Trunk or Treat 2011

We had so much fun at Trunk or Treat this year!  Usually it is a battle to try and get Jeremy to dress up for Halloween.  And we usually never decorate our trunk- just stand there with a basket of candy.  However, this year I decided it was going to be different.  I guess since Shelby would not let me pick her costume so that I could coordinate a costume for Joey, I decided that at least Jeremy and I would dress up and have a theme for our trunk.  And somehow, he was ok with it.  We ended up dressing as zombie waiters, and had a whole table of "foods" that people could touch.  We ended up winning Best Decorated Trunk!  I was so proud.  Hahaha!

Anyway, we had a great time.  I have decided that I really like having it outside at one of the member's house.  I know there were some complaints about it, but I feel like having it here keeps everyone relatively together, so you talk more to other people.  Whereas at the church, I feel like it gives people more of a chance to spread out and segregate, go inside, etc.

So Shelby was Ariel.  We used some of that washable spray paint stuff to dye her hair red.  It looked really good!  Joey was the most adorable little kitty cat ever.  When you ask her what a kitty cat says, she will give the cutest little, "Meow".  I was disappointed that she got shy and wouldn't do it for anyone there (Figures, right?).

Our neighbors came with us so Katie took Hadley and Shelby around while I took Joey.  Joey just did not get it.  We went to ONE car, and she took the candy she got and wanted to hold it in her hands.  When I tried to show her that if she put it in her bucket she could get even more candy, she got mad at me.  So I just put her in the back of the car and she sat there content, holding her candy for the rest of the night.  Goofy girl.

We told Hadley to give us her best witch face.

I have no idea why this came out so bright, or why my wall looks white, but it sure makes the hair stand out!

Zombie Waiter #1

Purrrrr-fect

It is hard trying to get two little ones to look at the camera and smile!

Zombie Waiter #2

Modeling my flesh wound

Gettin' Down on Friday

...or surfing Pinterest, killing time while Jeremy is away at a Scout camp out.  Sigh.  Actually, I have a ton of work to do and the house needs to be cleaned up, but I feel like we've been so busy lately that I deserved a couple hours of nothing but moving my finger over the mouse pad.

So, what have we been up to?  Last Saturday we took a trip out to Sharkarosa.  We bought some tickets off Groupon (or maybe it was Living Social?) a couple months ago and finally had a chance to use them.  It was great!  We were probably only there for an hour to an hour and a half- which was perfect because really, any longer and the girls would have gotten bored.  We saw zebras, zorses, zedonks, donkeys, camels, horses, a while boar, deer, kangaroos, lemurs, monkeys, and a few more animals.  The highlight of the trip definitely was the little train that takes you out to the animals and then they come right up to it and eat food out of the buckets.  Joey thought it was the greatest thing in the world.

Not sure what happened to his poor antler.

This is Thirsty.  He had blue eyes.  

Sunday was Joey's first official day of nursery.  I was kind of nervous about how she would do.  We have church from 1 pm - 4 pm now, so that completely messes up nap time and I knew she would be tired.  I was able to sneak away from Sr. nursery a couple times and looked in on her.  Once I saw one of the leaders holding her and it looked like she was crying, but I asked them afterward and they said she did well.  I can't believe she is 18 months old!

Squinty-eyed Mom, squinty-eyed daughter.

The rest of the week has been filled with Halloween crafts, hanging out with friends, Rangers games, Scouts, work, and getting ready for the ward trunk or treat.  I actually thought of an idea that Jeremy is semi-excited about- which makes me 100 times more excited.  Hopefully it will all look good tomorrow and not janky.  We'll see.

Let's Talk Teeth

Shelby and Joey are similar in a lot of ways, yet so very different in many others.  One of the things that set these two apart:  teething.  With Shelby, I swear I never knew she was getting a tooth.  When her first tooth popped through I just happened to notice it one day when she was laughing.  She never had any problems or symptoms associated with teething.  Joey...well, she's another story.  When she is teething she is fussy, doesn't want to eat, runs a fever, and does not sleep well.  So of course Joey was teething hard over the weekend when we were scheduled to get family pictures done. 

She ran a fever of 103 all day Friday, wouldn't sleep unless either Jeremy or I were sleeping next to her, and did not want to eat anything all day Saturday.  She and Shelby did take naps before the pictures, though, and when they woke we thought, "Ok, they're good...they'll be fine".  I think Joey cried from the second we stepped out of the car until we got back home. 

Poor Julie.  Thankfully she is an amazing photographer, and aside from the fact that I look like a man and I hate my hair and my arms, the pictures turned out great.  If anyone in the DFW area needs a photographer...Julie is the girl to call.

Go here for a sneak peak of the pics.

