Halloween....Schmalloween!!

It is pretty safe to say that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. I don't like costumes. They are so much hassle and expense for one dumb night. Case in point. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday. I got a few groceries (like 10 small items), candy for the ward party, decorations for my trunk (for the trunk or treat), and some final small things for the kids' costumes (we had bought the costumes in a different transaction) and I spent $127!! I have determined that it would be a much better deal for me if I just take my kids to Wal-Mart and let them each spend $20 on candy and forget all of this nonsense. I would come out WAY ahead of the game! I know what you are all thinking. How much fun would that be? And your right. There is something really cute about dressing up the kids when they are little. Not so much fun when they are Josh's age. One minute it is one thing with an investment of $30, then he wants to switch to something different with an additional investment of $20. All for $5 worth of candy! OK...I think I am done now...time to put on my happy face and talk about pumpkin carving. This is one part of Halloween I do like. This year we printed some patterns off the internet. Josh did the Frankenstein face, Neely wanted the ghost (I carved it), and I did the spider. I have to say they turned out pretty good...even if most of my spider's legs are broken! We had a great time! Carving pumpkins in Arkansas is a lot more fun than Colorado. We did it outside, and it wasn't even cold! It was actually warm inside the pumpkin....that is a far cry from fingers throbbing from the cold inside a cold Colorado pumpkin! When I was a kid, most Halloween nights were spent in your coat and boots. I'm serious! My memories of trick or treating are freezing! It was always snowing, or there was snow on the ground, or it was below 30 degrees. No wonder I don't like Halloween! I've been emotionally scarred by cold weather!


Joshua had to paint his, he said it would look scarier that way.

This is me being sad because all my legs broke!

Look at That Pretty....I Mean Naughty Little Girl!

Last Sunday Neely wore the dress that Grandma Chapman bought her for birthday. It is long sleeved and last Sunday was they first Sunday cool enough for her to wear it. (Those of you who have never lived outside Arkansas will never understand how much joy that sentence brings me! HeHeHe!!) Anyway...I wanted a picture so I could post it on the blog for grandma to see. The whole morning had not been good and Neely was in a foul mood, so it's no wonder that when I asked her to pose she gave me some attitude. So those of you who say "She is soooo cute."....I just want you to remember this moment and understand why I giggle when people tell me that. My little Neely is the "Mother's Curse" at it's finest. I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the dress Grandma...it is VERY cute!

Love Ya!

Donan

Here is the "happy" picture...notice the tears?

Here is after the "happy" picture when she didn't get her way. Gotta love her!

Evan Michael Rogers

My youngest sister had a beautiful baby boy, Evan Michael Rogers, on Tuesday. He is the 6th grandbaby for my parents and everyone is excited to have another baby in the family. Neely was the last one so it has been a while. Everyone is fine and home from the hospital in Oklahoma. Can't wait to get over there to see him. We had plans to go this weekend but Neely came down with the green nose and nasty cough, so we stayed home. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Just Another Day.....

OK....I'm feeling really bad about the fact that my life is so boring that I can't seem to think of anything to post! Hehe! Just another day in paradise....lets see....woke up....picked up....made breakfast....checked blogs and facebook...picked up again.....made lunch....picked up again....deep cleaned the laundry room, swept the floor, vacuumed....had to pick up again...Josh got home....went for my walk....talked to the neighbor...picked up again....made dinner....picked up again....and now I'm sitting wishing I had something better to post on the blog. Somone help me!

I've Been Tagged!!

I'm so excited....I've been tagged! It's my first time! But just as quickly as I became excited, I also freaked out. Coming up with things that I am good at has never been easy...it's this whole self-esteem thing. Anyway...here goes nothing!

