News Flash: Lack of blogging loses lurkers

Well, I think it's official. There was such a draught in my blog, that I've lost my faithful followers. Maybe it'll pick up again after the holidays...

Funny thing is I check my un-updated blog as often as I check my fellowbloggers blogs, with the hope, I guess, that something new will have been posted. No luck.

Now I'm FREEEEEE, Free Fallin'

Kraig turned 29 yesterday. We had a small celebration with just our little family last night after church. The boys gave him some pretend food so that they can practice cooking and grow up to be like Daddy (more of a gift for the boys than for Daddy, but they don't mind). Andy gave Kraig a chef's hat (he got one for himself too) because he likes to stand on a chair and cook breakfast with Kraig in the mornings. He's become very proficient at flipping pancakes and cracking eggs. I think that's pretty great for a two year old.

So during dinner I dropped the big birthday surprise: Sky Diving. Kraig was shocked, thought I was joking, and then started getting giddy, he was so excited. Here's the deal: There are two indoor skydiving facilities in the world--Denver and London. The one here in Denver happens to be about 2 minutes from my parents home. After a short 30 minute training, the diver walks into a wind tunnel and experiences 'falling' (looks more like levitating) for a few minutes. It was pretty great. If you look closely in the photos of Kraig, you can see the drool.

Happy Birthday, Babe! I love you!

When I was a little girl...

...I made pretend phone calls using a brush, shoe, banana, spatula, etc. and I think I called Baba, my blanket. My son looks like I've just interrupted a very important phone call with his agent, Harv, or that I'm some paparazzi sneaking out from behind a bush (Christmas tree) to get the $15,000 shot. What a kid.

PS--notice the pile of ornaments on the Christmas Tree directly above and to the right of his head. That's where every ornament we gave him to hang ended up.

Tree Shopping

We went out as a family on Tuesday to buy our Christmas tree. Andy was a big helper carrying the tree out to the car.

Last year we bought a tree at Kings, the local discount store in Heber. We paid $20, I think, and the poor tree was dead and dropping needles before we brought it in the house. Half the needles fell off when we were carrying it in the house, half when we had to move the tree to the kitchen because our landlords decided to put new carpet in during the holiday, and then half again before we took the tree out to the curb after New Years day. After that, every time I ran my vacuum I could smell the 'pineyness' from all the needles I had vacuumed up. Sad. Sad.

This year we sprung for the pricey tree of $30 from Home Depot. I didn't even know there were trees for sale there until reading it on Ashley's blog, but we were pleasantly surprised at how fresh the trees were. Now my home smells like pine all the time, not just when I run the vacuum.

The Party

Kraig's schedule has been crazy lately. We had a hard time deciding when to celebrate Andy's birthday and ended up choosing this morning, Sunday, before Kraig went to work.

Andy woke up before we got out of bed (like usual) and so while he was playing in his bed I decorated his chair and set out his presents. We got him out of bed while singing Happy Birthday, opened presents, and then he helped Kraig make pancakes (his choice, with a little urging from Mom) for breakfast. He loved his gifts and was excited about every package that he opened. He totally made out like a bandit--new game, new clothes, lots of books!

My boys' milestones:

The morning of Andy's birthday he woke up and since he's two now, we threw away the BINKY! Last night was his first time going to sleep without it. It was a little rough going, but he settled down after 20 minutes, which I thought was incredible. I was prepared for hours of screaming for his beloved friend and confidant.

Joshy ate solid foods for the first time yesterday (if you don't count the cheerio that Kraig sneaked to him). He'll be 5 months old this week. There was no real reason for waiting past 4 months, but he has not been sleeping well for the last few weeks and I reached my breaking point. So he got rice cereal before bed last night and hallelujah, it was a MUCH better night

Friday Five: Ode to my Two Year Old

Tomorrow, 1 December 2007, my sweet Andrew turns two. So in honor of this important little guy, I'm dedicating this Friday Five to him.


1. Andrew David was born on 1 December 2005 at 8:23pm in the Heber Valley Medical Center. After being in labor for a day and not making any progress, our wonderful doctor asked us to consider doing a c-section. Since my contractions had stopped when they turned off my Pitocin, but Andrew was still doing ok, we decided to go ahead with it at that time instead of waiting until the little guy was in distress. The surgery went well, Andrew was perfect, and we were so happy to meet him finally.


