The deal of the day...

I've got the deal of the day for some of you! If you go to alumni.byu.edu and scroll down to the "savings" icon on the lower right hand side, you can sign up for some serious savings. They have everything from shopping to travel, to movie tickets and Disneyland. It's amazing and it took me a few seconds to sign up. I found instant discount codes for places like Target and the Buckle. The only snag is, you have to be a BYU alumnus. For some of you that's no problem (that includes your husband people) but for others-- sorry no discounts. Check it out!

Last night was our ward Trunk or Treat. The kids have been excited about this for a really long time. We got dressed and of course almost everyone had changed their minds about what they wanted to be. The monkey and the pirate thought they looked good. The angel wanted to be a mad scientist and the spider decided his "helmet" looked stupid. We had no time for switchies so we went with two grouchies looking "weird."

My cutie crowd.

Breckyn was loving the pirate thing and really tried to play the part. We named her Arrrrrbalinda the pirate.
Although, there is nothing scary about a pirate and her dolly. Brecky saved her money and purchased this doll yesterday. It was basically glued to her side the whole day.
Here is my cute and scary spider. He picked this costume himself and they decided he didn't like it about two minutes before we left. Go figure!

He says he gets to be the pirate next year. Every time I looked at him I couldn't help giggling because he looks so cute! (...but totally scary too)
Breckyn helped me decorate our trunk. It looked better in the dark. We had scary halloween lights and lots of spiders. Breckyn made them herself with a lot of googly eyes and yarn. It was her dream night to be able to show off her craft skills.


They were all hyped and ready to go. Happy Halloween!

Rugs was in charge of treats for family night and he picked brownies. Although, I think he was mostly interested in licking the bowl. They were enjoyed by all.

Twin Dudes...

I tricked my two guys into matching today. They couldn't be more alike if they try. I get a kick out of how much Rugs is like Tim. So I thought I dress them in one of their favorite fabrics-- corduroy.

So handsome!
Mini me...

Here is that fiery personality I just love.
Beans got caught red handed getting gum today. Nothing new, but now we have hard evidence. (she looks guilty if you ask me...)

Family Night Pumpkins...

Tonight was our annual family night pumpkin carving. We headed out to Pearce's Farm and picked out a few beauties. I had the kids draw on their faces and we cut them out for them.

They just love this.
Em wasn't so sure about scooping out his pumpkin's brains.
Rugs was loving it. The grosser the better.
Z took the longest to design her special face. She hovered over me to make sure I cut it just right. Nothin' like a little pressure.
B was very thorough at getting every last string and seed out of her pumpkin.
The big unveiling.

From Left to right.... Breckyn, Rugby, Zoey and Emerson. Happy Halloween.

Hat Day...

This week is "Say No to Drugs" week and the school has a theme each day for the kids to remember to say no. Today was "put a cap on drugs" wear your favorite hat to school. The girls were seasoned veterans and helped Rugs prepare for a week of fun.

Rugs picked out a matching hat and shirt combo. Although, he was a little shy about it once we got to school. He wouldn't wear it because a lot of kids in his class forgot. He's such a diva.
Em was just proud to be the newest owner of this Tony Hawk shirt. Rugs grew out of it and Em thinks it's the coolest shirt ever!
B went with a pink combo.
Z had the matching stripe theme. It was a jazzed morning full of excitement. Tomorrow-- "give drugs the slip" wear slippers. I sure can't wait for that one....

rearrange the rearrange...

Well, it's been a long week and I've been working on our rearrange and the rearrange of our rearrange. The point is I've been switching around a lot of stuff. We have changed the front room (old news) and when we did that I got the itch to change a few more things. I wanted the downstairs to be a kid retreat while still be inviting to adults who wanted a little kid time too. I found this Amy Butler fabric on etsy.com and I just loved it. I ordered it and got a smokin' deal. I sewed some curtains and a few pillows to spice up the room.

I'd add a few more pictures but the legos were exploded downstairs and I didn't want you to have to stare at the mess too. We also moved Tim's office from downstairs to the exercise room. (weight set gone and treadmill upstairs in our room) That leaves me a room downstairs to play with. It currently has built-in book cases and a closet with real potential. I'm toying with the idea of making it a guest bedroom with a corner table to house my sewing machine. Tim wants me to make it into a permanent craft room because we don't get many visitors. So what do you think?

Product Pushing...

