Just a Reminder...

You only have ONE DAY LEFT to enter my first giveaway! You must enter before midnight Sunday night. There are a few of you that have commented on other posts, but not the giveaway one. Be sure to comment there so that you can be entered in the contest!

Can't wait to see who wins! I'll announce the winner on Monday. :)

Out With the Crazies on Black Friday

I really think you have to have some kind of serious issues to get up and go shopping on a day like today. I know I do because I was out the door by 4:30 AM after just an hour of sleep.

Let me first say I used to NEVER go shopping on Black Friday and thought my family was totally crazy for participating. They somehow got me to go with them one year because a few stores were giving out free gift cards. I love getting freebies!! Dan and I used to get soooo much free stuff, it totally made the lack of sleep and dealing with crowds worth it! Even though not many places still give away free items, it's okay because I'm already hooked on the deals. I love knowing that I got a bargain!

So even though I've come down with a completely miserable cold and only had one hour of sleep, I still got myself in line at Shopko before the doors opened at 5 AM. It was raining pretty hard, and I felt immensely grateful for the emergency umbrella in my car. Still, the cold air did not help my cold (which has now moved into my chest.) So was it worth it??? YOU BET!! There had been a misprint in their ad so I was able to get a $50 toy for $10!! (I had to put up a bit of a stink to get them to do it, but I got it!)

Once I had checked out, I headed over to Walmart, the craziest place of all! I found an item I had wanted, but when I looked at the checkout lines, it became clear that waiting for 2 hours was not going to be worth the $5 in savings. So I headed home to take a quick catnap before Jossy woke up to be fed. Unfortunately, I was on an adrenaline high and couldn't sleep. :(

Once the kids were up we headed to Costco and ToysRUs for some more bargains. We decided to stop at Krispy Kreme for some fresh, hot doughnuts just to make the day more fun. They were heavenly!! (Honestly, I'd never had a hot Krispy Kreme and couldn't believe how they just melt in your mouth! Best thing ever!)

Besides getting good deals, the best part of the day was making other people happy. I tried to let a few others know about the Shopko misprint so that they could get the same deal, but only one lady listened to me. Boy, was she grateful! When I decided the line at Walmart was too long for me, I gave my item (which was the last of it's kind) to a thankful mother. It's always fun to be the kind stranger. :)

I'm looking forward to some good sleep tonight!
(Now if only my baby would stop crying and go to sleep herself, maybe I could get to bed.)

A Turkey Full of Feathers

I thought I'd share our thankful turkey in all his glory!

Every night when I asked Matty what he wanted on the turkey, he always started his reply with, "I'm thankful for..." Sometimes he would crack us up with how he finished that sentence, but many times he would say someone's name. I think it's great that he's so thankful for the loved ones in his life.

If you did a thankful turkey, I hope you enjoyed it as much in your house as we did in ours!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Thankful Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition!

What a wonderful day full of thanks!! Today as I think back on the past year, I'm feeling thankful for:

1. The safe arrival of Jocelyn in June! We're so blessed to have her in our family. I love this little girl to pieces!!
2. Love between siblings. I love that Matty finally has a sibling! They have such a special relationship. It's pure joy for me to watch them laugh and play together.
3. My husband. He has helped me through some very difficult times this past year. I'm so thankful I have him to share my life with.
4. Photography. I love taking and sharing pictures (as you've all been subject to.) Memories are so important to me, and I'm glad we have a nice camera now to record them with!

5. Dan's job. Especially with the economy the way it's going, I'm so grateful for his stable job that takes care of our needs (more than just the monetary ones.)

6. Friends in our ward. Even though it's hard to still be in an apartment, I'm so thankful for good friends in our ward. It helps make things more bearable! Now if ya'll would just stop moving away, I'd be happier!!! :)

7. Health. My health has been a major battle for me for nearly 3 years now, but I feel so thankful for the health that I do have, for the times I'm feeling good, and for the few things that have gotten better.

8. Matty growing up. Part of me wishes I could keep him little forever, but it's also such a joy watching him grow and learn new things. He keeps us moving, that's for sure!

9. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. My rock in an unstable world.

10. Blogs. I entered the blogging world last January and have thoroughly enjoyed it! I love keeping in touch with friends. :) Plus, as the title says, this blog truly has been an outlet for me.


So come on! What are you waiting for?? There's no better time to do a Thankful Thursday than today, even if you only do this one!