2. 'Andrew' came from the Bible and 'David' is Kraig's middle name.

3. Andrew was a strong and smart little boy from the word 'go.' He rolled over at 3 months, crawled at 6, walked at 10, and finished his Thesis last Tuesday. A mother couldn't be prouder.

4. Andrew loves to laugh. He loves to wrestle with his Daddy, help cook in the kitchen, pull the pages that come out of the printer, watch Disney movies, count to 10, ride his bike, throw balls, tickle his brother, sit on the potty, play in his bed with Snuggle bear and Bob (the penguin), find school buses while we drive, eat cookies at the grocery store, go to Nursery, read books, say prayers, sing songs

5. Andrew brings a wonderful spirit to our home. He has the sweetness and humility that reminds both Kraig and I to love more and to be more kind and patient. I can't imagine a day without him. Happy bithday, Bubba. I love my boy.

TG Day 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone enjoys the day and travels safely!

Gobble gobble,

Jacqui, Kraig, Andy and Joshy

In A Shocking Turn of Events...

Brad didn't choose Jenni! I was stunned!

A trip into town

Some friends had tickets to the University of Denver basketball game tonight. They couldn't make it, so they offered the tickets to us. What a fun surprise when we got the tickets to see that they were playing Wyoming.

Since neither of us are familiar with DU's campus, we decided to bypass the parking problem and take Light Rail in. What a way to travel! Andy had a great time and loved saying 'hi' to everyone that walked by.

Come to find out, our gift seats were COURT SIDE box seats. We were one row off the sideline. It was SO fun. Kraig decided that he'd root for DU and since my sister Brenda is a huge Cowboys fan, I rooted for them.

The game wasn't that spectacular--Pokes were down most of the game and ended up losing anyway, but what a fun surprise to look cross court and see these two guys. Can you tell who it is?

Take a closer (albeit blurrier) look. Can you tell who it is?

We tried getting their attention, but I guess they never noticed us waving our arms and jumping around frantically :)

Happy Birthday, Mom! The revised post

Today is my wonderful mother-in-law's birthday. I wrote a nice post on Wednesday and saved it to post TODAY, her actual birthday, and when I published it today, it inserted itself down the list on Wednesday. Sometime computers are so frustrating!

So scroll on down to see my tribute to Mother Webb :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Our Song, Friday Five Style

I've had Taylor Swift's 'Our Song' running through my head since I saw the ACM awards on Wednseday night, so I decided to dedicate this Friday Five to what 'Our Song' will be when they make a soundtrack to our lives:

1. Lonestar--My Front Porch Looking In "Nothin' takes my breath away like my front porch looking in..."
2. Rascal Flatts--Bless the Broken Road "I set out on a narrow way, many years ago / Hoping I would find true love, along the broken road / But I got lost a time or two, wiped my brow and kept pushing through / I couldn't see how every sign, pointed straight to you"
3. Deana Carter--How Do I Get There From Here? "...dreaming every night with these arms around you"
4. --The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock
5. John Denver (and the Muppets)--Durango Mountain Caballero "To the place were earth and heaven meet the mountains and the sky / In the heart of Colorado

What songs would be on your soundtrack?

Hurricane Andrew

If Kraig has to work early and isn't there to watch the boys in the morning, I usually don't get a shower until Andy is watching a DVD during rest time or until later during nap time. That means most mornings I stay in my gym clothes or jammies until at least 11am.


This morning was a little different. Andy was playing quietly in his room so I thought I'd take a few minutes for a quick shower (this was around 9am--could I be so lucky?) I jumped in and jumped out, and after towelling off, I poked my head down the stairs to see if Andy was still being as quiet as when I started.

I'm not joking--in the 2.5 minutes I was in the shower this is the destruction that he caused in his room. All the toy bins were off the shelf, upturned and emptied on the floor. He was having a great time and, in fact, cheered and threw a bin when he saw me!

The great thing about all of his destruction was that he was totally content to put it all back together. No whining that he didn't want to do it, no running out of the room, he just sat down and started putting everything back in its place. What a funny boy!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Sunday is my wonderful Mother-in-law's birthday.

