Wax Museum

I just got back from the Elementary School. I have been spending a lot of time there this week! Today the 5th grade did a Wax Museum. Each student picks a person that changed America. They write a report, then dress up and bring a prop to school.

It is pretty fun to go and see what everyone comes up with. The students have to sit perfectly still for fifteen minutes while parents and students in other grades walk around looking at all the displays. They all get a five minute break every 15 minutes.

Spencer decided to do his report on Abraham Lincoln. We couldn't find a top hat anywhere, so I made one out of sturdy paper. I also had to make his bowtie and beard (he didn't want to wear face paint.) He wore Brandon's suit which was much too big for him. I assured him that was fine because Abraham Lincoln's suits were usually loose fitting because he was so thin!

Here is Spencer as Abraham Lincoln:

A Quick Summary

I have been so busy for the last week that I have totally neglected this blog. Here are a few highlights from the past ten days:

Tyler finished up his five weeks of "Little Hoopsters" basketball. He was the only 2nd grader in his group, so he was totally the all-star of the team. We had no idea he had such "mad basketball skills". Seriously, I think he was the only one on his team tall enough to make a basket. And he's not exactly tall for his age. It was fun to watch him dribbling the ball across the court and shootin' hoops. I think he may have a promising career. ;)

Wes found out he does not need surgery. HOORAY!!! He will be wearing this brace for 3 more weeks. He has to do physical therapy on his thumb six times a day. (I know you are laughing at that, aren't you. Admit it.)

I made homemade play-doh with Justin. It was a huge hit and has kept him away from the tv entertained him for several hours over the past few days. And I have not even found any ground into the carpet anywhere. Bonus! I posted the recipe here if you want to try it.

Wes let the boys stay up too late watching a Jazz game. I went downstairs, busted all of them, and snapped this photo to use as blackmail.

I spent the weekend in Southern Utah helping my mom clean my Aunt Dorthy's house. She is not in the best health and can't get around very well. I didn't take any pictures of this, and trust me, you wouldn't want to see them. You can all thank me later.

I opened up a new Etsy store because the ebay fees are getting really outrageous. This is one of my favorites listed right now:

I have spent the majority of the last three days at the Elementary School my boys attend. I am the co-chair for the Book Fair and it is running this week.

The Couch Wasn't Really Meant to Sti on, Was It?

My boys are expert fort builders. They love taking all of the cushions off the living room couch, hauling them somewhere else, and using them to make forts. Sometimes they line them up across the bottom of the bunk bed, but usually they choose the family room as their building site. Then they will sit in the fort and play games, read, or eat snacks that they sneak from the pantry while I am busy on the computer cleaning the house.

They will leave it up for hours. They enter it just often enough that I think they are still having fun with it and not ask them to put it away. They kind of have me figured out, the little geniuses. Eventually though, it does need to be torn down. Because at some point we need to be able to walk through the family room. Or sit on the couch. Or both.

But it is fun while it lasts! And I love it when they use their imaginations and play creatively.

I Was Always Slow at Tag

My cousin Monica tagged me awhile ago and it has taken me forever to get all these answers typed up. Sorry Monica, I wasn't trying to ignore you. Really. I'm just slow.

Tagged Lucky 7's and Crazy 8's

7 Things I Can Do...
1-Cook-It’s a good thing I enjoy it because I have five males at my house and at any given time at least one of them is hungry.
2-Scrapbook- Yes, I am a little too addicted to this. But it’s for posterity, so it’s OK, right. Please say yes.
3-Make people laugh. (But I’m not always sure if they’re laughing with me or laughing at me.)
4-Quilt/sew
5-Speak in Public
6-Read really fast (and it’s a good thing because once I start a good book I have a hard time putting it down.)
7-Counted cross stitch

7 Things I Cannot Do...
1-Math
2-Anything that requires any athletic ability. I swear that sometimes I can barely walk without falling down.
3-Play the piano. (Even though I took lessons for years. I stink at all things musical.)
4- Grow a successful garden.
5-Find my way around while driving. I am totally directionally impaired!
6-Go to bed without checking to make sure all the doors are locked.
7-Keep my house clean.

7 Things That Attracted me to Wes
1-His kindness to everyone, not just the popular cool people.
2-His total commitment to the gospel.
3-The way he looked playing flag football. (I know it’s shallow, but it’s the truth.)
4-Amazing blue eyes.
5-The way he treated me.
6- Listening to him sing at the nursing home on Sunday afternoons.
7-He was so much fun to be around.

7 Things I say Most Often...
1- "Don’t make me come over there." (This is actually a joke between me and my kids.)
2- "I love your stinkin’ guts!"
3- "Who left these cars/pokemon cards/legos on the floor!?!?"
4- "Turn that dang TV/computer off!!!"
5- "Have a good day. I love you."
6- "Wes, are you ready to come up yet?" (When I’m ready for bed and he’s in the basement.)
7- "Wash your hands!" I am a little bit of a germ freak.

