in other news...

the girls have been going "shopping" in our pantry.

i didn't have a problem with it at first, but after they dented some cans, i had to put the brakes on that one.

one cute story first though. addie got out nine cans, made 3 pyramids of 3 cans each, and said "look! they're cheerleaders!" she loves her cheer-sissy!

(and who knew cans were so fun???)

franks has been waking up early lately. that means one-on-one time with mama.

looooove it!

while addie was at preschool on thursday we did some potty training.

she happily ran to the potty when i asked if she'd like to go.

and yes, it is in the kitchen. i've got to make it as easy as possible!

there we sat, happily chatting and taking pictures for about 20 minutes.

she squeezes her little belly and grunts like she's trying to go.

then she really got down to business and took the jammies off.

she's glowing white because she's right in front of the sliding glass door.

and she's matt's daughter. ;)

i decided to continue the training session after she was done sitting on the potty. i broke out the padded undies and made a big deal about what a big girl she is. she wore those for exactly 2 minutes before she went over to the carpet and peed. 

potty training is awesome.

we had a lovely weekend. i am always so grateful for calm, happy weekends that we get to spend together. on saturday we each ran around a little bit. chris went from his campout to help with an eagle project, home for chores, and then downstairs to play his new video game for the rest of the day. matt went from the eagle project to the church to help "scout for food." lexi came home from robin's at 12 and lounged the rest of the day. that night we went to mccombs for a big and fun potluck.

on sunday after churching it, we ate lunch together, watched a movie together, and chris went to a bishop/youth discussion. 

we didn't do a lot, but we did it together. :)

cheer

this bums me out that i missed the homecoming game even more! 

they look awesome!

you go, ladies of raider nation!!!

3/4's!

we are officially 3/4's of the way done with this pregnancy!

for awhile now i've been getting "the looks" when i tell people how far along i am.

some are shocked. some pitying. some nodding with understanding.

i can't say i disagree, i really don't know how i'm gonna get 10 (or 11, or 12!) weeks bigger!

i am still feeling really good, but am officially tired. 

i've taught frankie how to get diapers and wipes when she needs to be changed. 

and i can always bribe addie with candy or a show (mother of the year, yes!) if i really need her fetching services. the big kids are still holding out on me a little bit, but i'm staying on top of chores via the use of threatenings with cell phones.  

you gotta do what you gotta do. ;)

happy veterans day!

our veterans day friday started off nice and early.

to explain: addie has a bad habit of wetting her pull-up during her "rest time," even when she hasn't actually "rested." it drives me crazy when i know she hasn't slept, and she's still wet! or worse, which is often the case, ifyouknowwhatimean. anyways, i decided to try bribing her with a "potty toy" if she could stay dry 10 times. she got her first toy within about a month of the challenge. this one has taken a loooooong time, but she finally earned her second potty toy!

every day that i would go in and get her from her nap, and she would be wet, i would tell her, "that's okay, we'll try again next time." after about a month of that though, it got pretty frustrating. so lately when i go in and she's wet, she'll tell me, "that's okay, mama! we will try again! it's okay!"

anyways, on thursday night i went to a rs activity at church. it was all about getting the clutter out of our lives. i love spending time with such awesome ladies! after that, i headed over to target to find the perfect potty toy. since addie was already asleep, i put it on the table in her room so she would see it when she woke up. what i hadn't thought of was that she would wake up super early because she spotted it and couldn't get back to sleep. :)

so all of that to explain why our veterans day started so early. ;)

anyways, food lion was giving 10% off groceries for veterans, so my own special veteran and i bundled up some jammied girls and headed over to buy some on-sale cinnamon rolls and free eggs. (cause who am i to pass up a good deal and 10% off?)

food lion was an hour long fiasco because they're system wasn't giving the 10% off and it took for-ev-er for them to figure it out. thus is the life of a coupon shopper. by the time we got back home it was already 9, and with the parade starting at 10, matt the nay-sayer was thinking we should just skip the parade. never one to say no to a challenge though, i assured him we could handle it!

chris and i made the cinnamon rolls, hashbrowns, egg and cheese burritos, and hot chocolate, while matt got the little girls ready, and lexi got herself ready. ;) we parked at the bank and hustled over to johnna's to watch the parade.

soooooooooo glad she invited us over, because there was an accident at the beginning of the parade route (someone fell off a horse and had to get helicoptered out of there) and the parade started an hour and a half late. if we had been sitting (or standing) on the street, we would have been miserable! it was sooo cold and windy! but we were able to enjoy our breakfast in the comfort of the nelson's warm house and all was wonderful!

i forgot my camera, so johnna sent these to me from her phone.

in no particular order (cause i can't figure it out and don't care to try anymore).

franks kept it together for a long time, but finally around 12 she leaned back in daddy's arms and fell asleep. that never happens anymore! then she stayed asleep when he laid her on the couch, picked her back up, and put her in the stroller. she finally woke up when we got to the car, but she was happy as a clam with her little nap. :)

charlene, johnna, and i.

lex is such a princess. she totally laid on christianna, with her feet on josh, the whole time. i took them some candy we had collected down by the street, and she had josh unwrap a chocolate for her and put it in her mouth!

ugh, that girl!!!

we dropped christian off for a camp out and then around 3, matt and i left for a veterans day date.

