Halloween!

Look at me staying on top of things. It's only Novemer 4th and I'm already posting Halloween photos. Usually these wouldn't be up until Christmas! Our Halloween festivities started with a Halloween Party at our House, followed by a church party, continued with Halloween itself and ending with a Post Halloween Party at Teri and Todds. Wow, no wonder I've gained a few pounds this month!

Our Halloween Party at home: Jamie and I dressed up as Octomom and a Sperm Donor. Those eight babies were too much for me. Can't imagine them in real life.

Berglunds getting very cozy with our balloon popping game.

After a while it was rough coming up with ways to pop those tiny balloons. Note to self: next year, get bigger balloons!

Way to go Rudds!

Random photo, but had to share. Jamie and I have been into Top Chef lately and so one night (the boys were gone at a b-day party for 3 hours), we put Izzy down and grilled up some yummy steak with salmon, asparagus and a bernaise sauce. Delisioso! I had to take a pic. We had such a great time together....love those random dates that end up being so fun.

My little witch. She was in character the whole week.


Nico was a skeleton pirate from Pirates of the Caribean. Christian was Frankenstein and Izzy, she was herself, I mean a witch.

Scary Pirate!

She looks more like a wizard. If only she could cast a spell and not be so grouchy!

In the morning, random pic, random day.

At the Ogden's for the after Halloween party.

Just had to put this one in here. Look how excited Izzy is!

I was so proud of myself for making Isabella's costume. That skirt took no skill, yet I was so proud of my effort. I even made the wizrard like purple robe and decorated the hat. Then we get to Teri and Todds. Let's just say I shouldn't claim any talent or effort on this posting because Teri went all out and made Max's costume (he was Max from Where the Wild Things Are movie). I had to show the picture above, because you can see more detail. She had the gloves, dirt, the whole ensamble. She didn't stop there, she also made (with the help of Cassidy), Cassidy's costume. A fairy princess. The detail on the costume was fantastic and it fit Cassidy perfectly. Oh, did I mention that Christian and Nico are wearing costumes that Teri made in previous years for her kids? Yeah, I have no glory in this posting, just bragging rights - I'm related to amazing talent. If only that relation was through blood, then I could say there is hope, it might be in the genes...nope....just bragging rights.

Snow Days!

Two days off from school due to snow storm. It's not even Halloween yet and we have SO much snow. The boys went out every day to play in it. One day they went out three times. They would come in super wet and ready for Hot Chocolate. This is the reason I love Colorado. The seasons are so much fun. We had the fireplace going and treats and hot chocolate non stop. I may have gained a few pounds, but totally worth it! Check out these photos:

The side of our house got huge snow drifts. They were pretty much as tall as the boys.

Snow days wouldn't be as fun without the sledding. We need to find some steeper hills for the next storm or for tomorrow even. We still don't know if tomorrow is a snow day or not.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

We used to call Christian Big Boy when he was little. It's been a while, but I remember it used to be his only name for a time. He would carry around this navy blue blanket with white stars on it. I can't believe my big boy is eight. I'm so proud of him. Who would have thought this kid who used to talk in a Darf Vader voice would turn out to be so kind and loving. Christian has a big heart. It kills him when ever he does something wrong. He's smart and great at the piano. He can take Izzy out of the crib for me and does so all the time. He's good about getting his homework done after school and loves playing video games. His favorite color is blue, changed from orange. His favorite food is Chicken Pot Pie and Chicken Bakes from Costco. He loves to ride his bike and read the Diary of a Whimpy Kid series. He also finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows with his Dad and decided to read it on his own in school. I love christian and I'm so proud of him for getting baptized and realizing what an important step he's about to take.





So his birthday started out with a big birthday breakfast. We made oreo pancakes (chocolate and vanilla pancakes) with bacon and hash browns. He LOVES bacon. I think at one time he may have said he would marry bacon?! Since it was during fall break, we had his party at Chuck E Cheese's that afternoon with his friends. I love parties away from home. So easy to clean up! Birthday week continued with a birthday dinner at home on Sunday with family. I made him the Fun Fort cake from the kid's cook book he and Nico are totally into these days. He was so excited about the cake-love it when I get reactions for things I do (how selfish of me). And, birthday continued on to the Monday after when I sent in Jamie with a super fro wig to hand out treats to his class. Christian did say he was emberrased at first, but then he thought it was way cool. Thanks Sandee for your great birthday ideas-so much fun! And thanks to Jaymie Thorpe for the Wig-great costume! So, it was a great week for Christian. He is now anxiously anticipating his baptism in November. What a great kid!

