Patience - FREEBIE

Awwww aren't my parents so cute? I took this pic at our ward chili cookoff last weekend.

{I used my newest kit "Patience" and Teriann Hanks "Think of Me" Template}

I made this kit for the DSO October Color Challenge.
I know it's the last day of the month, again. But LUCKY YOU!

You can grab this FREEBIE

HERE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN {plus a SALE}

This week has been FUN & BUSY! We had our ward Chili Cookoff on Saturday at the park. My parents came with us and ate lots of chili & tons of treats! IT was so FUN!! TONS of food - chili, cornbread, rolls, homemade rootbeer & treats {you name it & it was there in abundance}!!! There was also a fishing pond, face painting, bean bag toss, rope walk and COTTON CANDY! I think Ashley was living at the cotton candy stand! hahaha We all had a great time & practically needed to be rolled out of there! The kids kept bringing me desserts, candy & cotton candy! How was I supposed to say "No" to their *sweet* offerings?! I couldn't!

Ashley's pretty face paintings

Felicia's face painting
Anson enjoying the homemade rootbeer

My Mom & Dad

Ashley eating her hundredth cotton candy

Nathaniel getting his share before they run out

Ashley trying the rope walk just before they take it down

Ben couldn't make it to the ward party because it was over by the time he got home from work. Later that evening, he went to another Halloween party with a friend. They went to a guy's house that built an amazing haunted house in his backyard. He also won an award for BEST COSTUME! YAY!!! Congrats!

Felicia ended up losing her voice Saturday night and was sick Sunday & Monday. She was feeling much better & went back to school on Tuesday. Now we're all {except for Ben} dealing with major congestion. YUCK!!! I'm loading everyone up with their allergy pills & decongestants! The worst is first thing in the morning {even I don't have much of a voice} and right before bed. Hope this is over soon!

Monday, Ben & I helped my Mom set up for a big luncheon she was having with her Temple co-workers for a lady who is *retiring* {if you can call it that} from the Temple. She has worked there Tuesdays-Saturdays for 30 years! Her body is weakening & she isn't physically able to be there as much anymore. WHAT AN ANGEL!!! My Mom says it turned out wonderful & there were lots of ladies there to celebrate with her!

My MIL invited us to her ward's chili cookoff & trunk-or-treat on Wednesday evening. The kids were so excited because it was the FIRST time they got to wear their costumes! They all looked SO CUTE!!! Most of the time, they get side-tracked and don't eat much when there's so many kids to play with plus the anticipation of CANDY! So I made them all promise they would EAT dinner or they could NOT get candy! LOL I know I'm a mean mom! haha But it worked! We all had a great time & I ran into a friend from high school {she's in my MIL ward}! Such a small world!

WOOHOOO!!!! One of my fave holidays is finally HERE!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Ben took today & tomorrow off because this is his absolute FAVORITE holiday! YAY! So, we get to go to the kids' school to watch the Halloween parade! Nathaniel & Felicia are too old now to be in the parade, but they get to watch Ashley! She's so excited to wear her costume to school! All the kids are SO ADORABLE! And Ben wears his Spider-Man costume & he LOVES seeing the kids' faces light up when they see him! They are too funny! Last year, one kid walked by & told his friend, "SEE! I told you Spider-Man was REAL!" Awwwww that just makes his day!

I LOVE handing out candy & seeing all the CUTE kids in costumes!!! Ben is usually the one to walk around with the kids most of the evening to trick-or-treat! Do you usually stay home & hand out candy or go out with the munchkins?

Speaking of TREATS - - Don't forget to stop by the DSO BLOG today for a Special Halloween *Treat*

And Saturday is Digital Scrapbooking Day! FUN FUN FUN

There are going to be celebrations all over the internet & blogging world!

I'm joining in the party & having a HUGE SALE!!!

If you are still reading...give yourself a big pat on the back! tee hee

Oh and check back this weekend because I may have some goodies for y'all!!!

Have a GREAT HALLOWEEN!!! Stay SAFE!!

Right NOW & How to get rid of Flies

In case you were wondering...
this is what I'm doing right NOW! {well ok took off my mask to type} Playing Star Wars clonetrooper with Anson. I'm the one in the red mask {because according to Anson...blue is for boys & red is for girls!} LOL Not really sure what the kids have done to the masks but I could hardly see thru mine plus it had a weird smell. Eewwwwww!

Ben was at his sisters' apt a couple days ago and while he was there, look what he caught & brought home for Nathaniel!

A super cool Preying Mantis! Isn't that awesome?!!!! Way to go BEN!!! As soon as Nathaniel saw it, he ran to get his bug catcher while giggling with excitement! hahaha

Oh then yesterday, Nathaniel caught a fly & put it in the bug catcher for the mantis to eat. Nathaniel barely told me of the lunch he gave it, then ran back into my room screaming "MOM!! MOM!!! LOOK!!! LOOK!!! It's HOLDING THE FLY!!!"

He set it down so Anson & I could see, then we saw the coolest thing happen!

