Elijah's First Haircut

 

 

Elijah's hair was getting uneven. It wasn't anything crazy, but we were home. The house was clean thanks to some super cleaners* and I was ready. Joe had thoroughly made me nervous and told me I shouldn't do it. Usually I try to listen to my husband, but when it comes to hair... I don't know. Should he be calling the hair shots? Yes, Eli would look cute with dreads, but is it really feasible for a 1 year old.

 

Plus, if I didn't cut Eli's hair I would just end up shaving a rat tail in my own.

 

So really, my options were limited.

 

It was a team effort. I didn't have lollipops so Maria fed Eli M&M's. He was quite happy.

 

Christina held Eli and did a great job making sure he didn't squirm too much.

 

 

Overall, I think Elijah had a very pleasant experience. I used a 1/2" clipper setting and he looks super handsome.

 

* The girls had taken a bath and used shampoo as bubble bath. Not my favorite thing in the world. So in punishment I had them clean the whole house. Granted there were only a few things to do, but they did them and they did the chores well!! They cleaned mirrors, counters, vacuumed, mopped, did the stair banisters... I was in 7th heaven! I told them to misbave more often!! :)

New Park!!

We got a lucky day with perfect weather and headed to the new pah-rah park!

It is the best park I've ever been to. We met up Ram and the ladies & gentleman and enjoyed a nice afternoon.

The park is always busy. The astroturf ground is fabulous, especially for Elijah.

There are shade canopies. I really hope they can update a few parks in Spanish Springs now!!

There are tons of fun things to do for the older kiddos!!

I love that Mya was almost to the top with the 12 year olds!!

Athlete!!!

Eli recently learned how to do Gangham style.

Tobi

One day the girls were playing outside when a dog came bounding through a crack in the fence. They were terrified and were screaming. They ran into the house as fast as they could. The dog wasn't barking and was actually pretty cute. However, if it's a dog you don't know we tend to be cautious.

The dog stayed in our yard for a few hours. We fed it a cookie. It peed on an umbrella. I wanted to call animal control. Animal control said they would hold the animal until the neighbors fixed the fence. However, I didn't end up calling animal control. The dog left. The fence is still not fixed.

We do know the dog's name now. Tobi.

6.2 .... My own personal 10k DONE!!!

 So it was a long day and I thought I'd go for a 2 mile run. However, the weather was perfect, the sky was crystal clear and the stars were gorgeous. I felt like Forrest Gump. I just started running, and ran and ran.

Granted, I'm not a cheetah. But I did it!!! Now I know I can do it.

I didn't get any "runners high". I'm feeling a little gypped. But whatevs.

I ran 6.2 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On vista there were like 10 cop cars and a huge cop RV. No clue what that was all about, but it was distracting and it made me feel safe that cops were out and about.

Yeah for burning off all the Halloween candy I ate today.

:)

 

Miracles & I shouldn't have gone running...

 

Well. Another miracle in our life. Thanks Heavenly Father!

 

After a long week, I needed to run. Between having a cold and Joe being gone at night for work, and the fact he'd be gone the next 3 Saturdays... 8AM I was out. I ran 4.6 miles, up the La Posada hill and it was overall pretty good. I was back by 8:56AM exactly.

Joe was running late to help a friend move because I went for a run, but he was very gracious and even got the kiddos in the van to stalk me and cheer me on. I was home before they were! I wonder if I hadn't run if he wouldn't have gotten in an accident. Ah life and the unhealthy questions we can come up with!

 

Unfortunately, on his way to help his friend move he got rear-ended. A lady in a huge suburban wasn't watching and at a yellow light, didn't slow down. She rammed Joe's Toyota good. In fact, the police officer wouldn't let him drive it home and said it was "totalled". Basically, the trunk got shoved into the wheel & gas tank. It's not fixable. The woman was driving with her husband and kids. They were pretty shaken up and the kids were crying. Joe had some Halloween candy and gave it to them... it cheered them up immediately. The husband was pretty upset with his wife.

 

One of the benefits of having cheap cars is that if you get in a crash, it's not like wow... I can't believe all that money is going down the drain. Even though Joe was a little upset he had just filled his tank with $30 worth of gas.

 

I'm so thankful that Joe was OK. He was feeling a little light headed and dizzy, so we took him to urgent care, just to make sure everything was OK. He does have whiplash. The first 72 hours are the worst and it can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years. Fun times. However, nothing was wrong with his neck or spine. The doctor recommended he wear a neck brace for a little while.

Thank the Lord he's alive and well.

 

God protects us. He watches over us. I trust Him completely.

 

Now comes the hassle of insurance companies, finding a new car and getting all squared away. It really was good timing because the girls have this month off and it won't be a problem sharing the car.

 

Miracles!!!

Candy Fest 2012- Happy Halloween!!!!!!

 

We were all excited this year for trick or treating!!

Memorable experiences included:

* A giant skull/demon... probably the size of a small van hanging from the porch ceiling of a house. You couldn't pay Maria a million dollars to go to that house.

* Friends from church had a spooky pathway up to their door with fake spiders. They hadn't had a lot of trick or treaters, so we got 6 giant handfuls of candy. Then, it was just all too much for Maria and she started screaming because the spiders were so scary. She clung to the lady from church and begged her to help her. We were right next to her, but that wasn't close enough. The pathway was blocking her from leaving and she almost collapsed from being so overwhelmed with fear. Poor thing....

