Painting Pumpkins

 These are a little out of order, but you can get the general idea. I saw my friends pumpkins painted all black with cute orange polka dots all over and I wanted some! It was a trial run, so I learned a few things, but it was fun. Naomi loved doing these, and it's all about the process for her anyway.

I bought:

pumpkins

black and purple spray paint

reinforcer stickers

star stickers

colored dot labeling stickers, small and regular

The large dot stickers did NOT stick well to any of the pumpkins for some reason. So that caused some bleeding with the spray paint leaking under the stickers. But it did look kind of cool messy like that. But not the crisp awesome look I was going for.

Also, I bought a can of matte black paint on accident, shiny is much prettier and showier.

So, maybe try a different brand of stickers next year and WAIT for the paint to dry before taking the stickers off. Like...wait a few hours. Then the paint that seeped under the stickers sometimes came off when it was dry when I pulled the sticker off.

Naomi waited about 3 and a half minutes before she pulled her stickers off. And she was thrilled with the results. She had purple fingers for a while, but it was worth it.

My favorite is the tiny black pumpkin with the shiny paint and small polka dots.

Cute cute cute.

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

 It was a two-day process for us, so we can see two of Naomi's finer ensembles. She dresses herself and I'm ok with it. The first is a pink leotard and leggings over the top. And the second is "all green and white".

Do In Logan!

Natalee has an article in the newspaper!

Check it out here:

Site assures student recreation is available - USU Statesman

Honestly

I don't always have it all together. What? You thought I did?
Ha, I know that is an obvious comment, but sometimes it just needs to be stated.
Blogs lend themselves to either extreme honesty or unbearable plastic-like happiness.
I don't really like either, I try to hit somewhere in the middle.
But tendencies for self-preservation and insecurities have me leaning toward the superficial more often than not.
No, I don't make stuff up. I just omit some of the sad things, and the things that are difficult to talk about, the things that expose me as an imperfect parent. You know what I'm talking about. Probably most of you have done the same at some point on your blog. If you have a blog.
So What I'm saying here is that I want to make an effort to at least occasionally post some real stuff. You know, "how do you really feel?"
Also, I don't want to condemn myself to being such a downer, there is plenty of uplifting "real" topics that I choose not to post about because it is more work.
And there is certainly a lot of room for all the fun too. And interesting projects.
What am I saying? I'm a little lost now myself!

So here's a first attempt, starting with something that I thought about a lot this past weekend.

It's difficult to be a single mom. I'm not drowning (yet!) but I definitely feel the toll of everything every so often.
It's not the physical demands that get to me, it's the emotional drain. I feel alone a lot of the time.
I have wonderful friends and fantastic family, it's not a lack of great people around me, it's just that some things I have to do on my own. And parenting is one of them.
I am not the first one to do this, or the last. And there are hundreds of other mommy's like me right now.
And, I know a lot of my friends have spouses that have very demanding work/church schedules and they are often as much of a single mom as I am.
I guess I don't want to claim special status here, I just want to express how I feel about what I am doing. With every respect to what others do every day too.
I am extremely blessed and lucky to have the things I do in my life.
I am able to stay home with my children, and I am able to go back to school, and I have a house to live in, and my needs are all met. I am truly blessed in so many ways.
Feeling overwhelmed is not exclusive to single parenting, I know.
This is kind of a list of things I need to say, and things I want to be better with.
I feel like I don't spend enough time playing with my kids.
I feel guilty about them having divorced parents.
I need to teach my children more about spiritual things. I need them to know I have a testimony of my Savior.
I don't clean my kitchen floor often enough. Not at all. And I need to vacuum.
I have several loads of laundry waiting to be folded, in fact, Naomi doesn't have clean underwear in her drawer anymore.
I loose my temper more often than I want to admit. I want to be sweet and kind, and sometimes I just get so frustrated. It's humbling to admit it, but I need to be a nicer mommy a lot of the time.
I love my children so much, and I want them to have everything. Not material, but every opportunity in life. I worry about their future.
I need to do more messy art projects with my kids.
We need to get outside and play more.
I feel selfish when I do things for me, but it's needed too. It's a balance that I am trying to figure out.
I want to be a great mom. And I'm trying. So this is just one way I'm committing myself to it, put it writing and admitting it to everyone who reads my blog. I love you all, I really do :)
Overall I am doing really well, I am making things work and my kids actually seem happy.
But I know I could do better, be better.
I don't want to settle for mediocrity.
Wish me luck and I wish you happy days too!

