The Verdict?

Here's what I thought:

Edward was cheesy.

Bella was better than last time.

Jacob was MUCH improved. ;)

The movie pretty much followed the book - even though I didn't like this book so much, I liked the movie. Enough to see it twice. Yep, I dragged my husband to see it on Saturday after I saw it with the girls on Friday.

He even bought me a souvenir cup. Thanks honey! Really, I'm NOT that crazy. I didn't get a T-shirt and stand in line at midnight (although, truth be known, we HAD midnight tickets, but I was sick and we decided to SLEEP instead and see it Friday). And I don't need to watch it again. Yet.

I'm not a movie critic. I go for entertainment and to spend time with my husband (or the girls in this case). And I LOVED these books. Which is why I like the movies too. I was not disappointed.

So there you have it. Now -what did you think?

New Moon

Off to see it in about 15 minutes!!!! James is staying home with the kids. Thanks honey!!!

Our house in the last week....(and why I'm not blogging)

Double ear infections - Carson

Strep throat - Porter (who's been out of school for a week now)

Flu/chills/fever, etc - Me

Pretty much not functioning over here right now. I'm going on day 4. Last nights dinner was mac & cheese and hot dogs. Sunday night our home teacher fed us dinner. Apple crisp and ice cream. Tonight might just be pancakes, or whatever James picks up on the way home from work.

And here's praying that Carson doesn't get what Porter or I have. I think Katie had it 2 weeks ago (minus the strep throat) and he is the only one who got a flu shot this year.

So for now, I'll go back to my spot on the couch and feed my kids crackers and gogurt for another day. Where is Grandma when we need her? ;)

My grown up Christmas list....

Somehow, the end of the year has snuck up on me! I can't believe it's already the middle of November! Is it already time to think about Christmas? Usually, I have started shopping by now. However, so far this year.... I have not bought one thing! I have some ideas in my head....but that's it! All the stores have Toy Books out - Toys R Us, WalMart, and Target. Porter knows what he wants, and Katie wants everything. I'm either in shock or denial that it's already here.

James asked me a couple weeks ago what I want for my birthday. My birthday? That's in January! I'm not there yet. BUT, I will say that I do have a wish list this year. A few things that I would LOVE to have in my kitchen. Little luxuries that I've lived 12 married years without....but that I've discovered over the past year as I've learned from some other wonderful cooks.

I write this post with great hesitation. Because in the back of my head, I have a fear that once James reads this, boxes will start appearing on my doorstep. So I'm not giving details, links, sizes, model info, etc. Because there is an order to which I would like to aquire these things....and there is money involved here.....oh, and space. I might need to clean out some cupboards to make room for everything! And if we are talking reality here - I don't really have the time right now to use all these fun things as much as I'd like. So please, my dear sweet husband, I really don't want boxes to start appearing on my doorstep.....

So without further ado - in no particular order (well, I have an order, I'm just not telling):


A wheat grinder. I have some fabulous wheat recipes that I would love to use, but I have a hard time buying wheat flour when I have a years supply of wheat in my closet. But in order to use the wheat, I need to be able to grind it. A girl in my ward gave me a great recommendation for a good one. This might or might not be the actual one:



A food processor. I haven't really done a lot of research here. But I know that I could make lots of salsa with one of these!

A heavy duty pressure canner. This thing is a monster. But I have borrowed one a couple times and love it. It cans meat, beans (they start out dry, come out super soft!), potatoes, and more! I don't really have time right now to spend my life canning meat and beans, so this is a little further down the list (if I had an order) - and I can borrow one anytime. But one day, this will be part of my collection.

This tiny little thing costs a very pretty penny. And just the picture is small. However, the Universal Bosch Mixer allows you to make 9 loaves of bread in 1 batch! Not to mention all the cookie dough! And it has a blender attachment. In reality, will I be making 9 loaves of bread on a regular basis? No. I don't even have 9 bread pans. So, right now, my Kitchenaid works great for a batch of rolls or a loaf of bread. But one day, when I'm grinding my wheat and baking lots of yummy treats - I WILL own a Bosch. One day.

And one more wonderful thing I just discovered, that I forgot to get a picture of, is Sarah's rice maker that makes white OR brown rice. LOVE it! We eat brown rice A LOT. And sometimes I mix it with my white.....but I love the ease of a rice cooker rather than watching it on the stove. And my rice cooker only works half the time anyway, so I'm adding that to my list.

So I guess I need to get in the shopping mood. I don't want to be mad rushing at the last minute to get presents for my kids. But I might wait until after Thanksgiving. Which I have NEVER done before. In years past, I have been done by Thanksgiving! We are lucky that our kids have simple wish lists - Porter is asking for his first electronic gift this year, but he only wants that 1 thing. And since Katie wants everything, she'll be happy with whatever we end up getting.

I just hope that the next 6-7 weeks don't fly by as fast as the last 6 weeks did!

Happy Friday - Thursday Night Edition

You get this early because Friday is going to be a busy one. We had three babies born in our ward this week, and sadly, we are planning a funeral luncheon for one of them on Saturday.....

