Mish Mash in a Flash

Ok, that title just means I'm going to cover a lot of territory in a short time.

Halloween dinner is starting to become a tradition, it happens sometime just before Halloween and it's something "gross".  This year we has Sheep eyes (turkey meatballs with olives) and worms (spaghetti that I used black dye on that turned the noodles purple) and we had blood (fruit punch)to drink, naturally.

 Jacob gets a spotlight in this post, just because he made me laugh.  If you want to see the rest of the kids costumes go to my facebook page.  Jacob and Ben got to dress up for Halloween at school for the first time EVER.  Jacob couldn't wear his Gorilla costume to school because it has a mask so he found a witch costume in our costume bin.  His friends at school didn't even know it was him.  Jacob is a pretty confident kid to wear a girl costume to school!

 I got all the stuff for this craft and cut and sanded the wood and invited my mom over for a craft day.  I love that my mom is retired now and that she's getting into crafting.  We plan on doing craft projects together regularly now.

 Micah's birthday has come on gone and now I have a deacon (church thing if you're wondering)!  I cannot get over the fact that I have a 12 year old 7th grade child, am I really old enough???  This year he requested cake balls, or cake pops.  I had made some with my friend Yolawnda a few weeks before his birthday and he loved them.  I also made a carrot cake in case the cake balls went to fast, we had lots of leftover cake balls and Micah was happy about that.

 I could not get him to just look at me and smile, but that's ok, I got about a dozen pictures similar to the one below, he just kept making all these different faces at me and moving his head.

 My sweet mom came over to babysit so we didn't have to worry at all about the kids.  Micah (Jacob) usually watches his siblings and everything goes well, but we wanted to be able to have a night to just focus on each other and not have to check in on kiddos.  My amazing and wonderful husband took me to dinner at PF Changs, we had gone there for our anniversary a few years back and I loved it but it was too pricey for regular dates, so we saved it for a more special occasion.  Then we rushed over to the William Saroyan theater to see Kristen Chinoweth!  We were in the VERY back row and could hardly see her but we could HEAR her and that was the important thing!  She was amazing and I like her even more now.  She has a great personality and is a Christian woman.  Great night with my best friend.

 Lastly, this has been the big thing in our lives lately.  Our little girl got her ears pierced!  She was so brave and didn't cry or hesitate at all.  Daddy had previously said that 12 would be the age she would be able to get her ears pierced and I thought that was RIDICULOUS, so we compromised and said she could get them pierced when she asked (but I couldn't prod her).  She has been asking for earrings since she was 2.  I would tell her that she couldn't wear them though because her ears weren't pierced and she would just say that when she was older she wanted to get them pierced.  Tyler somehow finally decided that he liked the idea and HE was the one to ask her if she wanted to get them pierced.  We were at Fashion Fair Mall and she wanted to go into Clair's and Daddy asked...she was ready and she picked out these cute little Rainbow Daisy earrings.  She even lets me do her hair now without a fuss so you can see her ears.  Just in time for Santa to bring her some earrings in her stocking!!!

I got Legos from my husband for our anniversary...

11 years of wedded bliss. Ok, so maybe actually more like 8! Just kidding. Tyler and I celebrated our 11th anniversary last night, even though it is actually today. Money is tight because we are trying to be good and live within a budget and get and stay out of debt, so we had to be thoughtful and creative this year.

Tyler is a drummer, which I think is pretty hot. He asked me a few weeks ago if I thought he was ever cool. I told him no, but that was ok because I loved him and had fun with him, he didn't need to ever be "cool". Well, I have been wanting to get him another drum set since he got rid of his last one about 5 years ago. I knew it was definately not financially feasable at this time. I heard Melissa Bogle talking about her husbands new drum set and my wheels started turning. I told her that if he was getting rid of his old drum set I might be interested in buying it. That night I was like, "What am I thinking, even if he was only asking $100 bucks I really couldn't do it, Ty would be mad." Melissa's husband Darrin found me at church and told me that we could have it. I asked him how much and he told me he couldn't take any money for it, that it wasn't that great. I felt elated, and a little guilty, but it really was ideal, an answer to my prayers. Ty is always doing and getting great things for me and I really wanted to do something special and nice for him. He cleaned it up and I went and got it, he loaded it all up in my van for me and I brought it home! Tyler was very happy and told me that it is the nicest drum set he's ever had.

Ok, so back to my mean comment about him not being cool. I gave him a card first that said...

"Remember the other day when you asked me if you were cool and I said no? Well, I thought of something that you used to do that was cool. I know you think you aren't very good, but you are and you need a hobby and to develope your talents." That was something like part of what I wrote in his card. I really do love to watch him play the drums. It sounds good and he'll sometimes turn his hat backwards and I think he looks hot, yes, hot. I think my husband is a very good looking man and I love him dearly and I often wonder how it was that I was so fortunate to snag such a great guy.

So here he is still in his work clothes and no baseball cap of course, so he isn't looking hot here, but you can see in his face how happy he is. I did good this year, thanks Bogles!

So, Tyler was very romantic and creative this year with his gifts to me. One of them was a Lego set. Ha ha! It's true, but there is more to the story. I'll tell it with pictures, the idea is really that each gift is a substitute for what he really wanted to get me. Read the notes to really get the full story, it's cute...



This Lego set is actually one I've been wanting the boys to get. I think it's pretty cool. Hannah and Tanner Dockstader are moving in down the street from us and they came over today and helped me put it together. They have the same set at their Grandma's. It was cute how excited my kids and my kids friends have been that I got Legos.


So, we had fun. We saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 (don't take your kids unless you want them to see a bit of nudity though) and then we went to Taho Joe's so I could stay on my diet ( I did really good and I was down again this morning! I also had 3 servings of chicken left after I finished my dinner!). It was a great anniversary, Thanks also to my parents and sister for having all 4 kids overnight. We also got to sleep in, it was awesome.

