The View from Today

Alright, I admit that my post last night was a little "Blair Witch" scary! It had been a very rough day coming off a very rough weekend! Things are much better today...




Emma's pumpkin and Emma's impersonation of her pumpkin. She says her pumpkin is laughing. (She also says her pumpkin has a butt. The back of the pumpkin has a big indentation all the way up and it does look like a bum. Then when we cut it open last night, it was all brown and rotten on the inside. I heard her tell someone today that her pumpkin looked like a butt and when we cut it open, it was filled with poop! Nice one Emma! She has such great manners!)



Coop designed his own pumpkin and says it's a vampire.




Bekah worked very hard on her pumpkin, both designing and carving! She had to wear my rubber gloves though because the pumpkin insides made her hands itch! (Please also note the VERY straight front teeth and retainer! Bekah got her braces off two weeks ago and it has made our lives much simpler!)



Brayden's pumpkin has three eyes and two horns (if you couldn't already tell)





Three delicious yummies to get me through the day- pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (Thanks Taryn), roasted pumpkin seeds (my personal Halloween favorite!), and Homeade Carmel popcorn using Kelsey's recipe!


Our house is now active on the rental market and gas prices.... need I say more?



OK, one more thing to make my day great- two awesome houses in the BOSTON area that we can afford!!! If you have not already heard, we are moving to Boston as soon as our house rents out! Pray for good things! What we thought was going to be a long separation has drastically reduced and we expect to be moved sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
My personal lesson for the week Ether 12:6 "....I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

This is what being alone with 4 kids for 9 days looks like...

I have a ton of things I need to catch up my blog on, but for tonight...

This is what it looks like after being on my own with 4 kids for 9 days. Emma was super sick and throwing up over the weekend and tonight, I helped the kids carve their pumpkins for Family Home Evening. Have you ever attempted to carve 4 pumpkins by yourself? It would have been easier that way. Pumpkin carving/"Mom, can you help me"/"Oooo, this stuff is so gross" lasted about 1 hour. The clean up time for me once I impatiently put the kids to bed lasted another hour and a half! Tomorrow will be better!

Tag- I'm it!

I have been Tagged by two different friends, in two different ways, so I'll combine the two in one post-

Marcia tagged me with the following-

Post rules on your blog.
Answer the six "8" items.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.


8 Favorite TV Shows
The Amazing Race
Without a Trace
The Biggest Loser
Survivor
Saturday Night Live
American Idol
So You Think You Can Dance
Studio B-with Shepherd Smith

8 Things I did yesterday
Got the kids off to school
Went to the gym and did BodyCombat
Talked to Adam on the phone
Put gas in the car
Looked online at Rentals in Boston
Reworked our budget
Taught BodyJam at CCAC
Ate dinner with my kids

8 Things I look forward to
Being together as a family again
Moving
Christmas
Flying out to PA on Nov. 7th to spend the weekend with Adam
My parents coming to take care of the kids while I go-seeing them
Seeing HSM3 with my kiddos on Saturday-3:40pm!!!!
Sleeping in- not sure when, but I always look forward to the chance!
One size smaller jeans

8 Favorite Restaurants
Jason's Deli
Texas Roadhouse
Rodizio Grill- Trolley Square in SLC
The Cheesecake Factory
ANYTHING seafood!!
HuDat
Maple Gardens
Pei Wei or PF Chang

8 Things on my wish list
That my house will SELL
That I already knew where and when we were moving
A cruise- ANYWHERE!
To go home to UT for Christmas
A new wardrobe
That Emma would stop being so whiny
That my mom would get better
That my kids will all gain personal testimonies

8 People to tag
John McCain
Sarah Palin
Barack Obama
Joe Biden
Todd Hunter
Juan Garcia
Seriously, I would love to hear from all of these folks and cut down on the negative campaigning! Sorry, it's starting to drive me nuts!
No, really, if you would like to add this to your blog, I'd love to hear your answers!

Jerusha tagged me with this-
1. Where was I 10 years ago? I was living in South Ogden Utah. Adam and I had been married for 2+ years and Brayden was 14 months. We were very poor and living in a walk in basement apartment. Adam was working Full time and going to school Full time. I was teaching dance 2 nights a week. Adam stayed home with Brayden one of the nights and our moms took turns watching him the other night. I was serving as a Cub Scout Den "Mother" and as the Young Women 2nd Counselor.

2. What is on my to-do list today? Nothing really.... no Young Women's to plan for. Dishes, laundry, teach BodyJam with Davon, drop Chloe off at the groomers, take Emma to McDonalds for our Wednesday play date, buy tickets to HSM3, help the kids with Homework, make dinner, take Brayden to 11year old scouts and Bekah to Achievement Days, pick them up, get everyone to bed, finish reading Brisingr.
If you were wondering, "Who is Davon?" This is Davon and I (and another instuctor named Lance, who you can't really see) teaching onstage at CCAC at our latest Les Mills Launch Party!

