Halloween, Airplane Ride, Daylight Savings Rip-Off

Halloween was so fun. I'm feeling sad that it's already over and that we don't get to celebrate for another 363 days. I almost took the decorations down this morning but decided it could wait a few more days. We had so much fun dressing up and got alot of attention out trick or treating. Let's just say that we got the star treatment and our friends, not so much. We made many poor political jokes along the way, (i.e. re-distributing the candy when we got home), even posed for some pictures and shook many hands. So the long awaited pictures.

From left to right: Joe B. - Liz (she was Barack and looked awesome but got to hot in the mask) Barack - Clint, John - Chris and Sarah - me!

I don't know if I like the kiss, the thumbs-up or the inappropriateness of it all better.
Saturday morning Chris was out helping a family move when our friends called to ask if he wanted to go on a "joy" ride. Private planes really do scare me, I've heard so many stories about plane accidents. I asked him not to die, gave him a kiss and away he went with a smile on his face. When he came home (yea!!) he showed me some pictures and video of the landing with that fancy newly discovered record button. Chad, his friend, was in the pilot's seat. What?? This was his friend whose previous flying experience involved a remote control airplane that he managed to crash into a lone standing tree in a large field. Chris could see the look of panic on my face. He's such a dare devil who thinks he's invincible and only fear in life is being buried alive. Completely the opposite of me, I could go on the Dr. Phil show for all of my worries. I'm glad he had fun and survived!
I'm still filling ripped-off by dalight savings. The one free hour of sleep I'm entitled to a year was overshadowed by Mallory's baby blessing, company in town, and getting four kids plus myself ready for church by 9:00. Did we really get an extra hour, because I totally missed out. I didn't even get to look cute for my big comeback, I looked gross. I wish we could re-do this next weekend. Mallory on the other hand looked beautiful and Chris gave her an awesome blessing.

My Record Lengthy Post

Go ahead and skip to whatever is of interest to you

Good laughs from Roz (1st - I'm starving her, 2nd - Not everything with nipples can be milked)
Cleaning with newspaper
The record button
I get by with a little help from my friends
Halloween
I voted


Good laughs from Roz:
1st - Rozlyn has turned into a new kid since starting school. She has always been so sweet and helpful around the house. Let me just say that someone else is currently living in her body. Where did my Rozlyn go?? Please, please come back!! Until then I guess I can amuse myself with her stories. Yesterday morning she refused to eat her delicious breakfast of cream of wheat because it wasn't what she wanted. She does like it and eats it all the time but was being so stubborn. After school she told me how hungry she was because she missed snack. I ask where she was during snack to which she replied - the nurses office. I guess she went for a stomach ache, the nurse asked if she was hungry, Rozlyn said "Yes", she asked if she ate breakfast, Rozlyn said "No", she asked what was for breakfast, Rozlyn said "nothing", did your mom give you breakfast, "no". You get the idea. Thanks for painting a sweet picture of me.
2nd - My friend called after dropping off Rozlyn to report a funny story. Poor Chris is kind of the victim in this one. Rozlyn was talking about how Mallory takes a bottle from Chris. Since she's such a chatterbox you always get alot more information then necessary. She said how Mallory doesn't like the milk from Chris because it's so hairy. Liz was confused and tried to clarify the "hairy" part, to which Rozyn summed up "You know hairy, because he's got hairy boobs" Contrary to Greg Faulker in Meet the Parents Rozlyn has yet to learn that no, you can't milk everything with nipples.

Cleaning with Newspaper
Cleaning glass/mirrors with newspaper really does work the best. I've heard this a million times but have never tried it. I always stuck with my paper towels and always had streaks no matter how hard I tried. I'm the biggest fan of the newspapers, it made me so happy, I'm so glad I tried it. Just windex, wad up some newspaper and away you go. It's amazing.

