Almost turkey day

When ever we have time off from school we are always busy. We love it. I hate sending the kids off for 8 hours a day, cause I miss them. Except the days when I can't wait to send them off because they are driving me nuts! Most days I miss them. :)

What we've been up to, in list form.

1. Papa's birthday dinner and a trip to the park and we watched the Amazing Race and the kids spent hours working on stacks of Grandma's puzzles and Kindergarten activities. Very fun.

2. My friend Tori read my blog and came to save my hair. We colored it on Monday and it turned out very nicely. It's dark, a little darker than I thought but even and nice and MUCH better than skunk stripes so Yeah!

3. got pictures in the mail a) from the photographer on a disk which I then took to Donna to make into a lovely guest book for D and G. and b) from Greg when he was young which I now need to send to Abba so he can make their slide show.

4. We finished the bathroom.

5. Papa and I took the kids to the museum yesterday, they love to dig for dinosaur bones.

6. Big girls and I went out for an afternoon of Kohls fun and lunch.

7. J went to see "ICE" at the Texas Gaylord. It looks soooo cool, I'd love to go.

8. S went to the movies with Mariah.

9. We decorated Grandma's house for FHE.

10. Laundry, cleaning, sorting, wedding stuff.

11. Kids played chess, rode bikes, watched Dora.

12. H had Bethany spend the night.

13. Spent some time trying to convince DH that we (read he) should put up Christmas lights even though we'll be gone for several weeks on and off.

That's the highlights.
Today we bake pies, and defrost the turkey and otherwise get ready for Thanksgiving.

Haven't heard how Anna did last night. Hopefully she slept.

Surgery went well

Anna and the girls four years ago over Thanksgiving weekend. During a brunette year.

The surgery went well. She's recovering. The next couple days will be painful, hopefully they'll be able to control it well with drugs.

Our hope is that she will be well enough to attend her sister in law Pooh's wedding the first weekend of Dec and especially D's wedding the week after that. Most important though is that she recovers and that she feels well.

She has one surgery to go at some future date. This one was long, over four hours but the surgeon was happy with it.

say a little prayer for my sister

My sister Anna is number five in our family. When she was little we called her Honey, because her hair was golden and her disposition sweet. I'm not sure what to write, what words to use to express the feelings I have, the fear this day brings, the hopes we hold for the future.
We have a big family and we siblings like to sit and compare who is fastest, smartest, dads favorite. Who has the biggest feet, or the smelliest. Who is doing well, who is funny, who is smart. I guess it's normal. It's normal for us. Anna is the smartest, its unanimous. She was born with a keen intellect. (which she proved by being valedictorian twice ~once in HS and once at BYU-H) She also has the fattest feet :) She's well traveled and a good cook. She's easy going, funny, compassionate and cheerful. She is obedient and happily married. She's really just a very good, very nice person.

Now the bad news. Anna has been sick for 10 years with ulcerated colitis which doesn't sound so bad until you know what it means. When we play "would you rather" and the choice is between having what Anna has and almost anything else, anything else wins. Including swimming with sharks, eating grubs and losing a limb.
Today, after all those years, many hospitalizations, more drugs than we can count and being really sick for a really long time she is having her colon removed. If all goes well it will be a cure and she is excited and hopeful and of course scared. You know it's been bad if a bag seems the better option.

So if you have a moment today join us in a prayer for Anna. Her family will be praying and fasting as we have many times before. She has a skilled surgeon and a good attitude and hopefully everything will go great. I love you sister.

BTW~ this isn't a very good picture of her

Sunday

Lucy loves baby dolls more than anything. She often plays with them and kisses them and lugs them around.
The girls got new dresses in the mail this week from Nana. They were excited to wear them today and looked sweet.

We had ward conference today. It went well. My class went well, I was glad. I am shocked how difficult this class is for me. I am surprisingly not good at it. I like the kids well enough. Each one individually is wonderful; collectively they are bright and lively and sometimes rude and too talkative. It's a struggle to get their attention and to keep it. Also the text is difficult. We are studying the Old Testament and are very near the end; Ezekiel this week and next I think. We just finished Isaiah. And it's hard to teach. I guess I need to work harder. I'm really looking forward to next year and the New Testament. That will be much easier and more fun.

