a little vandal goes a long way

Last Saturday morning was U of I's Homecoming Parade in beautiful downtown Moscow. We dressed up in our vandal garb and walked down. I wanted to get a picture of the kids, they looked so cute! However, getting all three of them to hold still long enough to snap their picture proved difficult.

"Carter get back here! Ryanna hold still! Dawson look at ME! Carter sit down! Smile a REAL smile! Get that finger out of your nose!"

And then I called for backup! Ryan swooped in and encouraged them to look at me!
Isn't this darling?! I love this one. Good thing too, because Ryan was saying through clenched teeth: "Honey, just take the picture!"



Because we live so close to downtown, we walked down to Main. We got distracted and had to play in the leaves.


When we got downtown, we were scoping the perfect place to watch the Parade. We ran into our friends, the Strattons and got to watch with them! (Don't you just love Emma's bag? She made it herself!)

Carter and Isabella, aren't they precious? Issy grabbed my hands to cover her ears whenever a loud marching band would go by. It was so sweet! She was my little buddy during the parade.

We also ran into our friends, the Golightly's, and got to watch with them too! It was so fun to hear everyone cheer for Addi, as she marched by with her flute! My stupid camera didn't turn on fast enough and I missed my shot to take her picture. Way to go, Addi!
I kept thinking, "Skull Rings Unite!" because they loved their matching rings I gave them last week when Brock was over. Handsome little buddies, don't you think?
The firetrucks and ambulances drove by honking, blaring their sirens and making all sorts of noise! Carter certainly did not like that one little bit. He was watching intently for them.

Aaaaaaaaaaand then we went home! We walked past Gritman, where they usually give out hot dogs. This year they did pretzels and milk. Huh? I'm sure it's more healthy and all, but we wanted to see the fluorescent-green-because-coloring-was-obviously-added packets of relish and cheap dogs!

It was also an unexpected good day because the Vandals beat New Mexico State, 20-14! Well, there you go. Impressive if I may say. Personally, I love the Broncos and always enjoy watching them play.

I'm excited to see what happens WHEN they get to play in a BCS bowl game.

am seeking

Anyone out there have an old SPRINT cell phone that I can borrow for a couple months? As you may recall from a previous post, mine is completely dead. And it's the only way that I can call long distance to my sisters! (okay FINE, I admit I miss texting...I was starting to get good at it!) I don't want to sink money into a new phone if I can borrow. Thank you!!

creative carvings

We love to carve pumpkins! The kids have begged us for a couple weeks to do it, and tonight was our family night to do together. Ryan gutted all the pumpkins, I HATE that part, so glad that he does the gooey part.

Ryanna got to carve hers this year, and she loved every minute of it!

Our friends, Jason and Diane, came over to carve theirs with us. It's always nice to have them over.

Ryan is so serious when he gets into carving, but not when he's discussing his law homework!

Carter was enjoying playing with Eddie the Puppy and feeding him green beans instead of eating them himself. What a smart little guy!

Drum roll please.......this is what came out of our evening of being artistic:

Ryan's pumpkin: a self-portrait. The details are uncanny, he captured his face perfectly. This is what law school does to you!

Ryanna's pumpkin: ghosts coming out of a cauldron.

Dawson's pumpkin: a ghost holding a candelabra. Ryan helped with his.

Mine: Idaho Vandals logo, of course! (it's got 11 toothpicks holding it all together...so ignore the ones that you can see) I debated between going Idaho Vandal or going BSU Bronco; eventually black-and-gold won.


Diane's pumpkin: a live-silhouette shot of Eddie the Puppy! Very cute and looks just like him.

Jason's pumpkin: a very cool skull. (I teased him and asked if this was supposed to be Ryan on Sunday mornings)

And after enjoying our work, we went back inside where Ryan had made his delicious homemade pumpkin pie (completely from scratch) and savored every crumb. I love Halloween!

yeehaw pardner!

Ryanna's school put on the annual Barn Dance at her school yesterday afternoon. She practiced for weeks to prepare for the big performance!


Although I think she was more interested in that wiggly tooth she has!

She just loved dancing with her friend, Colby. They were so cute!
"Bow to your partner!"
This was so hilarious! Notice how everyone else locked their arms at waist-level and these two locked at their shoulders? Took some practice, but they got it down. It was so funny to see them all tangled up!

Look who can doe-see-doe!

Dawson got a kick out of the kids dancing and liked the Chicken Dance the best.

Whew! It's over and time for popcorn. They all did a terrific job!

musca domestica

If Moses had been wise, he would have squashed those flies!

I don't know what is going on, but my house is attracting FLIES! Gross, disgusting, germ-infested house flies! How do I get rid of them?! I have swatted about a dozen over the past couple days and can't figure out how in the world they're getting into my house. No window are open, and I've checked around for tiny cracks and can't see any.