The record button
My handy dandy digital camera takes video. I know I'm Wilma Flinstone when it comes to technology so I'm strictly a point and shoot kind of girl. Who cares what all those buttons are for, I'll never need them because I'll never know how to use them. Each time I get a new "toy" I have great intentions to read the users manual and get full use out of the product. So today at Mason's Halloween parade, he was being hilarious. He was walking so so so slow, with his eyes closed. I guess he thought that if he couldn't see us we couldn't see him. He was the leader of the line and that line wasn't going anywhere! He kept walking in the wrong direction and crashed into a chair before being redirected. He even was waving with his eyes closed. I was dying of laughter watching him and wishing so badly that I had brought a video camera to capture the priceless moment. When I mentioned this to my friends they told me my camera could probably do it and voila, we've got video. It didn't start until they were making their third loop, I also let it run to long and ignore my voice of excitement at my newly acquired skill. Mason is the "grazing" giraffe in front with his eyes closed and being held by the teacher (to speed the parade up).


I get by with a little help from my friends:
Or alot. I am surrounded by the best friends. They have been so generous of their time in helping me before and after having this baby. I've always been a social girl and depend more then my fair share on the friends. I really didn't see my kids for two weeks after I got home. My friend Liz who carpools with me refused to let my drive or pickup for three weeks, I was granted privileges back only after begging, I didn't cook for a month and the list goes on and on.
Today my car wouldn't start and of course I freaked out because I thought the world might end if Mason missed his Halloween parade. My friend Heidi graciously packed up her son, came way out of her way and hauled me, Mallory, car seat, car seat base, huge diaper bag, Mason, booster seat, huge school bag with lunch box and nap mat to his school which was way out of her way. She knows I'm crazy but never mentioned it once or made me feel bad. (She also took Mason last Friday so me and my girls could go to a birthday party and see the topless Zac Efron in HSM3. It went long and she kept him for an extra hour hauling him around on her errands.) I digress...she dropped me off at his school and even offered to come back and get me when it was over. I passed because how much can I put one person out in a day. So there I was with all of my gear on the sidewalk looking like a hobo because I knew Tanya was inside and without asking her knew she'd be willing to take me home when it was over, because she does anything and everything for me whenever I need it. She even boiled chicken for me once because she knew I prefered it over canned. What a friend!
Fall is my favorite time of the year. Since Mallory was brand new when the season started Debbie hooked me up with loads of cute Halloween things so my home could be festive when I wasn't up to it. If there is anything cute or well decorated in my house it is because Debbie has held my hand and performed a rescue mission to help me along. She's amazing, you can check out more of her stuff on her blog and just look at my entry way, I'm in love with it!!

There's a million more kind stories not listed here. So to each of my friends those mentioned, and so so many more, I say thanks. I've been brought to tears with the kindness you've shown to me.

Halloween:
Speaking of Halloween, just look at these adorable kids. Charlotte was Fairy Vidia. She was so happy to have sparkly hair and high heels. Rozlyn was me, a mom. I love making the kids costumes but couldn't commit this year. I told Rozlyn I'd buy her one instead and gave her a million choices. She just kept saying she wanted to be a mom. The good news is that it was totally free!! We were also all glad the Mrs. Brady wig made a comeback for a 2nd year. Mason saw this Giraffe costume in Babies R Us back in August when he had his pictures taken. It was love at first sight. I tried to distract him with many other possibilities but with no success. Why?? I don't know but I think I'm the nicest mom in the world for buying it, I mean really a giraffe, why??


I voted:
I did it!! This was such a hard decision for me. It seems like such a no-brainer for everyone else, they love Obama or they love McCain. I myself was more of a fence sitter, unimpressed with either candidate. I knew I wanted to vote and needed to do it early but couldn't find the motivation to do it. McCain is certain to win Texas so why go through the effort when I have little love for both men. If I keep my vote secret then it really won't make a difference but if I share who I picked and why, put a sign in my yard then maybe it will. In the end, I voted for John McCain. I was a little emotional in line to vote, I felt a great deal of grattitude for this nation and that we all get the right to vote. Democracy is a blessing and I'm proud to be an American, there's no fence sitting on that.

My troubles

1. Why am I wired and wide awake all morning when Mallory is sound asleep and I'm home alone and when it's 3:00 and on, all the kids are home, I'm dead tired and really need a nap. I even just laid down buy Mal because I know I'll be exhausted later on but got bored because I'm not sleepy right now. Any really boring books to recommend those usually put me to sleep no matter what time of day it is.

