Dracula

I have some ranting to do.  I finished Bram Stoker's Dracula recently.  It was a really excellent book.  I enjoyed it.  I like vampire stories.  But awhile back, I watched the movie (I know.  I should have finished the book first, but I'd still be ranting this whether I did that or not).  The movie was made in 1992 and stars Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Rider and Keanu Reeves.  With names like Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman you would expect it to rock, but I really don't care about their ridiculous acting jobs.  Keanu gave a really, really bad attempt at an English accent, but that is beside the point.  My point is this:  HOW CAN YOU CALL YOUR MOVIE BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA AND THEN NOT TELL THE STORY IN THE BOOK!?  Sorry.  But I want to scream when movie makers do this.  It really annoyed me.  The movie has nothing to do with the book. They took the characters that were in the book and made an entirely different story all together.  Lame!  If you are going to do that, you don't call it Bram Stoker's Dacula.  You call it Dracula if you  must, but put a little note at the begining that says, "Based on Brahm Stoker's Dracula" or "Inspired by".  It's just my opinion, but I feel really strongly about it.  Especially when the author isn't around anymore to do anything about it.  The book was first published in 1897.  I think Mr. Stoker rolled over in his grave when that movie was made.

This Post is Gross. Those With Weak Constitutions Should Probably Stay Away

I forgot to mention one thing in my last post.  When I got home from Bunko on Thursday (the 17th), I checked on the frogs.  One of them was not there.  I checked like 900 times.  He was gone.  I looked in the kitchen, I looked on the stairs.  I looked every where I could think of.  I told Zach about it, and he said, "Did you pray about it?"  I did.  I didn't want him to be gone, but I really pretty much got nothin.  Which to me (and Kurtis) meant he was gone.  Kurtis suggested that one of the dogs ate him.  I think he was right. 
We had a really great Christmas.  I will have to put up pictures when our laptop is no longer hating me.  The best part of Christmas (for me) was my awesome present from my parents and my grandma.  They got together and got us a dishwasher!  Holy crap, I was so not expecting that!  So cool!  Loving it!  So Saturday, my dad, mom, and brother Michael came to install it, and bring Kaleb a big boy bed.  A whole great drama story there, but I think my sister will get mad if I tell it, so I'd best not.  Not without her permission any way.  While my dad was setting up the dishwasher, my mom and I set up Kaleb's new bed.  Then Zach asked Grandma if he could move downstairs into the playroom.  We've been cleaning it out and working on getting it ready to make into a bedroom for one of the boys.  Zach got picked.  He was unhappy but then we talked him into it.  So we took out all the toys that were still in the play room and moved Zach downstairs.  When we were done taking apart the bunk beds, we pulled Riley's bed away from the wall so we could vacuum.  We were going to rearrange his furniture any way, but what do we discover?  But bright yellow dried mucusy stuff on the floor.  I was pretty sure it was dog vomit, but I really wanted it to be yellow paint.  It was so not yellow paint.  I saturated it with the pet stain remover, and let it soak.
When I came back, I started pulling little globs of rubbery type stuff out of the carpet fibers.  It was pretty nasty.  Then, the thought occurs to me:  I think I have found Climber Brown Jones.  So basically, Abbey ate him (swallowed him whole more likely), he freaked out and did his toxic secretion thingy, and Abbey went upstairs hid and puked under Riley's bed, where we found it a week and two days later.  That made me gag a little (and is making me gag, right now, too), but I had to get the stuff out of my carpet.  Seriously.  I have done some pretty gross things as a mother of three boys, but this clean up job trumps them all.  I almost puked myself.  Now, I really don't know for sure if that is what happened.  I didn't see any undigested toad body parts or anything like that, but what else could it have been!?  I've never cleaned up dog puke like that before.  Yeah.  This post was pretty gross.  Sorry.  I did warn you.

This is your typical normal firebelly toad on the left.  And on the right is what happens on rare occassions when a firebelly toad feels threatened and cannot jump away.  It's hard to see, but I couldn't make the picture any bigger.  The firebelly toad will roll onto his back, and puff out his orange tummy.  Then he secretes, a toxic milky substance.  Gross.  That would probably make you sick if it was in your stomache too.  Abbey is fine, though.  So don't worry.  Poor Climber.  I will miss him. 