Here are a few things I've learned about my sweet Mother-in-law, Kolene, in the 3+ years I've known her:

She loves her children and grandkids.

(Mom with Joshy and the snuggle blanket she made for him, Mom with Andy right after he was born, and Mom with all of her wonderful children)

She is a wonderful mother and taught my husband how to be kind, work hard, love the Lord, and clean bathrooms better than anyone I know.

She is extremely talented and creative. There is always some craft or activity for the family when we get together. She has an amazing food storage that all of her children and their spouses covet. She is extremely generous of her time, talents, and love.

I'm most grateful that she and Dad Webb prepared Kraig well for marriage by their example of a happy marriage. That's the best gift she's given me!

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!

** In preparation for Mom Webb's birthday on Sunday, I uploaded the photos I wanted to use for this post on Wednesday. Well, when I finished writing the post today, Sunday (Mom's actual birthday), the post wouldn't post as a SUNDAY post, but inserted itself back down on Wednesday (even though I've done other posts since then). Computers are SOOOO frustrating sometimes!

The Dollars and Pennys Count

I always feel so great when I look at my grocery store receipt and I've saved $6 or $10.55 on my purchases. I think, 'Man, I'm really saving our family money!' But then Kraig, with his wonderful mechanical ability, will go and change the oil, flush the transmission, and tune up our car, saving us hundreds.

I guess we all contribute in our own way--his $100 isn't any more important than my $6. It's more the idea of scrimping and saving that gets us ahead in the end, right?

Andy was helping his Daddy flush the transmission and thought Daddy might need a little more light under the car, so he brought out his lantern :) What a big helper!

** I'd like to give credit where credit is due. This topic isn't my original idea. Before Kraig and I were married I remember having a conversation with my wonderful mother-in-law about the same thing--her saving dollars at the grocery store and Dad saving hundreds fixing the sink or the car. I'm glad that Kraig inherited those genes from his parents.

Not a mother

Whoever decided that we as a nation should participate in Daylight Savings time was obviously not a mother. My children didn't know that we got an extra hour of sleep this morning! They were up at their usual 6:30 which translates to 5:30 when daylight savings is 'off' (or 'on', I always get confused).

I want my extra hour of sleep! I want to speak with the man responsible for this usually delicious, but oh-so-missed hour!

No, these aren't Halloween costumes

Kraig had another day off this week (oh wait, I didn't ever do a post about his first day off this week) so we went to the Dry Pack Cannery. We were the only ones there and we had a great time.

To keep things foodsafe, everyone has to wear gloves and hairnets.

We had to tape Andy's gloves on.

Josh had fun too. Oh wait, it gets better.

That's my happy boy!

PS--I've received complaints (aka chastisements from the East Coast) that the title of my blog was too blah. Apparently the Dr. Laura reference is lost on the unlearned, Reed Farnsworth. (did I say that out loud?) I'm testing out new ones and will let my faithful lurkers vote in an upcoming survey. Stay tuned...

