Introducing: The Litttle Mermaid {cast and crew}

Background: About a year ago Rylee really started getting into dress-ups and our collection started to grow. At a yard sale I found an Ariel costume for $2 and thought that was a perfect dress-up.  Ariel is Rylee's favorite "princess" {and therefore Kelsey's as well}. A few months ago the subject of Halloween came up and Rylee immediately said she wanted to be Ariel . . . . .  .and the theme started to grow.  

Here's the little ones:  Ariel and Flounder. Rylee will say "Flounder is Ariel's best friend"  and it makes my heart melt a little bit. We got a wig for Rylee but there was no way she was going to wear it all night, so we settled on hair paint.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  Our ward's trunk or treat/ chili cook off was 2 weekends ago :)

I kindof felt bad. The whole family theme was based on Rylee and I did the least for her costume {I did have to sew the sleeve back on just before we snapped pictures. . . . .that thing has been well loved :) }.  

Kelsey aka "Flounder". Yet another costume that makes more sense from the back :) Hers was the first I finished and I was really tempted to wake her up at 1am to try it on :) Good think I didn't because she hates putting on this outfit. silly girl. She must not have figured out how twirly a circle skirt can be. Though, I really think she's just mad that she's not Ariel.

It didn't take long for Rylee to convince her Dad to dress up as King Triton. It made her so happy! She would say "Daddy's going to be a mermaid!! and I'M going to be a mermaid!" and "King Triton is Ariel's Daddy, and Daddy is MY Daddy".

The wig didn't stay on all night but he made a valiant effort :)

Let's be honest for a minute: Halloween is mostly for children. And the girls will DEFINITELY be getting more use out of their costumes; but my costume is AWESOME! It pretty much made the theme. call me selfish. whatever ;)

It was so much fun to make.  After I'd finish or think of another detail I'd get so giddy.  You don't even want to know how many times I've sung "Poor Unfortunate Souls" around the house.  And the looks and smiles the girls gave me were even more encouraging. 

I mean, seriously? look at those eels: "Flatsom, Jatsom, now we've got her boys, the boss in on a ROLL!"
And the necklace "It won't cost much, just your VOICE!"
And did you notice there's suction cups on the underside of each tentacle? and they vary in sizes? Once you've get going, its hard to stop :)

"Don't underestimate the importance of. . . . .BODY LANGUAGE, HAH"

"they say a girl that gossips is a bore." . . . . . "pathetic"
"Do I help them? ..... yes I do." And in case you were wondering, yes I was in character most of the night.  And got a few requests, and several people to sing along with me. "life's full of tough choices, itn't it?"
-Funny story: the night I finished putting the 'skirt' together and the character started to form, mind you Michael was out of town and the girls were in bed so I'm working alone all giddy wanting to show someone and again its the middle of the night so I can't hardly send picture messages to even those who would appreciate it and Rylee happened to need to use the restroom (at 1 am).  I help her sleepy body to the bathroom and as she's sitting on the toilet (eyes strained from even just the hall light) and I say "wanna see what I've been working on?"  And pull on the tentacles. haha.  She looks up squinting and grins! "those are Ursula legs!"  After a little pause she says "Mom, I think you need a different shirt"  apparently my bright yellow pajama shirt wouldn't cut it for an octopus.

And finally, the whole crew together:

I even got the car in on some ocean attire :)

Halloween is so much fun! Good thing we get a lot of opportunities to dress up this week too.

I've been wearing my witch shoes and spider web or witch stockings to church all month and the nursery (and young women) have loved it :) As we were getting ready for the party Michael asked me "what are you going to do when Halloween is over?" "cry." :)

Date Week

You know how most couples have date night's? Well, we kindof hit the jackpot last week and pretty much got a date week.

We couldn't resist buying a groupon for Bon Jovi.  We saw him a couple years ago and had a blast so we thought we'd go again.  Did I mention he's Michael's favorite?

Lucky for us they upgraded our seats when we got to the stadium = awesome!

It really was a lot of fun.  He's a great performer and dances all over the stage. The best part is, he kind of laughs at himself while he does it. Lots of lunges, jazz hands, and shaking hips.  Great great night.

Then, the next night we headed to a continuing education cooking class. Michael signed us up as kindof a surprise. It was a kind of different, but fun. We made Saltimboca, and Italian dish. It was tasty.

Then Friday Michael took Rylee out on a 'date'. They saw the play "Willy Wonka". Rylee was really excited for the evening and kept asking when Dad would be home. Though, the play was a little over her head. They still had a fun night.

I took advantage of a little one-on-one time with Kelsey and the fact that the bike trailor would be 30lbs lighter and hit the street :) And then I pushed her on the swing without making her stop to give her sister a turn. Quality bonding time all around.

Friday Night Lights

Its Texas. This state wouldn't function without football.
That being said, we try to hit up a HS game or two when we can. :) We took the girls a couple weekends ago. Not sure why I was surprised but it was PACKED! The schools in this district share 2 stadiums, which is kinda different, but they're pretty nice and BIG.
It was a shut-out so we didn't keep our cheerleaders out to watch the end of the game, but we had fun.

Go Bears!

