This is HALLOWEEN

It all began with one little sugar cookie..



A whole lot of frosting...



And a ton of fun!

Riley and I baked Sugar Cookies for our neighbors- as if ANY of us need MORE treats right now:)

Then we went to the Ward's Trunk or Treat party. Jt had to leave early to go to work- and I was left a Semi-Single Mom...
What is it with Blake that would rather go find a stranger than be with Mommy? He squirmed, screamed, cried and howled until he saw Josh Weed! Then suddenly it was all better! This kid.

There were moments at Trunk or Treat that I had NO IDEA where EITHER of my children were! So I was less of a Single Mom and my kids were more Single Kids! I have always laughed at the idea of having a kid on one of those Monkey Backpacks that is actually a LEASH... but I may have to take it all back soon. With an escape artist like Blake on my hands I am definitely in trouble come March.

For HALLOWEEN I was left Semi- Single again (this time it may have been worse on JT than me-- who wants to deal with all the Crazies in the ER?) We went to JT's brother's house to Trick Or Treat with Riley's cousins. I was too scared to try to chase Blake around by myself while helping Riley go up to the doors to beg for candy. (Don't we love this wierd holiday??) Luckily, Blake latched on to Aaron like he was Josh Weed or something, and I could focus on watching Riley skip up to houses holding hands with her cousins all night! And then reap the benefits of an awesome neighborhood that hands out full size candy bars!! (Once again- who's brilliant idea was this holiday??)





Riley is into the Silly Face right now...






I got the Lion Costume from Natalie... man he is cute!


Too cute!!




Cheesy!






Last of all.. the pumpkins...



JT and I have been married almost 5 years and never carved pumpkins together! So this last week- I thought he and I needed a break from the stress of our lives right now - and I bought two pumpkins for us to stay up late, drinking apple cider, laughing and carving pumpkins together. Unfortunately, JT had a big lab, followed by a big test this week and spent every night studying late into the night! (he did get an A so it is worth it!) I ended up carving the Pumpkins by myself with a Caffeine Free Diet Dr Pepper. (yes, Sis, I scooped out the guts of my own pumpkin!! I don't think I ever did that once growing up! It is NASTY stuff in there!!) I had carved I Love JT on one so he would see it on the porch when he got home the next morning from work. But while I was out- he turned the Pumpkin around to carve I love KT on the other side!

I guess when your man works crazy hours and goes to school during the days- this is how you end up communicating-- THROUGH PUMPKINS!

My First Widget

Ok, I just saw this on someone else's Blog and thought how adorable it is. Normally I do not like to think of DUE DATES in ACTUAL DATES... probably because Riley was 8 days late and every "well-meaning" comment AFTER the due date is torture!

"STILL pregnant, Katie??"
"no, no, just faking it now. This is a basketball under my shirt, the baby is with my husband"

"WHEN is that BABY coming??"
"When I find out, YOU will be the first to know"

"Do you know what I heard HELPS the Baby come?..."
fill in whatever wife's tale floats your boat:
"yes, Sister So and So, we had Sex FOUR times last night, thank you."
"yes, I have eaten Spicey Thai Food for 6 days straight, I am now peeing curry, thank you."
"Oh? Walking you say? Wow, I NEVER THOUGHT of MOVING! I just lay around on my couch all day WAITING, thank you"
"pineapple?"
"pedicure?" (ok, this may not work- but it brought me and Heidi together which is ALMOST as good as a baby)
"stairs?"

You get the point.
So with Blake I always said "end of July" and THAT IS WHEN HE CAME.
No DATE. No OVERDUE QUESTIONS. Just peace and quiet.

SO even though I have the new little baby calculator, please don't feel any need to keep up on my "Due Date" :)

P.S. Not that I did not appreciate the Love & Concern & Support that people are TRYING to show at the end. I just prefer to not have the Sex talk with 60 year old women in the hallway at church. :)

I am TOO crazy (AND LAME) to figure this out!!

