Sorting and packing has its perks!

Lee and his band-mates during a tour (Lee is the one high up on the rock!)
Lee after being on stage while still in High School, spinning his sticks...
On stage with the same band as the first pic (Lee is behind the drums, of course!)
Another pic of Lee while still in High School, love the great 70's hair!


Okay, what can I say? Packing and moving is never fun, but finding treasures in albums and boxes is fun!=0) Lee found a few old pics of himself and I snatched them long enough to scan them! I love the great 3 Dog Night look Lee has with the band he was touring with (circa early 80's), it makes me laugh that he ever really looked like that, it's great! Babycakes, you are the best in any era!=0)
I know you're thinking...what happened to the final house pictures? Well, I've been a bit distracted with moving so I haven't taken final pictures, but I promise they are coming! The goal is to be completely moved by Thanksgiving, so seeing as though we only have a couple of weekends left...we'd better get moving!=0)

....BOO!....=0)

The Dominos Pizza delivery boy, a princess, and a pirate....
Bart-man!!
Okay, so you have to have Southern Utah roots to...
....fully understand this costume!=0)
Puppy joined the fun as well! =0)

Well, we seemed to be able to squish a few hours of Halloween fun into our busy working/moving schedule! Now who says this is just a kids holiday? Lee and I generally dress up as well...just for the fun of it! =0)
Drake asked to be Uncle Sterling for Halloween last year and okay my brother isn't a super hero or anything so, I had to think of a costume that would work! Sterling works for Dominos and so, the Dominos Pizza delivery costume was born! What an easy and inexpensive costume to make! I purchased a plain blue t-shirt from Wal-Mart for three dollars (clearance) and a blue hat (also, three dollars on clearance) and we had some plain pizza boxes that we were getting rid of at work. I just googled Dominos logo images and printed out a picture that I copied with red and white paint pens onto the shirt. The hat had a logo on it, so I took a blue iron on knee patch and ironed it over the logo and then drew the logo with paint pens. I was also able to get an image of a Dominos pizza box that I copied the print on to the plain pizza box with red and blue sharpies. The costume was a hit both this year and last year...not to bad for just a few bucks!=0)
I also made Adree's costume or the majority of it anyway! I bought a tank top ($5 for a package of two) and took some scrap material I had (red underneath and a purple sheer fabric for the top of the skirt, as well as the sleeves) and attached a skirt to the bottom of the tank and sleeves. I embellished it with ribbon, sewed on jewels and bows to make it froofy...and voila! instant princess dress! Lagoon had it's gift shop up at the front gates full of Halloween items and that's where I got the princess hat (Seth's pirate hat as well...) for just $6, so her costume was pretty cheap too! =0)
Seth's pirate accessories were all from the dollar store and I bought him a red striped shirt ($5 thank you again Wal-Mart!) and a pair of sweats ($3.50 I believe) that I cut the ends off of and frayed and the bandanna was a dollar at Wally World as well! Aside from the great hat I picked up at Lagoon, his costume was under ten bucks as well!=0)
I bought a pair of thick black tights for my Polyg costume and scarily had everything else in my closet! The denim dress is actually a long jacket, it buttons down the middle but only to the knee. I quickly basted closed the bottom of it to look like a dress and buttoned it all the way up, donned the thick black tights and plain K-mart style shoes, borrowed one of Adree's baby dolls and I was the real deal! Ha! Well, minus the whole spiritual marriage thing and being the fifth wife of some ancient old codger after being married off at 16...I teased the front of my hair up as high as my bangs would allow and French braided the back and thoroughly coated the entire "do" with a good coat of extra strong hair-spray, I really got some strange looks...I looked a little too real!
Bart-Man was supposed to be a Polyg as well, but got distracted by the Bart Simpson Mask that tumbled out of the closet and hit him in the head! I was Bart a couple of years ago and that silly mask makes you mostly blind and partially deaf! Lee was a great hit amongst the Trick-or-Treaters, but had to be led around so he didn't get left behind and he tripped over each one of the kids who continually stopped in front of him no matter how many times I told them not to!
I hope everyone else had a fun Halloween! It was great fun letting the kids Trick-or-Treat around our new neighborhood and I am sooo looking forward to next year and being able to decorate my new house for the season!

Silly stuff if you are interested!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/tlbkTnzQ1hJIewGd

Boo! Scary, Chilly, Fun at Lagoon!=0)

