The Great Pumpkin Carving Adventure

This was our pumpkin patch this year....."Albertsons"......
I told Kindra not to climb all over the hay or we would have to call her the "itchy-bod-crane" but she would not listen and sure enough, she was complaining of an itchy butt all night! I tried to warn her.....
This was what they wanted for their FHE treat....

Once again, Kindra teasing...

Now, do you see how simple our pumpkins are?!? It is called "exhaustion at 9 pm"!!!
Do you see the black mess all over Carter's face? That is what was left over from the black spider cake! Too funny!

Overall one of those nights when it makes being a parent very worth it. You think back on your own childhood memories and hope that you are making some that your kids will never forget or regret! I got all excited today when I went and bought the "Halloween makeup and white hair spray" that will go with their costumes! I realized just how big my kids are getting and how important these activities are and that I don't want to regret not ever doing enough.....
That is one thing that I will never forget about my own family. My parents were always doing something so that we could have a memory we could always look back on! Thanks Mom and Dad! I hope that my kids will be able to say the same!

EDWARD AND BELLA......

This years prize for the "BEST PUMPKIN CARVING" contest goes to Jaime Blaisdell for her carving of Edward and Bella! I mean honestly, how awesome is this!!! I made her email me the pic so I could share it with those who may not see her blog. Way to go Jaime (and Craig if he had any help in this) :)

What Carter does, Kindra does as well!

Carter told Kindra to pay attention and practice her balance!!! He is the pro now!

Look Mom, I am riding in the leaves and sticks!
....and she's off!
The kids are alive and came home from their journey with a lot of energy so what better way to exhaust them??? Can we say BIKE RIDE and so thats just what we did. No lie! The kids have grown this one week and they look bigger and it was so fun to have them back home. Don't get me wrong...there were a few moments of selfish panic but silently counting to 10 sure helped that patient, calm mom come back in full force! FHE will bring the pumpkin carving event of a lifetime so look out and see what surprises we'll bring!?! hehehe

Had to end on a good note!

November 03...boys and girls...I know that you can hardly wait!

Just another shout out to my new love of tv watching to.....Greys Anatomy...and November 03 is the premier for The Amazing Race 12 for all of you competitive freaks out there just like me!!

Can anyone HELP me FIND my BRAIN?!?

I will be the first to admit when I have.a problem and I have a very big problem. With my brain and its getting worse! Now this could just be the result of being a parent and talking to kids all day ... oh, but wait, I don't! I talk, or at least try to talk, with adults all day and when I am with my kids I still try to talk to them like they are min-adults

Obviously I am doing something right when it comes to my "career". I am not the boss or anything but to be honest, I am ok with that because that takes the accountability off of me and allows me to have other things in my life and to be a mom. This "brain" problem does not arise all of the time but today it became more apparent.

I was talking with a client today who was telling me about his brother who has MS and it is beginning to affect his mental capacity. His brother said as hard as having this disease was, the part that made it the hardest was the fear and the realization that he was losing his mind.

As I was driving back to the office it made me think about my own mind and what it used to be. I always had the best memory, knew where I had placed everything so that I could find it later, could articulate every word into proper sentences, could remember conversations that I had had with people/clients etc etc .

It was still bothering me when I got back to the office and so I went to "bitch" with Jeff for a little while. As our conversation continued, I busted out a "He doen't speak good" and immediately out came the words from Jeff lips "well not good"...oops...there came out another one. "I know", I said. " I am having a hard time getting the correct words out of my brain to my lips. It sounds proper and correct in my brain but when its time to come out verbally, they get all messed up. Like somethings not connecting".

It actually makes me very sad because I am not an unintelligent person and I know exactly what to say and do when it comes to the "marketing and advertising lingo". The thought of people looking at me like I am some stupid chick who just comes from American Fork High School.....boo hoo!

