Confidence to spare

We were on our way home from a very eventful evening tonight and A was making sounds that were annoying E.  E said something like "you better stop or I'm going to say I don't like you".  The response went as follows:

A-"I like myself"

Br-"That's right. Oprah would be proud" 

Then quietly to me "She's her own kind of woman"

Then loudly from the backseat A-"I'm my own kind of woman".

When we pulled into the garage Br game me a little kiss (shhh. Don't tell him I told you) and the kids asked, "Why did you kiss?"

Br gave a very nice response which included "because I love her"

 to which A responded, "I love myself". 

No daily affirmations needed here.

Taking a break--part 1

E's Christmas break started early this year so in an attempt to beat the Holiday travel crowds we took a trip early in the month. Our adventures began with a quick but fun visit with our bestestes (yes that is a word) before we caught a super early morning flight to Las Vegas.  Br and I both guessed it would take E under 30 seconds to ask to play the slot machines and we were right. (A friend of mine once said that Chuck E Cheese was Vegas for toddlers so I guess from his perspective it was Chuck E Cheese for adults. I'm sure he was looking around for a giant mouse, tickets, and the prize counter.  I'm also a little curious as to if all the flashing lights triggered a hankering for bad pizza in either of the kids.)  My mom was coincidentally on vacation in Las Vegas so we stuck around and played a little after a nice breakfast with her.

Despite the nice visit with my mom, Vegas was actually not our intended destination so we got back in the rental car and headed to my Grandpa's house in St. George. Grandpa Hobbs' house is one of my happy places. We sometimes find it hard to make it out there, but we never regret what we had to sacrifice to make it happen.  Br and I were debating whether it would be too stressful to take our two high energy kids into such a calm house with so many things to look at touch.  I decided that no matter how stressful it might be for us, I really really wanted the kids to have Grandpa Hobbs memories of their own.  E was excited to go visit "the guy from Up!" (one day when he was watching Up! he spontaneously yelled out, "That's Grandpa Hobbs!"). I am SO GLAD we didn't take the "easy" way out because it was such an amazing experience to share with the kids.  They were so calm and happy the whole time we were there.  Besides the only tragic moment when a tiny bird statue became the only casualty of their busy hands.  The kids loved listening to his stories and telling him some of their own, listened carefully to his advice, and only fought over who got to sit on his lap while watching the Wizard of Oz and Snow White.  Luckily Grandpa had one leg for each kid and lots of love to go around.

 

 They had a fabulous time exploring the yard---especially during our game of hide-and-seek.
 
We even had a nice little walk down to the cemetery to say "hi" to Grandma. 

 
I know the strong Spirit in his home helped bring about the miraculous demeanor of my kids.  There were many great spiritual and personal things that happened for our family while in his home.  I will be eternally grateful for having such a wonderful man and priesthood holder as my Grandpa.  We are truly blessed to be his, and have him as ours.

Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year

 Love -The Meltons

An escape from reality

While I'm playing a little catch-up it would be crazy of me not to mention the best vacation I've ever had.  Early in November I went to visit the always fabulous Loralee Lewis.  I had the time of my life pretending I am a famous sugar artist.  It was so fun to spend some quality creative time with a person who inspires me so much.  I'm not kidding when I say that when I'm planning a party I often find myself asking "WWLLD?" (What would Loralee Lewis do?) We put together an almost surreal dinner party set in a lightly snow-dusted canyon next to a babbling brook.  Her design and inspiration brought out my girly and elegant side which rarely makes an appearance these days.  Unfortunately, I was too caught up dreaming up sugar creations, enjoying the breathtaking scenery, smiling so much my cheeks hurt, sitting peacefully doing what I love and of course eating chocolate cake for dinner with ladies I feel like I've known for a lifetime, to take pictures but I was able to steal some from her blog.  

  It was also nice to see some family (my fabulous aunties) and friends that feel like family.

Right after I returned back to reality my bestest (
Kelly) came up with her kiddos so she, her oldest, and I could attend the cake wrecks books signing.  People have you seen that website before?  You really should take a look.  It's quite amusing... even if you aren't into cakes. As part of the event, they invited people to bring cupcake versions of their favorite cake wrecks.  With so many to choose from I couldn't possibly pick just one so I attempted to recreate constipated Santa, the princess crown, the Gerber daisy and an homage to creepy baby shower cakes. 
 

I ended up winning a coveted Mohawk baby carrot jockey necklace. Try not to be too jealous. 
 
 There really isn't anything like making memories with friends that feel like family.

