the night she thought would never come...

so i don't know what kind of mother i am, letting my daughter stay up until all hours of the morning watching some vampire love story...but i gotta say- it was pretty exciting! jasmine was counting down the days, re-reading the books, and watching the trailer over and over.
i didn't feel like throwin' down $20 a pop on twilight t-shirts, so we made our own on the computer. freddy helped us with the design, we printed them out on iron-on paper, and ta da...our very own custom made edward shirts for just a couple a bucks...not too shabby!

he really has nothing against edward...he did this purely for the shock effect...which worked. i busted a gut laughing so hard,
and jasmine gasped in disbelief..."how rude" she says ( just what he was going for). he couldn't resist wearing it to work that day.

oh yeah, let's not leave van out. he doesn't care much for twilight, but he was pretty stoked about this "rampage" t-shirt freddy made him.

we went with about 15 or so of my friends, and jasmine was the only teeny bopper of the group, so she was excited when she found some of her friends at the theater. we had about 2 hours to kill before the movie, so they hung out for a while.

meanwhile, all us crazy mom's hung out and acted like teenagers...oh grow up already will ya:)

the movie was pretty good (jasmine liked it a bit more than i did), but i gotta say...it was so fun hanging out with my beautiful girl, acting goofy until 3 a.m. on a school night.
this is the kind of memory that i hope never leaves her. and when she gets older and looks back at her childhood...i hope she remembers that she had a fun mom.

and then there were five...

i think i've pretty much told everybody, but for those of you who don't know...we've got a little baby on the way!

i filled some baby bottles with candy, and attached a note congratulating jas and van on becoming a big sis and big bro!
jasmine wants twin girls, and van wants to name it "bumper"(?)
fredgie is so dang excited he can hardly stand it!
this is gonna be a long prengnacy though...i'm only like 2 weeks along!
...bring it on...

a trip down memory lane...

this is kelly. my best childhood friend while i was growing up. i lost track of her, and was so excited to find she had left a comment on my blog a few weeks ago...it had been 5 years since i talked to her last! (one more cool thing about blogs...finding old friends)
that sparked a bit of nostalgia, so i pulled out some old pictures.

we did everything together...

we were in the same dorky dance class...pretty sure this was the "wake me up before you go go" routine. we always made fun of "dan dan the ballet man" (the only boy in our class...wonder what ever happened to him?)

we preformed at the mall sporting our stylin leg warmers (obviously this was in the 80's)

we were cheerleaders together...

got "saloon girl" pics taken at lagoon every year...

and went on double dates together in highschool (check out my date...robert smith from the cure:)even back in grade school, she was always taking pictures- and is now a professional photographer (she always had me posing for shots like this).

its been really great catching up with her, and i found out she has this awesome blog/website that you have to check out.
you'll find that she's an amazing writer, but not only that- she's a gourmet cook, photographer, gardener, makes twilight jewelry (and other stuff too), has 3 cute boys, is very insightful...and writes all about it on her blog.
anyways, i can't do it justice just talking about it...you have to check it out and you'll see what i mean. but watch out, it's addicting!
(just click on kelly sansom from my "faves" list)

i love trips down memory lane...

love that campfire smell!

now that it's actually feeling like fall here in texas,
we've all been in the mood to sit around a campfire and
and roast marshmallows.
van has been talking about "camping" for weeks (his idea of camping is just building a fire). i thought about looking around for a good spot near our house...but mr. sanders had a better idea. while jas and i were out running errands, he built us our own personal fire pit right on our back porch...made with cinder blocks and bricks from the garage! of course he couldn't have done it without van, who helped him gather the wood and carry bricks.
so we filled our bellies with perfectly roasted hot dogs from the fire. there's something about that campfire taste that makes hot dogs taste so good! (i'm usuaslly not a big fan) after the hot dogs, the kids roasted (charcoaled) their marshmallows to make s'mores, and later as we watched the fire die down, we sipped on hot cocoa warming our feet by the fire.
i think i got spoiled though and may not want to ever go to a "real" camping spot again. the convenience of my kitchen that was a few feet away was pretty dang nice.

once again...fredgie stepped up and rocked the house! he's the best:)

vanilla ice, ice, baby...