HE took a BITE!

I had to run for my camera! This is so picture worthy!

Ben walked in & got to see him take the last bite & lick his *fingers* clean! LOL

{please excuse the not-so-clear photo - the bug catcher is clear plastic but kinda dusty on the inside from the previous geckos! Nathaniel likes to catch geckos, play with them a couple days, then release them. I also cropped the photo so you can see his head better}

You should be able to click on the photo to see it larger! hahaha

Ok I know we're kinda dorks but we think bugs are cool & bugs-eating-bugs are even COOLER!!! tee hee :)

Oh hey, gotta go. Need to pick up kids from school!

Halloween Party 2008

Holy WOW!!! Last night's party was AWESOME!!! Thanks Cami & Molly for such a wonderful evening! When you first walked into their house, you got to go thru their amazing Haunted *house* and then out to the party! The food was so delicious & all the decorations were fabulous! This is like THE party of the year!!

We took lots of pictures & I hope no one gets offended or upset because I'm posting them! Everyone had GREAT costumes! It was fun seeing so many different *characters*!

This year Ben & I decided to go a little gory/bloody. Ben was a serial killer & I was his victim! {No particular horror movie}
Isn't his mask CREEPY?! We used LOTS of fake blood! It was FUN getting our costumes all dirty {I mean ready}!

Here's my disgusting slashed throat! I was really nervous that it would look dumb & totally fake. But I think it turned out pretty cool {I mean gross}!

My sweet Ben went & took pictures of everyone at their tables! Thanks dear! Oh and I don't remember everyone's names and I think I didn't meet everyone either. So, I'm sorry if I don't remember your names.

I loved the Popeye & Olive Oyl

You'll notice that there were a few Sarah Palins & McCains - but they all looked great!

Sarah & Shane - you guys looked awesome {still love that wig Sarah}

Jill & Brad - you guys crack me up! Fabulous ice skating costumes {hope those skates weren't too heavy carrying them around all evening} & love that curly hair Brad!! LOL

Lance & Julie - love your supposed *true forms* Nerd & Witch HAHAHAHA Super FUN partying w/ y'all!

Layne & DiaperDiva - you guys are CUTE! Love the '80s costume too!

I met Paige & Brooke last night - well, I guess I met Brooke at the Breaking Dawn midnight book release but had forgotten. Sorry. So many new faces & names! I'll have to get their blogs from Julie, so I can pop over & say hi to them!

Jason & Christy - you guys are hilarious! Love the crazy costumes!!

Tim & Molly - Our great neighbors! Thanks for the invite!!! LOVE those costumes!!!

Dave & Tangie - aaaargh! Them are our mateys! {ok so I'm not good at pirate talk}

Our gracious hosts!! Tyler & Cami and Molly & Tim! THANK YOU so much for inviting us to your SUPER FANTASTIC party!!! I don't know how this pic got so blurry. But you can still see their cuteness!! LOVE those chicky costumes gals! Those argyle socks still have me chuckling!

Ok here you can see them a little better! TOO CUTE!!! And they made them themselves! LOVE IT!

There was also a costume contest. and SHOCKER...we WON for SCARIEST COSTUMES!!! We've never won a costume contest before! So, all that sticky blood & rubber latex was worth it! WOOHOOO!!!! THANKS to all who voted for us!! We got this cute bowl full of goodies!

Here's all the winners! Ok, I can't remember, which couple won Funniest Costumes or Most Creative Costumes because they're both funny & creative. The couple on the left dressed up as our hosts Cami & Tyler, then the couple in the middle dressed as Juno & Bleeker! They were hilarious!!!

I don't know how Lindsey, Ashley & Kristy slipped past my camera, but I didn't get a picture of them! :(

Anyway, it was FUN seeing lots of the couples we met last year for the first time! I guess it's our annual visit aside from reading all their blogs! Thank goodness for blogging or I wouldn't get to stay in touch! hahaha

Oh and here's a little *shout-out* to my one & only blog stalker that I met last night - Johnny {Kristy's brother}! I had no idea that he read my blog! Kristy introduced me but he said "Oh yah, I know you from your blog!" hahaha He's funny! It was great to meet you Johnny! LOVED your monk costume!

Weekend FUN!

Went to the school bright & early to see the kiddos get some awards. Ashley didn't get one this time, but still went to see her. She was so CUTE! She couldn't stop waving at me! I LOVE IT!! Then when it was time for the older kids, Nathaniel & Felicia both received *Winning Worker* and Math awards! YAY!!! Way to go!!!
Haven't uploaded my camera, so I'll have to insert some pics later.

Spent the afternoon making 5 dozen frosted sugar cookies! Just for fun. Anson was a great helper {when he wasn't stealing the cookie dough & running off to eat it in private}! Little stinker! hahaha

I rewarded him for his great help by letting him taste a finished cookie! You should've seen his big happy smile!

Tonight we're going to a super amazingly fun Halloween party!!! WOOHOOO!!! Can't wait to see everyone & their awesome costumes! I will definitely be taking pics {last year I took a couple then we didn't really know many people I made Ben go around & take pics of everyone at their tables}!

