Halloween Par-tay!

So the past few days have been so fun/busy, getting ready for our Halloween Party! Rach and I weren't too stressed..... any excuse to make yummy food and go shopping, right?! Thursday night Rach and Tiff came over and we made caramel and chocolate dipped apples as the prizes for the costume contest.

The sprinkles were a nice touch!

The caramel stage...

Don't they look snazzy?!

Just a little taste...

The finished product!

These pics seem a little out of place, but I have to introduce you to Maddie! She is Tiff and Creed's daughter and I now have the pleasure of watching her M,W,F for a few hours in the afternoon while Tiff is at school. Check out those leggings!!! So cute!

Self- portrait! She is the best baby and so fun to watch!

So back to the party... Saturday morning comes and I can't even sleep in, I was too excited to get things ready! Of course, project #1 of the day was to finish hemming those d@#* scrubs!! Then I could finally put the contraption away, and clean the living room. Well, the machine must have sensed my determination, because I had no more than sat down to hem, when the needle broke!! GRRRRR! I thought all was lost, but low and behold, there were three more needles in the case. I wasn't sure if I was happy or mad. "Needle"less to say (hahah) the scrubs got hemmed and I was able to move on to more pleasant chores. :)

So our costume this year was Trav's idea. Pretty creative, huh? Well, I had a lot of fun covering him in flour at least. We got the hat at Wegman's for free, and painstakingly covered a left over box in tin-foil, so it turned out to be pretty inexpensive! (Oh, and his stomach is stuffed with a pillow for those of you wondering if he's trying to keep up with my expanding waistline :)

We thought the door was cool :) Just 4 months and 4 days until this bun is done!

What a spread! Everything from cheeseball to cheesecake! Don't forget the cider!

Unfortunately, someone lost a hand while mixing the punch!

We had a Halloween CD playing that included Monster Mash and Thriller...

People getting their mingle on...

Doug (aka, white trash man) taking pics and simultaneously making some people very uncomfortable, haha



We had to play the "eat the donut off the string game". We had three rounds: first boys, then girls, then boys. (By the third round I don't think there was a girl in the room you could have paid to do this!) I think Trav ended up winning this round, but Ryan swallowed his last bite right with him! He wasn't giving up!


The girl round was funny because if the donuts got close to eachother, they still went after it- the guys on the other hand weren't having any of that! They backed off the second it got close to another guys mouth. :)

Rachel and Doug were HiLarIouS as the trailor trash couple! They won for Best Couple outfit. They even found cigarettes that blew smoke!

The Smith's came and made sure we were keeping things under control, as the nun and priest! Fred and Betty graced our presence and the Finlinson's won for Scariest Costume!

I wish I had gotten pics of everyone's costume, but I missed Cleopatra (Natalie Dayton), who won for Most Creative Costume, and a few others. I was thrilled to have Harry and Hermine, and the burglers invaded later in the night (Abby and Jeff)! Our cowboy couple brought their newest member (Lily)- so cute! And Tiff and Creed stole the show! (Gotta love the "guyliner")! Thanks to everyone that came- we had a ton of fun and hope to do it again next year!

Is swearing a normal habit to pick up while sewing?

So I got myself a sewing machine. Don't let my smile deceive you. It is a Kenmore 1930's Disaster model. I bought it from a girl who was moving. She told me she's never had any problems with it. . . . Yeah, right! It's built into the table and has plagued my living room for at least two weeks. Everyday I write "hem Travis's scrubs" on my "to do" list and everyday it doesn't get crossed off. At first the needle wouldn't go up and down, then the thread jammed, and now it won't pick up the thread from the bobbin. I've bought oil for it, caressed it, and sang it a song, and it still won't put out! I actually got through three pairs of scrubs today when it decided to quit on me again. My finger tips smell of machine parts from all the "fixing" I've tried to do. When it's working, sewing is fun... it's just too bad that that statement is contigent on "when it's working!" And so I beg the question, "is swearing a normal habit to pick up while sewing?" :D

SIDE NOTE: After Travis read this post, he went looking on the sewing machine to see where it said "Kenmore Disaster"!!!! Hahaha! I love my husband! It's usually ME pulling the blonde moments! :)

A bad day to forget deoderant.....