This is what we had a good time doing this weekend....Frightmares at Lagoon!=0) For those of you not familiar with Lagoon and Frightmares, it's an amusement park (Lagoon) that gets all dressed up for Halloween fun at the end of the season! =0) Frightmares is great! We are trying to make it a tradition every year (we went last year too) to take a long weekend and take the kids (yes, Lee too!) and enjoy Lagoon.
Lee, the kids, and I headed up to Cara's house on Friday and spent the weekend with her and her family. We got there after her kids had gone to bed, so we visited with her and Nathan until evening sickness got the better of my sister and she went to bed.=0) After Ainsley attended a birthday party of a friend the next morning we had lunch and rounded up all the kids (Ainsley too) and drove to Farmington to Lagoon. Other than it being pretty chilly (low to mid fifties), we really had a good time! This was Ainsley's first time attending an amusement park and she truly had a total blast!=0) Seth was totally psyched being tall enough (just barely!) to ride all the rides he wanted to go on.=0) We rode the roller coaster, (yes, it's every bit as rickety as it was when I was a kid!) the Carousel, the Screamer, (Ainsley rode it with me and the boys and then again with Adree) the Music Land Express, Adree and Lee rode the Wild Mouse and the Colossus as well. Adree and Ainsley rode the Rock 'o Plane and we all rode the train and the Sky Ride, as well as the Boomerang (bumper cars), and the Turn of the Century (my personal favorite!). =0) Of course we didn't leave the park until after 7 and stopped at Mc D's for dinner and didn't get Ainsley in bed until after 8:30....yes, I am the bad influence Auntie, but it really was fun!=0)
We hung out at Cara's on Sunday morning and got ready to go and left finally so they could go to church.=0) Now if you've been reading my blog you are all too aware that we bought a new house and have spent the last couple of months renovating it, so you know I could not pass up the opportunity to go to IKEA and pick up some treasures!=0) After spending two hours in IKEA and deciding that we definitely need to go back with an empty car and a trailer, we headed back to American Fork and enjoyed a Chinese buffet. (Lee's favorite) and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening traveling south toward home. Of course we realized, once we got close, that we were going to have to go across town and drop off our treasures for the new house at the new house because we do not have any room at our current house. (Did you follow that?) So, once we finally got home for the night it was the kid's bedtime and they were beat....Lee and I too, actually...but that was a really fun weekend trip. Obviously, I forgot my camera...so, you get to use your imagination and picture the smiling faces of the kids and Lee standing in line at various rides! Oh, well....we had a great time. A scary, chilly, Frightmares-ish great time!!=0).....BOO!! =0)

Silence is Golden...

You know the old adage, "Silence is Golden"? The term had no meaning to me as a child. Why would someone be so happy if it were silent? Making noise is so much fun!=0) Not until I reached adult-hood did I realize the power of a noiseless world. Silence helps one to enjoy all the simple things in life. Think about it, if it is quiet enough to hear rustling of the leaves in the trees and the songs of the birds, perhaps people wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the necessity of a little nature in their lives. With a little more silence, perhaps people wouldn't be so quick to build more roads in open spaces and clear trees to build things we really don't need. With a little more silence, perhaps people would be able to hear their own thoughts and take the second that is needed to calm down before their actions lead to violence. I don't need the T.V. on all the time, nor do I need it to fill up the house with useless noise. I enjoy being able to hear my own thoughts, and I enjoy being able to appreciate the life I have been given to live. I enjoy listening to my children play and create, I enjoy being able to hear the ringing of my own ears. Taking the time to reflect and learn from our own mistakes, is the only way to progress and grow as a person. I would much rather be known as a "genuine" person when I'm gone, than a person who only thought of themselves and let their mistakes hold them back in life. I know I am not a great person in the eyes of the world, I don't have a great job, I don't have a lot of money...I haven't accomplished a great deal of things and circumstances still hold me back. My words aren't revered as consequential and my presence isn't well known...I lack in the ability to attract greatness and my personal struggles don't amount to squat when compared to others. I know that I possess empathy and spirit and if you are my friend, you will remain so for life. I help with things and prayers whenever possible and truly don't hate anyone in my life, past or present. I live for my children and conversely, my children are my life. Things are just that, things...they can neither comfort you in sorrow, nor bring you everlasting joy. Family is to be treasured and appreciated above all things...they can't be replaced, things can. I have the presence of mind to appreciate help when given and be grateful for those who give it to me. Silence is Golden, use it to your advantage...seek it out when you are down, reflect and meditate. Recharge yourself on the singing of birds and the rustling of leaves. Leave the T.V. off occasionally and just enjoy the breeze as it carries the sounds of years gone by and the laughter of children past your ears and into the silence...

You have to take a look at how awesome the tile in the kitchen turned out! We LOVE it! =0)
Taking a peek into the guest bedroom, done except the carpet being laid back down...
Looking at the floor in the Master Bedroom it looks great!=0)
Looking at the actual color of the walls in the hall =0)
Looking at the red wall in Lee's office...
The new floors are great! Can you guess the material?=0)
Adree is so very excited that they got her room all painted!
Very, VERY excited! =0)


Well, well...we seem to be just about done, finally! I am sooo looking forward to getting to move into our new digs (as Lee calls them!) and clear out our cramped current quarters! There is just one more room left to floor, the counters in the master bath need to be tiled, and rehanging of doors and painting/ replacing trim throughout and that should be it for the interior of the house! Yay! This project has done nothing for my patience, but I am sooo glad we're almost done! Now if we can only get moved...anyone want to help? It'll be fun! Ha, Ha!=0)

First choir concert =0)

Waiting for the concert to begin =0)
Adree and the choir moving to the music
Adree hitching a ride from Lee after the show=0)

On Tuesday was Adree's first concert with the fourth and fifth grade choir at their school! The kids seem to be really enjoying it and we found out that their school is one of only 52 in the state with such a comprehensive music program. Also, we were informed that after this year, the state may not have the money in the budget to keep the program going...which is a shame. The kids have the opportunity to learn and instrument (bongos, violin, recorder, xylophone) and/or participate in the school choir. Adree said that this year almost the entire fourth grade class joined this year, (roughly 60 students) which is amazing! What a shame that more emphasis isn't put on music education these days. I learned two instruments growing up and have always felt that put me at an advantage in a lot of areas.
The kids entertained the parents with several songs in both English and Spanish (they attend a dual immersion school), as well as, dancing, a bongo drum routine, and three violin numbers. Adree is learning to play the violin with the rest of her class at school this year as well. Drake didn't participate very well last year, although he sat in the audience singing all the musical numbers with the choir. I asked him why he didn't join the choir this year and he just shrugged...hmm...=0) Adree just loves it! =0)