Happy Halloween!

Bringing over for the archives.

We had Beth and Adam over for dinner last week and Owen's room was crazy messy with clothes and books. So I told him to go and put all of his clothes in a pile and I'd come in and help him sort and put away. I went in a few minutes later and he was way up in his closet pulling down every single shirt, sweater, coat that he owns and throwing it onto the already bulging pile!! He had taken everything out of his drawers, too. Owen is a very literal boy. I said ALL your clothes and that's exactly what he did. And he did it about 5 min before they showed up, sweet!

Sophie and I saw Hilary Duff in Vons last week. She looked over at her and said, "She's a little dressed up for a trip to the grocery store, don't you think?" H. Duff was wearing fishnet tights and big white go-go kind of boots, so yeah, she was. But it struck me funny that Sophie didn't get all weird and giddy. Either she's just not that into Hilary Duff, or she doens't get starstruck. Either way, it made me chuckle.

Enjoy it while it lasts

Brooke held a great political discussion on her blog yesterday and as I read all the comments last night I felt two things:  

1) I'm sad i missed out (on the good parts anyway; my joke about getting drunk and voting for McCain was pretty early on.) 

2) I wish I were voting for Obama.  I know that sounds crazy because if I wish i was then why don't i just go vote for Obama?  Well, unfortunately there isn't really anything in the core democratic platform that I agree with.  From higher taxes to more government programs to his Cut and Run stand on the war to the social issues like abortion (a HUGIE for me) and the protection of marriage. Go prop 8!  

So, he can't have my vote but I can respect how thrilling it must be to have a candidate you're really excited about.  And boy are the democrats excited...as are most of the independents...and let's face it, a bunch of republicans have jumped ship, too.  I mean, he's got t-shirts, mugs and kitchen towels at Urban Outfitters.   I don't recall piles of John Kerry anything flying off the shelves!  He's beyond celebrity status. (The center of yesterday's blog debate.)

It's so much more fulfilling to be passionate about politics when your PRO somebody instead of just ANTI the other guy, ya know?  I would pay just about anything to have Mitt Romney at the debate table with Obama.  Two well spoken men battling out visions and ideas.  {I'm looking at you, 2012}  

Anyway, great job, Brooke, hosting a healthy political exchange.  I can't wait to go cast my semi-arbitrary Republican-in-California vote on Nov. 4.  

Happy Monday, Everyone

This is a new family fave!  It's just happy and fun and it makes you wanna dance.
It's called Bruises by Chairlift.

Check out the whole version here.  It's even better.  

In other hair news...

This is what happens at our dinner parties, how about you?
{My poor iphone has been dropped so many times it's starting to take really bad pics, dang it!}

Funny thing was Brandon only really knew how to use clippers on hair...something i found out at about this stage...
But, he pulled it off.  It looks so cute, we love it! I know how Grandma's heart sings when Owen gets all cleaned up, so this should make her really happy. Now if I can just print and send so she finally has a photo for her frame!
So, there you go... the actor has a Plan B and is now accepting appointments to service all your hair needs. 

And now for a slew of randomness that needs only to make it to the blog so that it will be printed some day.

I want to look back on this photo and think, "remember when she could barely reach the cushion of this chair?
 Last week at Underwood Farms. Owen with his best buddies.  Shooting a corn launcher

Climbing the haystack pyramid
And showing off their big muscles.  

Pink Hair for Hope

I went to a new hair stylist today. Everyone I used to go to is now too far away, so sad. A friend recommended a stylist who owns a salon that is only about 2 city blocks from my house. Huge bonus. I thought she did a great job and she only took and hour and a half, which is amazing for cut and color, and then she gave me this cute little pink extension for Breast Cancer awareness month. Ok so i paid an extra 10 bucks for it but 100% of that goes to the Pink Hair for Hope Charity. I love it! Good hair, great cause.

Tag?!?!

I've been avoiding this for so long.  Thanks a lot, Maria!

Ok, well at least it's about Doug, one of my very favorite people on the planet.  (others may include: Ricky Gervais, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. Ironically, Doug looks quite a bit like mesh of the latter two from Flight of the Conchords.  Don't you think?)

What is your husband's name? Doug Howard
How long have you been married? wait for it...13 1/2 years
How long did you date? 2 months before we got engaged.
How old is he? 35
Who eats sweets? Me. He makes fun of me because there will always be shriveled candy wrappers in the dryer after I wash my jeans.
Who said I Love you first? He did.
Who is taller? He is (6' 2")
Who can sing best? Me, although I won't be recording an album anytime soon...or will I?
Who is smarter? He is, but I've realized it has less to do with actual intellect and more to do with the fact that he NEVER gives up on anything. EVER. He can do anything, I'm certain of it.
Who does the laundry? Me
Who pays the bills? Me but i'd be glad to pass that one off any day.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking at the bed: ME.
Who mows the lawn? The gardner.
Who cooks dinner? I usually do because I'm home but he's the better cook. (DITTO, Maria!)
Who drives? Doug
Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Doug's always wrong.
Who kissed who first? It was pretty mutual up on top of the HVAC Building at Ricks.   
Who asked who out first? I was going to say that he did but then he just reminded me that I asked him to go see open heart surgery on a cow heart. so romantic.
Who wears the pants? we share the pants. a big comfy pair of sweats.
This is seriously the only picture I could find of us in my iphoto. That's lame. I'll have to remedy that.


I tag Jessica, cheryl and julie P.

Stolen!