Today is Papa's birthday. It's been so great having him live so close by this past year. He is a wonderful man, a wonderful dad, and an awesome grandpa. He is a perfect example of a Christ like man and I am grateful to have him here so we can benefit from that on a daily basis. Soon they will be leaving on a mission (hopefully next summer or early fall) and I can't wait. This has been his dream as long as I can remember and I know he'll be such a good missionary. Tonight we're going over to celebrate!

Three weeks until the wedding

It was a usual Saturday. Busy.
J had a Beehive conf. S and I took her and then went to see her drill team pictures. We bought one even though it was over priced.
DH took the little kids to the primary activity.
When everyone got home we had family cleaning hour.
In the afternoon I sewed jumpers, DH watched Ohio state beat the pants off of Michigan and went on a bike ride.
J went to her friends house to hang out.
In the evening DH and I went on a date. We went to Sesame Grill which is yummy, then to buy wedding clothes at Kohls. He got pants and a shirt, I got two pairs of shoes. One to wear if my ankle is well. The other if it's not. It's much better and I can walk without pain. The only things I can't do are 1) hop on it and 2) flex it, like I would need to to wear heels.
Then we saw "Santa Clause 3". I liked it. I love the first two though and so was willing to forgive this one it's short comings. It was kind of a "It's a Wonderful Life" mixed with "Frosty the Snowman meets Jack Frost" themed movie. Cute and Christmasy. Not as good as the first two but fun for the season.

Chili Cook Off

Tonight was our ward chili cook off. It was a lot of fun. DH didn't win this year, that broke a long winning streak.

We ate chili and corn bread and had a table set up for the kids to decorate cupcakes. We of course had chili judging and we had several wild games for the kids and we played our preschool thankful game, which frankly didn't go nearly as well.


I'm glad it's done. Now I can start planning the Christmas party.

have I mentioned before how much I "love" this calling?

the mandatory preschool post

Today was preschool day at our house. It went well. The boys are adorable.

Before I had a son I didn't really want one. I thought little boys were smelly and loud and grew up to be men, and I didn't really like a lot of men. Oh, I know there are lots of great men out there. There are also a lot of stinkers.

Before I had a son I thought little boys shouldn't play with weapons. They should be peaceful and quiet and were clearly not being raised right. They should be polite and clean and whatever my list used to be.


Now I have a boy. I didn't know how charming and wonderful I would find him. His little boyness is so different than the girls and I am glad. I am glad he's strong and active and coordinated. And I let him play with weapons, not that I could have stopped him. Every toy, every object, in the hands of my boy becomes a weapon. I want him to speak up for what he believes and I want him to stand and fight for what's right.

Today our lesson was on Thanksgiving again. We played a game where I cut out lots of pictures of stuff and put them on cards. The boys picked a card and told about the item and why we should be thankful for it. Some cards just said "Thanksgiving" on them, then they were supposed to tell something they were thankful for without a prompt. These sweet boys, as little as they are, were so kind and thoughtful and expressed such tender feelings. Feelings of love for their families and for their friends. Gratitude for the Savior and a desire to follow Him. Joy and wonder over the world and the creatures on it.

One little guy pulled out a card and it had a picture of Pres. Hinckley on it. He said "OH! It's Pres. Hinckley. I love him. He tells me how to follow Jesus!" Another boy when pulling out a "thanksgiving" card listed all the boys in the class, and said he liked to go to school with them. Grins spread on all the little faces sitting in the circle. These babies know who they are and what's important. Now we just need to help them never forget as they grow their way to manhood.

After the lesson they set up a big battle field. Dinosaurs and snakes joined army guys and tanks and the war was fierce and long and complex. They were noisy and things flew and I watched these little stripling warriors as they learned. Lessons of faith and lessons of courage taught on the living room floor. Hopefully they will remember both for a life time.

Such Sweet Obedient Children

Not too many hours later I heard a suspicious sound. Silence.

I went looking for the little darling and found them watching Reba and eating M&M's on the bed.

Even though it's a no TV day, no snacking is allowed on the bed.

And they were wedding M&M's.

At least they didn't let Millie join them!

new wedding dilemma

This morning I went to Sam's club with Mom and Lucy and E. The ward chili cook off is Friday and our supply closet at church is greatly diminished so I needed to restock. At the same time I figured I'd get paper goods for our TX Open House. So we were strolling up and down the aisles admiring leather furniture, books, 6 packs of socks, vats of oil, candy by the pound, cheap produce and the likes. You know the necessities of life found under one roof at your friendly neighborhood warehouse store. Argh! I just remembered I forgot to get table cloths. Darn it.

