Halloween '08

Many of you know that Shea loves Star Wars. He watches it (the originals) as often as we'll let him, owns 5 light sabers, a dozen figurines and IS Luke Skywalker at least 4 days a week. So try as we might, we were extremely unsuccessful at steering him away from this....

Chris and I were both a bit embarrassed but Shea was pretty much in Heaven. The things we do for our kids. :-) Plus, there was Clare - how could we resist a Leia this cute??

Happy Halloween

Way too many pics of us in our costumes will be posted later. :-)
But for now...
Happy Halloween!!!

FHE this week was making our first ever Haunted Gingerbread Mansion - we sure had fun.

Recent Shea tidbits

The other day while having lunch (and I hadn't been bossing him around or anything! Promise :-) Shea looks at me and says, "Mommy, why are you always in charge? When is it my turn to be in charge?" (Chris' response to him later that night was "Never son, never. You should get used to it now.) ha ha ha.

Last week when I asked him to do something, I can't remember what, he stopped what he was doing and said, "Roger Dodger!" And ran to do it. Awesome Shea!! Where do I sign up for that reaction every time I ask you to do something?! And where on earth did Roger Dodger come from?

He has had a little cold (and a lot of snot) this week. When Chris got home from school Friday he asked him how he was feeling. Shea said he was feeling sick. Chris asked him if his tummy hurt or his head. Shea said, "No, my heart just stopped beating." I don't know where he heard that, but I'm obviously grateful it wasn't true!

Couponing Closet

I know I've posted about my couponing before. I had to do this post though -
I had to get a new shelf and totally re-do my closet (again) because I had so much food from great couponing deals!! I was storing all this stuff all over the floor of the closet, under the crib, even in our bedroom. It was a disaster!!

BEFORE:


Shea helping Daddy build my new shelf:


AFTER:

I LOVE the fact that everything in here was purchased for pennies on the dollar (pennies!) and that I have such yummy stuff to supplement the boring (but necessary)food storage: wheat, potato pearls, rice etc. I also love that when extra people come for dinner at the last minute or I need to take something to a pot luck, I can just go to my "pantry" and grab whatever I need. I have a whole mini store in here. I also love that we never run out of soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shampoo etc. Whenever we need anything like this? Just go to the "pantry." It makes me feel so prepared and well, just happy!!
Now, I'm certainly not saying bring it on or anything but... :-)

Playing with the famous

Today I had to go up to Beverly Hills (where I'm a part time personal assistant for a woman who lives in North Beverly Estates - the most ridiculous of the ridiculous gated communities in Beverly Hills.) So I also had to pick up Chris on campus and I knew I'd only be an hour or so in BH so we just all went up there and I dropped Chris and the kids off at the little park inside the community to play while I worked.
So I did my stuff and then went to get them. I parked the car and walked to meet them. Chris is giving me the eye and says (in French) do you see who that is? Do you see who that is? I look behind him and lo and behold, none other than....

Britney! (and the kids, the nanny, the girl holding the umbrella over her, and the bodyguard.)
Apparently Shea played with "Preston" and "JJ" for almost an hour today. And (to my shame) was also apparently not too nice. He kept saying, "Get out of my way little boy." and "It's not your turn little boy." And other bossy tidbits. But at one point he did make Britney laugh, when he was pretending the sand (ugh!) was water and was "swimming" through it. And Clare made everyone smile because she's just so cute.
So WOW!!! This is way better than just walking past a famous person at Century City or being in the same Apple store. My husband hangs out with Brit and our kids play together. Can any of you say that??? :-)

(Chris' comment? (we all know he has one) - In his ratty polo, and Gap chinos, hand hemmed by his wife , he still wasn't the white trashiest person at the park today!!!!) :-)

Oh, and as we left, parked outside the gates were some paparazzi trying to get shots of them through the trees - so look for us on TMZ! :-)

It's what I do.

A few weeks ago Chris and I were standing here talking when suddenly he goes, "Shea! Did you just wipe a booger in your hair?!" Shea looks at him and totally seriously says, "Yeah Dad, it's what I do."

I promise he did not learn it from me! :-) We firmly, firmly told him that boogers get removed from noses with kleenex (not fingers) and deposited in trashcans (not hair). I, naively, I guess thought that was that.

Then this gigantic (and disgusting, sorry) specimen was discovered yesterday.
Are we out of kleenex here? I don't think so!

Engagement Pics

Chris and Jenna Flood are proud to announce the engagement of their son Shea to Elisa...




