Funny Faces

We were goofing off at lunch one day. Making faces is one of my specialties, so we all practiced. I think Spencer was growling, I was looking scared, Derek was mad, and Lindsey was just watching it all. (It's scarry to think about what she will percieve as normal- living with the rest of us). By the way, Larry realized that I hardly ever have pictures of me on the posts, so it was a shame to put such an ugly one on as this one. If you want to see a nice one refer to my Disneyland pictures in Sep and Oct.

Blast from the Past

I recently found this picture again, and thought it was a fun to compare it to the shot of Larry a post or two down the page. That's me, Michelle in front with Ryan and Cory in back. Katie is looking up at us.

A few daddy dates with kids

So I have continue the Daddy dates every week and been great for me and the kids.

1. Derek and I went to Greg Oden Bobblehead night blazer game and it was awesome, he loved it. It was a perfect game and 4th quater he was dancing around as the crowd went crazy. He likes it Bobblehead and Derek is fun blazer game.

2.Spencer wanted to go a train so we went on Max to Mcdonlds and he sure loves trains. It was rainy day but did not matter he loved it.

3. Miranda and I went to blazer game with Burdicks, Dad, Hiedi Luke, Lucy and was great game and Miranda really enjoyed it with me.

Thanksgiving was my Birthday and it was fun and I did hit my 3 month goals of lifting wieghts, 185 lb benched 2 times, when I started 2 months ago after losing all the wieght I could only lift about 120lbs. We also had great BYU vs Utah football party with about 30 people at our house it was lots of fun and great win.

2.

Fun with Daddy

Having four kids isn't all fun and games as you can see! I commented to Larry that he has a funny face that really looks like he's in pain. He quickly interjected, "I WAS in pain! They were jumping up and down on my back!"

Kids will be kids

Here is Derek holding his beloved Star Wars Visual Dictionary. He COULD NOT put it down for the first few hours after we picked it up at the library. Every minute or two he would shout out little comments like, "Did you know that Chewbacca is a Wookie?!?" The obsession grows ever stronger...

This is Spencer wearing the "throw up" bucket- fortunately he didn't have to use it.

Lindsey just LOVES necklaces. As soon as she sees one it's around her neck and doesn't come off until bedtime. Isn't she cute in black?

This week was mostly uneventful for me. The kids were a little sick with a mercifully short stomach bug. I was actually really excited when Miranda's school called to see if she could come home. You see, Derek and Lindsey were already sick and I was so glad that at least they would all be sick and the same time and be done with it by the weekend. Sure enough, we are all good and the rest of us avoided the sickness.

Can I just tell you all what a fabulous wife I've been this week? Larry went to two blazer games, while I stayed home with the kids. I also moved a 3 cubic yard pile of bark dust into the backyard during the week by myself and have kept the house pretty clean. I'm RAD!

Michelle's Halloween

Halloween came and went too quickly this year. I decided early on that we weren't going to spend a lot on costumes, so I was glad to convince Miranda to be a princess. She conceded as long as she was able to wear makeup.
Derek, who is always in a Star Wars frame of mind, wanted to be a Jedi. I used one of Miranda's robes as a pattern for his outfit, then made a belt with a place to snap in his lightsaber. Those of you who know Derek will not be surprised at his persistent reminders, "Are you going to work on my costume today?" So, we worked on it for a few minutes everyday. He even helped by taking the pins out while I sewed. I was SO glad to be done with it, so that he would stop bugging me!
Spencer, with his easy-going nature, was easily convinced to be the skeleton (Derek's costume from last year; I wonder if Spencer will ever refuse to wear Derek's discards). He insisted that he wasn't a scarry skeleton because he didn't have a mask- he was a Happy Skeleton.
Lindsey was a very cute spider. I'm not sure who suggested it, but I thought it was a fabulous idea because it is so funny to see her crawling in it. I made the extra legs and just pinned them across her back, with the spiderweb design to cover it. That way, I could take off the legs if they were bugging her too much, and I would have a cute black outfit for her to wear for the next few months.
On Friday night, we had a fun, carnival-type Halloween party at the church. The trunk-or-treat followed. Derek loved seeing all the Star Wars themed costumes there. Miranda really liked playing all the games and getting prizes. We all had fun getting candy and seeing friends. Larry's pirate themed trunk was a big success, too.
On Halloween, Larry's brother, John was in town and he joined us for treat-or-treating. The kids were pretty good about Halloween door etiquette this year, except for the numerous, "How many can I have?" comments from Derek. After covering quite a bit of the neighborhood, everyone came home while Miranda and I worked our way to her friend's house down the street. I think Miranda enjoyed looking at people's carved pumpkins and decorations more than the candy.
I've been letting the kids eat as much candy as they want after meals and during snack time, but we STILL have a ton of candy. At last count, Miranda still has 71, and Derek has 40. Spencer's is going fast. Lindsey likes to chew the candy and spit it out or throw it. Even Smartees! What a weirdo. She does love Chocolate, though, and doesn't spit that out.

Kids Halloween Pic