I've been tagged by Hill!

All right....like Hill I have other posts to do, but I will stop to enlighten you on my Crazy 8's (so very important:)

Crazy 8s Tag

8 favorite TV shows: I don't know if I can get 8....
~The Office
~The Amazing Race
~I watch the news....
~Sometimes I watch Days of Our Lives if I'm home
~I watch Jay Leno, but I can't say he's my favorite
~I love Tom & Jerry because Brandon sits and watches it for a half hour straight!
(I guess I should watch more tv! :)

8 favorite restaurants
~The Dodo
~Market Street Grill
~Tepanyaki - sushi
~Flemings
~Kyoto
~Mama's Fish House on Maui
~Litza's Pizza
~Chipotle

8 things that happened yesterday:
~Christmas shopped for kids alone
~Clothing shopped with the kids to help Grandma's Christmas list get complete
~Tended Brandon's friend, Matthew
~Talked with Nicole
~Sent Amanda on her first official babysitting job!
~Did laundry-lots of laundry and lots of dishes
~Changed poopy underwear twice
~Made a photo book

8 things I look forward to:
~Thanksgiving and seeing Evan, Jamie & Kids
~Christmas
~going out to dinner with my hubby
~Brandon being potty trained
~Seeing Amanda in the Nutcracker
~The BYU/Utah football game (and our ward breakfast that day)
~The "Twilight" movie premiere next Friday
~Having a lot more energy than I have now!

8 things on my To-Do list today:
~Vacuum
~drive girls all over today for birthday parties and ballet practice
~Help Mike put up Christmas lights
~Make treat bags for my piano students because of our recital on Monday
~Come up with a dinner option
~Clean my bathroom
~Work on stuff for the Ward Christmas Party
~Watch the Utah v San Diego game tonight!

Ok, I tag anyone who reads this and hasn't already been tagged! Have fun!

More Brandon says:

We are having a hard time getting Brandon potty trained. He was doing great with #1 for awhile, but now he's back to peeing his pants. So, when this happens, we take away his bike. The other day, he pee'd his pants when Dad was at work.

Mom: Ok, Brandon, I have to take away your bike until you pee in the potty again.

Brandon: But Mom, Dad will never know!

Honestly! Three years old and he's already trying to play his parents against each other!

btw: We are taking suggestions on potty training.....We've tried everything!

Brandon says:

Brandon was saying the prayer (right now he says all the family prayers), and it was pretty much the same as all the prayers he says. So, Mike decided to help him:

Brandon: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank yee for this day. Bless us to be healthfy....

Mike: Wait, say Thank Thee for this food

Brandon: No, don't teach me how to do it! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Pie Girl!

Amanda's activity days group made pies this last week! I had to pick her up a little early to get to a doc appointment (by the way, she is in the 99% for height!), so her leader brought the pie by after we got home and said to me, "Boy, is she indoctrinated or what?"

Can you see the U she carved into her very first pie?

(I don't know where she gets it!)

It was really yummy, too!

We are proud of you, Amanda!

Knock please....

Ok, time to go private! So, if you would like an invite, please e-mail me and I'll include you! Thanks! mjarvy@msn.com

Happy Halloween (for reals)

Darling kiddos!

It is finally here! Time to trick or treat! We headed to Hollingsworths for the pre-trick-or-treat dinner party (yep, for reals). We brought Cheri W.'s famous chicken and wild rice soup that gets requested every year! Plenty of warm and yummy food, even though the temperature was a balmy 70 degrees!

back row: Amanda, Susie E., Maddy L., Hanalee H., Ellie B., then Sydney & Brandon! The back row girls all went together and Sydney and Brandon went with Daddy. Brandon HAD to find his friend, Matthew, before he would go, so Mike hung out with Chad B and at one point got together with Sydney's friend, Abby, and her Dad Rick and sister, Lucy. We tried to get hooked up with our neighbors, but they never caught each other!

