This is funny and sad at the same time

A friend of mine in Maricopa sent me the below cartoon yesterday and we got a kick out of it. This is how it's going to be in our old neighborhood this Halloween. I think when we left the first of September nearly half of the houses on our street were in some stage of foreclosure and subsequently vacant. We got to the point where it was depressing to go on walks because it seemed like every time we would we'd see yet another foreclosed house and the yards of all the vacant houses in our neighborhood just looked awful, it was sad.

Things there seem to be getting worse but we're looking at the bright side. How many people already own their retirement home when they're 30+ years away from actually retiring? WE DO! People dream of retiring in Arizona after all. Phil calls it "God's waiting room".

Phil sent me this happy story that pretty much sums us up:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/real_estate/underwater_borrowers/index.htm?cnn=yes

Fall Festival

Today, Landen's preschool had their Fall Festival. It was so cute. The kids had to dress up as storybook characters. Well, Landen had chosen to be a skeleton for Halloween this year, so that costume wasn't going to work. Luckily, someone in our ward let us borrow a pirate costume. It was way cute. I drew on a mustache and facial hair, but Landen hated it. He said it was "awful!" I had to bribe him to keep it on as well as the eye patch and earring. But, they just made the costume.

Landen isn't too happy about the drawn on facial hair! Can you tell?

They went around to the different classrooms at the high school trick or treating.

They had all kinds of fun games to play where they won prizes- fishing, pumpkin toss, bowling, cake walk, face painting, etc.

Here is his whole class and his teacher as well as the high school student teachers.

Little Buckaroos

Since I posted Landen in his Halloween costume I thought I should also put a picture of Nathan up.

To go along with the cowboy theme we were at Costco last night (it's sooooo nice living three miles from a Costco) and the boys spotted these horses. Of course they had to hop on and give them a try. Phil snapped the pictures on his BlackBerry so the quality isn't great. Nathan is blurry in the first one because he was bobbing up and down riding that horse like the wind.

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. They had so many fun things for the kids to do. We went on a hay ride, played in the blow up bounce houses and slides, did the hay maze, face painting, and rode a little train. The boys had a great time. Landen loved going on the big blow up slides the best- oh and the kettle corn. Nathan didn't know what to do - he just kept running from thing to thing checking it all out.

Nathan loved this little Jail house the best- he just kept playing in it. Of all the fun things there, I don't know why this was his favorite?

Boys playing in the pumpkin bounce house.

Landen's favorite!
Landen in the hay maze.

Nate with his favorite characters!

Super Saturday

This past Saturday, I went with my cousin Summer to her Super Saturday. We made some really cute crafts that I wanted to share. I was proud of them!

Growing Up

I was a little disappointed when Landen announced that he wanted to be a scary skeleton for Halloween this year. He's only four, and I'd like him to be something cute, or at least more appropriate for a little boy one last time. As usual, he had other ideas because after all, "Halloween is for scary costumes Mom." So here's a picture of our little Landen in his scary costume.

Nathan can't quite figure out what to think of it. He likes it and always wants to put the mask on, but then is a little freaked out by it too.

Things I Love about my Texas House!

Some people have been asking me to post pictures of our house here in Texas, so I decided to post a few things I love about this house. The thing that is so great about houses here in Texas (besides being so reasonably priced) is that they come with so many upgrades. As opposed to Arizona where all you get when you buy a house is the walls, a roof, and anything else you want is extra. So, here are some of my favorite things...

1. I LOVE the brick houses and the grass in the front yards!

Rather than having all the houses here in different shades of brown stucco, they have the most beautiful brick and stone exteriors. It makes all the houses look good on the outside! Also, I was not a fan of the rock landscaping in Arizona and I love having grass in the front yard. I'd rather have a red brick house but this is ok too (all the houses are red brick here anyway).

2. I LOVE having a fireplace!

Needless to say, most the houses in Arizona (and St. George) don't have fireplaces. You don't exactly need them there. But all the houses here in Texas have them and I love it. I can't wait for Christmas to actually be able to hang our stockings on the mantle!

3. Wood Floors!

Our house has wood floors in the entry, hall to kitchen and garage, formal living room and office and I really love them. We've always had tile in all our houses, which I always thought I preferred, but the wood floors give a much warmer feel and they aren't as cold on bare feet! :)

4. Office with French Doors!

I've always wanted to have an office on the main floor off the entry way with french doors leading into it. Well, that's what we have! Now I just need a pretty desk for our office, so you actually have something nice to look at through the french doors.

5. Moldings that you can actually see and are worth having!

I never thought I'd really care much about moldings, but our home in Arizona had the puniest moldings ever. I now realize they can make a difference. Our house in Arizona had like 2 inch moldings that were so plain. Now, as you can see, we have a whole 4 inches and they are actually quite decorative. Next on the moldings want list for me is crown moldings.

6. I LOVE my kitchen in this house!

I love the granite counter tops. I love the big sunken sink. I love the tall cabinets. I love the tile back splash- which here in Texas is standard. (Awesome!) I love having a quiet dishwasher that I can run whenever I want. Unlike my one in Arizona that sounded like a jet was landing in my kitchen when I ran it. Let's just say, it was barely a step up from those cheapo apartments dishwashers. And, I love having a flat top stove. It's so easy to clean! The only thing my kitchen is missing is the huge pantry from my house in AZ. I miss that!

7. I LOVE our loft/ toy room upstairs!

This house has a big loft upstairs that we have made into our toy room. It's great, because all the toys stay up there and they aren't cluttering up my family room. Also, the boys can leave it a mess and I don't care- because no one goes up there to see it. It's great!

8. HUGE Storage room!

So, this house doesn't have my wonderful pantry from my Arizona house, but it does have a big storage room upstairs off the loft. It's about the same size as my Arizona pantry, but the only downer is it's upstairs, so I have to go up to get things. But, I am not complaining. I love the storage room!

9. Door between the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom.

I know this isn't that big of a deal, but it really is when your husband gets up before you do and is in the bathroom getting ready while you are still trying to sleep and the light from the bathroom is shining right into your face because there isn't a door! So, now, we have a door- hallelujah! For some reason, most of the houses in Arizona don't have a door between the master bedroom and bathroom and I love having that here!

10. Master Bathroom

I love our master bathroom, and not just because of the door (see above). I love the big jetted tub. Our house in Arizona only had a shower in the master bathroom and I missed having a big bathtub to take bubble baths in. I also like the glass block window above the bathtub. Also, I love our shower in this house. Basically, I just like that it's tiled and it has a seat in it.

Note: This post kind of makes it sound like I didn't like my house in Arizona. That is not the case. I loved that house and actually miss a lot of the features of that house- the paint, the backyard, the pantry, etc. But, this new house also has some fun things that we didn't get in Arizona, and I am enjoying them!