Tomorrow will be busy too. Going to a baptism & luncheon after, then our ward's chili cookoff. YAY LOTS of outdoor playtime for the kiddos! They should be quite worn out by the end of the day & plenty dirty! LOL :)

Have a great weekend!!!

Another Treat - Freebie

Ahhh my poor neglected blog! I've been so busy catching up after returning from my little vacay! I swear, you need a vacation after vacation! hahaha I had a week's worth of laundry to do (only because I told Ben not to worry about it while I was gone). Plus I was tired & missing Karyn! And just getting back into the swing of my daily schedule!

I feel like I have been in a creative slump! But I finally got some mojo tonight and made this layout. Anson is such a silly boy & makes us laugh all the time!

I used my newest kit called "What's Up?"
And it's your LUCKY DAY because this is today's *treat* on the DSO BLOG! Have you been checking it daily for your October *treats*? If you haven't, better hurry on over to catch up! Plus you can snag my little kit for FREE! And don't forget to pop over on Halloween because the DSO Team has put together a little {ok maybe big} surprise for y'all!

*sorry this is no longer a freebie*

Allrighty, go snag your treat at the DSO BLOG!!

{I'll be back later to post some pictures of what I've been up to!}

I'm Baaaaack!!

WOW I had an AMAZING time in Texas with Karyn!!! I had a hard time leaving her! Although, I missed Ben & the kids a bunch! Ben even greeted me at the airport with these gorgeous flowers!!! Thanks Honey!! He also worked on some *top secret* projects while I was gone, which turned out to be fabulous {more on that later}!

Back to my trip with Karyn! Thanks a million for letting me come stay with you & hang out & do fun Halloween projects & stay up til super late! I LOVED every minute while I was there with ya!! You MUST come visit me in Arizona!!!

Ok, so Karyn's hosting an awesome Halloween party for a lot of the kids in the neighborhood {and parents}! She's transforming her garage into the scary party place! Well, I tried to help her with some of her fun projects!

While we were at the grocery store, we saw some men trimming the bushes out front. Well, there was a big huge branch that was all dried up and we asked to have it to take home with us. Why you ask? We wanted to make witch's brooms, of course! They were the cheapest decorations we made! All the ones we saw at the store were like $10-20 each.

I think they turned out GREAT!
Her neighborhood was having a night out party with tons of BBQ chicken & brisket, plus a big bounce house & a fun neighbor who painted faces & made balloon animals!

Here's my little buddy, Natalie, with her arm painted & her kitty & dolphin balloons!
Aleksis with her beautiful face & arm painted with her laser blaster balloon!

Trever didn't want any paint near him, but he did enjoy his laser blaster balloon :)
Me & my little friend, Natalie! Isn't she a cutie pie?
We spent some time at one of Karyn's friends' house (Teri). Her kids have a pet snake, so Aleksis & Trever wanted to hold it.

They did a great job with the snake & weren't scared at all. I am not a huge fan of snakes, so I only looked but didn't touch!

Here's what we were doing while the kids played with the snake. Teri is an incredible artist with stained glass & soldering! So, she let us play with some of her scraps.

Here's what we made! Little stained glass spiders! These are mine! Aren't they AWESOME?! Karyn & Teri both helped me with those stinkin' legs! They didn't want to attach properly. But I learned to solder by myself too. It was so much FUN!! Very time consuming but FUN! Thanks Teri for helping us!! You're so NICE!!
Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to hang them!

While Karyn had a cub scout den meeting at church, I played with the kiddos in one of the nurseries!
Here's some treats that we made! Cool pretzel witch's fingers, mummies, spider webs, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, etc!
One of the biggest projects we started was making tombstones for her front yard graveyard! Karyn went to a stucco place & got a bunch of 2-inch thick polystyrene insulation. We also got a styrofoam cutter from Michaels. I cut out 22 tombstones, Teri used her solder gun to engrave words & pictures and we all helped paint them! We didn't have time to finish them while I was there, but here's our favorite! Funny, huh? All the rest are scary/creepy ones! I can't wait to see how the other ones turned out!

One of the last days I was there, we actually had time to spend just the two of us! We went shopping & to lunch at Chili's! That was a great day! We've never gone out just the two of us!
This was on Sunday, we were all gussied up for church. That was fun because I got to see many familiar faces at church.
Awww, Karyn & her oldest, Aleksis! She is such a sweetie!
Mmmm we made caramel apples too! They look a little droopy cuz the caramel was melting off quickly with all the treats, but they were still delicious! I had a few bites of one so the rest was for her & her family!
The last night I was there we stayed up until 4:30am and had to get up at 6:30am to get the kids to school then me to the airport. I was so tired when I got home! haha. I wish I could've stayed even longer, one week just wasn't enough time! But I do appreciate all that Ben did to take care of the kids and house while I was away! Thanks BEN!! Thanks again Karyn I had a BLAST!! And Good Luck with your Halloween party next week!!