And then. . .

Joey turned 9. . . . (holy cow. he's 9.)

Sara had her first Hostess Cupcake. . .

Anna had her two bottom teeth pulled by the dentist! Her permanent teeth have already grown in. . . which is why the dentist had to pull the babies! They weren't even loose yet. Sure saved us ALOT of drama (and trauma). Maybe we'll get lucky and the dentist will have to pull ALL of them out?! And maybe we can convince the tooth fairy to just pay the dentist!!

(She, too, had had a Hostess Cupcake!)

Trick or Treat . . . Smell my Feet . . .

Give me something Good to Eat!!

Please?!

Thank you!

Love,

Harry Potter, Minnie Mouse, the fire ball (?), and the uninterested Utah Ute Cheerleader.

At the Cousin Halloween Party.
FYI. . . 12 kids ages 10.5 and under + candy, games, paint and pizza = CRAZINESS!


We ate pizza, decorated pumpkins, wrapped each other up like mummies, played "BOO"ngo, and ended with the classic "DON'T EAT PETE"! Good times!

YEAH for Halloween!

(and letter stickers!)

Before . . .

and After . . .
Note to the world: Seafoam/Army Green is NOT an acceptable house color!
And yes, those dates are correct! It really did take me 3 months and 27 days to paint 8 shutters a little siding, and a rain gutter! But, you must understand that in the mix was also a pioneer trek and a little surgery! So, cut me a little slack! Now I have to do the sides and back of the house! Should take me another year, or so! HGTV here I come. The name of my show? "Painting for Eternity"

A few pics of the Annual Pirate pARGHty!

Please don't be alarmed - - my fishnets ONLY come out for the pirate party, then they go right back in the costume box ;)

Goodbye, for now . . .

To the man who taught me to roller skate at Classic Skating

Who let me come to his auto parts store and help "organize" the shelves

Who ate a piece of cheese RIGHT AFTER disposing of a dead mouse - convincing my 7ish year old mind that some of the dead mouse qualities had transferred directly to him ;)

Who NEVER missed a political discussion OR an election - he had even filled out his absentee ballot, thus casting his vote on the very day he passed away!

Love you, Grandpa! See you on the other side!

It's official . . .

I'm a GLEEK!

Please, don't be a hater . . .

Yes, I signed a paper and allowed a stranger to punch a small hole in my darling daughter's ears. Please, don't hate me. Please, don't think me evil. Please, don't send a letter to your senator. It's cute (to me. I realize not everyone feels the same.) and she cried less than when she gets her shots . . . PLUS, no fever as a result! Now, what else can the two of us do while the others are in school and dad's at work?! HMMMMMM . . . . .

And sister makes three . . .

Three kids in school . . . HOW CAN THIS BE?

Three kids in school . . . At home? Sara and Me!

Three kids in school . . . I'm not gonna lie--

Three kids in school . . . I DIDN'T CRY!!

Anna LOVED her first day of Kindergarten! No surprise. She's been counting down since she was 3! And our school does "all day" kindergarten - so she'll leave with Tommy and Joey, and come home with them! Crazy! These first three days are "short days" for the kindergarten - unfortunately the teacher failed to mention this to me, so I had NO IDEA! Luckily, one of my neighbors had been clued in, and as we were walking home from the school happened to mention it! WHAT?! And I, being the seasoned mother of school children (?) had already informed a couple moms that school gets out at 3:15. YIKES! Luckily, I was able to get ahold of the misinformed moms - so all was well! And poor Sara. . . missed her sister terribly! The whole day I heard "A-nna?" "A-nna?" It was a very happy reunion when we went to pick her up!