The Halloween Party!!

This last Saturday we had our Halloween Party, and I will just go out on a limb here to say that fun was had by all! John and I had a blast running around trying to make sure everything went smoothly, and the adults had a good time hanging out at the house and/or watching their children try to find the buried treasure on the haunted trail and house. I got some pictures even! John has some up on his blog too, along with his version of events, and for some more click here to get to Timpani's blog; http://quisandvance.blogspot.com/
This is how it went;
The kids arrived and I gave them the first clue; a piece of a treasure map. They had to use that piece to find the other pieces hidden in the graveyard (our backyard) and other places to find the witch that would tell them where they needed to go and who to talk to in order to find the treasure, while avoiding the Grim Reaper who was making his rounds in the field behind the graveyard. They then had to then go through the haunted house (our garage) by passing through the mad scientist's laboratory (our library) to get to the ghost who hid the treasure who would then tell them where he buried it. The kids did pretty well with only marginal help from adults. Meanwhile, the adults kicked back and had some dinner in the house (not the haunted part). I made chili (which everyone but Todd thought was too hot!) and potato soup. It was loads of good fun, although if we do it next year, I won't be feeding everyone again. Too much work on top of all the other preparations!! And now for the pics!

This is John after all the activity. He looks a little tired and sweaty doesn't he? I can't imagine why....

This is just a random picture after the kids found and opened the treasure, which resulted in a candy frenzy. This is when everyone settled in their own little spaces to eat and enjoy the spoils. Here's Renae. What a ham!

My sister, Virginia. Isn't she cute?

Her husband Apollo, and their new baby, Lark. Two hams in one house was almost too much...

More random enjoyment of the booty.

Here's Trent on the right and Todd on the left in their costumes.

Here's Todd again. I did the make-up, and had a blast doing it. It's my first time ever doing any one's make-up too. Didn't I do great? His own sister as well as his mother didn't recognize him. His mom saw the picture and said "So who was this?" I took that pic as well. I am just the BEST!

So that concludes the Great Sever Haunted Treasure Hunt. We had a blast doing it, and I hope everyone had a blast attending!!

The Almighty Liz

Seriously Awesome Week

Have I said how much I love our new area yet? Because, man, do I LOVE our new town!
I have gotten to do all these things just this week;
Had a super good weekend to myself (see prior post).
Got to have a girls' night out with a neighbor. (we went to a really good restaurant where her husband works, although he was off that night watching their kids, and we got our extremely tasty-but expensive-meal for FREE.)
Had one set of John's aunts and uncles over for dinner. (Reid and Marsha-we laughed all night long)
Had one of my new friends from church volunteer to scrub my floors for me, since after all the other house work I did this week, I just couldn't muster the energy. We also went to story time at the library, and our kids played most of the day together, and had a blast. (thanks Elise! The floors look stellar, and you are the alltime BEST!)
John got a RAISE. (just the yearly one that everyone gets, and not huge or anything, but still ultra cool)
Jonni has her first loose tooth.
And we still have a Halloween party for all our nieces and nephews (biological and honorary) tomorrow to look forward to!
Seriously, I just don't think life gets any better! Anything better than this is just bonus at this point, for real. (not that I will turn down bonuses. That would make me a loser, and I think everyone agrees that I'm as far from a loser as you can get)
The Almighty Liz

