Just In Time For Halloween

My sister gave me this CD recently and I am obsessed! I have not taken it out of my CD player or listened to another playlist on my ipod since I got it in the mail on Monday. I am dying to go to the show, but it doesn't come to Tempe until July! But you can bet I'll be there! I had heard of Wicked a lot, but never knew the story or any of the songs. I absolutely love it and can now say that "I have been changed for good!"

So, thanks Michaela! Now I have something else to add to the list of things that make me instantly tear up: The end of Meet the Robinsons when Lewis gets adopted, talking about people from my mission, and now Defying Gravity and The Wizard and I ( and even the opening, No One Mourns the Wicked).

Let The Halloween Festivities Begin!

Last night we carved our pumpkins with the kids. If any of you have been following our doings for a while, you might remember this post from last year. This year wasn't much different, except that we carved our pumpkins instead of just decorating them. Jonah loved it just like last year, and in the end, Eden kept up her tradition:

The finished masterpieces:

We have our ward Trunk-or-Treat tonight, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post about it soon!

My 29th Birthday

Yesterday I turned 29! It turned out to be a great day. Peter came home early and brought me some lovely roses. We had an appointment to do family pictures with my friend, Kayleen. It was pretty hard to get all three kids to cooperate. That is one thing I look forward to as they grow up. But Kayleen did an amazing job getting their attention. I guess she's not Primary Chorister for nothing! You can take a look at one of our photos on her blog here.

We also took the kids to the Rainforest Cafe. We had never been there, but we thought the kids would like it. If you have never been there or heard of it, it's basically a restaurant that is decorated like a rain forest with all sorts of animatronic animals and huge tanks of fish. It almost felt like we were at Disneyland! The kids were pretty terrified at first. We sat in a booth under a tree with a leopard in it, who periodically growled and roared at us. The kids did finally get used to it and had a good time after many "it's not real" reminders. I even heard Jonah tell Eden near the end, "It's okay, Eden. It's not scary."

Right after Eden worked up the courage to get near the gorillas, she chickened out.

I wasn't able to get many good pictures. It was really dark in there and the kids were all over the place. This leopard was in the gift shop. Anyway, we had a fun time!

Early Halloween

The kids went to a Halloween birthday party on Saturday and got to wear their costumes early. I snapped a few pictures before we left. Jonah was a little unsure about the costume at first, but then he got the hang of it.

Buzz Lightyear and a blonde Snow White

I had to post this one of Eden!

Having fun at the party

Can't wait for Halloween!

Silly Kids

Levi is getting a little concerned about his weight, I guess. He loves getting on the scale!

Eden can actually walk really well in these things!

How Cute Is This Guy?

A week ago I watched my nephews, Phoenix and Marcelus, for my sister just for an hour or so. I forgot about these cute pictures until I cleaned off my camera tonight.

Levi was playing peek-a-boo with this plastic container. He thought it was so funny. You can really see his "goofy teeth" in this video!

High School Tag

I thought this looked kind of fun.

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Yes...let's not get into that.

2. What kind of car did you drive? Blue and silver Suburban and a white Corsica

3. Were you a party animal? Not exactly, although I was loud and obnoxious around my friends.

4. Were you considered a flirt? Maybe, but I was probably too self-conscious most of the time.

5. Were you in band, orchestra or choir? Three choirs- Women's Choir, Concert Choir, and Encore Singers.

6. What was your most embarrassing moment in high school? I can't remember anything specific, thank goodness, but I'm sure there are plenty to choose from. I'm sure I said some embarrassing things.

7. Were you a nerd? Probably yes. I was in honors classes and National Honor Society, and let's face it- I was nerdy looking.

8. Were you on varsity teams?
Yes. Track 4 years, Cross Country 3 years.

9. Did you ever get suspended/expelled?
Nope. Goody goody. Although I did ditch quite a bit, I never got caught.

10. Can you still sing the fight song?
Yes, I had it memorized. Still do.

11. Who were your favorite teachers?
I really liked my Algebra teacher, Mrs. Whitney. For some reason, I understood Math better with her. And I loved Mrs. Nelson, our choir director. Loved Dalley too when he was actually teaching us English and not working on the play.

12. What was your school's full name?
Moapa Valley High School

13. School mascot?
Pirates

14. Did you go to the Homecoming dance and with who?
Yes, I went; however, our Homecoming dance isn't formal and it's stag.

15. If you could go back again, would you?
I think I'd like to relive moments, but not go back entirely.

16. What do you remember most about graduation?
I remember that I went to Vegas that morning with Kira and Michael, and I remember what I wore and quite a few other details. I also remember I was supposed to walk with Cam Lamping, but at graduation things must have got mixed up, because I walked with Ryan Clifford, which was awesome since we were really good friends.

17. Where did you go senior skip day?
Did we have a designated ditch day? It was probably at the Big House or something. I'm not sure. Senior year I did a lot of ditching.

18. Were you in a club?
Yes- National Honors Society and Pep Club. I think that's all.

19. Have you gained some weight since then?
Not really but I think I became more proportional!

20. Who was your prom date?
Junior: Chad Booth
Senior: Eron Sorensen

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
Went.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?
Be more confident, laugh at myself more, and be nice to everyone.

TAG: Anyone who is reading this who wants to be tagged.

Jonah's School Picture!

I think it turned out pretty cute!

Flashback Friday- Peter

Here are a couple of pictures of Peter as a kid for Flashback Friday!

