Happy Halloween!!

What a fun Halloween! The fun started for us this afternoon when we went down to the school for the big Halloween parade. We got to watch all the elementary school students parade through the gym in their costumes. My personal favorite was a delicate looking little Kindergartn girl who had beautifully curled blond hair and a Spiderman costume on. What a crack up. Ben and Nate sat completely rapt watching all the big kids go by. True to form, Abby got a little bashful and hurried by us as we cheered for her and Anna posed.

Around 5:30 we geared up and headed over to my parents' house for our first official trick-or-treat. The kids (and me, to be perfectly honest) were anxious to show their costumes and Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Grandma were the perfect audience. They all willingly posed for pictures.

After Grandma and Grandpa's we went to our Neighbor's for a party and dinner. Then we all headed out with our other neighbors for the big trick-or-treat. I usually stay behind and answer the door, but this year I decided I didn't want to miss out on the fun (when there's a blizzard outside, I'm more than happy to stay home, but the weather was PERFECT tonight.) I set the candy bowl outside with a note and off we went. The absolute highlight was Benjamin. He just kills me. He wanted nothing to do with his costume earlier, but he seemed to understand that he needed it tonight and willingly let me put it on. He insisted on walking with the kids and got bugged if Brennan or I tried to carry him.

Eventually, Brennan and our neighbors went ahead with the big kids and Ben and I took our time. He didn't want to carry his little pumpkin bucket and didn't understand that the bucket was there to keep his treats in so whenever I tried to put his treats in the bucket he would yell, "NO!, NO!" So he walked around trying to carry like 5 treats in his little hands. Eventually he dropped one or some and I'd sneak it into his bucket.

He loved walking up to the doors and immediately started knocking saying, "DOCK, DOCK!" and continued until someone answered the door. As soon as the door was open he was in the house if I wasn't fast enough especially if there was a dog to play with. He also always tried to hold onto the outside doorknob and several times when I didn't pry his hands off fast enough went flying in when the door opened. He never complained and would have done 50 more houses. Upon receiving his treat he'd yell, "Bye!" and walk on to the next house. I know I'm one of those obnoxious parents, but I honestly wanted to go to every house I knew just to show him off, he was so cute I kind of couldn't stand keeping him to myself.

Anyway, around 8:00 I decided my 1 and 1/2 year old probably had enough candy and should maybe get to bed. I also took Nate who was tired home with us. Shortly after we got home, Josh, Liza and Abe came to visit. Abe was the cutest monkey you ever did see and as always was so excited to see the kids. I took a picture of him, but I don't want to steal Eliza's thunder so check her blog out to see how adorable he was. The rest of my family got home soon after and were so excited to show Josh and Eliza all the candy they got. I made hot cider which we didn't need because we weren't cold at all.

All in all, it was a fabulous Halloween and I'm thrilled that it's officially the Holiday Season!!!

All four of our trick-or-treaters.

Cutest little pumpkin I know.

The lovely pumpkin fairy. (Sort of whipped this number up last night.)

Little Bo Peep (costume I made many years ago for Anna).

Spiderman minus the mask which he hated because he couldn't "breave".

Pumpkin after eating the first treat of the night.

Pictures of our Hike

I found my camera!!! Here are some picutres from our little hike:

Anna and Emily Hafen way up high.

He sort of blends right in.

Nate

Nate worked for quite awhile on dragging kitchen chairs, the high chair and a stool completely blockading the wide doorway from the kitchen to the family room. He rigged a couple of yards of elastic from my sewing stuff and a blanket onto the chairs. When I asked him what he was doing he quickly replied, "I'm building an appetizer."

Your guess is as good as mine.

We're Back!

Hello! We just got back yesterday from a nice little adventure down south with Brennan's parents. I currently can't find my camera which is great timing tomorrow being Halloween and all. Anyway, I took some pictures from our trip, but those will have to wait.

On our way down, we stopped in a little town called, Nephi. As we pulled in Nate said, "Is this Heaven?" We were all a little confused at his question so there was a little pause while we each tried to figure out how to answer him. Abby got it together first and said, "No, Nate. Nephi is a heaven person, but this isn't Heaven." I think she covered it quite nicely.

