Happy Halloween, everybody!!!!!!!

You know, guys, this is probably the first Halloween I've had that I don't have one of my uncles on the mission field. In honor of the occasion I will post one of my favorite Halloween poems(that I wrote in school). Here it is:



Five creepy black cats lying at my feet
The first one said, "Do you wish to eat?"
The second one said, "Look! There's a mouse!"
The third one said, "No, dummy, that's a louse."
The forth one said, "Do I look fat?"
The fifth one said, "Your as fit as a bat,"
Than SLAM went my book
And THUMP went my feet,
And the five creepy black cats went to trick or treat

It's Snowing!

This is what happens when you forget to put the flour away.

Bad boy bad boy, whacha gonna do when they come for you...

Last night we had our own live showing of COPS right outside our front window. It was complete with the K-9 unit, loudspeaker warnings, spotlights, guns drawn and a tazer shot. Apparently our across the street neighbors were harboring some sort of parol violator and the police came to collect him. There are two families who live in the house and they called for all of the occupants to come out. It was really sad because after the pol;ice made that announcement seven people came out and five of them were kids (four of them are the same age as my kids). I am sure they were scared and cold. There were two people still left in the house, the mother of the four kids and the suspect. I don't know if the mom just didn't hear the announcements or what, but I couldn't believe it took her so long to get out of the house with her kids scared outside. After she came out the police went in to the house and at one point they pulled a ladder out of the garage ( think they were looking in the ceiling). After about tewnty minutes the guy comes running out of the house and jumps the fence in the front yard. An officer tazzered him but he ran part way up our driveway then turned to the left. We didn't see where they caught him, but only a few minutes passed before they did. our best view came form the girls room and Kaylee woke up when we came in and joined in the looky loo. Everyone is safe and fine, but it was a pretty exciting for our little street.

Pumpkin Patch & Trunk or Treat

It's that time of year again, you know the one where all types of pumpkin patch and costume pictures start popping up on the blogs of the world. Well here is our contribution. We went to the insanely over priced pumpkin patch for FHE this week. I guess the economy is in a slump, but it's kind of crazy where $30 worth of tickets only gets the kids a couple of rides. Enough complaining. The kids had a lot of fun and we never go with the intention of buying pumpkins, so it was a good night.

Last night we had our ward trunk or treat which is always a family favorite. Aiden was an astronaut, Dalin was a football player with Ashton as his cheerleader and Kaylee was a vampiress. Every Halloween I promise myself that I'm not going to make costumes again, and every year I break the previous Halloween promise. This year was no exception, but at least I only made one. The costume Kaylee liked in the store was $25, and I was sure I could make it for much less (or not). I ended up spending at least that much, plus the time it took to actually make it. At least it wasn't to difficult, and I got it done in time. I was telling my brother that I wasn't going to make any more costumes and he said, " You lie, you know you're addicted." He's right, but I'm going to live in my lie for a little while longer.

You know it's a fungus, right?

I have a confession. I am kind of obsessed with infomercials. Yeah, they rank right up there with those teeny bopper shows. I will stop and watch about some product that will change my life for a good 20 minutes. And because they just replay the same footage about how amazing the product is over and over again, that is actually like watching the same commercial eight times in a row. I don't buy infomercial products very often, but I will admit to doing so more than once and none of the things I bought were ever a miracle.

Why the conscience cleansing moment? A few weeks ago I bought an exercise video from an infomercial. It was only $15.00 and it came with a weight ball, green tea supplement and a ten day menu, in addition to the video. I have been on the losing end of my battle of the bulge, so I decided to give it a try. Also Chris's grandpa had diabetes and his dad is currently having a lot of health issues due to his diabetes so it couldn't hurt to have Chris try it out with me. It is a low fat, low sugar, low salt diet and I know it sounds pretty bland, but it hasn't been too bad. We actually get a good amount of food for every meal and two snacks. I have been doing pretty well until today. We are in day six, and you would think that the cravings would be getting better over time, but today I have just wanted more than my menu says I can have (I guess pretzel fish really aren’t that bad, but they are not on the list). Maybe it's because my brain (or stomach) knows tomorrow is our ward trunk or treat and my will power has a slim chance so why not give in now.

Or it might be that today's lunch was two portabella mushroom pizzas. I know that doesn't sound bad, but the mushroom caps were the crust. Have you seen the underside of those things! I guess the fact that I even ate one is a testament to my commitment, but even thinking about it is making me gag. Chris who doesn't mind mushrooms said they were fine, so maybe it's all physiological for me. I don't know what is worse for me, eating the mushroom or the thought of me eating the mushroom (gag!).

I know it's nothing revolutionary, but Chris has already lost 6.5 pounds and I have lost three (both without doing the exercise video, I know we're lazy). So my $15.00 investment has been worth it so far, but no more mushrooms for me!

PS I know you all were going to fall over with shock because it says posted by Chris, but Kristen actually wrote this one.

