Time to get your cute on

So I sent Sunshine up to her room this morning to clean it. She was up there for well over an hour and got little done. But she was quiet and apparently had a fun time. I also sent up some laundry for her to put away herself (one of her chores). I went up to check to make sure everything ended up where it was meant to be.

I soon realize that it is sort of breezy in her room. I pull back her curtains to notice that she has opened her window. This is a huge no-no considering her room is on the second floor and the huge string of kids falling out of windows lately. It's just not safe. All of my kids know this is completely not allowed. Not to mention, it's November and sort of chilly.

I look closer and realize Juanita the giraffe , her favorite stuffed animal is sitting on the window sill. But Sunshine being the little nurturer that she is had the good sense to put a hat and scarf on her. You know, in case she gets chilly.

I thought it was so cute I just had to share it.


Yes it is a pipe cleaner scarf and matching belt.

What?

Also in case you are wondering, I did talk to her about the dangers of opening her own window. She knows how to work the lock on the window so it just needs to be a trust and obedience issue right now.

We partied like it was 1996

So one of my good friends Erin, (my friend that runs the daycare...see older posts) had her 30th birthday this week. It came and went and we tried not to notice too much. Mostly because we were trying hard to secretly mastermind the most epic of surprise parties of all time. Although I can't take credit for coming up with the idea. My other friend, Molly (Erin's best friend) came up with the plan and we just followed along because it sounded awesome.

Here's a little back story.

Erin had her first baby when she was 16. She was busy at home with him, so she didn't get to do a lot of the typical high school stuff. One of the things she always regretted was missing her prom.

Enter Molly and her genius ideas.

We gathered all of her friends (completely under the radar and without her knowledge) and put together a prom for her. One of her aunts had a pole barn they let us use out in the boonies (so we could be as loud as we wanted) we got a disco ball, lights and Rockstar was the DJ. Voila! Instant prom!

We also made it a requirement that we had to wear the closest thing to formal we had (If not formal) Although some stuck to that more than others :) We got a cheezy photo shoot backdrop and took pictures just like the real deal.

Erin's husband sent her out to get a formal dress because he was going to "take her out on the town" on Saturday night. She was a little suspicious, but had no idea what was waiting for her.

When she showed up we all jumped out and screamed surprise! She was really overwhelmed by the whole ordeal. But she really did love it.

We all had a great time and enjoyed the night. We even danced a bit to the awesome music of '96. Which by the way was a horrible year for music. In case you wondered. No good can come out of a mix filled with Boys 2 men and Chumbawumba.

It took a couple days to recover from all the "fun" but it was well worth it. Pretty much just how I remember my own prom.

Minus the jungle juice and cow tipping afterward.

Yes that really happened.

But that's another story for another time


Our awesome "prom" picture.




The November rain may have gone to our heads :) The guns and roses kind not the actual rain that falls in November.


Molly and Carl

.
Prom Queen Erin. The big birthday girl.

Get off of your tookus!!!

Quit griping!! Go vote right now.




No it's cool I'll wait.





I mean it go. Turn the computer off and drop off that ballot.


Run don't walk.


Ok I'm done.

Civic duty of the day. Done and done.

The October 32nd party

So last night Rockstar and I got to go to a real life grown up party. His band played a huge house party out in Damascas. It was a a lot of fun. There were 6 or 7 bands that played and everyone was in costume.

I only got a couple of crummy pictures, but really I sort of felt like the stage mom taking pictures, so I chose to enjoy the show rather than take pictures. That and I couldn't get very close to the stage because there was a pretty rowdy mosh pit in front and I didn't want to get sucked into it. (One of the hazards of a rock show)

My childhood best friend came up from White Salmon and her boyfriend were able to come up and go to the party with us too. It was really nice hanging out with her again. Although it was sort of a deja vu moment being at a rowdy party out in the boonies as this how we spent most of our torrid youth :)

A good time was had by all.

Any more disclosure of the events of the night and I fear I may tarnish my squeeky clean (like who am I fooling?) image you may have of me :)

All Hallow's eve! Muah ha ha ha!!

