A hallow's eve tale!

We had a great Halloween here at the Roblyer house! Even the morning light got the memo that it was Halloween! The orange and pink colors with the sun coming up was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the holiday!

The kids had a bit of a hiccup with their costumes this year. Their school decided to have the kids dress as their favorite book characters and then the day before Halloween we received an email mandating that no street clothes were to be worn. Well, originally Chloe had planned to be Bella from the 'Twilight' series and Jordan had chosen Percy Jackson from 'The Lightening Thief'. Both of these characters wear nothing but street clothes. So Jordan changed to Harry Potter (a costume from last year) and Chloe decided to be Penelope from 'The Wanderings of Odysseus' where she used her fancy witch dress and changed it to fit the Penelope character.

Chloe also changed into a different costume to go Trick-or-Treating. She was a 70's girl where she used her spring dance costume. Jordan stuck with the Harry Potter costume.

Sadly this is Chloe's last year trick-or-treating. And we had to pull her teeth (not really), to stay with the family this year. We compromised with a deal that we would let her throw a Halloween party next year if she went around with the family. In the end she admitted that she had fun with her dad and brother trick-or-treating.

I was a little disappointed with the turn out of trick-or-treaters. I think we over prepared! We had a total of about 35 kids and we bought 2 bags of candy (one 150 piece bag of chocolate, & one 250 piece bag of assorted) Needless to say we have lots of candy left over!

M@t Returns!

It has been a blissful four days since Matt's return Friday evening! It has also been very busy. Matt's plane landed a half hour early. Luckily, the kids & I had everything prepared so we were able to jump into the car and go get him. We did have to swing by and pick Chloe up from a birthday party on our way to the airport. She insisted that "it is tradition that she be in the car when picking dad up from the airport" I tried to assure her it would be fine if she stayed at the party and we could pick her up when it was over. I thought it was sweet and obvious that she missed her daddy!

We had a full weekend of various activities and errands. Matt has adjusted surprisingly well, with little to no jet-lag. He took the kids to see High School Musical 3 on Saturday night, so I could do some last minute Primary preparations. It has probably helped that we have gone to bed earlier than normal and also taken naps to combat his jet-lag. Overall the transition back into family life has been smooth! Matt seems to have had a great time in Prague. I can't wait to see the pictures!

Missing M@t - Day Nine

Talk about a crazy day! I was busy this morning with Primary stuff,(meeting) and while I was gone Chloe called and left a message for me to bring her belt she forgot to put on this morning. Unfortunately, by the time I got home and got the message she had already received a "white slip" for dress code violation. Our little Chloe is not a rule breaker and goes out of her way to abide by every rule humanly possible, so she took the white slip personally, but I think she took the fact that one of her friends ratted her out even harder. I don't understand "mean girls" but Chloe is friends with this girl and continues to be so, despite my best efforts to discourage it. Probably because she has a bigger, more forgiving heart!

Jordan finished his wooden scrapbook at the Webelos Den Meeting over at the Young's. It looks amazing and I will post a picture Tuesday where it will be displayed at Pack Meeting. He will be receiving his Arrow of Light Award and his craftsman pin at this Pack Meeting! Very exciting for Jordan!

Chloe had to baby-sit this evening and it went smoothly. No phone calls home for tips on cooking or anything else. She also had dance class this evening. She was way excited about dance because they measured her for the costume for the concert in December. It sounds really cute, can't wait to see the finished product.

The excitement is in the air here at the home! As I write this late at night here is SLC, it is morning time in Prague where Matt is heading to the airport to come home! We are ready for him to be home.

Missing M@t - Day Eight

It's been one of those days. Not a bad day, but not a great day.

I had to start off my day with ironing which was not all bad because I got some much needed iPod listening time in.

I was stood up for a phone date. (I'm sure he had a good reason.)

After school, we ran some errands searching for vampire teeth for Chloe's costume party for her Activity Day's Party. The clerk at Shopko said every kid in the valley seems to be dressing as a vampire for Halloween and then she told us what stores to avoid because she had already searched earlier that day. Crisis was averted because Chloe decided to go as a "Hippie Stayin' Alive Party Gal" (her spring dance costume came in handy!) We will continue our search for vampire teeth on Friday when we have more time! I'm hoping she'll decide to go with the Hippie for Halloween night, but chances of that are slim!

