Madison

I came home from cub scouts and Madi comes running up to me and said, "look mom, dad found my ear-pod." She meant i-pod, but got her ear mixed up with her eye (i) . I mean it makes perfect sense, she listens to it through her ears. So, from now on, in our home, it will be known as an ear-pod (at least until Madi grows out of it and comes up with something new.)

Payton

So, we were driving home for the day. I was not home from 8A.M. to 7:30 P.M. I hate those types of days. Anyway, I was driving home and we were singing a song from Sleeping Beauty when Madi asked if we could go home and watch the Luis movie (Meet the Robinson's). I said "no, it is bed time." Madi then asked, "can we read four books?" Payton said "twease (please)."(my favorite Payton word, I cannot resist saying yes when she says it). I said not four, but probably two. Payton yells hurray, hurray! Oh, it was so cute. I am glad that two books can be that exciting. But, we will have to work on what numbers mean.

Our Week with Anna

Anna's job this week was a simple one :)
1. wake up at the crack of dawn.
2. drive me to work
3. get the girls dressed and fed
4. Keep the girls busy all morning
5. feed the girls lunch
6. get Madi to preschool
7. give Payton a nap
8. wake Payton from her nap
9. get Madi from school
10. get me from school

Easy right?! After school we were busy everyday. Here is what we did...


Monday:
We ate at Chile's because it is one of Anna's favorite restaurants and they closed them all down in Portland.
We went to the Ethel M. Factory and ate our free piece of chocolate and then walked out to the cactus gardens.
We got to experience nature in the city. This lizard was hiding from us.
This rabbit started to jump away after the girls started yelling at it.

Tuesday:
On Tuesday and Friday morning the girls spent the morning swimming with Anna. All the while Greg was sitting in a training and I was at school :(
Greg and I had a dental visit we both had to go to. So, Anna brought the girls to the Galleria Mall to play in the kids zone.

Wednesday:
We had to run lots of errands on Wednesday. Nothing fun about grocery shopping, paying late fees for UNLV's grad packet and making dinner.

Thursday:
Thursday was the girls gym class. After dinner Greg watched the girls while Anna and I went to Nordstrom's Rack. It was fun being able to shop without worrying about the girls.

Friday:
Friday we had planned on going mini golfing or to the movie in the park, but neither happened. We ended up buying the girls costumes, eating pizza, eating cold stone ice cream and we watched Made of Honor. (cute movie, but lots of cussing and innuendos).

We had fun with Anna. Anna got a good taste of life with kids. We are always running around trying to get things done. We are truly grateful for Anna's willingness to come and help us out for the week. We hope she can recover quickly from her time here :)

Costumes

Well, I know that October is not until next week, but I got a coupon in the mail. Party City had $5 off a costume under $25. We usually get our costumes at Target, but they were $30 this year. I thought that was a bit pricey. I was able to save $15 on Payton's costume by getting it at Party City rather then Target. Madi's, unfortunately, was still bought at Target because Party City did not carry Princess Leia.
Madi as Princess Leia. Notice she is holding her hip where the gun is suppose to sit.
Payton is a beautiful Princess Aurora.

Gymnastics

Madison has been in a gymnastics, Kindergym, class for 18 months now. It is a small class at the local rec center. She loves it. Last week Payton was able to join Madison's class.
Here is Madison on the uneven bars!

Here is Payton on the bridge. Sorry about the angle. Madison can now walk on the beam without any help. I am so proud of Madison and Payton!

Thank You Anna!

Aunt Anna is coming for a week to help us. Friday, late afternoon, Greg got a call from his commander (Sargent, who knows, someone military) that he needed to report Monday at 8 AM. He has to be in a training at Nellis Air force base from 8-3 Monday-Friday. Greg watches the girls everyday since I work days. Luckily I have an awesome, very helpful family. Anna agreed to fly down and stay with the girls during the day all week. We decided to bake Anna some yummy sugar cookies for her willingness to come.
Payton choose the color orange, so she got to put icing on the pumpkins!
Red sprinkles! Can you tell I have lots of Christmas sprinkles:)
Madi's favorite color is purple, so she put icing on the cats and bats!
Notice the icing on her upper lip, she couldn't stop licking the knife. (Beware Anna of the purple cookies) Of course that is the best part of baking, licking the beater, spoon, etc.
Thank you Anna for coming to help us!

