Happy Halloween!

Seriously, where is this year going!? It seems like we just moved here but it has already been a year. I know. Crazy.

Last year, the kids were all pumpkins from a family pumpkin patch. This year, they decided to be a little more their own thing.

Jacob as Phineas from "Phineas and Ferb"
Isabelle as Belle

Kaylee channeling her inner Alex Russo from "Wizards of Waverly Place"

Our two Avengers - Matt as Captain America and Josh as Iron Man

Our pumpkins! From top left clockwise: Kaylee's, Jacob's, Matt's, and Josh's

The whole family! Gosh, that's a lot of kids!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Today was the first day of school. Actually, it still is seeing as the kids haven't come home yet. I thought I would put the pictures up, anyway.

Enjoy!

I Am Grateful...

I am grateful for the interwebs because they allow me to vent my frustrations with life out into a relatively harmless void, thereby saving my husband and children from getting an earful.

FYI: I am not frustrated right now, nor have my husband or children done anything wrong. I'm just making an observation and expressing gratitude.

Thank you for your time.

Jacob's Dream

My eldest son shared with me a dream he had about a month ago, in the midst of all of the ridiculous debt ceiling nonsense. He told me that in his dream, he and his friends managed to earn all of the money needed to pay off the national debt. They took the money to Washington and gave it to the government. But, instead of paying off the debt, Congress decided to spend that money on a monument to themselves.

I laughed like crazy and then died a little inside because that is probably what the government would have done in real life.

The End.

The Day Before the First Day of School

It is that time of year again when moms all over the country are getting perhaps a teeny bit antsy for their children to go back to school. I remember this time last year, I could not wait for my children to get out of my house and back in the classroom. (In retrospect, that might have had something to do with the fact that it was one of the hottest, and most humid, summers on record in Georgia, and I was eight months pregnant). This year, however, things are a bit different.

I've had a great summer with my kids. We've been to the gym, we've been swimming, we've been to baseball games (both t-ball and professional) and have been on several walks and hikes. I've really enjoyed spending time with the little munchkins.

We've also had fun getting all of their school supplies together, going to before-school assessments and picking up lunch supplies. It seems that about this time of year, every year, I am stressed out of my tree trying to buy last minute erasers and school shoes. I'm so on top of things this year that I am sitting her, at the computer, blogging. I'm trying to invent things that need to be done. It feels good, yet at the same time, I'm starting to panic that I've forgotten something and that I am wasting time. I'm beginning to think that along with all of the great rewards of motherhood, we are burdened with a lot of unnecessary stress. Pft.

Well, I'll let you know how the first day goes. We're way excited, even the kids!

A Challenge

Jarum has issued me A Challenge: if I complete a 12-14 week exercise and nutrition program with him, he will get me a prize.

I won't tell you what it is, but I will tell you this much:

It starts with an i.

And ends with a Pad.

And looks like this:

Keep me honest People!

Easter

What a whirlwind Easter weekend we had! First we had a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning (I know! A Saturday!) where we got to run around in the falling snow, picking up eggs with hundreds of our closest friends. Then we had our own hunt at home. On Sunday we went to Church and I experienced probably one of the most spiritual Easters I've ever had. It was just a great weekend!

Waiting for each age group to be called.

Look! I've got teeth!

Chatting with friends.

The Easter Bunny presiding over the "4 and under" hunt.

Matt waiting to be set loose.

The "8 and over" crowd. The went way out there.

Cheese!

My boys after Church.

And my girls.

Mom, do we have to take more pictures?!

Just give me a nice one.

Izzy Gnawing on a Spoon

Why Comfort Dental is AWESOME!

In an effort to thank all of the partners for what they do for the company, Comfort Dental Corporate purchases Box and Suite seats for Rockies games. Jarum snagged four of the tickets for the Rockies/Dodgers game last Tuesdays night. We took Jacob and Kaylee and oh, how fun it was!!

Suite ticket holders have special parking. It made us feel, well, special!

After going through the ticket stiles, we were led to a private elevator that took us up to the Suite Level. When we got off, this is what it looked like. It was like being in a hotel and not in a baseball stadium.

The Comfort Dental Suite. This was the view from the door.

Jacob and Kaylee couldn't believe their eyes when they saw all of the free, catered food!

The Comfort Dental Jersey

The view from our box. If you enlarge the image and look at the backstop just right of center field, you'll see the Comfort Dental logo. That's right. We're awesome. ;)

At the top of the Fifth, the kids could go down the hall and meet Dinger, the mascot for the Rockies.

We ended up beating the Dodgers 3-0 (thank goodness!) and enjoyed every minute of our adventure! I think the best part was that there was a bathroom right across the hall, no waiting! ;)

Thanks, Rick, for your generosity!

And thanks to our dear friends, the Roylances, for watching our younger three children. We really appreciate it!

Conference

Something that hasn't happened in over ten years happened this last week - we were able to watch General Conference in its entirety! It was a Conference Weekend Miracle! It was spectacular to watch and we all enjoyed it immensely. The Spirit was very strong and I think the kids actually remembered some of the messages. I think we can count that as a success!

We've Had a Few Firsts...

First Lost Tooth...

First "Solid" Food

First Falling-Asleep-While-Doing-Homework

First Trip to the Denver Zoo

First Place in the Pinewood Derby

First Spring Outfit

First Sitting at the Table

Our First Dinner at our New Dining Table