Our bed

Our Bedroom. Nothing fancy. Just simple. Why is it the perfect spot?

Our bedroom is the 2nd most used room in the house (next to the kitchen). It is the laundry sorting, folding & storing room. It is where the kids play. It is a wrestling ring.

We have tried several times over the years to make our bedroom off limits to kids. It just does not work. Our bed is the most comfortable bed in the house. The pillows are plush the sheets are perfect and the down comforter is amazing. All the kids wish they had our bed. They all wonder why it is so awesome. On several occasions we have had pillows missing from the bed. A few times a year kids try and sneak them and trade them for their own. It never works.

Growing up my Mom had a really comfy bed. Her pillows were so squishy. One year my Mom wrapped up 4 huge boxes for Christmas (there were 4 kids). For weeks the boxes were stacked by the tree. Everyday we asked Mom what the big gift was. She gave us hints like...it is something that I have that you all want. It came time to open them. She had bought each one of us expensive down, squishy pillows just like hers. We were all so excited. I remember looking forward to going to bed that night. But something was just not the same with my new pillow. It just wasn't perfect like moms was. It was not until I had kids of my own that I realized the pillow was just a pillow. It was the fact that it was new and did not smell and was not worn in by mom. That's why her pillow was so awesome.

There is nothing special about or bed either. It comforts me that even teenage boys find comfort snuggling up in mom and dad's bed.

Here are a few photos that I dug up which show kids "sneaking" time in our bed. Some listen to music, read, watch TV or jump around. Most nights I get quality time with each child snuggling up with me before bed. I look forward to the evening hours so that we can do just that.

The last picture is my favorite photo of my childhood.

This is me (in pink rollers :) enjoying time with my brother Ben and my Dad in his bed.

Rally

After a lot of thought...and feeling guilty that I did not make it to last weeks Obama rally, we set off this morning to the Sarah Palin rally. I was just going to go with my friends Penny and Emily and our little ones, but at the last minute Zach and Camilla wanted to go so I got them out of school. Let me say that I have never done anything like this before and it was quite an adventure. I was disappointed in many ways but also really impressed. I was disappointed that the Obama supports were yelling nasty comments as we walked in. I was also disappointed that the McCain supports were booing Obama supporters. I can do without the negative comments.

The kids really thought that the energy level was awesome and it made all of us proud to be Americans. The kids were excited to be a part of this democratic process in a small way. I am glad that we took a minute to see the importance getting to know the candidates and of casting a vote. That women are as equal as men and can hold high political positions. This is a very historical time to see a women and a black man running for office.

What ever your political position (we each have our own), today I was proud to see a glimpse of American History. I will be even more proud next Tuesday as a woman to cast my vote! Maybe it was so awesome because I got a little ego trip when 5,000 people were chanting my name! SARA! SARA! SARA! Clara got a big kick out of this.

On our way into the rally. It was a long walk through the woods to a large open area where the stage was set up. I stopped and bought the girls TEAM SARAH t-shirts....I just had to.

The kids were troopers. It was cold....really cold and all they could see was the back of the adults in front of them.

Webkinz

The Webkinz craze has gone through many of your homes I am sure. We are in and out of it. Right now we are in! A cute little store has a contest each year to design and make a costume for your Webkinz. This year Isaac and Camilla entered the contest. Camilla dressed her black lab puppy up as a Hula Girl. It was very cute. She made a bikini and grass skirt. Isaac had the idea of Indiana Jones. He dressed up his black cat. He cut and made a leather vest with a black leather hat and a rope whip. Both kids wrote up how they created the costume and took photos to submit it to the store. We really did not know what to expect. Well we got a call last night saying that BOTH kids had won in each of their age groups!!! They were so excited to get the message. The grand prize was a FREE WEBKINZ. So this morning we went to the store to pick out a new stuffed animal Webkinz. It is actually quite a process. The kids took their time looking at all the choices. They were all smiles. They are so proud of themselves.
Here are the entry photos of the winning Webkins along with the prize winning WEBKINZ we brought home!

Cheesy vs Lame?

OK I was thinking it was cheesy to send photos of my decorations, but then my friends/family who did not attend the Halloween Brunch said it was LAME not to post photos. So here it is, a few pics of the decor. Although if I do say so myself it does look much better in person than in these photos. Or maybe my vision of the decoration is different in person than they really are?
The scary spider web up the staircase and the spider chandelier were awesome hits with the neighborhood kids.