2. I've given up my #1 BYU fan status for the night. They're in Fort Worth and I'm not going. I never thought the day would come. My world's greatest husband even offered to go with me, sit in some parking lot with Mallory and text me when she got hungry so I could run out and feed her. Can you believe the sacrifice he was willing to make for me? To ease my sadness I'm enjoying the game in the comfort of my own home and treating myself to some pizza. The trouble is I can't decide if I should just do pizza or get some wings to go with it and am not sure where I should order it from. Seems dumb but honestly I've been thinking about it all morning (every time I remind myself of the game).

3. Should I vote for Joe the Plumber or Joe Six-pack?

I do realize that I have a really really great life for which I feel extremely blessed when these are my top three problems for the day.

Funny Journal Stories

I have a little journal I keep for each kid where I write down all the funny things they say and do and big life accomplishments. We spend lots of Sunday's reading them outloud and laughing about the crazy things they've done in years prior. Here are two recent Roz stories that were to good to not go public. (and not very PC)
#1
Roz - Mom, if my friends have brown skin does that mean they were born in Mexico??
Mom - Maybe
Roz - so do you think it's a good idea if I see someone with brown skin to say "hola"?
(it made me smile and wonder what her definition of brown skin is, she has every ethnic group in her class and all of their skin is brown, so who knows, there's going to be some confused little cute Indian girl when Roz says "hola" to everytime she sees her.)
#2
Sunday night we were going over the 4th Article of Faith and trying to help the kids remember the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. They guessed faith, repentance and baptism by immersion but were hung up on the fourth. Chris and I tried to prompt them by singing the song and seeing if they could fill in the blanks. As soon as we got to fourth, laying on...Rozlyn interupts with "a seed" and Chris and I keep singing the right words, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Rozlyn said in an excited way "oh I was so close, I guessed laying on a seed, but it was really laying on a pan for the gift of the Holy Ghost". Apparantly her whole life she's heard and thought you had to lay on a pan to get the Holy Ghost. She was sure going to be confused in March at Charlotte's baptism, good thing we could clarify. I now can't get the song out of my head, and of course I have to sing "laying on a pan" because it makes me laugh.

Charlotte now has a journal of her own and those entries are precious as well. Here's what she wrote on Sunday. (I left her spelling and grammer unedited, including her lack of periods, I know she inherited these weaknesses from me)
"Mom had a baby it was a girl her name is Mallory Jane Graham she is adorabel she has a breathing whisler in her throght Dad dosen't like it he said it was to sleep wit her doing it mom loves it she said she always falls asleep with her diong it. she was the tallest one and the chubbiest one dad called her chubs in the hospital. then he stoped and strted calling her malpal thats her nickname now caus every buddy in her family calls her that sometimes I call her Malls but not often"
Maybe I need to get out more but it totally cracked me up.

That tricky husband

Yesterday we were hanging out in the kitchen and Chris pulls out an envelope and asks me if I wondered what was in it. Way back when we got our 20 week ultrasound I begged and pleaded to let this baby be a suprise. I'd always found out in the past and knew this might be my last chance to have the suprise. I tried to convince Chris for the 20 weeks prior but he never consented. A week or so before the ultrasound he realized I'd given up my fight to convince him of how fun it would be and he came up with this plan. We have the ultrasound, the tech writes down what it is with a picture and puts it in an envelope for us to take home. This way he could look if he "needed" to and I could be suprised. Part of the deal was that I couldn't know where the envelope was and I couldn't know if he knew or not. A month later I found the envelope, in a drawer all sealed up. I was proud of Chris that he hadn't looked and I guess I convinced myself that he wasn't going to look and kind of forgot about it all together.
So he looked!!! He knew what it was a month early. That rascal, I'm so proud that he was able to know without me ever finding out or leaking any clues at all. The poor guy had to spend many nights up late discussing the impossible boy names. I'm so happy that he was able to know and that I was able to be suprised and it worked out for both of us. What a tricker!!!
Here are some more picutres just for fun. I can't believe it's almost been two weeks!

