Insanity!

I've been hearing people talk about the "Hunger Games" books for a while now. My friend Kelly, force-fed me threats that if I didn't read the first book by this week she was going to hunt me down. I spent a couple of days thinking of excuses to give her until our neighbor brought it over for Austin to read. Since that wasn't happening... I put it on my desk (with his permission) and looked at it, debating for a day or two if I really wanted to pick it up. FINALLY... I said to myself if I got a certain way through it and wasn't impressed I would put it down. 12 hours later I was done, cuz I COULDN'T put it down.  The next day the 2nd book was done in 10 hours, the day after that, the 3rd book was done in 8 hours!

I don't want to 'force' any of you to read it, but I haven't ever loved a book like that! (Even though Harry Potter got me quite mesmerized!) I've got all 3 of these on my Kindle and I'm positive they'll be re-read over and over. LOVED IT! (I really can't explain why, just did!)

Presents, Presents, Presents...

I remember last year feeling heartbroken watching all my hard work of wrapping get thrown down the drain in a matter of minutes. So I told my dad this year I was stuffing all the gifts in brown paper grocery bags and stapling them closed. (Not kidding.) Needless to say, I got a lecture and he talked me out of it.... (except a week later after wrapping all his wife's presents he confessed it might not have been a bad idea.) And he tells me AFTER I did all of this!...

So heres my proof! 7 big bags of wrapped boxes for 5 kids, 2 parents, and one dog (no, I can't forget the dog!). I guess I can't complain since the house if full of 5 great kids, and 2 pretty decent (for the most part) parents, (and a pretty cool dog!). And all over the country- we have awesome sets of grandparents!, As well as amazing siblings just a phone call away, and friends around every corner! (...12 loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread and 9 loaves of banana bread would attest!) So, no, not a whole lot of complaining this holiday season, just wish I had thrown the gifts in brown paper bags and stapled them shut!  (I can't tell if my back feels worse from all the wrapping or all the baking... Except I was wrapping on the floor - I think that did it!)

The Christmas Bug

I have been very bothered this year by the Christmas music that starts playing on radio stations the day after Halloween! I've boycotted all those stations until this week. I am finally settling into the Christmas Spirit. (now that it's only a week away from Christmas) But having a BIRTHDAY always helps! (No, I still haven't decorated... I think maybe next year!)

And nothing is quite better than a present I get from "ME" to "ME"...

Yes, I wrap my own presents and most of them typically are "from" certain members of the family... like this one 'ironically' from Brent. (He liked my effort on supporting his team.) I actually might wear it once or so.

Gan'ma and Gran'pa joined us for a delicious dinner that Brent prepared for everyone after we spent hours cleaning the house and rearranging furniture. (Yes, that actually was my birthday wish.) Who's suprised?!

And of course my children were there. (I always include them in the gifts.) Here they are enjoying their candy 'Star Wars' light savers (yes, they light up!) Its the only way to keep them busy so I can unwrap my own presents myself. Hey, I wrapped them... I should be able to un-wrap them!

And here I am lighting my nose-hairs on fire! Priceless!

(Yes, its gluten-free chocolate cake mix.) Brent was suprised it tasted so good! (Me too!) Go Betty Crocker!

A dialogue among Siblings....

So my brother Adam, emails this out to all his sisters titled, "For all you moms out there":

http://www.gotriathamom.com/

This is the conversation that followed:

Me:  "I can take a hint! anyone notice... I don't swim! (or ride bikes, or run...) Hmmm..."

Adam: "Lol, its your lucky day! You can enter as a relay team! If you ask nicely, you might be able to get Erika on your team for the swim portion. The test will be to see if three of you combined can keep up with Lauren. Mwahahahaa...."

Lauren: "Are you challenging me Adam? Game on Sista's"  (- this is written by a person whose been doing triathalons for over 2 years now!)

Adam: "OOOOoooo... I believe the gauntlet has been thrown!"

Jacque: "I am really glad that Breanne and I are not included in this match up. I'm not sure if Erika really appreciates it though."

Adam: "Thats cuz YOU guys are doing the WHOLE THING!"

Jacque: "ha ha You are very funny"

(The next morning I wake up to this email:)

Erika: "I'm pretending not to have read this...."

Kai's Baptism

I loved this so much - I had to steal it!

My sister Breanne put this picture on her Facebook page. I love it!

 Bre - is this in your own neighborhood?

Welcome to Paris!

Brent took 12 of his top sales producers to Paris as a reward trip. (They go to a different location every year.) Here are a few of the 100+ photos that he brought home.... (He said they walked almost 6 miles or more every day!) But had a lot of great fun, saw a lot of great history, and ate a lot of great food. Jealous!

More Halloween!

I just have a couple more pictures and then the Halloween Chapter of this year will be over!

Keala wanted to be Luna Lovegood at school. (Except she forgot her tie. Oh well.) But isn't she cute!  All of the gradeschool kids were so much fun to watch as they marched in their parade.

Kai only wore his Ben 10 watch today, so I ran to the store and bought him green pants and this white shirt so he could really 'look' like Ben 10! When I brought his clothes to school, I got pulled into helping out with his Halloween party (and he loved that 'mom' got to stay!) Awwwh! He was so excited to see all of us neighborhood moms sitting together when they had the parade that he hadn't expected to see his dad.  ( He was so excited dad came too! That made dad feel really good!)

Joan finally got back into town safely and she and Bill joined us for dinner. They were even good enough sports to put their costumes back on for another picture. Aren't they so cute! She makes such a good Minerva McGonagall, and G'pa did great again as Mad-Eye Moody! Love it!

