Haunted Houses are for kids

Ally and Emma came home from school the other day with an invitation to a haunted house sponsored by the D.A.R.E. program. (not sure what it means. Drugs Are Really Eicky?) They were super excited and REALLY wanted to go. It said they were making it fun for kids "infants to 9 years old" was the age group invited with "nice monsters"(creepy clowns, fairies, angels and smiling vampires) and scary stuff covered up (which meant really dark in most places). "The best part is it's FREE!" I don't do scary. I don't enjoy it AT ALL. I have a hard time watching Supernatural with Ryan. So my first thought was NO WAY they will freak out, (which they did) but they persisted so we went. (I already ruined the visit the cousins weekend. Yeah I didn't go to SLC but that is another sad story for another day.)

When we arrived at Dr. Slaughter's House of Terror, (Scare for D.A.R.E.) we got a parking spot right near the door. The best part was the 3 block line of people waiting to get in--we parked at the wrong end and got to walk the whole way to the end. We saw lots of friends from school and got to admire all the costumes. Emma went as Snow White and I think we saw at least 4 others, including one who held hands with Emma the whole way through. ("I will stay right here with you, it's going to be ok." She's bigger so she was protecting her. She's 6.)

It was long and seemed pretty empty. There must be some seriously scary stuff going on for it to seem empty. The mother of Snow White had been there in the evening a few nights previous and kept me informed of what was supposed to be there. yuck. Then it kept going and going and getting a little creepier and creepier. At one point we were walking through a snow cave tunnel with big thick icicles hanging down that I swear looked like upside down body bags. We went through a corn field with a missing scare crow. We saw a zombie in a bed with an empty spot for someone else. We saw some jagged claw slashes next to the letters FC. We saw a frozen yeti. We saw a lot of old time pictures that changed to creepy pictures that were hung too high for the kids to really see.

The worst part was a black "wall" that was 2 big air filled things you had to squeeze in between to get through. Think moon bounce. I went around because I didn't dare take the baby in there, but the kids went through "the squishy thingys" and did not like it. I think that was the worst part for them. I can see why.

It took us a good 30 minutes to walk through the whole thing. Needless to say I don't think we will ever go again. Even on fun kid day. It was the first time I had been in a place like that. Luke informed me that we are not going to a haunted house ever again. It was too scary and he did not like it. It was classic. Ryan would have created his own terror for them so in a way it is a good thing he is out of town. He has a scare-them-every-day-until-Halloween goal that I am not participating in. This would have been a great opportunity. He will be sad he missed it.



ps I did not take the camera. But we have 3 more things to dress up for coming up and you can bet there will be pictures later!

I can't sleep without my heater

I am having trouble getting to sleep. I didn't realize it was a big deal, but I have a hard time going to sleep without Ryan next to me. Even when he isn't in bed yet, I know he will be soon so I can sleep. Anyone who knows him, knows he is not a super tall man, but he does have nice broad shoulders. When he hugs me his whole body folds me in and I get a little buried for a minute. It is nice. He smells good. I get cold when he is not next to me in bed. I used to laugh at my mom for wearing long sleeves and long pants with socks to bed and still be freezing cold. I have never had that problem. Until I got married and started sleeping with a heater next to me. So here I sit with socks, long sleeves and long pants on, freezing and not wanting to get in my cold bed because nothing is going to help me warm up. I wonder what my mom does when my dad is out of town. I bet she is a popsicle!

Luke's 1st Field Trip

The Pumpkin Patch was the location of the very first, very fun field trip in Luke's school experience.

He got to ride a bus.

He got to play with his school friends outside of class.

He got to pick out his very own pumpkin.

He had a blast!

It was a nice day and a fun trip. I hope he gets to go on lots more throughout his life, but reality says he won't so we are documenting all the fun we can before they are outlawed all together.

Widow for a week

So it happened. Ryan left me for 5 whole days to go to his conference. I knew it was coming. It just felt like it would be later. Later is here. I know it seems dumb. He has been gone before. But that was when we had less children. I don't know why, but having 4 makes me scared. I have yet to go anywhere with all of them alone (besides dancing, but that doesn't count as "public"). They want to go to a free kids haunted house on Saturday afternoon. I am not super excited about that, but I told them we would go. Is it silly for me to be nervous about taking them in public? Then there is church. Oh brother. I can't go inactive just because he is not here, but seriously? 4 kids in sacrament meeting. As it is now we sit like this.

