The Oompa Loompa

Life with a 2 year old is rather interesting. This is how Nikell looked the other day. She found some make-up. I was wondering how an Oompa-Loompa got into my house.

Tonight, at bed-time, we had a little conversation. It is like many conversations that we have...where you know that no matter how you explain it she's not going to get it...

Mom: Wow Nikell that was a stinky foofer.
Nikell: Nope, I no stinky, I scoozed. I just otay. I scoozed.
Mom: Okay, Nikell.
Nikell: Escooz Me. Mom, escooz me. Mom I scoozed, escooz me.
Mom: You are excused.
Nikell: No, I scoozed. Not you scoozed, I scoozed.
Mom: Okay.
Nikell: You scoozed too?
Mom: Sure.
Nikell: Oh. I escoozed and you scoozed too.

ONCE UPON A TIME...there was a boy that I fell in love with. When he said my name--it felt like home. When he told me my eyes lit up when I smiled--I believed him. When he held my hand--my heart skipped a beat. When we made plans for our future on long walks down Old Main Hill--I knew that I never wanted to be without him. When he asked me to marry him--it was the result of an argument--typical. It's been almost 10 years and I can't believe how happy we are together...still. So much has changed--including both of us--but I love what we have become and the family we have made together. People say that they're lucky...but no one is as lucky as I am.

Do you know that country song? The one about the two people that got married and everyone said it wouldn't last, it wasn't right, but they stayed together? I used to listen to that song a lot. I knew that Jason was my eternal companion and He knew I was his--but we couldn't seem to convince anyone else. We plowed through the doubts...and here we are...still madly in loved...accepting each others faults...and holding each other at night...

Happy Birthday to the best friend I ever had. Happy Birthday to the man who makes me feel safe. Happy Birthday to my cocky genius. Happy Birthday to the father of our children. Happy Birthday to the guy who shouts about lice combs in Walmart just to make a scene. Happy Birthday to the bread-maker :). Happy Birthday to you...

Have you wondered about the status of my kitchen lately? Perhaps you have been over to see the latest...This post is mostly for my sister who asked about the particulars and will soon (?) embark on her own kitchen journey. The above picture is to show one thing that I love...having a place for everything! Even weird things like the iHome that plays my music. The next picture is the bar. The kids are still discovering the joys of the bar (like falling off the stools if they don't sit their little butts down and calm down!)
This is the other side of the kitchen bar...where Jason will one day build a spectacular closet, multi-functional thing that currently houses the microwave cart that Aaron bought me many many years ago...
Oh, and I LOVE have a counter space for the Kitchen-aid and Toaster where I can pull it out and then shove it back and shut the door. Amazing.
The next two pictures are "Extras" that Jason has added for me. Bakeware storage above the fridge...
And the little pull-out, flippy-drawer for scrubbers and soap and such...LOVE IT!
This is kind of an over-view picture of my Magazine Worthy kitchen...I love my double-oven-in-one with the flat-top stove. Another thing I love is having things organized in workable areas...All the baking stuff is on one side by the oven (food stuffs, measuring cups, stirring spoons, pans, etc)...and breakfast and eating items on the other... We took FOREVER trying to plan our layout because of our limited space and usable area's, but I have to say that we did pretty darn well.
Want to know my favorite part? When I clean it, it looks clean. What a concept.

Sadly enough, this is the only Halloween picture I got of the girls. My camera was dying and I lost my power cord to charge it...Mialee was a princess, Sierra was a gypsy (thanks Grandma McKellar for the Head Piece), Nikell was Cinderella (I know, she looks like Super Girl...but she was Cinderella, just ask her.), and Aiddie was the sleeping skunk.

All in all Halloween was a super fun day. Jason's sister, Jen, came up with her family and trick-or-treated Downtown Logan with us, then we did family pictures, and then it was off to the trunk-or-treat at the church. At least it was supposed to be at the church...another ward planned their fall festival for that night and parked in the parking lot. Sierra wanted to know why we had to park around the block (which I loved) instead of at the church and when we tried to explain it to her, her reply was, "Ever since Obama became president." Jason and looked at each other and then asked her where that came from and she said, quite defensively, "What? Ever since Obama was made president things have changed!" We're still chuckling about that one...and wondering where it came from.
Also, since Halloween is over Jason has officially declared it CHRISTMAS! This was his first Christmas treat...it was Dutch, I think...made with a gingerbread-ish cookie and jam. MMMMM! This weekend he, and the girls, made Butterscotch Blondies (which he dyed green and red and accidently added twice the amount of butter..MMMMM). Bring on the Holidays!

Pumpkin Carving

Yeah, you should be proud. I carved three pumpkins by myself! Well, I guess the kids helped :).
Normally you will not ever see me carving a pumpkin becuase it's dumb and it's hard and I don't really enjoy anything about it.
But, I felt inspired to be a good mom and support my kids in the fun of Halloween.
They drew the faces and I dutifully carved. Oh, and these are genuine home-grown pumpkins too! I made the girls go pick them while I fixed dinner. They were quite ingenious about how to get them picked and hauled into the house.
All in all, it wasn't sooo bad, considering it's the first pumpkin I've carved in about 6 years.

We took a whirl-wind trip to Oregon over the weekend to see this cute boy off on his mission. I can't believe he is 19. Pojo (Paul John) is the first grand-child on my parent's side. I was there when he was born and I lived with Shanee for a couple of months afterward to provide day-care. I loved it. I was at the perfect age when playing mommy appealed to me and Pojo learned to love me like a mother. So I have a soft spot in my heart for him. And he is a good kid. He has a big heart and has always been good at whatever he put his mind to.
Shanee has 9 kids, her youngest being 8, 6, 4, and 2. My kids love playing with their Oregon cousins. Although Mialee still adores Elijah the most, I think.
This is Mary, whom I dragged out to the leaves to take her picture. I also tried to get a shot of Hannah, but she wouldn't let me. Too bad because she is so gorgeous! Hannah also took care of my baby most of the time we were there and to her I will be forever grateful.

I was a fun trip, if not a little short. I am so thankful for a supportive husband who was willing to drive through the night TWICE to get us there and back. Here is wishing Pojo the best of luck!

Pumpkin Walk

This post is specifically dedicated to one certain friend who claims to "love" Halloween but had the audacity to diss my pumpkin walk! So let me tell you why I love our pumpkin walk... I love the smells and the sounds; fall leaves, freshly carved pumpkins, bon-fire smoke, exclamations of small children at seeing a pumpkin made into a smurf or into Micheal Jackson or whatever. I love the free Peppridge Farm cookies and Schriebers Cheese sticks that are handed out. I love the sweet old-lady witch that sits for hours and hours so that kids can get their picture taken. I love the character board cut-outs that people, kids and adults alike, can stick their heads in and snap a picture. I love the scouts trying to light the bon-fires to provide warmth for everyone. I love the creativity that goes into making a pumpkin display and that most of them even have music that my little kids dance to. I love the feeling of a community come together to celebrate a stupid holiday and the simple "tradition" of it all. So...if you want to be amazed and witness a "real" pumpkin walk head up to Logan. It's where the fun is.