Little Helper

Matty was soooo bad earlier today, but he's decided he wants to be good now. So he took it upon himself to help Jossy. He's making sure she has things to play with. Do you think she has enough??

It's not a bad idea since her favorite game lately is "Throw All My Toys on the Ground So I Can Scream Until Someone Picks Them Back Up For Me." (Have you heard of it?) At least it takes her longer this way to get them all on the floor (as in 5 minutes instead of 1.)
I guess Matty's pretty smart after all.

200th Post GIVEAWAY!!

The time has finally come for my FIRST giveaway! This is my 200th post and I thought I'd celebrate by bribing you to be my friends thanking you for reading my blog.

The prize will be a few homemade soaps (made by yours truly,) some Dove caramel chocolate, and a $10 gift card to Target! Even if you hate chocolate and never clean yourself, everyone can appreciate free money! :)

Actual soaps awarded may differ from those pictured.

All you have to do to enter is comment on this post! It's that simple! (Continental U.S. residents only.) You have until 11:59 PM on November 30th to enter, and I'll randomly select the winner on December 1st. Only one entry per person. However, I want to reward those who are my friends when I'm not bribing them to be :), so those 9 individuals who were brave enough to list themselves during my roll call last week will get an EXTRA entry (assuming they comment on this post as well.) And don't bother cheating by going now to comment on that post. It's too late to get bonus points from me.

Be sure to check back next week to see if YOU are the lucky winner!!
(And so that I can get that winner's mailing address if I don't already have it.)

Need a Laugh Today?

Shandra sent me an e-mail with one of these. Dan and I laughed so hard we ended up watching many more and staying up way too late. (Maybe we laughed hard BECAUSE it was so late.) Here are just a few. Hope you enjoy! :)

Late Night Laughs

Before I got to sleep each night, I go into Matty's room and check on him. I've done this ever since he got his own room at 6-months-old. Originally, it was to make sure he was covered with a blanket and not trapped in some weird position, but now it's mostly for my own entertainment. He is the weirdest sleeper! Dan and I crack up (as quietly as possibly) at the strange ways he sleeps.

The absolute FUNNIEST position happened about a year ago. He was sleeping on his right side with his left arm strait up in the air, like he was asking a question in his sleep!! We had THE hardest time keeping our laughing quiet so that we wouldn't wake him up. Who the heck sleeps with their arm straight up in the air?!? How do you even do that?

The problem is that usually by the time I run off to get the camera he's already changed positions, so we don't get many pictures. But here are a few recent ones I managed to catch before he moved. Forgive the dark lighting and fuzzy images.

One sock on one sock off

The real purpose of a railing

Just last night: sideways on the bed, blanky like a turban, and legs spread on the wall.

I wish I had one of him with his typical arms-up-in-the-air-cuz-I'm-riding-a-roller-coaster position. That's how we usually find him.

Free entertainment is always the best, don't you think?

Thankful Thursday

I'm not in the best mood this morning or feeling the greatest, but there are always things to be thankful for. Such as:

1. Coding with my husband. Dan and I stayed up way too late the other night having fun designing and coding the new background for the blog. (You like?) I was grateful to have a programming husband when a few things wouldn't work right. I learned a lot and enjoyed doing that together.

2. Cuddling my kids. Jossy has been extra fussy this morning, so I was rocking her to try to calm her down. Matty then climbed up on my lap, too, and we all watched Reading Rainbow together. Jossy was still fussy off and on, but I just felt grateful for the moment I had to give both my kids some of my love and my lap.

3. PBS Kids. Matty learns so much from shows like Curious George, Word World, Sid the Science Kid, Between the Lions, and more. He's on the verge of reading (he's gotten a few words already) and I know a big part of that is these shows and the games on pbskids.org. Maybe you're not the type of mom to let your kids watch much TV and that's cool, but we like it in this house. :) We talk about the things he learns, and it just amazes me how much he picks up!

4. The chance to play my flute. I've played for over 16 years now. I don't get many chances to perform, but I got to play a song for Enrichment the other night. I really enjoy performing because I love being a means through which the Spirit can touch someone.

5. My home: a safe haven. There are so many problems and scary things going on in the world. I am thankful to have a home that can serve as a safe haven for my family.


That's about the best I can do today. So.....what about you? What are you thankful for? Share it with someone!

Dear Coupon Fairy...

