Halloween

We had a happy halloween this year. It was fun to have both girls old enough to enjoy the activities. Their costu

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s were more my choice, since they aren't old enough to really insist on being anything. And maybe also because I picked their favorite things - Tinkerbell and Rosetta from the new Tinkerbell movie. Initially I thought L would want to be Tinkerbell, since she's the main character, but when I said I'd make a pink dress for S to be Rosetta, she put on a mopey frown and asked if S could be tinkerbell so L could wear the pink dress. What a doll! I found the costume fabric on sale for only $1.99 a yard, and I got the wings on sale, too!

We did the pumpkins and let the girls draw the faces on them. Then I cut them out, making my own adjustments. L drew a cat, and C took over when I was done to give it whiskers. I'm so glad he did - it wouldn't have been half as cute without them. S wanted a puppy, but I'm afraid I butchered that one. Poor S would look at L's and say, "A Cat!" then stare at hers for a while before saying, "A bear!"

We went to our old ward's party, and the girls had a ball. They got to march in the costume parade (S clinging to Mama's hand, L standing proudly at the edge of the stage calling, "Dada, can you see me?") Then we did trunk or treating. It only took about four cars before S caught on to what was happening, and they really enjoied it.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Oh, and by the way ...

B and M, when are you coming to Idaho again? You know none of this will get hung until you do ... :-)

Moved in!

In response to popular demand, here are some pics of our new house, now that we've moved in.

One of the best things about our new house is our neighbor. Say hello to a large field and the horse! This is a pic out our front window, and the pasture extends down the side of our house. With the fence where it is, the horse can come almost right up to our kitchen window. (7.5 ft away from our house)


Inside, I'll start with my personal favorite room, the kitchen.

Did you notice my double oven? I know, one is very small, but it's just large enough to do rolls, garlic bread, casseroles, cookies .... or for roasting pumpkin seeds! (I tried that for the first time yesterday, and C called them addicting!)

I love that the girls' table fits in the kitchen, too. It makes snacks and lunch so easy!

Thanks to my dad, I have this wonderful hardware on my cabinets. They look absolutely amazing! Thank you, Dad!

I haven't gotten around to hanging pics yet, so the walls look pretty sad, but I'm liking the set-up of my front room.

The spare room is also awesome. I put my keyboard in there (although I haven't had time to practice lately) and our famous red chairs, and it makes a cozy little play place where the girls can spin and spin to their hearts' content on the red chairs.

The girls' room didn't turn out quite like I'd had planned. The beds didn't fit where I wanted them. I do love their closet, though. It's large enough to hold all their toys, so I can put them all in there and shut the door, and they're gone. They won't be in the way in the guest room anymore.



I've spent two nights this week cleaning the old place, and to be honest, it just makes me heartsick. Even when I'm so glad to have a house of our own, there are so many memories left behind every time you move. That was the house S learned to walk in. L got potty trained. I wrote my first novel there in that corner, I baked my first cheesecake in that oven. This was our first garage and backyard. I planted strawberries in my front garden. This was the first time that I had friends with kids the same ages as mine, and we walked to each others' houses and watched each others' kids and played together like we did when we were little, except now we're big, and our own kids are playing, too. This is where my girls discovered spiders (they love to stomp on them) and sidewalk chalk.

I finally finished and left in a hurry, reminding myself we have a whole lifetime of memories still to live in the new house. And I'm excited!

Our New House!

I think I've mentioned before I have trouble setting up the pictures the way I like. This is a perfect example - I thought I'd figured out what order I have to enter them when uploading to make them come out how they like. Then I actually did it, and they aren't even in the same order I did it. Oh well. Here are pics of our new house!

Welcome Winter!

We went to the Twin Falls Temple the other day for Family Home Evening. We forgot it's closed on Monday, so this was about as close as we could get with all the gates locked. The girls had fun anyway. We watched a little rabbit hop around the bushes and wiggle its nose at us.

It was also cold. We went from ninety degrees to freezing in about a week, so we all think we're freezing to death. When we went to leave for the temple, I dressed the girls up in coats and then tried to leave with just a t-shirt on. C asked, "Are you sure you don't want a coat?" I was sure glad I had it!

We also got our first snowstorm of the year. It was coming down in huge flakes, and we had three inches before breakfast. It was still relatively warm for snow, and melting fast, so we let the girls go out and build a snowman with their daddy really quick before it melted. Their daddy is an expert snowman builder, and I'm always impressed. Somehow I've never had the skills to make one like he does.