ok, i'm so not fishing for compliments here...but i seriously put on like 10 pounds on my honeymoon that i can't get off! my biggest problem (besides my out of control dessert eating) is that i hate to exercise. i'll get on a kick for a while, but then lose interest...so i started this new thing...i turn on some booty shakin' music and start cleaning my house. my rule is, that i can't stop moving no matter what i'm doing, and i can't stop cleaning 'til i'm done. if i'm standing there doing the dishes or wiping the counter- i'm doing the 80's "step together step" move (with a little added soul). if i need to go from room to room, i have to skip or do leaps to the music. and periodically, i'll just stop and bust a move for a few minutes in between cleaning (you are so wishing that you could be a fly on my wall).
so after doing this for a few days, i find out it's pretty dang fun...doesn't even feel like exercising, and after 45 minutes or so- my house is clean and my heart rate is up. i just killed two birds with one stone! you gotta try it.jasmine decides that she wants in on the fun...so we had a dance party! (no cleaning on this one, but effective just the same) funny thing about this picture is(the one where i look like i'm imitating a beaver), we put the camera on a timer unaware of when the picture would take...apparently this is what my face looks like when i'm dancing!

this day will not be forgotten...

this is me about 36 years ago.this is me today (actually yesterday) on my 36th birthday! (i was going to try and imitate the pose and outfit, but the booties don't fit me anymore:)

so it all started when i opened up a happy birthday email from my friend, and she added at the end of her email..."i hope you have an adventure today!"
well, that got me thinking...it may not be much of an adventure...but it's MY adventure. the only day that i will ever turn 36 in my entire life. plus, it's a pretty memorable birthday for me...the happiest i've ever been in my life, and i decided that i didn't want to forget any part of this day (thus the play by play).

here's my adventure...i woke up to presents and balloons from fredg and the kids. he took them shopping the night before (he thinks he's so funny with the over the hill balloon). he never misses a chance to remind me that he's 3 years younger than me. his birthday is in january, so for 2 months, he's technically 4 years younger...i never hear the end of it.jasmine and van got me some yummy lotion and coconut room freshner, and van picked out the balloons...then jasmine and fredgie were off to work and school.so i was left with the pleasure of sharing my adventure with van man (and his cool sunglasses).i asked van what we should do to make my birthday an adventure. he thought that he should first change into his star wars t-shirt (more adventurous), and then suggested video games. so we played a few good games of "rampage"... he spanks me every time.then i made a play list of "feel good" 80's songs and danced around like kevin bacon from "footloose" while i did the laundry and cleaned the house (i even had that song on my play list).

i got a few happy birthday calls and emails, and before i knew it, it was time for my hubby to come home for lunch.i had just got done making the bed, and he walks into the bedroom with a freaking guitar for my birthday present! wow...i had NO idea that was coming. complete surprise. and i was so excited...like screaming excited!

i've been wanting to take lessons, and we were talking about getting a used one on craig's list. but this one was brand spankin' new! our good friends justin and annie cash (awesome musicians), went and picked it out so he could surprise me with it.

so then we had lunch...i told him i'd "thank" him for the guitar later, and he was off.so i'm doing some more cleaning/work on the computer, and the doorbell rings. it's my cute pregnant friend wendy (with some of the yummiest pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ever), to wish me a happy birthday. awwww! thanks girl!then my 1:45 appointment arrived...my very sweet visiting teachers mindy and elizabeth. we had a nice chat, and elizabeth gave a great message from the conference issue of the ensign. i didn't want to rush them off, but i had more cleaning to do, errands to run, and i still had to get ready for my hot date with my hubby! see ya girls!when jasmine got home from school, we took a quick "this is mom's 36th birthday" picture, and then left to run errands.

we made a stop at the post office, and then to the bank to deposit a check.brandon at wells fargo was excited to be a part of my birthday documentation.we left the kids with fredgie's little brother erik...and headed out to "the master grill" where we had dinner reservations waiting for us at 7:00.for those of you who have never been to a brazilian "rodizio" style restaurant, this is basically the jist of it...you get to eat as much amazing barbequed meat as you want! steak, chicken, sausage...plus whatever you want from the salad bar. it was awesome! (thanks for spoiling me hon!)(is this day lasting forever or what? i'm almost done)

so we end up seeing the movie "max payne" with marky mark (well not with marky mark, he was just in the movie)...it was pretty good. a little too much fighting for my taste, but it was nice just being with my sexy man...so at the end of the day, i'd have to say that my adventure was simply being with the ones i love and being happy...i hope i remember that feeling forever.