Anyway, we also went through the food aisles, mainly so the kids could get samples, okay so we could all get samples. I was looking at all the stuff and we were talking about what to serve at the Open House and we settled on a menu, yeah! Although that is not the topic here. One of the things I had talked about was M&M's. Finally we were on our way to the register and mom spotted holiday M&M's up by the front and pointed them out and I bought them, even though I had decided today was not food shopping day.

I don't know why it just felt suddenly urgent...like they might run out... and I had to get them right now. I think it was because we were leaving and trying to get that done in a timely manner so we'd have time to enjoy the indoor playground wonderland that is in the mall just down the road.

We got our stuff, went to the mall and played and then E spotted Santa and had to talk to him, so we did. G wanted nothing to do with the big guy except she wanted a candy cane out of his sack, which E asked for in her behalf. (what a sweet brother) Everyone was happy. We came home, put stuff away and now I have this bag. What are the chances of that bag making it a whole month without being eaten?
Anorexic.

Okay, now for the interactive portion of the blog...

Which one of these lovely dresses says Mother of the Bride to you?

Preschool

It is our turn to host preschool this week. Our theme is the letter "P" and Thanksgiving.

For the letter P we painted pictures of our favorite P words. The boys painted for a long time.
Usually we have a project and they work awhile and then hop up to play. This time they all stayed at the table until I said it was time to finish up.

We had snack, that's E's favorite part. He likes to pick the snack when it's at our house. Today he picked "Cars" fruit snacks, apple chips and chocolate donut holes.

We talked about Thanksgiving and read Thanksgiving stories. I think the favorite was
"Twas the Night before Thanksgiving", its about a school field trip to a turkey farm. When the children learn of the turkey's fate they sneak them on the school bus. At the end the turkeys share thanksgiving dinner at the kid's homes as guests. The boys thought it was very funny.



Then we played the Thankful Turkey game. I have a stuffed turkey and they threw it to each other. Who ever caught it got to say something they were thankful for. It was darling. We have everything from I am thankful for Jesus Christ and my family to I am thankful for Clones.

Lastly we made Indian necklaces out of Apple Express cereal.

Now G is napping. H has a friend over to play since it was a half day for her and I am going to clean up cereal.

I am thankful for our cute little preschool and their sweet spirits and happy grins.

Wedding stuff

MSV posted about D's bridal shower. I got to talk with both of them after and hear all about it. I think everyone had a wonderful time. I wish I was there! I can't believe we have less than a month until the wedding and 3 weeks until we go to Utah. We're not ready...we're getting ready...but we're not there yet.

The little girls flower girl dresses have not arrived in the mail yet, yikes! Minor alarm although I am sure they will be here soon (crossing fingers)

I have not shopped for my Mof the Bride dress.

Cloak is not sewn, nor are the table cloth squares.

With Anna in the hospital and having surgery on Th we are now making the slideshow too and that's not done yet.

My hair is two colors and I am hair impaired and my colorist is having surgery so now I need to figure out something else. How hard can it be to follow the directions on the box? I did dye hair once before. J looked like a cheetah when I was done and Renee had to fix it but we survived the trama of the day.

I need to get decorations for our Open House here.

That's all the pre trip I have to do.
When we get back I'll have to shop for food.

Now mom is most likely going to CA to be with Anna, as she should, so we will have to do her Christmas decorating for her too.

Well, we still have 3 weeks. This is do-able.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!

Park Day Fun

We went to the playground this morning. My camera batteries expired so I only have two shots :(

We have had a little bit of trouble with behavior lately and I think the problem is too much TV and x-box and other screens. Our boy,who has always been adorable and agreeable is lately whiny and cries and doesn't want to go outside to play and doesn't sit still in Sacrament Meeting and complains about the food he is served. It's not pretty. I told him this morning he got 1/2 hour of the screen of his choice then it's done for the day. "Just til Daddy gets home?" he asked. Nope, for a long long time.

When my big girls were little I took them to the park almost every day. I did daycare in my home too so we always had friends over and they played and didn't watch TV at all during the day...well sometimes but very rarely. I think that was better. I'm not going to say no screens ever but we're making an effort to cut back.

dinner groups, the logistics

I have had several requests to explain how we do our dinner groups. So, here you go.

