Blonde Moments

So every once in a while, I have "blonde moments" and the bad thing is that they happen all at once in a matter of a couple of days. They are the kind where you put the milk in the pantry or cupboard, or you go somewhere to do something and forget what you're doing so you retrace your steps racking your brain to remember what on earth you were doing. I know that you all have those moments too but sometimes mine are even more extreme and "blonde".

A couple of months ago, I had a few that all happened in the same week. The first one was that I accidentally dropped and lost my children's lunch money on our bike ride to school. (Luckily, someone found the check and turned it in) The next one was that I tipped over on my bike while standing completely still and waiting at the crosswalk. I just lost my balance and tipped right into the bushes! Then I was trying to impress my husband while doing a Dukes of Hazzard jump over our couch and completely missed the seat and fell onto the floor. The final straw that week was that I was playing Bejeweled on my phone reaching level 32 and thinking that I was setting the world record before I realized that it was the Endless version! What a waste of about 2 hours!

This past week has been about the same. I took the kids to the party store to look for some accessories for our Halloween costumes. We were there in line ready to purchase when I realized that I left my wallet at home in my camera bag from the night before. We had to put everything back, load back into the car, drive home, and come back! The next one was that we were playing Hide and Seek and I was crawling around the kitchen floor hiding from the kids. Clark was heading in my direction so I turned to go the other way and cracked the top of my head on our granite countertop. Another one was that I was turned around walking and talking to Kate when I completely ran into the wall.

And the last straw this week...

Picture, courtesy of Clark

Yes, have you seen anything more lovely, blonde, or dumb? Our vacuum died this week and some people were coming to our house so I quickly ran to the store and bought a cheap one because I was desperate to vacuum the carpet. There is a turbo attachment for the hose when vacuuming the stairs. I was moving the vacuum down the stairs and untangling the cord when I stuck my hand up in the air and that turbo attachment completely sucked my hair in so tightly all the way to my head. I was laughing so hard and trying not to cry from the pain while calling for help from my children. Instead of helping right away, Clark ran for the camera and video camera laughing that I needed to post this for the blog. Katelyn saved me as she unrolled my hair carefully for about 5 full minutes.

I guess I've had my fill of moments for the next couple of months but stay tuned for more. They're bound to happen!

Seriously, do we need a 5-bedroom house?

Joe and I can think of a lot of other things to do with the extra rooms in our house!

Making Breakfast

The other morning I was getting ready for the day when I heard some clanging about in the kitchen and came out to find Carlee making a sandwich for herself.

"What are you doing, Carlee?"
"Just making my dinner, Mom."
"It's breakfast time."
"Well I can have a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast then."
"Okay, do you need any help?"
"No, but can you get me a plate down?"
"Sure!"

She then got off the stool and walked over to the drawer to get a pink knife to cut it into "2 pieces". Then she asked me to get her a drink and proceeded to carry her "breakfast" over to the table to eat it. I guess I'm off the hook for making breakfast!

Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance

Katelyn and Daddy got to attend a 50's Sock Hop dinner dance for Activity Days. They had a great time twisting and jiving the night away.

Obviously, Carlee thought the activity should include all daughters!

Halloween 2009

Halloween festivities have been in full force this past week as we have made caramel candy apples with Aunt Cath, Uncle Jay and cousins, attended the Ghostown carnival at the elementary school, trunk or treated at the Ward Fall Festival, carved pumpkins, and trick or treated around our neighborhood. It's been a great time!

The Ghostown Carnival included the Lollipop Tree, fishing pond, car races, tossing rings over the bottle tops, throwing balls at milk bottles, eating snowcones, cotton candy, and chili cheese fries. We even checked out the pumpkin patch for a quick picture!

Here we are at the ward Fall Festival. Joe, the wizard, was taking pictures as I am leading the children's costume parade with my little Alice in Wonderland. Katelyn was the Queen of Hearts, Jacob was a pirate, and Clark decided last minute to dress up as a missionary because his costume arrived late. Unfortunately he is getting beat up by a knight in shining armor, Carter!

And the pumpkin carving happened for Family Home Evening. The kids drew out their pumpkin faces and set to carving the shapes. Great job, kids!

The pro carver, cutting and shaping to every child's wish!

Clark's favorite part of the carving

The final masterpieces!

And here they are...all dressed up to trick or treat!

Alice and the Queen of Hearts

The Mario Brothers

My Sweet Girl in White

Katelyn was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, October 10. She had her bishop's interview about a month ago and she said that she felt really good about talking with our bishop. Even Carlee must have felt pretty good about an interview because she told our bishop that she wanted to have a talk too. (We teach them real young at our house) When Katelyn walked out, Carlee rushed right into his office beckoning the bishop to follow her and she shut the door. A couple of minutes later, the bishop came out laughing but Carlee said she wasn't done yet. We had to practically drag her out of there. The bishop said that he had asked her what some of her favorites are. He asked her what her favorite food was and she replied, "Cafe Rio!"

It was a wonderful day for a baptism and several family members drove down to celebrate this experience. Kate was a little bit nervous throughout the week because she thought Joe was going to hold her under the water too long. I told her that he just dunked her for a few seconds and that he would hold on to her the entire time. They practiced the motion a few times and I told her that she didn't have to get baptized, but she looked at me in shock and said, "I am going to be baptized, Mom. I'm just a little nervous." She did just fine and was very happy when she came out of the water. I was a proud mom of her choice to be baptized. Afterwards, we decided to have her confirmed that day since all of our family was here. Then we headed outside for pictures and back home for a dinner of Cafe Rio-like pork salad and rolls. The evening was spent playing games, watching movies and just enjoying each other's company. A big thank you to the family and friends that came to support Katelyn in this important choice. We love and appreciate you!

Grandma and Grandpa Holt

Grandma and Grandpa Stuart

Staheli Farms

Due to the lack of pumpkin patches and corn mazes in the city of Las Vegas, we drove up to St. George to get in our Autumn fix. The kids were out of school so a group of moms and cute kids drove up to Staheli Farms for the day. It was so much fun. We got lost in the corn maze, slid down the corn slides, teeter-tottered up and down, petted farm animals, swung on ropes in the haystacks, galloped on horses made from tires, took a wild ride on the barrel train, climbed on the playhouse, rode in the big wagon to the pumpkin patch, and picked the perfect pumpkins. The weather was perfect and so was the farm. All in all, a perfect autumn day.

Barrel Train Ride

These lil' punkins just keep on growin'!

Giddy-up!

Swinging into the hay

Landing in the corn kernels

Movin' on up

Here you go, goatie! Here's some hay.


Perfect Punkins!

Cinderella Carlee

Carlee has been taking a fairytale dance class at Hollywood Kids Academy this fall. It is a musical theater company that teaches dance, singing, and acting to children. She absolutely adores going every week and counts down the days. She loves wearing her leotard, skirt and ballet shoes to warm-up, stretch, and dance across the floor. After the dancing portion of the class, they get to go up on stage for "acting", storytime, and getting in costumes to act out the story she just heard. Each month they read and act out a different story. September was the story of Cinderella. She loves it and "teaches" her dolls at home the same things Miss Jessica teaches her during classtime. It is so cute to listen to her be the teacher. Aww...things to come.

Taking their final bow

Cinderella Carlee