Thank you so much for leaving a coupon for BB&B on my door this morning. That was so sweet of you to remember me asking for one a while back. I actually didn't need one anymore because someone had already given me their coupon, and I was able to purchase the matching slipcover for my loveseat. I just never thought to post about it. But THANK YOU once again for being so sweet and remembering! :)

Love,
Me

Memory Lane: The $100 Question

I wanted to share some kind of childhood memory today since I haven't done any of those yet, but I'm really stumped trying to think of a good one to share. So I guess you're stuck with another one from college.

I recently mentioned that first Christmas Dan and I spent together and how financially strapped we were. Still, we had food in our cupboards and could afford our rent, two things that a few people we knew in our ward were struggling with. We felt blessed and weren't complaining.

When we went into our bishop that year for tithing settlement, he kept us in his office talking a little longer than normal. He eventually mentioned that someone had given him an envelope with $100 that they wished to donate anonymously to whomever he felt was supposed to have it in his ward. He then told us that he felt very strongly that money was supposed to go to us. We were shocked and confused. We told him that we knew of several people in the ward who were struggling just to afford groceries and we were fine, surely the money should go to them instead. He told us he was aware of the situations, but he was confident the money was for us. Flabbergasted, we took the envelope.

What would we do with $100? We talked for a bit about it, but it didn't take long for us to decide to use at least some of the money to bless someone else's Christmas by taking a name from the Angel Tree at our local mall. Unfortunately, there were too many generous people in the area and when we got to the mall there were no names left. Darn all those kind strangers!

In the end we just used the money to buy me a new pair of jeans (since my only pair had terrible holes in unbecoming places) and help pay for our Christmas gifts for ourselves and our families.

We talked about why our bishop felt prompted to give us that money. Even now, the only thing we can think of is that the Lord knows we would love to do the same somday. Maybe it was just to help us remember to pay it forward. Then again, maybe there was another purpose that we've yet to figure out.

10 Life Lessons

Since I am oh-so-wisdomous, I thought I'd pass on a few things I've learned in the last few days.

1. Never plunge a toilet in bare feet.
2. You probably should shave your legs occasionally in the winter (that one's thanks to Christie.)
3. A humidifier may help your congested baby breathe better at night, but it's going to make you sweat like crazy.
4. It's best to have a good supply of feminine products on hand because Aunt Flo really likes to surprise you with that first postpartum visit. And when she does come, the woman is vicious!
5. Shopping at Walmart on a Saturday night is not a smart thing to do.
6. The world would be a funny place if we all took fashion advice from a 3-year-old.
7. A clothes hamper can be an endless source of entertainment.
8. If you try to wipe a baby's nose at church, people will think you're torturing the child.
9. Some people will be grumpy no matter what.
and finally,
10. Justin Timberlake + a leotard and heels = a really good laugh
(sorry, the video I had posted isn't working anymore.)

Roll Call

I've had several people let me know that they read my blog, but I had no idea because they've never commented. So it's made me wonder how many readers I actually have.

I've put a poll on the sidebar over there → → → just to get an idea. If you're feeling really brave, feel free to leave a comment on this post and let me know who you are! :)

2 Tags With One Post

Tag 1
Heather tagged me to share the 4th picture in the 4th folder on my computer. I was excited to look up which picture I would get to share because I have soooo many cute ones of the kids that nobody has seen yet. But alas, a cute picture was not what I found. I wish I could make it something other than this, but here it is: me 38 weeks pregnant with Jossy and feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
I tag (if they want to) Shandra, Lisa P., Sandi, and Kristine.

Tag 2
Paige tagged me for a post called "8 Things."

(Answers given in no particular order)

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Friends
2. Frasier
3. Americas Next Top Model
4. The Office
5. Biggest Loser
6. So You Think You Can Dance
7. American Idol
8. King of Queens

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to a baby shower
2. Hung out at my mom's house
3. Ate at the McDonald's inside Walmart
4. Laughed at my son's made-up songs
5. Practiced the flute
6. Sewed a headband for Jossy
7. Packed the diaper bag for church
8. Folded laundry

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Having our own house!!!
2. Being a grandma (then I can do the spoiling!!)
3. Sleeping 8 hours straight at some point
4. Jossy's first Christmas
5. Day after Thanksgiving sales
6. Having a real garden
7. Getting a new dining table
8. Watching my kids learn and grow

