All Hallows Eve...

This year the kids asked if we could go "regular" trick-or-treating, instead of heading over to the church for the trunk-or-treat as we always have in the past. So we started out by heading into downtown where the businesses hand out treats. Then we went to a (very tame) haunted house, and ended the evening by making the rounds in a neighborhood where all the houses are close together. Our two little vampires seemed to want to maintain their scary demeanor throughout the whole evening, so we couldn't really tell if they were having much fun. Chef Sophie and Cowboy Nick, on the other hand, were gleefully willing to allow people to put as much candy in their bags as they wanted.

Another blog

I just wanted to make mention of a new blog that I'm currently working on. You will find the link to the right on this page: www.edibletubers.blogspot.com Keep in mind I'm just starting this one out, and will be figuring out as I go what works and what doesn't. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions.

While Snippets and Snapshots will be used for posting family pictures and stories, my other blog, Because the potatoes taste better in Idaho, will be my creative outlet for posting more of my thoughts, recipes, and ideas about my areas of interest, such as health and fitness, home decorating, local travel and photography. Check back often because you never know what I may post on there, and feel free to add a link to the new blog, as well. Thanks for reading!

Picture tag.

My sister-in-law tagged me to do a picture-post. Here are the rules: Go to the third picture folder on your computer, and find the third picture and post it.
I recently took almost all the photos off both our computers and transferred them to cd's, so my photo isn't from that long ago. For those of you that I tag, I hope it's a little more nostalgic!
I tag: Julie, Angie B., Annjilla, Lindsay, Elizabeth, Jen and Jenny!

Leaf monster, leaf monster, 1-2-3...

...leaf monster, leaf monster, can't catch me!!

This is a game that Chris made up to play with the boys when they were babies, and he's been playing it with the kids every fall since then. As soon as there are enough leaves on the ground to rake up a decent sized pile, someone gets buried in them, while the rest of the family circles around and chants this song over and over. Then the "leaf monster" jumps up out of the leaves and tries to tag someone. The kids are mightily entertained by this simple game.

Sophia's choice.

Sophia got a new fancy dress as an early birthday present. She was told she can wear it on her birthday, on Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other special occasion, and to church. Well, today I'm feeling a little under the weather, with a sore throat and sinus headache and didn't feel up to wrangling the 4 kids to church by myself (since Chris is at work all day). So, feeling badly that she was cheated out of her first opportunity to wear the new dress, I let her get dressed up anyway and I took a few pictures of her looking gorgeous! With the 3 other kids being boys, it's nice that I can always count on her to be the ultimate in girly-girls.

Daddy's Home

I'm not sure what's more entertaining: the dog, Chris calling the dog "Daddy's boy", or all the kids laughing hysterically.

The weirdest smile you'll ever see - this really makes me laugh!

Pumpkin fun.

We had a great time today enjoying the awesome art of Jack-O-Lantern design. Sam brought a pumpkin home from school a couple of weeks ago that his teacher had grown in her garden, and he was dying to carve it. I was surprised by his emerging independence when it came to wielding the fancy, serrated carving tool and designing his own image. After I cut the top open and took out the guts, he did the rest completely by himself, and it turned out great!Then when Chris got home from work we decided to do the rest of our pumpkins, and each of the kids did well on their own, at least with the carving part. For some reason none of them wanted anything to do with scooping out the slimy stuff, which seems like something kids would enjoy. So Chris and I got stuck with that part, then let the kids go to it with their creativity in gear. Noah and Sophie used a pattern, while Chris helped Nicolas, and Sam decided to create his own personal design.

Here are the kids' final products:

After the kids went to bed, Chris and I worked on ours. After several goofy looking drafts of my moose, I think my final product turned out cool. Chris went for something a little more spooky and "Halloweeny", as he put it. I just love this time of year!And our final products (not the best picture, but you get the idea):

Halloween dry run.

I made Noah and Sammy's vampire capes for their Halloween costumes today, and the boys thought they turned out so well, they thought it was worth trying them out with their make-up and everything. This is just one of what I'm sure will be many pictures of the kids in their costumes to come in the following week!

If you build it, they will come.

No, I'm not talking baseball diamonds in the middle of cornfields. I'm talking the soccer mom's mecca of all meccas - Costco!

Now many of you may be saying to yourselves, whoopedy-do, Costco. Allow me to explain. Pocatello isn't exactly a booming metropolis. In fact, for one of the largest cities in Idaho, it's kind of pathetic how few stores and other facilities we have, at least when it comes to having a variety of places to choose from. So anytime a new restaurant or store comes to town, there is some understandable excitement. The opening of the new Costco has been much anticipated since it's announcement over a year ago, so even though Chris and I aren't at all the type to withstand the crowds of people just to find a deal, or participate in the hoopla of a grand-opening, we decided it was worth it today. I'd never even been in a Costco, and may I just say that as a mom of four, seemingly bottomless pits of hunger, children, I think I will appreciate the opportunity to buy in bulk!!

I'm sure over time the novelty of being able to buy gargantuan pies and enough Kleenex to supply all the classrooms in an elementary school will wear off. But in the meantime, I'm sure going to enjoy one of my new favorite things: a Very Berry Sundae made with non-fat frozen yogurt and strawberries - at Costco!!

Tragedy.