We had a great time in spite of the fact that all of our kids felt the need to wake up at 6:00 am each morning. That was super fun. Our last morning there Brennan got up with them, but soon came and crawled back into bed. I felt that was probably my cue, but could not get up. I could hear the kids and really intended to get up for about 15 minutes. I finally rolled out of bed and stumbled down the hall when I heard Jamie's voice (Brennan's mom) she was playing with them so I nobly went back to bed so she could have that precious time with her grandkids. Thank you, Jamie!

We rolled into town Friday evening and had a wonderful home cooked meal waiting for us. We all went to bed fairly early and the next morning Brennan and I took the kids hiking to a huge white rock with our good friend Jed Hafen and his cute girls and dogs. Elise couldn't join us, but we visited with her afterwards. It was great to see them.

Jamie then took me and the girls and my sister-in-law, Michelle, and her girls to a women's expo. It was good times, the girls got lots of free little odds and ends, a new book and lunch. It was fun. Brennan was in heaven with a big screen tv and all kinds of games to watch. The kids played the rest of the day with their cousins and loved every minute. Brennan's brother, Brett joined us that night. It was so fun to see him again. We also got to meet, Mya, Emily's 5 month old baby girl for the first time in person. She's darling!

Sunday we went to a little bit of church and then just kind of hung out and enjoyed each other's company and that big screen tv.

Monday morning we headed home. We've done this drive many many times and usually it goes just fine. This time, the girls each had to go to the bathroom about every 45 minutes and Benjamin didn't sleep at all for 5 hours and for a lot of the time screeched, "Dat, Dat, Dat!" while pointing and demanding things from me. Finally, the last hour we started playing "Name That Tune" and Nate was cracking me up. He LOVES that game and is really quite good at guessing. I hummed a few notes of the theme song from "The Man From Snowy River" and he pumped his little fist in the air and yelled, "MAN FROM SNOWY DA RIVER!!!!!" He did that every time he guessed and was always right and way excited when he guessed. Anna was listening to my ipod. I asked her to let Benny listen for a few minutes and whenever she put the ear piece in his ear he'd start just bobbing his head up and down to the beat. He was so casual and cool about it, I was so bugged I couldn't find the camera to video it. Oh well, it was funny and cute.

Catching Up

It's been a few days since I posted, and I don't really have much to post about right now, but wanted to post these random pictures. First we have Benjamin tonight in the bath after a spaghettios encounter:

In this first one you can see a slight orange tint.

Here's the real deal -- his new pastime, rubbing anything and everything in his already ridiculous hair.

You have to admit that even orange, he's still adorable. I mean look at those eyes, and smile and this on the day he got two shots and found out he has a double ear infection! We love Benny.

Also, I just wanted to let you all know how the big recital went. It was a resounding success. Brennan and I are always a little worried about if the parents of the pupils will be a little put off by our assertive girls, but they were all so kind and seemed genuinely impressed with their initiative and thrilled at their respective daughters' delight. Most of them expressed a hope that this would be an annual event. We were very proud of them, and amazed at how calm and professional they were. I recorded a lot of it with my Dad's video camera, which hopefully turns out, but because I was busy with that I totally neglected taking any other pictures. I finally remembered after it was all over and got these shots of the girls basking in their success.

The paper flower was one of many they made and presented each of their students with. Classy touch, don't you think? They literally thought of everything.

I'm Thrilled, I Think.

I'm sure many of you have anxiously been awaiting an update on the gripping preschool saga. Here's the exciting conclusion (okay, there are like 7 and 1/2 months left, but we hope this is the conclusion of the saga part): he's steadily and slowly improved with saying goodbye to me each week. The crying stopped, then recently the watery eyes ceased, there was still some gentle unprying of his fingers around my leg, but major progress and much less drama. Which leads us to today -- no drama, no clinging, no fear. He did it!!! 99% of me is absolutely thrilled. What's the deal with the 1%, you ask? Brennan had the pleasure of taking Nate to school for me today. After all these weeks of leaving my sweet terrified child and fighting back my own tears and fears Brennan takes him and leaves a happy, enthusiastic child. Don't get me wrong, Brennan was doing me a favor to take him and Nate's victory is such a blessing, but I guess there's a part of me that is sad that I wasn't there to see it. It's also very likely that because Brennan was there instead of me, it made it easier for Nate to break with tradition. Whatever the reason, I hope it sticks and am so glad he did it with or without me. We love Nate!