* child * mom * child * dad * child *

Take out my other buffer and there is going to be some fighting going on. What if the baby gets hungry? I can't take 4 kids in the mothers lounge, that thing is tiny. But what is the alternative? Leave them in the chapel unattended? I am seriously thinking of skipping, at least that part of church. I never premeditate skipping church. Having 4 kids is turning me into a crazy person.

Ok so wish me luck. The biggest benefit to him being gone is this. When he gets home, late Tuesday night, Luke will have the joy of knowing his birthday (on Wed) is finally HERE! If nothing else he has good timing.

Give me 10!

1- The Dr. visit was yesterday. I am ok. Just thought you would like to know.

2- I am super excited for this weekend and visiting my friends from college. A couple I have not seen in over 10 years! I am nervous about the 4 children and traveling aspect though. Wish me luck with that.

3- Ryan is leaving Thursday for a conference in Boise. He will be gone 5 days. That is a long time to have 4 kids by myself. I hate it when he leaves. I am not one of those people who can't function alone. Trust me I can do it. But I like it when he is here and I will be happy when he gets back.

4- My sister keeps getting new furniture and giving me her other stuff. SCORE! It is a lot better than what we had so I am happy.

5- I added a little weight loss counter in the side column. I have a friend who said I was brave to talk about it on my blog. I am a talker. I like to get things out, let others weigh in, chew on it for awhile. It is how I deal. I figured, I am never going to be successful at this without support from friends and family so I am talking about it just like any other thing in my life. Brave, stupid call it what you will. It is me.

6- Clark is getting chubby. He is sleeping lots at night, which I love. He is fussy in the evenings , which I don't love.

7- I need a new phone. I keep getting things from verizon saying it is time to upgrade. I just never have time to go take care of it. And when I do have time I have no money to pay for it. Go figure.

8- I get to go grocery shopping today. Take it how you want.

9- My little buddy keeps trying to close the window so I have to end quick....

10- There is no 10.

10 more

1- Clark is 6 weeks old. Next week I get to go to "the doctor"- you know the one with all the letters. Try not to be jealous.

2- I joined LA Weight Loss. Ok so I joined like a year ago and then found out a week later that I was pregnant. I know huh? So yesterday I rejoined after the baby everything was done. I am super excited and will probably talk about it a lot on this blog. Mostly because I have to keep myself psyched up as much as possible to make this work! Here is the best part. When I originally joined I was at 215. Yesterday when I weighed in I was at 204. AND I just had a baby. I hide it well.

3- One of Ryan's colleges was doing a fund raiser for his kids to Apple Athletic Club--3 months membership for $30! Needless to say we joined and will be spending A LOT of time in that awesome pool and hot tub of theirs. Not to mention, now I have a place to work out! (see #2)
Super excited!

4- Saturday is Super Saturday in my ward. (ie Day Of Crafts) I am not in charge, but helping a lot. We are doing simple and easy projects that I am excited for. I will be making Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast. Doesn't that just sound so good?

5- The snow was gone by noon yesterday. We knew it would be. The girls were disappointed though because their plan was to make a snowman after school. Oh well, there is plenty more where that came from. It is only 24 degrees outside right now though.

6- The Dow went up 900 points yesterday! Yes this is good news. It means our economy is not completely flushed down the toilet. It tried. The handle was pushed. The water went down. But then came back up because it didn't make it past the U bend. Anyway it is a reason to sigh a little bit of relief.

7- We made Halloween Cookies yesterday. I forgot to take pics, but we still have some dough left and they will need to be frosted so I will take pics of round 2. The kids are funny. Luke lost interest before he had 1 cookie frosted and took off with a hand full of candy corn. Ally thinks she is decorating a cake and has frosting all down the sides of the cookies with every inch of the cookie covered in some type of decoration. Emma poured out half the bottle of sprinkles on the first cookie and then kept eating them. Her hands are now stained orange. Also, she licked the frosting off her knife in between each cookie. Yum.

8- The snow storm this weekend prevented us from traveling so we missed Avery's baby blessing. It was terrible. Cars were sliding off the road like crazy the whole way to Twin Falls. Sorry Sam!

9- My kids don't have chicken pox. (my brother's kids do)

10- Looking forward to the RAW girls reunion on the 24th. Old friends from BYUH getting together in SLC for the weekend. So EXCITED!

HERE IT COMES....

It is SNOWING! Right now. I kid you not. Check it out. Now, all of you in warm places can feel sorry for me: ready.....GO.




Sunday morning, snow is still here. (He is so handsome.)

(original time of this post was Saturday afternoon. The video would not download though so I scrapped it.)