volleyball

Mars was on the 9th grade Volleyball team this year.
I had no idea she could play volleyball! But she was awesome!!!
And the games were really fun to watch.
We're thinking about club volleyball............

I just don't know why the shorts have to be so short!

Halloween 2009

We had the Bakers with us for Halloween this year, so it was extra fun!
Brian was stoked to have a buddy to help him out with the "haunted house" , which was a little scarier this year I think.
I was a lame Halloween mom & didn't get dressed up. I'm so ashamed. I'll have to make up for it next year.
So this is what Halloween 2009 looked like.............

Then off to the Neighborhood Block Party..............

My favorite costumes of the night..........Tina Turner & Prince........formerly known as Tommy & Leigh. They were awesome!

Til next year, Haunted House!

Happy Halloween!!!

Odds & Ends

I'm back. Time to participate in life again. And feeling so behind in everything I'm afraid I'll never catch up! But SOOOOooooo glad to be feeling better. I'm not even wishing for a miscarriage anymore!

Luckily, I haven't felt like picking up my camera much lately, so I don't have a ton of photos I'm behind on.......but here's some of the latest...................

Gus has been learning to put his clothes on by himself.............

Cousin Brock got married to Liz..............

......and had a beautiful open-house at the Z's.

And 16-year-old cousin Melia made the cake! SO AMAZING MEL!!!

And then it was October break.

We decided to stay here & look after the neighborhood while everyone else went to Disneyland.

So we did some fun projects like cleaning out the pantry & the garages..........

Max found a PoGo stick in the garage that nobody's touched for years, and he's hardly been off it since! He can now bounce over 1000 times without stopping.......with no hands!!!I'm not kidding. He's got some skillz.

Zane after a long morning of DS-playing.......

The kids would just fend for themselves while I did more of this..........
And that was how our October break went.

It was a dream come true.

This poor kitty.............

She gets more 'love' than she can handle.

Jake portrayed Paul McCartney for a school assignment.........

They were awesome.

AND we've all managed to escape the swine flu so far!

So now I need to go throw Halloween together!!!

I'm not a whole lot of fun these days.

And I just don't have time for this right now.

I can't help but mourn my old life.
As I walked around our Elementary School going to my kids' Parent Teacher Conferences....... in sweats, no make-up & bra-less..........I'd see other moms with their hair curled & wearing cute shoes & probably coming from getting a bunch of errands done & going to lunch with friends...........and I got so depressed!

And mad at Brian.

This is all his fault.

Something new with this pregnancy........now when I'm throwing up, I pee my pants at the same time! Fun.

10 weeks. Only 30 weeks to go!

Jake's 12th Birthday

We thought we'd surprise Jake this year for his birthday with something fun, to help him get over the fact that he wasn't getting Halo.......or the XBox 360 that it requires........I think he really thought we were just trying to trick him & that on his birthday morning he'd wake up to find that one and only thing he wanted with a big shiny bow..........
I already have four boys. The last thing I need is more violence in my home, so I draw the line!
So, totally last-minute, we thought it would be fun to rent a limo to pick him & some friends up after school for a little surprise party........

So this is what Jake saw on his way home from school.

Later he told me when he came around the corner & saw this, he thought he was in trouble, like the CIA was after him or something. So funny.

It was a great surprise. Jake loved it.

So did Zane.

They drove around the neighborhood for a little bit, then went to Sonic for slushies.

Then headed to Brian's office where we had cake & icecream & sucked alot of helium.

I think I might have all my kids birthday parties at the office. My house doesn't get messed up and there's an endless supply of balloons & helium & cookie dough & Guitar Hero.

Brilliant.

These poor, shy, awkward girls.............

....I was hoping they would feel comfortable enough, ya know, with all these boys........

.......to come out of their shells a little & have some fun.......

And I think Jake actually forgot about Halo for a couple of hours.

Happy Birthday Jake!!!

I can't believe you're 12 already!

pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting

I had a few requests for this, so here ya go!

pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting

Cream together:

2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup Crisco

Add:

16 0z. pumpkin
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Combine, then add to pumpkin mixture:

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. nutmeg

Drop by spoonful on lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake about 12 minutes in 350-degree oven.
Cool, frost, and top with mini chocolate chips.


frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese (at room temp.)
1/2 cup butter (at room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine with electric mixer til smooth.

The Throes

Aahhhh. The throes of morning sickness.

I would honestly much rather deal with any traumatic bodily injury than this.

This never goes away. Except when I'm dead asleep. So that's what I strive to be doing as much as possible.

I've tried EVERYTHING, from prescriptions to Sea-Bands to Dramamine to all forms of ginger and nothing works. Well, if it does work it's because it's knocked me out & then Gus is on the loose with no supervision, which has definitely happened & it's not a pretty sight when I come to.

Why the H - E - double-toothpicks did I think I needed to do this???
Like I really need more kids?
Like I really need to ruin my body a sixth time?


Each day seems to drag on forever in my misery.


And then I realized......this is one way to solve the time-flying-by-too-quickly problem. Be sick & pregnant.

Right now I'd much rather have time blissfully flying by in a whirl of activity.
Why do we always want what we can't have?!


I know I'm Wendy Whiner right now, but this is my journal & I need to get it out.


It's not like I haven't been through this before.
I've been sick with each pregnancy. I just seem to forget how bad it is until I'm in it again.


So a few weeks ago, after I found out, I set out to get as much holiday stuff done before it hit.


I tried to sqeeze in as much fall cooking (which I normally love) as I could before I can't stand to even set foot in the kitchen.

That includes these babies. I am Mother-of-the-Year when I make these. My kids heart them so.

I got the Halloween decor going......

I got most of the Halloween costumes all set.

Except mine.

My original plan was to be Disco Roller Derby Chick. On rollerskates. Don't think that's going to happen this year.

I even got a lot of Christmas figured out and ordered.

Good thing.

Since now I'm a useless slug in Pukeville.

Here's to October, probably my favorite month, flying on by.

late-start fun

Mars invited some friends over on late-start Wednesday to do each other's hair & wear each other's clothes & shoes & jewelry............which led to a little photoshoot.......

What happened to the Junior High Awkward & Ugly Stage might I ask?

The one that I definitely went through???

There's no awkward or ugly here.

Only lovely. And fun!

still swimming!

Although it's usually Gus & Brian, when he has a day off work, since the other kids are in school all day. I'm a little lazy about getting in the pool these days.

Brian is SO CUTE swimming with Gus.

He makes up all these games.......like Torpedo, and Shark, and Timber Tree (as seen below), where Gus 'chops down the tree' (Brian's neck), then they fall like a tree into the water.

He's such a cute dad!!

And such a cute little guy.......who we need to stop calling 'baby'........why is that so hard to do?

a little news.......

And this was my first thought.........

This never happens.....

Yesterday my laundry basket was completely empty.

So I had to document this rare & very fleeting moment.

Because this probably won't ever happen again.

It lasted about 4 minutes.

kittylove

Who knew we would all find such enjoyment & entertainment & excitement to get up each morning to check on the kittybabies to see if their eyes are opened yet?

Well, all of us except Brian, who's never been a fan of cats, & never misses an opportunity to express it.
When we were discussing what to name them, Brian suggested Dead, Dead, & Deader. So mean.


We love them to death!
Gus tells me at least 300 times a day that "Mom, the kitties are soooo cute!"
And he's learned to be nice & soft with them.
I've taken tons of pictures of them, like a mom with a new baby. So pathetic I know!
We're so in kittylove!

I mean, how could we not?? Look at that face!