Halloween

Eden my Asian princess.

Leila the kangaroo.

Molly the bumblebee (same costume as last time she wanted to re-wear.)

Paige the lion (which she re-wore but SHOULDN'T have...not sure how Tyson squeezed her in...)

The highlight for my kids...the police who come to the top of the street every year on four wheelers, police lights on, handing out candy and greeting the kids.

There actually didn't seem to be nearly as many kids this year as years as sort of lonely and most people just put buckets of candy on their doorstep with no one around to greet people or to say "trick or treat" to. It was pretty disappointing to my kids who wanted to show off their costumes. There was one street that was pretty social and fun. That made trick or treating all worthwhile.

Well...and the sugar rush in a bag.

My kids didn't mind that so much either.

Decorating Pumpkins

Sunday afternoon activity.

Pumpkin decorating, Potatohead style!

Platte Woods Ward Trunk or Treat

Here's us with our crazy Cookie Monster van (not intentionally meant to be Cookie Monster).

Soup and rolls.

Dessert (but not for me...).

Costume contest.

Trunk decorating contest.

Trick or treating.

Fun times.

Busy Day and a Working Husband

School (shortened version).

WIC appointment.

Quick lunch of leftovers.

Car maintenance appointment.

Playtime at the park.

Dinner of nachos (the go-to meal when Tyson works overnight).

Movie night and ice cream.

...and Tyson is doing a 24-hour shift. He'll be back tomorrow morning, ready for bed.

No matter how busy my day was, it's not going to be nearly as busy as his day.

At least I've got the kids in their beds and it's before 9 PM.

Curious George at the car place.

And snacks for survival purposes,

TV and snacks...the kids seemed just fine to wait for the car to be done.

And I took a snapshot of another new outfit I got on vacation.

Shirt and pants from Japan (I know you can't see my shirt much. selfies).

Shoes from Uptown Cheapskate.

And no, I'm not becoming a "fashion blogger". I'm definitely not stylish enough for that. Just excited about my new clothes. That ok?

The park was a needed after all our running around.

Then we did our normal ritual of Friday night movie night. 

We do this pretty regularly here in KC, with a few exceptions of course.

The only difference is that I didn't eat any of the ice cream because Tyson somehow convinced me to agree to going off sugar until thanksgiving. Ugh. Sadness.

I'm not 100% off sugar. 

I use it in meal recipes if called for.

But no sweet treats, snacks, and desserts for me.

I may cry.

Haircuts and Japan Jammies

Eden, Leila, and I got haircuts.

The girls cut off 4-5 inches each.

Lelia's haircut.

Look at that thick hair!

Eden cut off 5 or more inches.

Her hair really needed a trim. It looks really nice.

You can't tell by the picture because I only cut mine an inch but added a lot of layers and thinned it out a lot.

Molly wants her hair long she said.

But she did get new PJs from Japan.

This is her ninja pose.

Paige got some new Japan PJs.

Here's her pose.

Oh...and let's not forget my new clothes.

Flower pants from Japan (secondhand store...that I love).

And sweater from a place I was introduced to in Utah, Uptown Cheapskate (that I also love.)

Getting Back Into the Groove

Getting back into the groove hasn't been too bad.

 We have been doing some serious cleaning, de-junking, furniture rearranging, and park playing.

We are gradually starting to get back into our school schedule.

For my sake, we are doing it slow. I'm not ready.

We are adding one subject a day.

Two day ago: reading

One day ago: English and typing

Today: math

We still have to add our monthly projects, music, and what I call "change-ups".

Change ups are the subjects we don't do everyday but change depending on the day. History, science, religion, geography, and PE.

We'll get there.

Today was a pretty good day...

...with the exception when Leila hit Eden with a lollipop so Eden in return hit Leila resulting in a bloody nose. That was slightly unfortunate.

But overall a good day.

Paige Goes to the Doctor

Paige went to the doctor.

She's right on track with her measurements and growth.

She rose up to the 3% in height. 

My poor, short children.

But there was a lot of drama to be had.

Flu shots were mentioned....hysteria broke out.

