party animals

The elementary pumpkin walk was supposed to be tonight.

However, mom and dad were feeling a bit lazy. So we gave the girls the option: pumpkin walk or wild and crazy halloween party at the W house. Anyone who knows us well and knows how really wild and crazy we really are at our house doesn't have to think twice to guess that answer.

Yes, siree. . party we did!

Now, you might ask, what makes a party animal? Well, here's how it is done at our house:

First, you start with a reall tight time table. (Mind you, it is a school night. These party animals have to be in bed by 7:30.)

Next, a pumpkin face pizza (thank you Papa Murphy's). Remember, only paper plates, cups, etc are allowed. (Mom will begin to feel giddy at this point.)

Follow dinner with a little "pin the nose on the pumpkin". . .

. . .pin the nose on emmy. . .

. . . and throw in the old "eat the donut off a string" game.

. . Follow it all up with banana splits, and before you know it, you've got a pretty crazy party.

You see, the trick is to give the party guests enough sugar, and then the wild and crazy part pretty much takes care of itself.

When it comes to party animals, you can see that we're pretty over-the-top.

Kate captured the essence of our party philosophy as she was polishing off the rest of her donut. I cautioned her to not eat too much of it, or she might get a tummy ache. She just looked at me and said, "It's alright mom, I'll take my chances."

It doesn't get a lot crazier that that!

A bundle of 5's. . .

This list was passed on from a friend (thanks, Tara!) for me to complete. It was a little bit tricky to think of some of them, but here goes. . .

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Living in Hawaii, attending BYU-H.
2. Happily delivering the campus mail!
3. Talking on the phone with Courtney every chance I got (who returned from his mission this week, 10 years ago- whew, how time flies!)
4. Spendng too much time in the library- too little at the beach. ( I should have gone to Hawaii my freshman year, not when my classes really mattered!)
5. Swaying my hips in my hula class, and preparing for the culture festival where I danced with the tahitian club, (which, by the way is a VERY good workout for the buns if you ever have the chance!) I even made my own grass headband and skirt!

5 things on my to-do list today: (actually tomorrow, as today is gone!)

1. Get up and excersize before girls wake up- new goal for the week. (If I'm still walking. I did a new workout this morning and it kicked my pants.)
2. Get girls to school.
3. Go to Brigham City for my allergy shot. Fun, fun.
4. Primary activiy- I'm praying that it is not complete chaos!
5. Bedtime. (I have to put it on my list, because it is such a fun one to cross off.)

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. Chicago- basically the entire greatest hits.
2. Primary songs. (mostly the oldies- I'm finding out there is a lot of new ones!)
3. Jack Johnson (hit and miss)
4. Chris Ledoux - "Look at you girl", etc. He was great.
5. "Twinkle, twinkle", "hush little baby". . you name it, I have to say I'm pretty on top of the kids scene.

5 of my bad habits:
1. Sugar.
2. I jump to conclusions too fast, overreact, and want to solve problems immediately rather that be patient.
3. I compare myself to others.
4. When I start reading a book, I don't get anything else done until I'm finished.
5. I speak before I think. (not a good idea.)

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire:
1. Hire someone to finish our yard and all of our unfinished house projects. (Actually, I think I would just hire Courtney- I'd be happy to be a paying customer!)
2. Travel the world with my family.
3. Take my kids places where they can see how other people live and how blessed we really are, and. . .
4. Become involved in philanthropic projects (orphanages,etc.) with my family to help others around the world have better lives.
5. I'm not completely positive, but I still think I'd drive a minivan! (At least while my kids are young). It really is handy! (Sorry, Shawn and Kelsey).

5 things I will never wear again: (We can all hope.)
1. Braces
2. Thigh-highs. (Sad to say, but yes, there was a time or two they found themselves on my not -so made for thigh-high legs. )
3. Purple mascara.
4. Charm belt and necklace.
5. Leg warmers.

5 favorite toys:
1. Bosch bread maker.
2. garlic press.
3. automatic van doors.
4. running stroller.
5. cell phone.