November is here! segment 21, 22 and 23

I am still thankful! I have been too busy being thankful to post I guess.

I am thankful for the simple pleasures in life, a good show, a cute outfit, making a wish on a dandelion, and really cute little clips.
I am super thankful to have my wedding ring back. Tyler got it sized for me for our anniversary, I haven't been able to wear it in over 4 years. He also got one of my diamond earrings made into a necklace (thanks Bro Kennington!) I lost the match to it this summer, sniff, sniff. I think it looks even better as a necklace though. Tyler asked me not to spend money on him this year, so I gave him...homemade Andes mint cookies. They really are quite amazing. As you can tell by the look on his face, he liked them. Notice the jar Allison?

Mmmmm, I am thankful for sweets!

I am thankful that I had a wonderful weekend. Our date was fun, we had a great dinner at P.F. changs, it was my first time there and it was wonderful, they even gave us 25% off for our anniversary. We finished our Christmas shopping for the kids too. I took a picture of us to start a new tradition, pictures every year on our anniversary, that way we'll at least get one picture of us a year!

I am thankful for Family Home Evening, especially the ones like tonight that make me feel like we have perfect children, at least for the moment. Peyton kept pulling Micah's head to her and cuddling him, it was very sweet.

I am thankful that I got the Van completely cleaned today and some clutter boxed up and shelves in the china cabinet cleaned off in preparation for Christmas decor! I love this season and I love Christmas decorations!!!

November is here! segment 18, 19 and 20

I am thankful that I found my missing cut out doll outfit and pattern! I will make time to sew it tomorrow so Miss P will have a doll outfit to match her own for a Christmas gift!!! I love it.

I am also thankful to be celebrating ten years (wow) with my wonderful husband Tyler. We were married in the Oakland Temple on November 20, 1999. I am so thankful for my temple marriage and how happy I have been having him as my eternal companion and my best friend. I know that all sounds rather corny but it's true.

As for November 20th, I am thankful that Tyler made it home alive and well this morning. He had to work last night, after a whole day of working and no sleep in between. The dog woke me this morning at 4am to an otherwise empty bed. No Tyler yet. He had gone into work at 6pm and should have already been home. I tried his cell phone several times and got no answer. I was sure he was lying dead somewhere, certain of it. On our 10 year anniversary too. I said several prayers and tried not to let my mind wander. I was thinking about Christmas, how to make it as normal as possible for the kids with a recently deceased father. I was thinking about all the bills Ty pays online and how some, most, don't even come in the mail, I don't even know where our life insurance information is. When something tragic happens I go into this mode where I appear very calm and I do everything I can to "handle" the situation. Anyway, after a few hours of trying my best to get more than 3 hours of sleep since we were going to be going on a date for our anniversary if in fact he wasn't dead. I wanted to not be an exhausted zombie tonight! He finally made it home, he called a bit before he made it home and I did fall asleep. The poor man worked 12 hours last night! It will at least be good to get that overtime check for the holidays! So, I am thankful that my husband is alive!!!

Anniversary Day Thoughts

Well, it is mine and Tyler's Ninth wedding anniversary. In so many ways it feels like it was just a moment ago that we were married, yet, more than that I feel that my whole life thus far has been with him. I guess in many ways it has, not that the previous 21 years don't matter for they shaped who I have become, but In a sense I feel like my life truely began 9 years ago. Happy Anniversary Ty!



I have lost the use of my laptop, so have not been uploading pictures or doing any digital scrapbooking, so sad. For some reason the battery will not charge. It isn't the battery, but maybe the power cord. Anyway. I hope to have that remedied before I go crazy, until then, all I can post are my words! All of the boys in my house are sick with strep throat. Tyler was out of town from Monday until last night and I took the boys to urgent care and spent 3+ hours there. I got some pictures that I'll hopefully be able to post sometime with the full story. There was Diarrhea and vomit and puss involved, I bet you can't wait to hear that story. I am going to the Twilight premier tonight and Tyler is sick, so hopefully we'll celebrate tomorrow night. I had our doctor call in some antibiotics for him, so they were waiting on his nightstand for him when he got back into town. I am assuming since all 3 boys tested positive for strep and he has the same symptoms that's what it is, right? I also have to add this great quote from Boyd K. Packer (thanks Janet). I made my favorite part big, so if you don't want to read the whole thing at least read that.



"Now words can be used as weapons against you. If they throw the word diversity at you, grab hold of it and say, "I am already diverse, and I intend to stay diverse." If the word is tolerance, grab that one, too, saying, "I expect you to be tolerant of my lifestyle—obedience, integrity, abstinence, repentance." If the word is choice, tell them you choose good, old-fashioned morality. You choose to be a worthy husband or wife, a worthy parent.The whole Church may stand alone in defense of these standards. But we are not the first. Moroni, the last of his people, said: "I even remain alone. . . . I fulfil the commandment of my father."32 Do not be afraid.33When I was young and very new in my calling, I was sent east to meet with powerful, prominent officials who were blocking our work. As I left for the airport, I stopped to see President Harold B. Lee and asked, "Do you have any parting counsel?""Yes," he said, "just remember this isn't 1830, and there aren't just six of us."That erased fear. I pled our cause. The problem was resolved.Society is on a course that has caused the destruction of civilizations and is now ripening in iniquity. Civilization itself is at stake. You, our wonderful youth, are an example to untold millions of good people worldwide.I think of the joy and happiness that await you in this life and the work you are to do, and I cannot be discouraged.Peter, the Apostle who stood next to the Lord, said of you, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."34Remember this great prophecy:"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; . . . the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."35