I sat outside and passed out candy from the front porch! I took my camera out and snapped a few pictures of some of our friends. Mike & our little ones came home after about an hour and a half and Brandon was DONE! Hit the wall. Party overload. I did take him over to our neighbors, especially Chris the dentist, to get a toothbrush! Then, traded places with Mike so I could take Sydney down the next street. It took Sydney and I about another hour to go down one street! But, it was fun to hang out with her. She is so cute and very sweet at each door when she says thank you and bye!Friends, Maya, Darin & Nash J

When we got home, we had another surprise! Rog, Coze and their kiddos were at our house! Mike said when he opened the door to Kate & Elyse trick-or-treating, it took a minute to register who they were! We decided they needed to get a tootbrush from Dentist Chris and took them around to our neighbors. We also jumped in the car to go see the Wilson's scary house and they were already outside taking down their elaborate Halloween display! We also went to the Elliotts to see their awesome display inside their entry. They had a wizard playing the piano and a guy in a coffin! Very fun!

Action shot of Amanda & Susie trick-or-treating...ok, I know you can't see them

After Mike stuffed Kate & Elyse's trick-or-treat bags with our leftover candy, and Rog & Cozette threw their leftover candy bag at us, and Brandon falling off a pumpkin on the porch and banging his head on the house, they were off and we were ready to settle the kids in, hoping that they were on the crash side of that sugar high they have been riding all day!

Our friends, Taylor F and Joshua H

The girls went right to sleep....Bubba took a couple more hours!

Can we say that although it was lots of fun, it's good to have Halloween in the past!

Brando says:

Time: 9:12AM on November 1st

Brandon: "I just want to eat my candy right now.....because I love candy!"

Dad: "Brandon where's my candy?"

Brandon: "You didn't go trick or treating!"

Dad: "Yes, I did. I went with you."

Brandon: Just shrugs

Brandon: "Mom, I have too much candy!"

I don't want to take a nap!

I told B that since it's trick-or-treat tonight, that he needed to take a nap so he would be happy! He really didn't want to. Amanda tried because Brandon said he wanted to snuggle with her. (Oh, that just melts a mama's heart!) But, he didn't sleep because they were watching kid shows. So, here comes the mean mom and I got him to sleep in about 5 minutes. But, not without him getting the final protest in. I just love how he is sleeping on this pillow facing the wrong way in the bed! Ok, Brando...you win!

Halloween Crazy

I thought these two boys looked so cute today waiting to go to their preschool Halloween party! Brandon is (obviously) Yoda and his friend, Matthew, is Spiderman! They also go to preschool with Spencer who lives next door. He is also being Yoda.

When I drive the carpool and help them get out of the car, I have to give them a superhero name as I lift them out of the car. Sometimes they pick the same name, Batman, Spiderman, Superman. Sometimes they have to be a little different, Black Spiderman, Red Spiderman...

This age is so cute and it's been fun for Brandon to have his buddies to go to school with! They had a great time at their party. Brandon came home and divided his treats with me. One for Mom, one for Brandon. Very sweet!

Arvy Party - Halloween take 2!

Brandon getting ready in Daddy's costume!

This past Saturday we went to our friends, the Laws, annual Halloween party! Always good food and fun people. We left before the pumpkin carving this year because we were hosting the Arvy's at our house for another Halloween party!

We had Maddox chicken, funeral potatoes, beans, fries, yummy salad, and my favorite...sugar cookies!

Some of the scarier ghouls having a dual in the backyard (Jace & Corvin)
Elphaba Amanda!

We played games provided by Grandma and Papa. The kids love these parties and hanging out with the cousins!

The cool ones who dressed up! Corvin scary guy, Maddie as Miley, Mikey as Stormtrooper, Brock is a rock start, Kristine with great dracula teeth, Grandma as a rock star, Emily as Tinkerbell, second row: Amanda, Jill as wicked witch of the east, Zach as Indy Jones, Grandpa as a Ute, Jace another scary guy, front row: Sydney as Glinda and Brandon as YodaThe 'losers' who didn't dress up! You were good sports to get your picture taken! Kellie with an impromptu boa costume, Scott as Scott, and scary guys flanking Jim as Jim

Other 'losers' showed up later, but were not photographed...Matt as Matt, Alisa as Alisa. Missing in action....Hillary and Steven and girlies who were feeling ill, or were just scared to show up!

Here are all the cousins (minus Brock who didn't want another photo) back row: Amanda, Corvin, Maddie, Kaili in a cute yellow tutu, second row: Greg as batman, Sydney, Zach, Ryan with a golf ball in his forehead, Jace, Front row: Kelsey as a fairy, Emily and Brandon