31 Days of Giving

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200th Post

So this is my 200th post and in honor of that momentous event I want to do a GIVEAWAY! I also want to know who is looking in on our lovely life in Logandale but does not leave me a comment. So here's the deal....
Leave me a comment and tell me what you would like to win. Now since I am not the Super Seamstress or Clever Crafter the prizes will be some of my favorite things and maybe one crafty craft surprise that I deem worthy enough for giving away. I have some ideas but I don't know for sure yet.

Here are the prizes.

1-Bath and Body Works Twisted Peppermint Hand Soap


2-Fuzzy Socks


3-One of my favorite books-Letters For Emily


And one crafty craft to be determined.

So leave me a comment so I know you were here or post a comment on a previous post from November and maybe you will win. Giveaway ends on December 1.

Cayden's Month of October

There was a Friday in October that Cayden's class and the whole first grade walked to the Hardy's pumpkin patch. I think it was the 9th but I can't remember for sure because I did not go on this field trip. The kids all got to pick out a pumpkin and then they had a picnic lunch. They also got to pick pears and pomegranates off the Hardy's trees. Grandma Hardy has been my visiting teacher a few times and has always brought us lots of fresh picked fruits and veggies from their garden. The last few years they have also let anyone who wants to go to the pumpkin patch and pick pumpkins for free after the first graders go. They grow the pumpkins specifically for the kids to come and pick. They have done that for years and years and it is so nice! Cayden carried around that pumpkin for weeks and pretended that it was his baby and that it was one of the kids in his "invisible class". He plays school upstairs and his class is invisible. He drew a smiley face on one side and a mad face on the other. I was worried that he would drop it lugging it all over the house and up and down the stairs but he didn't. Since we did not carve pumpkins at all this year because we went to Disneyland the pumpkin is still in his room sitting in the rocking chair.

Cayden also made a darling spider pinata in his occupational therapy time. I stupidly forgot to get a picture of it right when he brought it home and then the next Sunday when I was taking a nap the kids broke into it because there was candy inside. I hate it when I miss taking pictures of thinigs. It was not a paper mache pinata like you make with a balloon inside but since I did not get to see it broken into I don't know for sure how it was made.

It's A Date

Cody asked a friend to the Winter Formal dance last week. He asked her by carving a hole in the bottom of 2 solid chocolate Santas and rolling up two tiny pieces of paper with his first name on one and his last name on the other. He took a cute Christmas plate and put the Santas on it and surrounded it with candy. Then he (me too) wrote a cute poem telling her what to do and he placed the poem on the plate. Basically it said that she had to break open the Santas to find out who her date would be to the dance. She answered him a few days later by bringing over almost 100 balloons with little random sayings in them. She put them all over his room and put a note on the door saying that he had to pop the balloons. She was tricky though because she came over while he and I were at the college fair and she had Cody's dad hide the balloon with the answer in it and told him not give it to Cody until he had popped all the other balloons. I really detest the sound of popping balloons and it was difficult for me to stand there and listen to him pop them all. Connor was really excited and he wanted to help really bad but Cody was insistent that he alone would pop them all. Finally after popping all the balloons and not finding an answer, his dad pulled out the one that was hidden and Cody popped it to find the answer yes inside. He was pretty excited. This is his first formal dance and he is eagerly planning and preparing so that they have a good time.

This Is What Happened When Cody Cooks

Cody wanted to make a treat to take to school on Wednesday. He decided to make the fabulous muddy buddies. The first hint that there might be problems was when he added a whole cup of peanut butter when he only needed half. So he just ended up doubling the recipe. That ended up being almost 2 boxes of Chex cereal. Then after everything is all mixed together you have to put it into a plastic bag and shake it up with powdered sugar. The next problem was the ziploc bag was not completely closed when he decided to turn it upside down and shake it. The kitchen was a disaster but Cody was a good boy and cleaned up his mess and did the dishes. Oh did I mention that I had just cleaned the floors too? That is my life people-when I clean the floors something has to happen to mess it up. Oh well, the muddy buddies were excellent and we enjoyed them.