Chloe had fun at her party. Everyone loved her costume. All was well until dinner time. Needless to say, Chloe is going to bed hungry tonight. She has developed this horrible, nasty quirk. Chloe refuses to eat leftovers. Contrary to the belief of her father who says I taught her this - so not true- this annoying trait has really been bad the past two months. I understand that there are things that do not reheat well, but this was a pasta dinner that only gets better with age. I gave her a choice to eat what was offered or she could go to bed hungry. She went to bed hungry! I was hoping after having our Family Home Evening lesson on President Boyd K Packer testimony on being frugal and conservative she would be willing to eat what's offered, but that is not the case. Don't worry, I checked a parenting website and a kid will not starve to death from missing one meal, no harm done. I just get to go to bed feeling like a crappy mom.

Surprisingly Jordan was rather cooperative on all issues (homework, shopping, dinner, bedtime.) That is a shock. I think he's trying to butter me up for something.

Tomorrow is a new day and I think it is going to be great!

Missing M@t - Day Seven

It was so chilly today I had to check the weather to see if we were expecting snow in the next few days. Luckily, the forecast is clear. The wind brought the chilly air into the valley. The wind has also stripped the trees of most of the beautiful fall leaves. I have pictures for proof.

This picture was taken last Saturday afternoon.

This picture was taken this afternoon.
Very chilly!

Chloe was a trooper during soccer practice despite the 55 degree weather. Jordan on the other hand came to the car for warmth in 10 minute intrevals.

I am not posting much today because I am in the middle of a really good book and want to devote my spare time to finishing it. Suprisingly, it is a book about dogs. I usually go by the old adage "Cats Rule & Dogs Drool!" Except for puppies of course, but then again anything mini is cute. That is why our cat is super cute because she is a cat and she is mini. Another picture for proof of cuteness.

Here are some other things that are super cute!

No need for Matt to be getting homesick from all this cuteness he is missing! He will be home soon enough! Lots of Love from the family! xoxoxox

Missing M@t - Day 6

Back to the daily grind. The fun is over - kids are back in school. Back to never-ending chores for me. I did get a small treat on the way home from dropping the kids off at school this morning. I have to drive through two school zones on my drive and right before one of those school zones some jerk face cut me off and sped through the school zone, but he got his comeuppance. There was a "copper" waiting on the corner street and he pulled him over! Even the crossing guard was laughing at the dope! That was definitely the highlight of my day, aside from talking to my sweetie - talking to him is always the highest point of all my days!

The countdown is on: only four days until Matt returns home!

I have shows that I am holding off watching until Matt is home. Some of those include:

Fringe (sometimes Matt has to explain things to me),
Survivor (I don't know how much longer this will be on our TiVo),
Grey's Anatomy (I hate this show and only watch it because Matt does),
CSI (I'm still trying to get over Warrick's death and might need Matt to pass me some more tissues),
The Amazing Race (Who else is going to laugh when I say "Honey, I need you to blow on it" all during the show - I'm just hoping I don't find out who's been kicked off before Friday),
The Big Bang Theory (okay, so I gave in and watched it, but Sheldon was so funny I won't mind watching it again),
How I Met Your Mother (Okay, so I watched this one as well and I will have trouble watching it again because things have not panned out the way I was hoping - I probably just gave it up to Matt but just in case he is too tired to understand and you know what I'm talking about keep it under wraps so he can be surprised),
and last of all, Heroes (it's a must that we watch it together!)

I don't know when we will have time to watch these shows as well as many others that will continue to pile up over the next four days?!?! It seems that the kids have every moment planned out from the time Matt steps off the plane (the pumpkin patch, trick or treat on Halloween street, boo at the zoo, and high school musical 3 movie!) I've told them it all depends on the jet-lag! Matt might want to crawl into bed and sleep for three days!?! It always varies.