The things that make me happiest

1. When Andy says 'please' and 'thank you' without being prompted
2. That Josh is always happy to see me when I walk in a room
3. When Kraig comes home from a long day and says he didn't work at all--he just had fun and got paid for it
4. A clean kitchen
5. Vacuumed floors
6. My new van
7. Dinner out (or in) with my honey
8. The kids' 7:30 bedtime
9. When Andy makes Joshy laugh
10. Knowing what I'm going to make for dinner
11. Making new friends
12. Getting to exercise in the mornings
13. When Andy comes into the family room and does aerobics or yoga with me (he's nailed downdog)
14. A hot shower (without kids in the background)
15. Emails from my sisters and mom
16. KitKats--unfortunately, they make Josh unhappy
17. When Josh snuggles into my neck when he's not quite awake yet
18. That perfect spot between Kraig's shoulder and neck that fits me perfectly when we hug
19. That Andy learned how to tell a dog to 'sit' this weekend and has continued to practice on me
20. Putting things away in my food storage
21. A clean bedroom
22. That I'm not always the one doing all the cleaning
23. Andy singing his 'clean up' song to himself when he's in his room--I've taught him well
24. Reading scriptures as a family before bedtime
25. When Kraig's work schedule lets him come to church with us
26. Speaking Spanish and understanding what other Latins say to/around me
27. Going to Target and spending $2.00 on toothpaste just to get out of the house
28. When Andy stops what he's doing, yells 'Daddy!' and runs to greet Kraig when he comes home from work--I tear up every time
29. That Kraig plays with our kids
30. Making dinner for a neighbor who just had a baby
31. Advancing from the diaper bag to a real purse--at least on date night
32. Mom and Dad living close so they can see the kids whenever they want
33. That the Webbs miss us now that we're away
34. My little boy becoming so independent--he can put his shoes on by himself now!
35. Spending Kraig's day off together as a family doing something fun
36. October--it's been a great month, I'm sad to see it end
37. Pumpkin cookies
38. Spending time with my best friend, which is great because he lives in the same house as me
39. Blogging
40. Getting comments on my blog
41. My beautiful Grandmother (who just celebrated her 88th? birthday on Sunday) who gave me her beautiful china
42. My new kitchen table that seats 10
43. Having more people at our table since it can seat so many
44. Watching movies with Kraig
45. Snuggling with Andy when he's tired (but not cranky)
46. Laughing with Kraig
47. A crisp apple
48. Beautiful leaves that have turned red for the season
49. When Joshy sleeps through the night
50. When I sleep through the night

Hot Dog, Kids! It's a SMASH!

I can't get the formatting to cooperate, so the text appears to be all one paragraph, I apologize. If any blogger has a suggestion (it does this often) please let me know. I've tried everything I can think of. It appears 'normal' when I'm writing and editing it, but when I publish it it's all messed up. Suggestions, please!

So here's our BRAND NEW (to us) Car!

I'm really working on domesticating Kraig, as he puts it, by owning a minivan. In fact, I never thought that I would want to own a minivan until this one crossed our path. But it's a really great story how this minivan came into our lives. Let me share...

Monday morning on Kraig's day off we decided to go run some errands. It was cold out and as usual (we'd actually forgotten that it did this, since we've had such nice warm weather for so long) the driver's side back door (Andy's door) wouldn't open. We don't know why, but if it's below 60 degrees, the door acts like the catch is broken and won't open. When we had one kid and Andy's car seat was in the middle, it wasn't that big of a deal, but now with two children and car seats to navigate into the back seat, working out of only one door is a pain.


So when we got home from errands that morning (slightly frustrated, I must admit) I logged onto Craigslist.com to see what was out there. We've been dreaming about getting a new car for ages, but the car has always been in the 'want' category, not the 'need' category. So any looking we did was just dreaming. I suppose in the back on my mind I wasn't just looking, but secretly hoping there was something out there that was made in this century and was decent and affordable (the Rodeo is a 95).


Well, not to sound dramatic, but this van called to me. The price listed on the website was right, it was a 96 (ok, not in this century), but it only had 35,000 miles on it. What? Was that a typo? I called the owner and asked how it had so few miles and he explained that he and his wife were both doctors (ding, ding) and they had bought it for their kids when they were little and now they were grown (ding, ding) and it was a 5th car so they didn't hardly ever use it (ding, ding, ding). So I set an appointment for us to go and take a test drive that afternoon. Kraig was a little skeptical, since it seemed like we were rushing into this big purchase...


The car was everything this kind doctor (who lived in a 1.5 million dollar home) said it was. Upholstery was clean, tire and breaks were new, body was in great condition and there was really only 35, 950 miles on the odometer. It drove like a dream and I wanted it from the moment I sat behind the wheel. Before we went to the doctor's home we checked the price of the car on Kelley Blue Book. For the features it had, the doctor was asking a little too much. We asked how firm he was on the price and he said he was pretty set, since according to the mileage, it was only a 3 year old car. So we told him we would think about it and get back to him.


Driving home we called and offered him a much lower price, but still what the car was 'worth' (according to Kelley). He said, he'd meet us in the middle of the $1000 price cut we had suggested. Not bad. Kraig and I discussed it again, but decided that if we were going to spend the money we should look around a bit longer and not rush into it. But something kept us talking and thinking about the car. We prayed about it, talked to family members for their advice and decided to pass for the time being. I called the doctor back and told him the price was too much, but thanks for his time. He said, 'How about we meet in the middle, $750 off the asking price?' Um, that's still a little too high, but thank you. His last offer, 'Ok, I'll sell it to you for what you can pay. My wife says we should since you're a young family with two kids.' Yahoo! I did feel good about the car and I felt even better about the price we could pay!


