The search for costumes

I really wanted to dress the family up in a Wizard of Oz theme this year but it has been so busy with work and Todd traveling that I haven't had time to shop around or get online to find the costumes I wanted. So last Saturday I decided to just let the kids pick out whatever they wanted to be. We went to Halloween USA because it's huge so I thought it would have lots of selection. That is only the case if you are looking for blood and freaky. No cute princesses or superheros there. The boys were dead set on being something scary because they are "big kids now and aren't scared". They kept trying to get costumes like the grim reaper, or dead people, or the scream mask. No way! I told them the scariest they could go was a skeleton or vampire but then I just told them we were going somewhere else. So I took them to get ice cream then we went to Wal-Mart. The boys found costumes they liked: Mario and Snake Eyes (from GI Joe). There was nothing good for Claire so we left and she was screaming cause she wanted something too. Then we went to the Disney Store and got her Sleeping Beauty (half off too) and she was so excited. I love the way she says Princess Aurora (awowa). So cute.


Here was the sneak preview I sent Todd to show him what we bought.

My Little Monster

I was laying on my bed Sunday reading and I wasn't paying much attention to anything but my book. Sophie was in the room with me but she was just her normal little busy body self walking around the room getting into everything. I heard her playing with the basket of books on Todd's side of the bed but didn't think much of it since there were no pages being torn (yet). Then it got quiet so I glanced over and saw this. Sophie sitting up on the TV tray holding a screw driver getting ready to do who knows what! She had positioned the books in a way that she could climb up and was getting ready to attack the laptop on the dresser with the screwdriver.



She is so active it's hard to keep up. She climbs on everything - we have to move the chairs away from the table, there are no chairs set up by the computer desk (the boys stand while they play to keep her away), we had to move the computer box away from the desk or she can use that to get up on the desk. This is the first time in 7 years I've had to baby proof my house. The kid is crazy!!! It's a good thing she is the sweetest girl ever or I'd never be able to put up how crazy she is.

Long Live Michael Jackson

Last night we had a sweet girls night out and went to the 10pm movie This Is It. I can't believe I went to a movie that late...I am so not a night owl. It was so much fun and just what I needed to escape my life right now.

Nothing like a fun group of girls, a large diet coke and
Michael Jackson's music to make a girl happy.

You've got to be kidding

Today was quite a day. It was so bad it's simply laughable. I've been working a huge project at work for the past few months. We completely redesigned our US website and it has been quite an undertaking. I've had to work long hours late into the night for the past few weeks. Then Todd got a new job and is in California for training. He'll spend 2 days at home over a 3 week period (only 8 more days until he's home). On top of the website redesign this week is our global convention at work and since we're celebrating 25 years it has been huge and there have been lots and lots of extra projects.

So Today was the big launch at 10:00 am. At 8:20 this morning Claire threw up. She begged me to stay home with her today but that was just impossible. Meggan said it was quite a day and she was sick all day. Around 3:30 pm I noticed my right hand was achy and that my arm was red and swollen where my burn is (I burned my arm on the minivan exhaust last Saturday reaching under the car for a run away tissue). I called the doctor's office and hurried over there to find out that I have cellulitis.

The best part is that for 10 years I've been making fun of Todd since he's had it 4 times. Twice since we've been married. I'd never even heard of cellulitis until I met him and he was actually hospitalized for it when he was a kid. When the doctor told me what it was I just laughed. When I explained to him that I deserved to have this because of all my teasing he laughed along with me.

It has been quite a rollercoaster of events in the house. I guess when it rains it pours. At least I know that it's raining blessings on me too.

What's on my mind...

Todd.

I love this picture of Todd and I because he makes me laugh so much. His sense of humor is one of my favorite qualities of his and this picture reminds me of how much fun we have and how hilarious he is.

I'm not sure if it's just because I miss him so much or just because it was a "Todd day today. I'm counting the days until he comes home (2 more days....woo hoo). But Today everything seemed to remind me of Todd.

It rained a lot today and on my drive back from lunch today I saw a HUGE puddle and I thought "man Todd would love that puddle". The funny part to me was the fact that every time he drives when it is or has been raining he tries to hit every puddle possible and I get all mad at him. For some reason it's so silly to me that he drives off the road to hit a puddle in our minivan. But today I almost swerved over to the edge of the road to hit the puddle just because it reminded me of him.

I got a text today from Meggan that said "Luke just walked into a glass door....so funny". I totally cracked up when I read it because it is just so Luke to run into a glass door. Then I actually laughed out loud because I thought about how he is just like Todd. One time when we were at lunch (at Red Robin) we were going through the glass door (the circle kind) and Todd tried to exit a little early and slammed into the glass so hard. It was hilarious.

Right now as I write this Defying Gravity came on my iPod and Todd is at Wicked in San Fransisco right now. Musicals always remind me of Todd. For my birthday when we were dating he bought me tickets to Les Mis (I think that's what sealed the deal for me....a guy who loved musicals) and we have seen Wicked together twice.

