Halloween? Isn't It Time For Thanksgiving?

Oh, well...

Isn't this the cutest little teddy bear you've ever seen?

(Besides the other 3 teddy bears in years past, named Isaac, Joe, and Alyssa. They were of equal cuteness! :)

Isaac wanted to do his own make-up this year. The results were very satisfying. That is one freaky lookin' vampire! I definitely want to steer clear of him!

Early in the day, we fixed Alyssa's hair,

painted her nails,

donned her crown and her dress, and snapped some pictures.

I'm glad we did, because 15 minutes before it was time to go, she ripped out her up-do and decided to be a kitty.

The Cuties, the Scaries, and the Hottie. I'm so sad, because Joe's killer hat (pun intended!) was in Swen's car @ work when we were taking individual pictures. We were going to take pictures of Joe later, but for the VERY first time in my life, I forgot my intention. I remembered while I was washing his face, and by that time we were all ready for a little popcorn and a scary movie. Luckily, we caught him in this family shot. He came up with his own costume idea and helped me make it. He was a zombie baseball player, who unfortunately died by a renegade arrow through the head.

Our dinner, featuring: Frankenstein brains, goblin eyes, witch fingers, and monster toes. Yum-yum! We hope you all had a Happy Halloween. We did!

Sleep...I Need Sleep

Late nights, early mornings, sore neck, much mess, too expensive, but he won!

As Requested

This is Lincoln's hilarious "cheese" face he makes whenever I pull out a camera.

I used it for him on www.yearbookyourself.com site.

His nose looks gigantic with those black rimmed glasses posed

too high. (See below for a good laugh!) My friend, Allison, and all my

kids gathered around the computer last night and created a lot of

great combos, but Lincoln is still my fave. The funniest thing is that

I have a picture of my dad with almost the same hair-do and glasses as Lincoln's pose,

probably taken in about the same year listed.

It's so funny! You have to try it!

Meet Henry, Walter, Fred, and Nelva

Thanks to my friend, Devenie, I found the FUNNIEST website. It's http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ Here's what I have created so far...

Joe in 1976

Ike in 1964

Alyssa in 1984

Lincoln in 1970

Check it out for some hilarious fun!

How Well Does Joe Know His Mama?

I'm not as nice, reclusive, or afraid as Joe says...


1. What is something I always say to you? "I love you."
2. What makes me happy? When I do good things to you and when I give you hugs.
3. What makes me sad? When I'm disobedient.
4. What makes me laugh? When I do funny things, like, um, when I do something clumsy.
5. What was I like as a child? Like, how would I know?
6. How old am I? Young. Really young. (like how young?) Um, 28?
7. How tall am I? Short.
8. What is my favorite thing to do? Be with your family.
9. What do I do when you're not around? Cook dinner and stuff, and you're always busy.
10. If I become famous, what will it be for? Because you're so pretty.
11. What am I really good at? Being nice. Being really happy and all that kind of stuff.
12. What am I not very good at? Yelling.
13. What do I do for my job? Just take care of us.
14. What is my favorite food? How should I know? (Take a guess!) Um, Bar-b-cups?
15. What makes you proud of me? You're always so nice to me.
16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? (Giggle, Giggle) I can't imagine you as a cartoon character! Um, could I do a movie? (sure) Um, that writer in Nim's Island who always stays at her home. Cause you're always scared to do wave runners and stuff.
(Just to set the record straight, I am not afraid of wave runners. When we have a chance to ride wave runners, I'm usually on the beach with a baby or I want the kids to be able to have more turns. I'm really not a wimp! And coming up, you may think that I am a recluse who is afraid of putting my foot outside the door. I'm not! I guess I'll have to go bungee jumping or something to convince Joe that I'm a cool mom!)
17. What do you and I do together? Be happy. We talk together and we're nice to eachother.
18. How are we the same? We do like to talk a lot together. And we're also kind of scared of things always.
19. How are we different? You're always staying home and I'm always outside playing.
20. How do you know I love you? Because you're always so nice to me, and we share a good relationship.
21. What do I like most about Dad? You're always on his side. He's always so nice to you, and he always does stuff for you when you're sleepy.
22. Where is my favorite place to go? Can we skip this one? (No) Why? (Because. Just say something.) England?
23. What is your favorite thing about me? I just like you cause you're you. You're just always so nice to me.
24. What do I do that is silly? You hate snow. That's not all. You make weird songs up.

