Better than picking our noses all afternoon...

Does anyone else find gingerbread houses a pain in the ass?

I think I just really suck at them. This year I tried to do icicles. I wanted to make this gingerbread house REALLY awesome like the one on the box. Not so much. My icicles drooped all the way to the bottom of the house and ended up looking like a frosted mess, so I waited for it to set a bit and took the icicles out (and ate them). The kids did the candy decorating. Jared thinks it looks absolutely wonderful. Jade, on the other hand, says we should never do another one again becuase this one looks so horrid. I agree.

When in Arizona....

Do as the Arizonans do.

And yes, that would be shooting up cans, old TVs, old 70s furniture, or just about anything you can haul out to the desert. According to Doug I'm a "bleeding heart liberal", but hey, I can hang with the gun-slingers too. I grew up a with right-winged ultra-conservative Marine Corps grandfather, and he taught me how to shoot. Low and behold, a few years later I married someone just like him. So here's proof that somewhere in me just "might" live a tiny, TINY bit of redneck. After all, I'm bread from Okie stock, so that's not all too surprising.

O Christmas Tree!!

Here is our slightly-leaning, wonderfully colorful and fantastically-smelling Aragon Family Christmas Tree!!

Just wanted to share. It's smaller than previous years, but I think it's just beautiful.

Halloween

At first, Jade really wanted to be a Russian girl (no idea), but after some thought she decided she'd rather be Hermione. That's a bit easier.

Since we've lived here, my parents have come every Halloween. I think my dad secretly has as much fun as the kids.

Yes I know it's been 2 months. But, does anyone really care anyway? Who reads this thing?

So, Halloween in Anthem is nothing short of awesome. People really make an effort here to decorate their houses, scare little children, and hand out the GOOD candy. The cul-de-sacs in our neighbohood tend to have block parties, and it's always fun to see the drunk neighbors oooh and ahhh over the kids' costumes. Jared and Jade actually both decided to go into the chainsaw house (it's feared and revered every Halloween by the entire block). Basically you walk into a fogged, darkened maze and are suddenly startled by the sound of a chainsaw motor starting behind you. Through the fog you see a masked man, and he is walking toward you with this chainsaw. Next thing you know, you run...and he runs after you, and he keeps GOING until you are half way down the street. The noise is really the scariest part, but isn't there something terrifyingly fun about being chased by a masked possible lunatic who is waving something that can chop you into little pieces? Well, the kids thought so too. Too bad Jade didn't make it to the end. She took one look at him, screamed her head off, and ran right out of there. Jared braved the rest of the maze and made it out in one piece. Way to go Jared!

Ohhh Jade...

Last night she went to a pajama party (not a slumber party - I picked her up at 8:30). On the car ride home I asked how everything went. "Great", she says. "Except for the little bastard that chased us out of E's room".

"The WHAT?"

"The little bastard. That's what E calls her brother".

I laughed - just a little.

Our sky looks like this...

Admittedly, the summers here suck. However, just about every night we're treated to a BEAUTIFUL sunset. It almost, *almost* makes me want to stand outside and watch them. At the very least, I do open my back door shades and watch the light filter through the clouds as we eat dinner.

A side note.

So, guess who retook her final exam in hopes of reaching the highest level of graduation status? I did. And guess what I got? HIGH HONORS, the HIGHEST recognition you can get. Oh yes I did. Take THAT, MT companies who only hire "those with experience or graduated top of their class."

Tomorrow I'm resubmitting my newly-vamped resume to all those companies who refused to even test me, cause I'm good. I'm really good, and I can do this.

Another piece of awesomeness - curriculum night for Jared was tonight. His teacher says he's a total math wiz. Doesn't take after me, but I'm SUPER proud of him. I'm so lucky!