Yesterday morning I decided to be productive and get a run in before my YW meeting at 10am. I grabbed the spare keys, locked the door, threw them in the mailbox and started jogging. After my three miles were up, I fish the keys out of the mailbox and discover that the house key is not on it! I resort to the garage, looking through tools to see if I can somehow break in. Funny how the lock companies don't put screws on the outside of locks to dismantle them. It was freezing cold, and I didn't have my phone or many options. So I walked to Tiffany's house to see if she can give me a ride to the school, where I can get a key from Trav. Just my luck, Tiff's not home. I can't think of anyone else that would be home in the middle of the morning. I was going to just wait for her, but it's below 40 degrees, and I'm slowly turning to a popcicle. It was a matter of survival. So I started jogging to Natalie's house (She is about 2 1/2 miles away and the YW President, so our meeting was going to be at her house). I figured I might see Tiff's car drive by on the way to the meeting, and I could flag her down. After about a mile and half, I do see Tiff's car and I start jumping up and down, waving my arms wildly to try and get her attention. No luck. At this point it's starting to drizzle, I'm praying that it doesn't snow, and I deliriously start laughing my head off. I'm sure all the other cars that saw me spazzing out, were a little confused and probably very wary of me. I eventually made it to Natalie's house just in time for our meeting to start (albeit, stinky, sweaty, and exhausted). I apologized profusely and everyone else was nice enough to assure me that they had not yet showered, brushed their teeth, etc. , but I just couldn't bring myself to tell them I had also forgotten deoderant that morning ( I guess they know now!! :) Afterward, Tiff was nice enough to drive me to UB to get a key from Travis.
I've never in my life jogged that far (sad, I know) and I will be generously giving myself the next week off! :) Fortunately for me, it didn't start snowing until later that evening. Yep, snowing. Snowing in October. What have we gotten ourselves into?!!!

Heart attacks and Heating bills

Tuesday night we had the Spanish speaking Elders over for some Cafe Rio dinner! Afterward they wanted to teach us a discussion in Spanish for practice. We pretended to be a Catholic couple and Trav helped them with their language as I strained my brain to remember smidgeons of my high school Spanish training. Not much came through. I guess I could have answered when they asked how we were doing. =)

So after they left I just didn't have the energy to go running. I went to bed early promising myself that I would wake up early and run before work the next day. Amazingly, I did get up at 6am. I dressed in long pants, long sleeved shirt, jacket, ear warmers, and mittens. My nose still froze. As I stepped outside, my heart sank. I thought the sun would at least be trying to come up! Instead it looked and felt like 2am. No one else was up, no lights were on, no cars were out. I got my mace cocked and ready. I decided to stay close to home, and started down Woodridge. I hadn't gotten 10 houses down, when my searching eyes saw a man, standing still, next to his door in the shadows! I literally had a heart attack- I was going to die!!! This guy looked BIG and creepy! Good thing it only took my slow, paranoid brain a few seconds to realize it was a Frankenstein. Darn those real- life Halloween decorations!

Next topic! So starting a couple of weeks ago, I noticed on my runs, that the squirrels were out with a vengence! I couldn't count how many I saw scurrying around and climbing the trees. It was the weirdest thing.... why would so many of them be out, I wondered?

Well, apparently its a sign of the times! I should have thought of the cliche saying- gathering nuts for the winter! We had a warm weekend last week, but things are back to normal. I got up at 4am to go to the bathroom and FROZE when I got out of bed. It was like worse then getting out of your sleeping bag when camping. I seriously thought I would be able to see my breath. Once back in bed, I realized it was best to stay in one spot, because if you moved around, you left the warmth you had just created.