Dallas

Michael had work to do in Dallas a while back so the girls and I decided to meet him up there for a few days. It didn't work for us to all go up together, but we decided to still go. This drive however was NOT PLEASANT. I mentioned several times how dumb it was that I voluntarily got in the car AGAIN for a road trip after we basically lived in the car for a month. Dallas is a 5+ hr drive for us.
Maybe if I'd have planned the departure time a little better it may not have been so bad, I had to pack the car and the kids by myself (again), I forgot all sorts of things, the girls didn't take good naps and were crabby, then they followed my lead and were even more crabby. It was pouring rain, and then I smelled poop. . . . and that smell became even stronger. and through the mirrors I saw Kelsey's hands up in the air with a "huh?" type expression. I asked Rylee "Does Kelsey have poop in her hands?" "um . . . . yes Mom. Mom!! Mom!! Kelsey has poop on her hands!" great. just what I needed on a solo road trip where I already had zero patience. awesome. I pulled over to the nearest gas station and unloaded. The worst part was I was by myself with two small children one of which is covered in her own feces, while I desperately tried to keep it off of me and keeping the older non-tethered one from being fun over by a truck.
And to top it off, there wasn't a changing table in the restroom.
I wanted to turn the car around. And threatened to several times. But I was actually closer to the hotel than our home. and at home I would have to unload the car by myself.
We finally made it and went to bed. Hoping the weekend would be worth it.
and it was.
Amazing what a good nights sleep can do for you :) This ended up being a most relaxing trip!! it was wonderful. We could do whatever we wanted. Dad joined us when he could.

Agenda #1 was a local splash pad/park. It was great. It boggles my mind that San Antonio doesn't have more (any?) of these. Michael picked up lunch and our sister-in-law and nephew/cousin met us to play.

The hotel we stayed at was close to the outlet mall so we did a little shopping after dinner on night. We let the girls ride a little car. Seriously, it was 25cents- I always thought those things cost more money. The girls loved it!

Then Rylee found and begged her Daddy to buy her some Ariel pajamas. He obliged and she wouldn't let the bag out of her hands :) cute little shoppers!

We did lots of swimming, and good ole family time. We stayed an extra night and then headed home. The drive home was much less dramatic :)

Mullet-ectomy

What? You all don't call your haircuts mullet-ecomies?

Kelsey -girl took that phrase to a whole new level. 

I badly wish for my girls to have long thick hair and allow me to yank and pull it into various do's.  Maybe they'll have thick hair like me when they're in their teens. . . .by that time, I'm sure they won't let me touch their hair (That may or may not be exactly what happened to me)

At any rate, as difficult as it is for me to schedule that first haircut, it was time.

Seriously, it was getting to be ridiculous. It just one more act of "Good-bye baby, Hello toddler"

 

Business in front indeed. . . . nothing needed (or could?) be cut up there :) seriously, I wish.

As sad as it is, that's much better: cute little bob.

 Now, grow baby grow!!

Camp for Supers!

After we got home I had a week to finish preparing to go to girls camp!
I love camp.
It was really hard to leave my kids though. The night before as we got the kids in bed, Rylee was crying not wanting me to leave. then of course I was also in tears. It was the longest I'd be away from them, and not really even be able to call/talk much either :( I told Rylee I would be home all night but that I was leaving in the morning. She asked if I would wake her up to say good-bye and I promised I would. She had a very hard time falling asleep- every knock on the door (people dropping stuff off to take) had her out of bed. It was early when we left but I made good on my promise and went in to hug/kiss her good bye. I was nervous we'd both be in tears again and she just opened her eyes and said "bye." and rolled over. much easier :)
Thankfully, We had friends watch the girls during the day and then Michael was home with them at night. It was hard, but worked out.
I had a blast. It was fun to spend time with the girls, most of my work was getting the girls READY to go and once I was there, just helping out wherever I was needed.
We stayed at a summer camp in cabins with a camp cook (seriously, all the girls had to do was clear the tables and sweep the floors). They had classes, ropes course, zip line, swimming, devotionals, a spirit walk with parent letters, testimony meetings and lots of songs, hugs, laughter and tears.
A highlight for most was the spirit walk. The youth leaders do most of the planning now and we went for a walk where they had scenes scriptures set up for us to ponder. All in silence we walked back to the pavilion where there was a huge picture of the Savior projected on the wall and then we watched a couple mormon message videos and pondered on our Heavenly Father's love for us. The spirit was felt so strongly. Then all the girls were given letter from home to open and read and the group was overflowed with tears.
Our YW President turned to me and we both said "I want a letter from my Mom!!" You know, all gushy telling us how great we are and what "superhero powers" we have. ;)
It was really nice to get away from the "every day" for a few days. Friendships were made/strengthened and of course our testimonies. I'd say mission accomplished

I ended up spending most of my time with the 4th years. They are amazing and it was fun to be able to get to know them a little bit. I'm sad its only a one year gig :) Though, with little kids, that would be hard to do annually but I'm glad we were able to work it out this year :)

WI: finished.

It was really fun having the Allsop cousins together again. They mostly played and in my girls case, fought over toys and spent most of the time going up and down the stairs (one story home here remember? Stairs are just an imobile toy). We celebrated several birthday's while together (one of which was mine). So, the house was decorated with hand-drawn pictures to celebrate. cute. There was a few quiet moments when the older kids were all snuggled on the couch watching a movie. Too sweet to not capture.

2012 was a big year for for the family. In one year the grandchilren doubled from 4 to 8! Like I said, this was the first time they were all together. It was really fun to line them all up and take photos, something they'd best get used to (I have 6 cousins that were all born the same year and they've been lining up for photos for 35 years. . . )
the oldest and youngest are close to a year apart but they both snuck in to the make the cut :)

The older kids then wanted to get in on the line up and joined the party.

And my dear sil even marked the ages on the photo.

And of course these photos were taken minutes before we pulled out of the drive way to go home. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to document the occation :)
Cousins are the best!

The drive home was wonderfully uneventful and that wraps up our vacation. whew!