Presenting Mallory Jane

Here are lots of pictures to introduce you to our newest addition, Mallory Jane. She made it to earth healthy and happy on Monday Sept. 15 at 3:36 p.m. weighing in at 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches. My heart was so full holding my little girl for the first time. The fourth time around was as emotional as the first, probably more so. I got choked up when it was time to start pushing, just knowing I was about to have my baby, that she would soon be safe in my arms. The delivery was the best, I'll share in greater detail in the future. For now here are pictures of what went down.
Pictures taken right after church, before we went to the hospital. (We had a special meeting with President Uchtdorf that day, amazing!!! I was so glad labor held off and I could attend)

Holding Mallory I wondered how she could all fit inside of me and then I see this picture and can see there was plenty of room

Me and my coach. Being induced is such a date!! When else have we had 12 hours with no where to go but to sit there and hang out together? I love this guy!

Our newest arrival all cleaned up


Dr. Leveno with us, he honestly was the best Dr. I'm so glad I found him. (Thanks Amy!)

I love the chubby belly, we were all laughing at her rolls, and check out the size of her extra large juicy cord

The whole gang, it seems like so many people, and they're all mine.

Home and happy.

There's a brief sampling of our joy. So many more to come.

Houston we have a problem!

Hey Houstonians, if any of you need to get away our house is just a short 4-24 hour drive away depending on conditions.(bad joke) It looks like they're telling everyone to hunker down but if you lose power and want to get away you're all more then welcome. We may not be the Holiday Inn but we have clean sheets, warm showers, cold cereal, lizards in our guest bath, air conditioning, clean water, Blue Bell in the freezer and Sprinkles cupcakes close by. So come one, come all and don't hesitate. My big belly is seriously the hurricane tracker, if you want to know when the next big one is going to hit just check out when we're expecting next. My births more accurately predict the hurricanes then those weather guys. Good Luck friends!

Family Pet

So anyone who knows me also knows my fear of all living things other than people. For some reason animals just really scare me. I'm afraid of anything unpredictable startling me. One of my cute friends who I was walking with 6 years ago still has the dog she chased away for me to this day. I know there are many more of you who could tell stories about defending me from the "wild". You're all really better friends because of it! Chris likes to harass me with some article that was in the Ensign a few years back that talked about how we need to learn to love animals on earth because the celestial kingdom will be full of them. I have no comments on that. So a few years back we had our first pet, Vince the goldfish. I'm amazed that I came to love him so much. I don't know my fish well but he had a great personality and we all loved him, even me. The day he died was such a sad one, I didn't know how to tell the kids and how to pay an appropriate tribute to the little guy. It's been a few years since then, the kids continually ask me for a dog, bird, cat, anything. It's funny how kids change you because I've already made an agreement with them that once we're done having babies and everyone in the house is potty trained we can get a pet.
So last Thursday I'm in one of our bathrooms and I see this:

I didn't know what to do with him. Today is his one week birthday of being a member of our family. The kids run in there every day after school to check on him. He only runs down the drain if a shadow crosses him or he hears a loud noise. But don't worry, he soon makes his way out. So while I felt so humane in not closing the drain or turning the faucet on I need to do something more accomadating. Right now he has Mason's toilet seat as his only toy. At some point we'll have guests that need to use that shower. I'm sure at some point the little lizard will need some food. Should he become a part of our family or should Charlotte, not me, find a way to get him outside??

The Proof is in the Pics

It's the final countdown!!! 10 days!!! My emotions really are mixed, there's a part of me that loves being pregnant and I really feel this emptiness when it's over. Of course I'm so thrilled to hold my little one, see what they look like, how they smell, hear their cry sound, look at all their features and assign them to a parent and most of all know what sex it is!!! This really has been so fun keeping it a mystery. I'm glad I did it once. I don't want the baby to be in neutral green/yellow/brown everything so I've resisted shopping beyond the take home outfit (one for each sex). Yesterday I went a little crazy, (remember I had no kids from 9-2) and found myself in the Gymboree Outlet. I guess I accidently stumbled upon it, oops! I now have many neutral items, but still cute, in my possession. When I showed Chris my great finds, I was told to hold onto the receipts because they were fine for a girl but no son of his would be aloud outside the house in them. Why are there such strict rules for boys but we don't care about girls?? It goes beyond clothes and that we dress our girls in blues, it even applies to names, girls can have boy names, but boys can't have girl names. Why can girls be tough, sporty and masculine with low voices but boys can't be wimpy with high voices. I'm off on a tangent now.
Back to names, if you have any suggestions we'll welcome them gladly. Also we welcome any opinions on names we should definately avoid. (and if you feel inclined go ahead and guess the sex, date, weight and any other opinions you have on our newborn)