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. Los Hermanos
3. Subway (can I count this as a restaurant?)
4. El Matador
5. TGIFriday's
6. Rumbi's
7. Macaroni Grill
8. The Cheesecake factory

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Weigh 20 lbs less
2. Vegas Movie Studio (software)
3. A House
4. A craft room of my own
5. Visit church history sites back East
6. A day to sleep in
7. Health, safety, and happiness for me and my family
8. Quieter neighbors

8 People I Tag:
1. You
2. You
3. Her
4. That one person
5. The blog stalker
6. You
7. The girl with red hair
8. Any one else who wants to do this. :)

The Talented Mr. Matty

Maybe you don't consider this a talent, but considering neither of his parent's can do it, we think it's pretty amazing. He makes us laugh by switching back and forth between eyebrows quickly.
He's always had an expressive face. What a crack up!

Pass the Ducky Please

We gave the kids their first bath together last night. Matty was pouring water on Jossy and I asked him if she was his new bath toy. He said yes. Silly kid. They played really well together.
Then he started doing her hair though I never asked him to. He is such a loving big brother. (That or he just likes to do silly things with her hair.)

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for:

1. My sight. I used to be legally blind in one eye. Things improved enough that I don't even require glasses now, but my sight is still not perfect. However, I am so grateful for the sight I have. It's something that I've never taken for granted.

2. Childhood. The hardships of this world don't affect kids like they do adults. I want my kids to enjoy their childhood while they can. It goes by all too fast.

3. Baby squeals. I love to hear these when Jossy is just so happy she can't help but let it out.

4. We have our needs met. We may not have everything we want in this life (who does??), but we have a roof over our heads, food in our cupboards, clothes on our backs, and a happy home. That's a million times more important than having all the fun (but unnecessary) "toys" in life.

5. Family time each night. I don't love bedtime just because Matty's going to bed and we'll finally have some peace and quiet, but because it's also our special family time every day. That's the time that we have family prayer, read scriptures, sing hymns or children's songs together, and give hugs.

6. Safely arriving somewhere. Accidents happen all the time and ruin lives so quickly. I cannot begin to even count the number of close calls I've had because of bad drivers. I always arrive somewhere with a prayer of thanks in my heart for getting there safely. When traffic is backed up because of an accident, I do my best never to complain and just be thankful that it wasn't me or my family.

7. Sex. Did she really just say "S-E-X" ?? Yep, you read correctly! What a blessing intimacy can be for a husband and wife. And you won't have to go tell my Relief Society President I wrote this because she already reads my blog. :)

8. Chocolate Milk. Talk about the simple pleasures in life!

So what do you feel thankful for today?? Even if you don't feel like sharing, I hope you're thinking of something!

Memory Lane: Free Christmas Gifts

I'm really enjoying doing these Memory Lanes each week, so I hope someone enjoys reading them. It's been fun to reflect on stories that not everyone has heard and share little snippets of my life. Today's story is a piece of our first Christmas.

We knew our first Christmas as a married couple was going to be pretty sparse. I grew up in a home where there were TONS of presents under the tree even before Santa got there because there are 6 kids in my family and we all bought for each other. So when I looked at Dan's and my first tree, it bothered me that there were so few presents (like maybe 3.) Since we couldn't afford anything more, I decided it would be fun if we both found 3 things around the house that wouldn't be missed and wrapped them for the other person. I had done something similar in college so that our apartment tree would have at least some gifts under it.

We had so much fun searching for each other. We wrapped our items in boxes that were way too big for them just so that things looked even bigger! It was fun to wonder what the other person had found to give. When Christmas came, Dan opened my gifts to him which included I think a can of hot chocolate, a spatula, and maybe some socks (I can't exactly remember.) I think he gave me some perfume I never wear, maxi pads (nice, eh???), and green beans. We had a good laugh together.


I hope no one thinks that Christmas to me is only about the presents. I promise I truly understand the meaning of Christmas and have a firm testimony of my Savior and the importance of His birth. This was just something extra to make the holiday a little more fun when we had very little to give one another. :)

6 Quirks

Amber tagged me to write 6 quirks about myself. I'm not usually a fan of doing tags, but for some reason I feel like doing this one. I guess just so that you all can laugh at me. :)

1. I almost always wear socks. I guess this stems from my dislike of feet. Wearing a brand new pair of plain ol' Hanes socks makes my whole day. (Sad, I know.) When I was little, my older brother would pull my socks off by the toes because he knew how badly it would annoy me.

