Christmastime is Here!

I am so excited for Christmastime to be here! I've almost got the inside and outside decorations all finished. The outside is giving me trouble though, I plug stuff in and it doesn't work!

I usually start decorating the day after Thanksgiving but I like to have my house clean first so I spent all day Friday cleaning and getting boxes out. By the time I finished cleaning, we had to go somewhere and I ran out of time to put up the decorations. When I finally found some time to put up the Christmas stuff two days later, my house was messy all over again (shocker, I know!) I decided not to fall victim to this vicious cycle and so I just decorated my house amid all the dirt and clutter.

I love Christmas villages from Dept. 56 and I have quite a few collectible houses that I have gotten over the years but I refuse to display them because my beautiful sweet children will shatter them into bits and pieces in about 3 minutes. So I only unpack a few and scatter them throughout unreachable places in my house.

The tree is the first thing I put up. I was a little worried about the condition of it because this summer a huge frog got trapped in our garage and thought my tree box would make a nice home. Dale had to wrestle it out of there and the box did not fare so well from the fight. But lo and behold all is well. Here it is all decorated:


But it's not finished yet:

Now we're good! Doesn't the lovely "holiday" baby gate just add to the Christmas ambiance?

Thanksgiving Day

Our Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. I ran the Turkey Trot in the morning. A big thanks to my hubby for keeping the kids entertained while I ran. Here they are after the race with Mr. Turkey Himself:

We had dinner at Dale's parents house where I ate all of the calories I had previously burned off plus more. It was great to be at my in-laws house because they left for their mission to Ecuador today so we really enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. All in all it was a beautiful day with the exception of the ASU game. Don't mention it to Dale, he is still in the grieving process.

The TROT is tomorrow!

The Turkey Trot is tomorrow! I love doing a race on Thanksgiving because now I can stuff my face and not feel bad about it! I wish I could "Beat the Turkey" but he is FAST! You have to run the race in 45 minutes to beat him! Maybe next year.... Se ya'll there!

Why can't I ever think of stuff like this?

Check out these adorable Christmas Dog Stockings my sis made! She's so creative it freaks me out.

She makes them custom according to your dog's name and personality. Here's her website if you want to see more: madebymagi.com

South Mountain

This morning, Wendy, Stacia and I all got up early to go run up South Mountain. The weather was perfect and we all had a great run. I love being able to get out and go do things like this! Thanks ladies for coming with me, and thanks for letting me pick up some groceries on the way home too!

I guess I'm it...

I got tagged by both Stacy and Stacia so I guess I'll just do one for the both of them. Or should I do one that's true and one that's completely false and you guys have to guess which one is true? I'll just do you a favor and tell the truth:

4 Places I've Worked:
Sunsplash Life Guard - it's not as glam as it sounds.
Fitness Works Front Desk - it stunk for a while but I got promoted to manager!
Admin Assistant to the CIO and CFO at a credit union - I had the most high maintenance boss ever!
My house raising my babies - it's very rewarding, I just wish it paid better.

4 Places I've Lived:
Provo, Utah
Mesa
New Zealand - okay only for 2 months but that should count, right?
Queen Creek

4 Favorite TV Shows:
So You Think You Can Dance - this is my ultimate favorite. It comes on every Summer. I miss it!
The Office - Which Bear is Best?
Ugly Betty
Project Runway - new season just started last night!

4 Movies I Want to See:
Love in the Time of Cholera - but I won't cause it's rated R
Enchanted
Into The Wild - but I won't cause it's rated R
August Rush

4 Favorite Foods:
Diet Mountain Dew. I'm currently trying to break my addiction to this. I think I might need to go to rehab for a detox.
Carrabba's - I forget the name of the pasta dish I like but I get it every time I go.
Butterfinger Big Crisp - Snickers used to be my fave candy bar but this one has knocked it out of the lead.
Taco Bell - good thing there isn't one anywhere near my house.

4 Weird Things About Me:
I hate cooking! I mean I loathe it! I will bake an occasional fun treat sometimes but that's it!!! Well, I do cook dinner and stuff. I won't let my kids starve or anything.
I'm terrified of the dark and I have a fear of things popping out of nowhere and scaring me. I will never ever go into a haunted house!
I can't unscramble words. My brain just doesn't work that way.
I love to have my hair played with. I even try to get my kids to do it.