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight. It's his favorite. I actually took a picture of Tayson eating his spaghetti to send Todd. I love making spaghetti for him. I don't do anything that special but he always tells me how much he loves mine and how it's the best. So whenever I make it or eat it I think of him.

I sure do miss him....thank goodness I have so many great memories and that everything reminds me of him. I even put a new picture of him as my phone wallpaper today. I'm not pathetic I'm just really in love :)

Good Morning

Not really. This morning was CRAZY! Todd is out of town for work all week (Sunday night - Friday night) so I'm single mom this week. Yesterday was great. Sophie threw up a few times during the night but the kids slept good and the morning routine was no problem. I figured if I could make it through puke with no issues the rest of the week shouldn't be too bad. Then this morning happened.

I got up and taught spin at 6:00 am then hurried home to get myself and the boys ready by 8:00. Tayson and Luke were both awake and dressed when I got home at 7. Tayson was all upset that he couldn't get World of Warcraft to load and he wanted to know if he could wake up Timmy for his password. I told him that it was Tuesday so WoW is down and to play something else. He argued with me for a good 5 minutes that it wasn't Tuesday it was Thursday. Finally he gave up and went and played something else. I hurried and took a quick shower and then I heard Sophie crying. She had completely peed out of her pj's so I got her all dressed and even fixed her hair. Then hurried and went in to fix my hair. At 7:50 I got the boys off the computer for breakfast. I had just gotten them to sit down with their captain crunch when Claire woke up so I started to get her breakfast too. Then Tayson said "who pooped? it smells soooooo disgusting!" I checked Sophie then Claire and realized that Claire had pooped a very long time ago and slept in it....oh my gosh it was sooooo dry and caked on. DISGUSTING! So I threw away her undies and made her sit in the warm water to get her bum clean. Then I went back and did scriptures and prayers with the boys and told them they had 5 minutes until they needed to leave for the bus. At this time it was 8:00 time to get on my weekly conference call with our Europe marketing staff. I got on the call then started unloading the dishwasher. For some reason the top shelf didn't get clean at all so I had to reload them to the bottom and start the dishwasher again. At this time I realized that it was 8:07 and the boys were late so I told them it was time to go and they needed to hurry only to realize that Luke didn't have his shoes, jacket or backpack like Tayson. We rushed and he ran his little behind off to make it to the bus. At this time I realized it was quiet and that Claire was in the bath....oh no! I ran as fast as I could back to the bathroom but I was too late Sophie was sitting in the bath fully dressed playing. So I pulled her out and took off her clothes and diaper and put her back in. I tried really hard to pay attention to my call while I listened for the girls in the bath and put on my makeup. They finished their baths before I got done with my call so I had to get them both out and dressed (or redressed) and still get myself dressed. It was finally 8:30 and Meggan got there so I could finish my call and get ready then off to work. phew.

Kindergarten Shots

Today he had to get 6 shots so that he can keep going to school. When I told him I said "Luke we need to go get your kindergarten shots so you can keep going to school" and he promptly said "that's ok, I'll just go to first grade instead". What a crack up!

Then today after school Todd was going to bring him to the county health department (right across the street from my work) and we were going to get his shots then take him to lunch and then Todd was going to take him to a movie. But Luke decided to eat a lunchable at home and didn't want to go to a movie because he said he would rather just go back home and play World of Warcraft. Oh boy.

So, we got his shots and he ended up needing 6 instead of 3 to get caught up. He was so tough. (A long time ago I posted about Luke's 3 year old shots). He didn't cry or scream or make a peep. Just took a deep breath and set his jaw to get through the pain. The nurse even said "he's good and really has that deep breathing down". He did say ouch at one point (around shot #5) and his arms are still sore. Poor little guy.

We took him out to lunch with us afterwards and he got a chocolate shake. It was so much fun hanging out with just Luke and I really want to start taking our kids out one at a time.

General Conference

What a great weekend. I love General Conference. Here are a few of my favorites parts of the weekend aside from all the absolutely amazing talks.

Claire cuddling on the couch with me for about 45 minutes of the Saturday morning session quietly watching with me. We laid on the couch with a pillow and blanket cuddled up. Every once in a while she would look up at me and say things like "hims said Jesus....I know Jesus" or "temples? I love temples".

Saturday night during the dinner prayer Tayson said "please bless the missionaries around the world to find people to teach" and then he looked at me and said "that's what President Monson told us to pray for". Tayson also came in to listen to Pres. Monson speak and he said "his name is Thomas Monson not President". It cracked me up.

Then last night during Luke's personal prayers he said "please help us to do service for our cousins or strangers".

I love that my kids are actually getting tiny pieces out of conference. I love conference and how uplifting it is. I love that my kids know who Pres. Monson is and that they love him so much. I love the spirit that comes into my home during conference and the chance I have to easily watch all 4 sessions from the comfort of my home. When I was little we had to get all dressed up and go to the church and sit on hard chairs for 2 hours. Only 6 more months...

Flashback Friday

Tayson - 2002

I love this picture. Tayson and Sophie look so much alike to me and honestly they act so much alike too. Tayson was a bit more intense and Sophie is more spazzy...but they are both very active and very fun kids.