My favorite thing Carson is saying these days: "Prayer" - "Amen" - "Chair" and "No!" Yes, he's learned the word and tells me ALL THE TIME. Too bad it's so cute. My other favorite thing is at night, after we get jammies on and say family prayer, he runs into Porter's room and picks out a story and runs back to me saying "book! book!" and sits right on my lap for me to read to him. How can I refuse that?

Katie's new favorite phrase? "I can do whatever I want." Yep. She's 4. And a girl. And so much like her mom. She also told me today that we need to think of a name for our baby. I said, "what baby?" and she said, "Our baby! I think we should name her Sharpay - or Fabulous." Ummm....okay.

My favorite phrase of Porter's is: "I need to use the restroom." I don't know why I think it's so funny, but he doesn't say potty, or bathroom, or whatever like we do, he uses the word restroom. I'm sure this comes from school....but it cracks me up everytime. He also told me this week: "There's a flu at my school, so we can't hold hands anymore." And who are we holding hands with? ;)

Every child has been sick at our house this week, but I think we are on the mend! Katie's fever is gone and Carson's ear was draining this morning, but our doc gives us extra ear drops when we go in so we don't have to keep coming back. So he seemed better tonight, especially with the motrin. Porter's allergies are back but he's also had a cold which seems to be getting better too.

We have the Primary Program on Sunday. Try arranging one of those for 300+ kids. I'm curious to see where they put everyone! Katie managed to get a part - and I'm excited for her. The Sunbeams are always my favorite! James keeps telling Porter that we are going to get him a white shirt and tie so he can dress like Dad. So we did that this week. Porter's very excited to wear a tie on Sunday.

That's all I've got. Happy Friday!

The Halloween That Never Ended....

This is also the post that never ends!

Party #1: I had to bake for Porter's class party cookie decorating, so on Thursday we made cookies and icing, and everyone decorated themselves a plate of cookies. My kids absolutely LOVE doing this. It kept them busy for a good hour.....I enjoy it too!



Carson enjoying one with green frosting:

Party #2: Friday morning was Katie's preschool party. Her teacher always does the cutest things for the kids and we got to go to the end of it and watch them sing and trick-or-treat to a couple houses on her street. Here is Katie, the beautiful bride:

Pumpkin rolling game:

Singing cute Halloween songs:

Carson kept himself entertained by playing with skeleton legs:

Party #3: Friday at 2pm was Porter's class party. So after Carson's short nap, we headed down to hang out in his class for a while. They decorated cookies, made ghosts out of suckers and had lots of treats.

Party #4: James' office puts on a Halloween Trick-or-Treat party for the kids each year. Since this is his first year here, we didn't know what to expect. We left Porter's school to rush up to Phoenix to get there in enough time to participate. HOLY CANDY. The majority of the staff had bowls of candy for the kids to take. There was A TON of staff. The kids had a blast. Carson was cute, it took him a while to figure out what was going on. He kept wanting to eat all the candy, and once I gave him a piece, it all clicked. So he would take handfuls out of every bowl and put them in his bag. It was pretty funny. This was also very fun for my other kids. They would take a candy and want to know what it was going to taste like, or if it was good, etc. Some even handed out full size candy bars and other treats. They got more candy here than Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween night combined. It was fun to meet everyone in the office.

Party #5: We rush home from James' office to get back in time for or ward's Trunk-or-Treat at 6pm. I had made chili in between Katie and Porter's partys, so we picked that up and headed off to the church for dinner and more candy.

On Saturday, James wanted to take the kids somewhere fun for lunch. So we headed to Rainforest Cafe. The kids love the place, but we think it's always crowded and over priced. Anyway, we got there and it was empty! There was one other couple there eating and us. It was so fun. Carson was very nervous, but he called down after a while.

Party #6: Annual dinner & Trick-or-Treating with our cousins! This time Grandma and Grandpa Bennett were here. We met at Sarah's and had a yummy potatoe soup (made by me!) and then the kids headed out for yet more candy.

Here's a few pictures before it got too dark to take them!

Porter & Carson:

Carson telling me "all done!" - meaning, no more pictures Mom, I just want to play!

This costume so suited Katie. She LOVED being a bride. We had so much fun putting this together:

And here is GI Joe. In Crocs. He doesn't even know who GI Joe is, but he liked the costume, so it worked.

It was a wonderful weekend! I was exhausted by Sunday morning! But it was so fun and I'm sad it's over, because it went by too fast! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Today everyone woke up with yucky noses, and Katie has a fever this afternoon. Carson goes in for his 2nd dose of the flu shot tomorrow - and they offered to do the H1N1 also. Should I??? I just can't decide. I've heard a lot of controversy over that one. Here's hoping Katie's fever is JUST a fever and nothing more. And that no one else gets it!

Preschool Talk

Katie and her friend in the car on the way to preschool:

M: My Dad is going to be a rockstar for Halloween. (Me: thinking - how cute is that?)

Katie: My Dad is going to be a banana. (Me: thinking- WHAT??? Laughing out loud)

Then as I go pick them up today one of the teachers says to me: "Katie told us that you have a baby in your tummy!" Hello?? Where does this girl come up with this stuff? I told her that I'll be sure and tell my husband the news!