Shall We Dance - Update

So this week I need to make two tutus a night, including the three I made Monday night trying to figure out how to do it, in order to make the deadline of the big recital on Saturday. It's been a little bit crazy, but fun. I've been spending my days running to the fabric store for more tulle, trying to keep Ben away from my sewing machine and guesstimating 11 little girls' waist size. This morning Chloe called and she and Anna discussed something intensely for a few minutes and then Anna came in to me with her hand over the phone and said, "Mom, do you think you would have a little extra time on Friday to help us out at our rehearsal?" "Doing what?" I asked. "Well, we're just thinking that maybe some of the girls haven't been able to come because their moms are too busy with their younger kids so we're just wondering if you could babysit the younger kids while we rehearse with their older sisters." I could tell that Anna knew she was seriously out on a limb here, but she was caught in the middle and it was worth a shot. I just looked at her for a moment and said, "Uh, no." How rude am I? We love Anna and Chloe.

Update

We've had a crazy couple of weeks, but fun crazy. Last Wednesday, I got to go out to eat with some of my cousins and Aunts from my Dad's side of the family to celebrate the fact that my cousin, Brynn, who lives in Washington DC was in town. We had a great time and stayed up way too late.

The next night I hosted my book club. I absolutely love this gathering. When I joined this group I was acquainted with a few of the women, but didn't really know any of them very well. They are now all some of my very favorite people in the world and we have so much fun discussing our book for about a 1/2 hour, laughing for about 3 hours, and staying up way too late.

Also on Thursday, Davis and my parents took my 3 big kids and Ryan and Macy's 2 big kids miniature golfing and then roasted hot dogs and s'mores in their backyard. They had a BLAST.

Friday we went out with my family (adults) to celebrate the fact that my brother, Davis, who lives in NYC was in town. We ate and then gathered at Ryan and Macy's for a really fun evening and ...stayed up way too late.

Saturday, we did the usual soccer scramble with the 3 games which was extra special this week with Davis as a spectator. The kids are loving soccer and doing really well. Then me, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Davis & Josh played tennis for a couple of hours and had a blast, but were humbled by the fact that our parents spanked every one of us! All of us gathered back at Mom and Dad's for more fun which included Anna racing her uncles and rumor has it she beat a few of them. Once again, we stayed up way too late.

I'm tired. Totally worth it though, we loved having Davis around and wish he and our other two wayward siblings and families would move back!

Unfortunately, I have very little to show, photo wise, from our adventures. Hopefully Davis will post some.

Here's a picture of Benny after a little self-styling with my mousse (see, he does have hair) which Abby inexplicably referred to as "mustard". (He big red mark on his forehead is an injury sustained in rough-housing this weekend.)

Tidbits

Benjamin's favorite pastime is to walk around holding something like a bag or this morning it happens to be the headphones to the computer and say, "BYE, BYE, BYE," while frantically waving and offering to kiss us goodbye. He then walks into the laundry room and back to us for more, "BYE, BYE, BYE." He'll repeat this process 400 times.

Yesterday Nate was saying, "Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter." So pretty much all day Ben walked around saying, "Ey, ba, ba, ba ba."

This morning Ben found one of my bras and was attempting to put it on. Abby saw him and said, "Mo-om, Benny is putting breasts on!"

Activity Days

My church calling is to be one of two Activity Days leaders. Me and another woman in our ward are in charge planning an hour long activity twice a month for all the girls ages 8 and 9. Today we were learning about how to budget and manage money wisely. After doing our money activity we circled up so I could try and tie it all together and reiterate the importance of a couple of principles we had dealt with in the activity. The girls were particularly chatty today and I could barely get a word in edgewise.

Here are some of the comments they shared with all of us.

"My brother (who is on a mission) and his girlfriend, well actually just his girlfriend, is planning to get married right after he gets home and they won't have ANY money!"

"My Mom is good with money unless she sees something really cute and then she has to buy it."

Me: Money is not the most important thing in the world, but it is important because we need it to take care of ourselves and our families.
"Yeah and buy big huge houses" said the girl who lives in the 8,000 square foot home.