Christmas Season in the Melton Pot

The other day E asked if it was the Christmas Season.  I think he's a little confused.  He's trying to figure out why Christmas appeared in the stores MONTHS ago but has yet to make an appearance in our house.  I'm not really sure what happened, but all we've managed to pull together this year is a tree with a strand or two of lights and the two ornaments the kids brought home from school (actually Miss A accidentally broke hers and was absolutely devastated.  You could tell E was devastated for her and so sweetly tried to console her by offering her his ornament creation).  

I'll be honest, I miss the warm glow and festiveness of the house in all it's full Christmas decorated glory, but at this point, I don't know that we'll pull the big tub-o-holiday decor out this year.  But have no fear--- the Christmas Season is definitely with us!  I'm mean I'm doing my part by personally keeping the hot chocolate industry in business and the kids have been eating candy canes by the handful.

Just the other day we made Christmas cookies while wearing pirate eye patches and fake gold earrings.  

We've had the car stereo tuned to the 24-7 Christmas music station and we are constantly breaking into songs of Christmas Cheer.  A's favorite is "Tinkle bells, Tinkle bells".  E sings "You better watch out, you better watch out, you better watch out, you better watch out, Santa is coming to town".  (If he didn't sing it so excitedly it would almost make Santa seem like a serial killer).  

And speaking of the big guy, we went and saw him at Bass Pro this year. 

We haven't been there in two years, but when I told E where we were headed he said "Oh that place by Daddy's work where there are guns and stuff and Santa and his reindeer are there.  There was a toy car you could drive but I didn't get to?" Yes E we are going back to that place you haven't seen since you were 2.  I'm the one who better watch out.  Apparently, I've got to be careful about the memories I make with that kid because he's got the memory of an elephant.

And please don't be jealous, but this year we were able to attend not one, but two of the most highly rated Christmas choir concerts of the year.  This picture was taken at the first.  

My favorite part of this early morning performance was being able to hear, even though I was all the way at the back of a very crowded cafeteria, my sweet little guy get super excited he got to keep his candy cane forever. And what made it even better was that it was a prop for his favorite song "I take a lick of my permitting stick, and I thought it tasted yummy. It used to be on my Christmas tree, but I like it better in my tummy-- yummy!"

 And I personally think this cutie with the Santa hat looking directly into the camera was the star of the second show-- I'll admit that I may be a little biased.

So I guess the point of all of my rambling is, if you happen to drive past our house, please don't be fooled by our lack of festiveness-- We are well on our way to having a Merry little Christmas. 

What we talk about these days

Miss A is constantly talking about how she knows things are close because she smells them--even things that don't have a smell.  "I can smell my toys".
 
In the car E started talking about different kinds of boats.  My favorite was when he was talking about his desire to ride in a "Chinese boat" (I think he means a kayak).  E-"Mom, That's why I learn karate, because I can go to China when I learn karate."

Randomly- E-"Daddy, you're trying to make mommy a little bit crazy."

E's advice to me when I wasn't feeling well. E- "Your tummy hurts, you need to just breathe, breathe and it will make it feel better. And if that not work I'll give you milk."

Out of the blue.  E-"Mommy, Why Jesus in our hearts? He's not supposed to be in my heart. I want to see him."

As E was singing "It's a small world" he suddenly stopped and asked "Why is it called It's a small world? Is it cuz they are little people singing?"

Br was off to help a friend of ours move and E wanted to help. Br said he was too little to help, and E said, "oh,  I have to have a mustache to help?"

On the way to church E says, "Mom I want to be bigger. Like bigger like daddy when I can have a mustache. Then I can do dirty work. "
Me-"What is dirty work? "
E-"Like getting under a car to fix it and then bonking your head. When I get bigger I can do that."

Just randomly one day "Hey, My knee doesn't want Pirates of the Carribean, but I want pirates of the Caribbean."

When I changed the TV when E wasn't in the room "Mom I just went to go potty, you weren't supposed to change it. This is girls talking about girls and I not want to watch that."

When deciding what he wanted at McDonald's "I want a cheeseburger with no lettuce. That's just for mommies"

One afternoon "Mom, it's too hot in here. You need to get me a marshmallow because I feel like a marshmallow."

The other day I did something that he didn't enjoy.  He left the room for a while then came back and said, "I'm sad.  I try to find a bag and a stick to put my stuff and then I will walk down the street and find a new home.  And then when I go to the grocery store I will have no money, and I will have to ask people for money.  And if I go fishing I won't have a fishing pole to fish so I will have to just grab a fish."  -- At least he's thought it through.

