that it finally broke after hitting ground for the fifth time in one week. The second digital camera in just over/under a years time. The kids have plenty of cameras to play with when we get a new one.

Goodwill

Scott and I went to Minneapolis for my brother Ben's wedding in August. Just 2 days before leaving our camera finally couldn't take the beating of being dropped on the floor anymore and simply gave up. It is sad. Sad because I didn't get any pictures of the events and therefore can't post any until my sisters email theirs too me.
That 's not why I'm writing this. Besides the fact that it was beautiful weather, stayed at a very nice hotel, thoughtful and lovely sealing, the BEST company to hang out with along with delicious food, there was a time in the day for a brief bit to go to the Goodwill. Yeah, I go to another city that has one of the largest malls in the country to shop (The Mall of America) and I, of all places, go to this dumpy thrift store to hang out. It wasn't that I intentionally sought it out, it was very conveniently located close to where my brother lives and I noticed it from the interstate onramp. So we went. I thought I could find some cowgirl accessories for the Hoe Down that evening and I did!
This place was a warehouse where the Goodwill stores recycled their items that haven't sold on the floor for 2 weeks. It is brought to this location where people come, to "accumulate" items for either personal use or to resale. People line up against conveyor belts with tubs that come out with items placed in them from the back warehouse. You cannot begin to scrounge through the stuff until a worker says "go!" I seriously was laughing at these people and must have had such a cheesy "wipe that smile off your face look"! But I honestly couldn't help it. When it comes to livelihood I seem cruel, but when it's to sell for a business...Come on! Let me tell you what I mean. I decided to try my luck with the conveyor belt ordeal. (I stood there in my wedding reception attire- as I was killing 1 hour of time before the actual event with other family members) The man said "go" and we were off matching shoes together and looking for anything that looked like it would be of some fun value. After all, it's only $1.29/lb for this stuff. I found a Keen recreational shoe my size and picked it up then looking quickly for the match. A man next to me picked up the match and I politely tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if I could have it. He said "NO, we flip a coin for it here!" I was ruffled and appalled. To think I needed to flip a coin for a woman's shoe? What was he going to do with it...how was he going to find me? It became hilarious in my mind and I held onto my 1 shoe. After the shuffle and bustle, he did find me and asked if I wanted to flip for it then. My mother...for lack of better words we'll call her "Mother Hen"--and she went to bat for me. I felt like I wasn't aiding in my own battle and finally said. I have an idea, "whoever fits this she gets this shoe!" He didn't like that and said why didn't I buy his shoe from him...I told him at a $1.29/lb I would. He declined and I said I was going to buy my one shoe and he could do whatever with his. Yeah, the story is dumb, but gets better. He told me that he'd buy my shoe and I said OK, how much? $10 bucks---hmmm (since the shoe didn't really fit my foot 'cuz I tried it on) I said ok.
We bought the shoes and did the money exchange outside and I walked away with $10! A lady walked by and said she'd just sold the same shoes the week prior and made $49 on the---again hmmm. I didn't care...I got my $10 and essentially paid for all of the fun "nicely" used items I got there. It was an experience and if you asked me if I'd do it again. I'd tell you SURE, as soon as I learn karate!

We took the kids to a small amusement park in Portland as a reward for their summer reading program through the library. Our kids have been hounding us about how much they want to go to Disney land. I think this was the perfect trial run. It was an experience. Tate kept talking about how he was going to ride every roller coaster and master all of them. Without thinking, we sent he and Madison on the Disko shown below. Visa should make a commercial about the faces these two made on this ride as it started to spin and rock back and forth. It looked as if our kids had bad, bad plastic surgery or constipation. Needless to say, Tate screamed for the control man to stop the ride, which he did and was not happy about it. However, if looks could kill that control man would be dead as a result of the glances that Tate was giving him. As if it were all his fault. It was truly priceless.

As you can see this is how Tate reacted to every ride I tried to make him go on after that experience. This was an inside tour of the Lewis and Clarke expedition. He was clawing and grabbing for anything he could. The lady asked me if Tate was going to be OK and I said just start the ride. It was great! Tate liked the car rides and carousel.
Eden on the other hand, wanted to go on everything, even though she was not tall enough for anything. We were still able to sneak her on most of the rides (this park was as close to carnival as it gets) and she loved every minute.

Evie was a true sport in our 100 degree weather and fun in the amusement park day!