My Weekend

Well, my weekend was not what I expected, but it sure was fun! I was supposed to go camping with my entire in-law family, but I got a cold at the beginning of last week, and so opted to not go, even though I was feeling just fine by the weekend. I didn't want to tempt fate! John decided to take the kids and go without me, so I was then faced with a whole weekend to myself? What's a girl to do...?
Well, I'll tell you. The fam left at four o'clock on Friday afternoon. And first let me tell you that I called everyone I could think of to hang out, and everyone was busy. So, Friday I went and test drove cars. Do you know, that was a lot of fun? I'm mainly doing research for when our car finally throws in the towel, so I don't have to scramble and do everything last minute. There was this one sweet little Jeep Grand Cherokee...but I won't go into details. It was painful enough to leave it at the dealership. :)
I was then going to eat dinner and go shopping, but after eating dinner, I decided I was too tired. So instead I rented a few movies, watched one, and went to bed early. Oh! I also talked to my best friend, Mary, for a bit before the movie. I just don't get to talk to her near enough these days. (Love you!)
On Saturday, after a blissful night's sleep, (no husband stealing my covers, no daughter getting me up at 2 am to tell me her bed is "messed up", ect ect), I woke, had breakfast, and decided to go shopping. I was having dinner at a friend's later that evening, and so decided to call and tell her I wouldn't call right before I left like I had planned, and wasn't sure when I would make it out to her place. Well, lo and behold, her plans for the day got cancelled, (or rather, her husband's did, and he was gracious enough to take the kids off her hands so she could come out and play), so I got a shopping buddy! Before I went over to her place, I had lunch at my favorite fast food place; Lion's Choice. I did it because I'm the only one that likes that place, ergo, I never get to eat there. Mmmm, it was soooooo good. There were some major fall sales going on when we go to the mall too, so we totally cleaned up. I don't have to go shopping for a long time now. Woohoo! We then went back to her house, ordered pizza, watched chic flix (much to her husband's dismay...sorry Erik! I didn't know when I rented them you would be watching them too!), and ate some cheesecake I purchased from our little grocery around the corner. The one with the pies to die for. Their cheesecake is very much on par with the pies. (and I am sure I gained 10 lbs in just that one evening)
Sunday was just lazy, waiting for the fam to get home. All in all though, a really good, stress relieving few days. I missed my kids and my hubby, but it was nice to have some time to myself too. To not have to be somebody's mama, somebody's wife, cook, maid, ect ect ect. To just be a girl for awhile was exceedingly nice. ;)
The Almighty Liz
ps everybody had a great time at the campout too. John took some pics on our camera phone that I would love to post, but I have no idea how to get them from the phone to the computer. Any suggestions?

Little Pleasures

My son is sitting in the next room singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" as loud as he can.
It's fall, and that's the season my husband and I started dating. He always says, "Every fall, I fall in love with you all over again." It will be eleven years since that time on October 11th, and I still love it.
We were not only ready in time for the bus this morning, we had time to spare because my husband fed the kids breakfast, and let me sleep in an extra ten minutes.
My husband says I can go grocery shopping tonight without the children.
There is an excellent piece of banana cream pie waiting for me to eat tonight after my children are in bed.
Seriously, it's the little things in life that bring true happiness, don't you think?
The Almighty Liz

Soliciting Advice

So, I'm trying to potty train my 2 year old. He will be 3 at the end of November. He is not really interested. I bought some pull-ups (to make things easier on me), and he actually cried when I put the first one on. He's doing a little better about it now, but really, I'm not sure how to proceed. Any suggestions from all you old hat mom's who know what you're doing? This is only my second attempt, and my first with a boy. Everyone told me boys would be easier, but so far that is not panning out so much. I'm not completely at my wits' end yet, but this is so much different than Jonni, my girl, that I just don't know how to start really! Anyway, lots of comments people! I need a plan!
The Almighty Liz
P.S. The car is still running just fine.
And we are almost all well. John and Erik are sickest. When does THAT happen? Never.

Hooray! A New Post!

So, maybe I overdid things a little in my life, and I got sick. For over a week. Live and learn, right? This is what I did to overdo:
I worked out on Saturday a week ago. A real good one too. Lifting, and the exercise bike. Then we had some friends over for a birthday. That was loads of fun. I went errand running with the wife of the family (Timpani) which including mundane things like groceries, and fun things like finding a present for my dad, whose birthday party we were attending the next day. That took three hours, and then we went back home and had dinner, and then banished the kids downstairs to watch a movie, and indulged in birthday cheesecake. (**side note** our little mom and pop grocery store is just around the corner from us, and they make the best pies and cheesecake ever. We are going to get sooooo fat) We rounded the evening off by cleaning up the vomit of our friends' little girl. Our house did not agree with her, apparently. We'll have to try again soon though. You never know, she might have outgrown her allergy by then.

