Halloween and stomach flu

So here are Dylan and Kinlee this morning before school, all ready for the Halloween parade and looking good. Dylan was a Zombie Pirate (he didn't want to be JUST a pirate) and Kinlee a witch...
Then here is Dylan when it was time to go trick-or-treating ...

He got to school and called me at about 9:45 am and asked me to come and get him because he was feeling sick. He spent the day sleeping and throwing up, so he didn't feel well enough to go trick-or-treating. Kinlee was nice enough to take his trick-or-treat bag and gather treats for her sick brother at each house along with her own treats. What a nice sister. Kaitlyn and Christian also have the stomach flu. Kaitlyn was throwing up all night and Christian has severe diarrhea. Christian wore this lion outfit for about 2 minutes just for pictures and then he was done, it was too hot and confining. Kaitlyn slept for about 4 hours today and then woke up and was ready to go trick-or-treating. She even had her appetite back. What a day to get sick. Poor Dylan was pretty upset that he didn't get to go, so I told him about the time I had chicken pox one Halloween when I was little and didn't get to go. I don't think it made him feel any better. :)

Kinlee couldn't stand wearing the fake witch nose all day, so at night we just painted her nose green with the rest of her face and painted a black dot on it for a wart. I'm surprised she even let me paint her face, usually she hates anything on her face. Kaitlyn just wanted the candy, she kept taking her witch hat off so I carried it most of the time. By the way, I wanted her to be the cowgirl, but she wanted to be a witch like Kinlee. She pretty much copies everything Kinlee does these days. At least it wasn't a princess again!

Anyway, we had yummy soups over at Joel's sister's house and then all the cousins went trick-or-treating together. And thanks to Kinlee, Dylan can still enjoy the treats even though he didn't get to go. Blaine, I don't remember you doing that for me when I had chicken pox that year! I bet mom made you share half your treats with me though. :) Happy Halloween!

FHE pumpkin carving

So last night we finally got around to carving our pumpkins which is one of my LEAST favorite holiday things to do. I end up scooping most of the pumpkin guts out and drawing the faces on the pumpkins so Joel can carve them. We always look for jack-o-lantern faces on the internet because I am not very creative at thinking of a cute or scary face to do. These are the ones the kids picked out. Kaitlyn's pumpkin is not carved because she took a black sharpie and colored all over it. Hers is turned so you can't see the black marker very much. We might still carve hers before Halloween. The kids enjoy it a lot even though their participation is minimal because they don't like the feeling of the pumpkin guts on their hands. :)Afterwards, Joel read "The Littlest Pumpkin" to the kids. It's a cute book about a little pumpkin at a pumpkin stand who never gets picked because he is so small, but ends up being a jack-o-lantern for a bunch of mice at a Halloween party.

Here is Christian on the floor "listening" to the story. His hair was kind-of crazy today. :)

Say "NO" to princesses!

So, I am trying to talk Kaitlyn into being something for Halloween other than a princess. Kinlee was a princess for about 4 years in a row I think and I am kind of sick of that costume to be honest. I told her I would ask everyone if they like the witch better....

Or the cowgirl...

Hopefully she will pick one of these instead of that @#$%& princess costume!

Christian really isn't going to be a kitty cat, I just thought he looked cute with the kitty ears on so I had to take his picture. His costume will be a surprise... be prepared for extreme adorableness though. Any other suggestions for Kaitlyn would be welcome too. :) Thanks

Yummy soup

So it's been really cold lately and I've been in the mood for some really yummy hot soup. Canned doesn't quite do it for me so I tried a recipe last night from a girl in my ward for Chicken Tortilla soup. It was sooooo yummy that I have to post the recipe for you all if you want to try it. My kids even liked it! Joel liked it somewhat, but you can't have barbecued steak every night can you? He really doesn't like to try new things, but I do so he deals with it. :) Anyway, if you are looking for a yummy soup for the cold October nights, this one is perfect, and it's easy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 T olive oil
1 jalapeno, fresh minced
1 medium red onion diced
3 cups diced roma tomatoes (take out seeds)
1 T cumin seed (ground)
2 qt chicken stock
3 T fresh cilantro (chopped)
3 cups corn kernels
3 cups grilled chicken breast diced

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over med. Add jalapeno, onion, tomato, and corn. Cook, stirring until all the veggies are soft, about 15 min. Add the cumin and cook another 5 min. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and simmer 10 min. Add the grilled chicken breast and fresh cilantro, heat through and serve. Garnish with avocado, lime, fried tortilla strips, salt, pepper, or tobasco.
It''s good with sour cream and cheese too. :) Of course I think of a way to fatten it up.