I have a hard time communicating when I get all worked up and things just never come out the correct way! I am just frustrated but I am also in agreeance with the man who is fearful of truly losing his mind. I realized that is my biggest fear also because the thought of not being a capable mother to my kids and especially to not be able to be there with Carter with the special needs that he has.

Oh, I will also apologize for all of the times that I have said "anyways" because there is no "s" on the end...it is just simply "anyway". All I ask is for you to all bear with me and to understand this kind of problem that I have and realize that I am not a great author like the rest of your blogs that I read are! I can also state for the record "DAMN THE BRAIN INJURY"!

Again, let me say that I know that it could be worse and that the grass is not always greener on the other side but its nice to sometimes think so! Didn't mean to have this become the downer blog but its just been on my mind today and so I just needed to vent a little.....

When I got home I was so happy to see that my trees are finally changing colors and they look gorgeous. I still can't believe that in 5 days it will be November. This year has flown by and I hope that I have not missed out too much on my family events :) ANYWAY, have a great night, great sleep, and for those of you who are married, think of us poor single people who are not getting any and feel just a little bad for us, ok! :(

I TOLD you that I would post the pics Lyssa

My sister Lyssa lives in San Antonio, Texas and so she has not been able to see the remodels that were done to the "dark tomb" aka the basement of our childhood so here they are....

I purchased my grandfather's home 2 years ago so until then, there had not been any remodeling done to the home since 1985. I will never be able to look at wallpaper again without vomiting! The basement was finished but the walls were covered in that dark brown paneling so that is where the "name" comes from. That was the first thing that had to go!

We were always scared to go down to the back bedroom, now my craft room, because there was a llama hide hanging on the wall that my uncle had brought back from his mission. Just think how scary that would have been for an 8 year old to see hanging in a dark, cold, and smelly room!! It is still a family joke and I sometimes even forget that they are the same rooms. I wish that I would have taken a before and after picture because its amazing how different they are.

It's nothing special but I finally have my very own "craft" room to leave as messy as I want!!

If only my Fantasy could become my Reality

These are the best pics that I could get to put on to show you all how hot he is but "yum" is all I can say!

I love ANGEL....David Boreanaz!

I know that I am way behind when it comes to the love for the book "Twilight" and the sequels that follow but I just finished reading it this afternoon and words, both good and bad, can not describe the way that I feel. I am psychologically damaged enough as it is but I think that I have taken it to a new level. If only....

When the tv series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the series"Angel" came out I was 21 ish and in college and was way too busy to be committed to the tv. It was not until we were living back at my parents home and I had insomnia that I became obsessed with these shows. I became madly in love with Angel and the type of man/vampire that he represented. It made me even more determined to find this wonderful man who had all of these perfect and wonderful attributes, to come and sweep me off my feet.

The problem is.....I am still waiting and so when I read books like the "Twilight" or watch "Angel" or "The Bachelor", as giddy and happy as they make me, it also makes me a bit sad because that is what I want and that is what I have always been told that I deserve!

FIIIIIINE...I sound like a whiny boob and not all "adultish" and mature like the rest of you. And I know that there really is not one man who is perfect and do they all have faults...I know but it is nice to pretend every once in a while and to live in the fantasy bubble!

I loved, loved, loved this book and could not put it down and I have all ready picked up "New Moon" so no one had better ruin it for me. One day I will catch up so that I can be included in the book talk!

I like to hope that maybe the legend of the vampire is one of "those" things that we might not yet fully understand. RIIIIIGHT!!!

PS - I STILL LOVE ANGEL!

Maybe THIS is what my problem has been!?!

I have kind of been in a funk this week and I don't know why?!? It could be a number of reasons. None of which are important enough to write about tonight because I am just way too tired to think about them. I did, however, have time today to stop by Anthropologie and I found this book as I was looking around. Seeing that I have an inner "franglais quebecois" (minus a few accents) I decided to purchase it! I will let you know how it all turns out and if it helps my funk at all---

Kindra and Jack....together forever!