Madsen Bikes!

A bucket bike!
I really would LOVE one of these bikes. Really, really. Look how cool they are!
I could put both my kids in there and go for rides, fast rides!
It's a lot more appealing than running with my double jogger.
Madsen Bikes. Just one more thing I think is super cool, check them out.
Click the Pic

Mummy Pizza!

Last night the kids and I made these spooky little snacks for dinner.
They were really a lot of fun to make, the kids loved helping, and they were so excited about eating them too.
We skipped on the the scallions. Because I hate them. And I am unashamedly influencing my children's tastes. Onions are gross.
Naomi found two olive ends so she could have x-ed out eyes for one of her mummys. And James really liked helping to make it but in the end ate mostly just cheese and olives.
For the recipe link, click here.
Happy Haunting!

Logan Logan Logan

Logan, Utah is a happing place. Just in case you hadn't heard yet.
A friend of mine just started up this website/blog with loads information and ideas about things to do in this town.
Here is the link, check it out and have a look around.
http://nothingtodoinlogan.com/
And of course, if you have something that would fit on that website, let them know!
Have a happy week in L-town!

ROMAN

My newest little nephew, ROMAN!

He really belongs to Natalie and Paul, he's their first. But I want to steal him I think.

He's so, so sweet. And I want to go see him again, like every day.

Roman was born Wednesday morning at about 11 a.m. and weighed in at 7 lb 11 oz and 20.5 inches long. Ginger and I went to see him Wednesday evening at the hospital. Natalie entertained us with labor stories, and she and Paul just seemed so relaxed about everything. Already pro parents I'm sure.

To me, he looks a whole lot like Natalie and like her newborn pictures. But babies change so fast so we'll give him a couple weeks before we make any final calls.

Isn't he just adorable? Since Natalie doesn't have a blog, yet, I get to do the honors of showing him off.

Moon Dough

This stuff is totally cool. Kind of messy, but very easy to clean up. It's not wet, so it can't dry out. And it's soooo soft. The texture is almost powdery. When it's packed it feels like marshmallows.

I give it two thumbs up. Something new and fun to try! I bought mine at WalMart. 

Things

Just a few things.

Yesterday evening I ran a 10 mile race. It was the Last Dash Relay. It was an event for USU business week, and proceeds went towards the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I ran it solo, there was the option to relay at 5 miles but I didn't have a running buddy. It was killer the first few miles. That's always the hardest part for some reason, then I just get into a good rhythm. The views from the trail from Green Canyon to the mouth of Logan canyon were beautiful. I did 10 minute miles the whole time! Yeah, I know I talk about running too much, but I am proud of myself! My legs are soooore and tired today though. My mom and dad were great to watch my kids for me.
Oh, and I won a gift card to Al's in the raffle!

James doesn't like to nap anymore. He's 2.5 and naps about every other day, sometimes less. It's ok, as long as I can stave of the 6p.m. meltdowns. He's a sweetie though, I sometimes just let him stay up because he's so cute.

Both of my kids have small feet for their age. And height. James is like a 6 or something? Maybe 6.5 and Naomi is about a 10. Naomi is probably about right, maybe an 11 is average for a 4-5 yr old.
But I think James has tiny feet.

I really dislike figuring out every. single. day. what to make for dinner. It's a chore.

Reading my textbooks for school is interesting, and very informative, and definitely helps my grades. But it's difficult to make myself do. I blog instead....

I got my season pass to Beaver. I've wanted to do this since I can remember. And I got it super cheap because I'm a student. And I got a free pass for Naomi. Awesomeness. Come and ski with us!

Naomi loves, loves LOVES her new preschool. She hops out of the car and waves as she runs inside, "love you mom, BYE!" I'm glad she's not worried about going, but I wish she missed me! Not really. I love my little Miss Independent.

My children are stubborn. More than normal? I don't know. More than I want, that's all I know.

I am stubborn too.

I want these shoes. Who has my name for Christmas this year?

Mini Fashionista

I was looking at some photos from fashion week today with Naomi at Susan's Freshly Picked blog.