Justin stayed in the neighborhood after the costume parade and helped both the kids finish their homework, then met KaRyn for dinner. Keala suddenly decided to be a vampire for Trick or Treating so her dad had to run to the store and buy her face makeup before going out. (Kai was not happy about waiting around for that!)  But it didn't take too long, and Keala looked great!

I walked with Justin, KaRyn, and the kids for a while with Maggie. I put a lighted necklace around her collar and people thought that was cute. The kids had a blast... it had to be the warmest Halloween night I can EVER remember in Utah! We had such a fun day... along with the weather, it had to be one of the BEST Halloweens ever!

Harry Potter Halloween Party

As if we haven't had enough parties this month, I thought our 'family' Halloween dinner could have a Harry Potter theme.  It took some coercing, but everyone was a good sport...

Kai said he would be Ron Weasley, and Keala didn't like the idea of being Hermione, so she opted to be Luna Lovegood. (Except she kept asking us to remind her who she was.)

Ryan was Draco Malfoy, Kasey opted to be a Dementor (look how happy she is, though)!  Austin is the older Harry Potter, and Sam came as the younger Harry Potter.

(Forgot to get a photo of Sam - oops! Maybe BFF mom can email me one!)

Brent is Snape (yes, he should have worn more black, my bad!)

I am the lovely, yet slightly crazy, Sybil Trelawney. Such a perfect fit!

(Side note: Brent, G'pa Bill, and Kasey have no idea who the characters are!) ...not Potter junkies.

G'pa Bill was Mad-Eye Moody, but our photo is out of focus. Sorry!

G'ma was gonna be Minerva McGonagall, but she missed her flight and got stuck in Cali.

After dinner we played the "Mummy wrap". You will notice how each teenager's personality comes out in their wrapping of each of the kids.

Ryan is very methodical and orderly. True to form!

Kasey is very competitive and gets the job done at whatever expense!

But she has fun along the way! (Keala couldn't see by the end of the game!)

By the way, Kasey won! (winner winner, chicken dinner!)

Austin just does what hes asked, no rhyme or reason.

He didn't care that he lost, but he got mad his paper kept tearing. Patience Austin!

Afterwards the 3 little kids played "Witches stew" where they sucked a Halloween creature onto the end of their straw and tried to see how far they could walk before it fell off. 

(It was a short-lived game.)

G'pa's "Mad-Eye" kept falling off so we just let it go.

Meeja took our photos (shes still under the weather, but was a good sport to come and enjoy the festivities with us!)

 Kasey keeps forgetting to look scary!

How can you look scary when you're so cute! We all had a lot of fun!

I forgot to show Ryan's tatoo. By the way, he made his own wand! Pretty cool!

Everyone have a Happy Halloween!

Frightmares At Lagoon!

Saturday morning I told the kids to dress warm for Lagoon.  (I brought extra clothes for everyone!) I told Keala to wear a warmer jacket - she ended up with my 'extra' shirt.  (And Kai ended up wearing the 'extra' shirt I TOLD him to wear in the first place!) I still don't get how kids don't listen to their mothers!

But as soon as the rides started - everyone was all smiles. (And we KINDA forgot how cold it was!)

Brent and I lobbied for which rides we were and were NOT doing with the kids. We both suckered each other into at least one ride we didn't want to do... This was the one he didn't want to do. (I got stuck on a spinning ride - it was the first and last one of the day for me!)

Brent recieved free tickets earlier this week for Lagoon.

I had been wanting to take the kids all summer and never did.

I was so glad we were able to do it this Halloween weekend!

Once the sun came out it was the perfect day, warm and beautiful!

This trip was the first time Kai, Keala, and Sam had ever been to Lagoon.

Meeja had sinus surgery this week so we offered to bring Sam to give her a little 'R and R'.

This was the first trick-or-treat maze of the day, but not the last!

We stayed here in 'toddler' land for most the afternoon... It was a blast!

(We finally got Kai to ride some rollercoasters for once!)

After too many 'spinning' rides, Kai chose to sit this one out.  Keala and Sam were all smiles until...

The ride got stuck! Keala started crying and mom started laughing. I couldn't help it! Kai was standing next to me saying "mom, its not nice to laugh".  After a few minutes they finally got the ride working again.

The kids were asked if they wanted to do it again... Of course they did!

Yes, we did ALL the toddler rides! Why not!

Brent and I sat and relaxed while the kids ran from ride to ride.

Yes, I cut my hair. Don't worry, 'some' people didn't notice either!

These girls were so cute! (I have no idea who that other girl is!) But she was adorable!

 They all were so excited to try everything out. It was nice that this was new for each of them!

Keala got to trick-or-treat these witches. They were really sweet to all the kids.

We also found another maze were the little kids could trick-or-treat in different rooms.

Some rides became our 'favorites'!

Keala loved hearing me yell at her from the ground as she went around and around.

On their second time around Keala instructed me to stop kissing Brent so I could keep yelling at her. Well, ok then!

The train ride had the longest wait of the day.

However, Brent said it'd be worth it to see the second best zoo in Utah.

(Doesn't Utah only have 2 zoo's?)

It turned out to be such a beautiful day!

Some of the smells weren't so beautiful... but the zoo WAS impressive!

We got a snack at 'Dippin' Dots' and coincidentally a show started right where we were. It was fun to watch. (Warning to all those aspiring to eat Dippin' Dots one day... you're taking your life into your own hands!)

Whats that behind you honey?

Aside from snacks, rides, trick-or-treating, and posing for pictures... we had a GREAT day!

This is the best picture I've got of Brent's hunting trip last weekend.

Somehow I don't see any hunting going on.  But we're supposed to believe they really do hunt! 

The End