So, I'm a minivan mom now! I love it! I love it! I love it!


PS--here's a Halloween preview. We had our ward's Trunk-or-Treat on Friday. Joshy was a hot dog, Andy was a piece of cheese in a ham sandwich and Kraig and I were the ketchup and mustard on the side :)

Haven't I already been tagged?

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Let's see--senior in high school--probably writing my own notes to get out of AP Calc or AP Bio
2. Driving my Plymouth Horizon I lovingly called 'Sam'
3. Just received my acceptance to BYU Housing--waiting on the school's acceptance (Chipman has more fun than anyone!)
4. Doing a shift at Old Navy, or at least there buying clothes with my discount
5. Going to the grocery store with my mom. We did that a lot.

Five things on my "to do" list today:

1. Go and pick up my NEW CAR! WooHoo!
2. Find the last pieces of our Halloween costumes
3. Eat lunch when Andy wakes up from his nap
4. Buy a Marie Callender's Corn Bread mix for the Trunk-or-Treat tomorrow
5. Take a birthday gift to my VT companion

Five things I'd do if I were a millionaire:

1. Buy my husband a boat--a good one for water skiing. And maybe a lake to go with it.
2. Buy a home
3. Buy some new clothes--especially a skirt or two--I'm getting desperate
4. Get my hair done--also getting desperate
5. Hire a personal dietitian. Wait a minute...

Five things I'll never wear again:

1. Pretty much anything from high school or college, although I think I have a pair or two of jeans floating around that are my 'work' jeans
2. Some well worn clothes from my mission--did I even bring them home with me?
3. My orange gingham jumper I had sewn in Venezuela. It didn't really fit when I had it made, and especially not now that I've nursed two kids. But I'll never get rid of it.
4. Scrunchies. Plus, Brenny just threw all of the ones from mom's bathroom cupboard away.
5. My second earring

My five favorite toys:

1. My 2 year old is always good for a laugh--he's so crazy!
2. My infant never fails to make me smile, even when he's crying during mommy's nap time
3. My computer
4. Our digital camera, for blogging of course
5. My new purse. I'm such a grown-up now!

Five people I tag:

1. Brenny
2. Janell
3. Kelli
4. Lindsey
5. Ashley--both of them!

It's beginning to look...

We woke up this morning to this

and this,

so we spent a good chunk of the new day doing this.

And how cute are my boys? Andy was holding Joshy's hand so I snapped a fuzzy picture. They're so darling.

The snow's still going--any bets on how much we get for our first snow of the season? I'm guessing 8 inches (that's because I'm looking out the window right now and can tell it's more than 6 already)

My fingers are numb, I can't type

I am so excited it's fall, but I forget that I don't like the cold. Here's my 'don't like the cold' list, Friday Five style:

1. So I woke up this morning and the temperature in my house was less than 60 degrees. When you're snuggled in bed with your honey, it's not that bad, but Andy's toes and fingers were like ice when I got him out of his bed.

2. All of my winter clothes are in the 'function over fashion' category. Nothing really cute. I need to go shopping.

3. Not that I'm really complaining, but it's so cold in the morning, so I bundle everyone up so warmly. Then by 2pm, we're roasting when we play outside because the temperature's increased by 40 degrees

4. Our house STAYS cold. It might warm up outside, but my below 60 degree house at 7am only creeps up to 63 by the evening.

5. The only redeeming factor of a cold house is cuddling up with a warm blanket and a cute husband. I'm SO glad it's date night tonight!

PS--did I mention that my new kitchen table has 2 leaves and can seat 10? I love it! I love it!

Ta DA!

Here's our new kitchen table! Everytime I sit down at it I say, 'I love this table!'

Where have all the buffalo gone?

