No Boys Allowed, or Christmas Tree Shopping

Eric and I are pretty good about agreeing before buying big purchases (except for life altering puppies). We discuss before any big ticket items are bought and we try hard to be frugal and only buy things that we "need." Occasionally though we disagree as to what we "need." Sometimes I "need" a new pair of brown knee high boots, and rather than disagree Eric gets a sage look on his face and says "ok, if you think you really need them then go ahead." Nothing stops me in my spending tracks faster than Eric agreeing but with the undertone of "if you buy it your children will starve." I've taken to buying any recklessly unnecessary purchases while he is at work so I don't have to meet his pitying gaze and kind words. I thought I had it all worked out, until I took the kids shopping to get a Christmas tree.

Eric was still at work, we needed a new artificial tree so I decided to do it after I picked the kids up from school. I thought the kids would be as excited as I was, and was really looking forward to it. I told them what our errand was and they talked the whole way to the store about how big a tree we were going to get.

Christmas trees have come a long way since we bought our first 2 foot, tiny, fake tree. They have beautiful life like branches, gently dusted with snow and pine cones,and lights pre-attached. I was drooling over them while the kids lobbied for the bright purple monstrosity. I had made up my mind. I was buying this perfect tree that I could love for years to come.

"It doesn't cost that much if you divide it up over 50 years!" I told myself in justification.

"I could love this tree FOREVER!"
I tried not to think of my husband patiently nodding his head and saying "if you really need it..." I picked up the giant box to put it in my cart when Ethan came over.

"What are you doing Mom?" he inquires innocently
"Getting our new tree." I gasp with excitement.
"Which one is it?" he replies thoughtfully.
"That one right there, the really pretty one." I answer, my face exuding joy.
Ethan looks at the display, then abruptly scowls at me and points to the price tag. Dang, I knew we should have kept him in the dark about money longer.

We got the cheap tree.

Tartar Sauce may be over 100 years old, but our Tarter Sauce is 2!

Olivia's best friend, Carter (she calls him "Tarter") turned two on Wednesday. It is so fun to see the two of the growing up, but a little sad too. They are at my favorite stage where they are opinionated, mobile, talkative, funny and just plain sweet (and a little sour sometimes :) To celebrate Tarter Sauce's birthday we were invited to go with the Bagleys to go see "Tangled" and then to have dinner afterwards.
Before the movie, while we were waiting for it to start I let the kids get little prizes from the vending machine by the snack bar (WAY cheaper than letting them get a candy!) The girls all got rings, Ethan got some boyish necklace, but Caleb got the BEST item ever distributed by a 25 cent machine: a fake mustache! He looked very debonair.
Livi wanted to sit next to Carter, but when you have 7 kids and only 4 adults it makes finding seats next to everyone you want a little difficult. Melissa was so nice and let Livi sit on her lap, but then Carter wanted to sit on her lap too. They were so cute during the previews. One came on for the new "Cars" movie and they started screaming "CARS" "MATER" "AHHHHH." It's like they were playing off each other and kept getting louder and louder and louder!
Tangled is one of my new favorite movies. I literally laughed and cried (but I do that in almost every movie I watch). It was so much fun, and everyone in the family had a great time.
After the movie we headed over to McDonalds (in negative degree weather). The kids loved the food, the play place, and especially the chocolate cake. Livi dragged a chair over by her Tarter and spent the whole night eating and playing with him. What a fun night!
We spent Thanksgiving the next day with the Bagleys as well, but I forgot to take any pictures. It was still awesome even though I didn't document it.

72 degrees with 97% humidity

Livi had been sick so we bought a new humidifier. I put regular Livi down for her nap, but Goldilocks was there when she woke up. Grandpa Rulon eat your heart out!

Ethan the Enforcer

I'm not sure what he was afraid of when he went to bed, but it had better watch out! (It's a toy bat that is wrapped up in the covers with him.)

Just Put It In The Food Storage....

Everyone told me to expect a TON of trick-or-treaters this year. We live up on the hill and people drive their kids up here just to go in this neighborhood. For the last 2 months I have bought a couple of candy bags every time I went to the store, just so I would have enough. People said to easily expect 200 kids. Well, we got 20 little groups. Thanks a lot everyone that expressed an opinion. I now have 15 bags of candy sitting in my basement (I ate WAY to many when they were upstairs). I don't know what to do for next year since there were a lot of people on the street we run off of but not our street, and I think not as many people came, with Halloween landing on a Sunday.
It was hard decision this year. Normally I LOVE trick-or-treating and it is a no brainer. It almost makes me cry when I take the kids around and people are so nice and willing to come together to make a great night for all the kids in town. We were not going to go, since Halloween was on the Sabbath, but after moving into our new home all our neighbors mentioned how happy they were to have kids on the street again. Everyone has been so warm and welcoming it felt like a snub not to take the kids around on Halloween night. I think it was the right thing to do. Our neighbors were so happy to see them, and one couple invited the kids in and gave them special treats and soda. It is really such a wonderful place to live, I feel so spoiled.
So here they are in all their costumed glory:
Our cranky and well cast Queen of Hearts:
Our sweet Alice, who didn't want to wear a costume that didn't have pink on it, but was a good sport:
Our gallant knight who insisted on a two sided tunic so that he would only have to wear the heart side to the ward party and could have the lion the other times he wore the costume:
And here is our overly excited kids about to start their trek around the neighborhood:

Livi's 2!!!!!

I cannot believe my little tiny baby is 2! The time has truly flown by (okay not the first 6 months, but everything after that has). Livi is one of the cutest 2 year olds I have ever met, she loves singing and dancing like her big sister Ella. She loves telling stories (even if we have no idea what they are about) like her big brother Ethan. She loves to read books, go on walks, watch Care Bears, and especially play with Tarter Sauce (Carter).(I love this picture. They insisted on sitting by each other during the birthday dinner of pizza.)

Her birthday was busy, but we tried hard to make sure she knew it was special and that we loved her. We started opening gifts in the morning, and I loved how much fun she had. She still loves taking off the wrapping paper, but unlike last year she gets excited about what is UNDER the paper. Late, after all the errands and school we had the Bagleys over for pizza with brownies and icecream for dessert (it's easier than cake for little fingers).
Here are some videos that show her amazingly cute reactions:
Video 1- opening her gifts from Ethan and Ella. It was backwards shirt day at school so Ella's shirt is like that on purpose, I promise (Ethan refused on principal).
Video 2- Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Beesley
Video 3- Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Stott
Video 4- Opening package in mail from Beesleys