Missing M@t - Day Four and Five

Finally, some me time! Taking a moment, now that the kids are in bed, to catch you up on my adventures from where I last left you. I believe the kids had gone to my mom's for a sleepover. Now that was bliss! Not the nighttime part, because honestly, the house was tooooo quiet and tooooo empty. It was so strange to be all alone, even my kitty was being standoffish (probably because of the scolding she received the night before) The blissful part for me was when I finally got to sleep (2:45am) I was able to sleep in until 10:45 am! Heaven!!! The kids came home about 12 PM. My mom visited for about an hour - shocking- she usually doesn't stay to visit! Then the kids and I started on our chores. Well, we actually made a list of the chores that needed to be done and then we each grabbed our books and proceeded to read. Did I mention we had company coming at 7 PM?! Thirty minutes into our reading the doorbell rings, and it's my good friend Robin. How embarrassing! I'm still in my pajamas! It's all good, because she is not "made up" for the day yet as well. We chatted about this and that, and then because my kids decided that was the time to be glued to each arm of the couch, Robin finally said "I need to talk to you in private." I promptly sent the kids away, and braced my self for news of more drama in the ward/neighborhood. But come to find out it was "Top Secret" information that she had gotten permission from the Stake President to share with me! You'll have to wait til my Day 5 part of this post to find out that "Top Secret" information. BTW - I was given permission to share the news with Matt so long as he kept it out of the blog and emails for a day!

Onto the rest of my Saturday, the kids and I finally got busy with the chore list and the house was sparkling when company arrived. Our company consisted of my cousin Tanya and her husband Kevin. I baby-sat Tanya when she was a kid (she is about 9 years younger), and she is one of the few baby-sitters we ever had for our kids. (Our kids were precious cargo, we didn't leave them with too many people - that, and the real reason is we were dirt poor!) Tanya is one of Chloe and Jordan's favorite people on the planet, so when she got married a year and half ago they have been feeling abandoned. The girl has her hands full between a job, full-time school, being married, soccer, and now a baby on the way! Needless to say the kids were over joyed when she called and wanted to get together!

Highlights from our night of fun started with us playing Jr. Catch Phrase. I had the word "funny" and so I said "daddy thinks he's very ____?" The kids start shouting out "manly, athletic, smart," and then they brought up "roses" (I can't put the whole quote because it is an inside family joke!) We were rolling on the floor and then when the laughs stopped Jordan says "I miss daddy, do you think he is missing us?" It was a sweet, sweet moment. From Jr. Catch Phrase we moved onto Whoonu?, where we learned that Kevin is not very manly and really enjoys bubble baths! The best game of the night was Conga. On one of the questions where the group had to guess what world record I wanted to set that started with the letter "B" - Chloe's guess was "Beaver Tamer?!!" The correct answer was "Books read." It was a fun, fun night with many laughs and many yummy snacks (Tanya brought brownies!) We all agreed we needed to do this again soon and definitely when Matt is in town!

I let the kids sleep in my room again (such a sucker) and I actually was out like a light until the alarm went off at 7 am. We made it to church a little earlier than usual because I had extra prep work to do for Primary. The kids were awesome helpers with the chair set-up (big thanks to Chloe!) Jordan as usual was drawn to the chalkboard (and of course he is wearing dark blue pants, so he had hand prints all over!) It's all good as we slide in to our bench just as the Bishop stands to start the meeting, it is crowded today so we are sharing with the Call Family.

Drum roll, please. (I don't know how to type the drum roll sound, just make it in your head.) We have a new Bishop! We have been waiting forever for this change! Mainly, because Bishop Stock has been in for a long, long time. We are so happy with the new Bishop, which happens to be Robin's husband. That was the news she came by to tell me. The only reason she was allowed to tell me is because I had to run Primary all by myself. We had already planned to do a run through of our Primary Program that is next week with Jr. and Sr. together (about 70 kids.) Jenny, our first counselor in the presidency couldn't be there for the first hour because her husband was put into the Bishopric as first counselor once again! Thankfully, I had our secretary who did most of the leg work. And the kids were incredibly reverent and wonderful. It was one of my best Sundays in Primary, which will make it that much harder when I am released in the next week or so (that was the other piece of news Robin shared yesterday.) Many tears will be shed when that day arrives! Our ward is in good hands with Bishop Riding! I am very happy!

After church we headed to my mom's for lunch/dinner. While driving the kids asked to call Matt (I think they're missing him.) They talked to him for the few minutes he had to spare (I guess he was out to dinner or something?) My mom made her famous pasta. It is the best pasta sauce if you like spicy and I absolutely love it. She sent me home with a bowl and a loaf of garlic bread. (Sans noodles is really the best way to eat it!) We played games. Jr. Catch Phrase again, and Apples to Apples (I hate this game, but I actually won this time!)

That is the extent of Day 4 & 5. Lots of fun was had! Surprises were revealed! And the family is still missing Matt!