Halloween

Here we are, over a week past Halloween, but at least I'm posting, right? I think it is a pretty obvious statement to say the kids enjoyed Halloween...I mean c'mon...FREE CANDY?! Ya, they had a blast, plus who doesn't love to dress up in fun costumes?! We went over to my parents house and did a family door to door trick or treating. My brother, his wife and their kids all came along, ALL of US dressed in costume! It was awesome! I've got candy up the wazoo and I am pretty sure that the SLOW rate at which my kids eat candy, it will most definitely last us until next Halloween.

 Unfortunately, Ethan forgot his Ghost Rider mask at his dads so Pop-pop dug around in his closet and pulled out some Harley gear, a long ponytail and drew him a goatee. Ethan enjoyed dressing up as pop-pop and showing off his lovely long silvery locks :)














I thought Christian's costume this year was absolutely fabulous! He and baby Reid made the PERFECT Dr. Evil and Mini-me!!! Love IT!

L-R: Oliver (Hawkeye), Natalie (50's girl), Aidan (Snake Eyes), Ashley (Black Widow), and Ethan (A tough looking Harley guy, a.k.a Pop-pop)

Of course...what is Halloween without a few jack-o-lanterns? The boys were so excited to get to carving the pumpkins. Aidan knew exactly what he wanted his to look like, "2 triangle eyes, NO NOSE and a smile with 1 tooth on top and 1 tooth on the bottom". I drew it out and he carved it. I think he did a great job. Ethan was happy to pick out the pattern for the big one and the carving of that pumpkin was a "group" effort consisting of me doing it, but Ethan did clean it out. :)

As for me, I had a very enjoyable Halloween. I was able to attend a few parties over the weekend. Plus, I had a pretty awesome date...

And just in case you were wondering....this is what happens to a pumpkin left in a warm place for a few days in Arizona....

What's Up with Ethan...

I think it is time I write a little something about my eldest son...the man of mischief , the ruler over his siblings, the charmer and most of all, the quick-witted, little smart-remark maker with the biggest attitude, my stud- muffin, my dearest Ethan.

First of all, I would like to mention that he has entered into the double digits! My boy turned 10 on the 7th of October and I am still in awe! When did he get so grown up???? He used to be this bowling ball of a baby in my arms, then a little tyke in pre-k and now he's in the 4th grade talking about cars and trucks he wants to own, wants to know how things work, attempting to fix things and thinks he is too cool for his mom's hugs and kisses?! What?! This cannot be happening! He had a wonderful birthday (aside from his attitude on the morning of his birthday when he might have gotten into trouble for not sharing). He spent the weekend with his dad and Emily (Greg's new wife) and her kids. He loves spending time with his new extra large family, especially since he is still the oldest and can be ruler over all, but he is still a sweet little helper and big brother. Emily made him a doughnut cake (a birthday tradition in her family) and his cousin Dallin spent the night. (I will be honest, I'm glad that took place at Greg's place and not mine....I can't imagine the kinds of crazy that goes on when those two are together! ;)

 Then later that week, I picked Ethan up for a mommy/son date and I took him to one of those dine-in movie theaters.We saw Hotel Transylvania, in 3D! We had such a blast, just the two of us! I loved being able to spend that time with him. :o)







Along with his maturing age, he has been losing teeth like crazy! It seems like another one is loose or missing every single week. He currently has only one tooth hanging on in the upper left. He refers to it as"the island" since it stands alone. Hahaha, that kid cracks me up!

One last thing......Ethan has been doing very well in scouts. He enjoys all the activities and friends he has made. He has recently completed all his goals and "wrestled the bear" and has officially earned his Bear. Now, he has entered the Webelos den. I am so proud of my boy!






Ethan, I love you! You make me smile, laugh and want to rip my hair out sometimes, but you are one of the most loving, thoughtful, brightest kids I know! I am proud to be your mama! And you will never be too cool to receive hugs and kisses from Me! ;o)

A quick interjection....

It has come to my attention that in my earlier post of that sweet baby girl Avery, that I mentioned the "girls" at work named me "Craft-Afty". This was in error....my girl, Jess, whom I love to hate and hate to love, has made me see the error of my ways. It is her and ONLY her who came up with such a creative and fitting nickname for MOI! I publicly and cyber-ly apologize to my girl Jessica. Thank you for giving me my name which everyone loves and uses. I {heart} you.....not....but yes, I do. :) Hopefully you are happy with my giving you credit where credit is due.