Fun Fort Cake. Not bad for my first time using icing tips and such. Kinda liked making it.

Chuck E Cheeses. Spend 3 hours there. I believe that gives me amunity for at least a year!


Daddy Fro, Ms Hanni and Christian. Look how happy that boy looks!

I love the tiger on the back of his shirt. He found it at the Goodwill for $5 bucks. Love thrift stores for that reason.

Fall Break and Swine Flu?

So Fall break started on a Thursday. The kids got home from school, just in time to have Nico come down with a fever. But I should back up to Monday night of that week where we went to a function where my kids where exposed to the flu. By tuesday I knew Izzy wasn't feeling well, so the next day I took her in to the Doctor. She wasn't feverish or throwing up, but she was just laying around like you see below. If any of you have a one year old, you know that's not normal. By the time I took her in on Wednesday, she had developed a fever of 101 (not too bad), but got progressively worse by the end of Wednesday. She ended the week with not eating, throwing up, fever and laying around all the time and wanting to be held (is that so bad?). By Thursday night Nico had it and held on to it. By Sunday night Christian had it. It took us a whole week to get better. Good thing fall break is two weeks. So by the second week we started to feel better and so I promised them to cook some of the food from their kids cookbook Nico had purchased at the book fair. (He loves it when I call him My Little Chef. This came from Hallie, Summer and Jaxon who called him this once he made his favorite soup for them-top roman). So, we started with these cookie caterpillars-totally gross. I wouldn't even eat it. They were fun to make though. Then moved on to Pizza pinwheels-big hit! We also did Octopus something, the pic is below. That is pretty much what kept us entertained for two weeks since we were all sick and by the second week Christian had developed a secondary infection in his ear, so we tried the pool after he was better, but not a good idea when you're recoverying from an ear infection. Great break!

So, we had one doctor just say that Izzy had the flu, while the ER doctor said she had the Swine flu. Funny thing is that if you test possitive for Influenza A, doctors where automatically saying it was the H1N1 virus. She didn't even get the test for Influenza because the doctor said she had all the symptoms of the flu and had already been screaming the entire time. Poor doctor probably didn't want to hear any more after swabbing her to check for influenza A. It turns out that only a handful of labs in the US test for the H1N1 and it costs about $300 for the test. So, most doctors are not testing for it. The influenza A can be tested in the doctors office very easily. It only takes a few minutes. So, I would like to think we received a free vaccination of the H1N1 that week since Jamie and I also got sick-no fevers for us though. We may get the flu again this year (hope we don't), but I must say the media sure is hyped up about this. We did give Izzy Tamiflu right away, and she was still pretty sick. Out of the five of us, she got it the worst. Phew! That was long winded.

don't they look cute in the photo? My boys where bummed because their cookies didn't look as good as the picture. It really was much tougher than it looked!

Family Pictures

We did some fun family photos at the Ogden home in September. Wish we all looked good for the camera, but one can only dream of such a day with 3 kids. No need to explain, just enjoy:

This is a classic Nico look. If I posted any other photo it would not do him justice.

If I could let my boys pick which picture to put in their room, Nico would totally pick this one. He loves to grab Christian's face for photos. What a strange kid.

Labor Day Weekend - Utah

For the Labor Day weekend we headed to Utah. We always have so much fun when we go. Alan and Elisa are always making sure we do fun stuff. I personally would be more than happy to sit around and hang out, but it sure is nice to have so much fun. The boys took the bigger kids to ride dirt bikes while the girls shopped with the babies. It was heavenly!

Uncle Dewayne! What a champ. He didn't have any of his kids there, but was such a trooper hanging out with the kiddos. Love that guy!

Jaxon, Nico, Christian and Hallie. These four love each other so very much. I love to see them together hanging out. They had so much fun that day!

Top Chef

So fall TV season has arrived and I haven't even been all that excited except for one random show Jamie and I stumbled upon a couple of weeks ago on demnad. Top Chef. I can't help it. I LOVE food. I love the way it tastes, the way it looks, how it makes me feel nostalgic for different events in my life. The smell of chocolate chip cookies is a Townsend family memory I have. The smell of empanadas or milanesas in the oven reminds me of being little and so excited for dinner because we were FINALLY eating something I liked to eat. Any barbeque, specially charcoal, reminds me of the asados my family put on when I was little. I associate asados with two things, summer and Christmas. Those two don't go together in this climate, but in Argie, it's summer when Santa Comes and leaves candy in your newly polished worn out shoes.