I'm here to fill your brains one more time with products I love. I just recently tried this new product from "Scrubbing Bubbles" (I love those guys!). Its these gel clings for your toilet. I was hoping for something to keep my bathrooms from smelling like kid pee. I am a clean freak and I have tried many options. This has been the best and the safest so far. The gel clings to your toilet for a whole week. It releases a little bit of cleaner every time you flush leaving your potty with a fresh scent.
You just take the cap off and click the tube in your toilet bowl and wah lah, you have a stink free potty. If you have any sort of male gender using your potty-- you so need this! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have!

The big unveiling...

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for... the big room unveiling. Here is the room before the rearrange but after the alleged karate chop...

This is the new rearrange. You'll notice the over sized TV was Tim's contribution to the new room. Thanks babe.

This is the wall I wasn't sure about. Then I found this beauty 50% off at World Market--- SCORE!
I also added this cool metal thing from Pier 1. Cheri, note art work off to the left. (thanks)
Here is Tim's new baby. Isn't she pretty? This room was a complicated rearrange that extended down into the basement. I'm not quite done with that. I've ordered some fabric and I'll post some pictures when it's finished.

Sweet deliciousness....

This is all that is left of my latest creation. Betty Crocker emails me to try out her latest recipes. Well, I got this one and I had to try it. I tweaked it of course to make it just how I like it. It was divine. Sometimes her ideas aren't the best (don't tell her I said anything...), but with a few adjustments, it was awesome. Here's the goods....

Make one yellow or white cake mix and follow the directions. (I like to use the Pillsbury "pudding in the mix" kind.) Then add 2 tsps. of almond extract to your mix. Bake as directed and let cool.

For the frosting....
(this one is my secret super good amazing recipe changed to almond)

2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 milk
2 tsp. almond extract

(depending on your thickness preference you can play with the powdered sugar or milk)


I kid you not, this is really good stuff. I got good reviews from the entire family (which is saying a lot). If you don't like almond you can use a different extract to change the taste. I recommend orange, lemon or raspberry and then add some food coloring to let people know what flavor is coming. I did a bundt but any pan will work. Enjoy!

Emerson and Chloe are the best of friends these days. They are both totally into the DS. Here they are quite involved in their game together.
I had to do some serious prodding just to get Beans to look up.
In other news... you should know that Rugby has been exploring his options for Halloween. We bought the most hilarious outfit for him this weekend. I'll have you know that it satisfied both his desire to be scary and my need for him to look cute. You'll have to wait and see just how great it's going to be. (hint: it's not the french fries)

We got a little rain over the weekend. Whenever there is the slightest sign of water, the boys whip out their sloshies and umbrellas.

Someone is turning into a bit of a drama queen...
See what I mean?
...and this guy has been a goober from the start. He is such a mush ball full of lovies. He makes me giggle.

life is moving fast...

I know it's been a while but, life is moving quickly around here. Since Tim's surgery, I've had to pick up the pace and fill in some gaps. Tim is recovering well and helping out with everything he can. He goes back to work on Monday and hopefully things will settle down a little bit for our family.

The kids are keeping busy with lots of crafts...
Em is still our little goober keeping life exciting and funny.
Breckyn is getting to be a little lady. She is questioning everything about the world around her. Having to explain every decision I make to a little person really makes me think about my reasoning for lots of things. She makes my mind swirl way too often.
This is a sneaky peak at how I changed around the front room. Details in a post to come...
Tim is doing quite well. Thank you for your prayers and concerns.

Rugs...

This big boy has just flourished in Kindergarten. He was itching to get into school and now that he is there he is drinking it all in. They have started to learn to read and write. He could already write a lot of letters but now he has confidence in his spelling and writing. Most of my time with him is spent spelling words for him. His artwork is being churned out by the minute. I know I've already been through this twice but it never ceases to amaze me how much they learn and grow in their first year of school.
They are doing "I like..." sentences and "I see..." sentences. He has drawn pictures of all of us using his "I like..." stuff. It's pretty cute.

play days...

This is what my days are starting to shape into. Em and I get to do some fun things together. Yesterday we decided to meet some friends at the park. He was trying to get the most out of his slide rides.
This is his new favorite T-shirt. He picked it out himself because, "boys rule and girls drool." (according to him at least)
Jo and Chloe showed up...
Then we had a chance meeting with our cousins. We never get to see them and we both just happened to go to the park and the same time. The weird part about it is, Bob and Tom live in Portland, and Heather recently returned from China. You could say, they aren't park regulars here in Elkhorn. It was so fun to see them and catch up on things. Our random meeting totally made our day.