2. I have to sleep with a body pillow. I've had one since early high school and haven't been able to sleep without one since. I used to think when I got married my husband would take the place of that pillow, but he's just not the same! Actually, ever since I got pregnant with Jossy, I've been sleeping with TWO body pillows, one on each side. I started using 2 because I didn't want to make the extra effort of moving a pillow when rolling my pregnant tummy over in bed was work enough already! I even take one of my body pillows when I travel or I just can't sleep right.

3. I really don't like clothes shopping. I guess I have a hard time finding things that I feel look good on me, are modest, and currently easy to nurse in. I'm not a fashion idiot, and I typically know what's in style and what I "should" be buying, but that stuff just doesn't look great on me in my opinion. 95% of the time I prefer comfort over fashion anyway, so just give me a pair of jeans and my husband's T-shirt, thank you very much! (If there's someone out there sick of seeing me in T-shirts and wants to take on the task of finding me fashionable clothes that I find comfortable, just holler! ha ha )

4. I almost always research purchases over $15 by reading countless reviews on the internet, shopping around, or asking people. From books to toys to baby gear to gadgets, whatever!! I've been made fun of for this, but I love knowing I'm getting a quality item at a good price!!

5. I have to read the instructions for everything we buy. Whether it's a new camera, a bookshelf we're putting together, a new board game, or even just a new toaster, I almost always read the instruction manual cover to cover. I like learning how to best take care of something or how to get the most out of it.

6. I prefer to follow the rules. I take my shopping cart to the cart return in the parking lot even with 2 kids throwing fits, I play a board game exactly according to the instructions, I follow the recipe, and I obey the rules of the road (even the seemingly unnecessary ones.) I just feel a whole lot happier following the rules and wish more people felt the same way.


If you feel like sharing 6 quirks, consider yourself tagged!

I Can't Say It Enough...

I LOVE THESE EYES!!

It's so funny how opposite they are! Matty's are such deep, chocolate brown and Jossy's are a stunning blue.

Don't you just love genetics?!? :)

First Try of Quasi-Solids

I don't think watered-down rice cereal should really count as a solid, but the doctors count it so I guess we have to.

Jossy didn't mind it for a few minutes....
... but then it became obvious that she was done with the weird goo.
Very little actually made it down. I think we may wait another week or so before trying again.

Mother and Daughter

I love having a daughter. There's a special bond between us, even Dan can feel it. I absolutely love and adore Jossy.

Since Matty's off at Grandma's house today, I used the opportunity to take a few photos of just her and me together, something I've wanted to do since she was born but haven't had the chance. The noise from the self-timer totally distracted her and I had a hard time setting the focus before getting into position, and I know a few heads got cut off, but I just did the best I could with what I had to work with (which included lighting just from a window, a tired baby, and of course lots of editing!)

Thankful Thursday

(Credit for the cute logo goes to Tiburon.)

1. Weeks without side pain. If you read my blog regularly, you know that I had some unexplained pains in my side that no amount of testing could figure out. For the past few weeks that pain has been GONE with no explanation! I've been so grateful to live without it. Just 2 days ago it's been back but it's still mild compared to before. Rather than complain that it's back, I'm just SOOOO grateful that it was gone for any amount of time!!

2. A good day with Matty. He was just terrible yesterday, so I really appreciate how well behaved he is today! We've had so much fun together!

3. Poo in the potty!! (You know you're a mom when you get excited about this.) Matty has been so resistant to go poo anywhere but his diaper, but last night he was going pee on the toilet and needed to poo so he stayed there and actually went!! We were so excited for him. He's already gone in his diaper again today, but at least he was able to taste success for the first time yesterday!

4. The elections are over!!! Anyone else thrilled about this?!?

5. Wedding receptions. I know a lot of people hate these, but I don't mind them. We're going to one tonight for a friend from high school. I'm happy there's a way we can celebrate with him! (Plus, who doesn't like wedding cake?)

6. My husband is my best friend. He's always there for me. We make each other laugh and have so much fun together. There are so many nights we stay up way too late talking, and it's like having a life-long sleepover with a friend. I'm so glad I get to share my life not only with the man I love but one who is also my best friend.

Are you feeling thankful for something today? Now's the time to share!

