Quote of the Day:
Alyssa (a five-year-old daughter of one of our really good friends): "You and Shelby look the same. " (we have similar hair cuts these days...)
April: "Oh yeah?"
Alyssa: "Yeah. You both look like witches."

Elder Russell M. Nielson will be at our Stake Conference today. Good thing I'm in the choir. At least I'll get a good seat...

3 am...

It's three in the morning. And I'm feeding Sam. We haven't done this since she was 7 weeks old. Hmmmm... I wonder which of my standard excuses apply? Teething? Growth spurt? Cold, since her daddy put her to bed with no pants? (No complaints here, he did bedtime. I was at the gym...) Perhaps she's just a baby? Good thing she's getting cuter every day!

Almost 4 months old!

6 years of wonder

From six pounds... to fifty

A lot of hair... to a really lot of hair

A diaper... to panties

Laying in one place... to never sitting still

No teeth... to tooth fairy heaven

Crying and cooing... to non-stop singing and chattering

Only child... to the best sister ever

Joy of her mother's heart - from birth to eternity

Love you Brooke!

Blow out the candles!

I am insanely proud of this cake!

Daddy made it home in time for some of the party

New shirt from Gram Samoa

You know you love your child when you are willing to invent a "Kiss the Bibble" game and then finger paint it because all of your paint brushes are lost in the packing and storing horror that happens when your house is for sale...

My Nemesis...

Let's begin this tale of woe and deceit with the understanding that in all reality, I am an excellent cook. Really. I recently made lasagna, bread sticks, and apple pie (all from scratch) for Tom's grandma. Not a ruined dish in the bunch. Delicious meal, all around. But... if you ask me to make macaroni and cheese I will quake in fear. My face will break out in a sweat and Tom will run for the nearest McDonald's. Really. This is a direct quote from one of Tom's answers in the newly-dead game. "I don't know where she gets her macaroni and cheese, but it looks like it comes from the morgue." Really. The morgue. Tonight, there was another battle in the kitchen. I'm not sure who won. The battle or the war. It all began when I dumped the sauce packet in the boiling water... An ominous sign to be sure. Then I accidentally dumped ALL of the noodles into the sink while trying to drain them. Did I mention the sink wasn't totally clean? So I start another batch. I scrape all the noodles that look cleanish into a bowl. Really. (My children have amazing immune systems...) Noodles are cooked and mixed up. Maybe 2/3 of the first batch survived. Add the butter. After I drop it on the floor. After it hit the cupboard on the way down. Pick it up. Drop it on the hot burner. Decide it doesn't actually need butter. Add the milk. And the cheese packets. Oddly enough, it tastes a little... odd. Luckily enough, the girls don't care. Enjoy your meal ladies!

Quote of the day -

"Our new president's name is Broccoli Bama? -Brooke

Better than rutabaga, I suppose...

Did you know that it is possible to stand in line from 7:10pm until 9:45pm, just to vote? And to make it more fun, you should always take four tired children with you... Then have Alix and Sam both fall asleep on your shoulder... For an hour and a half. (my arms are finally un-numb enough to type...) Tom had Erin asleep on his shoulder and Brooke was a sweetie and scooted along in a chair that a nice lady found for her. The bonus was, when you are the last voters in the state to cast your ballot, you get to be on the news! It's true. We're rockstars! Thank goodness I wasn't wearing sweats and spit-upy shirt! But we did our civic duty. Even though McCain had conceded two hours before we voted. (Nice to know my vote counted there!)

Quote of the Day:
Alix, to the skater teenage boy down the street.
"Why are you wearing girl's pants?"
Luckily, he only laughed. (His pants were a very skinny pair of checkered jeans in a lovely teal color...)

You know your pumpkin is too big when...

Your baby fits inside!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween is the portal to all the holiday fun that is coming in the next two months. And as I am really a 7 year-old girl, trapped in this 29 year-old stay at home mother's body, I throw myself into the joy of this most frivolous of all non-holidays. (You know it's a non-holiday when my government employed husband doesn't get the day off... Really? Columbus Day is a holiday and Halloween is a non-holiday? What is the world coming to?!!?) Anyhow... I love carving pumpkins. I love candy. I love making all sorts of crafty, spooky things with the girls. I love candy. I love dressing up. I love candy. I love... What am I missing? Oh yeah. I love candy. (I told you I was 7...) Anyway, Tom and I throw a really great Halloween party every year. It's a blast. Adults only. Costumes mandatory. It's the greatest to see 20 adults in costume and not a kid around. This year we played "The Newly-Dead Game". Sadly, some marriages will never be the same! We almost had a couple of the guys banned to our couch for the night... Questions such as "What animal does your mother in law most remind you of?" kept us laughing all night... But not Farrah. Corwin might be out of the dog house now that it's been a few days...

Here we all are. (Missed you guys this year, Brenda and Rob...)

Now that is a drunken pirate! The annual "Mummy Game" competition left Tom too dizzy to stand. (Think of spinning and spinning around while I hold a roll of toilet paper until it's all gone and he's all mummified...)

Tom and Sam-o. My captain and our little matey.

Arrrrrgh, me hartey's!

Now for the kid's Halloween party... Also super fun to my 7 year-old soul...

Here is Brooke and her good friend Alyssa after bobbing for apples. Brooke cheated. I swear. She found one with a long old stem and delicately picked it out with her teeth. Leaving me to...

Plunge my whole face and head into a bucket full of water and children's spit. But it was worth it when I saw the kids' faces in this picture. There always needs to be a mom willing to let loose and let her mascara run down her face. It was fun. And I'll wear waterproof makeup next year!

This picture should be first, but you get the idea...

Here is a picture of the girls. Erin is a red (her favorite color) flower fairy. Alix is a yellow (the ONLY color that she likes) princess and Brooke is a rainbow (too undecided to pick just one color...) flower fairy. We decided to make their costumes this year and had a great time. Alix changed her mind about being a yellow (of course) flower fairy at the last minute, but loved what we came up with for her princess "suit". The tutus turned out so great (I think...) Just frothy clouds of tulle.

Siiiigh. What a great non-holiday!