My Man

I just came upon this today.

Is there any question as to why I am married to this man?

Spooks and Ghouls

Halloween. Costumes. Candy. Personality changes. (Direct result of the candy.) Tantrums. What's not to love?

Oh, and of course, my husband's annual embarrassing costume choice, which, inevitably involves some form of disgusting facial hair. Who would have thought Jake would be such a Halloween afficionado?

Here's the scene just a few days before Halloween. Crazy Denver weather. It snowed another foot and a half after I snapped this photo. Thank goodness for all-wheel-drive is all I can say. Judd had no clue as to what to do with all this snow. He had never really seen it before. This is what happened as soon as I opened the garage door: both kids took off running into the accumulating snow and within a few feet fell flat on their faces. Judd was quite stunned. Ellie, being more experienced in snow, got up and kept on truckin'. Judd made a beeline for the icy puddle at the bottom of the driveway, fell in, and decided he was done.

Ellie decided on Halloween that she was going to be Princess Minnie. Up to that point, I thought she was going to be a Cinderella princess or something like that. Ellie has many princess options. Oh, and by the way, I want you all to know that Jake calls Ellie his little princess. I once heard that one of the cardinal rules of dating for dudes is to never date a chick whose father calls her "princess." Not sure if Jake is sabotaging her on purpose. . .

By the time I remembered to snap a photo of Judd in his Judd-zilla costume, it was after we had trick-or-treated and he was well beyond being able to keep it together. This is the best I could do. (Costume is homemade.) Jake claims this photo is great because this is "classic Judd."

Here is another attempt.

Yes, I am aware that there is something strange growing on Jake's face. I didn't get a photo, but this is the remnant of Jake's Halloween costume. Walker Texas Ranger. He went all the way costume-wise with this one. What he really wanted was Walker Texas Ranger running a marathon, but I nixed that one as just too random. Of course, after he was done with the costume, he had to shave the beard into something that I would totally object to, and this year tops off all other years. I have no idea what this is supposed to be, but it utterly offends me.

Then, Jake makes this commentary: "Do you think there are styles that are just so ruined by certain people that they will never come back into style?"

Me: "Huh?"

Jake: "Well, I'm just wondering when the Hitler is going to come back."

Happy Halloween Y'all!

Disaster

The first time they did this, I laughed and then cleaned it up.

Only a few minutes later, they did this.

This was the last straw for me, when they made almost the exact same mess as the first.

Does anyone want extra kids? I've got two...

On a lighter note, it snowed not too long ago, and I bundled the kids up to run some errands. I was surprised at how excited Judd was to wear new duds and then how happy he was to have his picture taken. I think he might be a little metro. He gets it from his dad.

On a final note, there is one more photo that I am itching to post but Jake has told me that I just absolutely can't. He says it is embarrassing and damaging to our son. I think it's funny and cute. If you want to see it, harrass Jake.

Of Clouds and Billiards

My mom likes to play this game with Ellie where they look at the clouds and tell each other what the shapes are. Elephants, ice cream cones, cars, you name it.

In the last few days, Ellie has adapted the game into other spheres. The one with which I'm not sure what to do, is the poop. It's the cloud game, but with poop. The other day, she called from the bathroom, "Mommy! I made a water bottle poopoo! Come see!" Yesterday, she surprised me with this query, "What shape does your poopoo look like, mommy?" (I will note here for you readers, that like all other women in this world, I do not "go poopoo." Not ever. No gas, either.)

So far, I just play along. "Nice poopoo! Now flush, wash your hands, and tell your daddy exactly what you just told me."

Since I've already ruined your day with this topic, I'm just going to run with it. Ellie also calls her poop like a professional billiards player. You know, like when they say, "5 ball in the corner pocket," or something like that? When Ellie goes in for a number 2, she likes to tell you exactly what she's going to produce. As in, "it's going go be two big ones," or "this time, it's going to be one big one, then two little ones," or my favorite, the triple combo, "it's going to be a big one, then a little one, then another big one." Sometimes she loses track and has me check to see where she's at in her sequence. Is that weird?

Please, don't answer that.

What a Feelin'!

Ellie had her first ballet lesson yesterday. She's already showing considerable promise. I would tell you more about it, but Ellie has decided that she won't tell anyone about her ballet lesson. That means that I only know what little I saw. You'll just have to aske Ellie about it and see if she tells you.

On the Road

We finally did it. After calculating and comparing the costs of traveling to Utah, we decided to try driving. (Usually we fly, but after considering the cost of 3 plane tickets, 1 car rental, 2 car seat rentals, and airport hassle, we were game for something different.) For the first time, with the kids. From Denver to Logan, it's about a 9 hour drive if you go nonstop. There is no nonstop with a toddler and a baby.

We heard that portable DVD players were the way to go. So we borrowed one. Ellie wasn't interested in it after, oh, about 30 minutes. As I've mentioned in an earlier blog, Ellie has the gift of gab. Imagine a 10-hour drive with non-stop toddler banter.

I had been really looking forward to spending some time in the mountains. In Cache Valley, you are never more than a 10-minute drive from a hiking trail. That is something I truly miss living in the 'burbs. I found myself telling Jake all about the hiking that was always in my back yard when I was growing up.

Our first mountain jaunt was the River Trail. Too bad it was 95 degrees!


My niece, Erika, invited us to her 7th birthday party. I can't believe Erika is 7. I was in the delivery room with her parents when she was born, so she has always been special to me. Here is the precocious 7-year-old.


And her 5-year-old brother, Kalvin, for good measure.


In my last posting, I mentioned that I'm not the kind of mom who bakes cupcakes and then hand-decorates each one for her kid's birthday party. Well, my sister is that kind of mom. Here is her handiwork.


I must mention here that all the kids, except for Ellie, took turns being sick while we were there. That is why in some pictures you will notice that not all the kids are present.

We went to Bear Lake. Jake had never been there, and I didn't realize until we got there that Jake was expecting a stagnant little mountain pond. Any of you who have been there know that that certainly is not the case. I think Jake was pleasantly surprised. Kalvin was sick for this outing.

We had to get burgers and raspberry shakes at LaBeau's, of course. I have to admit, while the raspberry shake was excellent, the hamburgers weren't impressive at all. (I think the LaBeau's in Logan still makes decent burgers, though.) While we were waiting for our lunch, Erika expressed a desire to "hold the baby." The "baby" happens to be about 2/3 her height and about 3/4 her weight. I don't think Judd understood that he was being held.


Ellie was fearless in the water. We had to keep a sharp eye on her because she kept running farther out into the water. Judd, on the other hand, cried when I put him in the water. He got over it quickly, though. (Some of you know my serious aversion to natural bodies of water, and I know you are thinking I'm a total hypocrite for sending my own children into a lake. To that, I can only say, you are totally right.)


Our final excursion on our trip was the Wind Caves hike in Logan Canyon. I have done this hike a number of times, but the last time I hiked it may have been about 10 years ago. We took Ellie with us. Judd was sick for this one. This was lucky for Ellie, because Jake ended up having to carry her most of the way. Thank goodness for the Kelty.

In the cave--Ellie was truly disappointed because there were no flowers or bats in the caves. She thought the hike was a total and utter bust.

Gorgeous views.
Thanks Mom, Maki, Jessica, Erika, and Kalvin for a fun vacation!