October Sky

Last night we were outside enjoying the cool weather and Kaitlyn pointed to the sky and said "look, the sky is pink!" and it really was. The mountains were even a little pink so we took a picture of them and the pink sunset. These pictures don't do it justice, but my sister in Mexico might enjoy seeing these pictures. Look, you can see the "Y" on the mountain if you look closely.

Don't these kids look like they love each other and get along really well? Wow, they might have even had ME fooled if I didn't know any better. :)


Anyway, fall is my favorite season and it never lasts long enough. I just hope it doesn't start snowing soon!

Conference Sunday

Sunday after the first session of conference we decided to head up the canyon to snap some pictures since the weather cleared up and the sun was shining. I figure it might be the last chance we have to go up there before it really gets cold. When we got out of the car, Kinlee accidentally slammed her finger in the door and since the door was already locked, she couldn't open it to get her finger out. She just started screaming and Joel and I were on the other side of the car so we ran over to see what was wrong and saw that she couldn't get her finger out. So I ran over to the other side where the door was still open and clicked the unlock button so Joel could open the door for her. Her poor little finger was purple and had a big indent where it was stuck. As you might guess, she wasn't too excited to take pictures after that happened. Anyway, we got a couple shots with her in them and then she asked if she could go lay down in the car so we let her. Poor girl. She really is tough, but that one looked like it hurt! Anyway, here are some of the pictures we got. I tried using my tripod and the timer on the camera for the first time. It worked great, except I had it on the wrong setting and the family picture turned out a little blurry. Oh well, we can try again. I am learning I guess.

She finally did it!

Okay okay I promise this is the last post about potty training, but it was just so exciting for our family. :) Kaitlyn finally achieved #2 in the potty last night! Joel had promised her that he would buy her a new Polly Pocket if she did it, so immediately she wanted to go to Toys R Us to get it. She was so excited she wouldn't stop jabbering and talking the whole time we were in the car and in the store. She kept pointing out other toys she was going to get the next time she went poop in the potty. Somehow she thinks that each time she goes she will get a new toy. Uh oh. Anyway, we are getting closer to only one kid in diapers around here thank goodness. Here she is with her new toy... you are just lucky I didn't take a picture of her "achievement"! :)

The shop is done!

Well, Joel and Preston (his business partner) have finally moved in to the new shop this week! They are still working out the bugs and getting all set up, but it looks great and hopefully we can pay for it now with lots of business. :) Above is a picture of Joel's office (already messy). Here is a picture of Kaitlyn and her favorite thing... a drinking fountain she can reach herself....

This is the showroom area...
This is the conference room. Preston is going to build a table to go in here...
Here is Kaitlyn and Christian on the showroom sofa...

This is Brandee, the office manager. She is having a GREAT time trying to get all set up in her new work station. She does like the new digs though...

This is Preston and Brandee, I had to take the picture on the sly because they didn't want to pose. Joel wasn't here at the time so I didn't get a picture of him...

Anyway, hopefully the building industry won't die now that we are all set up in our new beautiful facility. :) Joel jokes that we will open our doors and then have to close them a few days later. Hopefully that won't happen, but wish us luck!

Not so look-alikes

I had a funny thing happen to me today. I went to Walmart and the check out lady asked me if I ever watch General Hospital (maybe she saw me glancing through Soap Digest while I was waiting in line), and I said no. Then she proceeded to tell me "You look just like Carly on General Hospital, in fact I almost thought you were her at first." I was thinking, sure, she would be in the Orem Walmart with 2 little kids. I said "Thanks!" and then realized I really didn't know if it was a compliment or not since I didn't know what Carly from GH looks like. Anyway, I decided to Google her and here is a picture of me from Sunday (I stole it from your blog Blaine, sorry) and a picture of Carly from GH. Can you tell who is who? j/k I need a lot more work to look that good, and she's got those "smoldering eyes", but it was a nice compliment anyway.