We got Riley a new toad that weekend.  He's named Mr. Fast.  Because when the pet store worker was trying to get him out, he kept jumping all over the place, and the guy said, "He's fast."  Riley tried to pick another brown one that was climbing up the tank.  Kurtis told me before we went in, "No more climbers this time, okay?"  Riley wanted him because he was a different color than his brothers' and he would be able to tell them apart.  I told him that wouldn't be a problem because all their spots are different.  Mr. Fast is also smaller than the other firebelly toads, so we don't have any trouble telling them apart.  But it was funny because when I put Mr. Fast in the tank, he started climbing up the wall.  I think I've fixed it so they won't get out again.  I also haven't really seen them trying to climb the walls since.

Loss

Sometimes, I find I really don't function very well.  Thursday was one of those days.  It all started Saturday evening when I got a message that went something like this, "Uh, Melissa?  This is Dad, Connie passed away today, so if you haven't sent Michele's Christmas present yet, you don't have to.  Michele will be coming soon."
My immediate response was, "What!?", and I got on the phone and called my sister.  Her mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly December 12, 2009.  She was 61.  Thursday was her funeral.  Most people would think an event like this would have little effect on me.  Well, she was my friend too.  I think I am finally ready to talk about this without falling apart, but I could be wrong.  We shall see.
My sister is married to Brian, who is the brother of my high school friend, Spencer.  Michele, Ryan, and I were all friends with him.  Michele and her family live in Minnesota now, so whenever they would come visit, I had to share her with her in-laws.  I honestly did not like this.  But you know, they wanted to see them too, so we would just all do things together.  It always turned out to be a lot of fun.  Connie loved to have fun, and never seemed to mind us tagging a long.  Our last trip with them was when Michele came for Zach's baptism.  We all went to Antelope Island.  It was a nice trip.  I didn't get to do much with them after that day, though because the weather forcast said it would rain.  Which meant my husband would take our car to work instead of riding his motorcycle.
I've gone off track.  I was talking about something else.  I suppose I am avoiding the topic subconciously.  Connie had a hernia operation.  Just your normal, typical everyday, out-patient surgery.  Then a day (or two?) later, she collapsed in her chair.  Her husband called 9-1-1, and started CPR.  She was taken to the hospital.  They life-flighted her to another hospital where they induced a coma.  As they tried to bring her out of the coma, she was unresponsive, and the family had a huge decision to make.  A decision I cannot even fathom having to make.  Saturday evening, they took her off the machines.  My sister told me they felt she had already left them.  The tests done showed she had a blood clot in her lung, and that it was a result of her surgery. 
Thursday afternoon was her funeral.  They burried her in a baby blue casket.  I heard her mother say it was the color of her car.  She loved cars.  She loved music.  She loved to travel, and she loved Christmas.  She will be missed dearly.  I never thought I would live in a world with out her.  I took for granted that she would always be there when Michele came to visit.  She had really great stories to tell.  She was a very calm person.  She always knew what to say to make you feel better about yourself, but if you needed a kick in the pants, she would gently give you one.  Nothing hurtful, but enough to let you know you were heading in a direction you shouldn't go.  She cared about others.  She loved her children and her grandchildren.
The funeral was beautiful and the prayer dedicating her grave (given by her husband) was so loving and heartfelt.  I walked away feeling numb, and know she is with our Father in Heaven.  But it doesn't make the aching stop all the way.  There is another hole in my heart, and I am starting to wonder how many more there will be before my life is over. 
After the funeral, I was putting my things in the trunk of my car, and I shut my keys in the trunk.  Again.  We had to call a locksmith.  This is why I say sometimes I just can't function very well.  It made me late for bunko.  I hate being late.  I tried to see if some one could sub for me, but they wanted me to come.  I'm sure I looked awful because the tears still hadn't really stopped.  But we had a pretty good time anyway.  It was nice to think about something else for a bit. 
The truth is, when someone you love dies, you never really get over it.  Life goes on, and the pain goes away.  But one day, when you least expect it, you realize the person you love isn't there, and a new ache begins all over again.  It's easier to push it down, and go on with life, but you wish they were still with you.  That never goes away.  But in a way, I wouldn't want it to.  I don't want to forget Connie or my grandpa.  I love them.  I know I will see them again.

Connie and Henry on Antelope Island.  June 6, 2009

"I couldn't have asked for a better mother," her daughter, Melissa, said.