1st Primary Program

Today Shelby had her first Primary program.  She had been practicing her line for a couple of weeks and had it down pat.  Her exact line was, "I take care of my body by eating lots of fruits and vegetables.  My favorite fruits are strawberries, pineapple, and honeydew", although she kept insisting it was called "honey dip".  She did a great job when she got up to the microphone.  We've been pretty lucky in that we've never really had to deal with any shyness issues with her as far as getting up and speaking in front of people goes.  (Good thing since she tells us she's going to be a rock star when she grows up.)  She was being a little silly on the stand and talked or stared off into space during some of the songs, but I think that is to be expected of Sunbeams.  Next year I will be much better about practicing the songs all year with her.  Anyway, overall the Primary presidency did a great job and the program was great.  And best of all- my dad was here and got to see Shelby do her part!

33 Hours

That's approximately how long my mom and second youngest brother, Nolan were in town.  They helped my (third youngest) brother and his wife and baby move to MO, then drove down through MS to visit my oldest brother, then to LA to visit one of my older sisters, then to Beaumont to visit my younger sister, then here to visit us, then drove back to Utah.  Whew!  I'm exhausted just typing that!

Shelby was SOOOO excited when I told her grandma and Uncle Nolan were coming on Wednesday.  So excited, in fact, that she didn't want to go to preschool because she thought they were coming during the day and that she would miss them if she went.  So sweet. 

I took the day off on Thursday and we spent the whole day playing and visiting.  Nolan wanted to go to the grassy knoll, so we went downtown, he looked at the "X" on the street, and said, "Eh, ok we can go."  Hahaha! 

After that we hit up the mall and mom and I hit up a sweet shoe sale.  After dinner Jeremy went to pick up my dad who was flying in that night so that he could help drive back the next day.  While we waited there was lots and lots of wrestling and playing with Uncle Nolan.

And then Grandpa finally arrived.  How excited do you think the girls were when he walked in the door?!

It was such a short trip, and we were sad to see everyone go.  Luckily for us, dad flew back in to Dallas tonight and has to work in Ft. Worth for the next 2 weeks, so we'll get to meet up with him some more! 



Long Weekend

We left Saturday morning at 12 am on the dot.  We've done the middle-of-the-night thing before and in the past it has worked out much better than trying to leave right after work.  However, this time, Joey decided to give us a hard time.  I think she slept less in the car than I did.  It was a rough 8 hours.

But, when we got to Hattiesburg and she saw Papaw everything was good again.  Shelby and Joey had such a fun time running around playing with cousins, making 1,000 paper airplanes (Thanks, Brock!), and eating (duh, it's Bill Gore's house!).

Shelby was in cousin Heaven Saturday when Peyton got to spend the night with us and we had a little sleepover. Peyton is 11 days older than Shelby. If we lived closer I think those two would get in lots of trouble together! ;)

I don't think Shelby wanted me to take her pic.   

The following pictures crack me up.  This is what happens when you try to get a bunch of kids to smile at the same time.

Sunday morning I was drying my hair and heard a strange noise.  I thought maybe it was the tv, so I turned the hair dryer off, but no, it wasn't the tv.  I suddenly realized that it sounded an awful lot like a tornado siren, so I quickly turned it to the news in time to hear, "tornado...Hattiesburg...you can probably hear the sirens".  I ran up the stairs and grabbed the kids and yelled to Jeremy and Papaw that that was the tornado siren and we got in the hallway.  Thankfully it was over pretty quickly and we never saw a tornado.  I guess we thought that the worst of Tropical Storm Lee had passed after that, and didn't even check the weather when we left last night at 7 pm to make our way to Bastrop, LA to visit Jeremy's other grandparents.  As soon as we left the driveway it started to POUR down rain and it was SUPER windy.  Jeremy and I drove through the beginning of Katrina, when it was the outer bands and was probably only tropical storm strength.  It was something we said we would never do again...especially with kids in the car!  Again, suddenly, I started to hear a strange sound.  It was hard to hear over the hum of the car, but as we slowed down and came to a stop light it was so loud- the tornado sirens again.  Let me tell you how scary it is to be in a car, in the dark, no visibility, with two kids in the car, and you hear tornado sirens.  Let's just say I'm surprised my seat was dry after that.  We quickly looked around and there really wasn't anywhere to stop.  We quickly said a prayer and just kept driving.  I looked on my phone as fast as I could to see where the tornado was and where it was going.  Just as I saw on the phone that it said, "tornado will be in Mt. Olive at 8:25" I looked up and saw the "Mt. Olive City Limits" sign and looked at the clock.  8:10.  So I am guessing we were 15 minutes ahead of the storm.  We just kept going and didn't stop or slow down until we got to Vicksburg and stopped to get milk for Joey.

After such a scary night we woke up to one of the most BEAUTIFUL days I have ever seen in LA.  It was a cool 64 degrees and breezy, not a cloud in the sky.  Gorgeous.  We had a wonderful visit with Jeremy's dad, great uncle, and grandparents.  It was nice to be able to all sit outside the nursing home and visit while the girls ran around in the grass. 

It was a great long weekend visiting family!