For documentation sake

It's hard to believe that I have two kids in school. Even though Rozlyn was ready two years ago to go with Charlotte I still had a hard time letting her go. I don't know which would make me more weepy, if they were holding onto my leg, crying and not letting go or if they ran in there as confident as can be waving goodbye without looking back. Rozlyn was definately the latter of the two options and I was definately weepy.
Here's the big girl!!

The PTA threw a "Tears and Cheers" party to cover any emotion a mom might be feeling on that first day. I took home a souvenir of tissues with a poem that said

"It's my first day of kindergarten and I'm excited, aren't you?
I'm going to be just fine Mom and Dad and hope that you are too.
But if you find you're missing me and start to shed a tear,
Take this tissue and remember that 2:55 is near!

I thought it was so cute.
Here's Charlotte in her classroom with a real desk!! She feels like a big kid on campus and had no hesitation about walking herself to class (big stuff I know!). I'm pretty sure she was embarassed that I was snaping photos from the hall.


Day 1 complete!!

On My Own

Here I am sitting at the computer all alone in the quiet of my house. I just went to the store to buy two things, conditioner and trash bags, it took all of five minutes. I should have spent a little more time in the aisles doing something crazy like buying something on sale just because I could. It's been over 7.5 years since I've enjoyed this kind of luxury/lonliness. It's only been an hour and twenty minutes since I dropped Mason off, I still have 3 hours and forty minutes left. Last week when I took the girls to school I was all sad and emotional. Today Mason distracted me by wetting his pants on the way. It offered a little bit of comic relief and feelings of I can't believe this just happened to distract me a little bit. I quickly stripped him down, wiped him off the best I could and pulled out the handy spare clothes in the van. I guess we'll fake it til we make it or he gets kicked out of school.
Here are some pictures to celebrate my guy, my buddy, my comic relief, my sensitive son who is always showing concern for him mamma. Lately I've been taking lots of deep breaths, not because I'm tired or frustrated but because I can't breath. It never fails that he asks me "mom, are you o.k?", "mom, why did you make that sound?" "mom, whats the matter?". Oh how I love him!!!

Here he his playing in his wrinkly shirt that's been shoved in the corner of the van for a few months waiting for an emergency like we had today.
Here's one more cute picture from his birthday, he was very into making his wish. He was very serious when he told his sisters that they couldn't have a wish, only the birthday boy got one. In case you were wondering what the wish was...to go camping. Would I be the world's best mom or what if I pulled that one off at 9 months pregnant?

Potty Training

Here we go again. I'm sure I'm making all of you jealous of the fun that's about to take place in our house. The sad part is Mace was fully trained 4 months ago, in undies, doing all of it. Sometime after Disneyland and spending a week in pull-ups so we wouldn't have to leave long lines for him to relieve himself we went through relapse. It started out slow, a few accidents here or there until eventually there was poop in his pants daily. After a few weeks with my pregnant brain I accepted that he was no longer trained. He was so easy that I never had to bribe him, reward him, punish him, any of it, at first. When he started having accidents, I knew I had to give him treats to intice him to never have an accident again. He really got clever when he'd poop in his undies, dump it in the potty and say "look mom, poop in the potty, can I have a cookie??" What a tricker. Tomorrow I'm committed 100%, with a bucket full of prizes and all - here we go!

Happy late 4th! (but it's still July so it kind of counts)

I love that picture of my four favorite people. blue faces, teeth and all. I just have to express that I'm proud to be an American and there's no place else I know of that I'd rather be or live. Every time I see fireworks and hear patriotic music I'm filled with emotion and grattitude for the opportunity of being born in this country and for all of the service men both in the past and in the present that have sacrificed oh so much!! I'm so glad my kiddos were born here, into a life of prosperity, freedom and opportunity. This will conclude my soapbox for the month of July.