This year there is no nasal spray...

And Eden has a serious phobia when it comes to shots.

Which of course makes everyone else follow her example and throw fits too.

The nurses came and watched my try to convince my kids it was going to be OK.

Eden truly has a ligitamate fear and was crying painful tears.

So I weighed the pros and cons in my head.

She's always been the healthiest, she's the oldest, and the most responsible to take care of a sickness if it happens,

I decided she'd be fine without the shot.

The other girls conversation went like this,

"Buck up! I know you are fine and can get a shot. I'll give you a bravery treat after."

That was good enough for them.

A few early trick of treat candies did the trick.

But man, it was a rough go.

Tyson's Post-Birthday

I don't have any pictures but I wanted to tell about the mini post-birthday celebration.

We went to Jose Peppers for dinner on Saturday and told the kids we would get fried ice cream.  

Turns out we were too stuffed to fit in dessert.

So we told the girls we'd come back Monday to try it out.

It was fun. We sat on the patio and ate fried ice cream. Tyson asked the waitress for a little bowl of masa for Molly because she LOVES it so much. Like, amazing love. She was in heaven.

We left with smiles.

Tyson's Real Birthday

Gifts of socks and "awesomest dad" t-shirt.

Tomato basil fettuccini.

Cherry pie.

Love you Tyson. Happy birthday.

Tyson's Pre-Birthday Celebration

Tyson came home on Saturday just in time for us to go out to eat to celebrate.

We went to a Mexican restaurant we enjoy, Jose Peppers.

It was the girls first time.

Eden and Leila discovered they love salsa (at least theirs), even if it's got a little kick.

Molly discovered an undying love for masa.

They gave everyone a little ball of masa with every plate

Eden and Leila didn't care for it, so Molly ate them all proclaiming, "it tastes like cookie dough,"

We had a good time.

In the end, I'm just glad to have a husband again.

Home Again, Home Again

It's been nice to be home. We are still trying to get everything back together in working order.

The trip home went well. My mom drove with me and the girls. We had a nice drive (except that large tire we ran over that caused a plastic part under my van to come loose and occasionally bump and drag on the ground).

While I tried to get some things unpacked and organized the girls made signs to "boo" neighbors. I didn't even know this was happening until they asked me if they could go deliver.  I actually thought they only made one for Jana Johnson with an attacked granola bar...but later found out they booed the whole neighborhood. Knocking on doors, hiding (poorly), and talking with a few neighbors to tell them we returned.

I sat at home and kept unpacking (with Paige) and then saw them return home after a longer time than expected....and to realize that Molly was actually only wearing underwear. Oops.

We did also make it home just in time to go to a trunk or treat provided by the local businesses. The kids got candy as well as toothbrushes from the local dentists, hair glitter from the local hairstylist (and next door neighbor), and a pumpkin from the local grocer

The Last Few Days in Utah

We decided to head out a few days early. But we had a good time doing out last few things in Utah.

Delivered gifts from Japan to my kids and the Finlinson's.

Got together with my old SUU roommates.

Visit with grandma Namba and updated her scrape book pages of my family.

Celebrated Trey and Mom's birthday over at Laura's house with swimming, food, and cake.

Saw Grandpa Fin at his "farewell party" before heading back to his house in Arizona.

Helped babysit/dogsit for thre Baxter kids and new dog, Papy.

And after all that (and more), I only have a few pictures to show for it...oh well.

My blog has been acting funny and making it difficult to post so I think I lost motivation to document anything.  But I'm trying to get back in the game.

My Weekend in D.C.

This picture above about sums it up.  I was super excited but ridiculously tired from jet lag. I lo,ok slightly like a crazy person but that's about how I looked,

I flew from Japan to Oregon.

Oregon to Utah.

Utah to Chicago.

Then Chicago to D.C.

It was a long day.  I got in around midnight.

After trying to get my sleep back (which I never completely did while in D.C.) Tyson and I just enjoyed our short trip.  We went to the national zoo, national cathedral, Washington monument, Arlington national cemetery, and the American history museum.