BTW  - this is ONLY at the request of this crazy woman that I write this addendum. :)

Hot Air Ballooning....

It is so often that when a hot air balloon is floating through the blue sky one of my kids will say. "hey, look mom, a balloon.." Hot air balloons just seem magical, don't they? So when a friend invited me to take the boys on a quick up and down ride (or two, or three) in a balloon for free, I couldn't really pass up the opportunity!

 The kids loved every minute of it, but Aidan Milo really enjoyed it the most and sneaked in a few extras rides!

 We stuck around til the end of the rides and the boys got to help bring the balloon down and put it away! They were so happy and excited to help! Here they are basically playing tug-o-war with the balloon....the balloon won, but who is really keeping score anyway?! :o)

~And of course, a BIG Thank you to Dusty (and Josh) for the invite and the rides in your hot air balloon!~

AVERYawesomeCARLSON!

This is Jess and Jojo....and one very awesome Carlson....little Miss Avery....

Jessica is my co worker. We have a love-hate relationship that no one really understands....except for...well....nope, no one, not even Jess and I understand this relationship, but at least we have a cool handshake sign thingy we do when we see each other. I digress....this post is about her baby girl, Avery!! When Jessica told me she was preggers, I immediately went looking for a baby shower gift that would knock her socks off because that's what you do when you love to hate someone....show them how much better you are at gift giving than they are (I {heart} you Jess)! After much thought, I came up with the idea of an Alice in Wonderland theme. Why? Uhhh....because that is Jessica's FAVORITE movie!! Duh! However, an Alice in Wonderland story book just wasn't enough for my Jess and her baby girl. Back to the drawing board I went and the fabulous "Crafty-Afty" (a name my co-workers dubbed me) decided to put her Mad Hatter sewing skillz to work and sewed up this sweet little dress! :o)

 I packaged it up with a some ruffle-butt tights, black shoes and a black hair bow, and lets not forget the story book....and Presto! Jessica ended up with her very own Alice, errr...I mean, Avery in Wonderland!!

Isn't she an Absolute Doll?!?! I love her to pieces, but for some reason her mama won't let me babysit her..go figure?
Jess, I love to hate you and hate to love you! {<3 #, =, 11, peace out} and walk away.

All About Aidan Milo.....

My little Aidan Milo...he IS the MOST kindest, SWEETEST, Loving boy EVER!!! He recently just turned 7 years old. He is growing up right before my eyes and I can't believe it! His birthday was celebrated for a week (Jam packed with a ton of fun!) He celebrated with me, then over at his dads, then at my parents, and then back to me to spoil him some more. :o)
For his birthday he wanted frozen yogurt, he wanted to go see Madagascar 3, and he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles (the kid LOVES his sprinkles!)...he was King for the day, and he was over the moon about it! One thing about my Aidan Milo.... it doesn't matter how big, how small, how thoughtful or insignificant something might be...he gets ecstatic about everything! He loves it all.

Presents time!!! (please ignore the horrible videography...oh, and the extremely weird, crazy lady singing....)

The Diamondbacks game was awesome (even if we did end up losing to his stepmothers team ;). We had a BLAST! The seats were AMAZING!

The boys even made it on the big screen doing their best "Gangnam Style" dance! Unfortunately, I don't have any pics or footage of it...it happened way to fast :( 
The day definitely wore the kiddos out, always a good sign that they had just as much fun as I did :o)

 Happy Birthday Aidan Milo! You make my days brighter with your adorable (sometimes goofy) sparkling smile. I love you so much!

To read about his special day over at his dads house, you can read it here (his stepmother Emily does a much better job than myself at keeping a fabulous blog!): http://fullclousehouse.blogspot.com/2012/09/aidans-7th-birthday.html

Where has the time gone???

Wow! It's been well over a year since my last post and I make absolutely NO EXCUSES!!! (Besides....I am pretty sure NO ONE reads this thing, but it makes a great journal, right???) There has been a lot that has happened, a lot that I should have blogged and probably quite a bit that I shouldn't, so really....there is just no need for an update of happenings of the past....lets just start with the most current activities (and crossing my fingers I can stay a little more up to date with this whole blog thing). I think I will make them as separate posts as I am much better at writing 'short stories' rather than 'novels' anyways. TTFN....