 

Joe always gets tons of compliments on his onesie, as one man called it. We just call it a tigger costume.

The weather was gorgeous. We started early around 5:20PM. Not too cold and there was a spooky full moon!

Yayacita!!!!!! She hooked us up with the goooooood stuff!!! Giant candy bars for everyone!!!

Helping brother. So tender. We ended at 8:43PM exactly. You just kind of know when everyone is done.

Yes. This is an entire wagon full of candy. Careful, if you stare at it too closely you might catch diabetes.

Fortunately the kiddos were pretty tired, so candy fest (where we let them eat all the candy they want) only lasted 10 minutes. Eli did NOT get to go hog wild and we're just hoping we don't have to clean up barf tonight. I'm hoping to freeze most of the chocolate for holiday baking but we're going to have to start thinking of how to get rid of it all without wasting. Any suggestions?

Principal's Honors List

So Christina's first graded report card was all A's. She got the highest ribbon... yellow and made Principal's List. We're proud. Even though grades aren't everything... of course.

Reno High Trick or Treat Night

Halloween is finally almost here!

I'm trying to get used to the new camera. Change is so hard sometimes.

It's nice that I don't have to worry about costumes. The kiddos have plenty to choose from. I found Eli's costume last year for $3. The girls loved it and he was a hit with the highschoolers too!

Comparing to Spanish Springs, this was fairly ghetto. However, there were waaaaaaaaay less people which I was a big fan of and it was essentially free. I donated just to be nice. The girls had a great time and Eli loved looking around. He also got very excited for his lollipop and to hold candy.

Face Painting. Thank you teenagers. Thank you.

There were these 2 boys running the doughnut game. They would take people's tickets and the doughnut would fall on the ground so the kids would walk away with nothing. Somehow, Christina and Maria were able to eat all of their doughnut without it falling. Talented I suppose.

 

Overall- I'd go again. Christina won the cake walk 2 times- hooray for a box of twinkies and 40 sugar cookies!! I ran into an old high school secretary. She looked gorgeous and the same as she did ... 13 years ago. The weird thing was she remembered my maiden name and my mother by her first name. I couldn't for the life of me think how I knew her, but she figured it out. We also saw our cousin Zoe there. Reno truly is the biggest little city.

October Art Farts 2012

Creepy Monsters- we took watered down acrylics and blew them with straws.

Bats and Witches' smelly feet!

Scary Scarecrows!

Cute Pumpkin Black Cats

We got a kick out of Maria's "Trick or smell my feet!"

We went over our pumpkins with modge podge glitter, they are very sparkly!

Hannah's Baby Shower

Snow in the mountains in October. Makes for a beautiful drive over the pass. I was surprised because I felt like I was even embracing it... getting all ready for the holiday season coming. It's exciting. I'm sure I'll be done with the cold by next week or tomorrow.

We decided to spend the day before in Sacramento. What to do? Fairytale land of course!! And the Zoo!!

Everyone had fun, but Eli especially! He loved everything about it!! I think it made the girls even more excited because they could show him around and take him down slides. They are such good big sisters.

Maria did her mini-marathon on the crooked mile.... 4 times. My runner!!

 

And then my camera broke. As well as my sanity.

How, as a mother of beautiful children who are just the funnest bunch ever, am I supposed to live without a camera? To document the joys and awesomeness.

It was tres bizzare because everything I saw was like a picture that I knew my stale mind would forget and it was tres depressing.

Tres drepessing.

Thank you, 6 years of french. You've served me tres well.

 

Fortunately my fabulous birthers have decided to give me their camera. Really, I am a spoiled rotten child. Thanks Papa and Yaya.

 

We stayed with my Aunty Sheila who I just adore. She made a great dinner and had the girls helping her. They had a blast cooking together. After bed, I stayed up awhile and watched reality TV with her. It was great!! I'd never seen these shows, Scared Straight & Jershey Shore. Scared Straight was just plain interesting. I enjoyed the way the prisoners heckled and threatened these punk children. I enjoyed watching them cry for some odd reason. Jershey Shore was ridiculous. I couldn't even believe that these were real human beings. The word "meat" was pulsing unspoken through everything they did. Totally bizarre. But awesome because I was watching it with my Aunt.

 

Plus Aunty Sheila has the most comfortable bed EVER. It was the bed that all the siblings were on & broke while taking care of Nana. Good memories.

 

Next stop was Aunt Pam's. Erin, Aunt Sheila & Aunt Pam threw a beautiful shower. Aunt Pam's backyard is gorgeous and even has a magical fairy section according to the ladies. Elijah had fun playing on the basketball court and the food was delicious. All the kiddos had a blast playing with their cousin Carson. Carson is a total love bug!!! He was giving hugs, kisses and playing so nicely. I'm so glad that the cousins are just tender and so kind. I love seeing them play together.

 

We headed home, but stopped for dinner in Roseville at a place called John's Incredible Pizza Co.

Incredible indeed.

If Chucky Cheese became a meth addict and bred with a bloody crusted liver, I'm positive it'd be more pleasant that John's Incredible Bat Sh*t Crazy Pizza Co.

And I'm not really one for swearing.

But seriously, this was a kidnappers paradise.

A girl threw up right in front of us. Quote Maria, "Ew. I see her macaroni and cheese."

We all felt dirty. And had the runs, not so incredibly, the day after.

 

But that feels wrong to end the post that way so....

 

We're so excited Daren and Hannah. They are going to be great parents. Hooray for more cousins!