7 Things I Can Do

1. I can see the good in almost any situation. Although I do have to be reminded to look for it when it comes to my kids.
2. I can tend to be controlling and OCD about the way I like things done.
3. I can cook and bake well as long as I have a recipe.
4. I can play the piano. (that was Josh's suggestion when I asked him)
5. I can organize and simplify any situation, no matter how chaotic.
6. I can seem unfriendly at times....but I'm not...just unsure of myself in new situations.
7. I can forgive anyone for anything...just ask my ex-husband. :)

7 Things I Cannot do

1. I cannot just turn the other cheek when I feel like something or someone is being treated unfairly.
2. I cannot just "whip something up" like my mother. There must be a recipe with exact measurements. (It's that OCD thing again!)
3. I cannot go out to the movies or out to eat alone.
4. I cannot sew. Little repairs, sure...building something from a pattern...forget it.
5. I cannot sleep at night without the ceiling fan on.
6. I cannot sleep at night if I can feel the stubble on my legs....or sleep in socks!
7. I cannot make a decision about what to do about the upcoming election. (uh-oh...did I really just mention politics?)

7 Things that Attracted me to JC

1. He was too shy to ask me out...so I asked him.
2. His size...he made me feel safe...and small :)
3. He was like a lost puppy. He was driving truck at the time and always drove into the dairy I worked at looking all dirty and tired. It made me want to take him home, give him a bath, and feed him.
4. It mattered to him what I thought and how I felt.
5. We could sit and talk for hours and never get bored with each other. He would be on the road and we would actually talk for hours after 9:00 pm (cause our cells would be free) while he drove to some place I had never heard of.
6. His drive and desire for the things he wanted in life, and his desire to take care of me and Josh.
7. He wanted to have children and start a family. (he was 41 when we met)

7 Things I Say Most Often

1. Are you kidding???
2. Whatever!
3. Love you!
4. Josh, knock it off!
5. Neely, knock it off!
6. Where's the phone? or Where's my cell phone?
7. Has anyone seen my keys?

7 Celebrity Admiration's

1. Bill Cosby for making fun of everyday life with kids
2. Oprah Winfrey for the good things she does in the world
3. I don't know....Judge Judy for keepin' it real...LOL
4. Sheesh these are hard....
5. Tina Fay, for her flawless and hilarious impression of Sarah Palin...LOL
6. OK...now I'm just crackin' myself up!
7. I like Ellen Degeneres too.... I agree with Janae'....that woman is funny!

7 Favorite Foods

1. Fresh baked bread
2. Tres Leche Cake
3. GOOD Ice Cream...not the cheap stuff
4. Any kind of pastry
5. Crab Legs
6. BBQ (only the good stuff)
7. Funeral Potatoes

7 People I Tag

1. Are you kidding? I don't even know 7 people with blogs!!
2. Jen Rogers
3. Lindsee Shipp
4. Misty Gifford
5. Michelle Cannon
6. Veda Charlton
7. That's it...cause I bet Celeste and Maureen don't even remember who I am!

Retakes....Definately

Joshua brought home his school pictures yesterday afternoon. I was shocked when he handed them to me, they were actually......GREAT! I thought to myself for a very long time about how good they had turned out. It is a much different process now than when I was a kid. You can pick your background color and your pose. Preparing for the worst, we picked a nice shirt with some blue pinstripes and the blue background with a normal pose. With boys there is no need to spend all night fussing over their hair and stuff like that like we did when we were kids. That morning I sent him out the door to have his 6th grade school pictures taken that are, by all rules of nature, supposed to be horrible. Isn't that right? It is like an unwritten right of passage that all of your school pictures, right up till your JR yr of high school are supposed to be awful. That way your senior pictures, as you go into the big, bright world, are fabulous. It's planned that way so when they bring home friends and prospective mates later in life, you can embarass them to death by pulling out the school pictures. I really feel like I got ripped off here! So on that note, we will be doing picture retakes....I need a full arsenal of bad pictures for when he is older!

Enjoy! And no, I'm not REALLY going to make him do retakes....but I do think I got ripped off!

Love Ya!