Nothing, really

I just thought I'd post some random pictures that made me smile. There's really no point to this post, just some happiness for me.

Ashley has taken to "stealing" my camera and going around the house trying to take pictures that make her laugh. Here I am feeding Bethany.

Up close and personal:

This is such a typical scene in my house. My kids constantly use my laundry baskets as "vehicles" to pull each other around. I thought that gorgeous ribbon from Costco would go on presents; I never envisioned it's "double" duty as "reins."

John likes to feed Bethany cheerios, however she's still fine-tuning those small-motor skills, and most end up dropping into her high-chair seat. After she's done eating, she stands up and babbles. John picked her up, and I had to laugh at her feet!

(Uh, and notice the "jet" jammies. That's what we call a lapse in the laundry chain...)

Here's a shot of Timothy...another laundry lapse?

One afternoon we were tending the Dustins, a rare treat. Of course we got snow that morning, so the obvious option? Build a snowman!

Bethany and cousin Daniel, just about 6 weeks apart in age:

At night, Abby wanted to put on jammies, so she borrowed some from Natalie. They thought it would be cute to mix the tops and bottoms so they matched:

I love how my children play with each other. They seem not to notice their age differences and involve each other, and accommodate even the younger children so everyone can play. This is my own version of "Charlie's Angels."

The End.

So, I've come to the sad realization that no matter how cute my font is, you can't see it on YOUR computer unless you have the same font. Well, "Arial" it is. Oh well. I guess I'll have to be extra cute in my post, not my font ;)

Hey, I've discovered how to change the font of my posts, but wonder if this one is too hard to read. Please comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Artists

Well, not to be outdone by Dad's watercolor, Timothy did a little "painting" of his own last night. But his had NOTHING to do with "water;" it was ALL about color. HOT PINK color.


Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the mess before John cleaned it up, but for anyone who needs to know, nail polish remover does NOT work in cleaning the carpet. Thanks to cousin Ava, we knew that OxyClean worked for her mommy. I'm glad John can smile through this...


And, oh, I'll be wearing CLEAR nail polish from now on.

Honorable Mention

The other night, John was bored, so he sat down to paint something. He loves to watercolor, but hasn't done it for YEARS. A couple of hours later, he showed me his "ruined" picture. Truthfully, he would KILL me if he knew I was putting this on the blog, because he felt he made so many mistakes with this one, smudged it before it was dry, couldn't get certain parts "right", etc., and is currently working on the same picture...again. But I thought his "first draft" was worth mentioning. (I couldn't fit the whole thing on my scanner, but you'll get the idea):

Of course I'll scan the finished product when he's finished...but it's so fun to be married to someone so amazingly talented!!!

Remarkable

Sometimes, my kids are remarkable. This morning, Ashley awoke me with the following list of what she had accomplished...all before 7:30 when I usually get up.
*made her bed
*cleaned her room
*showered
*got dressed
*woke Matthew and gave him a bath
*helped Matthew get dressed
*made lunches (all 4!)
*did her own hair
*got breakfast for herself and Matthew
*brushed teeth
And in return? She asked for 7 marbles to put in her jar. I am LOVING this system.

Freaky Friday

Well, like everyone ELSE in the blogosphere, I'm posting about Halloween. Ashley wanted her hair in ringlets for a very fun turn of events for her! In the past she dressed as a policeman, a cowboy, an indian. This year, she actually wanted to be something feminine. Yes! So we stayed up late putting curlers in her hair. I'd say the effort was worth the outcome! She LOVED her hair!!!

Before:


The finished product:



The older kids took their costumes in a bag to change into later, but Natalie and Matthew actually wore their costumes to school. Here are the Asian Princess and the Policeman:


I LOVE the school carnival. Our children's school has a dress code for costumes (basically, tasteful and classic) and the carnival is just so wholesome! Nothing "commercial" or "pop culture" or "skanky" or immodest or too gruesome. These sweet little children were so cute to see! They parade them in front of the other classes, then bring them on stage for their own little fashion show so we see every costume together. Here's Matthew on stage:



Here's Andrew (a BYU football player, of course)


And Ashley (Juliet) with her friend, Amy


The best part is, the older kids (7th and 8th graders) put on the entire carnival for the rest of the school. They make their own "booths" for the kids to play and earn tickets to spend at a prize booth. It's just so fun!

For Trick-or-treating that night, I WAS going to dress in my wedding dress, and even got my mom to take OUT the necessary inches around my middle ;) However, with pending rain, I didn't feel quite comfortable wearing it, so I bah-humbugged this year (for the first time in MANY years) and didn't dress up at all.

But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great Halloween!

We dropped in at Tim and Tiffany's "trunk or treat" and soup pot-luck. First we posed for pictures at their house.

Bess a bunny-boo


Ready to get some free stuff!


My girls:


Bethany and Kate --their FIRST Halloween (yummy!)


Then we headed off to the church parking lot. A great start for the evening. I LOVED how Tiffany decorated her car at (literally) the last minute! So creative, Tiff!


After we all met at Loveridge's house. Jenn and Michael win HANDS DOWN for the most creative costume:


In case you can't tell, Jennifer is lightning, and Michael is a golfer, who has very obviously been "struck"!!! You guys are GREAT!

We all (Johnsons, Dustins, Bytheways with our 14 kids together) trick-or-treated around our old neighborhood. I love seeing all of our old friends and neighbors from growing up. The weather was AMAZINGLY great, so we dragged the kids around until just around nine. I WAS having a good time until we stopped in front of one house, and standing on the grass behind me, my little Timothy proceeded to "yawn in technicolor" (that's throw-up for those of you who don't know) on the grass, walk, and the back of my pantleg. Oh well. We weren't about to let a little barf keep us from free candy! He dry-heaved a few more times before we finished our route, and thankfully held it all in...until we got to Grandma Loveridge's house, and he saved it all for her couch and entry way. Sorry Mom!

Then, it was Settlers of Catan until 3 a.m. while the kids traded, sorted, and binged.

Here are the pictures of the loot, a day later, and I'd guess HALF of the bounty after the consumption factor of the night before (calculation based on the number of candy wrappers all over Grandma's living room!)





Mom and Dad had a party the NEXT night, so they dropped in to show me their costumes. Dad bragged that he did his make-up himself. NO kidding!



All in all, it was a wonderful Halloween. Timothy slept peacefully through the night (after a few trips to the toilet) but as I write, Natalie's got the bug. I don't think they're buying the "you ate too much candy" line, but a mom will try anything!

Happy Halloween to everyone!!!