I thought to look at our thermostat aroung 10am. A house should never be this cold! So today was a momentous occasion....we officially turned the heat on! :) Now its just a waiting game for those $300 gas bills :(

Don't ya just love warm clothes straight from the dryer? There's nothin' better!

Where I Sit

So I told Trav that I was going to go blog, and he asked what I had to blog about. I said, "I took a picture of where I sit." After his laughter stopped, he pointed out the humor of my statement. "You mean, where you work?" Oh, right. I guess that sounds better, but if I'm going to be politically correct, it's where I sit.

You see, I landed a job as a receptionist... Yea, right! Not so fast, it's just for a week. I'm filling in, while the regular lady is on vacation. I answer the phone and transfer the calls. I sort, disperse, and open the mail. I forward faxes when they come in. I joke around with the guys in Purchasing. Yeah..... not that hard. The supervisor told me I could read, surf the net, whatever. My dad always taught me to be honest on the job and never be idle. Well, this job is a different story. I have now finished two books, written a letter, a card, mastered Spider Solitaire, and learned online the processes of milking a cow (long story!).

My grandma recommended this book and it was very sweet. I think it could be made into a Lifetime movie overnight. I had to stifle the tears behind my big, impersonal desk.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this is the second time I've read this book. No, my marriage isn't in trouble! I was just weird and read it way before I even got married. Don't laugh please. I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE. It's a quick read, but so useful and I love the quizes at the back. I will lend it to anyone who has an interest.

Here are some more I recently finished...

This one's been on my bookcase for a while. I probably read 10 John Grisham books on the beaches of Hawaii a few years back, and tired myself out of his writing. It was good, the law lingo kinda goes over my head, and I probably wouldn't read it again, so....

This one got me through my nanny week! I really liked it, though it had a few too many swear words, and there was one part I wished I had never read. Travis didn't like the title too much, but it made me appreciate him infinitely more after reading it. It is about some women who get together and form a book club, and are friends for the rest of their lives. It was tragic, funny, sad, happy, etc. etc. , I think I feel another Lifetime movie coming on... :)

The Great Pumpkin Festival!

So after slaving away the Jewish holiday on Thurs., Trav and I decided to get some fresh air Saturday afternoon. It started with our jog (that almost did Travis in) and ended with the Clarence Pumpkin Festival. It was a beautiful 77 degrees and the festival was calling our name.... along with a few thousand other people. (at least it felt that way!) We did Schneff Farms last year with Shelley, Casey, and Lane and had a blast, so we had to keep things going....

They had some beautiful pumpkins to choose from, but we decided to just take a picture and get ours from WalMart. We are sellouts, we know.

We started with the cornmaze. Trav was revvin' to go! I couldn't hold him back!

They gave us punchcards, and along the maze were checkpoints with various hole punches, so you knew you were on the right path. We took turns leading to the next checkpoint, and only go lost once! We won't say WHO got us lost, cough cough, Travis. :)

Next, we watched this amazing cannon that shot pumpkins into the forest, but for some reason my pics didn't turn out! On to the horse pulled wagon, and we see our friends Pace and Carly with their munchkins! (Side note, this was totally a kid oriented place to go and we felt a little sheepish being there by ourselves. So we were grateful to run into someone that actually HAD children that we could tag along with!)

More of the wagon ride...

Our grease fest.... One should only consume an Awesome Blossom once every ten years to live their life expectancy!

This is the Boo Barn! Haha. See the terror on Trav's face.

After surviving the Boo Barn we saw more friends, the Goodes and the Mayberry's, and snagged a hay ride with them. Upon getting off, we saw the Marchants and Fox's waiting in line and visited for a minute. Again, all people with kids. We just pretend that the kid inside me knows what's going on and cares what we're doing! We'll show him all the cool things we did with him before he was born, anytime he complains that we're no fun! :)

Gooo!