My sister-in-law's older sister recently lost her 13 year old son in a tragic car accident. We didn't know him personally, but I know it has, of course, deeply affected my sister-in-law and their entire family. I thought I would post a link to the mother's blog and the obituary for the readers of my blog to look at, if they wish. Sometimes when things like this happen, it's a reminder to us all how fragile each life is and how important it is to show our loved ones we care while we can.
To read the obit, click here:
http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2008/10/19/obituaries/332432.txt

To read the grieving mother's blog, click here:
http://donnandkids.blogspot.com/

I wanted to emphasize that a fund has been established in Calvin’s name at Central Bank. Anyone wishing or able to make a contribution may do so at any bank branch.

A learning experience.

Chris has been asking me for days if I was going to make any new posts this week. The truth is, I've been a little preoccupied with a minor disaster that occurred on Tuesday, and I've been embarrassed, if not a little ashamed to write about it. For your entertainment and to purge my feelings of guilt, here goes:
As it turns out, this "groomer doesn't have it"! I was giving our little pooch a bath when I noticed he had some matted fur around his tummy. So I grabbed my little trimming shears, and started to clip away. At one point I had pulled his fur taut and he moved just as I snipped, then he yelped and I immediately saw that I had gotten his skin! It was awful and scary, and I felt terrible! Luckily there wasn't much blood because it wasn't a deep cut, but it did make a flap in his skin and I knew I was going to have to cover it somehow to avoid infection.

I called the vet and described the wound to see if it may need a stitch, to which they said probably not. But in the meantime I have been nursing our little fuzzball back to health, changing the bandage and dressing a couple of times a day. He HATES the restriction the bandage puts on him, and he does quite a bit of thrashing around, licking and biting on it, trying to get it off.

Now for those of you who don't have pets, or maybe aren't "dog people" (as Chris and I used to proclaim), you may think I'm a bit overly emotional about him, after all, he's just a dog! The thing is, he's made his place in all our hearts so quickly because he's such a sweet and loving little thing, and I already can't imagine not having him here. One of these days I have to get some video footage of him when Chris comes home from work - his tail wagging excitement is hilarious. He has a gentle temperament and is so great with the kids. Plus, he's sooo cute! My heart melts when I look at him, especially the past week as he's been mopey and withdrawn. He's slowly starting to act more like the playful little puppy he was before the incident, and rest assured that once his wound has completely healed, I will be making an appointment with an experienced groomer!
Here he is by the front door, as if he's waiting for the opportune moment for escape!

Can it be??!!

Yes, we haven't even made it to Halloween and the white stuff has already made it's first appearance of the season. This will be my 5th Idaho winter, and I still feel a little twinge of disappointment that the warmth and beauty of summer and fall are so quickly coming to an end. Okay, I admit, there's not much snow yet, but today's weather signifies, for us, the beginning of so many things. Clothing in layers, boots, constantly cold hands and feet, Chris working lots of hours because of bad roads, kids with sniffles, higher utilities bills, the list goes on, and this for the next 7 or 8 months! Aargh!

Shameless plug.

My friend handcrafts these darling flower clips. They come in a wide variety of sizes, colors and flower types - they're super cute! Visit: www.stellapearl.etsy.com to check them out. They would make really fun stocking stuffers for all your little girly-girls, or you divine mommas, for that matter! My Sophia loves them and picks one out each day to match her outfit.

A thing of beauty.

These are some snapshots of some of the beauty in my life.

I will never, and I do mean never, tire of this beautiful image!

Every night I lay by her before she goes to sleep and I just smother those cute smooshy cheeks with kisses.

A baby and a puppy - need I say more?

Who doesn't love some yummy little baby toes.

Moosecapades!

A few years ago we were looking for an idea for a little mini-vacation, somewhere we could go to see the fall colors and have a couple of days to break up the monotony of the first semester of school. After doing some research online, I made the exciting discovery that, with a little effort, there were some great deals to be found on hotel rooms in Jackson Hole during October, being that it's the off-season for the ski-resort town. Only a two and a half hour drive from our house, and offering some of the most unbelievable landscape and wildlife viewing around, it's quickly become a much anticipated family tradition.
This year we decided to take a bit of a detour and venture through Yellowstone National Park. It was absolutely well worth the additional driving time. We also had the added excitement of being able to make the trip equipped with the camera Chris got at the beginning of this year. So all of the photos you will see in the slideshow and posted elsewhere on the blog were taken by either Chris, myself, or using the tripod.
Unfortunately, the trip wasn't without incident. Nicolas is still having episodes of vomiting, etc., going on a week and a half of fighting off the flu virus. Thankfully he has become familiar with the idea of "getting it in the bag", as we have shown him how to throw-up into a Ziploc bag while driving in the car. And a tired and stressed out daddy doesn't particularly mix well with rowdy, whiny kids, so the first night of our trip involved a bit of drama.
All in all, though, the photographs and memories we came home with made it worth the effort, and I'm sure the tradition will continue for as long as we're able to make it work.

Make a wish!

"It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't." ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

That's so true, but we love them so much, it's all worth it in the end.

Tomorrow at 5:10pm, our Sam will officially turn 7 years old. When you're the child, a birthday means a few presents, cake, and being made to feel like the most special person in the world on your special day. As a parent, we feel it's our responsibility to provide those things to our children. After all, they are each a present to us from our Heavenly Father, and to whom else is the celebration of the day of their birth more important? We are so lucky, so blessed, to have such a sweet little boy in our family. Sammy is such a kindhearted, tender, affectionate and compassionate young man. His smile is so genuine, it lights up our lives, and his tears so heartfelt, we can't help but cry with him when he hurts. I'm so grateful for every birthday we get to celebrate with our sweet little Sam!