Naomi would look through the set, and almost infallibly pick as her "favorite" the most feminine ensamble. Dresses, twirly, full, ruffles, sparkles, those were the ideal clothing items of choice.

One set of photos had only pants and shorts. She looked for a few seconds and decided that she liked "none of those".

I love that she knows what she likes. And what she hates. She occasionally offered that she hated a few get-ups.

Later this evening I was filling up the bath for my little wild things so I could clean off the days dirt. Actually, it's been longer than that since I put them in the tub. Seriously, probably... a while. But that's beside the point right now.

While I was occupied with getting James into the tub, Naomi was in my closet for a few minutes and walked out and announced;

"Mom! I picked out the perfect clothes for you to wear tomorrow! Come and see, come and see!!! You have to wear it, it will look so beautiful."

I walked into the closed expecting to find maybe a dress or two laid out for me. She does this pretty often, she likes to pick out my outfits.

It's incredibly amusing to me. Especially because when she dresses herself it's a totally different style that what she'd pick for me. Yes it's usually dresses/skirts, but it's a lot more mis-matching and lots of colors and weird accessories for herself. But most of the time I just go with it. Express yourself, right?

For me she generally picks out dresses, shirts she hasn't seen for a while on me, and often these ridiculously high black and silver stiletto sandals. They are super practical for playing in the park and picking up groceries.

I turned the corner and this is what I saw:

Naomi laid it out just like this, I didn't touch it.

She even picked out my favorite pair of skinnies.

She went through each piece, telling me why it's "perfect".

I was so impressed, and the scarf? Nice touch. It has gold threads through it that match the shoes.

I love the outfit and I love my girl.

New York runways better watch out, Naomi's on her way.

Aggie Football

Naomi, Henry and Dawson with Big Blue!

The Aggie game Saturday night was equal parts fun, tiring, and disappointing.

I took my chicos and met Dave and Erica with their boys at the pre-game tailgate. The kids were excited and got to meet Big Blue! Everyone but James was thrilled to see him.

He actually started crying and clutched me in terror when I tried to put him down by him. Who knew? He always waves to him from afar and looks for him at the games, like they are besties!

James turned out to be a real keeper during this game. Dave, Erica and I all made the executive decision that the kids are not invited next time. That's the BYU game.

We did have a lot of fun most of the time, but between the cannons for the touchdowns and cheering on the Aggies, there was a lot of this:

"sit down", "don't touch that", "leave him/her alone", "stop kicking!" The poor people in front of us... And it gets better.

Erica and her boys got to run out of the tunnel for the first ever Junior Aggies stampede, it was super cute. Naomi and James liked the excitement and the band music and especially the treats.

I got us some chips and salsa, Chili's was selling at the game again. Yum.

Naomi and James wore matchy game-day t-shirts and looked so cute. I don't get to dress them alike often enough.

I ran Naomi to the bathroom at one point and talked James into staying put next to Erica and G. Jesse. When we got back Erica was laughing her head off and James was a bawling mess. He had somehow managed to gag himself, maybe on a skittle? And then threw up. And it got on the people's stuff in front of us. Ooops.

Yeah, that's disgusting. I felt really bad, but what could I do besides clean it off, it wasn't much, and say I was really sorry.

I did some musical shirts with Naomi and James, N had two layers on. Jackets went on and we were as good as new. Whew.

At that point, or sometime in the game around then, Erica turned to me, and talking about the spirit squad, said, "I know what happens in the fourth quarter..." and I interrupted with "yeah, the Aggies loose".

And they did. They just fell apart. It was so disappointing but sadly, really familiar and not much of a surprise. Dang Aggies.

I hate to be a fair-weather fan. But come on Aggies. I'm hoping for the rest of the season to be better. And the BYU game will be huge. Can they do it? Maybe.

It's fun to take my kids to the games, it's a lot of work, but they love it, I love it.

Next time I take them I need to remember to bring lots more treats, snacks, goodies and drinks.

Go Aggies!

Dave and G. Jesse

James eating my creamy, it's all yours baby...

Naomi looking awesome

Go Aggies!

What do you read?

Blogs, what blogs do you read?

