Photo Overload Part II: Staheli Farms

I'm sure lots of you have already seen most of these on my Facebook page, but I thought I'd put them up here, too. Just for kicks. :)

First up are photos from our visit to Staheli Farms, where we got to enjoy a playground (with corn!), a pumpkin patch, farm animals (that the kids refused to touch), and a corn maze.

Photo Overload, a.k.a., Playing Catch-Up: Halloween

I wasn't even going to dress up for Halloween, until Phill told me HE was planning on it...and then I quickly came up with June Cleaver, using stuff I had on hand (interestingly enough), except for the pearls and my lipstick. :) And the fake eyelashes.



Now, Phill....Phill, being the jokerster that he is....Phill's good friend, local radio personality Jon Smith, kept telling Phill that he should be the Brawny paper towel guy for Halloween. But Phill didn't like that idea, and chose, instead, to dress as our very own.....(drumroll, please)....JON SMITH! Jon's face when he saw Phill was priceless. He is very rarely surprised, and he was beyond surprised. Here are pictures for comparison. Hard to see in the first photo, but Phill actually put black makeup in his hair to take the transformation even further.

Savanna was an ornery (and tail-less) kitty.


Jaxon, our ninja. He's good at mysterious.

Reed, a pirate. Not entirely sure what he's doing here? One of only a couple photos I got of him--he was raring to go and only lightly humored me!

Awarded

Well, bless my soul! (Say it with a Southern accent. It will sound better.) I have been given the Honest Scrap Award from my fellow blogger, Rae!

That's right--Rae. We share a name, as well as an interest in blogging and photography, and a willingness to serve with the Scouts when asked. (Examine the last part of that sentence closely. I am delicately phrasing my true feelings about that particular calling, which I have had no less than three times.) Rae is funny, easy to get along with, hard-working, creative, and kind. She is definitely one of my favorite bloggers!

So along with the award, I have some responsibilities.

1) I must thank the person who gave the award and list their blog and link it.
2) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

10 Honest Things
About Me

1 - I hate when men have long nails. As in a teensy bit of white showing. Call me picky or old-fashioned--I just don't like it! I like a man's hands to look...MANLY.

2 - Last week I bought a shirt designed by Miley Cyrus (or the designer they picked to make things that Miley could put her name on).

3 - I make up random (and ridiculous) songs a lot. When I was still at home, my sisters (okay, just the younger sisters) and I made up songs on the fly quite often. My personal favorites: "Do You Like My Black Shirt? I Do" and "Do Your Armpits Smell Like..." (I will not finish the rest of that title.)

4 - I still sometimes dance like a crazy person when I'm all alone in my room. Once Phill walked in, and I almost cried with embarrassment. Sweet man that he is, he just smiled. The biggest smile I've ever seen. As in: If I don't keep smiling hugely, I will be laughing within seconds.

5 - My first job was on an Army base in the security clearance section. I got to ogle cute soldiers (and sometimes read their files), read mysteries, email friends, and listen to U2.

6 - I love shopping at D.I., but I'm telling you, there is a smell, and it is weird, and I do have to concentrate a little to forget about it when I walk in. It's worth the good deals, though.

7 - I often wish that I had an incredibly useful skill (besides photography and, well, baby-rearing), and every time I go past the crafts book section of Barnes & Noble, I am stalled for a good 30 minutes, dreaming of the new talent I will acquire. "Oooooo, beading!! I will have beaded pillows decorating the whole house!" -or- "Basket Weaving! I will have an Etsy shop and a booth at the fair and a whole BUSINESS of basket weaving! Underwater, even!" -or- "How to Become a Carpenter in 30 Days?! I WILL become a carpenter! I'll build EVERYTHING for the house!" True, I am ambitious and interested and idealistic. Most of these ideas fall flat right out of the gate, but one day, I am sure I will find a new endeavor that will latch on with ferocity.

8 - I LOVE notebooks. Paper of all kinds, really, but....notebooks. Which are a close cousin to books--just gloriously blank. I have to resist the urge to buy every moleskine notebook I see, every attractively-decorated journal, every package of pretty paper. It is bad. Very bad. I have banned myself from notebook-buying for a couple of years at a time when it was discovered (by a somewhat-shocked Phill) that I had no less than 15 unused notebooks. "Sweetheart, what do you even need these for?" "I don't KNOW! But I WILL need them! Soon! For something!" It is my only tendency towards packratism. Otherwise, I am ruthless in the amount of things I keep "just in case". *Okay. Pencils, too, and pens, and honestly, pretty much all other office supplies.