Could anything freak you out more than these hideous things??! Trav brought them home from school on Thurs. and has since enjoyed chasing me around the house with them in. Apparently he has spent many hours doing impressions, spacing out the teeth, coloring and polishing the gums, and making cavities everywhere, until it was just perfect. Perfect...

He didn't expect me to react so badly, but they are so freakin' gross! They are nothing like the fake teeth people buy for Halloween. They look REAL and it doesn't help that he puts on a Gomer face, changes his voice to some back-woods hick, hunches over and tries to KiSs me with them! I seriously ran upstairs and got under the covers one time. He LoVeS it! Shudder.

Would YOU kiss this face???!!! Maybe don't answer that.

So if you can believe it, ever since I did that week long nanny job, I have been back numerous times for little jobs. I know, I'm desperate. And, as my loving husband puts it, I couldn't say no to my worst enemy. I do get a kick out of watching Ella lick her bowl clean whenever she is eating, thus getting pasta sauce, clam chowder soup, or whatever concoction all over her face, neck, and hair. And no, she does not let me clean her off without throwing a fit.

Ok, so I was having a hard day Thurs, as I scrapbooked old teaching pictures. I just miss my kids and my classroom! So when I pulled up to the house and these kids poured out and attacked me with hugs before I could get out of my car, my heart melted just a bit. Catherine then proceeded to draw "I love Steph" with a heart around it on her Etch-a-Sketch. So cute. Well, after dinner they wanted me to play Operation with them. Turns out, this was no Operation game I've ever heard of. They promptly dubbed me the "dad". As the dad I was the doctor (they then called me Eric..... their dad's name who also happens to be a surgeon...). I was told that I ,and only I, was to do ALL the operations and get all the money. When I tried to protest, so that they had a turn at playing, they threw a tantrum, trying to explain to me (the ignorant newcomer) that that is NOT how the game is played. The "dad" does all the work. So I did all the operations, and got all of the money. I then was told to hand ALL my money over to Alexandra, who was the "mom". She quickly put the money in her purse then went to Catherine, the "store owner" and spent all of her money on clothes and shoes. Hmmmm. Where do kids come up with these things?? I believe they have taken good notes on how the world works. Or at least their family. Needless to say, I laughed so hard, and decided Operation had finally taken on a quality, making it worth playing!

From Pregnancy to Peanut Brittle (aka: LoNg PoSt)

Ok, don't hold your breath, cuz here I go again.... :) I've had some requests to see my fatness in progress, so BeHolD!

I took this two weeks ago (17weeks), not much going on.

No worries, there's definitely a baby in there now! I took this Saturday night (19weeks). Just a week shy of 5 months! Woohoo!

So I thought you all might enjoy seeing what I drive into for my baby appointments in downtown Buffalo. I felt like I had driven into a movie the first time I went. Classic broken out or boarded up windows. Everything dirty, covered in bars or grates, and in need of paint. Just look at the road! There's always a good amount of trash piled up and sad looking people wandering around or pushing their strollers.

This where I do my shopping. NOT! I had another appointment this morning to follow up on the sonogram and what not. I'm always glad when Trav can accompany me. The baby weighs 10 oz and is in the 50% percentile (looks like Trav's short genes and my big ones are evening things out!). The ultrasound puts me at a Feb. 27 due date, but they are keeping the March 2 date, since it's so close.

I don't know why I thought this was funny, but Trav and I were sitting down to the usual breakfast, and Trav set my "girl" milk down, while he enjoyed his "boy" milk. Haha! Trav thinks he's not in the pic. So wrong :)

Ok, so a little info. on my pregnancy...

1- No, I haven't been sick, but there was about 3 weeks where I was way nauseous, then found out it was the prenatal vitamins. I just take them at night now, and I'm peachy.

2- I have what I like to call my "Super NoSe"! I can smell anything and everything. Moving into a new house when S.N. was at it's peak was not fun. Everything smelled weird/gross. I put an air freshener in a specific kitchen cupboard and held my breath every time I opened it because I couldn't stand the smell. I can smell the kitchen garbage when I'm in the living room and I swear glass cups have the grossest smell when water is in them.

