Snow Day

On Saturday, early in November, we got a pretty good amount of snow at our little home. I woke up early and made my way to temple. While I was away Wes introduced my little Violet to the wonders of the white stuff. She had unkempt hair and no gloves on but that shouldn't keep a girl from playing.

When I got home I bundled up my little girl, got some dry pants on her and tried to warm her little, red fingers. From the pictures it looks like she had a lot of fun!

Cat Girl!

Grandma Julie sends cards every Halloween. Some of the cards this year were masks. The girls had a lot of fun trying them on. Adelle I thought looked quite fetching as a purple Cat! Just call her Cat Girl!

Spooks on Halloween Night

Halloween was a little different this year. Lydia had rehearsal until later on Halloween evening and then she decided to go to a party this year instead of joining us. She really is growing up so fast. To make Violet's Halloween experience easier we took her in the stroller. She had a really fun time getting candy. Sitting in the stroller made her pretty mellow. It was funny, but she did manage to still say "thank you". Adelle was her usual energetic self! She helped Violet with her load by carrying some of her candy so her bucket wouldn't get too heavy. She did let us know several times though how heavy her bag was.

We went to quite a few houses and stayed out for probably an hour when Violet started getting pretty tired. I agreed to take Violet home so Wes and Adelle could made a mad dash to get even more candy!

Once they got home Wes had to quickly get Lydia from her party. It was such a busy night that I forgot to get the familiar pictures with the girls displaying their candy loot. Lydia of course really didn't have a stash of candy either since she had gone to a party. We managed to have a fun time and I was super grateful the weather wasn't too cold this year.

Halloween at School

I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer in Adelle's class on Halloween Day. I got all dressed up and was prepared to have some fun!

Adelle always is super excited when I join her at school and Halloween was no exception.

First we set up some games for the kids. Each of the classes rotated through so I got to see a lot of different kids. Then Adelle and I both participated in the Halloween Parade. It was fun to hold her hand and to go through all of the different classes. The auditorium was absolutely packed with parents and to actually be right there with my girl instead of craning my head trying to catch a glimpse of her was priceless!

5 Little Pumpkins

I know that I am super behind in blogging. Work has been busy and putting long hours in front of a computer has made it hard for me to think of blogging. Now that I have a week or so off I'm hoping to catch up. The Sunday before Halloween our little family gathered around the kitchen table to make our pumpkins. I gave Violet a crayon and she really enjoyed coloring her pumpkin.

The girls had a fun time choosing their very own pumpkin.

Wes was very helpful opening up the pumpkins and helping with the scraping.

Lydia and Adelle both made their own designs.

Adelle was SO EXCITED to finally be carving pumpkins. I kept promising to do it and I'm glad we finally found time.

Violet wanted a happy pumpkin so with my carving knife I created one for her.

I created a scared pumpkin! That spider has him spooked!

Adelle created a girl pumpkin that is sticking it's tongue out.

Lydia wanted a pumpkin with a uni brow!

After Wes was done helping everyone else he took time to create his pumpkin masterpiece!

He didn't use a stencil at all, only his imagination!

We sure had a lot of fun and we placed our 5 little pumpkins on the porch. This year we were even fortunate enough for none of our pumpkins to be stolen or smashed. Instead we let them sit and grow mold. Eventually we had to say goodbye to our pumpkins, but we will always have our pictures!

Which Laundry Soap Cleans the Best?

A few months ago Adelle had to pepare a science fair project for school. Wes suggested putting fats on paper and seeing which one spreads the farthest (shows which foods are highest in fat). I instead suggested laundry soap and finding out which one cleans the best. I wish I could say my suggestion was all for science, but really it was a selfish reason. What Mom doesn't want to know which brand is best. Adelle was quite interested in my idea :)


I bought five different brands of laundry soap. We even thought of making a homemade soap, but after looking up a recipe and finding it had several exotic ingrediants we let that idea slip away. We took 5 different white rags and stained them with Russian Dressing, Ketchup, Mustard, and Chocolate Syrup. We let the stains sit 2 hours before being washed by a brand of laundry soap. All of the laundry soaps were able to remove the stains, except mustard. Nothing, I repeat nothing, could remove the mustard. We didn't do any sort of pre-treating. We just wanted to see the power of the laundry soap alone.

Adelle's theory was the most expensive laundry soap would work the best. Here they are in order of price:

1. Tide

2. Wisk

3. All

4. Kirkland (Costco Brand)

5. Sun

Adelle's theory was correct, but the price order didn't entirely determine how they all performed.

Tide in fact did clean the best. Too bad it is so darn expensive. I bought it on coupon and have been trying to get my hands on more of them :) It had the least amount of mustard left.

All was a very close second. It was a lot cheaper.

Wisk, while being second in price, was third in performance.

Sun, while last in price, came in fourth in performance. It is hard to see in the picture, but the mustard left behind was a pretty interesting color.

And to my absolute horror the Kirkland Laundry soap, which I have used for countless years, came in absolute last. I couldn't believe it :( Guess it is time to switch!

Adelle made her fancy poster and brought it to school. While she didn't earn an award, her teacher confessed that she was very interested in Adelle's project.

Adelle confessed that while she was very happy to do such a useful project for our family, she would rather do something more interesting next year. I guess the kids in her class were very interested in a child that did a project on what body parts have the most bacteria. I guess the bottom won. We will not be doing that one...I am certain. I did let Wes know that perhaps he should be her Science Advisor next year. I've filled that role for two years now. We've gone from mold last year to laundry soap this year (I must confess I preferred this year) and Adelle has worked hard. I am so proud of her!

Adelle, The Brave Little Cowgirl

We now interrupt your halloween posts to flash back to September. I realized I forgot a few things. Adelle's school had an excellent program for Red Ribbon Week. It was actually a program put together by the Govener's wife. The songs were original and cheorographed and everything. I was very impressed with the PTA and teachers that worked so hard! Adelle absolutely rocked it as a cowgirl in the second grade song! She was so proud to be up in front of everyone. As usual Adelle's school was packed. I was so glad I was able to score a front row seat.

I didn't realize how much taller she was than other kids her age until I attended this event.

All of the kids really knew the actions and the words to the song. It honestly was one of the most entertaining school programs I've seen.

I'm so glad she is in such a great school that is challenging her and allowing her to grow.