I woke up Sunday feeling just a bit low, but I figured, hey, I've been doing so well, I'm not going to worry about it. We went to my dad's B-day party, and had a good time. I ended up making him a shirt, sort of. I couldn't come up with any really good ideas, so Timpani and I sort of just wandered around every store in town for awhile, waiting for inspiration to hit. I found a little owl patch. (my dad collects owls because of a boyscout thing called Woodbadge, or something like that. The owl was his group's totem animal) I thought, hmmm, I could sew this to something, and that would make an okay present. So I began looking at things, and since my dad also loves to barbeque, I thought an apron would be good. Those are way pricey, so then I thought a nice polo shirt would also work well, so that's what I went with. I chose navy blue because it looks good on my dad, and he doesn't have a whole lot of that color in his wardrobe. It turns out blue is his Woodbadge group's color too, so that worked out super great! He liked the shirt, and I forced him to put it on so I could take a picture. He hates having his pic taken with a fierce and undying passion, so this proves he really does love me. We had a good time at the party, and came home a little late, but not too bad.

I woke up on Monday feeling atrocious. Sore throat, cough, horribly congested...I was miserable. No fever though, so that was super good. That usually means it's not a Rheumatic Fever relapse. I just felt like a three day old corpse for all of last week. Erik got it for a day, and John came down with it yesterday, but I am definitely on the mend. Instead of a corpse, now I only feel like a wrung out dishrag. Definitely an improvement. Oh, and Jonni has an ear infection. Didn't burst her eardrum this time, so thank all that is holy for small miracles.

Whilst we were at my parents' for the party, I had my brother in law snap a couple of family pictures of our little branch for a school assignment of Jonni's. I thought they turned really stinkin' good, and I'm gonna send it to Wally world and get a bigger print and frame it and stick it on my wall. I put the best shot in this post so you all can see. It took him about five minutes with my little point and shoot camera. He really has some talent in this area don't you think?
So, all in all, that was my last week and half. Oh, and the car is still running just fine. *sigh*
The Almighty Liz

Our super good family picture. Don't we all look great? That's a no make-up shot for me too.

Here's my dad, isn't he adorable? He was such a good sport to let me snap this shot, and he even looks happy! (he's so not though. About the picture I mean)

Mechanics!

This is my new swear word. When I stub my toe, I'm going to shout "mechanics!" When a car cuts me off in traffic endangering not only myself, but my children, I'm going to curse them with "mechanics!" When my children are driving me to distraction, I'm going scream "mechanics, mechanics, MECHANICS!"
You all know of course, if you've been reading faithfully, that our car broke. I dutifully called around to all the ward members in my immediate area, and found a couple of good candidates to fix it. One was about 15 minutes away, and couldn't get around to the car for two, maybe three days. The other was 5 minutes down the road, and could, they said, fit us in, and have the problem diagnosed by the end of the day. We have a winner, I thought. So, when John came home for lunch, we ran the car up to their place, and dropped it off. We'll call you in a couple of hours and tell you what's wrong. Sweet, I said, and went back home. That was quarter after noon.
By four thirty, we had heard nothing. I called them. They still hadn't got to it, they would call us in a few minutes. They never called back that night.
I called the next morning. The receptionist didn't know, and the mechanic was out. She would call in a few minutes and let me know. That was 9 am. I called at 1:30, and she said she still didn't know, she'd call back in a few minutes. (are you seeing a pattern here?) I called back at five, and was put on hold for 10 minutes. She finally came back on like she was answering the phone. She had forgotten I was there. Oh yes, she said, just one moment and I'll ask the mechanic. To her credit, she didn't forget me a second time. She came back and said that they had driven it, but it wasn't acting up for them, could they keep it a third day? Why not? I thought. It's not like I'm going to have THEM fix it, I might as well get it diagnosed.
The next day, I called, and was told that the mechanic was running errands, she would call me back in (you guessed it) a few minutes. 9 am again. I called them at four thirty, and she said they couldn't find anything wrong with it, and I could come pick it up anytime, they closed at six. Three days ladies and gentlemen, to find out that they couldn't find the problem. At least they didn't charge me, but I will assuredly be using the other candidate soon to actually find out, I hope, what's wrong with my car.
The Almighty Liz