Hat-itude

Months ago Parker had decided what he wanted to be for Halloween. A "newsie" boy or Gavroche from Le Mes. Well, I was having a difficult time finding the right hat to complete the costume. So he finally settled on being Linus (I've added black stripes to his red shirt now).
Last Saturday while I was at Target picking up the red shirt for Linus, (an hour before the Trunk or Treat) I ran onto the perfect hat that he needed for his other costume. By this time It was too late to get the rest of the costume together for that one, so I stuck with Linus, however, I also picked up the hat just in case he changed his mind before Halloween.
He loved the hat and was thinking about changing, but decided to stick with Linus this year. (His teacher is a HUGE Peanuts fan).
He loved his hat soooo much that he has worn it everyday since I bought it, taking it off only for school.

He's still set on Linus this Halloween, but I can see a Newsie in the works for next year!

Update...

Guess I spoke too soon about not having a project to do in the near future ....
I just got a call from my aunt asking if I could make my yummy chocolate dipped heart cookies for a bridal shower next weekend. Let the planning begin!

A Day like Today...

A day like today makes me realize something...
That I'm extremely grateful for the talents, ambition, and support I've been given.
Sometimes I get involved in so many things and projects that I just don't know how I'll get it all done. Although I truly do enjoy the creative projects in my life, they can also be exhausting. It all comes down to time management and planning. Ryan frequently gives me a hard time for being such a "Polly Planner". Sorry, but I'm not always a "fly by the seat of my pants" type of girl. Seriously, how else can I get the things done that need to be done if I don't plan? I'm sure all moms have some sort of built in planning mode that helps us get things accomplished. Mine just goes into overdrive when I have big projects to complete.
The past couple days were spent making favor boxes for the Stake Bishopric Wives Dinner. I made chocolate popcorn to put inside this cute box. Ryan even punched out the windows and assembled the boxes for me.
Today I had to seriously manage my time to figure out how to get everything in (don't get too bored reading about my day)
7am - Shower and get Parker ready for school
8:30am- Run to school to check on supplies for the fundraiser hot dog dinner
8:45 - Drop off "Letter" labels to Lisha for dinner tonight
9-10:30 am - Sweat away my worries in Gym class (almost cut this out, but felt guilty - dang that exercise high)
11:00 - Stop at Costco on way home from gym and buy flowers for arrangements
11:30 - Grab Cafe Rio for lunch (can't ruin my Tuesday tradition)
12-1:30 - Assemble 6 centerpieces for dinner
2 - 3:30 - Volunteer in Parkers classroom (Tuesday is my scheduled day)
(Arrange for a ride to take Miranda to Choir concert - and give Ryan instructions on when to be there - 6pm - (that's another story)
3:30 - 6 - Load car and set up for Bishopric Wives Dinner
6:30 - 7 - Set up for Card Class (which is at my house)
7 - 9 - Card Class
9 - 11 - Clean up after Card Class and put away platters etc. from Bishopric dinner
Now my body is telling me to SIT DOWN and GO TO BED. Obviously I don't listen very well because I'm blogging instead.
The dinner turned out very well from reports I've heard. It's amazing how everything can come together in the end.
Here's some photo's of the set-up
I'm totally in my element when I get to do projects like this one. I wish I could have been there to help out. Ryan is pretty supportive of me when I'm in my project zone. Other than having fend for yourself type dinners, I don't think my family suffers too much. For now, I have no major projects on my plate until the Super Saturday on Nov. 15th. (Unless I've forgotten something or get a "call" from someone in the ward needing my help). That will be a busy week but after a few days off and a little more planning I'll be ready to go!!!

Oogie Boogie

Did I scare you?
I know you weren't expecting a new post from me but I swear my home computer doesn't like me spending time on my blog. I've tried many times every day to log on, but I finally had to unplug everything and voila! I'm back at it.

Friday night was the Harvest Festival at our school. I have a wonderful Special Events VP, but she still needed help with everything since this was her first time doing this event. After 4 years I've figured out a few tricks of the trade to help the festival go a little smoother. I spent all Thursday and Friday at the school making cotton candy, popcorn, sorting prizes & games, and setting up. My legs and feet are always soooo tired after this event. I usually take 2 days to recover from it.
I always forget to take my camera. I'm so bummed because I was going to take pictures of everything to make it easier for the set up next year (I won't be there you know- he he).
We had over 1000 attend this annual event. It really was a great night.