How Well Does Ike Know His Mom?

Isaac did pretty well on his quiz. Although, it took him about 10 minutes to think of something silly that I do, plus help from Swen. Hmmm, I think I need to PLAY a little more. Thanks for reminding me, Isaac. He did say some awfully nice things about me, though (see 10 and 23). I don't think he was brown-nosing. :)




1. What is something I always say to you? You say, "You get 1 extra job!"
2. What makes me happy? If I give you a hug.
3. What makes me sad? If I disobey you.
4. What makes me laugh? If I do something funny.
5. What was I like as a child? How should I know? Maybe funny and cute?
6. How old am I? 29
7. How tall am I? 5'8"? No. 5'4"
8. What is my favorite thing to do? Cook? No, no, no. Have fun with the family.
9. What do I do when you're not around? Clean and cook. (What else?) Then have fun with Lissy and Lincoln.
10. If I become famous, what will it be for? For your kindness and prettyness. (ooooh, this is good!)
11. What am I really good at? Cooking. That's for sure! (Anything else?) Um, how about, having fun with us?
12. What am I not very good at? Sports.
13. What do I do for my job? Take care of us.
14. What is my favorite food? Pizza.
15. What makes you proud of me? This is a hard one. You're kind to other people.
16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? Daffy Duck! (Giggle) No, just kidding. Porky Pig's wife! (Giggle) No. Probably that grandma in Fox and the Hound! No. Sleeping Beauty.
17. What do we do together? Play games.
18. How are we the same? Our eye balls. No, We both like to play games.
19. How are we different? You don't like sports, and I do.
20. How do you know I love you? You take care of me.
21. What do I like most about Dad? He's handsome.
22. Where is my favorite place to go? Probably Hawaii? Nah. Probably the temple.
23. What is your favorite thing about me? You're the best mom in the whole world.
24. What do I do that is silly? You make up dumb songs.

Hmmmm....

I had a very interesting conversation today. This is how it went:

Lady: ...I really shouldn't say this.
Me: What?
Lady (married w/ 3 kids-one listening): Your husband is really hot.
Me: ...?
Lady: When he came to my door, I thought 'this man is in a totally different realm than the rest of us. What is he doing down here? He belongs somewhere higher up.'
Me: (laugh)
Lady: After I met him I called [mutual acquaintance-married w/ 4 children] and said, "I met Swen!" and she said, "HOT!"
Me: Yeah, he is. I think sometimes people wonder how the two of us ended up together.
Lady: No, you're adorable. [pause]
Me: (In my over sized yellow scout shirt, thrown on hurriedly over a 7 year old bulky red shirt. Hair pulled back in a braid 6 hours before. No make-up. Baggy khaki capris) Mmm-Hmm. [pause]
Lady: Did he grow up with money? I just thought when I saw him, "He must have grown up with rich parents. He just seems like he belongs in a different realm than the rest of us." (I do realize that's a repeat of a former comment. I'm just quoting here.)
Me: No. He grew up in a family with 8 kids on a principal's salary.
Lady: Wow...
And on it went.

Okay. I just want to say two things.
1. I consider Swen's hottie-ness as a definite bonus to his other wonderful qualities. I have often expressed to him that I am blessed to have him for many ways, and his gorgeousness is just a cherry on top. He maintains his 6-pack without exercising, while eating tremendously large servings of dessert. I am lucky to be able to enjoy a such a fine man. (I. To myself. Mine.)
2. It seems strange that other (married) women (with children!) are discussing how my husband is hot, then talking to me about it. Hmmm. Does this seem a little bit off to anyone else?