Look What I Made!

Look what I made for my primary lesson tomorrow!  Hee hee hee!  I don't know why, but I think it is so funny! Ha ha ha!

The lesson said to make name tags...

Birthday Boy!

Monday was Kaleb's birthday.  He turned 5!  I can actually believe it!  Kindergarten is almost here!  He is so big, and loves to play with his friends and his brothers (although they keep forgetting that he isn't a baby any more and he actually can play with them now!  So frustrating!).  His cousins from Minnesota are in the state, so they came down, and spent the day with us.  They got hair cuts from Aunt Kristie, and then my sister, my niece, and I went shopping!  The idea of shopping is so wonderful.  But really it's a very frustrating experience for my sister and I.  She wanted a new dress.  Well apparently designers forgot it snows and it's freezing in the winter because nothing has sleeves!  We found one dress for her that was perfect except for the seam around her waist.  If it were a princess seam instead of an "A" type seam (I don't know what that seam is called, but it wouldn't have made me feel pretty either).  Designers also seem to forget that not everyone is a size 0.  Sooo frustrtating! 

The cousins made Kaleb a "Happy Birthday!" sign and we hung it up.  It's so fun to have a birthday in December.  I asked Kaleb if he wanted us to put his presents under the tree, or avoid the tree all together, and he said, "Under the tree!"  He sees it as getting to have two Christmases I guess.  He's such a positive kid, and he is our silly one.  I love having Kaleb in our family.  It's so fun to have him around.

The sign makers:  Ana, William, Henry, Rodney, and Taylor

The birthday cake!  Rainbow cake with rainbow frosting that was spray painted blue with that frosting spray stuff.  So cool!  My mom helped me with it while I was shopping with the girls.  Yes, he is wearing his Spiderman costume from last Halloween.  He likes to dress up.

G.I. Joe sword and mask from Aunt Kristie and the cousins.

Glow doodle thingy from Grandma Bonnie.  He loves it and plays with it every day!

A puzzle book from Aunt Michele and the cousins.

Oh, my goodness!  Space Police Legos from Mom, Dad, and his brothers!  "It's just what I wanted!"

Storm Trooper and Darth Vader outfits for Spiderman!  His Build-A-Bear toy he got last year also from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Roger.  Today, his puppy is Captain Rex.

Wash Me!

The other day, I was driving home from an audition, and it was dark, and they don't really light up the freeway any more. It saves energy, or money, or some crap like that.  Any way,  I noticed my headlights seemed kind of dim to me.  I told Kurtis about this and I was worried we were going to have to have a mechanic look at them.  Well, I got home, came inside, and forgot all about it until I was driving home in the dark from my next audition.  I was talking to Mr. Jones on my phone while driving, and telling him I the exact same thing I had told him before.  So this time, when I got home, he came outside and checked them out.  He said, "Stay there."  Referring to me staying in the car.  I did, and watched as he grabs the car washing mitten thingy, and proceeds to wash the headlight off.  He comes over to me, and says, "Does that one look better?"  "Oh, yes!"  I replied excitedly. 

Well, At Least I Tried

On the day I posted last, we went to the pet store and Kaleb and Riley got to pick out their Christmas present from Mom and Dad.  They were so excited!  We now have three firebelly toads.  Meet Climber Brown Jones:

Riley named him. I would have chosen something like Jasper or something else.  He is the brown one, and often I find him climbing the walls of the tank, so I suppose Riley named him well.

Now meet Swimm Goggle Jones:

He is a darker green than Zach's and has the number 2 on his back.  We can tell them all apart.  It's pretty cool.  Also, he might be a she.  We really aren't sure.  I need to look up firebelly toad behavior, but when we put them in the tank, George thought it would be fun to jump onto them and grab them from behind.  Eventually he let them go, so we still aren't sure.  When we fed them the other day, Climber tried to grab George, so who the crap knows what's going on in that tank.  It's an episode of the Real World in there I guess.

See?  That's George attacking Swim Goggle! Actually, I really don't remember.  We'll just say it's Swim Goggle.  He was going after him a bit more than Climber.

Now that you've met the new additions to our family,  I have something else to talk about.  I just haven't had time to blog and a lot has happened in the last six days. 