4 Places I'd Rather Be:
Virgin Islands - It's been my dream to go there
Disneyland
On a date with my hubby
Shopping for clothes or things for my house

4 People I'm Tagging:
Wendy Fuller
Heidi Anderson
Becky Jones
Cresta Topol

Look at my teef!

Thanks Uncle James for the Billy Bob teeth!

I took this test, I don't know....

You Are An ENTP

The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression. You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything. Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off. You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments. In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love. And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear! You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor. At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision. How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial

What's Your Personality Type?

Out of the mouths of babes....

So we were at Wal-Mart tonight. Where else would we be? Okay well maybe Target. When I'm at Wal-Mart I basically have to go down every isle and look at everything, as I'm sure most everyone does. I was starting to tell Dale "I want to go check out those..." When Tabby interrupted me and said "Aw Mom, nobody cares!!!" And you know what? She's right. Nobody does care. My poor babies and husband get dragged thru entire stores all the time and I'm sure it's pure torture for them. Dale is so nice, he never says anything. Next time I'll remember to spare them and go with a friend instead!

Crazy Cute

Last week was Crazy Hair Day at Tabby's Preschool. She was so excited, she couldn't believe her mama was going to let her really wear her hair like this.


I don't know how she did it, but she managed to make herself look like she was a model in an editorial photo shoot. Especially the last one:

This makes me laugh!

People have been putting posts on their blogs lately about "simple pleasures." Well this simply pleases me! I have no idea who this guy is. The pic was sent to me in an email. It needs to be shared with the world because it will spread joy and happiness to all!

Pig Dog

Meet the 6th member of our family, our dog Pig. I was outside playing with Rex the other day and Pig laid down to sleep in the way he usually does on sunny days. It's so hilarious I thought I should share.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Today's the big day! We will all be eating our kids' candy tomorrow, won't we? Here is some Halloween art I made a few days ago. Well, I don't know if you can call it art. If you look around on all the artsy-craftsy blogs, you will for sure feel intimidated by what some people create. All I know is I like what I make and that's good enough for me.

Halloween isn't for whimps!

Oh Halloween, I love to hate you! Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween just as much as Christmas. I think I have as many Halloween decorations as I have Christmas ones. But dang, Halloween is WORK! I counted it up and Tabby (my oldest) has to dress up in her costume SEVEN different times this year. Remember when you were a kid and you not only wore your costume once for trick or treating but you constructed it the day before out of a paper bag or something you had around the house? I remember one year wrapping a box with Christmas wrapping paper, slapping a bow on it and cutting a hole out for my head and walking out the door to go get candy. And I think one year I wore a trash bag and called myself a California Raisin. Remember those cartoon raisins that played in a band? Anyway, now our kids pretty much need the couture version of a Halloween costume and you have to buy it like in July or they'll be sold out. Like I said before, I truly love this holiday. I love getting my kids dressed up and man they look cute. But I need a break and the real Halloween hasn't even happened yet. And by the way, all of our costumes are already worn and stained. I guess I got my money's worth! Oh well, my kids really love going to all the different parties and Tabby looks forward to Halloween pretty much the whole year so watching them have so much fun really makes the headache worth it!

Regardless of all the work, we had a great weekend because we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat party last night and my parents had a Halloween party for the grandkids tonight. Here are some pics of those cute little boogers!

Here we are right before our Trunk-or-Treat party:




Grandma's House!




Magi (my sis) handmade this flower pot costume for her girl Madeline. Cutest flower I've ever seen!



The kids loved the "mummy" races. Thanks for letting us waste your toilet paper Grandpa!





Yum! Yum! I have to give it up to my friend Tresure for the inspiration to make these little gems!


Okay, not only did my sis make her daughter's costume she also made the most hilarious cake! And it was delicious!


Grandma and grandpa had stuff to make s'mores. All Rex wanted to do was burn as many marshmallows as he could to a crisp. He'd get 'em blazing and then wave the stick around. Who says 2 year olds can't play with fire?


Here's Magi enjoying herself. You even look cute with your mouth full, Mag!


Later!

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

Happy Halloween Everyone! This is our pumpkin this year. Aren't carving kits great? Remeber when you actually had to sit down and think of how you were going to carve your pumpkin? Lame! Well no more!

Tabby took the seeds and planted them in the hopes that we will soon have pumpkins growing.