Me: We are fortunate to have all of our needs and even a lot of our wants, there are a lot of people who don't have those things.
One of the girls: "Yeah, those are poor people, and if you're poor, you're good."

They were cracking me up today. I'm sure their parents would die if they knew what their girls revealed each time at activity days. Good times.

Benny and a Berry Smoothie

Yummmmy!

Shall We Dance?

Anna and her best friend, Chloe, are holding dance classes and a recital for all the girls Abby's age in our neighborhood. They did this last year and had about 4 girls sign up for a low cost of $2. This year, they have 10 girls signed up and are charging $5 per girl because this year they will each be getting a tutu. (Guess who gets to make 10 tutus?). It sounds like they're going to make a lot of money, right? I'm not so sure they'll come out ahead. For the past few weeks they've been buying things to get ready. They each bought a disposable camera so they can take pictures of their pupils, and a scrapbook to put them in. They've also bought countless supplies and teaching aids. Most of this is driven by Chloe who happens to remind me a lot of Braden; however she has no need for the Sommerset moms :) Chloe is sort of the producer and Anna the director. Anna has made up most of the dances.

They think big, and Chloe's mom and I have had to talk them down from much grander plans. They originally had an outfit all picked out at Target that they were going to ask the Mom's to buy for each of the girls. That's why I volunteered to make tutus. They're practicing twice plus a dress rehearsal and then the grand performance. They planned on teaching their students 7 dances. I talked them down to 3 or 4, plus in the middle Anna and Chloe will be singing "Popular" from Wicked for the audiences pleasure. I love it. Also, they've been redecorating my living room for a month now in preparation for this big recital.

It does give me a little bit of a heart attack that they're asking for money for something they're not totally qualified to teach, but the parents all seem to get a kick out of it and the little girls LOVE it. I'm so happy that they're both so creative and assertive. When they delivered the flyers to prospective dancers they didn't just drop them off, they stood there and asked for a commitment right then and there on the doorstep. Some of these parents were kind of unsure what to do with these two girls. Oh dear. We love Anna and Chloe!

Here's a sample of some of their preparations:

This is the flyer they took door to door

This will be sent home with each girl before the dress rehearsal.

This is just a list of snacks that Chloe made.

A box for the take-home notes.

A little good behavior incentive sticker chart (can you tell Chloe's Mom is a teacher?)

Candy jar, more incentives.

Celebrate!

When we pulled up to preschool yesterday and Nate quickly climbed to the back of the van hoping to escape. I got him out of the back and carried him into school. He was a little calmer than usual. Once inside his classroom he started clinging to my leg, but as I pried him off and his teacher held him he reached out for me and I saw his eyes watering up, but he didn't actually cry out. I told him I loved him and that I knew he could do this and left. Ben and I waited outside his classroom to make sure he was okay before we left. He was!

When we picked him up later he was radiant. He ran to me and said, "Mom, I didn't even cry, I just had tears!" We're so proud of and happy for Nate (and me). We love Nate!

On a Lighter Note

Here are some CUTE kids!

Nate, Rex, Anna, Lucy and Abigail

Here's some footage of some of Benny's words

All You Need is Love

Tonight was a rough one for Anna. She has been dealing with some really hard things for a while. Sometimes it doesn't seem like a big deal and then sometimes it seems insurmountable. Recently it's felt more like the insurmountable variety. So tonight she was in tears and discouraged and hopeless. These are the times as parents we feel like we're sitting in the pilot seat when it suddenly dawns on us we forgot to take flying lessons. We tried several different approaches ranging from sympathetic and patient to tough love. Nothing seemed to help. Finally I went downstairs to tuck her into bed again. She asked me some very thoughtful, very difficult questions. At one point I unintentionally and emotionally revealed how much faith it took for me to watch her have to deal with this and that I had to trust that the Lord had a plan for all of us and would help us through it. We talked for a while and I watched her countenance change from sad and hopeless to courageous and light.

I'm beginning to understand that as my children get older, their problems will get more complicated. I'll long for the days when I could scoop them up and with a binkie and a blankie rock them to sleep and far away from their troubles. I hope I'll always remember tonight's lesson: that although Tylenol and band-aids will lose their magic, showing them I love them won't.