Kindra is a true die hard and so we went and saw "The Nightmare Before Christmas" last night in 3D. She has been talking about it all week so there was no way around it! It is a very amusing movie but is quite morbid and I even found myself thinking..."Why did you let your innocent daughter watch this dark movie"?!? The things that I sometimes do!!

Carter was not into it and those unfortunate autistic traits were coming out but Kindra was singing along as loud as she could! It was way cute and she is such a little lady!

As we were leaving she started yelling with excitement.."Jack! Jack! Mom, its Jack" Sure enough there was Jack! Well, a little Jack so we haaaad to take a picture!

By the Way...If you have any thoughts or advice...PLEASE send them my way!

"Oh My Hell!!"

I took the afternoon off today to spend some quality time with my kids for a "family field trip". Carter was very surprised when I showed up to check him out which helped confirm my greatest fear...that I am slacking when it comes to my parenting skills. Not that my kids and I have some horrible relationship but I miss them and I miss being there for them 24/7. I miss doing Kindra's hair in the morning and I miss helping out with Carter's field trips and I miss all of the things that I am missing out on. I want to be the stay at home mom who has the part time job that she has fun doing. I am blessed with my current career but I don't love it anymore. I am realizing that there are more important things than the money, and the shopping, and the house, and the car, and the lazy lifestyle that I have gotten used to.

Now is this because we always want what we can't have? It's a good possibility. This desire could last for 1 week once I see that I am too used to my independence, used to my parenting job as being the part time job. I sure hope not because as lacking as I am...they are my life and they will be mine forever.

So the question becomes to stay or not to stay? I have always had the fear and insecurity of making decisions that I will soon one day regret. I have made some decisions in this past year that have come back to haunt me. Did I learn something along the way? Yes... but was it something that I wish I could take back? Yes.... So here I am testing out the water of being a full time mom/dad, learning how to be on a budget, learning how to cook and eat in, learning how to undo all of my bad and lazy actions. "Oh my hell" comes to mind, "what am I going to do" and "can I really give it all up"?

I bundled up the kids so that they could take advantage of the warm weather and play outside and my ADD kicked in and so I decided to do something. I grabbed the extension cord and the leaf blower and plugged it in. I forgot to add that the extension cord was as tangled as could possibly be. That was the first "oh my hell". Forget it...I am not going to even try to untangle it! Just picture this...I need my hands to maneuver and I need my hands to hold and maneuver the leaf blower so I am inching my way forward as I am wheeling over the cord and it is getting caught in my wheels. Pure comedy now but definitely not at the time! There came the second "oh my hell". But my ever so determination and self pride kicked in and I continued. I made it almost to the end of the driveway when I was pulled back with a halt. I looked back and there was the tangled cord sitting in a ball un-allowing me to move forward. Third "oh my hell". I am pissed by now but will I give up? Nope! I began to untangle and finally freed it to allow me to blow where ever I wanted to go. I did it!!!

My friend came over and asked "How did you do that?". "We are amazed at what you do"! That's all that I needed to hear to make it all worth it! It reinforced that when I am determined...when I am motivated...when I will not give up...I can do it!

This stupid event is what I needed to see to help me, to give me hope, to remind myself that I am a fighter and that I am not weak even though I forget this sometimes, alot of times. I have gone through way worse than a stupid career decision! I will make the correct decision for my family whether it be to move on or to stay on :) but sometimes we need to go through something so minuscule to reveal to us the bigger picture!

"Oh my hell"... I can do whatever I want! :)

PS I love the lawn care brand of TORO. It was dropped and thrown so many times that I thought that it would be in the trash by the end of the night. It was a trooper though and like a champ endured to the end!

PSS My new guilty pleasure is that I love the show....Grey's Anatomy and fine, ok as well as the show The Bachelor! :) It's the hopeless romantic in me I guess!

I Forgot What It Was Like To Be Young and Single...Well Kind Of?!?