So last night was the big night. The entire day and night went off without a hitch. I sort of have had a love/hate relationship with Halloween since I had kids. On one hand it's fun to dress up and do the whole thing, but on the other hand the combination of the excitement mixed with large doses of candy makes for a meltdown of epic proportion. Times that by 3 and you wonder why we do this every year.

This year we smarted up. Bug has an allergy to chocolate and most types of food coloring. Also a sensitivity to white refined sugar. So pretty much all candy was out of the question. So to avoid a scene, we planned ahead and had a bargaining chip to trade for his candy. Rockstar had found a used video game at a rental store a while back for cheap, so he picked it up thinking we could trade the game for the candy so that it wouldn't be a huge ordeal.

Our plan worked like a charm.

We hit all the same spots we do every year. We started out at my Aunt and Uncle's house and then headed over to my in law's neighborhood in West Linn. We tricked, we treated, we wore ourselves out and were home in bed by 8.

The kids were super cute in their costumes. Bug was Ironman ,Sunshine a butterfly and as you all voted, Peanut was a penguin.

Everyone had fun, no meltdown to be had (mostly because we have a 1 piece of candy a day rule in place). It was really an enjoyable Halloween. The best one we have had yet.

Bug and Sunshine even went (mostly) inside the super scary house.If you have forgotten about this one, click here Maybe next year they will make it in to get the candy :) The people were really nice and talked to us.

All in all we had a great night. Now tonight comes the grown up party. Rockstar is playing a show and I actually get to go to this one. Usually I have to stay home with the kids but Grandma is taking all 3 for the night and giving me a night out. Yay for Grandma!

Must OBEY!!!

Put The Big Red Button on your site

The ghosts of Halloweens past.

I know I have said it before and I'll probably say it a couple more hundred times this week, but I love Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays. I am just a big dork that likes to have a reason to dress up. I was looking through pictures and thought I'd share with you some of the ghosts of Halloweens past so have yourself a chuckle and enjoy!

Step aside Martha Stuart

So this week I have gotten this wild hair to cook.

There is something about cold weather that gives me the itch.

Sunshine and I made up some Halloween cut out cookies. She is really getting into this cooking thing.




Then this weekend I got a big box of tomatoes, some fresh herbs and garlic and decided I was going to make up a ton of pasta sauce and can it.

And I did. It was lovely.



I also made up a batch of fresh pesto, applesauce bread and I am currently drying a gad of bananas.

What comes next you may ask? Only time will tell.

Somebody help me. I may have a problem
:)

Whoops.

So I got these little Hershey kiss type candies that aren't so much chocolate, but pumpkin spice flavor. They are delightful and I highly recommend them. But I had this great thought to make up some shortbread cookies and put them in the center. In my head they sounded delicious.

So I found a good shortbread recipe and off I went to create the greatest cookie that was ever made. Little did I really think this through because I made them, baked them and it was not until I pulled the pan out of the oven that I cracked myself up and realized that I had just made a pan of nipple cookies.


Clearly I didn't really think it though or recognize it's likeness until I pulled them out of the oven. But I had myself a little laugh and then sent my husband a picture with no story attached to it. Just the picture. His first response was...what the heck are you doing?!! I then explained what I had done and we had a giggle about it.



If you are wondering, they were really good too. To eat I mean.

Push it to 11!!

So Bug has been having to do these daily accountability reports at school. You are on a point system with 6 being the best you can do each day. Usually he gets anywhere from a 3 to a 5. Anything over a 4 is considered meeting his daily goals and is a good day. Well yesterday he came home beaming because he managed to get a 6 for the whole day. We all but threw a parade in his honor. He was pretty stoked.As were we.

When I dropped him off this morning we talked about yesterday's report and how great would it be to get a 6 two days in a row. He hopped out of the van and shouted back.."Don't you worry!! I will be so awesome they will have to give me a 7!!"

It cracked me up and made me think of this scene from Spinal tap.