Any thoughts on how to get rid of them?? I'm all ears!

product rants and raves

What products do you use that you love? I am always looking for better products that improve health and the efficiency that I clean my home. Please share! These are some of my most favorite and most annoying products of today:

Love it, love it, love it. With sniffle-season's onset, there is no shortage of tissues in our house. Especially the kind with vicks. If you don't use the package within a reasonable time, though, the vicks menthol smell will evaporate. But if you go through them as fast as we do, it's just fine.
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Love it. The ONLY product that works on the mold in our bathroom. It's perfect for me, because all I do is spray it on, wait a couple minutes and then literally just wipe it off. With the kind of mold it is and on the type of surface it's on; it's an incredible cleaning agent for me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hate hate hate hate it. The Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet gel stuff is so not helpful. Waste of my money. I paid nearly $5 for this last week, and it's nearly gone. It just didn't work for me, with my toilet and hard water. Definitely disappointed. Oh, I still have to clean it like normal. It says that every disc should last up to 7 days....not.
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Surprisingly Love it. As a lactose-intolerant individual, I'm sensitive to milk and whey protein. I am a nog fan and this actually tasted quite delightful. It's got half the fat and calories that regular eggnog has and it's smooth and delicious. I'm quite impressed!
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Love it. The kids will dust because it doesn't smell bad. No more lemony-fresh for us! Bring on the lavender! I usually dust every couple days, but now I dust twice a week. It rocks!
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Love it. I love my bleach pens, they are portable and I carry one in my diaper bag.
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Hate it. They are inexpensive but too cheap!! And I go through them faster than I would if I buy the name-brand ones. Plus they leak and irritate the Prince's rump. Not a fan. (Hate the wipes too-I buy the name-brand ones because they're higher quality and with a coupon, they're priced more reasonably)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Absolutely, fabulously, adore it and love it! I do dishes by hand several times a day and my hands get dried out. This is the only product that does not dry my hands out, leaves my dishes sparkly clean and it smells uplifting. I love the Lavender Vanilla, and it takes forever to go through the bottle! With other brands, seriously, I would have to use a ton to get my loads clean. Not this kind. I'm so glad that I found this, I'm never going back. And who doesn't like an uplifting aroma as you're doing something as droll as dishes?!

boys boys boys!

Brock gets to come over and play this week during the day and we're so lucky to have him over! He keeps my boys company and plays with them, Dawson was so excited to have him over that this morning when he arrived, Dawson dragged Brock around the house giving him the "tour." I found them a few minutes later in the kitchen and Dawson was saying, "And here are the bananas....and here is the toaster where we make toast....and this is the fridge that has juice in it...and...." It's funny how little people try and act like the adults! Although I don't remember the last time that I showed my friend where the fridge was! They play together so nicely, Dawson called him "Broccoli" and they're just good buds. I love how I can do laundry and not have to entertain children for a minute, Brock is totally doing ME a favor!


They have matching Skull Rings and constantly 'shoot' the other with lasers or something. (and YES I cut Dawson's hair!! It actually turned out just fine!)



A lot of Brock's mannerisms and what he says reminds me of Dawson, so in a way, I have twins right now. They are both mild-mannered and very polite. They're great!

quirks to love

I was tagged by my cousin, Julie and my friend Sariah at the same time! You girls think alike.

The Rules:
• Link the person(s) who tagged you.
• Mention the rules on your blog.
• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
• Tag some fellow bloggers by linking them.
• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged!

1) I rub my feet, rotating my ankles between the soft sheets as I'm laying in bed trying to sleep. I even unconsciously rub my chilly feet against Ryan as we're drifting off, and it drives him crazy! It's a calming factor for me, I've done it for years.
2) Speaking of sleep, I only sleep on my stomach. (even when I was pregnant I'd wake up on my stomach) It's the only comfortable position. And I have to have this maroon blanket nicknamed "Ang's Cocoon" when I sleep. (someone gave it to us for our wedding) No matter if it's summer or winter, I can't sleep without my blankie! I actually sleep with it wrapped completely around me, underneath the rest of my covers. It goes with me anytime I'm away from home too.

3) When I'm playing the piano, just for fun, going from song to song; I can't finish a song. I usually get so bored when a minute has elapsed and rarely finish a song. Drives my husband batty; as it did my parents growing up. 4) When I hear a "thumper" I immediately rush to the window or run outside to see where it's coming from. (thumper is some moron who has a big bass music system in their car, resulting in only hearing the redundant sound of bass for blocks around) Since the college scene, this has bothered me to the very core of my being. It's rude and pathetic! It keeps kids up when they shouldn't otherwise be, resulting in sleep-deprivation and making life extremely difficult. And we've had pictures shattered because of them falling off of our walls! I will also "listen" for it for the next couple hours, complaining even the slightest to Ryan if I hear it.

5) I love ice cream, therefore I have to have a couple flavors at a time in my freezer. Pumpkin in the fall is a definite must, Vanilla is a given and some kind of Ben & Jerry's chocolate kind is always in my freezer! (Ryan verifies this quirk)

6) I have a pen fetish. I hate hate hate writing in boring black or blue ink! If you get a card from me, chances are you won't see any of the usual colors; unless it's a sharpie. I love glitter ink, gel-rollers, sharpies and whatever else isn't boring. That's why I love correspondence and to scrapbook; I get to use my pretty pens!

People I tag: Mom, Christy, Ashley Stratton, Katrina, Kari, Kristi, Kristin and Kristianne. Have fun! (alliteration was accidental)