Loyalties

All of you who read this blog probably know I have lived in Henderson my entire life. Okay there was those two years in Provo, but I ended up getting my Mrs. degree right here in my home town. I went to Basic high school (yes I got a basic education, believe me I've heard that one before) but I never really had a strong affinity for the place. I was pretty involved in school activities so high school was fun for me, but I've always felt kind of eh about the school. I didn't even attend my ten year reunion. Our class did not have spirit, no we didn't! Anyway, our big rival was the gators of Green Valley. Three of Chris's siblings went there for a while, and we don't live to far from GVHS so Chris is a gator fan, but I can not bring myself to cheer for GV! If Basic and Green Valley are playing against each other I will cheer for Basic every time, even if I don't know any one on the team. On Friday I stayed up to watch the late news just to see if Basic had won (they did, apparently they got some talent since I went there). So I guess I do have some loyalty to my alma mater and it will probably take one of my kids attending GV and being honored as their greatest student ever to change my gator hater status.

Two year old check list

1. Discover deodorant and make sure you help everyone in the house put some all over their arms. Check!

2. Go to the grocery store with mom demand the cart shaped like a car, then get out and make a run for it as soon as the popsicles are in sight. Check!

3. Help mom make cookies by turning the mixer on high right after she pours in the flour. It will be like a snow fall inside. Check!

4. Take your new discovery, deodorant, with you when you pick up your brother from kindergarten so every one can enjoy it. It might impede your playtime so give it to your mom to hold. Check!

5. Make sure your mom knows how much you love popsicles by screaming and crying as loud as you can after she cuts you off at four. Check!

6. During homework time work on a art project which includes a green marker and your arms legs and hands. Check!

7. Make your mom so proud by taking the initiative to go to bathroom all by yourself. It will lull her into a false sense of security and she will let you wear Mickey Mouse underpants. Promise with all your two year old heart that you will not make Mickey Mouse wet, but forget about that promise an hour later. Check!

8. Give fantastic hugs and kisses to remind your mom how much she loves you, and to help her forget what you've done today so you can start all over again tomorrow. Check! Check! Check!

Handbag Giveaway

Okay, I totally stole this from my cousin's wife's blog, I never win anything and if I post it on my blog I get more chances to win. Go to handbagplanet.com where they are giving away one handbag an hour for 24 hours to celebrate the launch of their website. So check it out ladies (and gentlemen if you are in need of a handbag). I'd wish you all good luck, but really I hope I win. I'm selfish that way!

All of the day and all of the night...

Chris has been visiting his parents in Arkansas for the last week and he finally returned home yesterday. WOO HOO! I definitely appreciate him more when he is home than when he is away. He had done some computer work for some one he works with whose wife works for an airline, so he gave Chris a buddy pass ticket as payment. The deal with a buddy pass is you fly standby, which means you can have a seat if there is one available. His flight to Arkansas was pretty smooth, but the way home was a different story. His flight left at 6:55 am and was supposed to arrive in Las Vegas at 11:20 am. The key phrase is supposed to. The original flight plan had two stops, one in St. Luis and one in Omaha. Unfortunately the flight from Omaha to LV was completely full and he got the boot. He was redirected to a flight to Pheonix which would then get him home. That flight was supposed to get in at 3:15 pm, but it was delayed and didn't land until 4:00. So after four plane changes and 12 hours of traveling Chris finally made it home, almost. We had tickets to see Les Miserables at the Tuacahn theater in St. George, so after I picked him up from the airport we started our two hour drive to the play.

If everything had gone according to plan we would have made it there with time to spare, but with the way things worked out we were about ten minutes late for the play. I think it was the first live play I had ever seen that was professionally done and it was fantastic! The weather was beautiful, but they do these plays in this outdoor theater all through the summer. It made me wonder how the actors don't melt every night. I actually almost cried when Eponine's character died, something that never would have happened if I was just watching the movie.

My brother Austin was watching the kids while we were gone, and I told him that I didn't care how late they stayed up since they didn't have school the next day. I figured midnight would be the latest any of the kids could handle. Notice the previous post? It was written by Kaylee at 1:11 am! Apparently Austin told the kids the could stay up until 5am, but Kaylee was the only one who even came close and said she got bored and that's why she fell asleep. I guess when you take little kids to get ice cream at 9:45 pm (yeah Austin did that too), it gives them the energy they need for a late night.

* I remembered that I actually have seen other plays, one at the Tuacahn theater even. I went with the singles ward to see the original UTAH! play that theater was built for. Chris and I also saw "The King and I" on our honeymoon in Salt Lake. You'll never guess who was the star, Haley Mills! Yes the very one of Parent Trap and Saved by the Bell fame. I know we are so lucky!

A random fairytale that I made up

Okay, I know it's late, but Austin's watching us, and I haven't passed out from exhaustion (yet :P). Anyways, I am not the slacker and I haven't written an 'actual' post in a while. Well, here we go


Once upon a time there was a girl named Jellrah. Jellrah was the beautiful, spoilt, not to mention snobby princess of Alagica. Alagica was a small country to the east of France. Jellrah, needless to say, had a horrible personality and was a terrible ruler of the beautiful Alagica. But all that was about to change...



"What?!?!?" screamed Jellrah. "I specifically told the chef not to make me pancakes, especially not cold ones!" "Daddy!!!!!!!" Her father,A.K.A King Jelrom, came running down the corridor. "What is it, my sweet?" he asked."Chef Ammali made me pancakes instead of grape crepes, like I asked." Jellrah whined. "I'll take care of it, darling, pumpkin" "Chef Ammali, your fired!"

To be continued..................