Cody and Megan on Tour

On Friday, November 13 Cody and his good friend Megan sang at the holiday open house at our grocery store. It sounds kinda goofy I know but the store does this every year and has lots of entertainment, samples, sales and prizes. They even had hot cocoa they were handing out as you come in the door. The store set up a little area over by the bakery where they had some chairs, a piano, speakers and a microphone. Cody played and sang and Megan sang. They sang 5 Christmas songs. Their choir was supposed to sing after them but their teacher got sick and cancelled that performance. Cody and Megan did a good job and got lots of compliments. There next venue will be our Sacrament meeting in December. They will have someone accompany them this time though because apparently you are not supposed to sing and play at the same time in Sacrament Meeting. Good thing someone told us because we did not know that.

Dot's Sock Hop

On Saturday November 7 we had a 60th birthday party for Grandma Dottie. Her birthday was actually October 30 but this was the day that everyone could get together. The party was a 50's theme and everyone dressed up (my husband was a party pooper though and wore his t-shirt and shorts). We had the party at Dena's house. There were lots of decorations and the owners of Inside Scoop came and made malts and milkshakes for the guests as they were arriving. Then Don and Dave made hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and fried french fries in our turkey fryer. Connor was on trash patrol and clean up as usual-he did not want to dress up either because that would interfere with his ability to work. Cayden0-who was only partially in costume because he wanted to wear shorts and flip flops-about made himself sick eating 2 milkshakes, 2 hotdogs, lots of fries and then the ever delightful bundt cake. Caleb mingled by the milkshake stand and Cody just hung out. I spent hours the week before working on a 50's Jeopardy game. Some of the guests were worried that they would not know any of the answers to the questions but I ran most the questions by my mom first to make sure that they weren't too hard. She thought they were good. It worked out well even though it seemed that I had to yell to make myself heard. I hate having to do stuff like that though because I feel like such a dork. We had a good turn out. Uncle Tom, grandma's brother, came from Pioche as well as grandpa's brother Ken and his wife Suzy and grandpa's sister Diane and her husband Felix. Aunt Dawna and Uncle Robert were on a cruise that had been planned for a long time before the party was planned so they could not come. There are no pictures with this post because Darbie took most of the pictures and she uploaded them to Snapfish and I don't know how to get them from Snapfish to the blog. It's ok though I look like crap as usual-I would have looked like crap in the 50's apparently too.

A Hunting We Will Go

And by "we" I mean not me! Don took the boys hunting the second weekend of October. They always put in for tags and this year Connor was the only one who got one. They always put in for the same area too up around McGill where grandma and grandpa have a house that they can stay in. Grandpa, Don, Connor and Caleb left Thursday and drove up in the afternoon so that they could scope out where they wanted to go. They got up early Friday and Uncle Dave met them out on the range. They hiked and hunted and looked and searched and tiptoed and tried all to no avail. They did see a few does that Connor wanted to shoot at but Don told him to wait for a buck. Alas, there were no bucks. While Don and Connor hiked and hunted Caleb and grandpa hung out in the Rhino. This was the way of things for 2 1/2 days. Sunday morning they went out early for a last try and Connor decided to shoot at a doe. We think he hit in the leg maybe but it got away. I was secretly glad because that was a mama and besides I greatly dislike deer meat or any game meat of any kind. It is probably psychological but it is still the truth. They had fun anyway and the boys are excited to go out next year. Caleb can put in for the draw this next time so we might get 2 deer. Yippee! The boys had to complete Hunter Safety and Don took them out shooting a few times so they could get used to the sound and feel of the gun. I guess it is a good thing for them to learn but it so does not float my boat.