I said I wanted snow.  Well, God must love me because the very next day it snowed, and I made my family get in the car, and go to a park (Well, I did not make us.  I would have gladly done this in the front yard or across the street in the commons area of our neighborhood, but Kurtis is easily embarassed I guess.), and take more family pictures.  It was 23 degrees, and my kids freaked out when I told them to take off thier coats.  Kurtis said, can't we just wear our coats?  To which I replied, "Then what was the point of getting similar outfits, you numbskull!"  Well, it wasn't quite like that, but you get what I mean.

This is by the clock tower by our library, and city square.  I like this one, but you can't really see us.  Zach is crying, and so is Kaleb.  Riley is just doing his best to remain uncooperative.  He's good at it.  Maybe I will have to tell Sant to put coal in his stocking this year.

I took 3 of these with the timer on my camera (I was the photographer this time!)  This is the best one.  But it's not the shot I wanted.  And I must have moved the camera or something because I have no left shoulder.  Arg.  Maybe I will crop it.

This is the shot I wanted.  But I'm the only one having fun.  Everyone else is crying.  Especially Kaleb.  And I was being nice letting them have their coats on for this shot! Oh, yeah, and that's the tripod's leg in the picture.  Not awesome.  I'm such an ameture.  But hurray for snow!  It snowed again on Tuesday too, but I give up.  Why bother.  I'm the only one who cares.  Ha ha.  I bet you can't wait to see what picture I choose for our Christmas cards this year!

  It's so freaking cold now!  It's funny.  I find myself saying, "Will I ever be warm again!?"  That's such a silly question.  It's not like we live in Antartica!  I so want one of those coats that the people who work up there have to wear thought.  That would be so awesome!  I would be warm when I walked outside!

It's Snowing! And Some Really Bad Family Pictures

I wanted snow.  The weather is being quite uncooperative, though.  Just wait.  We'll get it dumped on us right after Christmas.  So I decided to create snow of my own.  I found this and wa-la!  My blog is snowing!  Isn't it awesome? 
So here are some family pictures Emily took for us.  We went to Salt Lake to a little place called Garden Ward Park (or something similar) in the Sugar House area.  It's a church with a little garden area that is ideal for taking pictures.  It's probably much prettier in the spring when the flowers bloom.  The day was cold.  The kids were buttheads and didn't want to do anything but make faces at Emily.  I also wanted snow in the pictures.  I just did, that's all.  It's a Christmas picture for goodness sakes.  Bother.  Well, I guess I should say there was snow.  It was melted snow that nobody really wanted to lay down in.  Eh, I can't blame them.  It was cold.
Hope you like the Family Pics (I don't) for this year's Christmas card.  I don't know.  Maybe I will hire a photographer after all.

Bug-eyed Riley and Kaleb not looking at the camera.

This one is cute, but I did one of only the boys last year. (Last year's was so awesome!)

Once again, Riley, please open your eyes.  I look hot, though.  Check me out.  I look good in purple.

Why isn't Zachary closing his mouth?

This is a good one.  Perhaps we should use this one.

Maybe this is the one we should use.  They were the most cooperative ones there.  Kurtis and the duck.

Heaven help us.

Meet George

George Washington Jones loves swimming, soaking in pools, nature, hopping, and the sound of crickets in the night.  He would love to be your date to any Christmas party this year.  You know what they say:  "You have to kiss a few frogs to catch a prince!"

George is actually a firebelly toad.  It's Zach's Christmas present from Mom and Dad.  He's so excited.

Gobble Til You Wobble!

For Thanksgiving, I thought I would ask my kids what they are grateful for.  I found Kaleb first.  He said, "I'm thankful for my family."  When I asked him why, he replied, "Because I love my family.  I love my family too much!"  I asked him if there was anything else he was thankful for.  He said, "And I'm thankful for the food, and I'm thankful for the dentist." "Why are you thankful for the dentist?" I asked with raised eyebrows.  "Because I like the dentist.  He gives me toothbrushes, and toothbrushes are good."
Then it was Riley's turn.  He said, "I am thankful for the holidays."  Then he went and got a picture book he made at school and read it to me.  "I am thankful for cool, crisp, green grass.  I am thankful for brown earth.  I am thankful for swishy, wavy, blue water.  I am thankful for prickly pinecones.  I am thankful for green trees.  I am thankful for rocky, beautiful, purple mountains.  I am thankful for the shiney, yellow sun.  I am thankful for the pretty blue sky."  Then I asked him if he wanted to come up with his own ideas.  He said, "For our family.  I'm thankful for the world, I'm thankful for Jesus, I'm thankful for my mom and dad and brothers and sisters."  To which I replied, "Sisters?  You don't have any sisters!" I laughed.  He replied, "But other people do."  "But you don't."  "Brothers!  I'm thankful for my brothers!"
Then Zach said simply, "I'm thankful for my family and everything I have."  I asked him if he would like to elaborate, and he said, "No.  What else is there to say if I say I am grateful for everything I have?"
Word.

