New pics & tricks

We had some new family photos taken by my sweet friend Niki. She did a fantastic job. We have only seen a preview of some of the photos but I love them. The kids are growing up so fast it's hard to keeps their pics current. We headed out to Gardner Village to do the shoot and realized it was also the Witch-a-Palooza going on. So it was packed and we had a really good time. So thankful for good people in my life. Love you Nik!






Dad came over to help me with some electrical issues we were having in the house and he spent the whole day fixing little projects that have been on the to do list for years. It really lifted my spirits because it feels like the house is falling apart. He keeps asking "What else do you need done?"...I keep telling him not to ask because I could keep him busy for a couple of years if he wanted to fix a couple of things a day! He laughed but I was quite serious!! So thankful for our humble abode & pray that I can keep it in working order. So far so good.

Today is the Halloween Party at work. I'm going as a witch--I will try to get a few fun pics of the anchors dressed up & some of my cohorts. Should be a good time.

Time with family is Time well spent!

Sierra and I had a chance to do a few fun things together while the little ones were away with Eric for a few days. We went to see "Stepfather". It's a really good, suspenseful movie... but it made both of us never want me to get married again. Scary people out there. Hope I don't run into any nutballs like that!

We went shopping and had lunch at the mall, which we haven't done together in a LONG LONG time! Something about trying on shoes, and pretty clothes just brings out the best in girls!! We had a blast. We are gearing up for a new family photo session...can't wait. The kids are going to look so cute!! And it will be fun to be able to hang something on the wall that reflects our family dynamic.

The kids have been getting along really well lately. Even Justice & Montana have been playing together instead of with their friends. It melts my heart to hear them laughing and goofing around together. Our new favorite past-time is playing Blitz (card game). Justice especially loves it, and we are all pretty competitive and love to get loud and silly while we are playing.

I can't believe Halloween is next week. We still have so much to do...Pumpkins to carve, Zuchinni Bread to make, Parties to attend, and Candy to buy. It's gonna be an eventful week!

Dinner-time conversation

We try to sit down around the table for a family meal every night. It is one of my favorite times of the day. The tv is off, phones are put away, computers are not zapping attention. We always have some very lively conversation. They don't always love the food, but we all love each others company.

Last night we were talking about having babies. This is a frequent topic because of some of the shows that we love to watch together ie: 19 kids and counting, I didn't know I was pregnant, and bringing home baby. Tana has always been a baby lover, I love babies and the memories it brings me, and Justice is just fascinated with how it all works. So all of a sudden J starts asking the inevitable: how & where do they come out? Oh boy. He knew a lot more than I thought he would. Apparently he and his friend Jillian have talked in depth about this. So we just talked about it matter of fact and he was happy with that. Fun dinner conversation.

We were watching the 19 kids and counting right after dinner and it was the new episode where their oldest child is having the first Duggar grandbaby. It was not graphic at all but showed her in pain and working through some contractions. I said to Justice "You know...someday you are going to make me a grandma." He said "Nuh-uh...it will just be me, my wife, a dog, a cat, a bird, and an elephant. But noooooo babies!!!" I told him I would write that down and show him when he was older and HAD kids. He laughed. Tana piped up with " Mommy...don't worry...I'll make you a grandma!" I told her that was fantastic...but NO RUSH!!!

Sierra is still with her dad until Sunday. I talked to her yesterday and she told me that she had "broken up" with her "NCB" which is non-committal boyfriend. Apparently he was caught kissing another girl. I hate to see her upset about boys, but secretly I am happy to have her move on and not get too serious. It makes me crazy with worry. Hopefully next time she will have a "committed boyfriend". No wonder relationships are so complicated these days.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Today marks the beginning of safety week for the kids at school. The principal encouraged the kids to walk to school today with their parents. The kids were very excited about this for some reason. Usually they cry if they have to walk, but today was different. We got to the school crosswalk and guess who was there? A person dressed in a chicken suit. Tana said "Mom, can I give the chicken a big hug?" I said sure. But when we got to him, she "chickened" out. Ahahah. OK, bad joke. As they helped the kids cross the crosswalk there were two other people holding up a banner that said "Why did the chicken cross the road...to get SAFELY to the other side." The idea was that everyone notices a giant yellow chicken, but sometimes motorists don't notice the children, the crosswalk, or the school zone. They were hoping that this CHICKEN day would raise awareness for the motorists in our area. I thought it was a cute idea, and the kids totally loved it. Wish I would have had my camera.

Gearing up

Halloween is one of the holidays that the kids look forward to for months. I use to sew their costumes every year...but it got too expensive & time consuming. Plus, you can buy costumes for about half of what it costs to make them yourself. I kind of miss taking the time to make the holiday more special by being hand-made, but I will get over it. We went shopping for costumes the other day and now the kids are so excited!!!

Justice wanted to be a grim reaper. We walked in the store and it was pretty much the first costume we saw. So he was done right away. But after roaming the store for a while he decided it wasn't as cool as he thought. So he decided he would rather be Harry Potter. He is so adorable in the glasses. Not super creative-but so cute on him!



Montana really wanted to be a 50's girl. We tried on several costumes but they just were huge on her. She's at that weird inbetween sizes stage where the adult stuff is too big and the kid stuff is too small. So we spent a long time trying to find something that was cute and fit her well. We found the most adorable Eskimo costume. It's kind of Indian-ish with fur around the hood and tall boots. Sooooo cute on her and she really loves it.



Sierra's costume is always a challenge. All the costumes for adult women are pretty much sexy & slutty. I don't know why that is- it's so irritating!! So finding something we can all agree on is a definite challenge. Her costume is very different but sooo cute. She will need to wear leggings & long sleeves with the costume as well because it is a bit bare. It is called Lady Luck and is a casino themed costume. It is so much cuter on than in the pic. I would explain it but you have to see it to appreciate it.



So we are all set! Bring on the parties and candy!

Weekly Update

I cannot believe it is October!!! Seriously, it is scary how time flys anymore.

The kids have been out of school for UEA since Wed. afternoon and wont go back until Tuesday. We have been trying to squeeze in as much fun as we can.

Justice and Montana wrote a script for their own newscast. I was laughing so hard when they put the show on for me. It was really well written, with the occassional "Here's Mary with the details", "Thanks, John..." (their newscaster names) and then on with the stories. I was running the video camera of course. It was fun to see that my kids are taking an interest in my job. They are always coming up with fun stuff to do.

I took the kids bowling Friday and we played a couple of games. Sierra was quite the coach for the little ones. They started throwing spares and we all ended up with pretty close scores! It was fun to see them being so proud of themselves and doing their little victory dances after each throw. It's one of our favorite family activities.

Sierra performed at the football game on Friday night. It had been raining all day and rained lightly just before the girls came out. The girls were freezing and couldn't wait to get out on the field. I asked her if they would perform if it was raining. She said, "Of course! We perform in the snow, rain, and mud! We didn't do all this work for nothing!" And that is the way it is. They looked amazing- as usual. These girls have learned a work ethic that is very impressive and really shows when they perform.

Had a conversation with mom and dad this morning about mom's health. She had an exam & cat scan done due to some scary memory lapses this week. They have ruled out a stroke but have not come to any definitive answers yet. She is going back to the doc this Friday for some more evaluations. She is worried and scared...but there really isn't much we can do other than observe her for now. Her blood pressure is also sky high. So she took the next couple of days off work and I hope she will be able to relax. Please pray for her.....