Last year my friend Sheila and I decided to start dinner groups. Another friend, Robin, had told us they used to do it in our ward years ago and it sounded like fun. At the time Lucy was a little nursling and date night was not as exciting as we had wanted. Also DH complained that we didn't socialize with others as much as he'd like, and by complain I don't really mean complain but more like mentioned or talked about or whatever, and Sheila's husband was very busy (he's a surgeon finishing a long long residency) and they rarely had date night so dinner groups was born.

We passed out flyers at church inviting anyone to participate who would want to. After a couple weeks we sat down and made a few phone calls to make sure that everyone who wanted to had the opportunity because people are notoriously bad at responding to anything, I don't know why. We had a good response and ended up with about 25 couples. Our plan was to rotate so that everyone would have dinner with everyone else. Each couple had one turn to host and we'd have 4 other couples go to their home. The host does all the work: plans the dinner, games, dessert, whatever they want. The guests bring $5 (making it less of a burden for those who might not participate because of budget reasons). It was a lot of fun. I know one couple who hosted in Oct who had a pumpkin carving contest, some who picnicked outside, some who made homemade pizzas, others who had candle light dinners, it was creative and nice and I think people got to eat with and know some people who they might not have known before.
It was not entirely without problems. Rotating couples was hard. It turned out to be harder than we could do so then we had to change our expectation to simply have a good random mix and trying to not duplicate couples but some did.
Some people didn't like the $5 part and we had other small complaints along the way.
My only complaint was when people didn't show up where they were supposed to. The host didn't know who was coming to their home, we called it "guess who's coming to dinner" and the surprise was supposed to be part of the fun. We would tell the host how many couples were assigned to them a week or so in advance and we'd tell the guests who's home they were going to the day or so before. So if someone didn't show up everyone else ended up waiting on them for a long time. I think this is SO rude and I don't know how to fix it.

We ended with a big pot luck dinner the last month. It was a lot of fun and over the summer several people asked if we were doing it again. It was a lot of work and I wasn't sure, and Sheila had moved, but then I was called as Ward Activity Person and was asked to do it again so we did. This time my friend Nikko is helping me. We have about the same amount of couples although not all repeats from last time. I think it's going well again. The people who go enjoy themselves, the ones that cancel frustrate me but I get over it.

So that's it, it's fun and a lot of work. I will not do it next year, although I would participate in a heartbeat if someone else organized it. I think for most people it seems effortless and only fun. Some stress about their turn to host but bravely do it and I always cross my fingers and wish for them that it will go well.
So that's it in a nutshell. Very fun, a little stressful, but worth doing once :)

dinner groups

Saturday went well. Friday night both big girls went to the big football game. We have two high schools in our town and they were playing each other. I think everyone in the town showed up. S worked the concession stand with some of her friends and J went to watch the game. By the time the game was over and everyone was settled into bed it was quite late.
Early this morning (the only morning we ever have any chance of sleeping in at all, BTW) we got a phone call. The Mia Maids were kidnapping their teacher for breakfast and S's ride was on the way. So we were up at 6.
It turned out to be a good thing because we got a jump on the day. DH got the lawn mowed. We got the house cleaned up for company and I got most of the dinner stuff done because I knew I wouldn't be home much in the afternoon.

After lunch we drove DH to the airport and got home just in time to go to Haylee's 1st birthday party. The kids had a really fun time.
I went home early and left Grandma and Papa to take the kids to their house after the party so I could finish getting ready for dinner groups. S was going to baby-sit them at Grandma's house.

I got home and J, who I invited to be my dinner companion, had set the table. It looked very nice and I was happy that was done. All I had to do was stick the chicken in the oven, make the rice and broccoli, get the crackers and dip ready and make the icing for the cake.
When everyone came all we had to do was set out the jell-o we made the night before. (The chicken I also made yesterday so it could marinade over night, all I had to do was stick it in the oven today. ) Get the rest for the warm stuff on the table and sit down to eat.

I think the dinner was yummy. After we played Catch Phrase and then sat around and talked. Everyone left around 10 and then we headed back across town to pick up the kids from grandma's.

J was a good dinner companion. She was happy to be there and was pleasant and helpful and she said it was fun. She also had a lovely time making fun of what grown-ups talk about on the way to get the other kids :)

Dinner Menu

Cracker and Crab dip (bought from the store)

Cranberry Chicken.
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
8 oz French dressing
1 envelope onion soup mix
mix together, pour over chicken and marinade over night.
Bake at 350 for 50 min.

