Six Quirks

I was tagged by Trish to list six quirks and then pass on to six more people. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough blogging friends and family to tag that many, so I'll have to email this too…

1) I hate wearing socks! I’ll wear sandals until I absolutely can’t anymore. Even at that, in the winter I take off my socks and trade for slippers or flip flops when I’m home.
2) Apparently, when I roll my eyes, I only actually roll one eye. Stephen always teases “don’t roll your eye at me.” Haven’t seen this for myself of course…
3) I always have to keep my hands occupied. I make sure I’m always holding something that I can keep busy with- a pen, piece of paper, lid, ring, something. If my hands are empty, I’ll usually cross them or touch my face with one propped up or something goofy like that.
4) I don’t like both my feet flat on the floor when I’m sitting. I need to have my ankles crossed or one foot on something higher.
5) I’m an over-reactor. When something abrupt happens, I usually scream even if it’s no big deal.
6) This sounds bad, but I confess that one of my ticks is picking my nose. Really, just cleaning my nose. :) I hate when there’s anything even close to showing out of my nostrils and always bug at my nose to make sure there isn’t! I know, yuck…

I tag... my one family member that has a blog... Lundyn :) I'll email my Mom, Monica, Tania, Cyndel and Marci.

Halloween Party Weekend

This weekend Stephen and I went to a really fun Halloween party at our friends Jackson and Trish Whitehurst's house. They had blacklights and all kinds of spooky decorations- it was really a great time! We dressed up as Jack and Jill- Stephen had a huge, gross gash in his head and I had bruises all over :) It was fun to have a few hours with friends and meet some fun new people from Jerome too. I copied these pics from Trish's blog- I intended to do better taking some myself, but it got hectic trying to get ourselves there- thanks Trish for taking some of everyone! And thanks for a great time!

Jack and Jill after the fall :)

Jackson and Trish as haunted dead people- they really looked scary in the blacklights! As you walked up thier steps to come inside, there was a pile of guts- and they were real! From Jackson's duck hunting that morning- ew! :)

Now we are anxious to have the boys with us for trick or treating this weekend. They both picked out what they wanted to be and we gathered stuff for thier costumes last week. We've never had them for Halloween before, so we're excited! Have a great Halloween all... :)

Us Lately

This last weekend, Cooper and I traveled home to Moore to see Cinderella... actually, Cyndel as the Homecoming Queen in the school parade and game! It was fun to see her, my parents, Lundyn and Quincy. This isn't the best pic of Cyndel, but it's what I was able to get while trying to keep Cooper from getting run over in the process. Like my brother that's on a mission said... it would be better without the "goober" next to her :) She was so pretty and I was so proud to be there supporting her. She's beautiful from the inside :)


I brought back home a small blue chair for Cooper that my parent's didn't need anymore. Well, that chair has quickly become a stool around our house and may need to become an outside toy... :) He would've crashed big time yesterday if I hadn't been right there to catch him.

Cooper recently found a printed picture of my extended family- the one that was taken just (10 days!) before he was born and Conner left on his mission. I hung it on our fridge and he loves looking at it and trying to say names. He especially points out his brothers- he's getting pretty good at saying Taron and just nods his head when I try to get him to say Keaton (it's harder obviously). He says "see" for Quincy, "pa" or "papa" for Grandpa and just smiles for Grammie. Gotta love cute little things like this :)

Two Favorite Recipes

Trish requested that I post this syrup recipe and here it finally is!

Colleen's Homeade Maple Syrup
store in the fridge!
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla (add more)
1/2 tsp imitation maple flavor (little less)
Bring to boil and you're done! (Note: Don't leave the kitchen and let it boil over! Otherwise you have to boil water and scrub your stovetop with boiling water and a metal spatula... someone else told me that... he he :)

I thought at the same time I'd post one of my favorites- this apple toffee dip. It's great all year round but apples are especially yummy in the Fall!


Apple Toffee Dip
1- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup- 1 cup brown sugar
1- 3 tsp. vanilla
1/2 pkg (or so) tofee chips
Blend all ingredients together with a hand mixer for a minue or two and that's it! Slice (and peel if desired) as many apples as you'd like. (As Jackson would say- the apples are really just a means to get this stuff to your mouth :) Obviously this is pretty vague- really I just dump the sugar and vanilla in and then taste until I get it right. I also really like this without the toffee chips at all. Enjoy! :)

Moved by McCain

Maybe this will be the lamest post ever, but I was really moved by this speech and wanted to share it. McCain's comments today in Florida:

"Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 18 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide.

I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours? My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.

I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night who robs your strength. I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will. I felt those things once before. I will never let them in again. I'm an American. And I choose to fight."


