Lots of Halloween Fun!

Halloween is so much more fun as your babies grow older!

We hosted our Joy School Halloween Party. They had a Halloween Parade, pretend Trick-or-Treated, decorated cookies, and memorized a cute poem:

Five little pumpkins

Sitting on a gate

The first one said,

"Oh, my, it's getting late!"

The second one said,

"There are witches in the air!"

The third one said,

"Children, beware!"

The fourth one said,

"We'll run and run and run!"

The fifth one said,

"Let's have some fun!"

OOOOOOH, went the wind

And OUT went the light

And the five little pumpkins

Rolled out of sight

It's a poem I've heard a lot and love, we turned it into a cute finger play. I found it again on this cute website that has songs and poems for children for FREE! Check it out. It don't really like the music they have chosen for most of the songs but their are a lot of different songs, and lyrics that you can never remember. http://www.kididdles.com/

Here are our completed Halloween Costumes:

It's amazing what buying some different ribbon can do. I know, I know, I said I didn't want to spend any money but found I didn't have what I needed to finish the costumes. So for $5 I bought ribbon for Isabelle's Cinderella and I got about 9 yards of it for that price so there is plenty left for future projects. We tried and tried for Abinadi to find something at home, but he grew out of everything just before Halloween, so when we saw this cute monkey costume for $9 we couldn't pass it up. And yes I know it looks like a bear, but I promise it has a tale! So at least it wasn't the $40 I was afraid of. So all in all I think I am getting better at being money wise. Let's hope it sticks!

Thanks Uncle Jared for the Cinderella accessories! They were the finishing touches we needed! And truly made her feel like a reel Cinderella!

We also colored pumpkins, then carved a couple with Daddy. Isabelle had to use a spoon and refused to stick her hand in the pumpkin...yep, she's definitely my princess!

They also got the chance to go to a little haunted house at Uriah's office. The people were really nice and didn't try to scare us, they just stood there quietly. Isabelle was slightly afraid until we started talking about what she saw and made her say "Hello" to the monsters. Then Daddy had to point out a skeleton at a desk and tell Isabelle that he worked so hard, he died at work! After we were done, all Isabelle could talk about was, "I never seen a REAL Monster before!" and "That guy died at Daddy's work! I hope Daddy doesn't die like that!" Sometimes I could just...........my husband. It makes me chuckle now, but it was difficult conversation to have to explain that it was all pretend and no one really died at work!

So here is how the family with Food Allergies did Trick-or-Treating this year. I originally planned on exchanging all the candy Isabelle got with candy she could actually eat, but after much thought, I realized that wouldn't be anything special for her because she is allowed too much candy already because I feel so guilty so often when there is so much other food she can't eat. So we decided that instead she would get 10 cents for every piece of candy she got this Halloween. I thought it would be a safe amount because, remembering when I was a child how you would get one piece of dinky candy at each house. You know the ones, the tiny tootsie rolls, or the really hard pieces of bubble gum that tasted nasty and couldn't really blow bubbles. We also weren't planning on going to too many houses. Isabelle would then be able to choose if she wants to buy some candy or something else with her money. We went around our block and because the kids were too tired and too cold we only hit half our street and a few other houses, yet we ended up with

two large buckets full! Over 100 pieces of candy! And I don't mean the dinky candy, I mean the miniature good candy! So Isabelle and Abinadi have $6 each. And Uriah and I ended up with a whole ton of candy that we love but never buy because of the food allergies. We are all very content with the situation!

Utah Trip Part 1

We recently went to Utah for my nephew's baptism. It was a great opportunity to see family. Half of Uriah's family came out, and my parents drove in from Colorado. The first thing we did was go to temple square. Isabelle LOVED it. We live 2 blocks from the Anchorage temple. So excitingly we get to see the temple every time we go to church. It's a mini temple on the church parking lot. So Isabelle was excited to see a temple so BIG! We were also having fun teaching her that there are many temples around.

Look closely. If you understand this picture, than you get our humor. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it!

While walking through temple square you always run into the sister missionaries ready to talk to you. It's funny how people react when you say you are from Alaska. It's almost as good as saying you're from Mars with how interested and surprised people seem.

We had a tour of the new conference center. (I didn't know that you could walk in and they had people ready to give you tours at a moment's notice.) While we were in there, Isabelle was getting restless so I let her walk away from the group and as we were walking up the isle, another tour guide started talking to Isabelle about how he loved her curly hair. He asked her if she would share her hair with him. Which Isabelle responded, "No! It doesn't come off!" I love how smart 3 year olds can be!