OK, so I know I should have a GIANT BEAUTIFUL ULTRASOUND right here:



(like Ashley does)





BUT
I have a crazy day today- and this is NOT the TIME to attempt to figure HOW TO GET MY ULTRASOUND pics on my BLOG.... so in 15 years when my little GIRL is feeling all down about herself, and comes across the BLOG where I announce her gender and she discovers there is not even a PICTURE of her beautiful smiley face (and absence of the part that would determine her NOT a female) she will be able to have another reason (as if she will need one as a teenager) to be mad at me!!!!!! :)

*sigh*

ANYWAYS- Yesterday we had our ultrasound. Despite SEEING this little GIRL wiggling all over (to the point that I have to go back next month for another ultrasound since she kept blocking the view of important measurements! but who complains about more pics of the baby?) my favorite part is HEARING her!! Seriously, I can just lay there listening to that little HEART BEAT all day long. It feels more REAL to me than even the picture. All of the sudden I caught myself crying. I thought by your 3rd you were suppose to be SO exhausted by the first two, and so use to ultrasounds and pregnancy (especially if you were just pregnant a year ago!), and so comfortable with the miracle all of this- that you are immune to the emotions of hearing a heart beat. I am HAPPY to say- That ISN'T true. It was as magical as the first time with Riley.

SO --- Watch out BIG BOWS, PINK EVERYTHING, and little BABY TIGHTS.... WE'RE BAAACK!!!

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE GIVEN UP WHEN...

• You barely make it to Ballet this morning WITHOUT a shower,wearing yesterdays smudgey remnants of mascara since last night you were too tired and out of it to wash your face, and hope that no one realizes that Blake's socks don't match... AGAIN

• Your house is SO trashed that you have to get Little Ceasars Pizza because you can not FIND your kitchen (and afford the Good Stuff "Papa John's"!), and even if you could find what was once a kitchen, it would take too long to clean enough dishes to make dinner

• AND THEN you let your kids ride their "bikes" around the driveway and garage while you eat your pizza in a camping chair rather than try to FIND that kitchen table!

• You BLOG about it instead of actually CLEANING it

• You finally realize that NO ONE is PERFECT and the sooner you admit to giving up on that facade- the better life will be.....

ok, ok, I don't know if I actually believe that last part. Will life be better when I get over trying to pretend that I have it together? Or will it just get a whole lot MESSIER?

And really- were ANY of you fooled in the first place???

the shout out

Finally!
My man is here to help - so I can finally add the link to Sara's wonderful Blog and the GLORIOUS PUMPKIN PIE MILKSHAKE that has been my staple food the last week! (I am beginning to get concerned that my unborn baby should get something else in his/her diet... but we will worry about that after pumpkin season!)

Sara's Blog is wonderful!!!
http://www.ourbestbites.com/

And even if you are not a Pumpkin Fan (which sounds blasphemous in October) she has tons of awesome recipes! For those of you who remember when I would go with the "Whidbey Island Girls" for the yearly get-a-way ... Sara is the reason we went!! Just to eat her yummy food all weekend and polish our nails! :) ok ok and to get a way from reality and be with the girls... but mostly for the food!!

If I understood this LINK stuff better I would send you to her recipe for White Chicken Chilli and Creamy Chicken Taquitos and all of the other yummy stuff I love.

ENJOY

what a girl will do for a PUMPKIN MILKSHAKE

I WAS going to wake up bright and early to BLOG about the best day of 2009...

Going to see WICKED for the first time last night!!! It was wonderful- everything I dreamed it would be for the past 5 years. The ONLY thing that could have made it better - is if the girl playing Galinda had tripped before curtains opened and her understudy had laringitis and they had to ask an audience member who already knows all of the words and is willing to wear those awesome ballgowns to come onto the stage and sing her heart out in front of a theatre full of adoring gay guys while floating in a bubble!!! And since that did not happen (which is obvious by the fact that I did not abandon my 2 children for a life on the road with the cast of WICKED) it was still a heavenly night!

