My favorite number

Whenever I'm asked to pick a number between 1-100, I always choose 37.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because I grew up in the 37th Ward of the Las Vegas East Stake.  Maybe it's because both 3 and 7 are two of my favorite numbers.  Maybe it's because 3 + 7 = 10, the perfect number.  Like I said, I don't know why it's my favorite number, but it is and today I'm 37 years old- woo hoo!

It's Mario BROS

Gavin's latest obsession is Super Mario Brothers.  He loves playing the game on the Wii and has become quite good at it.  I don't feel so bad for the time he's clocked on it, since his occupational therapist said it's good for his fine motor skills.  So he's not wasting time on video games- he's doing his therapy, ha ha!  But you know Gavin, his imagination is amazing!  He's always telling stories now of Mario and Luigi's adventures together.  He's even made each of us a character:  he's Mario of course, Kaleb is Luigi, Noe is Princess Peach, Teague is Toad, Hiram is Yoshi, Leonard is Bowser, and I am the girl Koopa (but we're the good Bowser and Koopa, ha ha!).  However, it's not "Mario Brothers" it's "Mario BROS"- check the box!

ALOHA-HA

 For Hiram's 9 month pictures with puppy, I decided to put him in Gavin's old Hawaiian outfit.

 Then I put Teague in Kaleb's old outfit.

These boys sure look cute in hand-me-downs.  Teague LOVES Hiram!  I think sometimes Hiram thinks he loves him too much, ha ha.  It is so cute to watch them play together now.

Poison Ivy is NOT nice!

 Two weeks ago, Kaleb showed me a black mark on his arm and asked if I knew what it was.  It looked just like someone ran a magic marker down his forearm, and I had NO idea what it was.  He had been playing in the woods at the park with the neighborhood kids, so I was worried he got into some poison ivy or got bit by a weird insect or something.  I told him we'd keep our eyes on the mark to see if it changed.

 Sure enough, the next day it was swollen, red and starting to blister.  We took him to the doctor, and she had no idea what the black mark was either, but said the reaction to it was a typical skin allergy reaction such as poison ivy.  She gave us a steroid cream and promised us the rash would get worse before it got better.

 Yes, it did get worse!  The red swelling and blisters spread all over both arms, his legs, his face, and a couple spots on his tummy.  His right cheek swelled up so bad that it looked like he was a chipmunk storing a golfball.

 We took him back to the doctor and she gave him a stronger steroid pill to take.

The swelling has gone down, but the blisters have started seeping and just look awful.  These pictures aren't half as bad as it got.  He is a trooper though and is taking it all in stride.  Hopefully, he will feel better soon!

BeNeLux

We had 9 glorious months with Leonard home for parental leave.  But alas, all good things must come to an end.  Len went back to work in the European division, but this time he is in charge of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  His first week back coincided with Belgium's national holiday so he got to go to the Belgian Ambassador's residence for a little reception.  I opted out this time, but I did have him drive me through Rockcliffe Park to see the home.  I think it's so charming!

Fashion Show

 When I was a little girl, I loved to play "dress up" in my mom's clothes.  Well, Noe and Karly played "fashion show" in Noe's dance clothes (and princess dresses and regular dresses).

They even put on make-up: turquoise eye shadow, magenta blush, and fuchsia lip gloss- lovely!

7th of 12 = 92%

 So I didn't quite reach my goal in July, so I didn't treat myself to a piece of the Willow Tree Nativity.  However, I think 92% is still pretty good and I did treat myself to a little Christmas treasure while we were in North Pole, New York.

 The in-house artist at Santa's Workshop is Lorrie Mandigo.  She was painting some tree toppers while we were visiting the museum.  Leonard suggested I should get one (he's so good to me), so I did!

 Check out The Painted Santa to see more of Lorrie's beautiful work.

I love this little guy and might have to add something similar to my Santa collection someday!

the big FIVE

Have a happy 5th birthday Keegan!

Twice Wicked

 Wicked came to the NAC, so I got to see it again with my friend Jackie and her friends Lisa & Lilianna.

We had a lovely evening watching the show and had a scrumptious dinner at The Side Door.

Without Cheerleaders, it's only a game

Noe is the 4th generation of cheerleaders in our family.  Yep, I was a cheerleader in high school and junior high, as well as my mom and my granny.  She started all star cheerleading this month and is really enjoying it.  She works hard- 4 hours a week (who says cheerleaders aren't athletes?)  Her head coach also covers the team for the boys Bengals football team as well as the team for the Ottawa Invaders semi-pro team.  She wanted all 3 teams to cheer at one of the games, so Noe got to be an honorary Bengal for the day.  

 She was so excited!

 Especially because her friend, Emma was cheering right beside her.

 They welcomed the players onto the field.

 Pom poms are the most fun!  They got to cheer on the sidelines during the first half.

 And perform during half-time.

 Strike a pose!

And posing again with one of the Invaders cheerleaders.

Way to go Noe!

Main Street, USA

 The Main Street in Lake Placid is simply charming.  We walked it everyday we were there.  At the top is this quaint, rustic church.

 Every building houses a fun shop(s)/restaurant.  There were too many good things to choose from!

 On our last night, we took the free trolley around the village too.

 I could build a home like the Just Bead It store and be happy all the rest of my days.

 At the bottom of the street you find this darling, stone church.

 The free live music event I mentioned before.  What a great place- right off Main Street and right off the water.

 I don't know what these flowers are called, but I love them!

 We found this house for sale and decided we want to buy it.  If only it were that easy!

 I love Adirondack chairs and this little spot was too endearing to pass by and not capture.

We did a bit of shopping too.  We got part of Kaleb and Noe's Halloween costumes, and there is a year-round Christmas store that I may have spent a pretty penny or two in, and there was a homemade fudge shop with about twenty flavors of fudge.  They also had a promotion if you buy 1 pound you get a half pound free!  I couldn't pass that up, but it was so hard to choose.  On the right is our all time favorite- melt in your mouth peanut butter- delish!  On the left is the chocolate I chose in Leonard's honor- dark chocolate caramel sea salt- divine!  The one in the middle was the flavor of the month- watermelon- what?  Yep, watermelon.  It was so cute with a green layer, thin white layer, pink layer, and chocolate chips on top.  It tasted just like watermelon candy, but in a fudgy texture.  Surprisingly, it was actually quite yummy!  I can't wait to try new flavors next year.

Mirror Lake

 The reason we picked GALR to stay at was for this...

...its own private beach and free use of canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, and life jackets!

 The kids were anxious to spend the day in the sun.

 Rubber ducky gave Noe confidence so she could swim out to both docks.

 Kaleb was a kayak pro by the end of the day!  We were on the west side of the lake, and Kaleb went all the way across to the east side at first.  Soon after he went all the way out to the north and south ends too.

Len grabbed the mini kayak and pushed the 3 little guys around in it. 

 I mean, Teague muscled the watercraft!

 Hiram fits right in with all of us water babies.

 I loved swimming to the docks too, but my favorite was when we all went out in some paddle boats- Kaleb & Noe in one and the rest of us in the other.

 They bring in crushed limestone for the beach and to keep the lake clean.  It's the cleanest lake I have EVER been in.  When I was out treading in deep, dark water I looked down and could see my legs glowing all the way down to my toes.  It was trippy!  However, it wasn't quite like sand to build with- more like uncooked rice.  The kids had fun dumping it in the water and making "milk" though.

 Doesn't Hiram make a cute "Wish you were here" postcard?

When the day was done the big kids all piled in the ginormous tub to rinse off and get warmed up.