For Family Home Evening last night Kraig wanted to go 'up in the mountains.' Since the mountains aren't as close as they used to be when we lived in Heber, I thought I'd take him to one of my childhood playgrounds--Daniel's Park. It's about 30 minutes away and when I was a girl, it was the edge of civilization. Now the road is paved, there are mansions and a golf course and the interstate is 5 miles to the east. But even with the new surroundings, the rocks, the cement picnic tables, and the stone pavilion are all still the same.

Kraig and Andy had a wonderful time climbing around on the rocks. We told Andy we were going to a different kind of park, but he kept asking for the 'weeee' (swing).

Joshy got cold and hungry, so I spent some time in the car while Kraig and Andy hiked around, but the sunset was BEAUTIFUL and I had a perfect view.

We roasted hot dogs in the fire. While we were cooking/eating the sun went down and it got pretty cold. Most of the other people in the park cleared out and we were left by ourselves, which was really nice. About 10 minutes later a young couple with 4 kids showed up to roast marshmallows in the fire pit right next to us. I was walking to the car to get our lantern when I heard the mom say, 'Ok, after the lesson we'll roast marshmallows.' What? Lesson? I asked if they were LDS and sure enough, it was their FHE activity too.

On a totally UNRELATED note, Kraig and I found our perfect kitchen table today. We actually found it 4 weeks ago at Oak Express, but the one we wanted was already sold. We put it on the bottom of our 'wants' list and kept hoping to find another one we liked at a good price. So today as I was leaving the gym (which is right next door to Furniture Row) I decided to stop and check out their Tent Sale. Our table was there! It was marked down to to $128 (the original price was $375). I hurried home, got Kraig and the kids and we went back to buy our table. The sales guy didn't waste any time bargaining with us and flat out said we could have the table for $75 because he didn't want to carry it back inside after the Tent Sale! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! Oooh! I'm so excited! It matches out chairs and china hutch perfectly! It was like all of these pieces were meant to be together and spoke to us from 2 different stores and a garage sale to get in our dining room. Ok, I'm not that corny, but they really look fabulous! I'm SOOO excited!

The traveling salesman

So like I said in my post on Friday, we had a dinner group at our home at 6pm that night. I'd spent most of the day getting ready for it--grocery shopping, cleaning, organizing, blogging... I had my whole time table set up so that I knew exactly when to start preparing the lasagna and when to put the lasagna in the oven so it would have time to 'rest' before we served it and what time to vacuum the house so it would still look vacuumed when the guests arrived. I was feeling like that organizational, hostessing guru.

Well, around 3:30 (both kids were actually napping) the doorbell rang and there were two men standing there with an offer to clean the carpet in a room of my house absolutely free.

Me: "What's the catch? I have to buy two additional rooms?"

Them: "No, mam, we just hope you tell your neighbors about us."

Me: "Well, I'm having a dinner party here at 6pm and I don't want wet carpet..." (trying to graciously excuse them from my porch)

Them: "It only takes 30 minutes to dry."

Me (to myself) : 30 minutes, eh? I look at my watch and see I've got plenty of time before I really need to get cracking and clean carpet in the living room sure would be nice. "Ok, sure. Why not? It's free, right?"

Now normally I don't invite strangers into my home. It's a rule. But Kraig was supposed to be home at 4pm and my mom was coming to pick up Andy, so I figured I'd be safe. Plus, I trust my intuition and I didn't get ANY bad feelings about these guys. They were both puny, anyway. I totally could have kicked their butts.

So they come in and start setting up a Kirby vacuum cleaner. I know Kirby. They're thousands of dollars, but worth every penny. My parents have always used Kirby. If it didn't cost thousands of dollars, we would have bought one 18 months ago when we had to buy a new vacuum (we bought a Riccar, which is also a wonderful vacuum, but not nearly as expensive--or heavy). What? These guys are traveling Kirby salesmen? Ah, man! So what started (in my mind) as a 30 minute carpet clean turned into a 90 minutes sales pitch and THEN the 30 minutes carpet clean. And THEN they told me I could be the proud owner of this fabulous new machine (it really was fabulous) for the low low price of $2000--out the door, no questions asked, done. Right. I told them that if I had $2000 extra just laying around I wouldn't be spending it on a vacuum. They were very gracious and cleaned up their vacuum and left and didn't dump all they dirt they'd already vacuumed up back in my carpet (eww, gross!).