Do you read The Sartorialist? I do. It's interesting and sometimes entertaining. And I don't have to actually do much reading, more like "looking". Just a quick click and see. Here's a link for you. http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

I also read design mom, I've mentioned that before. I love her blog. LOVE it. And here is her link.

http://www.designmom.com/

I have buttons on my sidebar for a few others I like to read, like SSB. If you don't think she's funny, then something is wrong with you. Ok, maybe not, that's rude. But seriously, you're not offended by her, right? And you know it's satire? Right? http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

I like The Onion because it's just plain awesome. http://www.theonion.com/

And I read http://freshlypicked.blogspot.com/ and http://www.makeit-loveit.com/ and sometimes I look at http://www.sweet-juniper.com/ especially the "terrifying nixon-era children's books" and good ideas from here http://melissaesplin.com/home/ and not to forget http://thepioneerwoman.com/

So that's it. When I'm clicking around the blogosphere that's where I'm usually headed.

Share with me where you go, maybe I could use a new destination.

Wellsville Mountains

Last Saturday I went hiking with my parents. It was fun, I felt a little like I was a young again, just me, hanging out with the 'rents.

I invited them to hike the Wellsvilles with me, it had been since I was about 14 since any of us had done that hike. Last time it was Jesse, Me, Natalie and my Mom and Dad. I remember a lot of bugs and the beautiful view from the top.

This time we went late enough in the season to miss the bugs, yay! But we also missed the wildflowers.

We drove to the Cold Water trail head in Mendon after stopping to ask directions. We couldn't remember how to get there, it had been too long. I packed my water, granola bars and some candy and started hiking! We stared out pretty solid, but slowed down once we started gaining elevation quickly. My mom decided she was done about 3/4 of the way and my Dad and I hiked on without her to the top. That last bit was seriously steep and we were kinda tired. But we made it!

It was really a beautiful hike, lots of shade and challenging but not killer. I was not being smart that morning and thought it would be a good idea to wear shorts, so I wouldn't be so hot. My shins are nice and scratched now. I love being so brilliant.

Next time I want to start at Deep Water canyon, also from Mendon, and hike up, and then along the ridge all the way over to the canyon. You have to leave a car at each end and it would be a longer hike, but you would enjoy the views for so much longer. Hiking is awesome, and it saved me from doing a long run that I was feeling super unmotivated for that day.

It is such a spectacular view from the top. Amazing. You can see for what feels like forever from there. Those mountains are the world’s steepest range (as measured by the ratio of width to height).

My Dad, view of Box Elder county- West

About half-way up, this is the Cutler marsh/wetland area in Cache Valley

At the trail head

Baby Shower!

Natalie, my gorgeous little sister is expecting her first baby. She and Paul are the cutest, they are so excited. Really, Natalie is just ready to be done being pregnant. I remember feeling like that. I wanted nothing more in my life than to just lie down on my stomach and go to sleep. You take stuff like that for granted when you're not pregnant.

So we Low girls threw her a baby shower! Holly graciously hosted. Her house always looks so great. I love it. Natalie was teasing her that it looked like pottery barn. I wish my house did!

It was fun getting together with my sisters and Mom, but we missed Aimee and Brooke. And it was nice to finally meet Paul's sister and sister-in-law's. We really had a good time, lot's of laughs. And some delicious food. What's a party without good eats?

We played a game where we all measured out a piece of string the length we thought was how big around Natalie was. Ginger, who initially said "Oh I cut mine too short!" was almost exactly right on. The rest of us..... way, way overestimated. Sorry Nat!

We also played the game where you guess the baby food. Kinda disgusto. But funny. I actually missed one, I mixed up peas and beans. It's been a while I guess. At least we didn't have to sample them, just smell.

Natalie is now a little better prepared for this little guy, and hopefully he won't keep her waiting too long. Early babies are always welcomed!

Probably this is overkill with the photos, but it's fun, right?

I love these girls.

Ginger and Holly

Erica and Me

Natalie and Me

Erica playing paparazzi

My cupcakes, I am obsessed, I know. I added blue sprinkles too.

Natalie showing off her belly!

This was such a cute present! Our cousin Debbie made this little matchbox car holder. It's cloth and folds into thirds and velcros shut for taking along with you, like to church, in the car, etc. Win. The cars "park" in the tan corduroy slots. I want to make one, has anyone done this before?

My mom holding baby Sophia, This is Holly's baby, and she was the only babe allowed, good thing she's so stinking cute.

Erica and Ginger

Sophia posing for us, she kept getting into this position, it was so funny.

Me and Nat

Doesn't she look great?