I guess that last list says a little thing or two about 5 ways I have changed in the last 10 years. I can about guarantee I wouldn't have listed one of those items on my "toy" list then. My, how times change. (Thank goodness, judging by my list of things I vow to not wear again.)

Future Triathletes

Courtney participated in a bunch of triathlons this past summer, and collected a bunch of swimcaps in the process. The girls found them the other day and thought they were quite fashionable!

We are priming them for a future of triathlons.

During one race, Ryenne noticed one of the participants was only about 10 years old. She said, "Mom, that boy was really young."

So I said that it would be fun to have a family team one day when she was a little bit older.

Kate said, "Yeah. Except I'd have to run, because I won't be able to do the bike part- I still have training wheels."

So it was decided that Ryenne would run and Emmy volunteered to do the swim in Bop's (Grandpa C) tube behind his boat.

Watch out triathlon circuit - here we come.

Emmy Day!

Being that tommorow is the 11th, it is officially Emmy Day at the W house. In an effort to spend more one -on -one time with the girls, we have been trying a new idea that I read about in the Family Fun magazine. (One of my favorite magazines!)

Every month on the day of their birth, it is that particular child's "day". They get to make the big decisions, (such as where to sit at meals- you know those vital decisions everyone fights over), and go out for a treat with mom or dad (they always pick Dad!).

Here are a few fun tidbits about Emmy:


1) She is the boss at our house. I had an idea that this was the case, but one day she flat-out told me, "I the boss of woo (you) guys." That straightened it out in my mind, and since I've gotten that down, we've gotten along a lot better.


2)She has a favorite outfit that she wears almost every day. It doesn't matter where I hide it, she can find it! It gets pretty grubby. The shirt in fact, is the one she is wearing in this picture. Surprise, surprise.


3)Emmy has an imaginary friend, Katie John. She and Katie have quite the exploits. She is always telling us stories about the bus (which they do not ride), their class at school (which they don't attend, and various other stories. It just depends on what our family is talking about at the time. She always has a Katie John story to add.

By the way, they are apparently very responsible. The other day I had to go to Salt Lake and she didn't want to go. She told me that she and Katie John could stay home and she would babysit. She was VERY upset that I didn't comply with this request.

4)She can't take a normal picture. You may have noticed, in every picture we take she is making a funny face. A modeling career is probably not in her future.


5)Emmy is the boss. (This is so true, I thought it should count for two facts.)

Kate the soccer girl

Another soccer season bites the dust! Kate played her last game for the season tonight. This was her first time to play. (Ryenne opted out this time.) Kate loved it, and was quite the little runner. Before the first game, when we asked her if she knew what to do, she said, "Well, I know I'm not supposed to just stand there like Ryenne did." And stand there she did not. She loved playing goalie, because it gave her a little rest.
Following in her mothers footsteps, Kate quickly concluded that the 2 most important aspects of the game were: 1)Who's turn is it to bring the treat? and 2) What is the treat. You go girl.

"Hooray, A Mouse!"

Finally, a mouse!

You see we happen to be the owners of 4 (until a recent demise, it was actually 5) kittens.

This is a great many, as Courtney and I aren't the biggest cat lovers. To add to our sorrow, not one of these little creatures seems to be a mouser. . .which is a pretty big downfall for people who are surrounded by fields filled with yes, field mice. Field mice who like to become house mice when the weather turns chilly.

Needless to say, Courtney has been pretty disgusted with the whole thing.

But alas, it seems our luck has turned!

A few days ago, Ryenne came running in with the exciting news that the one of the kittens was chowing down on a mouse. She was so eager to tell Courtney that she made this sign to hang on the back door so he could read about it the second he arrived from work. . . ."Hooray! the kittens and cat's just today just when I got home ate a mouse! You would be impressed. Your twinner, Ryenne. (spelling corrected)

Maybe we'll keep those cats after all.

kelly, kelly, kelly. . .

Having been recently inspired by my fellow bloggers, here is a little bit about me. . .