Primary Program

Today was our Primary sacrament meeting program. We only have 2 kids left in Primary and next year for the program it will only be one! Can you believe that? Almost makes me want another baby.................................NOT!!!!!!! Ha ha mom that was for you! Last year Cayden would not go up to the stand unless I went with him and sat with him. So I did and ended up walking with him up to the pulpit and then because he would not say his part I did it for him. This year he said that he was not going to go up at all but after telling him he could sit right by his teacher the whole time and telling him he did not have to do his part, he agreed. He was seated directly behind the pulpit so I could not see if he was singing or not but I know he was not standing up when all the kids sang. Maybe by the time he graduates primary he will actually sing and do his part. Caleb sang "Army of Helaman" with all the boys his age. We have a huge primary so he did not have a speaking part this time. I was kind of sad because he will not get to do the program next year because he will be 12 in June. This was a great program. The kids all sang very very well. I can't think of a year when they have known all the songs so well. My friend Angela is the chorister and she is AMAZING! She has the greatest ideas ever and I love to sub in Primary just to see what she has come up with. I love how inspired the Primary General Presidency is in deciding what the year's theme is. This year it was about "The Family". There could not be a better time to teach and remind and instill in our children the purpose, design and necessity of the family. I love the gospel!


EDIT** I just found out from our chorister that Cayden did stand up and he even smiled at her. I guess he did not sing though. Maybe next time!

Time Out For Women

Ok so I got a little ahead of myself and got out of chronological order. Friday and Saturday, November 6-7 I got to go St.George and go to Time Out For Women. I really needed a time out and I am so000000000000000 glad that I could go. I left Friday morning and did a bit off shopping before the event started. It was totally casual so I wore jeans and sandals. It was at the Dixie Convention Center and there were over 3000 women there. I took pages and pages of notes and felt like I had carpal tunnel by Saturday afternoon. Here is a quick rundown of the presenters.

Cheiko Okazaki-she spoke about the prophet Joseph Smith and his quote "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves." She was amazing and can you believe that she is 83! She had taught 2nd grade and gave examples of how she was able to teach her class the correct principles and they did govern themselves. I so wish I could go to her class and my kids too!

Hillary Weeks-she is funny and beautiful and talented. She told stories and sang songs and played the piano. There are videos of some of her songs on Youtube.

Kenneth Cope-he sang songs and told stories and played his guitar. He composed "Woman at the Well" and "Greater Than Us All". If you want to see one of my favorite songs and a video go here. Get a kleenex though! I came home and downloaded a bunch of songs of his from Itunes. The spirit can sure speak through music. After the event he was still there and we got our picture with him like a bunch of groupies.

Carolyn Rasmus-she spoke about the atonement and how it "covers" us using an object lesson with a Kafar-a coarse woven robe from Israel. She was absolutely enthralling.

Emily Watts-she is funny and inspirational and she is chief editor at Deseret Book. She contributes to a blog that I look at all the time but I did not know who she was until TOFW. You can find that blog here and here is her personal website.

Mary Ellen Edmunds-this woman is A. dorable! If you have not seen her on BYU TV you have to. She is funny and real and fantastic! True story-After lunch on Saturday they did a drawing for prizes. 2 of the prizes were gift bags from Deseret Book and Mary Ellen Edmunds got to give the prize to the winner and give them a hug. I never wanted to win something so bad in my life! I did not want the bag but I wanted the HUG. So after the whole event was over I was talking with a bunch of friends for a while and almost everyone was gone. A few of the presenters were still there talking up by the stage and we went over to talk to them. Mary Ellen Edmunds was sitting with some friends and chatting and I went up to her and said "I wanted to win the drawing so bad just so I could get a hug from you. Can I have a hug?" She laughed like she always does and said 'Yes you can" Then she gave me a hug! She is great! I could have listened to her all day and it seemed like she only spoke for a very short time.

Jill C. Manning-This woman has devoted her life to helping those addicted to pornography and their families. She was very candid but very professional. She gave this statistic:
83% of pornography viewed by children is viewed in their own homes and 7% is viewed in their friends homes. AAHHHHH! Disturbing right? Well she turned it around and said that yes that statistic is awful but that means that WE can affect nearly 90% of the filth being seen by children by being diligent and candid and righteous. I really felt the spirit testifying of the truths that she was teaching even with a very uncomfortable subject.