But when I got on the computer to write about this, I stopped by my girlfriend Sara's BLOG (WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING WRONG HERE THAT I CAN NOT INSERT THE LINK TO HER AWESOME BLOG!!) and got absolutely distracted by the PUMPKIN MILKSHAKE!! I HAD TO HAVE ONE! I just had one at Starbucks the other day after I chased Blake around Riley's ballet class and felt that I deserved a major treat! (Lucky for me, JT gets Starbucks Gift Cards from work) But I was bummed out knowing that the Card would not last much longer and I may not be able to afford this treat after Ballet tomorrow. And there it was- on her Blog (which I have to stay I AM OBSESSED with THIS BLOG!!) and I didn't care that it was 9am. And that I hadn't wrestled to keep Blake out of the neighboring toilets while tugging off Riley's Ballet tights after class last weak! (which is what warranted the last Pumpkin Frappucino!) I didn't care that I hadn't even gotten out of my P.J.'s I HAD TO HAVE ONE!

As I got out my Giant cans of Pumpkin (that I got from Costco after I could not find it anywhere else) and all of the ingredients, I realized- I couldn't do it. I just could NOT get myself to scoop that icecream!

So-- I laced up my running shoes- bundled up the little ones and snuggled them into the BOB double to go for a "run". This is in QUOTATIONS because a pregnant run with two kids in a double stroller is much closer to a waddle. In pregnant miles- I think I ran a marathon! In actual street miles- I think it was 2!

BUT here it is - 10:30am, and I am about to indulge in PUMPKIN PARADISE without ANY GUILT!!!! :)
(accept for my kids watching TV so I could BLOG in the middle of the morning!! ooops - Can's win them all!)

the meaning of SACRIFICE....

A few years ago, I began to feel like I should stop doing hair. This was difficult for to me accept because I enjoyed it, the people, the creativity, and oh yeah-- my own spending money. Finally a few months ago the feeling became too persistent and I began to say no to clients. I have definitely seen the blessings already in my family. But as JT and I sat down to budget last month a hard reality struck home: I would need to give up some of my luxuries. I know you are looking at my house, my cars, my stuff and thinking "hate to break it to ya, Katie, but WHAT luxuries are you giving up?" Look Closer, guys. Look into my eyes... well, around my eyes. Look at these dark, soft eyelashes.

Yes, that is right, I am SACRIFICING the unbelievable: LANCOME.

About 7 years ago, while still on my mission, I began to run low on my supply of MAC makeup from my sweet sister Beth who did her best to keep me stocked with my beloved makeup. My companion, Soeur Howell, and I stumbled upon a new little French shop near the main Grocery store in Mada where she introduced me to her long time friend "LANCOME MASCARA". I had loved Lancome before. I even remember the glorious feeling of stepping into the Charles De Galle Airport in Paris and seeing the Lancome store and wishing that the flight would be delayed long enough for me to visit the Birthplace of a dear acquaintance. I had loved Lancome for her perfumes, and also the Dual Finish Powder, but had never known LOVE like this. It wasn't long before I was hooked, using my credit card from home to purchase this extravagance on my mission. And since then- I have never strayed.

...OK... I admit, there was the ONE time I was broke- looking for a job, I had no money, I was DESPERATE! I HAD to go to the drugstore. I HAD to buy that little blue tube. But days later I hung my head in shame as I returned to the forgiving arms of Lancome, and those snobby Nordstrom-Makeup-Counter-Girls with my chunky smudgy black lashes and begged for them to take me back!

When JT asked me to marry him, I thought it appropriate to warn him of this OTHER relationship. It had been 2 years with Lancome, the longest relationship of my life. He understood and agreed that HE would NEVER ASK me to end the affair and further more, do all that he could to support it.
So, he has never asked. I just felt it, deep in the pit of my stomach, that forcing my children and unborn baby to live off of Top Ramen for a week to afford this affair was somehow not right.

So with that, to Lancome's "Definicils", "Flextincels", and my most beloved "Hypnose", the Snobby-Makeup-Counter-Girls, the 7 years of love and unfailing commitment, the days of stalking Macy's and Nordstrom waiting for those 3 beautiful words "Gift With Purchase", the tiny trial size tubes that have faithfully stood by in my purse for a moment of desperation when I needed to reapply, and to all of the cute tote bags I bid "au revoir".

Wow, what a mother is willing to do for her family.
RITE AID - HERE I COME!

Can anyone recommend a REALLY GOOD MASCARA???????