D-R-A-M-A!

I'm a little nervous about writing this post because I know how controversial it's going to be.

But it's been weighing on my heart lately, so here I go.

Christmas time. When do you start celebrating?

Or should I say, when are you allowed to start celebrating?

After Thanksgiving? When Disneyland decorates? When Christmas music comes on the radio? Christmas in July? December 24th at the stroke of midnight? I just don't know why so many people care and are deeply disgusted when someone celebrates "too early"?

I've been seeing friends put pictures of their trees up lately and everyone screams "What the HECK?!?!?!?!?!?! IT'S NOT EVEN THANKSGIVING!!!!!!" I'll walk through the store and hum happily to the Christmas tunes and then some grinch exclaims "Christmas Music?? It's 90 degrees outside for petes sake!" Tonight I was going for a walk and listening to Christmas songs on my iphone and every time someone would pass me I would get a hot flash and turn it off. I was scared someone would scream at me "Um excuse me, but what exactly do you think you're doing you big jeark? I am the seasonal police and you are in violation of the holiday code." My next door neighbors put up their lights yesterday and I clapped my hands silently and whispered yaaay to myself. I don't dare tell anyone in fear they'll come rip them down. But why? Why am I not allowed to celebrate Christmas halfway through November? Why is that so upsetting? Can't I enjoy the birth of Jesus, stuff my face with peppermint chocolate, dress my baby in Rudolph slippers and track Santa online as early as I want? Why are people online saying "Would you look at this?? Christmas Trees!! In OCTOBER!!!"

If I put up my American flag in June do you think someone would come knocking, it's not even July yet you freak! Take it down! Are we scared Christmas Cheer is going to run out? Are we frightened we won't have enough holly jollies come December 25th? Im genuinely interested, you people who have strong opinions. Please explain.

Bragadotious

We went in for Sawyers 1 year check up (and shots, ouch). Kevin is so lucky he works on dr days. It physically hurts me when poor Sawyer has to get shots, and this was the first time I didn't nurse him while he got them, so that was extra hard. But here are his award winning stats:
Height: 33.2 inches
Weight: 24.4 pounds
Head: Nun ya bidness. Let's just say they measured it 4 times.

His 1 year tricks are:
Saying mama, dada & nana (no)
Waving
Clapping
Kisses on occasion
He crawls and cruses along the furniture but isn't walking yet
He loves absolutely everyone he sees and we still haven't gone through any stranger anxiety. Seriously, if jack the ripper came to our door Sawyer would gladly go with him.

Oh the dr wants him to drink almond or soy milk because of some poo poo related issues. Has anyone gone through that?

All Hallows Eve Part Three

Part 3 you say? Well what could be left? Oh there's lots left.

TV shows
Ghost Hunters I will always be in love with these guys. I've been watching them since they were working out of a trailer. Are they kinda sorta sell outs now? Sure, but still fun to watch. On SyFy


"Wait...did you hear that? Shhh...what was that?"

Paranormal Witness This new show on SyFy can creep me out at 1pm during nap time on a Wednesday afternoon. People recount their paranormal experiences along with a re-enactment and real footage (if there was any.) Super duper creepy.


Look at that! How creepy is that? Oh my gosh and what is that noise upstairs?? Definitely the last time I do this in the middle of the night.

The Haunted Who would have thought that Animal Planet could put out such a good paranormal
tv show? Sure all of the stories have a little something to do with animals but in my opinion this is the scariest show on tv.



Shows to miss: Extreme paranormal. Celebrity ghost stories. Ghost Hunters International. Bor-ring.

Kid shows to catch: Fridays throughout October on Disney are "Dress up Friday's." All of the Disney Jr shows are Halloween themed and so cute. Disney also has "Monstober" where the teen shows are holloween-ified too.


We watch a lot of Disney everything.

Books
Oh my gosh books? Seriously? Oh I'm serious. I just finished Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children and it was SO good. In fact when I host book club (oh I'm a great grandmother now, didn't you know?) this will be the book I choose.


Plus it's filled with odd pictures that the author collected from all over the Unite States. There's just so many reasons why this book was good.

The Sookie Stackhouse series. Now ladies and gents, this series is by no means for the faint of heart or those with very high morals. This is the book series that inspired "True Blood" so...there you go. There's like 50 books, or maybe 16, and they're impossible to put down. But some parts definitely make me blush. (I skip over the sexy parts! I do!!)



Right now I'm reading Holy Ghosts or How a (not so) good Catholic boy became a believer in things that go bump in the night. That's seriously the title, and when I tell people that I'm reading it I say the whole thing. It's a really, really good spooky non fiction book about ghosts that my dad got me for Christmas. Yeah that's just the kind of family I come from.


Thanks dad!!

Ok well that concludes my All Hallows Eve blog post trifecta. Hurry back, hurry back! And make sure to being your...death certificate.

All Hallows Eve part two

Ok, you asked for it (not really) so here it is. More spooky suggestions for your October. Next we have:
Movies-
Poltergeist Carolaaaaane! Probably my favorite scary movie of all time. Spooky without all the CGI. The scene where all the kitchen chairs are stacked on top of each other? Forget about it!
Poltergeist 2 and 3, optional but definitely not necessary.



"They're heeere!"

Exorcism of Emily Rose You want to kick it up a notch? Maybe throw in some demonic possession? Add based on a true story? This movie is down right scary. The unnatural movements that come with being possessed by a demon gets to me every time. It gave me nightmares (the mark of a really good horror movie.) Even looking for a picture to put on here freaked me out.




