Halloween Silhouettes

This year I did was commissioned to do silhouettes of my cute niece and nephews. I love how they turned out! It helps that the kids are so darn cute, even sideways.

makeup day

 

Gumdrop has finally learned to ask permission before she gets into my makeup drawer. We had a little extra time so I did her makeup for her. She was pretty pleased with the way her makeup turned out. She couldn't stop smiling and was even willing to take pictures. Once Sweetpea saw Gumdrop's makeup, she wanted some herself, but not kitty makeup, princess makeup. Then, of course, they wanted to do my makeup. I  set the timer on the camera and we tried several times to get a picture of the 3 of us. Kind of amazing that it actually worked and we are all smiling.
It's kind of fun to look at these picture right now. Gumdrop is napping. Halleluiah! She was HORRIBLE the hour before her nap. Wait, did I say HORRIBLE? I meant HORRIBLY HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!
Now Sweetpea is asking every 30 seconds when I am going to be done. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Just give me 10 minutes, go play. Go ride your bike, climb a wall, play on a walker, draw, take a bubble bath, dress up, paint, play the piano, cut paper. JUST GIVE ME A FEW MINUTES. I think I need to take a nap. At least we do have some good moments.

How much is that doggie in the window?

I hope, I hope, I hope she's willing to wear this next Wednesday.

not crazy hair day

About a month ago Sweetpea was all dressed and ready for church. She had even done her own hair. Although she had done such a great job, I redid her hair. A few weeks ago I gave in and let her do her own hair. She was pretty proud of it and she loved that several people noticed and asked if she had done her own hair. This picture was taken after church so some of the hair had fallen out of the ponytail by then. Ok, most of it had fallen out before church even started.

Grandma

Sometimes all it takes is a pair of white gloves and some pearls to finish off the outfit.
There is no particular reason I am dressed up other than I was going out to a birthday lunch for a friend and I didn't feel like taking a shower. I realized I wouldn't have to do my hair if I put on a wig and then the rest just evolved from there. I got a lot of evil stares when I walked into the restaurant, but my friends thought I was hilarious. That's all that matters...and the white gloves, those are pretty important, too.

tooth fairy

The Tooth Fairy came to your house and left a glittery half dollar. Sweetpea was pretty thrilled when she found it under her pillow and started checking to see what other tooth might be loose.

Primary Program

Last month we had our Primary Program. I love those kids. They were amazing. They sang 14 songs this year and every song was fantastic. My primary kids know their songs, sing out strong and they love to sing. It makes my giddy to think about it. Sweetpea, her cousin, and another little boy her age each sang a small solo in one song. They did great. Teaching singing in primary is so fun. I think this is my 5th Primary Program and I hope I get to do another 5. I never thought I would enjoy this calling so much.

Gumdrop

 

My little Gumdrop has had quite the month. She started the month by coughing in the sink (puking) and horrible, horrible runs. Usually when she gets sick it doesn't last very long, but this happened for over a week. Some days she frequented the bathroom quite often (or used a bowl) and there were a few days she wasn't sick at all. We were relieved, until the next day when she did it all again. The blessing of her sickness is that she basically potty trained herself. She would get out of bed or run to the bathroom and use the toilet. She was amazing! She's now likes to wear pull-up and goes potty frequently with very few wet pull-ups. Sometimes she gets to wear undies, but yesterday she had two wet accidents, so we'll wait a little longer. Right when she was getting better she got a cough, runny nose (oh, it's just allergies) and then a high fever. After a few days we realized it was Hand, Foot, Mouth. Yipeee! Her little hands and feet are covered with blisters, but I am so thankful she doesn't have any blisters in her mouth. She has been a good little girl despite not feeling well. Her dad has been off of work a lot lately. He's been so good about sleeping in her room and getting up with her in the night. I am sooooooo lucky. Today she took a super long bubble bath and we were able to finally get out the last 4 of the splinters she had on her hands (no idea how they got there).

Road Show

About 6 weeks ago I was asked to direct the road show for youth at church (a 5-7 minute play).
Because there were some amazing people willing to help (just not be the director) I said yes.
It's been a crazy 6 weeks with writing the script, casting, trying to corral teenagers, recording music, making costumes and trying to delegate. Saturday we had the performance and it turned out fantastic. Once I started throwing candy at them during the final rehearsal they finally started to go over the top, something I have been trying to get them to do for weeks. Act like an idiot and you will be awesome. Act like a shrinking violet and you will look like an idiot. Why didn't I bring candy a month ago? The kids really stepped it up and did a great job. I think they even had a good time, too. There were so many hilarious moments. Nacho Libre and his stretchy pants, Bishop Danz was an amazing Hulk. The Tick (so funny). Superman wearing my daughters red diaper cover. Thor acting like a crazy. Professor X's mind power. Reliable Rod and the grey wig you never saw. This first picture is the ONLY time in the last 6 weeks that they were all being still and mostly quiet. The rest of the time they were more like the second picture.

first tooth

 

The first loose tooth was quite an adventure. By Thursday evening Sweetpea kept biting funny on the tooth and complaining. Her Dad was also ready for that tooth to come out. I think he was just as excited as she was. He finally convinced her to let him tie a slip knot around it and on the count of three he pulled the floss and the tooth went FLYING across the bathroom, over the top of the shower door and into the bathtub. Sweetpea was laughing/crying/excited and Gumdrop was LIVID when she saw Sweetpea bleeding....I mean LIVID. I have the whole thing on video. It was complete and total chaos, super funny and priceless.

first loose tooth

On Sunday, Sweetpea officially had her first loose tooth. It was quite the celebration in our house. She's been one of the last of her friends to have a loose tooth (when she was a baby she didn't even get her first tooth until she was 10 months old....yipee for me. She's a little behind on the tooth growing charts) Sweetpea was pretty excited to pose for pictures and take a video. Gumdrop just likes to do whatever Sweetpea is doing and needed to show me her loose tooth, too. I can't wait to show you the video of Sweetpea losing her tooth. It's classic.

Hello Kitty

These shirts have so many sparkles, now my house is covered in sparkles and I love it.
And don't you just love this picture of Sweetpea carrying Gumdrop (because Gumdrop refused to put on her shoes so I refused to carry her).

one of these

If you don't have one of these toys at your house, you and your kids are missing out. Run down to your nearest second hand store and buy one for $5-10 and then give it a generous spray with Lysol. Hours and hours of fun.

jungle gym

Once again my children have proven there is no need for store bought toys or playgrounds. They have all they need to entertain themselves for hours. I just need to buy a few more Mr. Clean sponges to wipe off the hand prints and footprints.

Halloween Decorator

While I put the last few Halloween decorations up, Sweetpea (whom I thought was helping me) dissapeared. After a while she took me into her room to show me the decoration she had made. I think it's far better than any other decoration in the house. Notice the little legs sticking out of the bottom.

Sweetpea

Here is Sweetpea's first ever school picture. Oh boy, she sure is cute.

It's that time again

I can't believe it's that time again. We have been practicing and gathering props. There is going to be some fantastic stuff this year. For about 12 years I wondered why people would ever come and watch us perform...and then tell us they enjoyed it. I thought they must be crazy. Now, I tell everyone about it and let them know they are crazy if they don't see it. It's an evening not to be missed and it's a wonderful way to start the Christmas season.