1. Job history . . .
This was hard for me to remember! My first job was probably babysitting (I have to confess I never enjoyed it). In high school I worked at my Dad's business filing papers. Also, my family cleaned the high school natatorium at nights. (I was mortified by this in junior high- little did I know how cleaning up after people would prepare me for a lifetime of it as the head janitor of our home.) The summer before I left for Ricks, I worked as a hostess at a local restaurant, which taught me that I didn't want to pursue a career in the food industry!

I worked at the Continuing Ed. dept. my freshman and sophomore year.

The summer between those years was spent telemarketing, selling Feature Films for Families. I am definitely not a saleswoman, and spent the first week crying! But the people I worked with were fun.

After graduating from Ricks, I went with the Sociology Dept. to Chicago, and worked with the Inner-City Youth Foundation. We volunteered for credit- but what an awesome experience. I loved it.

Following Chicago, I left for BYU-Hawaii. I wasn't planning on working there, but quickly found out that the post office was run polynesian style. Bless their hearts ( I loved them all!), this was not condusive for getting the mail out in a very prompt manner. After a month of not recieving mail (especially from Courtney!) I knocked on the door of the post office and told them I would work for free if I could just find my mail in the process! They led me to a gigantic room filled with boxes and sacks of mail that had been sitting there for heavens knows how long!

To make a long story shorter, before long I was a paid employee of the BYU-H post office. It was a blast! I got to drive or push the mail cart around campus, fill mail slots, and get laughed at by all my polynesian friends at my pronunciation of all the very loooooong polynesian names as we sorted mail! I'd actually forgotten about that funny job story.

After BYU-H, I came back to USU and worked at ICON Fitness, testing exercize equiptment. Basically, I got paid to run on treadmills, uses a stair climber, etc. and chat with all the fun people. In retrospect, I realize this was a pretty good gig! I also did an internship that year working in the counseling office at Rocky Mountain Jr. High in Roy. I tell you, junior high is a lot more fun the second go-around. After graduation, I worked for Bear River Mental Health with children's mental health until Ryenne was born. I had a handful of children who I worked with- teaching life skills, coordinating services for them, and helping them participate in group therapy. I thought I enjoyed it at the time, but after I quit, I realized what an emotional drain it had been. I think that I never felt like I was doing enough. I think that it also made me into a paranoid mom! After a while of working in a job like that and reading case files, you hear lots of "bad guy" stories!

Anyway, since Ryenne was born, I've taught Musikgarten (early childhood music) classes once or twice a week. I love this, which is pretty much singing, playing insruments, dancing, and pretending. I haven't done much of that the last year or so- life has gotten to crazy. So there is my job history!

My confession? My favorite is being home! I really do like it much more than I thought I would! (Much better than babysitting!) I really have no desire to work, I guess because I can't keep up with everything as it is! The longer I do it, the more I realize how much I have to learn! No job boredom here!

A few more facts about me. . .
2. My favorite new find.
Dark Chocolate! I am loving the new Hersheys Extra Dark, especially the kind with almonds and dried blueberries. It's wonderful and comes in these tiny little packages so I can just have one in the afternoon when I need a little something happy!

3. My favorite recent purchase.
My road bike! I love it! I am a bit burnt out on running and this is such a fun change of pace. I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I smile the whole time I'm riding. What fun! Plus, I feel like I'm helping other people get in their daily laugh when they get to see me in those tight, shiny bikeshorts with the "pillow" in the bum. As if I needed anything extra right there.

4. My latest revelation about myself.
I am a bit of a control freak! You may be laughing, but I never realized this about myself until recently. I have found a few problems with this character trait. First of all, I am not a super organised, in control person. This poses a challege, because I want everything to be in order, but I don't really have a knack to keep it that way. Second, family life with 3 kids and a husband who is a (wonderful) workaholic is perpetually out of control! So, if you have any therapy secrets for me, please share.

5. My favorite brownie recipe.
This comes from my mother in law (who is also an angel). Very yummy.
2 squares butter
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar. Add cocoa, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients (but don't mix too much. Add 1 pkg. chocolate chips. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350. Enjoy!

So, here is a bit about me. I'd love to hear a few facts about you - please share!