7 Favorite Foods...
1-Cheesecake
2-Salad
3-Halibut
4-Homemade breads (I could never go on the Atkin’s diet)
5-Ice cream
6-Mexican
7-Italian

CRAZY 8'S

8 TV Shows I Like To Watch...
1-Good Things Utah
2-Studio 5
3-Old Re-Runs of Shows I watched as a kid
4-Decorating Shows in HGTV
Sorry that’s all. I don’t really get into TV, I only watch when I am on the treadmill.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday...
1-We got our first snowfall.
2-I finally got some scrapbook pages done.
3-I tried out my new watercoloring marker (and loved it!)
4-I started reading Levin Thumps (Brandon has been asking me to for a few weeks.)
5-I played several rounds of tic tac toe with Justin, then played with play-doh.
6-My neighbor played a prank on me.
7-I made dinner and fudge bars to take to Mia-Maids.
8-I went to a Young Women’s activity

8 Favorite Places To Eat...
1-Magleby’s Fresh- Love the Halibut and soup, and it is cheap.
2-Coldstone Creamery- nuff said
3-Bajio-love the Green Chili Chicken Salad!
4-Francesco’s —awesome manicotti and bread sticks to die for!
5-My own kitchen
6-At a friend’s house
7-PF Chang’s-love the lettuce wraps and pretty much everything I’ve tried there.
8-Octavio’s Italian Restaurant

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To...
1-Warmer weather this weekend
2-Getting my hair cut, it’s driving me nuts
3-Learning how to do digital scrapbooking (my friend’s teaching a class in Jan.)
4-Thanksgiving
5-Christmas
6-Scrapbooking with my friend Lori this afternoon.
7-Wes coming home from work tonight (we actually have a free evening-yeah!)
8-Putting up all my new fall decorations.

8 Things On My Wish List...
1-A baby girl
2-Photoshop 7
3-Siding on our shed
4-A new scrapbook cutter
5-A clean house
6-Replacing the shower in our master bathroom
7-A baby girl (I know I wrote this twice, but we think twins would be fabulous!)

8 People I Tag...
1-Lori
2-Amber
3-Kelly
4-Tami
5-Crystal (Sorry, I don’t know anyone else who blogs that hasn’t already been tagged.)

My First Book Recommendation

Since I love reading and know what a challenge it can be to find good clean books, I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. I am in a Book Club with several ladies in the neighborhood and I love it. First of all I love to read. I also like to socialize. And eat yummy food. Book Club gives me all three at once--Bonus! Several of my favorite books are ones we have read. Here is the first:

"A Sweetness to the Soul," by Jane Kirkpatrick We read this about 3 years ago and it is still one of my all time favorites. I liked it so much that I actually purchased it. It is about a pioneer woman Jane Sherar and her husband Joseph. The book is fiction but the Sherars are a real pioneer couple that lived in Oregon. Jane overcomes many hardships and trials with the help of a loving husband and her strong faith. This book is so uplifting, I just can't say enough good about it!

Note: I also read "Love to Water My Soul" which is the story of one of the characters in this book, and I loved it too.

Football Fanatic

Spencer just finished up his flag football season. He had a blast! They started the season earlier this year which was a little stressful because it overlapped with the end of soccer season. But man it is sure nice to be done before the weather gets nasty. In years past we went to games in the snow and it was downright miserable. Call me crazy, but I prefer not to become a human popsicle.

Anyway, I didn't get many good pictures, but here are a few:
Spencer is a total sports fanatic so now that football is over, he has moved right on to basketball. He and Brandon are waking up at 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays to play ball at the church with Wes and a few of the other totally crazy dedicated boys and dads in our ward.

Pumpkin Carving

Carving pumpkins is one of our favorite Halloween traditions. The boys love searching through patterns to find the perfect jack-o-lantern to carve. This year was no exception. Because Wes still has his hand in a cast, I got the fun job of scooping out all the slimy guts this year. I think the smell actually bothers me more than the sliminess though. Peeeuuu!

I thought all of you would like to see a few pictures of our completed pumpkins.

Tyler carved a spider (with the help of Wes.)

Spencer carved a pirate skull (with a little help from mom.)

Justin poked the holes for the dinosaur pattern and mom did the actual carving:

Brandon carved a witch using a crystal ball. Sorry, I didn't get the best picture of this one.

Now we just need to get some candles so we can actually light them on Halloween night. If they last that is. It was so hot today that they are already looking kind of shriveled up. Not that I'm complaining, I am loving this wonderful weather!