Emily Freeman-she spoke on Abundance and used the story of Jesus Feeding the 5000 and the many principles found in those few verses of John. She said "He is the giver of every good thing and has promised us enough and enough to spare." I almost left early because we were having a birthday party for Don's mom and I still had things to do in St. George before I went home. I am so glad that I stayed to hear what she had to say. I got a hug from her too and found out that Connor and her son have the same diabetes doctor in Salt Lake! Crazy!!

I am so glad that I could go to this. I stayed at Brad and Ashley's Friday night because every room in that whole city was booked and I had not seen them for a while. We stayed up talking until 1 and then I got up early and left by 7 to go and get in line for good seats. It was a good thing too because there were already people lining up at 7:30 and they did not open the doors until 8:15 for the 9:00 start. There seriously were old women running to get good seats. I was able to get good seats and saved some for some friends. Don has always been very supportive of me going to these types of things but I have the guilt monster who lives in my brain and I have never gone before. I am so glad I did and I even called my mom on Saturday during a break to see if she could get tickets to the TOFW that was in Salt Lake this weekend. They were all sold out but they posted the schedule for next year and they will be in Ogden in February and Las Vegas in October. I am so there!!

Gangsta

Lawrence "Guts" Reagan

Abject disdain for the proceedings.

Cody and his good friends Steven and Megan.

Cody and Kelsey-she played Karen Andre the defendant.
Cody has been super busy the past month coming and going to the high school for play rehearsal. The play was this week for 3 days. Our whole family went on Tuesday, I went on Wednesday with my nieces and Grandma and Grandpa went on Thursday. It was a great play and Cody got nothing but compliments. The play was "The Night of January 16th" by Ayn Rand. It was a courtroom drama and they called up people out of the audience to be the jury and everyone else in the audience was "in the court room". The jury got to really decided if the defendant was guilty or not guilty and the cast ended the play with one of two different endings based on the decision of the jury. Cody's part was not until the last 40 minutes but he had the best part. He played Lawrence "Guts" Reagan, a notorious gangster. He was in love with the defendant who was played by Cody's darling friend Kelsey Martin. She is a DOLL! Cody talked in a "sopranos" voice and wielded his cigar in disdain. He was smart alecky and funny and had the most dynamic part in the play. His costume was great and I actually had one lady ask me if I made it for him. Ummm no but thanks anyway. He worked really hard and did a fabulous job. The cigar was a fake but totally looked real and had powder in the end that would really puff out to look like smoke. (this was not such a good thing because Cayden wondered if really smoke because Cody smoked in the play) Cody is loving theater so much. He has a great teacher and he is very talented. He is excited to do their next play in the spring. One of the teachers recorded the play so hopefully they got a good copy.

Nyquil I Love You

Well there some sickies around here again and I am one of them. I took my nighttime stuffy head medicine and now am feeling its coma inducing call. I have gotten a lot of blogging done the last few days and I am proud of myself. We are actually up to November in documenting our lives. And by we and our I mean the mouse in my pocket. I really want to make a blog book like my sister so that we have a hard copy of all my ramblings and the nuttiness that flows around me and my family. So because I can't reach or find or even get out of bed to look for a piece of paper to write a list of what else I want to blog about I will make a short list and you will have a sneak peak of what is to come.
Time Out for Women
Dot's Sock Hop
Cody's play
Cody and Megan on tour
Serious Time Wasters and Deep Thoughts
Parenting 101
More ramblings and events our household.