3-I've always loved sweets (and I still do!) but carbs appeal to me WAY more. I love cereal, breads, bagels, chips, etc. Can't get enough!

4- I am getting gray hair! I swear it. Most girls get thick, beautiful hair when pregnant, I get gray hair that seems to fall out like leaves on a tree during autumn. My skin is bad and my nails are splitting. Humppf! I feel like Bella in Twilight! What's this kid doing to me?! Does it have anything to do with the fact that it's a boy?

5- Last, but not least, and actually this might be the strangest thing... I am EnJoYinG running! I have started to do three miles about three times a week. This might have to do with the changing weather. It's crisp and cool outside and the leaves are changing colors. It is B-A-Utiful!

So these trees may have actually been to my detriment last week, as I am running on the horrible, broken- up sidewalks, loving the scenery, and trip. I can usually catch myself, but this time I was going too fast and ate it hard. I scraped up my knee, but most of the fall went to my hip as I tried to turn, so as not to fall on my stomach. I rolled over on the grass, rocking through the pain, not even able to look up to see if anyone saw my amazing display of gracefulness. I took a few minutes to test out my limbs and make sure nothing was serious, then I was MaD! I was having such a good time, and I was only 1 1/2 miles in. So I got up and finished! I was so proud of myself. Never before, would this have happened. An aching toe would have been enough to get me to stop a jog. Hmmm, maybe that gray hair has given me SuPeR PoWeRs!!! :)

Well my bad luck just continued last week. On Tueday I decided to make some yummy treats for the girls I visit teach. I followed a recipe for peanut brittle, but it was way too thick so I got some wax paper to spread it out on the pan. Yeah, bad idea, it was was too hot and the wax paper just melted into the gooey mess. Trav and I still attempted to eat it, we just had some waxy remnants left over in our mouth that had to be spit out. Plan 2- Toffee. Again, followed recipe exactly, but I apparently didn't cook it long enough and it was soft and chewy.

So peanut brittle and toffee are now keeping the trash company and I resort to a cookie mix- Can't go wrong with that!! I had even made little candy boxes for the treat to go into, so I just put the cookies in those. Out the door to deliver the cookies and I trip (seeing a pattern?) and the cookies go all over the back porch. I had to laugh at that point....

after pouting of course :)

This is a pic of us YW leaders at mutual. Rachel Shaw did an awesome job of teaching the girls about hair and makeup. We did a "fashion show" of how NOT to look. It was funny. I think I win for scariest face.

Still reading?? Friday night we had a birthday party for Briste at our house. Rach and Doug were nice enough to help decorate!

I am horrible at pictures! Actually, it's my dumb camera's fault! It's so slow and takes forever to start again after I take a picture. ANYWAY, here is Briste (just imagine her behind Dave) blowing out her candles on her banana cake.

He got her a Beach Cruiser! Lookin' good Briste!

After a while I realized the living room was getting emptier. I check the office and see where all the guys went. Can you guess what they're doing?

Watching the BYU game of course!! How could we have planned a party on a game night?? Of course it had to be the ONLY room I didn't clean before the party. Oh well, they're just guys :)

Almost done!!! I had to document my own attempt at keeping General Conference traditions alive. The Lindblom side of my family always gets together between sessions for a Mexican feast. So I spent an hour deep frying flour tortillas and got all the fixings for yummy taco salad! We were just missing the Montague's amazing green salsa. We had the Shaws and Garth over to help us eat it all. I hope to make this a tradition for us out here. We miss everyone back home! Love you all and can't wait to see you at Christmas!

It's a ....

Well, we're not really sure, so maybe you guys could help us out? :) Yeah, don't know if it gets any clearer than that! Haha. Poor guy is being embarrassed by his parents before he's even born! Well, get used to it kid :)

He's saying, "Hello crazy people! Just kickin' it in here!"