Saturday was our wards Trunk or Treat. It's been years since they had one so we were super excited. They were also having a pumpkin carving contest so I suggested to Miranda that she have her friends over in the morning and carve pumpkins to enter. I purchased all the pumpkins and supplies they needed, as well as pizza and soda. Once all of them came Ryan and I snuck out to have lunch (and a ride on his bike). I put everything out for them before I left so I expected them to be all finished when we came home.
But, they had other plans and just hung out all afternoon. Ah well, I now have pumpkins to carve later.

The Trunk or Treat was pretty fun. I was able to recycle my costume from last year when I did another wards Trunk or Treat. I dressed up as Ariel and decorated my car as "under the sea". I even had that song playing over and over.
The little girls were once again in awe that Ariel came. I spent half the night chatting with them about Flounder, Sebastian and my daughter Melody. It was fun.
Ryan also had his truck there. ( can't believe I didn't get a photo) We brought our popcorn machine and he handed out popcorn from his truck. Everyone thought we were in competition. Ryan even wore his Pirate costume from a couple years ago. (I forgot to take a photo, how lame am I, so here's one from our party in 2005) In my defense, I couldn't walk! Miranda met up with all her friends at the church. I didn't see them except for when they came by for more candy (Swedish Fish is their favorite)
They're such a great group of kids. They all get along real well and always have a wonderful time together. They are so funny when I'm dropping them off....they each have to give the person that's leaving a hug before they go. So everyone gets out of the car hugs, then piles back in. Too Fun!
Miranda and Parker had great costumes....
Miranda was a gypsy and Parker was Linus (from the Peanuts)
All in all , everyone had a great weekend and the kids are already making plans for Halloween night!

Sorry for the loooong post, but I had to catch up a bit. Hopefully I'll not have any more problems and posts will continue as usual.

Big Boy Bed

Parker is soooo excited. We finally got him a "big boy" bed. (Ok, I guess I shouldn't call it that, but it definitely is bigger and he has grown a bit also) He's had twin beds in his room (from bunkbeds that he and Miranda shared when they were little). He was ready for a change. Miranda got a new full size bed quite a few years ago. We figured the twin beds would work fine for Parker.
He's quite comfortable in his new bed. He has even started making it himself. (If I had known that I would have gotten one years ago).The only thing left to do is paint his room. It's one of the only rooms we haven't painted in the entire house. I just couldn't paint until he decided on his "theme". I swear it kept changing every other month. He's pretty happy with his new set-up and is actually sleeping in his room. (That's another story in itself). Now all he would like is a TV in his room. Hummmm.....we'll have to think about that one.

My picky eater

I think everyone has someone in their house who is a picky eater. No matter how many times you give them a certain food, they just don't like it.
Well, I happen to have one of those picky eaters. (well, now I have 2) Normally they eat EVERYTHING put on their dish, but not this time. I shared some of my Panda Express vegetables and figured he would gobble it up (as he usually does)
But this time, after he had his fill, I looked at what was left and couldn't believe what I found.......
Mushrooms licked clean from all sauce.

I guess Gus doesn't like mushrooms, who knew?!

Wax Museum

Before I post about the museum, I have to say that I've had a bit of blogger trouble the past few days and I could not log in to post. So I'm back and going to play a bit of catch up.

Yesterday was Parker's BIG day as JFK for the wax museum. He woke bright and early, showered and willingly let me gel and style his hair like JFK. (I don't think I've ever used a blow dryer on his hair before).
We arrived at school early so he could get ready for the big event.
The entire classroom was buzzing with President's and First Ladies. There were some excellent costumes. (thanks to Halloween coming up).
Parker chose 3 poses as JFK and they switched every 7 minutes. I was able to go through enough to get a photo of each pose.
The first one I saw was JFK reviewing the Documents for the Peace Corps.


The Next pose was JFK shaking hands with Nixon. (this was Parker's least favorite)
The next one was of JFK and the famous pose of him on a portrait inside the White House
Parker, and the rest of the 5th grade did an excellent job.
Here's a photo of his entire class
The best part of Parker being JFK was that Miranda, who had the same 5th grade teacher, was Jackie Kennedy when she did the wax Museum.
So here's a little peek at the two together....

Hummm.... I'm thinking Halloween costumes!
Wow...talk about a walk down memory lane, that seems like so long ago. Miranda had a great time learning about and posing as Jackie. I missed the pose she did with the famous sunglasses. Miranda wanted to come to Parkers museum and make a "guest appearance" as Jackie.
This is such a fun event for the 5th grade students. Unfortunately this will be the last one I get to go to (sniff, sniff).
I have a couple video snippits of the museum to share. Enjoy!