We went to my grandma's for Thanksgiving this year.  I was asked to bring some pie.  I made a cheesecake and put blackberries on the top.  So yummy!  I also made a chocolate stawberry pie.  Divine!  And I also made a vanilla pumpkin pie.  I don't like pumpkin pie, so I thought maybe I would like this one.  Nope. Not so much.  Kurtis liked it though, and the other people who actually like pumpkin pie.  Some of my aunts and uncles and cousins also came.  It was fun.  I missed those who weren't there.  My dad went to Colorado to help his parents and be with them  Grandpa Sharp is getting old.  He is old I suppose.  It makes me feel sad.  Michael (my brother) is in Washington DC going to gradschool.  He told me he would be with a classmate, and then studying and writing papers.  Hopefully he will make it for Christmas. Michele and her family.  They came in June for Zach's baptism, though.  That was fun.  Other aunts and uncles and cousins who live out of state and/or had other places to go this time around.  I love my family. 

I am grateful for a husband who loves me so much he will warm up my side of the bed when he's waiting for me to get in it.  I am grateful for our home, our freedom, our livelyhood (even though it's been turned on its head a little bit), technology, and my religion.  I am grateful for music, and acting, and that I get to sing and act as much as possible.  It's just who I am.  Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope it was wonderful!
Here are some picture of our festivities so Michele and Michael and Dad will know what the missed and feel sad they weren't there. :D  People.  If you don't know I'm kidding by now. You shouldn't be reading my blog.

Ben tried to take a nap under the table, but we kicked him instead.

Left to Right:  No, let's go Right to Left:  My cousin, Travis, his mom Aunt Kim, Uncle Danny, Uncle Steve, and an old mission companion of Travis's who tagged along for the fun of it.  He's nice.  We'll take him.

Emily kept hiding from the camera. Punk!

Aunt Junko and Uncle Danny.  Spencer and Jason (cousins) wouldn't get in the picture.

Rodney and Ben jam to guitar hero and Kurtis sleeps on the bean bag before the festivities begin.  If Kurtis isn't asleep - it's not a good party.

My grandma.  Getting ready to sample some pies.  Mmmmm! (The pies!  Not my grandmother, you weirdos!)

My mom converses with her brother, Uncle David.

My cousins, Sara and Andrew listen to music while Ryan reads.

