2 weekends in review

I love October. It is easily my favorite month and this month has been no exception. We've done some fun stuff so far this month and the end of the month will be action packed as well. In no particular order, here is some of what we've been up to...

Abby was chosen as student of the week this week. My buttons were bursting! Part of her official duties as student of the week is to create a poster with little tidbits about herself and it will hang in the kindergarten hallway for the rest of the year. For those of you curious what Abby put on her poster...She is 5 years old, her favorite color is all colors, favorite animal is bunny, favorite food is mac and cheese, her favorite place is disneyland, she wants to be a princess rock star when she grows up, her favorite thing to do is jump on the trampoline and if she could have a wish it would be to have treats everyday.

As part of my TEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY celebrations, my husband and I went hiking. We did a three mile trail where you can see the original springs that started Las Vegas along with the ruins of the care takers house. Brandon looked at that springs, put his hand over his heart and started singing Home Means Nevada as a single tear rolled down his flush cheeks. He was definitely communing with his people (who are CRAZY, because according to our hike, Las Vegas was a HOLE to live in and in my opinion, most of it hasn't improved much)

Brandon sure knows how to take a flattering picture of his wife, doesn't he? We're out to dinner for our TEN YEAR anniversary and he decided to document how I look when I'm eating. In case you're wondering, that is a Brussels sprout in my mouth, and yes, I do actually really like them.

Please excuse the dark picture. All we had was a cell phone camera. This is our hotel suite we stayed at for our TEN YEAR wedding anniversary (have I mentioned that I've been married for ten years?)

We've spent some time getting ready for Halloween and the various festivities we're attending/administrating. As you can also tell from the chair behind my little witch, I'm behind on my household duties. Tis the price of fun.

We had a great family fun night where we hit the crepe shack and rode the carousel at the District. This is Brandon's new obsession (the crepe, not riding his plaster horse, but he does love that too). Who would have known he'd get hooked on nutella as badly as I am? Being married for TEN YEARS will do that to a person. I can almost stomach jalapeno kettle chips now...almost...check back in another TEN YEARS and I'll let you know.

Our primary had a drive-in movie party. It was awesome! We made cars out of cardboard boxes to "drive" in. This is a picture of Abby and I in our creations. I gave myself a jack-o-lantern head because I wanted to be the headless car-woman in honor of the season, but it didn't come off as terrifying as I had hoped. Actually, my jack-o-lantern head looks stressed and uncomfortable. Which, given the fact I'm currently primary president, may have been an accurate depiction.

Oh! And it was below 80 for a few days. Abigail dressed herself against the inclement weather (brr...75!) but we're back in shorts and t-shirts again! Home Means Nevada to us! :)

A rolling stone gathers no moss...

We have been extraordinarily busy. And thankfully, the above picture is the only thing that's gone horribly array. We've had a few slightly askews, a couple slightly off marks, but this was the only truly array. Wednesday, Abby came home from school just starting to cough. This child has never even so much as thrown up. So I'm thinking that my normally completely healthy kid with a super human immune system has gotten a cold from some hygiene-poor kindergartener. An hour later, she has a 104 degree fever. A few hours after that, I can't break the fever and she's making sounds I've only heard from a sea lion. The next day she isn't any better so I make a doctor appointment for the late afternoon. I'm thinking it's the flu, I'll show up to the doctor's office, he'll look at me with impatient eyes and say "really lady? why are you here?" and send me home telling her to rest.

...I didn't get impatient eyes from the doctor...I got "I'm about to call Child Protective Services" eyes. Apparently in 24 hours my little pumpkin managed to get para-flu, croup, and bronchitis. They sent her to the ER for chest x-rays just to make sure it wasn't any worse than that. Thankfully, it is not. She just is on a lot of medicine and popsicles. We've been watching retro episodes of Jem (remember that girl from the 80s who had holographic generating earrings and a rock band? Am I that old? 31 this month?...shudder...) and fraggle rock. It's been fun for me at least!

On to happier things...we completed a successful primary program, I've had a few parties at my house (including a baby shower. I must really love Brityn), decorated for Halloween and had some great times with family and friends.

One those phone times was the cousin talent show. There is Brinley, Abigail and Peyton (peyton's on drums). They're belting out Tao Cruz "Dynamite." And they did a respectable job. I felt like I was dropping it low at the club.

Ladies, let me tell you...this man is a stud. I know you might not be able to tell from this picture, but if women knew what I had, there would be a line out my door a mile long. And not only because he can eat an abnormally large pancake that has bacon embedded in it, but because he is the most Mr. Darcy-ish man you can find in the 21st century. I got a phone call from my sister Donna on Friday while she was sitting at the pier on the oregon coast, feeding sea lions. And if I'm not mistaken, I do believe she was eating a tillamok ice cream cone while talking to me too (but she neither confirmed or denied). I was in agony! The northwest is my happy place!!! During this conversation I was sweating out a 100 degree afternoon in brown, dusty vegas. I texted Brandon regarding my deep depression and he came home, packed up his ladies, booked as a ridiculously nice hotel, and drove me to San Diego so that I could touch the waters of the Pacific. It was perfect! And Abby got to go to Sea World, which is great, because she now wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. A considerable improvement upon her previous choice of "pop star" in my opinion.

There's my studly mans best side as he's trying to mount this ladder in an attempt to win his daughter a prize...

And this is what became of his efforts. Better luck next time, B!

Oh! And Abby's writing has really taken off. I love that she tried to make her own penmanship paper with the lines and dashes on her white board. For those of you who haven't had a phonics class in a while, I'll read it for you: My favorite mom is Jamie. Mom, Dad, Abigail. I love it!!! I know I'm her ONLY mom, but at least I'm still her favorite.