Lawn signs looking a lot like this but with a yellow background were stolen right out of our yard the other night.  I'm no Magnum P.I. but I think it was the nefarious work of the "NO on prop 8" folks.  Most of us have had something like that happen, actually.  Our friend was flipped off on the freeway after the other driver saw her bumper sticker.  And I guess our old bishop had heard about the sign theft and tied fishing line and a long string of cans to his sign. When the perp nabbed the sign it made a huge racket so he ran out and saw a guy on roller blades with a clipboard full of Prop 8 supporters!  It was organized!! They had a clipboard!!!

(The Studio City folks may have better details on that story...I only heard tidbits of it after Nursery today.)  

Anyway, It's exciting and fun to be involved.  I guess I should go get registered at our new address tomorrow.  that would be awesome to show up and not even be able to vote. 

To learn more about Prop 8, visit Protect Marriage.org.  Or call me, I'll give you the low down.  

So many things to post.

First of all, I just won the Project Runway challenge with our friends. NO WAY! After the very first show we placed our picks in sealed envelopes and then donated 2 yards of fabric to the big fabric pool. Whoever picked the winner wins all the fabric and bragging rights until next year. go, leanne... go, go, leanne! Apparently, I was the only one who picked her so i get all that fabric. If I knew how to sew that would be so much cooler!

Second, I was watching the debate tonight and when McCain starting going on about education "vouchers" and saying the word over and over: "vouchers, he supports vouchers..." i had flashbacks of SNL's version of Al Gore's Social Security "LockBox" skit from 2000. Anyone remember that? It was so funny. Overall McCain did fine but I'm not afraid to say I'll be happy when this election is OVER.

And last the best of all the game...we had a fantastic weekend with out-of-town family coming in-town for a celebration of sorts. Doug was called into the Bishopric this weekend as the second counselor so Doug's brother, Jeff, came in town from Arkansas and G'ma Terrie and G'pa Charlie came down from Vegas. We whooped it up and decorated the house for Halloween, carved pumpkins, hit the farmers market and Fuddrucker's for lunch and a special highlight was when  Doug put a glove on his head and blew it up like a big balloon.  

Doug being Doug.
Grandma and Grandpa thinking it was really funny. 
Lovin' my half-face.
Lovin' Doug's happy face. 

Jeff totally bonded with my kids, Penny especially. DID YOU HEAR THAT ROSS? I think you've been replaced. I guess that's what happens when you go and move away on us! (we hope you come back for a visit at least. preferably during basketball season.)

Anyway, she would grin at Jeff and do a little giggle at him, it was so cute. It seemed her face might split or explode or something she was so happy. It may have had something to do with the fact that he got up and fed her at 4 am. And then he'd just sit and play with her for the longest time while I tried to get stuff done.  You've never met a more patient man than Jeff and Penny just loved him. 


All in all, the last week has gone by so fast. So many wonderful things help me forget about the S&P 500. {gulp!}

WE love you G'ma and G'pa. Come back soon!  You too, Jeff. Only bring the whole gang next time.   

now and forever mobile

So, this is pretty crappy video. I know why but for some reason i can't fix it and upload the original size. Oh, well. Maybe next time. Hopefully, you can see how scrappy she's becoming. She reminds me so much of Sophie at this age. Always moving. go, go, go.

Oooh, Yummy Orange.

I want to drink this color. Or lick it, or sprinkle nutmeg on it and bake it in cookies.

Weekend Plus

Well, well. Wasn't that a great General Conference?  About 3 minutes before it started, we found out that our cable provider doesn't carry it on any of it's 500 channels.  what?  Cable has carried conference since the 80's!  Charter better get with the program or we'll have to switch to Direct TV. Oh, wait. We already hate Charter and are switching anyway. Well, good.  

By the second session we plunked the lap top at our table and discovered that the church has made leaps and bounds in the quality of their streaming video. It was gorgeous, no hiccups and so clear.  We made chicken noodle soup and cinnamon rolls and sang with the choirs.  That children's choir was so cute.  loved it.

Anyway, here are some more NY pics.  Mostly lame, just me and Doug taking pics of ourselves. I'm posting them for the future Blurb book. 

And lastly, We have our own in-house jack o lantern.  Owen lost his 4th tooth in about 3 weeks. He's got quite the wanky smile.  I'll get a pic this afternoon. 

This is a pic of the World Trade Center. We couldn't really find a good place to take a picture of it. 
Some metal from the Towers in the Visitors center.  If you're ever in New York you have to go to the visitors center, just be prepared for the emotion. I wasn't.  It caught me by surprise.

On the huge escalators coming up from the Path trains. These take you from the trains right under where the towers used to be. 

This place holds a bit of our money. Well, maybe not anymore.  ha ha. 

Doug chillin' near Times Square. I think we were trying to figure out which museum to go to. 

We ended up at MOMA.  This was one of the more impressive works.  Is Claude Monet's Reflections of Clouds on a Water-Lily Pond.  We had no idea it was so huge. 
This is a Sunday mid-morning power nap. Not too much time for sleeping on a 36 hour trip. 

This is coming out of the apartment where we stayed. very, very cute street.  

Good ole Radio City Music Hall
Cab ride back to the airport.   

 

I want to throw a party

A halloween party and you're all invited. It's just the thing to kick our butts into shape and finish up this crazy house!  

If i do throw a big ole shin dig, i want to serve these.  Saw them at Target yesterday and loved them.  Halloween  Blackberry and I don't know what the orange one is.  Maybe spicy pumpkin or something.  ha ha. 

Oh, and Penny is crawling now.  It's pretty dang cute.