3. What if I was a Billionaire? That is a very big IF!

4. 5 Places I’ve lived! Eden, UT, Hanscom AFB, MA, Vandenberg AFB, CA, Minot AFB, ND, Pflugerville, TX

5. Favorite snacks– Now this is a hard one-
Weight Watcher's Friendly- cauliflower, carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery, Kashi GoLean Carmel Popcorn bar
Non- Weight Watcher's- beef jerky, bread, rolls, Fritos, cheese

6. 3 bad habits!
-Not folding the laundry until it has been sitting in a basket at the foot of my bed for 3+ days
-Feeding my family every meal off of the cheapy styrofoam plates. It gives me far less dishes- but very bad for the environment!
-OK, this is really gross, but honest- picking my pimples!!!!!! I honestly thought that by the time I hit 20, I would no longer get pimples. Boy was I wrong! And every night before bed, I pick said pimples. During the day even, I run my hands along my face and pick at anything that is sticking out! My sister-in-law, Ruth, who worked/works for Estee Lauder would be soooooo disappointed!

Example of laundry all over the floor of my room (plus the bonus of my bed not being made in the background and my closet exposed!) This is a great picture Adam and Emma took using our new WebCam before he left!

7. I tag—
*See above!

The Pumpkin Patch- Corpus Christi Style!

Tonight for family night, I took the kids over to our local "Pumpkin Patch". Since it does not get cold enough to grow pumpkins here, there is a local church that has pumpkins shipped in every year. They set up a pumpkin patch, bring in bales of hay, set up areas to take pictures, and sell a variety of small goards. The pumpkins range between 4-12 dollars each, depending on the size... oh, to live in cooler weather again where you can actually go out and pick your pumpkin off the vine, and pay next to nothing to get it... There's always next year.






We went straight from Brayden's Tae Kwon Do practice, thus the studly white suit!

On another note, tonight we had our first VIDEO CALL with Adam. His plane got in to Philadelphia around midnight (EST) last night, so the kids didn't get to talk to him. We called him right before bed and it worked out great! It's amazing how just being able to see him, and him see us, makes the communication 100% better! 1 day down, 89 to go....

Palin Rap

Saturday Night Live has been having a hayday with Gov. Sarah Palin and I love that she went on the show Saturday night. Here is my favorite skit from the show- Palin Rap

It's a Crazy Life!

Again, I have been slacking on my blogging. We have had an incredibly busy week. Here's what's happening in my world-
Three weeks ago, while Adam was still gone on his interviews, the kids and I drove up to Austin for my nieces missionary farewell. She enters the MTC this Wednesday to serve in the Chicago South Mission. You can view all the pictures from our trip by clicking here.

Last weekend, our niece took out her temple endowment in the Dallas Texas temple. We left here as soon as our kids got out of school and started off on the drive. It was probably one of our longest trips ever, with multiple stops for the potty and dinner on the way. We got there at about one in the morning. Saturday, while Adam watched the UT vs OU football game, my sister and law and I took the kids to see IGOR. I am telling you, DO NOT GO SEE THAT MOVIE! It was possibly the worst childrens movie of all time! Did anyone else see it? Would love to hear some feedback! The temple session was at 7pm and was very nice! It is always wonderful to attend the temple with family. We stayed there for church, 1-4pm, which was actually quite nice now that my kids are not dying for a nap at that time! When we got home, Adam received an email that a member of our ward had passed away and that the memorial service was scheduled for the next morning at 10am. We decided to hop in the car so we could make it back. Can you say "Road Warriors"? We left Dallas around 6:45pm and arrive home about 2am. Adam drove the whole way!
The kids were out of school on Monday, so after the memorial service and a large nap, we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese-



Aaah, pictures with Chuck E in his little car! Classics to keep for posterity for sure!
Since this was Adam's final week home before heading out to Philadelphia, I drove him like a slave all week! We painted our bedroom, a bathroom, the kitchen and the front hallway all into satin paint finally! Adam got the lawn mowed and edged very nicely. We completed our garage cleanout! It was amazing to send our high chair, the stroller, the double stroller, the bike trailer, the baby clothes..... all to Goodwill! Our garage looks so nice now! On a side note, will someone please buy my house??????? Check out the MLS listing here. We are probably going to end up renting it out, but until we know where and when we are going, we are going to wait!
Ok, one more fact from my life- I got released as Young Women's President last Sunday. When the Bishop called me in to extend the release, I cried. I have been serving in Young Women's the entire time I have lived in this ward- first as the personal progress advisor, and then as the president for over a year and a half. The timing of the whole release was right and it was a testimony to me that the Lord loves and cares for each one of us individually. He knows and cares about what is going on in our lives! I will miss the girls, I will miss the leaders, but I know that the new presidency will be awesome! To Taryn, Ericka, Stephanie, Anissa, June, Jennifer, Jennah, Shawna, and Julieta, I love you and thank you for all of your help and support. I could not have done it without you! You have blessed and touched my life and the lives of the Young Women here in the Corpus Christi Third Ward! Here's a few pictures from my last activity with them. I made them carve Pumpkin Helmets (thanks Brock) and run relay races with them on! It was a fun night-

Keeping Busy at a PTA meeting

Last Thursday, (I know, I'm over a week behind) we had our monthly PTA meeting and the third graders were performing two songs. I got to the meeting with all four kids (Adam had a church meeting) on time and got Bekah into her classroom to wait for the performance. Once I got seated in the cafeteria, waiting for the meeting to start, Emma decided she was very bored. A nice man from the Corpus Christi Independant School District came to talk to us about the Bond Proposal that will be on our ballots next month. It was a great presentation, but this is what I was secretly doing the whole time to keep a bored child entertained... I really think she came to earth with the personalities of 3-4 children wrapped up in one! Here's a little video of Bekah's performance. She is very hard to see in it- second row, hair in a ponytail, glasses...