Memory Lane: A Grant of Faith

We all go through times that test our faith and our willingness to listen to the Spirit. Here's just one of ours:

When Dan and I got engaged, we chose to get married at the end of May. Both of our parents wanted us to wait til the end of summer for various reasons. Dan's parents even told us that if we waited until then they would pay for us to honeymoon in Hawaii. It's was sorely tempting but we both really felt like it was the right decision for us to get married sooner. Both sides threw all kinds of arguments at us about how if we really loved each other a few months apart wouldn't matter and we really should both just focus on working and earning money and yadda yadda yadda. We listened to our guts and got married in May. We didn't know how things were going to work out, but we knew we were making the right decision.
As I've mentioned before, we had very little money saved and no jobs when we got married. Dan was able to go back to his previous job on campus a few weeks after the wedding but it wasn't going to cover things. We knew that my full tuition scholarship would be helpful, and we would easily qualify for pell grants for the upcoming school year, so at the end of June we headed to the financial aid office to find out what we needed to do to apply.

We talked to a secretary who gave us the information we needed. Then she asked if we had gotten grants the previous school year. Dan had gotten a full grant but my parents' income had been too high for me to qualify. That's when she told us I could still apply for it. I was confused and told her my schooling the previous year had already been paid for by my scholarship, but she said that didn't matter. Because I was married before the official deadline and my income now qualified, I could apply for the last year's grant money but only had until the end of June to do so. We had literally just a few days left to apply! We managed to get my information together quickly and applied in time.

Because of that sweet secretary informing us about this, we were able to not only get our grant money for the next year but also got $4,000 we hadn't counted on at all!!! It was more than he or I would have been able to make combined that summer (with crappy minimum wage jobs) had we waited to get married. Plus we found out that Hawaii never would've happened because the money my father-in-law had planned on to pay for that honeymoon never came through.

All in all, we felt very blessed that the Lord provided for us as we listened to the Spirit. Though it may not sound like much to some, that money was a big factor in our being able to both finish college without any debt.

The Thankful Turkey

I get really frustrated every year when the stores start putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween is even over. I absolutely LOVE Christmas, but it's like Thanksgiving doesn't even exist to the stores because it's not much of a commercial holiday and so it totally gets the shaft! (At least in my opinion.)

So last year I tried to think of something we could do in our family to focus on Thanksgiving for the month of November. I strongly believe in the importance of a thankful heart and don't want the holiday neglected in this home. I came up with our Thankful Turkey. I cut a turkey out of construction paper and some colored feathers to go with him. We talk about being thankful during a Family Home Evening lesson to introduce the idea. Then each night when we have family prayer, someone gets to name something they're thankful for and write it on one of the feathers and attach the feather to the turkey. The idea is that by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, your turkey is beautifully decorated by all the things you feel thankful for.

We started our turkey tonight and gave him a few feathers so he wouldn't be so naked. He's taped to our wall so we always have a reminder of our blessings.

Here's our turkey from last year. It was so fun to hear the things Matty would come up with. I'm really glad this is becoming a tradition for us. It's a lot of fun!


ETA: I'm glad so many people like this idea. Feel totally free to use it your homes! That's why I wrote about it. :)

Halloween

I feel like I'm a little behind in everything these days. I had a bill sitting out on my table for weeks that was due today. Oops! I feel like we always have something going on and I'm constantly running from here to there. If I'm not rushing to go somewhere, then I'm on the move around the house taking care of these kids. So at least this Halloween post is only a few days behind!

Really all I want to do is just share a few pictures from that night. The evening didn't turn out like I had hoped, but Matty had fun and that's what matters most.

We took the kids to my parents' neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Matty wasn't super excited to go out but eventually got into it enough to have some fun.
Jossy made it to all of 5 houses and then had enough. Between the wind, the rain, and strangers trying to talk to her she just didn't like it. So she went back to Grandma's while we took Matty to more homes.The kid got WAY too much candy. People were giving him HANDFULS because they weren't getting many trick-or-treaters and wanted to get rid of it. Lucky for him, Mom and Dad ate most of his candy so that he wouldn't have to worry about what to do with it all. :)
Jossy figured who needs chocolate when you've got a wrapper to chew on!
That night we stayed at Grandma's house. Matty got to "camp" with his aunt Dawn in her tent which was set up in her living room.
Only problem is they didn't go to sleep til 4 AM!! Apparently every little noise scared Matty because it wasn't a familiar environment. So I guess we're not taking him camping any time soon!!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday so I'm glad it's over for another year. Now I get to look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas!