Trunk or Treat!

Haley and her friend, Christina
Chad and his friend, Dallin - both as "Jokers" from Batman - Chad's real hair dyed green, Dallin wearing a wig!

Everyone. Notice Reed is about done at this point.

Macy, Reed and I handing out candy. Reed's favorite part was just taking the candy out of my bowl and eating it.

Reed trunk-or-treating. He didn't quite get it, but candy it always good!

Just putting this pic in for our old Sunland Ward family. This is our party... and this is after our ward got split about 3 weeks ago. See all those people? Crazy!

Me and my little monkey.

Our church does this thing called "trunk-or-treating". It's lots of fun. You start off with a big chili cook-off in the building, and then go outside for all of the kids to trick-or-treat out of the back of everyone's cars. Sounds a little strange, but always fun.

Happy Birthday Carrie - almost!

D and I looking totally rad!

Madonna me and Flashdance Susie. We are so AWESOME we can't even stand ourselves! I make a very good Madonna by the way!


So our friend, Carrie, is turning 40 this week! The big 4-0!!! She doesn't look a day over 16 - especially with the braces! Anyways, this weekend we had a surprise party for her, at the roller-skating rink, 80's theme. It was great! We all dressed up and skated, and no major injuries!



Carrie and her husband, Scott. He rented the super cool blue ruffle tuxedo just for the occasion!


Happy Birthday Carrie - we love you!!!

300 posts!

Oh my gosh, I just realized that I've posted 300 times!!! Can you believe that???? So, happy 300 post-day to all!!!

(And look, I figured out how to put a cute background up. Fun, huh?)

Little People, Big World

Luke, Haley, Macy, Chad and friend, Daelin, in front of the Roloff Farms sign

The zip line. Not exactly sure how it works with the bicycle, but it sure did look cool.
There's Matt Roloff in his mule. They were filming while we were there.


The "mens crisis center - no criticizing men in the barn". Gotta love that.
Haley in the wild west town.

Reed LOVED the pumpkins! He thought they were all giant balls.
The kids picked out HUGE pumpkins. We had 7 of them, one for each of us, and they were great!

Last Friday, the kids didn't have school, so we headed to the Roloff Pumpkin Patch. (It's only about an hour from our house.) You know, Little People, Big World, on TLC? It was pretty cool. Neat to see their farm and how they really live. Matt Roloff, the dad, was there and we saw him a few times. We got to see the western town, the pirate ship, and all the other cool stuff that they've put down there. It was very much of a novelty to see where they live, but very different than I expected. Not bigger or smaller, just different. Things were in different places than I thought they should've been based on how they were shown on the show.

Why I have turned into a bad blogger.

Really? Ok, I'm crazy, busy. Who isn't? But besides that... we have very stupid computers in our house. We have 3 laptops, as if 1 isn't enough, and they all have issues. Mine, which is the oldest, works the best, unless you go on the internet. It will go on fine for a while (after convincing it that it really wants to be there) but then after a while, it totally freezes and you have to bring up the task thingy.... yada, yada, yada. Just a pain. And besides that, it doesn't have it's own memory card thing. I have to plug in a little thingy (like all the technical terms here?) and then put my camera memory card into it to get them on the computer. One too many steps if you ask me.

Then there's D's laptop. The laptop we love. Perfect. Great. Until it was left on our bed, and someone little accidentally (get ready for this) pee'd on it, thereby shorting out the monitor. This happened last May, and for some reason the other night it decided to work again, but every so often the screen will just completely black out and stay blacked out (I'm typing on it right now... keep your fingers crossed!). Poor little computer. Note to self: laptops and pee definately don't mix.

Ok, so then there's the third laptop. The one bought to replace the pee'd on one. HP, good, has a memory card thing right in (as does the pee'd on one), bells, whistles, the whole thing. Until after having it about three months it decided to no longer have the middle row on the keyboard work. Seriously. Including the letters A-L, and the "enter" key. You know how many words contain these letters? A whole lot. Now granted, it has a stylus thing that you can write directly on the monitor with, but it takes oh so much longer than just typing it. We've contacted HP, and they are trying to fix it, but so far, no help.

So now you see the real reason why blogging has become such an issue for me. I will try to do better... but no promises. You'd have to get them from the laptops, and I just don't think their willing right now.

I challenge you.

Last week, a scrapbooker who I "follow", put a challenge out there. So today I am giving myself the 'gift of the present time' as so wisely suggested by Stacy Julian. The idea is to snap 10-12 photos that represent your life, right now. Keep the tiny collection in your purse, tote or diaper bag, look through them frequently and then -- early next October '09 -- document your thoughts on the experience. It's an exercise in appreciation of life through photos. Love that!

So really, super easy. The little "scrapbook" is only like 2 12" big, and my pictures 2"x2". Totally tiny. So easy to do and to keep in my purse. Gotta love that. So, I now challenge you, to somehow document your life. Right now. What's important. What matters. What makes you happy or sad. Whatever. Just do it... and see how it changes, or doesn't, by next year at this time.

The big day.

Macy and Derrick before her baptism
Macy and some of her friends - Sierra, Alina, Julia and Elley
Macy and Grandma and Grandpa Huckvale
Petrowskys, Grandma and Grandpa, us and Bob/Susie Huckvales

(about 1/3 of the Huckvale clan)

us - our little family - Reed, D, me, Luke, Chad, Macy and Haley

When you turn 8 in our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka "Mormon"), you get the choice to be baptized. Since Macy turned 8 earlier in September, she got the chance to get baptized last weekend. It was really nice. Grandma and Grandpa came from L.A. for it, as well as the Bob/Susie Huckvale family, Heidi/Duane Petrowsky, and many, many friends. D baptized her, I cried (of course!), cousin Robby and Grandma Huckvale spoke, and Jenny Huckvale sang. Chad and Luke gave prayers, and Aunt Susie led the music. It was so nice, and I'm so glad that Macy chose to be baptized and that she is the sweet spirit that was loaned to us for her time on Earth. We love her so much and are so thankful for her. Wish all of you could have been here with us for this special day!

So thankful.

Remember a couple of months ago, how I was bugged that I didn't get put on the parent board at Haley's preschool? Well, let me tell you now how very thankful I am. A good friend of mine was serving as the vice-president, and she was having such an awful time with the president that she secretly enrolled her daughter in a new school, walked into their board meeting this morning and told them that her daughter was no longer enrolled in the school, so she could no longer serve as the vp. Really stinks that it took pulling her daughter out, but she was worried that if she just resigned and left her daughter there that there might be repercussions. What happens when you give some parents a little power.

I love living in a "small town".

Here it is. Only the 3rd of October... and we've already been "BOOed". The boys went to Uncle Bob's house to watch the BYU game (go COUGS!!! not Washington Cougs, BYU COUGS!!!), so the girls and I decided to go out and get some food. When we got back, not even an hour later, there was a goodie bag on our porch. Candy and treats inside, with a note saying that we had been "BOOed". I love it! Totally something I would do. So now, forget this whole blog "tagging" thing, I challenge all of you to go and BOO people. It's really fun and then everyone can pretend that they live in a small town.

Here's what ya do... write a note: Happy Halloween... and BOO to you! You have officially been BOOed, and now it is your spirited responsibility to BOO again! Choose 4 of your neighbors within the next 48 hours, tiptoe to their door, ring and run! Don't let them see you! Deliver your BOOrific package to their door so that they may BOO some more. Let's see how many doors get BOOed. Make sure you hang your BOOed sign in your window so we can tell who has been BOOed and who has not. Let's BOO the entire neighborhood before Halloween!

So, you leave this note, with a copy of a ghost that says "I've been BOOed" to be hung in the next person's window, and some treats. Do it to 4 different families... and totally make their days! I dare ya!

Happy BOOing!!!

The carpet's almost in!

After almost 6 months of working on the basement, it's ALMOST done! The carpeting is currently going in as I type! It's so exciting! Macy is having a sleepover tomorrow night, and they will be breaking it in... hopefully not spilling stuff all over it! Thinking I won't let them have drinks down there yet!

We still need to put in light fixtures, the counter tops... and oh did I mention, have the plumber come back on Monday, rip out the shower enclosure that he installed incorrectly, have him fix it, have the drywall put back up, and the bathroom finished... but other than that, almost done! Oh, and save up some money to buy the giant TV for the media room. Yeah, one thing at a time!

So Haley looked down and asked me who picked out the color of the carpet. All that was down so far was the red padding, and although I like the color red a lot, I don't want red carpeting! There is navy blue carpeting in the media room and Chad's room (it looks so cool!), and they are in the process of putting a dark tan in the playroom area, hallway and stairs! It's almost done!

Oh, and giant big HUG and KISSES go out to Uncle Bob and Aunt Heidi who spent all day yesterday helping us get all the finishing touches done (which included a WHOLE LOT of paint!) so that we would be ready for the carpet. Love you guys and really, really appreciate all your help! That's what family is for, right?

Dear Macy,

Dear Macy,

I remember the day you were born. 8 years ago. This lovely little bundle of pink. I remember being pregnant with you and being so excited because after 2 boys, you were 80% a girl. What kind of odds are those? I didn't want to believe you were a girl because what if when you were born, you were actually a boy and I was heartbroken and upset. I wanted to love this baby, boy or girl, but gosh... a girl? Could it really be? A sweet baby girl in an extended family with mostly boys. 9 babies born in the past 4 years... all boys... and finally, a girl? I remember when you were born. They said, "it's a girl!", and I didn't believe them. I thought that I was hearing things, because I so wanted a girl. Every time I would wake up from my drug-induced state, I would ask if you were still a girl. A girl. Pink and frills and buttons and bows.

And lo and behold, 8 years later, here you are. A girl with freshly pierced ears, preparing to be baptized into our church in 2 weeks and start Activity Days on Wednesdays. A girl in the 3rd grade who plays soccer, is a Girl Scout and loves her friends. A girl who is trying to grow up, getting ears pierced and a pink hair dryer, but yet still loves her Littlest Pet Shop and Polly Pockets. A sweet spirit in our family, who can be mischievious and very silly, but a super helper and love. The middle child, who takes it in stride. Very sensitive and girly, but loving to the core.

Macy, we are very thankful to have you in our family. To be given the gift of you, for your time on Earth, to raise and take care of and hopefully do a good job. We love you more than life itself and give thanks for you every day.

Happy Birthday our little girl! You are growing up into such a beautiful young woman! We love you!

Mom and Dad

I HEART Sugar...

unfortunately, it doesn't heart me back! So, I went to see my doctor the other day, and she informed me that indeed I am diabetic. 37, not overweight (granted I would gladly lose 5-10 pounds, but only because I'd like to... not because I NEED to), healthy, active, none of the stereotypical "diabetes" symptoms... and I'm still diabetic. A girl who could almost live on Pepsi and Gummi Bears (but only the ones in the gold bag!). Pasta and bread too... and now I'm being told that I forever after have to be on a low-carb, pretty much no-sugar diet. Well, that's one way to lose those 5-10 pounds. Not necessarily the way I want to do it... but it should still work.

So now I am supposed to be testing my blood about 7 times a day (the needle-phobic person that I am... let me tell you, this sits really well with me) and totally watching what I eat, and refusing all the cookies and crackers that Reed tries to put in my mouth.

I know that it sounds like I am making a joke of the whole thing, but it's the only way I can cope with it right now. The doctor gave me some medicine to take to help my glucose levels, and it made me sick as a dog for about 3 days, so I had to stop taking it. Now, dealing, and getting by one day at a time is how it's going to work for me. And hopefully, when I see her again in a month to check in, she will tell me that the whole thing was a lie, I'm really not diabetic, and she was just putting me on a diet to lose those 5-10 pounds! Keep your fingers crossed... it could work!

Look who else is off to school...

Haley went back to preschool this week. She is in the 4's class this year, PreKindergarten, and she LOVES it! She goes three days a week, and would love to go every day! She is just a bit of a social butterfly. Gee... I wonder where she gets that?

Holes In Her Head...

When Macy was very little, like 3 or 4, she asked me when she could get her ears pierced. Being the wise mom that I was at the time, I said not for a long time... like when she turned 8 (it sounded really far away at the time). Little did I know, she would never forget this deal made at her tender toddler-hood.

Today, on the eve of her 8th birthday, we had some mommy-daughter fun. A trip to the mall. For what? To get some ears' pierced, of course. I think that I was more nervous about it than her. She was calm, cool, collected. I was being silly, giddy, nervous. I knew it would hurt a bit, but didn't want to scare her. Told her it would pinch a bit, but wouldn't be bad. The girl pierced both her ears, and Mace never made a sound. I think the pain of the first one kind of shocked her a bit, but once we put that mirror in front of her face, this big grin just appeared.

Our little girl is growing up... and I don't think I like it too much!

Cleaning the ears.

Marking where the earrings will go.

Second earring going in.

Look at that smile!

So grown up!

Back to School!!!

Today was the first day back at school for Washington. Can anybody else say "YIPPEE"!!!! Not that I don't love my kids, because I most definately do, but it's time to get back into a routine. I really love when summer begins and there is no routine to follow, but by the end of summer, I am desperately looking for it! So, we sent Chad (at 7:18 am) and Luke and Macy (at 8:08 am) on their buses, and then Reed, Haley and I followed behind them for the PTA Meet and Greet. After a little meeting and greeting, and then some more meeting, we left there, ran some errands, came home and cleaned. It was so nice to clean, and have it actually stay clean for a few hours. What a novel concept!