Lucky for the girls, I'd just got them new snowboots. Last year they went out in tennis shoes, which we then had to let dry before I'd let them go out again. I love their new boots!

FNH and a Good Decision

I got a flier in the mail the other day from the store I bought my FN P9 at, Red's Trading Post, here in Twin. FNH USA was sending some sales reps to the store for a special FN sale. There was a drawing to enter - for an FN P90 - and prize give-aways. My first thought was the FN hat I really wanted when I bought my pistol (that they didn't have, they gave me a hat with the store's name on it instead). Wouldn't it be nice if I could walk in and win that cool hat?

So, I handed the flier to C when he came home. He studied it for a moment, then suggested he take off work that morning so we could go. I was a little surprised, but still optimistic about my hat, I agreed. Turns out, with a few errands to run this morning anyway, it was nice that he had already arranged to take the morning off.

So we walked into the store, which was bustling for 9:30am on a weekday, and nearly every spare salesman there turns to watch us walk up to the counter. One man in particular stood out. He was wearing an FN polo and standing there like a king on his pedastle. He reached over to shake my hand and asked if I was familiar with FN. I smiled and told him I actually own a FN P9, and I've been very pleased with it. He asked how long I'd had it. Since April. Where did I buy it? Here. "Get this girl a hat and a shirt!" He reached to the shelves behind the counter and slapped a hat on the display case. "Here you go!" (The shirt never did materialize, but I got my hat without even trying!)

I turned back to C then and said, "Actually, we're looking for a 1911 for him." The FN guy, unshaken, insisted we look at the FN .45 before we check out the 1911s. Fine by us. C wasn't as impressed with it as he was with one of the 1911s they put in his hands (the regular Red's Trading Post people started slipping him 1911s to look at, casting wary looks at the FN rep, who eventually retreated).

When I finally got to handle the FN .45, I discovered the grip was quite large for my hand. My fingers are actually quite long, my hands almost as large as C's, so it was odd for me not to be able to get my grip around something. That's when one of the guys asked my permission to correct my grip. Now, I'm new at all this shooting stuff, so I agreed. What have I got to lose? He went on to show me how he thinks I ought to hold the gun. I watched what he showed me, then tried to explain the trouble I'd had with my gun double loading if I held it similar to the hold he was showing me. He said he understood, but he's taught women to shoot before, and if I hold my gun just so ... I won't have any problem. I'm anxious now to get out and shoot again and see if it actually works.

We went on to our next errand, C wondering aloud about getting the FN .45. Like any big purchase, we have an agreement that we don't just walk in and buy something. We leave the store, talk about it, and come back later if we really want it. The price they'd quoted us at the store was nearly $200 off what we'd seen on the internet, so we knew it was a good deal. And they said they'd throw in a hat and shirt for him, too, which is a dumb thing really, but it makes me excited. But as the day went on, reason slowly took over again, and we came to the conclusion that, although it would be lots of fun, and in spite of the amazing price they were offering, we were better off not buying the gun. Especially because C said if he bought the FN .45 now, he'd still want a 1911 one day, and the 1911s were not on sale.

Poor C. At least I got my hat, right?

Why I shouldn't cut my daughters' hair ...

I tried again the other day to do something I ought not. Cut the girls hair. I realize there are lots of mothers who can pull out a pair of scissors, eyeball their child's head, and create a masterpiece. I'm not one of them. In fact, I've already determined that as soon as the girls will sit long and still enough to go to the hair salon, I won't be the one cutting their hair anymore. (Consder the first pic on this page the "before" photo.)



That being said, they aren't yet that old, and they wiggle and giggle, and make the whole process extremely frustrating. S had the smallest change - she also has the shortest hair. I know everyone insists I'm seeing things, but her hair looked scraggly to me. I just tried to even it out a bit around the nape of her neck and on her forehead. I guess I should have left her bangs alone ...




And Finally, poor L. I really only meant to give her a trim. Her hair has gotten so long lately, and I realized it had been nearly a year since I'd done anything to it. I really just wanted to trim it up - just about an inch or so. Then I made a mistake that, in hindsight, was absolutely ridiculous. I took her bangs first and trimmed an inch off them. I didn't realize her bangs, although long, were not as long as the rest of her hair. As I finished the side of her head, I realized an inch from her bangs was three inches from the back of her hair. So, she ended up with a little bob. Lucky for me, she loves it. She insists she likes it better since I cut it. She may look silly in this pic, but I think you can see her hair all right in it, and L's not one to smile nicely for the camera.