Tonight after I put A and ALL of her stuffed animals to bed and then gave her and ALL of her animals apples as a night time snack, I went into E's room to listen to scriptures with him on the computer, E gave me a really cute smile and said, "the kids in this house are crazy".

I guess cuz the blackmail worthy pictures are out there already...

... I might as well post about it.  I'm not going to deny it, I looked absolutely ridiculous in front of a large group of my peers in a very classy locale.  Here's the story behind the pictures.

Back a while ago, amidst the hustle and bustle of the Halloween season, a friend of mine

turned the big 3-0.  Together we decided to celebrate with a little beauty pageant and so the first-ever "30, Flirty, and Fabulous Pageant" came to life.

Each contestant/attendee represented a "title" in our beauty and poise competition.  As a full-grown adult who is only familiar with toddler pageants, I represented the title Miss Understanding.   

(This was my attempt at making a plus-sized adult cupcake dress.  I had to harness my inner bedazzler.  To complete the look I wore fake hair and fake lashes and perfect the crazy smile stare.  Before I left the house Miss A told me I looked "bootiful").  

Each lady was asked to model their beauty gown (homemade, found at the thrift store or from the far reaches of their closet) while their "bio" was read.  Then we each demonstrated our poise and whit by answering a question of my choice.  Everyone looked FABULOUS! and it was so fun watching everyone take on their titles. 

  

After dinner, the evening continued with a short talent competition

 

(I chose to do a classic western wear and ended my routine embarrassing myself with an attempted heal stretch).

and of coarse crowing, including the super-duper uber grand supreme title. 

 And of course, a birthday celebration is not complete without a little cake. 

So if he wasn't a _________ what was he?

I just realized that I never finished posting about our Halloween season (and yes it is an entire season around our house).  I previously mentioned that although he wore a pirate and firefighter costumes to various events, E would want me to mention that was NOT what he was actually was for Halloween this year.  E was actually a GHOST!

  I guess where I should pick back up with our Halloween story is the Saturday before Halloween. I managed to finish up his costume, experiment with a cupcake idea "borrowed" from the great Loralee Lewis

 

and take a little visit to a pumpkin patch (where we rode ponies, 

feed animals, took pictures

 , 

played games

 

and of course picked pumpkins

 ) 

all before heading over to the church chili cook-off, dance

 

and trunk-or-treat.

 .

I apologize for my horrible run-on sentence.  I'm trying to get through this whole wrap up before it's time for me to prep the dinner table for Thanksgiving dinner.  

After our adventurous, and really busy Saturday, we wrapped up one of E's favorite times of the year at the Storybook Forest.  It was a little bit of a sell to convince E that although he's never been traditional trick-or-treating, it would be worth missing out another year to visit the storybook forest.  E--"a real forest?" "is it spooky?", "is it Haunted?", "Are there ghosts living there?".  Luckily he and his sister were so excited once we arrived that he didn't even care that it wasn't really spooky or haunted.  They were so memorized seeing all the storybook stories come to life that they had to be reminded to collect the candy along the walk.  

   

We finished the night up eating candy, playing games, taking a hay ride, siting by the fire making s'mores, 

 

running into some friends, and then winding down with a little story time.  And I guess that wraps up our Halloween season.

   

Thanks to my little ghost and princess for making it so memorable. 

 

A little random catch up

Like I said in a previous post, I finally cleared out the card on the camera and did a little organizing of photos on the computer. Here are some pics that I came across that I missed posting in the past.

On labor day we took a little trip to the local amusement park. Miss A cracked me up when she'd get excited on a ride and exclaim "I'm a big girl!"I guess I never posted a picture of my completed Mary Poppins cake. I kept meaning to take a better picture, but it will probably never happen so this one will have to do. And speaking of cakes made for the Tulsa Fair, I forgot I had captured E in his cake baking and decorating element. And I also caught him red-handed, um I mean black mouthed after he polished off some of my cake supplies. While I'm posting pictures of cake disasters, here's a recent one. The cake started off like thisAll that needed to be added was the 3 in the "13" and the feather toppers. That is until I got a call that the bottom tier had completely collapsed and the middle one was looking a little sad. So after I finished this cake I got the fortune of remaking the bottom two tiers of the pink zebra-striped mess. The incident almost made me retire, but for now, I've just resolved that I will be personally delivering cakes from now on. And lastly, I can't believe I never posted these pics. I don't think anyone has ever made drinking root beer so fun.