I serve it with rice and then we use the sauce on the rice as well.

broccoli with orange juice sprinkled on it for flavor

Cranberry Jell-o

raspberry jell-o
crushed pineapple
chopped apple
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
walnuts

Drain juice, add enough water to make 3 cups. Stir in two boxes of jell-o. Add in Cranberry sauce and mix. Let set up about half and hour. Add other ingredients and set up for 3 more hours. Very yummy.

Harvest Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

one bowl cake
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup water
2/3 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 t baking soda
2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

pumpkin cream filling
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4t ground cinnamon

chocolate glaze
1/2 cup whipping cream
4 oz semisweet chocolate chopped

cake toppers
red grapes, hazelnuts, shredded orange peel

Bake cake in two pans. Cool. Mix filling and place between two layers. That part is easy easy.
This next part is also easy but you have to stir the whole time and follow the steps.
In a saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, do not stir. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool 15 minutes and pour over cake allowing glaze to drip down the sides. Chill until set. Top with toppers.
It looks lovely and tastes good, kind of heavy but still yummy.

D had her bridal shower tonight. MSV just called to give a report so I am going to go listen. I wish I would have gone but I hope she had SOOO much fun! I can't wait to go to Utah.

Saturday morning chores

Lucy watched from the safty of the window. She's afraid of the noise from the lawn mower and the vacuum.
While brother and DH mowed the lawn.

Favorite baby-sitter

Last night I went to a baby shower for a lady in our ward. J was the baby-sitter. I took Lucy and had the others ready for bed, they watched movies for an hour and then J tucked them into bed and did homework on my bed while watching TV and being "in charge". It wasn't a hard arrangement for her.
After the shower I wanted to go watch Survivor at our friends house since we don't have any TiVo capabilities. It took awhile for us to get started and then I ended up not watching because it would have been 10:30ish when I got home and I didn't want J to have to stay up late on a school night. She never goes to sleep when we're gone, which is a good thing.

Here is one of my parenting conundrums. The big girls are capable of being a lot of help. I need their help and more importantly I feel like it is my responsibility to teach them how to work, to how to care for a home, fix meals, take care of children. (for the record also teach E (and of course the little girls) those same things, men should know how to do that and they should do it when they are growing up and when they are grown) When you are a part of a family, whatever the size, you have to help out, work for the common good and support each other. At the same time I don't want to take advantage of them. I want them to have down time to relax and do what they like. When they baby-sit I want it to be as easy as possible and try and give them the same courtesy I would another girl. I like to have the house picked up and kids jammied up if it's later, something easy available to fix for dinner if it's going to be dinner time. I also pay them if I am going out on a date or for another leisure activity. If I am doing something like going to the grocery store or a church meeting or school thing for another kid I don't necessarily pay because it then becomes part of helping the family run smoothly. So I struggle with making that work. I want it to be fair and nice for all. I want to be a good parent and teach the things I should. It's a constant juggling act. I try and be very respectful of their schedules too. Especially when it comes to baby-sitting. If they have something planned with friends that often gets to come first. (which doesn't always make DH happy, he kind of thinks adult schedules should take precedence and truthfully his work schedule and other things he does really do get highest ranking on the family time budget) If they have a lot of homework we'll sometimes leave on a late date so we can put the little ones to bed and they can do their work while kids sleep. It's very wonderful to be able to run out to Wal at 9pm for an "emergency" item and leave kids sleeping and big girls finishing homework.

Another thing that is kind of hard is making sure to spend enough time with the big kids. Yesterday my good friend told me that she hadn't seen her son (who is 17) in 30something hours because they had been busy and her mom had surgery and several other reasons and I was so happy she told me that because she is an awesome mom. Little kids are easy because they never leave you alone, need you every minute, want to spend a lot of time you but with the big kids you really have to work at spending time with them.

Crazy girl

H got her ticket picked and chose to wear a hat to school. She was happy about it.

We've had mild weather although she does take a sweatjacket in her book bag.