La La land is beckoning! Adios

It's The Creepiest Place on Earth

So have you been to Disneyland on Halloween? Well apparently that holiday gives license for all the weirdos and freaks to descend on Disneyland because they can walk around in their horizontal striped tights, black army boots, black trench coat and multiple piercings with out feeling to out of place. I SO should have gotten a picture of some of these people but I was afraid for my life. Anyone that tells you that Halloween in Disneyland is not crowded LIED! It was not as bad as June but WOW! New Orleans Square was PACKED! They redo the Haunted Mansion like Nightmare Before Christmas and apparently it is quite the thing to go on the Haunted Mansion as many times as you can during the course of the day and as close to midnight on Halloween as possible. You also have to wear the black hoodie with the white picture of Jack (from the movie) or you are not part of the club. Hmmm I think I like the princess and pooh bear part of Disney better.
We took the kids out a little early Thursday and drove down to our home away from home-The Anaheim Hilton. The kids had a four day weekend because of Nevada Day and Staff Development Day on Monday so we took another Disney vacation. The weather was lovely this time and we still had fun. They do have a GREAT Halloween show that they do over the castle and we watched that on Friday night. We sat in the road on mainstreet in front of the castle for 3 and 1/2 hours so that we could have a spot to see the show. It was a very long time and we had to take turns saving the spot but the show was fabulous. 30 minutes before the show they made everyone stand up and Cayden could not see so Don held him for the 20 minute show. You do know Cayden is 7 years old and 75+lbs right? They had tons of fireworks and fire and the dog from Nightmare Before Christmas flew down the wire that Tinkerbell always flies on. Friday night we had our "secret" spot for the Fantasmic show and got so see that almost unempeded. We were able to do lots of rides but Small World was down for Christmas remodel. Cayden was a little bummed. We watched some of the shows that we have never seen before and we did some rides that some of us had not done before. Cody and I dragged Caleb on to Indiana Jones and after the first ride he was not thrilled but then he decided that it was his favorite and wanted to go on it alot. Don and Cody love Space Mountain and they had special Halloween effects. We also dragged everyone onto the River Rapids ride at California Adventure. Cayden hated it and I my back was wet almost all day. Connor got to picked to be in the Jedi Training show and he was thrilled! Sometimes is pays to be a little shorter because they think you're younger and you get to eat off the lower price kids menu! Connor still loves the characters and wants to meet them every time he sees them. Cayden on the other hand REFUSES to even be within 20 feet of them. We stayed at the parks for about 27 hours total during the weekend and saw half of Logandale as well. Connor also bought this book about hidden Mickey's all over the park and so we were hunting for those as we went on Pirates and Alice for the 5th time. By Sunday we were about ready to barf Disney but we had fun. This was the first year that we have not done the "traditional" Halloween thing-costumes, trick or treat, trunk or treat and class parties. Since we pulled Cayden out early I did not even have to take a treat in to the class party. No Room Mom for me this year. YIPPEE! I was also glad to not have the huge bowl of candy that sits in my closet and gets picked through until the good chocolate candy bars are gone and until Easter when we gear up for the Easter Bunny and Don takes the candy to the Priests at church. We went home Sunday even though the kids had Monday off from school. Don had to leave on Tuesday for a trip so we went home to recuperate from our vacation. We want to go back again but are rethinking the holidays because of the crowds. The kids have another 4 day weekend around President's Day and THAT time of year is supposed to be much less crowded.

We Need More Speech Therapy

So this seriously happened while talking to Cayden one night.
Cayden: Mom, are you a "ho"?
Mom: What did you say? (in a very calm and collected voice)
Cayden: Are you a "ho"?
Mom: Well.....um, what do you think that is?
Cayden: You know a girl.
Mom: Oooohhhh! Am I a HER?
Cayden: Yes.
Mom: Yes Cayden I am a "ho".

Well that's a relief that he does not know what a ho is. Let's work on those r's!

Come to the Dark Side

On Wednesday October 28 our son decided to turn to the dark side. Only for the day though. It was spirit week because of Homecoming and every day was a dress up day. Cody usually never participates in the dressing up but he was thrilled to try out this new style. It was punk rock day and as you can see he fulfilled the requirements. He is wearing a black suede vest from DI that we bought for Caleb and his rocker costume a few years ago, biker gloves and a chain necklace dug out of the Halloween box, a spiked mohawk, black eyeliner and pegged pants. When he got to school he had a girl friend who brought black nail polish and red hair spray. The girl was painting all the guys nails and spraying their hair. Don't worry he has not chosen to continue this fashion statement but we think that he enjoyed the black nail polish just a bit too much.