exploring...

my cute friend annie and i, took our boys to this cool little hiking spot that she discovered a while back. the boys had such a great time running up and down the leaf covered trails, taking turns being the "leader", and stopping every once in a while to pick up the perfect walking stick.
of course we had to look under a big rock to see if someone had left a treasure, but all we found were a few bugs and a worm. so the boys went back to digging for their own treasure in the dirt.
it was a gorgeous day for it too. this crazy texas weather...the middle of november and it's 75 degrees! we finally had to pull them away to get back home for dinner.
good call annie...we had a blast!

the ultimate dinner guests...

we love having those missionary boys over for dinner, so we signed up to feed them halloween night. elder logan requested brazilian food, so my mother in law hooked me up with the recipe for some authentic feijoada (the best black beans and rice ever!). every brazilian knows you can't have feijoada without pao de queijo (cheese bread) and guarana (brazilian soda)...and of course i had to make dessert. i don't know the name of it, "marveloso" something or other...the elders thought it was pretty dang marveloso too. they were just like bob at dr. leo marvin's house raving about faye's mashed potatoes... "Mmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmmm, this stuff is amazing!" (that won them the leftovers to take home)
needless to say my mad cooking skills totally rocked the house:)
after dinner, we had them earn their keep by passing out candy for us while we took the kids around trick or treating. looks like elder logan snuck in some mario kart with van before we left:)

halloween happenings...

i've been putting off doing this post because i have so many stinking halloween pictures to go through!
(believe it or not, this is the condensed version)
here goes...it's our tradition to make these oreo cookie spiders every year. it's way easy and fun for the kids...licorice for the legs and red hots for the eyes, with a dab of frosting to make them stick. then we go out and deliver them to our friends (and sneak a few for ourselves)
thursday morning started the halloween festivities at van's preschool. they had a little party and performed some hallowen songs for the parents. it was dang cute.
van decided he wanted to be luke skywalker months ago, and has been anxiously anticipating halloween. jasmine had a hard time deciding between a vampire (anyone surprised?), and a fairy princess...i think i decided for her when i got her this dress while she was at school. good pick mom, she looked gorgeous!
for all you who know me, you know i love a good bargain. i'm not cheap mind you, just thrifty. so the idea of spending 20$ or more on a halloween costume for one night for each kid, just kills me. but i scored at the thrift store...jasmine's fairy dress was 5$ and van's get-up was about 3$ and if you look close, van's "boots" are actually scarves i got at all-a-dollar. so all in all, i was feeling pretty good about the 10$ i spent on both costumes:)
later that night we went to the neighborhood "trunk-or-treat"
fredgie downloaded the michael jackson's "thriller" video and hooked up the car speakers to the laptop, and set it up in the back of the car while the trick-or-treaters came around.
we soon had an audience...kids who were enthralled seeing it for the first time, and parents who remembered memorizing the dance moves as a teenager. good call fredg!
so on friday night (the "real" halloween), we went out to get more unnecessary candy. we very well can't deprive the kids the experience of knocking on doors can we?
jasmine didn't feel like putting on her fairy garb, so she opted for the low maintenance costume...my bathrobe, a towel for her hair, and a "spa lady" mask

the dental assistant in me is cringing...look at all those cavities waiting to happen!
kids still separate all their candy into categories? i thought only i did that when i was a kidi remember when i was growing up, we'd go trick or treating for hours...no parents in sight, our pillow cases chuck full of candy. no one monitored how much or when i ate it...it would last for months on end. obviously i lived through it. my teeth didn't rot out of my head, i never got sick from eating too much candy, or gain any extra weight from the excess. but for some reason, i can't stand the thought of my kids having a huge stash of candy at their disposal. van's candy can slowly "disappear", but jasmine actually counts hers...so i made her a deal. she could pick out 25 pieces of her favorite candy and trade the rest to me for a webkinz...
it was a hard choice, but she decided on the webkinz...a little humming bird named maddy.(good choice little lady:)
now what am i going to do with all this leftover candy?! :)