Future gourmet

With DH gone I decided to go all out and make a lovely, homemade, nutricious, dinner from scratch.
kidding.
I really made taquitos and french fries. Kid friendly fare for sure.
H decided she hated it and skipped dinner.
At bedtime she was, of course, very hungry.
Normally she would have had to sit with us at dinner and would have ended up eating but I was on the phone with a friend that I hadn't talked to in several years and was pretty much just putting plates in front of kids.
Normally we eat dinner together, sitting down at the table, talking or if no one can think of anything to talk about playing "would you rather" every night but you know, DH is gone right now. If you are reading this dear we did remember to say prayers and read scriptures!
So at bedtime she made herself some oatmeal. And ate it. And I guess really is that any less nutritious than taquitos?
She was happy and I guess sometimes it's good to do something unexpected.

My friend whoI was talking to now lives in WY. She was telling me about her family and then she said that she is into river rafting and guides tours and works doing team building activities for youth. Sounds very fun. Then she asked me what I was up to, and we had already discussed the kids so what did that question mean? I said, rather lamely, that I had read a book recently. Maybe I need a hobby...oh wait, I have a bathroom to paint, and 200 invitations to finish addressing, and dinner groups to cook for...

When she lived here Renee drove a jeep. I was jealous. I remember my jeep driving days. I went to the my jr prom in a jeep, formal gown & hair blowing in the wind, it was so fun.
I remember many drives in the dessert, over rocks, in the mountains, down to the beach with a surf board strapped on top, and over city streets in that fun jeep. We almost took the jeep to the hospital when D was born, but at the last minute I said no and we got out and into the Honda and that was the end of jeep days for me. How weird that I remember that. Well, I never claimed to have a cool bone in my body :)

This was not said by way of complaint, just a comment. BTW :)

If you have TONS of studying to do for finals....

what is the best way to spend your time?



By taking self portraits at the computer?



If you need a de-stresser then maybe yes. She's a cutie my Christmas baby!

This and That going on right now

H lost a tooth last night. Then when she was washing it off it got rinsed down the drain. I was proud of her, she didn't cry she just got a piece of paper and wrote the tooth fairy a note explaining what had happened and stuck that on her side table. Our tooth fairy is VERY lame. She may be the lamest TF ever. This morning when DH saw the note he ran and took care of business and H woke up to the first time ever the TF came through on the first night! Way to go DH. She thought it odd that she left a paper dollar instead of the usual change (scrounged from the bottom of the diaper bag) but was happy with her take none the less.

One month until the wedding. I can't believe it. Plans are going great. The bridesmaid dresses arrived and didn't fit at all. Grandma was able to fix them though and they look lovely. Brother's tux is here. Flower girl dresses are in route. D's dress is done and she LOVES it. Flowers are being finalized, invitations addressed. Food is decided on and decorations are planned. D's having a shower on Saturday. They went and registered and this is very funny. There are 4 people with D's same name registered at Target and getting married in the next two months. First and last name. One is the groom, Daniel _______ and his bride getting married in FL. Then there are three girls. I thought that was crazy. Who would have thought that 4 people with the same name all over the country would all be getting married at the same time.

It's the end of our first school trimester. That means exams and stress for the big girls.

DH is traveling. He is going to CA this week, England next. Hopefully he'll be home for Thanksgiving. He's scheduled to be but so far he has never been sent over the pond without having his trip extended.

Both my sisters, or I guess I should say two of my sisters, are sick. Anna is in the hospital with a bad colon AGAIN. They want to take it out, she wants to keep it in and try and have a baby. She's had colitis since college and it's really been pretty awful. Every year she is hospitalized. It seems so unfair that I have 6 kids and she is trying to have just one. Hopefully things will go well, she'll have a remission and a pregnancy and then she can have it removed.

MSV is recovering from her broken back. She has had a bad year too. She had a hysterectomy last year and was diagnosed with epilepsy a year or so before that. This summer she got West Nile Virus and her DH was cheated by his partner and had to switch jobs which has been a real trial for them. She's walking bad luck! Despite all that she is always faithful and cheerful and does what's right. I have awesome little sisters who are great examples to me. They are thinking of moving to TX again and I really, really hope they do. Of course I don't get a vote but I can still hope.

Christmas is only a month and a half away or a little more I guess and I haven't even begun to think about it at all. I have not one present bought, not one recipe chosen, not one jingle bell tolling a gentle tune in my head. None of the kids have even started their listing of what they want. How crazy is that? This might be okay except we're going to be gone a lot of Dec and I am the ward party princess and in charge of our ward party so I'd better get a move on it. We have our chili cook off next weekend, and dinner groups this weekend and then the party will get my attention. Not that anyone cares but this calling has moved from 2nd least favorite to actual least favorite. That means I will be planning parties for the next decade at least. Maybe when brother turns 8 cub scouts will save me!