EEWWWW

Caleb's science teacher has a pet ball python and this week was pet week. She brought it in today and let it slither around the classroom. Last week Caleb came home and said that because he had been so good all week he got to hold the snake all during class. I don't think this kid is related to me AT ALL.

Lexie Lou Lou

The last weekend in October my brother, his wife and my niecy Lexi came down for a visit. This is the cutest baby girl and even though she screamed and cried we loved having her with us. As you can see in the picture she loved loved LOVED Uncle Don and he could hold her and rock her and she would not fuss a bit and usually go back to sleep. We had lots of fun with the Gessel family. We watched lots of episodes of Numbers, drank lots of Diet Coke, ate way too much food and cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, tried to shield out children's eyes from the smutty displays on the way to the strip, on the strip, in the stores etc. We went to FAO Scwartz, and then sang primary songs to Lexie all the way home from Vegas while her parents went to Phantom. We went to church and then watched football and then we watched more football after Don brought home PF Changs for dinner. They came on Friday and left on Tuesday. We had a great time and have had more company in the last month then we have had in the last two years. The upstairs bathroom has never felt so loved! Thanks for coming to see us!

Drop Your Sword

Cody went with his cousins the Zundels to the Renaissance Fair to "people watch" on October 10. There were some pretty weird people which I guess was the point.

Cody Has The Coolest Mom

Cody and the "weed". Jordan and the out of state plate.

Cody and the 4 sale sign.

One of Cody's good friends had a surprise birthday party that Cody helped put together. The best part of the party was the Digital Scavenger Hunt. I made up the game so Cody could participate and not get a head start on everybody else! They split into two groups and then had to find and take pictures of the items that I listed. Cody's group was very creative! I had over 40 things on the list and they found almost all of them in 45 minutes! Cody said they had a blast! Who knew Overton could provide such entertainment!

Abby and Owie Came To Visit

Did you know that Santa vacations at the Tahitian Village resort in Vegas in September?

Cayden peaking over the maze. Abby playing in the water.

Cody and Owen

Cayden and Abby at Claimjumper-this picture was hard to get obviously!

Cayden fell asleep on the way into Vegas Saturday morning because him, Don, Cody and Connor got up really early to go help at an eagle project.

The end of September Abby and Owie and their mom and dad came to visit. They stayed in Vegas and we went in to see them on Saturday and then they came out on Sunday and stayed the night. We met them at Claim Jumper and then played at the kids park in Town Center where there was a maze and water squirters and a big playhouse. Note to self-don't get the chicken fried steak at Claim Jumper or anywhere but Sugar's. After lunch we went to the condo where Ryan and Suey were staying and went to their great pool. It was seriously 90 degrees and the pool was fabulous! They had a lazy river and a sandy beach walk in that the kids loved. Su and I had a great time trying to get pictures of "Santa" who was hanging out in the pool. We played in the pools until the absolute last second and then we hung out for a while and got Cain's Chicken for dinner. We headed home around 7. Su and Ryan were going to come out for church but Owie was up all night with what we think was swimmer's ear. They took him to the Urgent Care and then made it out to our house for lunch. Our kids just love having Abby and Owie and their parents over to our house. Abby had a great time with her "kids" and Owie got lots of hugs and kisses from his auntie!

"La" A Note To Follow "So"

On September 21 our local Arts Council held it's season opener. Many different groups-Encore Choir, MVHS Dancers, our local gymnastics group, groups of singers etc all sang or performed individually. Cody sang with the Encore choir from the high school and he also sang in a quartet. The quartet sang a funny song about hamburgers and the boys wore Burger King crowns. Cody did not like the song but it was pretty funny and everyone loved it.

Serious Blog Slacker!

Things of late have been crazy to say the least and I always have good intentions to update the blog but because I am so far behind it seems overwhelming. So the first thing I did was change my Deep Thoughts, background and header to motivate me. I really should be dusting my house because we have been able to leave the windows open alot and that means lots and lots of dust. So now do I do one ginormous post or do I do individual ones? Quite the dilemma. I'll get back to you when I've decided.