Peter is on the far right here-

Peter with his oldest brother, Thomas, and his Grandpa Shirley. (Love the peg-legs, Tom!)

On one of the many trips they took with their dad-
(Peter is in the middle wearing red)

The Shirley men. Peter is wearing the bright red pants.

Maybe this is why Mom and Dad Shirley put a pool in the backyard later on.

8 Things

8 Favorite TV shows...
1. The Office
2. So You Think You Can Dance
3. Late Night with Conan
4. Friends
5. That 70's Show
6. Backyardigans
7. ????
8. That's all I can think of...

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Cheesecake Factory
2. On the Border
3. Pizza Factory (in St. George only)
4. Jimmy John's
5. Carrabba's
6. Benihana's
7. Port of Subs
8. The Blue Plate Diner (ha ha- been there once)

8 things that happened yesterday...
1. Made breakfast for the kids
2. Called Peter
3. Took kids to the park
4. Read in bed
5. Cleaned up toys
6. Sent Jonah to school on the bus
7. Put Eden in Time-out
8. Wrestled with the kids

8 things to look forward to...
1. Halloween
2. Putting in backyard
3. Christmas shopping
4. Jonah's birthday
5. Christmas
6. no debt
7. working out
8. Lasik (if I can work up the nerve)

8 things I love about Fall...
1. Halloween
2. Thanksgiving
3. hoodies
4. football
5. cooler weather
6. pumpkins
7. going to St. George (not this year)
8. my birthday

8 things on my wishlist...
1. Trip to Mexico with Peter and the kids
2. camping gear
3. all of our food storage
4. a room to store all that food storage
5. a Bosch
6. bedroom furniture
7. to relearn Russian and Spanish
8. WORLD PEACE!

My Trip to Provo

I have the nicest husband ever! Peter decided (on his own!) that I needed a break from the kids to get some "me time" and sent me up to Provo to visit my sister, Kira, for a long weekend. He took two days off work and watched the kids so I could go. Thank you, Peter!

I had never been inside the Salt Lake Temple, so after Kira picked me up from the airport, we went over to do a session. It was my first "live" session and I loved it. I got some new insight and it was just a really neat experience.
We bummed around Temple Square for a while and then watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Neither of us had seen it, and it was really amazing. Here I am with my yummy grapefruit!
We ate at the Blue Plate Diner in Sugarhouse, which was sooo yummy! Highly recommended!

Here is my spinach tomato omelet with avocado! It was so fluffy!

On Friday, we went to Jimmy John's, a sandwich shop that Kira and I used to work at in St. George. We love that place. We drove through the canyon and it was really beautiful. We also went to Red Robin for dinner- my first time. I don't know why I have never been there before, but it was good.
Kira works in the Provo Temple every Saturday morning, so while she was working, I got to do Initiatories. It was fun being in the Provo Temple- it brought back a lot of memories of being in the MTC. It was nice that I was able to go to the temple twice on my trip. I don't get to go very often at home.
Saturday afternoon was the BYU game, and we were so happy that it didn't rain or snow at the game! It was cold, but we survived and had pretty good seats. BYU is still undefeated! Go Cougars!
On Sunday, Kira had to go to her ward, so I went with her. It was pretty awkward going to a singles ward now that I'm married and have three kids. I felt so out of place. That was the longest three hours of my life! We ate a yummy lunch with Mike and Donna. (Kira lives in their basement.) They were so nice and hospitable. Thanks for letting me stay there, Mike, Donna, and Kira!

Anyway, I had a great time! It was fun being back in Provo, although I was reminded of how lucky I am to not live in snow (it snowed twice and was generally freezing most of the weekend). I am happy to be back in 85 degree weather! I was missing my flip flops and shorts!

R.G.I.T.M.B.

My friend, Leah, has a series of posts she calls T.I.M.H. (Thoughts In My Head). I have a lot of random thoughts here and there, and thought I would create a similar thread. Welcome to Random Glimpses Into a Tired Mommy's Brain. (I know it's a long title- I'm open to suggestions, just leave a comment.) These are the things that people who converse all day long with toddlers think about.

1. In the Disney animated movie, Cinderella, the gown that fairy godmother makes for Cinderella is a sparkly white/silver combo. Why is she always portrayed wearing a baby blue version of the dress?

2. Why do they call the lion "king of the jungle," when lions don't live in the jungle, but on the savanna? I would think maybe the tiger would be king of the jungle...

3. Remember when there were light brown M&Ms instead of blue ones?

4. I really trip out over the phrase "the bigger half." I know it's just an oxymoron, but I seriously start this conversation to myself whenever I hear it:

"If it's a half, it's equal, so there's no bigger half!"

"But on the other hand, how often do you cut a sandwich perfectly in half?"

"Oh, shut up, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BIGGER HALF!!!"

I really am crazy...

5. Every once in a while I realize that the Southern Hemisphere is having opposite seasons than us and trip out on that for a while.

6. Why do the kids prefer to play with pots and pans, trash, old (or current) cell phones, and my books, when they have sooo many of their own toys?

Flashback Friday- Halloween

For Flashback Friday, I decided to post a bunch of pictures of my previous Halloween costumes!

1983- Witch
1985- Gypsy
1993- Tom Sawyer (and Huck Finn)
1998- Scarecrow
1999- Greek Goddess
2000- Annie (and a bad photoshopping job)
2003 (Bin Laden and a hillbilly- made in 5 minutes!)
2006- Pirates and a mermaid

2007- Cowboys and Indians