Lastly I am hosting dinner group this weekend, with DH gone and the bathroom not painted yet. And I am not even worried about it, at least I remember that next week is my turn to teach preschool! Which has nothing to do with dinner groups except that it's something else I need to remember to do. I do wish DH would be here, not that he's any help in the kitchen but because he is a charming host and likes to socialize so I am sad he'll miss the fun.

the happy couple

See my Tabblo>

What do you do if you are a happily engaged TX girl waiting for the big day to come?

Practice your food storage skills I think!

bathroom painting plans thwarted

Last week Dad came over to help me paint the bathroom. He got the base coat done. Then I wanted a paint on the faux finish the next day. Well I got distracted by something, I don't remember what and then the weekend flew by in a busy whirlwind (as usual) so today was the day.

Last night Lucy started crying shortly after being put to bed. And continued to cry and moan and thrash about all night long. She complained about her ears and her stomach and threw up in our bed. Pretty much it was a long and miserable night. Today she is sitting on my lap crying. So I guess no painting.

Last Soccer Game of the Season

We won 7 to 0!!!

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

We have a night time chart. If H and E get ready for bed, without nagging. And then, and this really is the most important part, stay in bed without getting out for any of the plethora of reasons they come up with to talk to me after lights out. Then they get a sticker on their chart. 10 stickers earned them a reward. E chose to go to dig up dinosaur bones. Later H chose an Omni movie. I had intended to do the rewards together but it didn't turn out that way.
Next time they have to get 20 stickers and we will all go bowling. The idea is eventually it will be a H.A.B.I.T to go bed nicely.

Today was DH's off Friday. He usually works his off Fridays but today was special and he was home. That meant he got to join us for our reward. Which meant it was a lot nicer for me. We could split up and each follow a kid around.

It was very fun. We dug for bones, E found one and got to bring it home. We played with crazy things and tried to solve puzzles and stack blocks and make gigantic bubbles. Lucy liked the water area best. She tried to drink the water (gross) and got wet up to her neck (luckily they have a dryer in kidspace). E liked it all except for the bat dad drew on his arm. For some reason that was all wrong.

On the way home we stopped at the nicest McDonalds and the kids had a great time playing. It even had little trampolines in it!

Lucy crashed on the way home. Brother spent the afternoon helping DH fix his truck breaks.

Tonight DH took H back to the museum to see her movie and get ice cream and I am going to an activities committee meeting. The one good thing about being the ward activities chair person is I get to pick where we meet. We are meeting at Chilis and planning over Molten Chocolate Cake.

Stuff

The only thing worse than doing tons of laundry every day is not being about to do tons of laundry every day.

Over the weekend our washer broke. This was an event of great sadness. Although I'd love to take my two sweet kiddies to the laundromat with quarters and baskets of clothes and detergent and fabric softener in hand. And I know they'd love to spend hours there washing and drying the clothes, and running around touching everything, and jumping off the counters, and talking to strangers, and licking the washers and windows, and watching Jerry Springer on TV or whatever quality programming the "regulars" have on. I really just wanted my washer fixed and washing away in our house. I'm spoiled like that.
Luckily for me I have a DH who is pretty darn handy. He took it apart and poked around and found baby socks sucked into the motor (or whatever part it was). He took them out and after just 3 short days we were back in running order.

And then I spent yesterday washing approximately 1000000000 loads. And I get to fold them and put them away today....Not that I'm complaining.





Fall is in the air. Sweaters and coats are required! Yeah. I love fall.
















You know the sugar fun is over when your baby comes crying and limping over to you with a hurt foot and when you pick her up to examine the damage you discover that dreaded post Halloween affliction "sucker foot"! It's hard to walk with a sticky, hard ball stuck under your sock!

ribbit

See my Tabblo>

Trunk or Treat

See my Tabblo>

Trick or Treat

7 bags of candy given out

6 happy feet running to and fro

5 complaints from J of "this is boring" and "I don't want to go"

4 little pumpkins lining the hearth

3 overflowing bags of candy collected

2 happy Grandparents joining in the fun

1 pot of pumpkin chili

...yeah, we're good for another year.