Murder Mystery Dinner

I never really finished all the Halloween posts so there will still be a few....bear with me.

Jon and I were invited to a neighbor's for a murder mystery party and we had a lot of fun. Neither of us were the killer, and actually we both accused the wrong guests, but it was nice to get to know some new friends.

Jon was Count DeBodies, a film star who plays vampires and always dresses the part and I, as you may remember from the fake photo, was Jaqueline Hyde, a famous photographer and supernatural investigator. I always wear green or camo so in my preggo state, I opted for the camo. My father-in-law was kind enough to lend me his air force fatigues, complete with the boots, for the full effect.

Yes, I had to take a picture of the table. I appreciate these things...

Pre-game fun.

Warning...

I'm trying to get caught up on pictures and blogging tonight, so here's the warning for the barrage of posts to come....

More Halloween....

Jon's sister, Emily, invited the boys to her Halloween work party again this year and the boys wouldn't miss that one for anything. So much candy in so little time....the "best trick or treating ever" according to the boys. Jon took the day off and his mom came down and met us there too, so the boys got to see both Grandmas for Halloween. Thanks for the invite, Em, it was fun!

A pregnant witch, a vampire, and a "superhero."

Can we go trick or treating yet?

Me and my sis-in-law. Notice my eyelashes?
Emily and her silly nephews.
Harry added the sunflower to his costume...he still said he was a superhero. This was a "whatever" costume for me this year. He insisted on wearing this so who was I to curb the creativity?

Harry crashed on the way home, which was a really good thing, considering we still had the ward trunk or treat, stopping by to see the cousins, and Grandma's Halloween party. It was a long and awesome day.

School Parade and Party

We went to Luke's school for his Halloween parade and I stayed and helped with the party. He took his role as vampire very seriously and was very intense all day!

Harrison's costume was self-made and he was pretty somber the whole day. I think Halloween isn't his very favorite holiday.

Cute litte kindergarten kids... A vampire drinking his "frog's breath."

My Little Vampire

Lake Blud Monster

I have hundreds of pictures I need to go trough and get my Halloween posts up, but today I have focused on this...
We have a murder mystery dinner with some neighbors tonight and my character, Jaqueline Hyde, is a photogrpaher and supernatural investigator, famous for her rare picture of the Lake Blud Monster. I decided to really fit the character, I should bring a copy of my famous picture! This is not the kind of photoshopping I am good at, but it sure was fun making Jon into the "monster."

OK I'm going to download Halloween pictures now....

Insomniac

I've entered that dreaded phase of pregnancy when sleep is practically non-existent. Between not-the-best-sleepers for kids, the frequent trips to the loo, my already hyperactive mind at night, and the unwelcome house guest we've been dealing with this week, I'm not getting many z's.

Regarding that last little mention, I have been trying to decide how to post about our little problem. The gist of it is, we have a vole in our house - a.k.a. field mouse. We chased the little bugger around after I spotted him by the pantry Monday night - this is after I cleaned and sanitized the entire space - not to mention how much stuff I threw away. Aargh. We never caught the sucker, but we bought lots of traps and POISON.

Our little rodent and I assume, his family, have devoured de-con and managed to avoid several traps...until tonight at 3:00 a.m. I first checked the traps in the pantry - the lttle bugger moved the thing and I about lost it. Then, I decided to check under the sink. Sure enough, we have our first victim. It looked like a scene from CSI though. (Amy, you might want to stop reading.) We had a little wooden trap and a glue trap. The wood trap damaged the animal and sprayed blood all over the inside of the cabinet and apparently somehow missed the little vermin. He, injured and bloody, then crawled into the glue trap and died.

I'm so excited to clean that all up in the morning. Jon has assured me I'll have no part in that being preggo. Thanks babe and Happy Halloween everyone.

North Carolina Come on and Raise Up

Jon's little bro is headed to the North Carolina Charlotte mission December 31st! Everyone met at our house last night to watch Steve open the big call. It was fun and took me back 12 (holy cow am I that old?) years when I got mine. In fact, I entered the MTC exactly 12 years ago yesterday. Everyone is so excited and we can't wait for Steve to embark on this awesome experience. He's gonna be a super missionary!

Spooky Monsters

We made these fun little guys today. Nothing like letting the kids cut and glue felt. My kitchen table looks awesome and satisyingly crafty-messy. I was actually very surprised at the amount of focus from my boys. Usually my efforts for "crafternoons" are wasted on them. My mom did these a few weeks ago with the California cousins and gave us a little kit to try our hand at them. More to come for sure. We have only yet begun....

We Love Halloween

With an October birthday and a very creative mom, I've managed to acquire quite the collection of Halloween decor. I probably have more Halloween stuff than all the other holidays combined, and I love it. It's so fun making the house spooky and this will most likely not be the last post of this season. The boys and I still have many projects in the works, like cobwebs, felt monsters, ghosts, etc....we've only just begun. Enjoy the pictures, I had fun taking these...

Another Visit, Another Ride....

This weekend, we managed to continue the exotic car visits with Jon's folks' neighbor Alex. He is so gracious to let Jon come drool all over his cars and is now comfortable letting him take them for a spin.

If you know Jon at all, you know his passion for cars. you can ask him horsepower and torque for almost any vehicle on the road, and he'll tell you anything you want to know and more. Since the early 90's his favorite for some reason, has been the Dodge Viper. He was like a fat kid in a candy store when he found out that's what Alex brought home this weekend.

Luke even knew what car this was....he came running out of the house saying, "Mom, that's a Viper!" Daddy trained him early and he and Harry were both excited to sit in Dad's favorite car. (Thanks to Grandpa for having his camera - I actually left mine at home for a change.)

We went for a little ride, and although the more exotics like the Lambo, and the Ferrari have a unique and amazing sound, high-end power, and cost twice as much, the rudimentary American muscle was pretty dang fun.

Me.....sewing???

Here's my progress from this week with my baby quilt. It's very simple for my lack of sewing skills, but it's fun to be creating and "picking a spot and beautifying it," as President Uchdorf suggested to the women of the Church in September. I sewed all the squares into rows, now I need to sew the rows, and then get some serious help from mom for the rest. I am SO not a quilter! I even borrowed the machine for this little project!

And a HUGE thanks to my dear friend Martha who so generously donated the adorable bumper for the crib. This nursery WILL come together....somehow.

Not being so good at blogging lately....

Just a quick apology that I have been a bad blogger - mostly to myself to be quite honest, since I began this as a way to fulfill my goal of writing in my journal three times a week. I have lots of pictures and a few fun events I need to post about and I'm just not getting around to it.

I've been enjoying my "good month" pregnant, and have actually been getting some things done, fun things, like laundry, weeding the yard (some of it anyway), cleaning out the pantry. It all needs to get done and I am getting ready to attack the bigger projects like the nursery, making blankets for baby boy #3 and cleaning up the basement before my one good month is over.

Stay tuned for posts about the cornmaze, my birthday, and halloween at my house....I'll do better, I promise.

zoo with the Gibbons

Did you know the fastest monkey in the world is the Gibbon? Yeah, I didn't know that either, but my friend Amy shared that little factoid on the way to see the monkeys at the zoo yesterday.

We had a ball at the zoo and I love that my mom used me as the other adult for her grandparents pass so I get to go whenever I feel like taking the boys and my ever-growing, ginormous belly to the zoo! Thanks, Mom!

Amy and her cute boys Cole and Noah
The giraffes are always a highlight.
Me and my almost three boys...
Stopped for a little photoshoot in the Asian Highlands. I couldn't resist!