Crazy Fun Weekend

We had a jam-packed weekend full of Halloween Fun. Friday was rainy for the 3rd day in a row, so I had to get creative with the kids to keep them entertained. We decided to make Halloween masks and it was pretty funny. Logan wanted to be a pumpkin, so here is his creation...

And Mason came up with this really "scary" monster mask. He didn't want help with cutting out the eyes, and although you can barely see his eyeballs, he did a good job!
Next we spent hours making and decorating cookies to take to the ward party. This picture doesn't even show half of what we made. I decided sugar cookies are way more work than they are worth!

The kids had a blast at our ward party. They played lots of games (like eating a donut off a string with no hands) and collected quite a load of candy.

Saturday was the event of the year, a costume party thrown by one of Eric's fellow residents. Costumes were mandatory and we didn't have any on hand, so we created this lovely outfit for Eric at the local Salvation Army. I won't mention how many hours it took me to find sweatbands and knee socks with stripes, let's just say you better think those items make his outfit awesome! I was a little more boring as a gypsy, but I wasn't about to succumb myself to the ridicule I knew Eric would endure. He cares much more about being funny than I do. Our boys had a great time at the party, despite the fact that they were the only kids - it meant more attention for them! On Sunday the kids and I drove down to Baltimore to visit my friend Lisa, her husband Mike and their baby Ariel, who were visiting from Wisconsin to attend a surgical conference. They also have two adorable boys, who we missed greatly.

We spent most the day cruising the harbor on a water taxi and making stops at different locations along the waterfront. We ate in "little Italy" and listend to a lot of great street performers. It was a great day and it went way too fast. We miss you Lisa!
Well, I definitely need a nap today. All that excitement left me exhausted! Hope you enjoyed the lengthy report!

Freddy Hills Farm

We went to a pumpkin patch/farm called Freddy Hills Farm with Mason's preschool last week. They had some animals in pens for the kids to look at and in one of the pens was an elk. The boys were so excited to see a real live elk since they have been learning about elk from the time they understood English.
Next we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins.
Here are the boys with their pumpkins. The farm removes all the big ones and sells them for .44 a pound and lets the kids pick the tiny ones. Mason was disappointed there weren't any big ones, but since we have to carry the pumpkins around the rest of the time, it's probably best they get the little ones.

Did you check out Mason's shirt? He made it at preschool and all the kids wore them to the farm. Mason was so proud of it, and Logan was in tears because he didn't have one to wear too. After the pumpkins, we went through a corn maze and down a "giant" slide.

The best part, in my opinion, was the ice cream at the end. So good!

Confessions (I was tagged!)

I was tagged by my friend Lisa. Here are the rules:
A. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
B. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog, for these rules.

1. I am a list maker. I love making lists each day and checking things off. I will even write down things that I have already done to be able to check them off!
2. I love to pick. I used to be obsessed with picking my eyebrows, but then I almost picked them all out, so I have stopped that habit (sort of). I love picking off peeling skin (like if Eric gets sunburned) and I will pick at any imperfection on my skin until I have made it into a huge wound. Not a good habit to have.
3. I have a major sweet tooth. Sometimes I buy treats and hide them from the rest of my family so that I can indulge without anyone else knowing. This is important when you are married to a dentist who doesn't approve of sugar consumption!
4. I suck on my tongue while I sleep or when I get really relaxed. This is hard to explain, but imagine taking your tongue, folding it in half (from the front of your tongue back) and then pressing it to the roof of your mouth and sucking on it. I've done it since I was a baby and sometimes it gets loud. Eric calls it my "dolphin clicks."
5. I secretly want to be a "Martha Stewart" prodigy. I envy crafty people and those who can create beautiful things.
6. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want this baby to be a girl. I feel guilty saying that because I REALLY love my boys, but 3 kids may be all we have and I would be so sad to never raise a girl. If we do have a boy, don't tell him I said this!

There you go, Lisa. You probably knew all these things about me already, but maybe not. I tag:
Jordan, Staci, Tamar, Kristina, Angie, and Sarah Cardon.

I love my kids

Ever since I've had this horrible headache (which is still hanging around), my patience with my kids has been a little thin. So here's to convincing myself that they really were very cute this last week.