Halloween

Fall begins this Tuesday. I cannot wait! The weather is cooling, the air just seems to change. I put out my Halloween decorations today. I figured that it is time since Halloween is less then 6 weeks away.
I bought this wreath at Goodwill and added these wooden shapes. I love Halloween (have I already said that)!
I got a wild idea to paint the mats in the frame. I know you cannot tell, but I painted a spider on a web. I need to practice my drawing techniques, but I still thought I would share. This picture frame will soon hold a picture of the girls in their Halloween costumes.
I have had this pumpkin for years. I love it! I could be mistaken, but I believe that Emily made it and then gave it to me. She took a Relief Society homemaking lesson from my very crafty mother-in-law. Happy Fall to all!!

Our Ward Party

The ward had a party today. I, of course, had open house. It was a bummer that open house had to be on a Friday. But, Greg was able to bring the girls because a wonderful friend watched the girls during the day so Greg could sleep. The party started at 6:00. I showed up at about 7:30. It was fun and there was lots of food!

Payton loved the Strawberry Shortcake bounce house

Hi dad!

Girls just want to have fun!

Madi loved the Spiderman bounce house!

The girls rode the train over and over and over...

At the end of the night Payton tried climbing in the strawberry shortcake bounce house and they unplugged it, luckily someone got her out before it collapsed. She cried and cried. She was asking where the train was and said she wanted everyone to come back and she wanted the bounce houses to go back up. It was sad. Of course I had been at school from 8-7:15, so I was ready for the ward party to be over and I wanted to go home so I could get off my feet.

Families are Forever

This is the Powell Family and spouses.
Mom and Dad Powell

My older brother Jason, wife Ashley and daughter Emma
My Family

Younger brother Bobby and wife Abbie

Emily and husband Scott

Anna and husband Sterling

Sarah

James

William

I've been tagged

I look at my friend, Tara's blog everyday. Yesterday I realized that I had been tagged on her blog. So here it goes.

The place I want to visit most:

I know that I am an adult, but I love Disneyland. My favorite holiday is Halloween. I love the fall season and all that it involves. I just found out last week that Disneyland has a special Halloween season. I begged Greg to go. This year won't work, but hopefully we will be there next year.

My Kitchen Sink:
Not too bad, is it? I like a clean sink. Plus, yesterday we were out late so we stopped by Burger King on the way home, so there are no dirty dishes.

My refrigerator:

I love my refrigerator. I love the freezer on the bottom. In my old apartment I hated my freezer. I was always dropping things on the floor. I never dropped things on the girl's heads or my feet, but there were some pretty close calls. The fridge is very spacious.

The main bathroom:
The main bathroom is down stairs and is used and abused by the girls. It also needs to be remodeled. It has no color. One day I will paint it.

My Favorite Room in the house:

I can't decide between the girl's room and the kitchen. I love to cook. I don't always feel up to cooking, but I love to when I have the energy. I also love to bake sweets. But, the girl's room is the one we have spent the most time on in our new house. We painted the walls, bought a rug, and paintings. The furniture even matches.

My closet:
My closet takes up one whole wall in our bedroom. The closet is behind three big mirrored doors. I opened one of them for you.

My Kids:
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My girls love to eat toast with cinnamon, it's a new favorite in our house.

Self Portrait:
Wow, I look tired. To bad today is only Thursday. One more work day to go.

My Favorite Shoes:
I love to watch What not to Wear on TLC. They are always talking about how pointy shoes elongate the legs. I decided to try it out. I bought these red shoes and they are actually comfortable. Plus, every girl needs red shoes.

My laundry Room:
My washer and dryer are outside in the garage. It is very hard to do laundry because I have to move the cars to do the laundry. I can't even just grab one thing out of the dryer without opening the garage door and moving the Pilot.

There you have it. I tag Anna and anyone else who has time to do this. Happy hunting!