This article is the script of his entire speech- finally, he gets into details of the issues and his plans compared to Obama's. I know it's all politics, but I'll take whatever hope I can get right now and these comments struck a chord with me for sure. I thought it was worth sharing ... Have a good weekend all!

In Awe of the Birds

This past summer I've been starting to get into digital scrapbooking- given that scrapping for real has become all but impossible :). Stephen is always asking when he can see some of my stuff, so this one is for him.

October Winter

After hearing there was a winter storm watch for our area and getting brief flutters of snow on Friday, we woke up on Saturday morning to winter! Cooper stood on the couch at the window and kept pointing out at it to us- so cute to see him discovering snow and the whiteness!

After snowing hard all day Saturday and into the night, this is what this morning looked like:

We've been hearing this winter is supposed to be a big one and boy, we believe it! Makes me even morso want to be prepared. We love the white and the change in seasons, but were hoping to mow our lawn really short and get our yard more ready for snow that it is now! Through today it melted quite a bit and no doubt won't last long. Just a little prep for what is to come I guess...

Tomorrow is Columbus Day and a holiday, so Cooper and I will spend the day together before going back to the grind of work and the babysitter again on Tuesday. Only a few weeks left though until I'll be home to help him discover snowmen, mittens, the smells of pine and cinnamon, twinkle lights, sleds, and (lukewarm) hot cocoa. Clearly jumping in leaves is an unknown. :)

Conference and Flying

Whenever Cooper goes outside, he turns and gives me a kiss (this is his puckered lips) through the screen, then waves bye-bye. He melts my heart. :)

This weekend was pretty much all about conference. We were happy to have both the boys at home. They are awesome with Cooper and he loves having them here. They all got outside to play between sessions and hung around the house too. They each had a Conference Booklet that I printed off and worked on it during the sessions- kind of a fun way to keep them focused.

Like I knew I would be, I was regenerated by conference. Stephen and I both loved Elder Holland's talk. I actually thought we would hear them be more urgent and serious, but it seemed like the message was rather of hope and faith. I'm too often pessimistic and feel strengthened to be more positive and faithful.


This is Taron's jack train that he made Saturday morning. Pretty creative. It's fun taking pics of the little accomplishments that show who they are. :)

On Sunday, our friends Jackson and Trish came over with thier kids, Jacks and Ceci. They all played Conference Bingo during the morning session and then we had a yummy brunch in between. Thanks to Jackson, we've decided grits are a new breakfast favorite. :)

Last night Cooper and I actually joined Stephen on his flight with the birds. He drives out in the field across from our house to fly his two birds, so it's not too far or long. Cooper loves anything to do with the birds and says "bur" constantly! Love this pic- he's looking up at his Daddy like he hung the moon.

Ten Random Thoughts

1) This last week I had somewhat of an epiphany about food storage. I've always pictured in my head that we'd need to use our storage in the instance of a natural disaster. But I've decided we might just need it for the times that there's still food on the shelves at the store and it's all too overpriced to afford. When our income will never be enough for what we need- that may be why we need to be prepared.

2) Taron and Keaton are such good big brothers. They are so helpful with Cooper and I love watching them with him. Tonight Keaton did show Cooper how to pick his nose with his thumb though... :)

3) I love the feeling of making dinner. I know that sounds dumb since it's a task that can get really old, but I still get a little zing of pride when we all sit down to eat a meal that I put some thought and effort into.

4) I love Sugardoodle.net. If you are a church teacher or parent, this is an awesome website! It has really improved my Young Women lessons. :)

5) This year for Christmas my family drew names and decided that the gifts had to be homeade. I've been thinking about what to make ever since.

6) Brothers can be horrible to each other. Today Keaton and Taron had a bout of literally trying to hurt one another in a fight. Then on the other hand, I know that they are each other's best friend. So true that the ones you love are the ones you have the ability to hurt the most.

7) I miss scrapbooking. I never get to sit down and scrap anymore with Cooper in the picture. Not to say I would trade it for anything, but I have ideas and projects in my head and even all the pieces just waiting to be put together, but it's impossible with Cooper insisting that what I'm doing is the funnest thing in the house at that moment.

8) I really like our ward. This last week I actually went to enrichment for the first time in forever and it was really a good time. I usually have too much social anxiety to let myself dive into things, but I really enjoy those times that I do.

9) I have a hard time with the fact that our school here has all day kindergarten. Not too long ago it occurred to me that my kids will spend more time over the course of thier lives with someone else than they will with us. Made my heart sad and made me want to prepare to home school (not anytime soon, obviously).

10) I'm excited for Conference tomorrow and Sunday. I really want to hear what our General Authorities will say in light of where things are economically right now. I remember how comforted I felt by President Hinckley right after 9/11 and know that I will feel that way again this weekend. Happy Conference watching all!