what a beautiful mess

We made lots of desserts: We spent lots of time with the sweet babies: We sat around and talked and watched movies and  Candices favorite that she just had to watch, the Biggest Loser: And on Saturday, we went to Palisades and cut down a twig to use as their Christmas tree this year: I love this picture of Candice and Kyran: The goodbye wasn't even all that hard since in about two weeks, we're heading out to Boise for an  overnight trip and they're going to watch our kids for us!  Yipee! I can't wait until then....

That's my only excuse and a pretty good one, I might say, when my family asks me why I haven't updated my blog.... Thanksgiving 2011 Candice and Quinn came and stayed with us from Tuesday to Sunday and we loved every single second of  it! Even the crying babies and the no's and don'ts..it was all adorable to us Haslems who haven't had a baby in the home for 4 years! Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and there was little complaints. Quinn made a delicious turkey and now  after all the leftovers, it's all gone.  The Fowlers minus Asa who's hiding by Emily: Us: Best picture of the whole week: And here's a close up of why it's the best: (he is going to kill me.) We laughed and laughed and laughed when we saw this picture! It was a wonderfully warm, lovely day... After dinner, we played some football in the backyard and then came in and ate pie.  A lot of pie.  And th...

Sometimes when the night has finally wound down, kids are in bed reading  and we're relaxing on the couch with our soda,  if the camera is in reachable distance,  I like to take pictures.  Most of the time they get vetoed from ever having anyone else in the world see it..... but sometimes they don't.  Not only did we relax and take pictures tonight but we also dissected our laughter.  My laughter is constantly evolving. For example every time I was pregnant, I had a deep, hearty laugh....like Santas.  But Trevor has only two different laughs.  His real laugh and his work laugh.  I think laughing is one of my most favorite things to do.  And being married to Trevor means that there is a lot of it.... And since Candice and Quinn are going to be here for Thanksgiving this week  (they'll be here tomorrow~yipee!) we will be laughing a ton! I can't wait!

in the great outdoors.... It took awhile but we finally found the perfect one! What a great weekend....

I would want this for Christmas: (Princess and the Pea Set) or maybe if I was a boy (which I'm not) I would want this: Garnet Hill I'm so excited for Christmas! 

I took these picture last week and they just make me laugh....

Both Stephen and Kase lost a tooth the first night we were in SLC visiting!  These were two very excited boys! I love this picture of Joyleen and Chelsey. And check out these two skinny-minnys: We had such an awesome weekend... We ate too much food, stayed up too late.... but it was so worth it!  Thank you Grandma for the fantastic weekend. We LOVE visiting you! and We LOVE you!

This morning I woke up to yelling, fighting, hitting..... My four little kids got in a lot of trouble.  How is it that the people you love the most  can make you the most angry?  Good thing they have so many cute moments

1. I woke up to the girls room looking like this: Yes, it does, in fact, look worse than last night. And yes, that is an egg box on the floor. Apparently Annabelle has big plans for it. 2. Trevor and I had lively discussion at the dinner table about our school system and whether or not kids should be served 3 meals a day at school. At one point, Trevor was called a "democrat" for using bogus statistics. But I also said "It takes a village to raise a child" and was reminded of WHO made that saying famous. I took it back and have regretted saying it since. 4. We had lasagna for dinner....with homemade "sheet" noodles. SHEET noodles, people. Anyone else reminded of "The Help"? 5. Trevor and I sat on the couch and looked through this book: It brought back some great memories. 6.Joshua worked out this morning to P90X and afterwards, pointed to his nipples and said "They're getting stronger." Strong nippl...

It not only needs a good cleaning out,  but it also needs a dresser, beds, bookshelves and a desk.  Me and Craigslist are going to become fast friends, I'm sure... (I make their beds for them everyday...how sad it that?! Tell me I'm not the only mom who does that?) I checked out this book from the library yesterday and all the patterns are so inspiring! I'm hoping to have their room all furnished and done by the end of the year.  Wish me lots of luck!

sometimes include looks like this one from Joshua and ones like this from me.  But usually we are happy and laughing.  Throwing tantrums is a rare occurrence for Joshua. Unless I make him eat his potatoes.

This is just one of many blog posts with this title, I am sure.  What a good day though...! Trevor worked 70 hours this week and we are so ready for him to not work seventy hour weeks. So because it felt as if we hadn't seen him in forever (slight exaggeration), the kids and I took him lunch and hung out with him for a couple of hours. I never get tired of that man. And now a good day is turning into a great night. Since he wasn't home for nacho movie night last night (although he did bring home Albertos for me and him~yummy), we have plans to eat nachos while watching the movie Water For Elephants. I'll keep you posted on how long he can keep his eyes open tonight. To be honest though, I wouldn't blame him if he fell asleep while eating. (p.s. Candice...we never got outside to build a snowman today so a picture of that will have to come another day....enjoy New Girl tonight...at least you better!)

In an effort to be a cooler mom, today I set up the tent for Joshua.  By myself.  Yes, it looks droopy and not the way a tent should actually look. And yes, Trevor had to fix it when he got home.  But my heart was (kind of) in the right place.  I really just wanted Josh to be happy and think I was the absolute best.  Mission accomplished.  We played in the tent for quite awhile.  We told stories (but no scary ones or any about werewolves or Bigfoot or any stories about  anyone named Harry) and ate candy and built fires with blocks.  When Stephen came home, him and his friend had a lot of fun: And they left a lot of candy wrappers. The kids are going to have a sleepover in the tent tomorrow night. So...yes....I am a stupendous mom!!! ************************************* Trevor says I look scary in this picture but I have to say that his eyes look way scarier than I look. ...

What does a rocker, Taylor Swift and a hunter all have in common? Absolutely nothing except that this is what Halloween looked like at our house. I never said it was a funny joke~! And I forgot to get a picture of Joshua so I'm feeling a little mom guilt.... This is what the morning after Halloween looks like if I'm feeling sick. That would be the dishes used to fix food for the kids party and food for our family party. We had the traditional Chicken Chili and my moms famous corn bread. And maple bars for desert. No wonder I'm feeling sick.