We of course had to take pictures of Abinadi with Abinadi, and Uriah Lehi with the Lehi. It was funny to me how no one in Utah was surprised that his name is Abinadi, but they were surprised that we don't call him by a nick name. I wanted him to grow up knowing and being proud of his name! I have no problem with friends and family giving him a nick name. It took a lot of prayers, and guidance by the spirit to finally admit that that is what his name should be, and when I finally came to that decisions I knew that that is what he should be called! And when you know him, you know that he is a strong willed child, ready to take on such a strong and difficult name! So we bought a small print of the picture to hang up in his room, thanks for that suggestion Aunt Heather.

Well that is the first instalment...keep tuned for more about our trip to the zoo next! We love and miss you all!!!

My Baby's Walking!

MY BABY'S WALKING!...and if you're a Mom you know what tone I am saying that in. One just oozing with pride but with a tinge of sadness as you realize that your baby is growing up.

Only in Alaska...

Recently we had the opportunity of eating moose. I truthfully have to say that it was good. And I am a person who can’t stand the taste of deer. I think it is too gamey and can barely stomach it even if it is smothered in sauce.

The funny part is how we came by the moose… In Alaska, non-profit organizations sign up to take turns and help “dispose” of wild animals like moose after they are found dead from a traffic incident or having to be killed for public safety. So our ward was called in for a moose that was killed by a car. All the men met up and “disposed” of the moose, which is now in several different freezers around the ward. We even had a brunch to eat up some of the moose. The funny part was all the men were clamoring to get in on the action of the next moose. So I can truthfully say that so far Alaska is the only place that I know of in the U.S. where it is socially acceptable to eat road kill! And not to just eat it, but to fight for who gets dibs on the next poor animal!

I don’t know about you, but that just cracks me up.

Monday Morning Photo Shoot

Well...we just got back from vacationing with family and I am trying to find time to write about that...and Abinadi started taking his first steps a couple days ago so I need to write a post about that too...but today is Monday and our impromptu photo shoot was too exciting not to post right away!

All from our back porch! They hung around our street for an hour or so snacking on some good food! They say anything's fair game for a moose if it's not fenced in. You can even be fined on base $300 for feeding a moose if you leave out a Jack-o-lantern and they make a snack of it. I'm curious too see if they ate the Jack-o-lanterns down the street.

Any Suggestions?

So this year for Halloween, we are trying to be smart. We are trying to be more economical all together as a family and finally get ourselves out of debt. So buying Halloween costumes every year doesn’t save money. I have decided to make Halloween a creativity game! We look all over the house for ideas of different things we want to be, and try to come up with different ideas of things we have to make different costumes, like unused curtains as dresses.
Isabelle has her heart set on being Cinderella this year. She has never seen the movie but thinks all the pictures of Cinderella are just Gorgeous! We found a skirt of mine that we are turning into a Cinderella dress. I have the basics of it made all with things that we already have. But I am stuck, so I am asking for any suggestions. I think the back looks good, but the front needs something and for the life of me I can’t make up my mind as to what I should add. So I thought I would get the opinions from others. Please let me know what you think or any ideas you might have!

Would adding a crown and jewelry be enough? I don’t have any but I was going to try to come up with a way to make those too. If you have any ideas for those let me know. Do I need larger ribbons, jewels, a sash? What are your thoughts? Oh and I don’t want to do anything too damaging to the skirt, I do plan on wearing it again, so no bedazzling like my husband suggested. Hee Hee!

Oh, yeah...Abinadi is probably going to be a Polar Bear; we found a fuzzy one piece outfit that I am going to alter for him.

Please, Please, Please, leave comments and let me know what you think! I am in a creativity slump with this dress and Halloween is slowly creeping up!

Fall Fun!

We hosted Joy School this week. It was a blast…and very tiring. Our topics were the Joy of the Earth, and the Joy of the Body. So we did a lot of playing in the leaves, and exercising, we also made bread. I don’t have much to say, but here are some adorable photos we took! It was nice that it made me get out and truly enjoy the fall that we are having. That is the one thing I have truly come to enjoy from Joy School. It is not some intense program to prepare them for school but rather a tool to help Isabelle and me learn to enjoy life and each other. To laugh at and appreciate her curiosity for the 10th time that she got out of bed to ask: “I have a question. My question is….”, and for the 10th time that I responded, “Go to bed or you will lose a privilege!” It made me get out and appreciate the beautiful views that we have from our street.
It helped me notice how advanced and smart my Isabelle is and realize that I chastise her far too often for being too smart for her own good. Abinadi as well as he jumped in to play with all the children and I was shocked to find that he can hold his own.
(But I often wonder why I buy teethers! Yep that's a sock he's chewing on.)
I am truly finding that I have a lot more to learn from Joy School than Isabelle does. Ahh…the beauty of growing up, whether you are turning 20 something or 4 you find in life that you always have something to learn.