A visit to my past

We just back from Utah/Idaho for Chris's family reunion. I always get excited landing in SLC and being surrounded by the mountains. My kids are starting to appreciate them as well. I feel like the west is so much a part of who I am and that no matter how long I'm here, Utah and Idaho will always feel like home.
We took the kids to Provo and showed them our old stomping grounds. We went to the hospital where Charlotte was born, found our old apartments, found all of our favorite places to eat, shop, go to the movies and walked around campus. I really was emotional - I love Provo, oh so many memories. Charlotte has a favorite picture of her on Chris's shoulders cheering while I'm kissing him behind our old apartment before she turned one. We went to recapture the moment - it didn't turn out so great because Rozlyn was our only photographer available and I couldn't get the timer to work. When I scan in the old one I'll post the before and after.
We visited Chris's sisters over the weekend in Utah and stayed a few nights with my sister in Idaho Falls.
Chris's reunion was great. The kids LOVE their cousins and played so well, nonstop. I don't think anyone was ever asleep before midnight (including Mason) and we all took our sweet time waking up and getting ready each morning. True vacation.
In Rexburg we ate at both restaurants we used to work at, Frontier Pies and Gringos. Did I mention we revisited our past?? We took the kids to BYU-I, showed them Grandpa's old office, ate doughnuts, and saw where dad asked me to marry him. There was also Heise, Civil Defense Caves, ice-blocking, sand dunes, four-wheeling, the Rexburg temple and eating snow shacks once a day.
Now we're home, all spread out around the house, suitcases filled with laundry and it seems so quiet. I really wish we didn't live so far away from everyone and that every memory wasn't crammed into a 7-day period once or twice a year. So today I'm feeling homesick with a list a mile long of things to do. I better get on that before quiet times over. Here are a few cute pictures.
Mason rocking out on his "guitar" in the caves.

The gardens at the college.

Mason's new best friend, Teddy. They played nonstop the whole week!

Our rental car that had the kids waayyyy to close to each other - we're so happy to be back in the mini-van where no one is touching.

With all good intentions

So Charlotte has turned into quite the writer. She loves writing letters, addressing them and putting them in the mailbox. We have a new rule that I have to approve before giving her a stamp because she was using them all up on sealed letters and who knew what the contents were. When the mail comes each day all the kids rush to the pile to see if any of them got any letters. Grandma Cheryl is the best at always sending Charlotte mail and the two of them have become quite the pen-pals.
At the begining of the summer we got some chain letter about a sticker club. You know how it goes, send this to six people, make two copies, send a sticker to the name on the top, don't break the chain or your family will be cursed and in two weeks you'll get 36 new packets of stickers!!
I remember getting some of these when I was a kid but never participated, it's really not my thing and apparantley my mom was wiser then me to never fall for it. Thinking of the joy in her eyes as letter after letter poured in for her was a risk I had to take. There were only two spots for names, #1 & #2 so it only had to go through two people, one out of the six had to respond and one out of thier six had to as well - so I made my debut journey as a chain letter participant. I really thought I was the only one who had never done it - not true. It's probably been a month and no stickers in the mail. Don't think she hasn't forgotten about it either - she keeps asking when will my stickers come?
I feel like making up some fake names, putting some stickers in and sending them to her myself but I guess it's just best that she learns the lesson early on in life, 22years sooner then I did. It also reminds me of a time when I was down about something in high school and I received balloons, flowers & a card signed "from your secret admirer" - my lucky day!! Who could it be - I felt like being admired, he probably was hot & it really killed me to not know. I decided to be Nancy Drew and call the flower shop. Somehow I asked who had paid on the last order to which some dumb employee looked up the record and gave me my own Mom's name. It really was devastating. It still makes me laugh when I think back on it. The things we do for our kids and always with the best intentions.
So if anyone else has a small one as obsessed with letter writing as I do let me know and they'll have a pen-pal for life!!
(and I'm sorry to any of you we sent this to and made feel guilty - you're all wiser then me!)