6 Happy Halloween!

We have a group of friends that get together each month for what we call "Date Night". All 5 of the men went to high school together! We rotate turns being in charge, which usually entails choosing the restaurant & movie. We have also: gone to Aggie games, wake boarded, mini-golfed, bowled, and Bar-R-Q'ed. Sometimes its a family affair, but normally just couples. This month James & Wendy went above & beyond the usual with a Halloween meal.

Sarah, Nate, & Kylie

our next door neighbors: Dirk & Hanne -and- Brett & Brit
(James & Wendy -and- Ryan & Brandi avoided the camera)

Ghoul Boggers, Troll Toes, Screeming Mouthes, Eye Balls, & other misc. treats.

Yummy bogger juice to drink.

Hearts (jello/razberry) & Bones (rolls)

The main course: Mummies (cream cheese chicken in roll wrap)

All dished up, YUM! AND there was desert!

9 Day two

Yes, I made it to day #2 on the treadmill! Yesterday I did 20 min (1.1 miles) and today I did 30 min (1.7 miles). Before you start thinking too highly of me, that is NOT running but a brisk walk. My goal is to go everyday, but Sunday, for two weeks. I'll have to try to walk outside while on the scrap retreat next weekend. Oh, I can hardly wait. I've got to get photos edited, uploaded, & printed!

As long as I'm on a high note, let me brag. I washed ALL my upstairs windows, inside & outside yesterday! Once again, don't go thinking 'wow'...this is the first time I've ever done them. I've always had the excuse that the neighbors don't have their yards in (dirt sticks to the wet windows after ever rain), but now that the last one planted grass this month, I couldn't put it off any longer. Now I've let the cat out of the bag: I hate to run & I'm a pathetic housekeeper. But if you are my friend, you probably already knew all that & haven't run screaming...yet ;).

8 the Status Quo continues...

It has been less than a week since I've posted, and yet I've had several friends ask where I've been. So here I am - haven't gone anywhere. Nothing new with us. We are still in limbo. Although things could obviously be a great deal worse, we've been alternating between being thankful/optimistic AND then anxiety/panic. Its a good think that Nate & I seem to never be 'down' at the same time.

(Nate's next job-picture taken on last Sunday's afternoon drive)

Tuesday was nice. Very nice. The girls & I went to "work" with Nate. We drove to a farm in Richman (10 miles north of here) and pulled an old baler out of a field & down to the recycling yard. Balers are MUCH easier to haul than swathers, if you ever have to choose between the two farm implements. Balers don't have the swather's spring suspended mechanism that bounces on the road (see past posts), so you can haul them at speeds near the normal driving range, instead of at a snail's crawl.

This picture is of an old "M" tractor on the same farm. I grew up driving the one my Grandfather owned, which my father still uses. Dad is now piecing 2 more "M"s together to make 1. I'm sure he'd love to have this one too.

After the farm, we retrieved an old car from 4th North (a 4 lane major road) in Logan. The car was sitting in the driveway with several flat tires and couldn't start. Good thing Nate's equipment stash now includes a portable air tank. It sure came in handy, once again. Since we couldn't block traffic with the truck & trailer, Nate steered the car while the two female roommates & I pushed it out of the driveway, down the street (against traffic!) and into a funeral home parking lot. You are probably asking yourself several questions right now, I will try to address the most obvious.
1) Why against traffic? Since it was down hill
2) Why girls push & Nate steer? No brakes
3) Why a funeral home? large, empty parking lot
Nate did have to ask the girls if they had heard about the place in front of which we stood...'people are dying to get in here". LOL It's one of Nate's favorite jokes.

Next: lunch. We picked up yummy sandwiches, chips, cookies, & drinks at 'the Old Gris Miss' & had a picnic on the grass & fall leaves. I must admit, my will power was crushed by the power of those delicious chocolate chip cookies. The weather was terrific; the company superb! What a way to spend a day - with the ones you love.

While driving tither & yawn I was able to crochet a few pot holders, in preparation for the next '15th ward relief society crochet group' I am in charge of. After some more "scrap'n" (the recycling kind, not my hobby kind), we were even able to hit the local pumpkin walk. What a great day.

Oh, I haven't lost any weight lately. I've been faithfully adhering to the Weight Watcher's Points (plan A) for 6 weeks & only lost 2 pounds. I bought larger summer clothes, but I really don't want to spend any money on larger winter clothes. Right now I only have 2 pairs of pants I can get on. I've even worn my one pair of jeans (from the DI) every time I've taught at USU this semester. Talk about too causal! Its really weighing me down. So much so, I got the treadmill out of storage this morning (plan B) & went for 20 min. If you know me, you know how desperate I must be to resort this low. Tomorrow I'll do 30 min. I'm giving my body 2 more weeks. If the status quo continues on the combination plan A-B, I'm going to have to come up with a plan C. Any suggestions?

7 Scrapbook Layouts I've done in the past month

Here is my first attempt at using a new tool: Picasa.

5 Coupon WITH UPDATES

My friend Julie sent me this email:

I came across this today and thought I'd share with you all. It's a polly pocket coupon good for $5 off, it is a manufacture coupon so you can use anywhere. It doesn't expire until December 31. And as you all know some polly's are only $5 so can you say FREE!!! So print out a ton and grab one everytime you are at W-M or Target and you'll have B-day party gifts, tooth fairy prizes or bribes. They even have new little ones with cars that I think boys would like.

