Missing Camera= Zero Motivation

I usually rely on pictures to tell the story of my life, but my camera recently ran away, taking with it all of our wonderful holiday memories. I'm sure it will turn up, but until then I have no motivation to pull out anything inspiring. I will leave you only with the knowledge that we are still alive, and that Jackson has pooped on the potty for the last 2 weeks with only one mishap, in which he was kind enough to remove the excrement from his diaper with his bare hands and put it in the toilet for me. You're welcome.

A Thanksgiving Treat

And no, I will not be putting a recipe on my blog ever again. I can't cook. But these are a tradition(ok, so this is the first year I'm making these with my kids, but I always made them growing up. And we will make them from now on, so help me!) Make them. We like to put them at every place setting for Thanksgiving dinner because it just makes people happy to look at them.
P.S. See below for cute Halloween pictures. I know they're late, but I have an excuse.

Thanksgiving Cookie Turkeys

Ingredients:


40 fudge-striped cookies
1/4 cup chocolate frosting
2 packages (5 ounces each) chocolate-covered cherries(if like me, you hate chocolate covered cherries, you can usually find some sort of substitue in the candy section. Just make sure it's roughly the same shape)
20 pieces candy corn



Directions:


Place 20 cookies on a flat surface, solid chocolate side down. With frosting attach a chocolate-covered cherry to the top of each base cookie. Position another cookie perpendicular to each base cookie; attach with frosting. With a dab of frosting, attach one piece of candy corn to the front of each cherry for the head. Let stand until set. Makes 20, but you will probably need more because who can have just one?

Halloweenies

Halloween was a month ago, yes I know. For some reason blogger hasn't been working for me and I couldn't do any new posts!(and no, I'm not making this up as an excuse for not blogging) But I couldn't just NOT put these pictures up, my kids are way too cute. So here you go:

Barbie Mariposa at School

At her Halloween parade. Seriously, why is she always the cutest?

This little dragon was so flippin' cute, I couldn't pick just one picture

Jackson and Noah the Ninja at Gardener's Village

You are lucky I'm putting this up since I hate every picture that includes me in it. We were looking at the witch displays and Bailee kept saying "Mom, that witch looks just like you!" Very flattering.

Hello, random girl in the background. Congratulations on making the blog.(no I'm not talking about you Carlee)

We tried to get a picture of all three of them and this is the best we could do

Hannah Montana even showed up at my parents house!
Carving pumpkins with Grammy

Trick or Treating


Grandpa showed up on the 4 wheeler so as not to strain their poor little legs. Apparently their mom and dad's poor little legs weren't a concern since we had to run along behind from house to house.

sickies

I won't lie, I kind of enjoy it when they just want to lay around all day. But then I have to ask myself: Would I rather be cleaning up toys and breaking up fights, or cleaning up barf and washing Bailee's sheets 3 times so far today? It's a toss up.

Wa Wa is 14

Happy Birthday to this little hottie:

Start watching for her at stake dances, she'll be the one busting out the amazing moves she inherited from me.

Holy eyeshadow

I came across this picture and it made me laugh. I probably should have saved it for her birthday, but I might not think it's as funny by then. Love ya Whit.

P.S. Click on the picture for the full effect.

I'm not superstitious... But I am a little stitious.

After some thought, I decided that the rose was not a good omen as I had hoped, but something sinister that needed to be eliminated immediately.

This week I called my local wiccan/cat lady(not easy to find here in Utah) and invited her over for a seance. While her methods were convincing, after she was done the rose if anything looked stronger than before. I then called a Catholic priest(also not easy to find in Utah) over for an exorcism. He shook some holy water around for a while. Still nothing. Finally after a call to my bishop and a ward fast, I began to see results! It is very subtle, but the rose appears to be darkening in color and getting more wilted as seen below. I have no doubt that it will be as black as Neil's heart within a few days(by the way, the rose saw your comment on my last post, and I think her spirit is angry with you). Hopefully the dead sports girl will be able to find peace once she is released from her prison.

Mysterious Happenings

Maybe I'm just superstitious because it's nearly Halloween. Maybe not. All I know is that something very mysterious is happening. First, the story:

Exactly 16 days ago, my kids and I were at the park. It was dusk, and I had just decided that it was time to go home. As I started across the parking lot with my kids in their little wagon, I remember that I was a little bit nervous because it was getting darker and darker and we had a 20 minute walk home. Out of nowhere, I was approached by a teenage girl, probably about sixteen or seventeen. She was dressed in baggy shorts and a tee shirt, which wasn't too unusual as we were right next to some soccer/baseball fields. There was no one else around-no teamates or coaches. The field was silent, which in itself was a little odd. She walked up to us and said hello. We talked for a moment and she commented on my cute kids, and asked them a few questions. Then she held out a single rose. "Please take this and have a nice day" she said. "Thank you, you too." I replied. She watched me as I walked away.

When I got home, I put the rose in some water and forgot about the encounter. Until a week later that is. As I was going about my daily duties, I happened to notice that the rose was not wilted or dying. There was still plenty of water in the vase, even though I had not added more water since it was given to me. I continued to watch every day for some sign that it was weakening, but it remained as perfect as the day it was given to me. And now as 16 days have passed with no change, I begin to wonder if there was more to this gift than I first realized.

Was this girl a spirit, haunting the fields where a terrible sports related tragedy occurred? Perhaps the rose was a gift from a grieving boyfriend, and it now lives on in memory of their love. She might be a benevolent witch, and the rose is meant to bring good luck and happiness to our home. Or a genie, ready to grant 3 wishes if I can only unlock the secrets of her gift. Or maybe it is something more sinister. Is it possible that she was murdered by a jealous teamate, and her body secretly buried in those fields, the scene of her triumphs? What if this rose carries a curse in retribution for the terrible crimes committed against her? There is no way of knowing, I can only watch and wait. If anyone out there can offer some advice on this matter, please let me know. Perhaps this has happened before.

amylia is my favorite sister

I hate trying to think up post titles

Bailee had her first school field trip today, and I got to go along as a parent helper. It was a strange sensation when I realized that suddenly I was the grown up. It really should have been MY mom there, volunteering in MY class, while I ran around without a care in the world. Freaky.

The ride on the school bus to Pumpkin Land was the fulfillment of Bailee's lifelong dream and all she has ever wanted from her education. Since she goes to the elementary school for preschool, we get to see one EVERY DAY. And EVERY DAY she begs me to ride it to school instead of getting driven by her uncool mother. Let's wait until she gets to high school and THEN see how cool she feels riding it.

The bus ride was everything she dreamed it would be

She is the cutest kid in her class, no contest.

My little group. John, Bailee, and Liz

Bailee and her current squeeze, Christopher. She shows her feelings by bugging him to death, and he shows his by pushing her and running away. It's complicated.

Mad that it's time to go home

The pumpkin and her new reason for living. As we speak, she is taking a nap with it. As in, it's sharing a pillow with her head.

I can't wait for the next field trip!