We Never Really Named Him. Just Called Him Mr. Froggy Frog

I have all boys, and the back of my children's school is a wet land (yes, it's fenced off and safe for children), so I'm not really sure why I was so surprized when Zachary brought home a frog Wednesday afternoon.  He asked if he could keep him.  I had been trying to clean my house and get all ready to host bunko the next day, so what with being a little stressed out (okay, maybe a lot, but I think I had calmed down a bit by Wednesday), and all, I just couldn't handle the weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth that I knew was inevitable if I said no, so I said something like, "Fine.  Just don't put him in the snail cage in the house."  They let the snails go in the front yard, and put the frog in the cage.  I was texting my friend when they arrived, and texted her that Zach brought a frog home and he wants to keep it!  I probably sounded a litte freaked because I was.  I know nothing of taking care of a frog!  Frogs are my favorite animal, but I am more of a let them be free kind of girl than a keep them caged up so we can stare at them all day kind of person.  Especially when they were in the wild to begin with.  Any way, my friend told me to calm down, she has everything I need to keep a frog and she will give it to me Saturday (today).  I relaxed.  She said all I needed to do was get crickets to feed it.  All day long, the boys were so happy and excited to have their new friend.  Kurtis came home and told them that if they couldn't feed it by finding bugs for it, they would have to let it go.  Yes, he can be unreasonable sometimes.  The next day, was bunko, so I went and did my shopping - stopping at the pet store to get some crickets.  Kurtis took the day off to help me out (because he's awesome!), and came with me.  He and Kaleb had fun wandering around the pet store looking at all the fish and mice and such.  Kaleb wants a ferret.  No.  That's not going to happen.  Oh, and he wanted a snake too.  But I draw the line at snakes.  My children are not going to have a pet snake in my house! (Shivers run down my spine at the thought).  I just don't like the idea of them slithering around my house if they ever got out.  The crickets freaked me out a bit!  Jumping all over in their bag.  It's gross!  Kurtis fed the frog for me because I am having nothing to do with that!  The worms we almost bought are alive and squirming too!  Ew!  But I can deal with worms better than crickets.  Worms can't jump extremely high and get away very well.  My favorite part though, is that the crickets would sing.  At first I didn't like it.  I thought oh, crap.  That's going to get annoying.  But it wasn't.  It was kind of nice.  The cricket would sing more when I turned the radio on, too.  It was funny.  Any way. When the boys go home from school, Kurtis thought it would be funny to tell them he let the frog go. It wasn't. Zachary cried like someone had died tragically and unexpectedly.  Thursday night or Friday morning, Kurtis convinced Zach to let the frog go because he belongs in the wild.  He also said, "And you never know.  That frog might have been a mommy."  Zach realized that we needed to let Mr. Froggy go, but we promised them that today, we would go and look at pet frogs and perhaps next week, we will get one.  So, as a family, we took him back over to the school and let him go.  He (or she) will be missed.  For about two days.  Zach told me last night that he felt good about letting the frog go.  I was glad.  I think the frog is back where he belongs.  Here are some pictures of our friend.

Natural Gas Will Make Your House Expode!

So tonight, we had what we Mormons call Family Home Evening.  We're supposed to have it every Monday.  Something about building relationships with each other as a family and building a strong bond.  It's a good thing I suppose.  I'm getting better about doing it.  Any way,  That wasn't the point.  I was just bragging a little bit there. (Hee hee!)  So today, I was screaming mad at the kids because they wouldn't stop fighting and Zach didn't do his homework right away like he's supposed to, blah, blah, blah (the list is much longer and another blog post in and of itself), so I opened up Zach's scout book and said to Kurtis, "For Family Home Evening, I want you to do all of these!"  And pointed to achievement number 9.  "I'm going to do the dishes.  Have fun."  Then we realized Zach wasn't done with his homework yet, so we had to finish that first (ARG!).  When that was over, Kurtis began talking to the boys about safety and responsibilities.  Achievement 9 is the one where you talk about the things in your home that can kill you.  Kurtis told them about why we should be safe and what to do to be safe.  He showed them where to turn the water off and where the circut breaker is.  Then he showed them where to turn the water off under the sink.  Then he came to the stove.  We have a gas stove, and he spoke to them about how gas is a good thing, but we have to be responsible with it.  He's good.  He tied everything back to being responsible.  He explained to them that natural gas is flammable and the whole house could blow up if it there was too much gas in it, and that if you breathed it in for too long you would suffocate.  Riley's eyes got really wide.  I could tell he scared him a bit. (Yes, I am laughing - it's funny!)  Then Kurtis tells them that's not going to happen; you know tries to calm them down.  He turned on the gas and had them smell it and asked them what they should do if they are upstairs playing or downstairs and smell gas.  They looked like they weren't sure, so I said, "Get out!"  And Kurtis said, "Tell us you smell gas, and then get out."  The rest of the night, Zach and Riley kept coming up with worst case senario situations.  It was pretty funny.  I remember when my parents would do this for FHE, and it would always freak me out!  I was afraid my house would blow up for days.  I got to hear it five times too because I have five brothers.  Ah, the joys of parenting.  And so I pay homage to a more innocent time with these pictures.  Families are forever, so you'd better be nice!

Me and my big sister, Michele.  It was 1980, and I was 6 months old.  We're still pretty much like that, except she lives way too far away in my opinion.