The Top of the World

A couple weeks ago I took a trip to the top of the world--the northern most point in the United States. It's a little town called Barrow, Alaska.

The latitude of Barrow is 71° 17' 26" N. The top of the continental United States is 49° N and the Arctic Circle is 66° 33' N. Needless to say, Barrow is in the North!

First I flew up there in James Brown Airlines...

Then I saw a town that I did not expect. Barrow is one of the towns spoken of often in Alaska. As such, I thought it would be a little more established. But in reality...there is not a paved street, not every house has running water, there are no street lights--just lights attached to the power lines.

I went to take pictures of a senior officer's visit there. But while I was there, I had one goal...take a dip in the Arctic Ocean.

Before I post the pictures, you must be warned...I have a body for Alaska...it doesn't see much sun.

My other souvenir I came home with was the flu. The Air Force hospital hasn't told me yet if it was H1N1 or not. I guess asking for flu test results in less than 3 weeks is asking for too much. Kaelynn teases I got the flu from the Arctic Ocean...but I don't think polar bears or walruses carry the flu.

Hi, this is Kaelynn. My husband doesn't know that I am adding this, but he asked me to look at his pictures from the Barrow trip, in them I found one random picture of some lady's mullet. It made me laugh so hard! Of course my husband is the one to take a picture of someone/something like that while he is supposed to be taking scenery pictures. Hee Hee, and I couldn't resist adding it to his post!

This One is for Grampa!

Isabelle has now become a huge fan of classical music. Whenever we are in the car I keep channel surfing because the radio stations up here will play some random weird music. One day I was finally tired of it and turned it to the classical station. Isabelle was very excited and called it her “ballet” music because it sounded like the music from one of her Barbie movies. We can now never drive anywhere without Isabelle demanding to listen to “ballet” music. What makes it even better is that she is convinced that she will get Uriah to change his mind and have “ballet” music be his favorite. We have had many conversations about how you can like many different types of music but she is still determined that “ballet” is the best and Daddy should think so too!

The even funnier thing is that you find with classical music you can’t sing along when you like the song and I have found myself absent-mindedly conducting the music. That is before I realized I was doing it and had to stop and laugh at myself. :) Thanks, Dad!





Just to add for fun, you might think I am crazy…or dorky!

Many of you who know me, know that I am a sucker for a romance story. I normally don’t try to broadcast that fact but I wanted to add this story…
I love romance stories mostly because I love a happy ending. There is enough of my own drama in life to not to need to read someone else’s sad sob story and with most romances you can be certain that everyone will live happily ever after because of course in stories, love conquers all! Well if you have ever read any romance novels written within the last couple decades you can be 99% certain that there is going to be a dirty scene in it. So much so that church leaders now warn women against reading romance novels because mostly all include such dirt.
So I have avoided mostly all romance novels for the past few years. I had a conversation with my mother about how we wished she hadn’t gotten rid of her old Barbara Cartland romance novels written in the 70's and had the crazy idea that I should try to find some to buy. So I went on ebay and found 100’s of her books for sale for cheap. I am now the owner of around 60 Barbara Cartland Historic Romance Novels. They are quick easy reads that teach that love is sacred and for marriage only and the dirty scenes are described as, “She only knew her love welled up inside her and joined with the love he felt for her. Then as he carried her into the sky, she found the beauty and wonder of it was so perfect that nothing could ever spoil it. It was the love that came from God, belonged to God, and was theirs for ever,”
I know, I know, Cheesy, but no smut. I had really got thinking about the fact that when Isabelle was older there would be no likelihood of finding romance stories she could read without having to blackout about every other page, and I would be the one that would have to read the book to black out the pages and that just ruins the whole point of me not reading those stories either. So while most people would (especially those in my family) call me a dork, I think I've made a good decision. Especially during football season when my husband monopolizes the T.V. I love you Honey!

First Day of Joy School

Well we started Joy School this week. We are really excited. We are in a Great group of 5 kids with parents who are all very involved and just as excited for the year like we are. Everyone is also very understanding of Isabelle’s allergies and are ready and willing to work with us. I woke Isabelle up and she ran into my room screaming, “Joy School, Joy School, Today is Joy School!” She was sooooo excited! For those of you who don’t know, Joy School is an in home preschool program that focuses on values and preserving different childhood characteristics. We each take turns hosting and teaching the kids so I have 4 weeks off and then one week where I am responsible for everything. I like the thought of a program teaching children and parents how to enjoy childhood and life. They grow up so quickly.
If you want to check it out go to:
http://www.valuesparenting.com/joyschool/index.php

This is the Joy School House a made for the group. My craft for the month.

These are all our Joy School Friends. Yep, Izzy is the little one, she's slouching a little, but I didn't even realize she was this short. WOW :)