Mason and Logan are obsessed with the Book of Mormon and Old Testament readers. they want to read them all the time, but I actually hid them last night because I'm starting to get worried that the images in the books are too violent for them. I heard Logan telling Mason that he wanted to read David and Goliath and Mason told him, "No Logan, Goliath is too scary for me." But I am proud that they want to learn the scriptures, Mason loves all the stories of Nephi.

They have also been into puppet shows. Here is Mason first and Logan second doing their shows. It is hilarious because you can't hear Mason when he smashes his face against the couch so we don't see him. Logan usually just kills off his puppets, with the Lion eating the monkey or something like that. Very entertaining.

My kids are also very into drawing pictures and hanging them on the fridge. This picture was taken even after 2 drawings had been removed by Mason because he wanted to show his teacher. My mom would have never allowed her fridge to look this this, way too much clutter for her -haha!

Logan's new phrase is, "Isn't that awesome, Mom?" He asks that about everything now and it makes me laugh. And the other night Eric asked Logan what he was doing in our room and Logan replied, "Don't worry about it." I think we have a smart alec on our hands!

I was going to the mall on Saturday and asked Mason if he wanted to go. He said yes, but then said, "You're going to change your clothes first, right? And maybe do your hair?" I was wearing a velour sweatsuit and had my hair up in a claw clip. He told me my hair was messy and it looked like I was wearing my pajamas. I did not change and I think he was embarrassed to be seen with me. Eric is very worried about these comments from his 4 year old son, but I think it's hilarious!

I guess I really do love my kids!

Bad moods

I haven't posted much lately due to two reasons:

1. Our less than one year old computer has been shipped back to Gateway twice now for repairs and we are forced to use our barely functioning 6 year old laptop; and
2. I have had the most annoying and painful headache of my life 24/7 for the last 7 days!

The computer thing is really getting on Eric's nerves more than mine, but it's because he does so much for school on the computer. The first time it was sent back to us it worked for 4 days, then crashed again. We sent it away for another week, got it back yesterday and it wouldn't even turn on! AHHHHH! When Eric told the customer service manager that this was unacceptable and we wanted a new computer, he told us if they can't repair it this next time, then we can get a refurbished computer from them with a 90 day warranty. Does that sound like a good deal to anyone? We think it sucks. Bottom line - we HATE Gateway and want everyone to know they should never buy their products!

As for the headache situation, I am so tired of going to bed with a headache and waking up with a headache. I can't find any relief. Even my old standby of a coke with 2 Tylenol isn't making a dent in this bad boy. Any suggestions about headache solutions during pregnancy would be much appreciated!

Sorry for being so whiny, I just had to vent. I promise the next post will be more upbeat!

Endo Party Animals

I talk a lot about Eric's fellow residents, so I thought it was time that I devote a post to these great people. Here is a picture of all of them (minus Eric, and not counting the girl on the far left, she's a wife) at a gathering at Mahmoud's house. From left to right there is Howie, Ina, Brian, Mahmoud, and Elaine is in the center. Everyone gets together quite often for dinner parties and we don't make it as often as we'd like because of the kiddos. But on Saturday night we did all go to Howie's house to learn to make dumplings.
I had never had dumplings before, but they were delicious! Howie and Joyce made a mixture of ground turkey, shrimp, garlic, onions, etc. that we wrapped in dumpling "skins," and then boiled or fried. All the men were quite talented at making their dumplings look beautiful with perfect little folds around the edges, but the women (especially me) struggled to compete with the men! Howie and Joyce also made homemade egg rolls, rice in tofu pockets, and another rice/egg thing that was all so good!
It was Howie's birthday and we splurged and bought him the lovely gold chain you see here around his neck. Logan was very happy to help Howie open all his presents.
When it was time for us to go, Mason and Logan wouldn't leave because we hadn't had the cake that Elaine made for Howie. So everyone graciously took a break from a very competitive game of "Battle of the Sexes" to light candles and cut the cake.
Here is Elaine with Logan. Logan is very friendly with all the gang, but Mason still acts shy around them even though he's met them several times. I think it's all an act now. Anyway, thanks for a fun night, you endo party animals. We'll have to join the fun more often!