Also please notice that I only have 4 kids dressing up for Halloween. The "cool teenager" was not insight as I flashed away on my photo shoot before Trunk or Treat last night. More photos of the kids in Halloween garb later....only 3 more Halloween parties to go :)!

Halloween Brunch

Yesterday I had a Halloween Brunch for several Moms in our Ward. It was a lot of fun. 30 or so mom's came and enjoyed eating and socializing. I absolutely love to entertain. It is so much fun for me to throw a party. Jason usually stays clear when I am entertaining, but it always ends up being a blast and we actually get a few projects done before we throw a party that we have been meaning to get to. Like this year I finally got out a stool and some cleaner and scrubbed off the sticky goo that some kid had thrown on the ceiling in the kitchen. It had stuck up on the ceiling and had been there almost 6 months. So there you have it....a clean ceiling and a fun party!
I love Halloween. I can't decide if I really love Halloween or if it is just one step closer to Christmas entertaining. This year we went all out on the Halloween decor inside. We have spooky spider webs, and lots of bats. spiders and witches. The kids love to bring their friends in to check out the decorations. They say we have the coolest house ever. The kids look forward to decorating the house for each major holiday. It has been a fun tradition to continue. They love caring the boxes up from the basement each major holiday. Jason thinks we have no more room for any holiday boxes in the house. I think I could rearrange them to fit just a few more?
No photos of the kids in costume yet...but that will come next week. They all look great this year.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Sick Sunday...with Camilla the great!

Today started off bad and ended up being a pretty ok day. With 1/2 the family not feeling well we ended up not going to church. After watching a movie and then a little fighting, Camilla started getting creative. She first asked if she could sew. She wanted to make a pencil pouch for school. After cutting, pining & making her 1st button hole her master piece was complete. Her fuzzy pencil pouch was complete! She then moved to the kitchen to make her famous Camilla bars.
Her not so helpful side kick Clara got in the way more than she helped. In the end she had 5 different bars ready for sampling.
Chocolate, mint, nut, peanut butter and plain Jane's.
She then got the kids to make a fort(s) in the family room. It was quite the adventure since the dog kept getting in the way.
For the most part the day was a complete success to Amazing Camilla and her positive attitude. She is the most amazing child. I love her to death.
Now if she could just cure the common cold we would be all set.

Cross Counrty Race

Dylan is on the Stonebridge High School cross country team. We are so excited that he made the team, but he absolutely hates it. It has been like pulling teeth to get him to practice and to the meets. He is a natural runner and actually once he does it, he is glad that he did.
So here are the one and only photos (hopefully he will tryout for the team again next year) of Dylan at his last JV meet.
This meet was quite hilly. It was at Lake Fairfax. The High School XC distance is a 5K (3.1 miles).
Not sure of his time yet, but his best time so far this year is 22min.

Homecoming Dance

Well it was Homecoming weekend. Can I be old enough to have a son in High School?
Dylan went with a group of friends to the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night. Here are a few of the kids that went in his group. It was fun to see him get all dressed up. He even wore cologne. They ate dinner at a friends house and then headed to the school for the dance. He came home at midnight and woke me up. I apparently asked him how the night was and then sent him to bed. I however do not recall any such conversation. I woke in the morning assuming Jason got up. Nope. I guess I (we) need to not be such heavy sleepers when our teenager is out on the town?

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!

This is our first year of football. How have we been missing such fun. Zach is an amazing player and all the kids love to go watch. We all actually look forward to Saturday games. Camilla has joined in on the fun and is a cheerleader for Zach's team. His record is 4/1/1. His team is the Maryland Terps!

Giving into Temptation

Well for about a year now I have been wanting to start up a blog. We had so much fun with our blog from San Miguel, Mexico last summer. It was a fun way to keep a journal. I have many small note books around the house with all the great "slatter kids quotes" in them. This is a great way for me to jot down the Slatter Family adventures. We do have many family adventures, some are pleasant others not so much. We will share them all. With one and soon to come four more Slatters going through the teenage years, I hope to create a modern day "scrapbook" for them to look back and realize that yes their Mother (and Father) really were CRAZY!
Thanks for keeping in touch with the Slatter Seven.