I have never played with the Polly Pocket dolls, but this coupon sounded to good to pass up. I have seen people say that Toys-R-Us won't take manufactuer's coupons, but its worth a shot else where. Click HERE to go to go to the webpage that you can print off as much as you want. MAKE SURE TO PRINT IN LANDSCAPE TO GET 4 TO A PAGE!

UPDATE: I used one coupon at Walmart & one at Kmart. Both times the registers said that the item I purchased didn't match the coupon. I've seen many comments about this online if the item is under $5. Some people have had to purchase 2 items so that the total is over $5. Anyway, both times the checker just over-rode the register since the coupon plainly states that it is good on ANY polly pocket item up to $5 off. Another hint-it doesn't have to be a polly pocket doll. It can be a poly pocket coloring book, tin box, ect. Anything polly pocket brand! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

5 Sick Day

The girls have had minor colds (cough, runny noses) for a few days, but today was much worse for Allie. She's been all tears since 6am, but is finally asleep for a bit. Nate was planning on taking her with him on errands this morning so I could catch up on some work, but those plans were postponed when she threw up...in my hands. That's what mommies do; they try to save the furniture. LOL Joking aside, the poor kid was so sad to miss out. New plan: I take today off & she goes with daddy tomorrow. (look MOM, I spelled it right ;)

UPDATE: Allie took a good 2 hour nap & woke us at noon like her normal self. She still had a minor cough, but that's it. Amazing how fast they recover!

Oh, I just have to SCREAM out loud: "HURRAY". Maren & Grandpa made our scrapbook retreat reservations this morning!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I can hardly wait. A 3-day weekend in Bear Lake with just us women. Its great to have it booked.

This shot of us sisters was taken at last year's retreat. Yeah!
(L-R: Ellen, Sarah, Abby, Maren)

2 More adventures in recycling

I'm sure there will be many more, but this morning we got to accompany Nate picking up an old car. I sure enjoy the countryside in fall. The fall foliage is beautiful. Today we also made friends with a cute little kitten.

3 Fall Leaves

Monday we got to go play in the leaves at Grandma & Grandpa Schwartz's home. Allie was more interested in raking the leaves than playing in them. Kylie was all about eating them, which was a surprise to me since at that age Allie HATED leaves.

I wish we could have gotten a family shot, but alas someone had to hold the camera.
(the grandparents were out)

4 Football Time

Here is a quick picture of the girls enjoying some daddy time during the football game today.
Doesn't Nate look young without the facial hair? It's been about 5 years since the last time he shaved. I have to do a double take every time I see him. He looks like the man I met nearly NINE years ago! No wonder I fell for him.

Disclaimer: I like the facial hair look, too.

3 Adventures in Recylcling

Yesterday we went for a drive in the country, but not just any leisurely drive. No, not us! We went to a farm in Richman & hooked up to an old swather to haul into the recycling yard. (yes, they asked us to) If you know nothing about old farm machinery, let me tell you a bit. A swather is used to cut hay before bailing it up. The heavy steal cutting bar & mechanism on these old machines rests on the ground and can be raised by hydrolics from the tractor pulling it. However, we were pulling this beauty with a truck, not a tractor. No hydrolics for us. Nate & I used our noodles, several tow straps, & two jacks to lift the mechanism and secure it as best we could. Then, after we inflated the flat mismatch tires, we were off. We couldn't go too fast, since any bumps bounced the swather, which only had 2 inches clearance. It took over an hour to drive the back roads (no more than 10 mph) to Nate's dad's Amalga farm where we parked it while we loaded pumpkins to deliver to a grocery store on Monday, before we finish hauling the swather in. What a way to spend a Saturday.

4 What's better than cake & ice cream?

Allie knows...Broccoli!
Last week, after Sunday dinner this silly girls went for the greens. The entire family got a kick as she chomped several florets before touching the sweets. She even dipped it into the ice cream. Too cute.

2 Apples, Apples, & more Apples

Last week, as the big storm was rolling in, we picked apples at Grandma & Grandpa Schwartz's home. There were red ones & yellow ones, Jonathan & Delicious. Allie tasted several of each. Between all those apples & some strawberries she foraged in the garden, there was no need for lunch. What a girl.

Then, during Saturday conference, Abby & I made applesauce. I started at 7am & we didn't finish cleaning the kitchen till 9pm, but we got all 88 jars filled & sealed. Ah, what a mess. I should have taken pictures, but I was too busy canning to think about that. Oh well, there is always next year.

0 Thank You!

I wanted to post a 'thank you' to Eldon & JoAnne for watching the girls so much the past few weeks. They have been so good to take them at a moment's notice, whether I was off to the dentist for that awful crown or to the farm to harvest pumpkins. The girls love to go to their home, and its no wonder since they are loved so much. Thank you so much!

Grandma JoAnne is feeding Kylie & Grandpa Eldon is reading Allie a story.

1 Entrepreneurial Spirit

Over the last few weeks, Nate has started a new business: "Schwartz Services". Basically he picks up & removes old cars, ect. to the recycling yard. Here is the new trailer hooked up to 'Old Green' the pumpkin truck, towing a beautiful junk car.

3 Surpize!

The other day I went looking for Allie, as is my habit when things are too quiet. This is what I found. Allie had gotten a bottle out of the diaper bag, climbed into Kylie's crib, & was force feeding her little sister. Good thing Kylie is so easy going.