So, Top Chef has got me excited to cook again. I was talking with my mother-in-law last night and she was telling me about how much she loves aprons. I don't think I've ever worn an Apron, at least not in the last 10 years (at least not to cook. Jamie makes me wear it when I cut his hair). Anyway, she said she remembered years ago, wearing an Apron when a boy from church came to pick up fast offerings and that boy went home to tell his mom, "mom, Sister Townsend must be a good cook because she was wearing and Apron and her house smelled like fresh bread!" I love that. At least I know I can fool everyone out there with an Apron and Scenty wax.

Jamie and I have had the same one and only Apron for the last 8 years. I think I washed it once-maybe. I picked it up for his last hair cut and realized the Apron was very stiff. It no longer bends and is very rock solid...is that dangerous? So I'm going to look for an Apron and start wearing it more often. I think it will help me get even more excited about cooking. After watching Top Chef, I may want the whole ensamble! That show is amazing. How can people whip up such amazing food in such little time? My favorite are the quick fires where they have 45 minutes to put something together with a mystery ingredient-last time it was Cactus. WOW, I want to eat cactus so badly now. The presentations just look spectacular. You can almost smell the dishes with their fancy names and unbelievable presentations! So, if anyone has a fancy recipe to share, I would love it! Jamie and I have set a goal for our law firm and once we hit it, we are not going out to eat, but rather we will stay home and make something together. I'm thinking it will include one of those $30 lobster tails from Costco or something with a saffron sauce, which I don't even know what it is, but doesn't it sound delicious?

Sunday

Jamie got a new calling-Ward Clerk. Can't believe how much time it takes. Want to complain. But gotta be greatful for the calling. Need to figure out how to stop time. Jamie will be gone all day today.

Missing Jamie

Yes, we are getting older and time seems to fly by these days, but I had to post some pics of my husband/attorney at his ripe old age of 33. I just hope he doesn't run into clients while he participates in these activities, but than again-will it really matter? Since we've been so busy lately, I've been missing him. Last week I saw him once a day for 5 min and that was it....I had to schedule a date through his "secretary" for next week. I'm beginning to miss him, so here are some great pics for my memory book and I'm sure he'll appreciate them since he hasn't seen them yet :)

He did hurt his back a few weeks ago, so he's been on pain killers and mega IBU, but we're hoping he's on the up and up. Thanks Todd for the pics, I robbed them from your flickr site-should I pay you for your artistic talent?

p.s. jame, your XBOX came today!

My Precious Time...

I just spent an hour reading everyone's blogs and having a great old time. I have realized a few things about myself in this hour. I no longer watch any television. I spend what little time I have working online or reading blogs (Facebook has also been time consuming). I look at all these beautiful blogs and clever comments and realize, I will never be either. Now that my kids are back in school, I tend to have more "free" time, but haven't quite decided what to do with it and I'm terrified of getting sucked in by Television. So, I have now been sucked in by the wonders of the internet. I have realized that I've been shopping more and I've spent some time on You Tube learning how to lay hardwood floors. So, I think I'm just going through withdrawls now that my kids are gone from 8:15 am to 4:14 pm. I keep wanting to go to the pool, but is it cool to do that without your kids? I have Isabella, but she may just sleep through the outing and then it's just me at the pool. I've also realized that I don't know how to play with my baby. Maybe I should join a playgroup so other kids can play with her. She's got to learn to walk...it's driving me nutts that she can't do that yet.

Alright, I'm out. I really should turn this off.

Here we go...

Now that Izzy is crawling, I'm finding things like this more often. I forgot how much trouble a mobile baby can get into.

Not sure why she's crying. She was so happy making the mess. I had come down to see what she was up to because she was so quiet. The moment she heard me say "Isabella", she got all crazy sad.

Of course toilet paper is only good to play with if it can be eaten.

Okay, now she's fake crying. Can you see it? Cause I totally can. How in the world. She's only 1 and already knows how to work her charm. Oh don't worry, I laughed, took pictures and snuggled her and put her to bed. I showed her who's boss!