So with a wet living room floor and the lasagna NOT started (it was time to put it in the oven) I scramble to get everything done. Thankfully mom was there and could help in the crunch. We had a wonderful time with our guests, made some new friends, and enjoyed the evening completely, even if the lasagna wasn't out of the oven on time and the carpet was a little wet.

But, the living room really does look nice.

Where have all the Friday Fives gone?

So Friday rolls around once more and I think, 'ohmygoodness! I need to blog!'

Here are a few highlights, Friday Five style.

1. My sister Cory and her 4 kids have come to town. It's always fun when family comes to town; it feels like I'm in vacation mode too. They'll be here until Monday. We'll hopefully get to take a trip up to Brenny's tomorrow and play around up there.

2. There was a fire safety openhouse at the fire station on Saturday. Andy got to climb in the fire engine and even got a plastic fireman's helmet.

3. We went to the 'Wings over the Rockies' Air and Space museum on Monday (was it really on Monday? Seems so long ago!) There were tons of cool planes and it was in a huge ol' airplane hanger. Everywhere Andy went he said 'airplane! airplane!' You'd think it was Paradise Island or something thing.

4. I'm having a dinner party at our house tonight with two other couples from our ward. I don't know these people, they were assigned to our home, but I'm so excited to play hostess. I bought new placemats and napkins just for the occasion. I was going to set the table over a navy blue table cloth, but I think that the navy blue with the orange dishes is a little over board seeing as we're in Bronco Country now. I guess I'm going to have to change my usual decor.

5. Andy's having a sleepover at Grandma's tonight, since the dinner party is sans children (ok, Josh will be there, but he'll just sit quietly in the corner:). What? an evening without my toddler? Thank you, GRANDMA!

General Conference Weekend

One of the most wonderful things about listening to October General Conference is making pumpkin cookies. I usually try and keep the recipe under wraps, but I feel like it's time to share the goodness with more of the world. It's time to share my internationally known cookie recipe (it went to Iraq) with our friends in Mother Russia. Lindsey, this is for you. I hope you can find Libby's pumpkin in Russia!

Jacqui's Pumpkin Cookies--an October Tradition

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin (I only use Libby's Pumpkin--no other pumpkin turns out as nice of cookies)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Mix well. Sift together remaining ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix with pumpkin mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and drop teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. DON'T OVER BAKE!

Enjoy!

Little Orphan Andy

I had a marathon cleaning day on Friday (that's why I couldn't do a Friday 5, I was working too hard) and Andy helped me scrub the kitchen floor. What a big helper!

The first day of a perfect month

I love October. I have no idea why, but it's always been my favorite month. Maybe because it's an 'orange' month and orange is my favorite color (duh! look at my blog). Or maybe it's the change of seasons, the fall leaves, the cool nights making it perfect to snuggle under a warm blanket. Or maybe I love it because I can start making soups again and Kraig won't complain about a hot soup on a hot day. Or maybe becuase it's the official opening to Pumpkin Cookie Season. Mmmm...pumpkin cookies.

Whatever the reason, I'm SO glad it's OCTOBER!

Friday Five Smiles

I can't do a '5' today, but I wanted to leave this week with a few smiles.

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!

Andy and I hiding under the bed, waiting to scare Daddy :)

Joshy giving me smiles after a diaper change :)

Weekend Fun

Saturday morning Andrew and I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. Unfortunately Andy got burned on the pan. Here's a photo of him holding his ice pack in his hurt little hand. He's not crying because he's in pain, but because I wouldn't give him the camera :)

Later that afternoon Andrew and I were out on the back deck waiting for Kraig to get home from work. What a perfect time to give myself a pedicure! Andy thought it was a great idea too and took off his shoes and socks, had me help him roll up his pants, soaked his feet with me in the bucket and then asked me to paint his toes too. Really! I didn't force any of it on him :)

I've always thought I wanted to have a car full of boys, but maybe having a little girl would be fun too. Then my boys don't have to pretend to paint their toes like their mama.

Kraig's 'weekend' started this morning. So while I've been on the Internet, he and Andy have been playing. This is Andy's new tent I got for him at a garage sale (for $1). I can hear them down there talking about the stars and eating cheese and raisins (like Kraig used to do when he was a boy making forts). It's so darn cute!