In the Past Month...

As for now, Blogger is letting me in again. I'm just mentally preparing for the day it will kick me out. If I suddenly stop blogging again, you'll know why.

Is everyone ready for the "big vote" on Tuesday? Maybe some of you have already participated in early voting or have sent in absentee ballots. I'm starting to regret not having done either of those, since I'm anticipating the line to be insane. And then I'll have to try to keep little Sami entertained the whole time. Thankfully, Allie will be in school, so I won't have to worry about having to break up cat fights... unless someone tries to pick one with me. But who would pick a fight with a pregnant lady? How pathetic would that be?

But anyhow, I need to do some more studying up on local candidates... which really is a joke. For the most part, the only thing I ever know about the candidates is their name, and that's only because of the millions of annoying signs posted all over town. Their websites say nothing but "fluff." These people are just so difficult to research. And then don't get me started on the lingo used for the proposed amendments. Sure, we get a sample ballot in the mail so we can make a decision before we get to the polls, but it's difficult to make a decision when I can't decipher the meaning. What am I missing? Do I need an Ovaltine Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pen or something?

Well, I suppose I should actually talk about what happened this past month.

We made one of our last day trips to Sea World. The girls had three goals-- to see Shamu, play in the water, and ride the roller coaster (okay, so Sami's too little for that one). They achieved their goals just for Allie to exclaim after the Shamu show, "Where was the girl in the pink swimsuit?" Pink swimsuit? Oh, that's Blue Horizons, the dolphin show. Turns out she really hadn't cared to see Shamu at all, she just wanted to see the dolphin show with the "girl in the pink swimsuit." Oops. Maybe next time. But I think she was fine with Shamu.

I got to take the girls to the pumpkin patch down the street. We go there every year, but this year I took them during the day with a bunch of other moms and kids from Allie's school to participate in their little "field trip." We all went on a hayride (thankfully another mother had mosquito repellant wipes on hand), they read the kids stories and gave them drinks, and finished it off with a small pumpkin and "goodie bag" to take home. It was a hot afternoon (and I had decided to wear black of all colors) and the girls got a bit sunburned, but they really did have a blast. We went back in the evening the next week so we could pick out a family pumpkin with Kev.

We carved the pumpkin last Monday night for Family Home Evening, which always ends up being a ton more work for Kev and me while the girls just run around like maniacs. But this time, we let Allie get a little more involved by designing the jack-o-lantern's face. Kevin modified it slightly, since Allie wanted a silly face and her idea of a "silly" mouth was drawing a tangle of squiggles. But the rest of it was pretty true to Allie's design. Our little artist. She sure is proud of her works of art, and why shouldn't she be? The bold colors, heavy Van-Gogh-like strokes with her crayons... Her art is 100% Allie, true to the intensity within.

And speaking of "100% Allie," the little Miss was once again a princess for Halloween, as was her sister. That's three years in a row for Allie, and two for Sam. Allie wanted to wear her Snow White dress, so we went and got her some glittery red shoes shoes from Target to match, as well as a red ribbon for her hair from JoAnn's. Sami wanted to be Princess Anneliese from Barbie in Princess and the Pauper. It could have been complicated, if Allie hadn't already owned a pink princess dress and a gold crown. Perfect! As for Kev and me, we used the ward's basketball jerseys and dressed as BYU Intramural basketball players. A pregnant woman running down the court there is not unusual. In fact, I distinctly remember the last intramural volleyball team I played on-- all but two were pregnant... and we made it to the championship game. Of course, we were in the lowest division... and the single's ward we played creamed us, but it's not like no one saw that coming. Come on! Yup, only at BYU.

The girls went to a few houses in the neighborhood, and then we went to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church building. We had game in the back of the van (oh yeah, we got a van-- anyone want to buy a '99 Subaru?) where kids could earn two pieces of candy by throwing these fuzzy tennis balls at a Velcro target and getting a bulls eye. It amazed me how many kids really wanted to try it. We had a line of kids waiting their turn oftentimes. I love stuff like that.

The girls got loaded up on candy, and had a blast showing off their beautiful costumes. Kevin and I now just need to make sure we don't sneak all their candy, which is sitting on top of the fridge. We've been pretty good, though, and it's harder for Kev than for me, since he's the one with the major sweet tooth. He really has honed his will-power over the past year or so. I've been impressed with his will to resist the sweets. Of course, it helps that I just don't buy them.

Well, I had better go get Sami up from her nap.