That's me in the purple pants.  Emily and Ben weren't born yet.  So it's Ryan in the front, Michele, Me, Michael, and then Jeremy in the baby carrier, my dad!, and Rodney in his arms.  The back of my picture says it was July 2, 1986 at the Continental Divide, Independence Pass.  I don't know where that is, but at six years old (I wasn't 7 yet!), I was pretty much just along for the ride! :)

Here's the entire clan in our backyard.  It's August 1991.  Michele is on the left, Ben is in my mother's arms (she's trying to control Rodney who has his arms crossed), Jeremy and Emily are on Dad's lap.  He must have taken his glasses off for the picture.  Ryan is on the end, and that's me and Michael in the back (don't ask what he's doing.  I can't figure it out).  I hate those glasses, but when I got them (in 4th grade) I really liked them.  I got better frames later in the spring 1992.

Mom? Oh, You're Not On the Phone? It Can Wait.

I have a rule in my home which is all too frequently broken:  When I am on the phone, no one is allowed to speak to me untill I am off the phone.  The kids don't care.  Riley came to me today and asked, "What happens if you kill yourself?"  I was shocked, well, okay, not shocked, but more like "Where did that come from?".  Luckily, I was on the phone with Mr. Jones - he's patient.  My reply was, "What? You die."  With wide eyes, he responds excitedly, "And you don't go to jail?"  "No,"  I answered, rather flustered and wanting to end our conversation because I was on the phone.  Then he says, "Because you are already dead?"  "Yes."  "Because you can't go to jail if you are dead!"  It was pretty random.  I suppose his logic is if you kill someone, you go to jail.  Then it wandered to, but what if you kill yourself?  I'm lucky.  He's not afraid to ask me stuff.  I just wish he would wait until I've hung up the phone.

"Tender Lumplings Everywhere, Life's No Fun Without a Good Scare!"

Today is the greatest holiday ever invented!  I love Halloween!  Today, Riley and I went on a date!  We stopped by my bestest friend Nicole's house to let her borrow some Halloween costumes and then went to lunch.  After that, we went and saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" in 3D.  I must say, 3D is really, really cool.  I thought the story was pretty cute too.  Cute movie.  Riley really enjoyed it (he's 7).  Then we came home, had dinner, and he and his brothers got ready for trick or treating!  Kaleb is Commander Rex (a stormtrooper), Riley is "the Gatekeeper" (spooky!), and Zachary is a knight warrior.  Dad took them trick or treating, and I got to stay home and pass out the candy.  I love seeing all the cute costumes kids have come up with, and I love, love, love it when the parents dress up too!  I am a witch!  But a nice one, because Halloween makes me too giddy to be evil.  Ha ha ha!  I love putting on the scary music for the trick or treaters too!  So much fun!  Next year will be really fun, too because I will go trick or treating with the kids.  Kurtis thinks Zach and Riley are old enough to go by themselves.  The protective mother in me said, I'm not so sure.  But Kurtis will do what he wants.  They are still out (of course), and I am having a lag in the trick or treaters at the moment, so I have decided to post pictures of the boys for you.  (Doorbell chimes) Oh, my who could that be, but my little ones!  Kaleb is tired and needs to stop, but apparently the other three are heading back out!  :D  Happy Halloween, to all, and to all a good night!

Kaleb's mask smashed up against his nose, but he said he wanted it that way when I tried to adjust it.  Silly kid!

Riley lost a shoulder pad during the night's excursions.

Pumpkins Scream In the Dead of Night!

I can't believe Halloween is almost here!  I am so excited!  It's the best holiday ever!  Last night, for family night, we carved pumpkins!  Thanks to my dad and his awesome gardening skills, we have pumkins this year!  We put on spooky music, and let our creative minds go to work!  The kids and Mr. Jones designed their pumpkins on paper first, but  not me, I prefer to freestyle on the pumpkin itself.  I live dangerously that way.  Kaleb made a Jack Skellington face on his (Dad drew the face on the pumpkin; Riley helped him with the design on paper), Riley went with a traditional pumpkin face, Kurtis did one with cat eyes, and Zach put  eyeballs all over his pumpkin.  He drew them on all over the pumpkin, but Kurtis wouldn't cut all of them out.   Mine is a cat silhouetted on the moon.  What can I say, I'm an artist.  We all are!  Ha ha ha!

See all the eyes on Zach's?

Riley's masterpiece.  It has pumpkin seeds stuck in the mouth because he wants it to be puking.

Kaleb's Jack Skellington

Zach's pumpkin is watching you!

I think Mr. Jones' pumpkin is excellent!  So fun!

Ta-da!  Here's my kitty!

Here they all are in the light.  I think they rock!