A Haunting in Connecticut Oh you want something that you'll have to turn off multiple times? This movie is terrifying. And also based on a true story. I saw it in theaters and when I got home I was so scared I called the police to check through my house before I could go in. Long story. Actually not that long, that was pretty much it. Watch it, and make sure you have someone to cuddle with that night (so you don't have to call the police.)



I got scared looking up this picture too. Maybe I shouldn't write these posts at 11pm?

My favorite Halloween movie that I can't go through October without watching 4 times and quoting incessantly is Hocus Pocus. It's so fun and you can watch it with your beebee's.



"What do you call them Max? Yabbos? Max likes your yabbos...in fact, he loves them!"

Seriously folks I could go all day.

Some other friendly spooky movies that I like are Halloween Town and...well that's it I guess.

Some other not-so-friendly spooky movies I like are Signs, Dead Silence, and all the Nightmare on Elm Street's.

That's it for...WHAT'S THAT BEHIND YOU??

All Hallows Eve

So as some of you know I like Halloween. In fact, I love it. I'm kind of a Halloween connoisseur, if you will. And I have some recommendations for you, since you didn't ask. I'll tell you some of my favorite hallo-weenie activities.

We'll start off with my favorite,

Haunted houses:
For 10 years (that's a decade!!) I went solely to Knotts Scary Farm- If you go early in October during their "preview nights" it's better; It's cheaper and there's less of a crowd. BUT there's also less monsters. Now, I give it a C- The crowds are rowdy, there's tons of mazes but they're not very good, and it's getting pretty pricey.



Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights-I went a couple years ago and LOVED it. I also went this year and had a great time. The mazes are so well done because, hello, it's a movie studio. The haunted tram ride (the Terror Tram) is a must. Wandering around a studio outside in the dark? Oh yes please. It's kind of far and pretty expensive but it's worth the money. I give it a B.



The Queen Mary-This was the first year I've gone to the Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. It was by far the best and scariest haunted attraction I've been to. They have you go through the mazes with only your group (in my case just Beka and Trista) and you walk through decrepit and most likely haunted old run down places in the ship. It's DARK and loud and there's dead crazy sailors around every corner. It's terrifying. The monsters talk to you, they touch you, they follow you and they most definitely earn the minimum wage they're making. Since they hold the line and only let a few people in at a time it's a long wait to go through a maze. The tickets are only $20-$25 so definitely splurge and get a front of the line pass (an extra $20.) You won't have to wait at all so you can get to peeing your pants faster. I give it an A+



Haunted first class pool



Zombie friend

Other haunted places to check out: Scandia. Castle Parks "Terror on the tracks" (I worked there! Screaming girl in the car? That was me!) Disneyland's Halloween time.

I have more to say but this is getting pretty long. Stay tuned!
Mwahahahahaha!

Hands full of good things

So as I was coming home from the store I was thinking of the list of things I had to do the second I got home. What, you ask? Change Sawyer, put the groceries away, put S down for a nap, go to the bathroom, maybe drink some water so I don't absolutely die from thirst, eat 2 caramello bars. What did I do when I got home, you ask? Put all the cold stuff away while S played with a plastic bag that says "warning!!! Not a toy!!!!", took him off the stairs 800 times, changed his diaper, put up the curtains up in his room, put him down for a nap, put the rest of the groceries away. Did you notice what I didn't do? I hope you did because there will be a test at the end of this blog. No water, no potty, no caramello bar(s). I was a little overwhelmed, thinking about how life used to be before my little love. I could leave when I wanted to on a whim. Go get a manicure, pedicure AND my eyebrows waxed without looking at my watch once. In fact, what's a watch? It was just me me me. And Kevin. But this article totally reminded me of what it means to be a mom. To "run to the cross" and lay down my life to take care of another little life, and oh how it changed my perspective on everything. I'm a little obsessed with it too, if you haven't noticed. It's on FaceBook, twitter, and I've tattooed it to Sawyer's left arm so I'll always remember that I'm not a mom because it's convenient, I'm not a mom because I didn't have anything better to do, and I'm definitely not a mom because it's easy. I'm a mom because I was called to be a mom, and what a divine calling it is. I just need to be reminded, and often, that it really is wonderful to be so needed.
Read the article here

Pillar of Strength

A week or so ago, a long, long time family friend was sure to let me know just how lucky I am to have Erin as my wife. That Sunday, Erin had taught Relief Society for her second time. The friend mentioned how Erin is a pillar of strength.

Since that day, we have often used that commonly and jovially throughout random conversations. Yet, this morning I dug a little deeper into the meaning of the phrase and have a stronger conviction of just how lucky of a guy I am.

The first search result for pillar of strength on the church website returns an audio recording about the history of Lucy Mack Smith (the mother of Joseph Smith). Through the recording, several life experiences between Lucy and Erin were quite similar. Each had mothers that were the spiritual leaders of their home. Family religious values of duty, faithfulness, and love were instilled by the mothers as their fathers were out earning to provide for their families. As both Lucy and Erin were converted into the Church, they developed a sincere relationship with the Savior that continually gave them strength as they experienced trials and tribulations. As we know, Lucy raised her children whom would later accomplish marvelous things. Erin, unwaveringly, has already begun raising our children with love and tenderness with a future of endless possibilities.

Day and day out, as a wife and as mother, she provides support to those around her. Upon returning home each evening, I approach the door knowing that on the other side is a place of peace, cleanliness, fun, and love. Though my efforts at work provide a monetary reward, Erin's everyday triumphs attract eternal blessings.

Each day, she helps me grows stronger as my love for her is greater than the last.