we drove up to the temple, but on the way stopped at outback for a delicious dinner (and free bloomin' onion for my veteran!). we had a wonderful time at the temple, except for pregnancy discomfort. on the ride home i tried to stay awake, but after about half an hour, i crashed. love my sweet hubs for not complaining when i do that!

and we had a very happy veterans day, indeed. :)

beautiful days!

we have had the most amazing weather!

mid 60's-high 70's, just perfect!

we had a quick yogurt snack before the park yesterday.

such a big girl!

and such a goofy one!

she's so weird!

and a walk up to the park.

frankie has been very concerned that i follow closely behind her lately, even at home.
she turns around and checks on me often.

and if i'm not fast enough...

she comes back to check on me. :)

da' boys playin' da' b-ball.

tough to get christian in an action shot because i didn't want him to know i was taking pictures of him. ;)

addie likes to climb on the teeter-totter. she's pretty good too.

and franks, the juice-aholic.

and now for my favorite picture of the day.

she's practicing to be a dude. ;)

last football game!

on friday we celebrated lexi's last football game!

yay!

it was sooooooo cold!

and the radier nation lost sooooo bad!

robin came with me and as we were walking up, just 4 minutes into the game, the score was already 14-0. and it went downhill from there.
(robin was lexi's secretary, answering calls and passing on important information.)

they had the worst bleachers in the world! they were so low that we couldn't see the game at all.

but i go for the cheerleaders and, as usual, they were great. :)

we brought hot chocolate, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, and we were still freezing!

end of season pics!

lex is in the 3rd row, 3rd from the left, with her hood on.

until next year raider football!!!

trick or treating!

so after the super fail of "day of cooking," we had a mad scramble to get the girls ready for trick or treating. as soon as we started to get trick or treaters, (at like, 5!) i started to get super antsy and anxious. i don't know what i think i'm gonna miss, but i felt all worked up!

the girls were kind of "eh..." about getting their costumes on again. so i got out some lipgloss and was going to put it on them myself, but then i got sidetracked and... this happened.

then she threw a fit because in the mad dash to get back to my house (after the super fail of "day of cooking," remember?), somehow izzy's costume got left behind. so we found her a rapunzel dress, which she was fine with, but the little mermaid was not. so then all that beautiful lip gloss got wiped on the top step of the upstairs. cause why wouldn't that be a good idea?

after all the anxiety and dramatics (after the super fail...), we were finally off.

mindy volunteered to stay and finish the cooking and cleaning (she didn't really want to go trick or treating anyway, and i must admit, i was a little jealous!), chris and friends lit the fire pit and set up our candy shop in our front yard, and prince eric and i took the 3 princesses out.
(lexi went to the twins for a spooky movie marathon)

we had to keep reminding them not to reach in and grab the candy they wanted.

our neighborhood is definitely that neighborhood.

that one that everyone comes to for trick or treating. our houses are just close enough together and our neighborhood has grown so much that there are tons of houses. and the people are friendly and most gave out candy. so it was pretty busy going.

they love ra-ra (robin).

addie's big into hiding and scaring people. 

mini trees are good for that.

busy bee!

we went around the little loop, and the girls were done by the halfway point. we told them that they didn't have to go up to any more houses, but they kept going until about 2 houses away from our house, at which point addie threw down her wig and walked over it and izzy had just totally had it and was crying for her mom.

i had gotten in my costume, even though i really, really didn't want to, just so we could get a family picture with the little mermaids, ursula, and prince eric. and then, after all that, we didn't even get a picture of the little mermaid crew. ugh.

upon returning home we learned that christian and crew had run out of candy by 7 (i think the candy givers had something to do with that) and mindy was almost done with the kitchen. we finally fed the girls and finished helping her clean.

and that was one super long day!

worst idea ever

=

day of cooking on halloween day.

mindy and i came up with a real doosey this time.

we thought we could get it all done because i, in a moment of severe stupidity,

 volunteered to do the shopping by myself on friday while matt had the girls at gymnastics.

2 hours, 2 super full carts, 44 lbs. of chicken, and $400 later, and i was pooped!

then i still had to unload it all at home, put it all away, and then on monday get it all back out.

it was a lot of work for this big body'o'mine.

we just thought that we are still figuring out day of cooking and we might as well try the whole shopping first thing. it was nice to be able to get going a few hours earlier, but also a lot of extra work. we also decided to do less recipes. last time we doubled 11, + a fresh salad for that nights dinner. this time we quadrupled 8, + a fresh salad for that nights dinner. i think we thought it would be less work, until i went shopping and realized just how much food that was and how expensive it was.

(did i mention that i bought 44 lbs. of chicken?)

it came out to $270 for 32 dinners, 2 lbs. of shredded chicken and 2 lbs. of ground beef for each of us to keep, + a fresh salad. we also did a lot of pasta's and dishes that needed cheeses, which gets expensive. that's really not too bad, right?

anywho, we worked, worked, worked, and when it became clear that we were not going to be done in time for trick or treating, we went to plan b.

mindy left to pick up her boys, costumes, and pizza for dinner (no time for fresh salad!;(, and i got the girls and house ready for trick or treating.

we still didn't get it all done that night. i ended up finishing the last recipe on weds and got it to mindy's for freezing. 

and that was the worst idea ever, brought to you courtesy of michelle and mindy.
live and learn, right?