Uncle Sam

Okay, I am advertising my little brother on the Internet! (Don't get mad Sam... Its for your own good!) I was wondering if any of you know any good girls to set him up with??? Sam is going to be 24 tomorrow. He's going to school to be an industrial electrician, and only has one year left. He is a really good uncle (my kids adore him). He's also an amazing brother and friend. He's really, really good looking +++. If you cant tell form the pictures, one of his best features is his really great dark skin and hair. He is fun to hang out with too. He loves the outdoors, hunting, hiking, camping and fishing...... I'm not advertising him because he's desperate.... I'm just looking forward to gaining a new sister in law, and seeing him move on with his life. Sorry I don't have more updated pictures. These were taken over the summer, when he stopped by my house to show me his new toy. Leave me a comment if you know anyone...

Bath time

The other day I asked Brian to give Eric a Bath..... I'm not sure who had more fun.

O-no Dad! You put too many bubbles on my head!

All gone!

What I wont post a picture of, is Brian in the tub with Eric, getting major pay back as Eric dumped water all over him!

Pack Meeting

Last night Tyler had a pack meeting. He, along with the rest of the boys in his group, got their Bobcat award, played a few games and had lots of fun. My favorite game (to watch) that they played was one where they rolled a little summer squash across the room with their noses. All the adults laughed really hard during this! It was also neat to watch him get his award. Brian along with Jed Reidhead held Tyler upside down, while I pinned his award to his shirt right side up. Then when he stood up it was upside down! Everyone counted while I pinned, and the scout master said that however many seconds it took was how many good deeds he would have to do for me. I GET 12 good deeds!!! YES!!! Remember Tyler, you cant wear your pin right side up until you do the good deeds :).

Last of the Halloween pictures!!!

These are the last of our Halloween pictures. I just had to post them because they are so cute. Tyler made the pumpkin at school (and I loved having it sitting in my kitchen) but because its nearly Thanksgiving, I decided it was time for it to go. I just had to get a picture of it before it took the long walk. Good job Tyler! The pictures of Eric are of him in a costume Donna Bigler (Grandma) made for Ben (Uncle Ben that is) when he was Eric's age. That was at least 26 years ago! It has seen quite a few Halloweens since then, I'm sure. Thanks Grandma for letting us use it.

Bathroom

Painting Continued

Sorry about the last post. You see, I really do like painting.... Well, I only like the first part of painting. You know, when you can see the project in your head, and even paint one wall, and it makes the wall look so clean (sigh). What I don't like is when a project gets started, and then left for another day to finish. When I made that last post I was about to FINISH the bathroom painting project that I started weeks before. Now I am happy to report that its done and I'm happy with the results.

Painting

I just decided that I hate painting. That's all I have to say.
P.S. Did I mention that I hate painting?

First SNOW

Last night we got the first snow of the year. It started snowing just before we went to bed, so Callie and Tyler were excited to wake up to a thin layer of snow on the ground. We had fun playing in it for a bit before we ate breakfast. CRAZY TYLER DIDN'T WANT TO COME IN FOR BREAKFAST! He was willing to play outside until it was time to leave, without eating. Callie and Tyler had a little show ball fight, while Eric stood marveling at how different everything was. He is such an observant little boy. I wish I could have read his thoughts when he saw all the white stuff! It feels so cozy in our house, with snow on the ground, and a warm fire going. I feel like making soup and warm bread for dinner, while listening to Christmas music! In reality though, all the snow will be melted by the time the day is over. Oh well, I will look forward to more snows this winter, and hopefully a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!

Great Escape

Nicloe, Me, Marinda, LeAnna, Shawna, Tiffani, and Sara

I had SO much fun this weekend! I got to hang out with some of the coolest girls ever! On Friday we went to the valley to do some shopping, then on Saturday we went to "Time out for Women and Girls". Friday night we ate at Texas Roadhouse, which was great because I had never eaten there. That night we stayed up late visiting, even after the front desk attendant called at 1:00 am to tell us we were being to loud. Time out on Saturday was AMAZING! It was the first one I had ever been to, and it definitely wont be the last. The speakers, and musicians were charming, motivational, and extremely talented. I left with a new dedication to be a better wife, mother, and daughter. For lunch that day we ate at TGIFridays (the one at the D-Backs stadium), which was also a first for me. Brian sent me off with some extra money to buy some clothes (thanks babe). He also watched Callie, Tyler, and Eric while I was gone (double thanks). I can not express how grateful I am that I was able to go to this conference, and even more, that I was able to spend time with such great people. Thank you Tiff for inviting me to go, I give you a standing ovation :).

Starkes family Rock Band

Thursday night Brian rented Rock Band. Callie and Tyler had fun playing it, when they were able to pry it away from Brian. It was hilarious to watch Brian jam out while he played! He is such a big kid....

Pizza and a cut!

On Thursday I gave Eric a hair cut.... Towards the end of it he started getting really restless, so I gave him a piece of pizza to eat while I finished up. It was a bit tricky to keep hair from getting in it :).

HAT fun

Uncle Mike left his hat in our car a few weeks ago, so we've been having a lot of fun with it. Doesn't E-Man the He-Man look so cute?

I Voted

I cant believe its election day! This time tomorrow we will have a new president. Its kinda scary to think that one person can have such a big impact on shaping our future. It will be interesting to see who it will be. I'm a little afraid to be honest.
It will also be interesting to see what happens with proposition 102 and other issues being voted on. I hope and pray everything turns out okay.

More Halloween

Brian's mom, Jackie was the Ketchup, she looked so cute. It was fun to eat at the Red Onion and see the girls there get all dressed up!
You better watch out Grandma, Tyler might suck your ketchup, I mean your blood!

Tyler got to be the Jester for his classes Halloween party. To entertain his class, his teacher let him do some magic tricks. It was really cool! Good job Tyler!!!

Halloween

Callie: Cave Woman

Tyler: Vampire

Eric: Frankenstein

See how excited Brian is!

Callie and Emma

We had a fun Halloween! Our kids had a blast dressing up. Eric was going to be a cute little pumpkin, but had a hard time keeping his costume on, so we did something else for him the last minute. Callie and her friend Emma wore matching costumes, which turned out so cute. Tyler had fun with his costume; we ate dinner at the Red Onion, and he ordered everything with extra "blood" (catchup). Brian's mom and some of the other girls at the Red Onion dressed up too. They looked really good. I cant believe Halloween is over and we are on to November!

Sleepy

A few days ago Eric was being a little crabby, and spent a lot of the morning crying. I put him down so I could do something really quick, after just a minute he got really quiet, and I found him asleep. He's so sweet!

Our little nursery boy

This is Eric's "cheese face" that he makes when we tell him to say "CHEESE"!

Tyler made Eric laugh so hard just before I took this picture. I
love watching Callie and Tyler play with him!

I love these three boys!

Eric's a nursery boy now! Sunday the 26th of October marked his 18 month. He went to church looking like quite the little man, wearing his white shirt and tie, while at the same time sporting his pacifier clipped to his tie. He ended up sleeping for about 45 minutes of his new class, but was a good boy and had a lot of fun!

8 BOYS

About a week ago we had seven extra kids at our house. They were ALL boys, so with Eric (Tyler was at school) we had eight boys!!! Callie says I need to find a few girls to watch. Sorry Callie, I think our house only attracts boys!

Eric

Eric is quite the diligent worker! He might just have a career in wood hauling. He could move wood from one pile to another, and then back again for hours. (Well maybe not hours, but for quite a while.)