was it worth the wait?

After ordering our new computer a week ago, it seemed like an eternity before it got here, but yesterday it finally came!! I am so excited about it, now if I can just figure out how it all works...
Oh, yea, and this other place opened yesterday just up the street in Draper. Seriously, the traffic around this area was crazy before, and now it's just out of control!! (I forgot my camera, so I had to rely on my phone's photos.) We weren't one of the crazies who slept out waiting for In-n-Out to open...we were just one of the crazies who waited in line for about 45 minutes at 4pm, hoping to beat the dinner crowds...

...and we waited outside...we waited inside...and finally it paid off.

One double double animal-style, one number 2 with grilled onions, and three plain cheeseburgers (aka: crabby patties), to stay, please.

The fries come animal-style too, but my favorite is just the plain fries to go with my #2, a Diet Coke, and a chocolate shake. Was it all worth the wait? You may think we're crazy, but duh, of course it was!!

an icy recovery

Just last week Jake woke up one morning with a fever of 104 and could hardly move a muscle. He stayed home from school for a couple of days, and then fortunately he had the weekend to fully recover. Thank goodness it didn't last long, and he didn't really have all the symptoms of H1N1 (like he did last summer, I'm pretty sure). He always complained about his head being hot, so he constantly kept a bag of ice on his head, even when he slept.
Will hung out with us most of the time because he was out of school for most of those two days. He had homework to catch up on, and then at one point Jake was feeling well enough to go outside for a bit with the old Lego pirate ship and the new pirate ship.

After the pirate photos, Jake and I layed outside on the grass for a while. It was so good for him to get some fresh air, and it was fun to hang out together. We stared at the sky (that was sooo blue that day!) and every once in a while a cloud would drift by that we would guess what the shape looked like. Amazingly enough, the rest of us escaped getting sick and everyone is well...for now. It could be a long winter.

class picture day

I can't imagine there isn't anyone out there who doesn't know and love Calvin & Hobbes, but in case you don't, this was my favorite comic strip for years. Somewhere I still have the final comic they put in the Sunday paper years ago, and that was a sad day. Just last week I introduced Ben to Calvin and Hobbes, and he is now obsessed with them too. We sat down reading it together the other day and just laughed our heads off. This comic below is especially applicable to the picture following it. If you can't read it well, click on the comic to enlarge it. DON'T scroll down to look at the picture before you are done reading the comic! Don't say I didn't warn you!
Now when you stop laughing you are free to look below:

Yes, this is child #1. School picture day. Awesome haircut done by Julie. Styled at home by dad. Mom off galavanting in Hawaii. Hair re-styled at school by Ben.

I'm still trying to figure out what posessed Ben to part his hair in the middle--he never did it before (that we know of) and hasn't done it since (that we know of). Bless his heart though, it does make me smile cuz he looks so proud of himself. Thank goodness there was no Crisco involved...probably because it never occurred to him, but I'll guard mine next year! IF we had one more boy, which we won't, I would name him Calvin. Not to worry though--Ben said that he would make me proud in about 20 years and name his first boy Calvin. :)

I'm not a fan of school pictures, but all three boys are just classic this year. Will's mischevious smile.

And Jake's cute buzz. I'm the luckiest mom in the whole world!! We have our problems, but I wouldn't trade these guys for anything!

a snowy, super, and spooky week

Exactly a week ago we had our first snowfall of the season. October 27. Maybe it's just me, but that seems a little early. It wasn't just a flake here and there--we're talking it snowed for hours. Whatever happened to fall?!

The kids were so excited that they had to get out and play in it once the snow stopped and the sun came out. Will is home from school in the afternoons and his friend, Adam, is off-track, so the two of them went to get Jaycie, and together they had some fun outside.

The snowman has since melted, but they had a good time. Now it's a beautiful fall day outside without a hint of winter, but I'm sure it won't stay away for too long...until then we will enjoy fall while we can.

The next day was Mother's Visiting Day at Ben and Jake's school. I volunteered to take pictures for Jake's kindergarten class--every year each kindergartener gets a scrapbook at the end of the year, and I know it's hard for teachers to take pictures and run the classroom on these special days, so I'm helping out and it's a lot of fun to be involved.

I had to go back and forth between Jake's class and Ben's class, which was a bit crazy, but it was fun to see what both of them were doing. I made it into Ben's science class with his science teacher, Mrs. Liimatta. I missed the beginning of the class, but I got to see Ben helping out with an experiment because he was the class helper for the week. They made these bubbles out of dry ice, thus the mittens Ben was wearing.
Then it was back to Jake's class for a fun Halloween project. Mrs. Z put together all these apple-witches and the kids decorated them. She is so awesome and loves the kids!!

Jake's witch

Halloween day!!

I took the boys up to Lagoon for Frightmares on Saturday afternoon. Daren was in Mexico all week riding dirt bikes with friends, so he wasn't with us. That made it kind of hard to ride the rides at Lagoon, but fortunately we only had an hour or so there. Ben and Jake wanted to ride all the big rides, but Will isn't tall enough yet, so we had to compromise, and they all still had fun. They didn't dare go into any of the haunted houses there though.

We went to Brenda's to drop off something, and the boys changed into their costumes. No, movies aren't an influence in our house at all!!

Brenda and kids

Then it was off to Gma and Gpa Train's house for trick-or-treating, but mostly treating with plenty of donuts and hot chocolate to go around.

After that it was off to Reggie's birthday party, (one of Ben's friends) and then back home to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. It was one crazy day (that started at 6am when the boys got up because they were so excited for Halloween), but it was good. Hope everyone had a great one!

p.s. Daren made it home safe the next night and it's great to all be together again.