Last weekend we went on a "retreat" down to Las Vegas and had the time of our lives! Honestly it was the best weekend trip that I have been on in a long time! Jenny's roommate, Tarah, came down with us which we were so excited about. She is hilarious and a little more crazy than we are so it just added to the amusement! I will say however, that it did make me realize just how thankful I am to be 30, to be a parent, to have a great job, to be self-sufficient, and to be done with the whole college life scene!! (sorry Jenny and Tarah!) I just don't know how I used to do it! After we got home the first night, Jenny and I were in bed (I also don't know how I ever shared a bed with someone else) and I curled up and cried "I want to go home, I want my kids, I want my own bed" and we just laughed!! I love my sister Jenny, I love my sister Lyssa too, but Jenny and I have made alot of great memories together and I don't know what I would do without her! She is my BFSS!!!! :)



We stayed at the Green Valley Resort which is actually in Henderson, NV. I did not even feel like we were in Las Vegas which made me so happy and we didn't even go to the strip because Thomas lives in Henderson as well. I really am so over the strip cause I have done it a million times!

The first night we got in late and needed to pick Thomas up from a club because she did not have her car. We were dying! This place was so nasty but we met the coolest guy! I am so kidding...he said he was the singer for some band that plays with the group WARRENT and by the looks of him, I don't doubt it!

After a day of doing nothing by the pool, we went and grabbed a bite to eat at one of the restaurants right near the shops!

Jenny sitting...patiently waiting for me as I was in hog heaven at my favorite store...Anthropologie.. I will take every excuse that I can to go in that store! I mean, its not like there is not a store that is right around the corner from me! :)

We then went back to our room and got ready for the night. We had some time to kill before we met Thomas so we went and pigged out at the The Cheesecake Factory. YUM! Except they had run out of Tarah's favorite but I think we continued to manage! hehehe

There was a club downstairs named "The Whiskey" and so we decided to go get our "groove" on and check it out. I had not gone dancing in like 5 years and so it was hilarious for me to see the scene and to watch my friends! Tarah, Jenny, and Thomas had me laughing with their moves and they were just playing right into it! We had the biggest tools hitting on us so we had a good laugh making up random stories about "who we were"!!

The next day was spent at the pool just soaking up the sun and enjoying a whole lotta talk, laughter, swimming, jokes, pics, posing, obnoxiousness, and a near fatal drowning of Katie aka "me"! Stories are never told as good as if you would have been there but Jenny and Thomas were really nervous for me to swim all by myself being that I have that lack of leg usage so I got all huffy and said "watch this" and started to swim to the sand. They were being funny which caused me to laugh hysterically and yell, no gurgle, as I was going down "don't make me laugh!" Thomas came to my rescue and we had a good laugh at the lifeguard who had no clue what to do or not to do with us! We took alot of funny water pics and acted as if we were 12 years old but it was such a great, I mean grrrrrreat day! One phrase stands out......"Hmmm, no rocks!"

We thought that this picture was funny....



"Rise and Shout, The Cougars are Out...." We went to the BYU/UNLV football game and I swear there were more BYU fans at the game wearing BLUE than the UNLV fans in RED. Overall a fun game with great seats and great weather and we won so that helped! We even turned some fans from seeing RED to the true color of BLUE! hehehe




Tail Gating..oh boy!

:) Half Time Pics :)

We woke up late, because we could and got packed, ate breakfast, and took off for home. I will say that I was ready to get home to my kids and to my own bed and to my own domain! But I still can't wait for the next retreat I go on! I am so happy that I got to know Tarah and don't you worry...you are stuck with us now...and that Thomas put up with my bitchy, religious comments! wink wink I will never let go because I remember when I was the "ring leader" and I am allowed to, huh?!? Jenny, you are soooo lucky that I did not post that ONE swimming pic and you know which ONE I am talking about!! hehehe I love you guys and there is no one else that I would rather be so immature with!! :)

VIVA GREEN VALLEY!!!!!

It's official UNLV boys! We told you it would happen! YOU'VE BEEN BLOGGED!

"What's wrong with you...Are you handicapped???" OUCH huh!