Are these not adorable?!! They did this on their own! We turned around and they're just hugging. A few months ago when I went to pick up Shea from preschool the teacher told me that he wouldn't hold the rope on the way back from the playground because he wanted to hold Elisa's hand instead. It progressed quickly from there. :-) At the field trip a couple weeks ago, they just started hugging and we got these pics.

A few days ago there was some girl w/ purple hair on Handy Manny, I wasn't watching but saw her out of the corner of my eye, so I asked who she was:

S - That's Handy Manny's girlfriend
M - Oh yeah? What's a girlfriend?
S - Just a friend mom.
M - What do you do with a girlfriend?
S - You play outside and inside!
M - Do you have a girlfriend?
S - Well yeah Mom! Elisa!!
And we got the report from Rachelle today at church that Elisa has announced that she's either going to marry Gordon or Shea. So I guess it's not in the bag... yet... :-)

8 Months

Oh sweet, gorgeous little Clarabelle. How we ADORE you!!! These past 8 months with you in our family have been the happiest of our lives.

At 8 months, Clare LOVES food. She's a true Flood. The more the better and don't even think about eating real food around her without offering to share. She will dive for it. And man, can she dive far when food's involved!
At 8 months, Clare has 2 tiny, sweet, little teeth! She was miserable for a week, but now she can eat even more food, so she's a fan. (Look closely, there they are on the bottom.)


At 8 months, Clare can crawl! She's not tearing around the rooms in the house just yet, but she can definitely get from one place to another (especially if there's food or mommy's beads involved.)


At 8 months, Clare ADORES her big brother. She absolutely lights up when he talks to or plays with her. My happiest moments as a mom are watching them together. They love each other so much. Families are the most amazing thing EVER!


Also at 8 months, Clare has enough hair to wear two teeny tiny hair clips. I LOVE it!

P.S. The above photo is Clare being sweet (and Shea being goofy) for the camera. The below photo is the real Clare. Totally goofy and funny and of course, with the tongue hanging out. I LOVE this pic!!!
We love you gorgeous baby girl!!

Preschool Field Trip

We were so happy to go to Underwood Family Farms again this year. We went as a preschool this time and had a blast. Pumpkins, tractors, hay, animals, food = kid paradise. Clare slept most the time, so we just got a few pics of her. (And yes, her tongue is hanging out almost ALL the time!)

Finally!

Why, oh why did I wait 7+ months to do this??? (well, ok, money is why but still...) It is AWESOME!! Shea adores, and I mean adores his very own seat. (His seat is really the back one, it fits him better, but he wanted to try out Clare's in these pics.) His seat has a big sun shade that he pulls all the way down and totally hides in. He loves it. And Clare's just happy to be outside. I'm a little disappointed with the basket. It is really big, but it's so far under there that I can't get things in and out easily. I could never carry 2 gallons of milk and 4 2-liters of soda in this one. But other than that we are happy happy happy. And in a few months when Shea's too big - it turns into a sit and stand. Awesome! Anyone wanna go for a walk??? :-)

Clare is still working on the whole crawling thing...

It generally looks more like she's getting into position to start a race.

Tagged

I've been tagged many times and never done one before. (Sorry those of you who've tagged me in the past.) Tonight my darling cousin Jodi (who is an AWESOME photographer - check her site out, she's doing a giveaway (esp. Utahns) tagged me and I'm too tired to care about grading student submissions and this sounds like much more fun.

So three of my wierdest things:
1. I love, love, love to peel skin. I know-foul, but I can't help it and I'm super handy to have around in the summer.
2. I like to spell words out loud. I do it mostly when I don't want Shea to understand what I'm saying, but sometimes I do it just for emphasis. Unfortunately, I have the bad habit of misspelling those words or inverting the letters, resulting in a lot of "Holy C.A.R.P."
3. I can't brush my teeth with my eyes open.

Chris' weirdness:
1. He enters the Publisher's Clearing House online EVERY single day. (I think he's crazy, but am secretly hoping that someday it'll pay off.)
2. He will only eat sandwiches that are cut on the diagonal. I know he's serious about this because I've tested it. He will ONLY eat them like this.
3. He is morally opposed to vegetarian dishes. He doesn't get meat-less food. But I did sneak some delicious, delicious cheese enchiladas past him this week - that he loved!

A word of caution

Moms,
Be careful not to mix up the words "shoe" and "foot" when trying to help your 3 year old get his shoes on. The resulting "shit" and "foe" will be repeated for you all day long. Oops. :-)

Sound asleep

and...


Seriously son! Was your finger cold? Was your nose lonely?
How on earth did you fall (and stay) asleep like this?
He thought it was pretty hilarious when I showed him the pics when he woke up.
And well, ok, so did I. Look at that!