A Happy Ending

This morning I wanted to get things done. I wanted to get things done SO BAD! I spent all WEEK planning the things I would check off my list once Saturday rolled around. 

But instead of doing the dishes this morning, I spent my morning consoling crying Lucy after Lily pushed her over onto the tile floor.

And instead of giving Drew a quick haircut, I spent over an hour chasing him all over the house with the buzzers and scissors, yelling at him to, " JUST SIT DOWN!"

I never did finish his haircut.

And instead of cleaning the garage, I cleaned up Halloween candy and wrappers all morning. (Drew is an AMAZING treasure-hunter. He found the hidden loot and ate most of the bag.)

Oh yeah, and speaking of candy...

Instead of vacuuming this morning, the kids had a Lord-of-the-Flies-style-Halloween-candy-mutney, so I spent my morning breaking up the fights and saving the younger children from impending doom. 

(Here are the " littluns" trapped in a cage by the "bigun".)

I did a lot of swearing this morning when Owen kept trying to take EVERYTHING out of the fridge and pour it on the floor. 

But then...

We left.

We left the house and the dishes and the haircut and the messy garage and the candy wrappers and sticky mess outside the refrigerator and the the check list...

And we went to Santa Barbara. 

And the terrible morning turned into a happy ending. 

Here are the pictures:)

And we lived happily ever after...

Until tomorrow morning. (Because now I have to clean up AND get the kids ready for church in the morning.)

*Loooong Siiiiigh*

Goodnight!

Cool Stuff with Old Friends

What is the thing I miss most about living in Utah? 

I. Miss. My. FRIENDS!!! 

Sniff, sniff.

Thankfully, we live close to cool stuff...  So our friends come to visit sometimes.

They come to see the cool stuff, and we trick them into hanging out with us:)

We had a lovely time with these two, eating and talking and acting like 12 year-olds at City Walk.

Who wants to come see the cool stuff (and play with us) next?

Friendly Passengers

Don't you love it when your kids get along? (At least for long enough for you to take a picture?)

This one's from the train at the Santa Barbara Zoo earlier this month.

Aren't they cute?

Pet Petting and Pumpkin Picking

For a girl who doesn't really care for pumpkins or candy or Halloween... I've sure been spending a lot of time at the pumpkin patch, eating candy, and taking my kids to these EXPENSIVE Halloween-themed-parent-traps. Sigh. The things we do for our kids:) 

I think the kids had fun at this one. Here are the pics.

Dad and Mom, however, didn't have as much fun.

Haha. 

Lesson learned.

Happy pumpkin picking, everyone!

Cornbelly's

When it comes to corn mazes, pumpkin patches, hayrides, and Halloween, UTAH DOESN'T MESS AROUND!

We had a great time at Cornbelly's Corn Maze this weekend. Here are the pics.

Our Old Utah House

Today the kids said goodbye to their old Utah house. 

At first I didn't love our old Utah house. At first it was just... well... OLD... with chipped white formica, stained linoleum, gold, dated EVERYTHING, and ugly, dog-urine-soaked blue carpet. 

Actually, at first, I kinda hated that old Utah house.

But then we got to work. We tore down and re-built, we drywalled and sanded and primed and painted and cut and nailed and caulked and tore up and replaced and refinished and reworked and tiled and plumbed and weeded and planted...

And then, at the very end, I LOVED it! I loved that Utah house! 

I mean, what's not to love? It's SO CUTE on the inside. And it's in a PERFECT location, with a GREAT backyard, and AWESOME neighbors.

Sigh. 

So, it was hard to say goodbye today.

But we can't live in two states at once. 

And we can't pay two mortgages any more. 

So, we're renting it. 

I'm glad we came to Utah to meet the new tenants. They're awesome.

I think they'll love our old Utah house. 

Green Mom

Being the mother of these four little kids (ages seven, four, two, and eight months) sure helps me remember the things that matter most...

Yes, yes, I sure do remember those things that matter most... BECAUSE THEY ARE THE THINGS I NEVER DO!!!

You know, those things at the bottom of Maslow's pyramid... I don't do any of those things these days. I don't do the eating, or sleeping, or getting dressed, or exercising, or taking a shower, or going outside. 

The good news is, I'm very Eco-friendly now.

I don't ever eat out, so I use less plastic, packaging, and energy.

In fact, my diet of leftover peanut butter and jelly crusts and half eaten string cheese has reduced landfill waste by 300 pounds this year.

I don't sleep at night which makes me SO empathetic to the plight of endangered nocturnal animals like the Blue Sided Tree Frog, New Zealand Kiwi Bird, and Wooly Flying Squirrel. I'm TOTALLY donating Garrit's next paycheck to the NWF.

I don't shower, so I use WAY less water! And I don't have time to drink water! Sometimes I even forget to brush my teeth, so, WOW! I am good at saving water!

I frequently fall asleep in my clothes, and then I wander around the house in the same grubby t-shirt and leggings for days. Just think of all the water I am saving by like NEVER washing my clothes!

I seldom bathe my children or wash their clothes either! Boy oh boy I am GREAT at saving water!

I don't go to the gym so I am saving TONS of energy. I don't need a gym because, well, I am always sweating as I try to wrestle the scissors and knives out of my children's hands. 

And I NEVER leave the house. I'm always here because someone is always taking a nap... And it's always NOT me!

I am so Eco-friendly I might actually LITERALLY be turning green. 

Aren't you proud?

...

But seriously, it's crazy around here. I miss the things that matter most...