9 - Sometimes I snort when I laugh.

10 - I come from a rich family tradition of reading aloud to each other. We love to do various voices, and get into the story in an almost comical way. One of my favorite memories is a Christmas at my grandma's house (I think I was 15?) when my brother Isaac read Harry Potter aloud to my younger sisters and I. His voice for Snape was so perfect, so oily, so snake-y. It made us laugh--and him too--every time it came up. My oldest brother, Reed, used to read Roald Dahl books to us when I was little--about 7. His voices were perfect, too. The BFG is one of the first books I remember having read to me, aside from The Book of Mormon and a simple school book.

Now--you seven whom I have nominated:

My brilliant brother-in-law, Eric, over at LDS Prosperity

My beautiful friend and smashing photographer, Marie at MAG GAB

The mother to three beautiful girls and a dear friend, Cyndie at The Secret Lives of Tracys

Another photographer friend (watch out, it's contagious!) of mine who has actually known me since I was born, and is more family than friend--Christy at Life with the Schnegel-kins

My cousin, who continues to inspire me with her own personal growth and progress, Annie at The Delights of Our Lives

My sister, Abby, who manages to post just what I need, when I need it. Check out a particularly humorous post on her blog, Business As Usual.

And lastly--not leastly--Lara at Overstuffed. It's good stuff, people. And she always welcomes new readers, so hop on over and say hi.

I don't like the fact that it only let me nominate 7. There are quite a few more I would have liked to link to--so if you don't see yourself on here, count yourself nominated, anyway, please.

Sweet Sleep

For the last couple of weeks, I have been totally sucked in by books. Sometimes for weeks I can't find anything that draws my interest much. And then I'll have a good long period of time when I hit the jackpot, and all I want to DO is read, read, read. (The Hunger Games) (Icy Sparks)

Because I have hit upon a couple of good books, I have been staying up a little later than normal to read. Okay, much later than normal. Fine. 2 hours later than usual. Which means that I get out of bed feeling like my body is still asleep. (It probably is.) And then I feel cranky until 5:00p.m., and choose to be silent all day, instead of saying the really cranky things I'm thinking.

Anyway--last night, I finally felt the full effects of all my missing sleep. As I read, my eyes began to cross. The letters on the page started to swim around, and I knew that if I didn't put the book down and close my eyes, I'd fall asleep with it in my hands. So I decided to go to sleep....and was still thinking about the book when I fell asleep, but fell into the deepest sleep I've had for a very long time.

When I woke up, feeling oddly....good....I realized that I hadn't heard my alarm go off. I had a moment of panic before I realized that I still had about 20 minutes to get Reed breakfast, lunch made, and out the door for school.

Then I realized that I had slept nine hours. No wonder I felt so good! Not necessarily jumping around with joy, but I felt happy, able to face the morning. We know this is NOT my typical morning feeling. My mom gave me a book once entitled Joy in the Morning, and handed it to me with a smile, saying, "Isn't that title funny?" Yes. Yes, that is hilarious. Joy? In the morning? Sure.

And I'm sure my happy mood has nothing to do with the fact that I recently acquired more sleep-stealers--Catching Fire and The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Well....a cookbook won't keep me awake. But it will provide me with some food to munch on while I read.

Quotables: It's been a while!

Yesterday, while I made dinner, the boys sat at the table asking each other What's Your Favorite questions. I listened quietly, not wanting to interrupt and make them shy or change their answers. I overheard:

Jaxon asks Reed, "What's your favorite birthday present?"
Reed answers, "Um, I really want a toot bag! Then I can make toot sounds." (It took me a second to realize that he was talking about a whoopie cushion, and then I was just trying not to let him see me laughing. I was facing away from him with the hugest smile on my face.

Reed asks Jaxon, "Who's your favorite dad?"
Jaxon answers, "Phillip."
Reed laughs and says to me, "Phillip! Hahahah...."
And then Jaxon says matter-of-factly, "Cuz that's the dad we're 'upposed to have!"

Reed asks Jaxon, "What's your favorite rock 'n roll guy?"
Jaxon answers, "Mmmmm.....Jimi Hendrix." Except he says Hendwix, which is so cute I can hardly stand it, and I go into the pantry to laugh quietly.

Savanna is constantly making up songs. Right now, she is at the table, eating cereal and singing, "One-ee-two....one-ee-two...."