Halloween Fun

We had so much fun for Halloween. We went Trick-or-Treating in the "Village" where all the businesses were handing out candy. It was more like a Carnival than anything else. We also went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat. Miranda and Samuel both picked their own costumes. Miranda wanted to be the "Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker." She even explained to me that she could wear her dance costume because it looked just like the girl's in the movie. Samuel wanted to be a Pirate. My mom mailed me this fabulous costume for him. When he opened the box and looked at it he said to me, "Mom, I'm so happy."

New Experiences

"I was trying to do my eyelashes." That was Samuel's explanation when I asked him what he was doing in my make-up. My eyeshadow was everywhere. I think he even used it to fingerpaint the floor. Sigh.

Miranda gettin' all ready for Kindergarten.

Miranda in line on her yellow dot, ready to go inside, and waving good-bye to Mom and Dad.

Tues Schedule

Here's how our family schedule goes on Tues:

Julie: Drop Nick off at school: 8:15-8:35
Julie: Take Miranda to Kindergarten: 9:30-10:15
Julie: Pick Nick up from school: 11:20-11:40
Nick: Drop Julie off for the class she's attending: 12:40-1:00
Nick: Pick Miranda up from Kindergarten: 2:00-2:40
Both: Switch the car with Julie after her class ends at 3:30 and before Nick's starts at 4:00
Julie: Pick Nick up from school: 6:50-7:10

So one of us is pretty much driving somewhere every two hours of the day (loading and unloading Samuel every time), and everything takes 15-30 minutes to get to and from. That's why I'm not posting the picture I have been meaning to. I'm just too tired tonight. Some other time perhaps. . .

Fun at Disneyland

We stayed very late when we went with Grandpa and Aunt Katrina. Even though the kids got tired, it was worth it because the light, water, and firework show was amazing.
Samuel was even tall enough to go on Splash Mountain and Star Tours. Both he and Miranda thought they were a little scary, but went on them because Mom wanted to go.
Mom actually thought the Winnie-the-pooh ride was a little creepy (what a dream sequence), but the kids didn't think it was scary at all.
Miranda got to meet, hold hands and walk with Alice in Wonderland. She sure thought that was great!

Overall Disneyland was a very successful adventure. When Katrina asked Samuel if he was having a good time he said, "Yes, but I wish my dad was here." Nick came with us the next time, but somehow I didn't get any pictures of him there with us. (though I did take some video). Maybe, I'll remember next time.

Pictures coming soon

We've moved, and we're here safely. The first few days were kind of hard for me because the apartment was smaller than I had expected. Other than that we're doing fine. We went swimming today at the complex pool. It was fabulous. 80 degrees outside and 80 degree water. We've also met some really nice people in our complex.

Proud of myself

Last summer I bought a table and chair set at a yard sale. The table is 6' and there are 8 chairs. Everything was really sturdy and well built but the covers on the chairs were stained. (In fact, the woman I bought them from gave me the 8 seat covers she'd bought to cover them.) So I wanted to recover them in vinyl so that the seats would wipe clean instead of anything my children spilled on them soaking into the fabric.

Here are the before and after pictures. I was pretty impressed with the improvement.

I bought fabric and my mom, brother, sister, and nieces came over. My mom showed us how to do the first one and then Josh helped me finish the rest. Thanks for all the help guys! I love the new covers.

A Mom Moment

I was just hit with a "Mom moment." So you know those? The times when everything seems to be going fine, and then in the space of a split second everything collapses around you. 12 different things seem to go wrong simultaneously and each one of them needs your undivided attention right now. Yeah, that was me as I was trying to upload the pictures below. Thankfully I think the "Mom moment" (which unfortunately can last for extended periods of time despite the name) is over.

Dino Museum

UPdate

So I get embarrassed when I see my blog listed on someone else's page and I haven't updated it in 5 weeks. Hence, the brief update. I drove 2,174.4 miles in 9 days last week. In case you're thinking, "I've driven more than that." Let me just say that I haven't, and it's a LONG way. Especially when I was the sole driver for more than 1200 miles of it with only Miranda and myself in the car. THANK heavens for portable DVD players!!!

On the brighter side, I think I found us a place to live. (Here's hoping.) And I got to see Jana and her girls. And I am pretty comfortable with knowing my way around the small city of Claremont. And I got Miranda registered for Kindergarten (wow am I old enought o have a child in kindergarten). And I got to see Liz and Jared's new baby. And it turns out that if I'm gone for 9 days, my husband is actually kinda happy to see me when I come home.

SO all in all it was a successful (if spontaneous) trip.

Fish Tale

FOr several weeks now Miranda has been making comments about wanting a dog or a cat. So a month ago when we were in Wal-mart and she mentioned pets, we went to look at the fish. Here is Lilly our families newest member. Hopefully this fish will make it so I don't have to explain why we can't have a dog or a cat for a little while.

Deja zoo!

We went to the vu with cousins (again), but a different cousin this time.

Did you know that elephants share? They do. One elephant takes a few bites then backs away from the food.

Then the other elephant steps up and eats a few bites. Then he backs away and the other elephant. . .(you get the idea). I was really impressed with how well they shared without even fighting.

We tried to imitate teh elephants, but don't let our sweet fascade fool you. There was a lot more grabbing and taking at our table than there every was for the elephants.

Below: Our best animal impressions:

Sameul and James as an elephant.

Mirands & James and Samuel & Grandpa as giraffes.

More Giraffes.

Please cast your vote for who had the best animal impression.

Zoo fun

On the train Miranda was very excited to sit in a seat with Savannah and no grown-ups.

We had never stopped at the park before, but we sure liked it this time.

"Wow! Look at those monkeys."

Everyone loved the merry-go-round.

"Josh, you're out of your tree." "It wasn't my tree."

We had a lot of fun together at the Zoo.

Yippee!!!!!!!

Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH

So we had some exciting news recently. A couple weeks ago Nick got a letter from Claremont saying that he was accepted into the PhD in religion program with an emphasis in Mormon Studies. Very Exciting. Then last week he got an email saying they were awarding him a 1/2 tuition fellowship. VERY exciting. Then last night he got a call from Dr. Bushman (the chair) who talked to him about the program and what Nick wanted to study, then he told Nick that they were upgrading his fellowship to full tuition VERY EXCITING !!!!!!!!!

So we are very excited.

Making Valentines

We had a lot of fun this year making Valentines. Unfortunately, not very many people got them because we were better at decorating than delivering. So, if you didn't get one, sorry. You were supposed to, but alas. . .

Mirand and Samuel both worked very hard on coloring and glueing cnady on their Valentines.

Miranda in particular worked very hard and was very proud of her finished product.

I have to admit that knowing the origins of Valentine's day makes me cringe a bit. I don't want my children to not enjoy the fun of holidays, but then again I have a hard time with some traditional things about holidays that I don't particularly want to support. So my compromise with Valentine's day is that we can do Valentine's things, but I will avoid as much as possible certain symbols of the day such as the heart pierced with an arrow. I won't explain why this and other things about Valentine's offend me; I don't want to ruin it for anyone else without their permission.

Updates with pictures!!!

Erin's blog informed me that it has been 2 months since my last post. I decided that was kind of pathetic so here are a few pictures from the last two months.


Here we are at Jared's house with its 6 foot snowbanks.

Samuel loved the Zoo. The Lion was very gracious to yawn big for us which Samuel found very exciting.

The cousins loved playing together. Especially when they could talk a grandparent into playing with them.

We had our traditional Christmas nativity where Miranda was excited to play Mary for the first time and Samuel played a perfect angel.