Halloween

The kids didn't have school this year on Halloween, because it was the end of the term. Dillon went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and the rest of the day we just hung out around home. We've had lots of sickness this week- so we are taking it easy. So far, Morgan and Logan are the only ones who haven't been hit by the flu bug. We are hoping they won't get it, but I think their chances aren't good. Oh well! At least they got to trick or treat. :) We'll see what the night brings. Camden got sick again about 1 minute before leaving to trick or treat. He hadn't been sick for almost 2 days, so I guess this is round two. :(



We had fun carving pumpkins. Logan's friend has a big pumpkin patch in his backyard, and he gave the kids pumpkins to carve. They loved it. The weather has been so nice, for this time of year in Utah. It's the first Halloween I can think of that we didn't have to bundle the kids up in coats and hats. It's awesome!


Morgan: the Greek goddess



Dillon: Darth Vader


Logan: the Pirate


Camden: the Lion




All the kids


Morgan and her cousin Ashley



Matt, Ashley, Morgan, Dillon, Logan & Camden

Tip for busboy at restaurant, when the baby projectile vomits, before food arrives: $10.00

Pedialite and Tylenol for sick baby: $10.00


Using a whole pack of diapers in 24 hours: $10.00

Snuggling with Mom in the rocking chair: PRICELESS

Hold to the Rod

Last night we had family night with our extended family at our house. We chose "Hold to the Rod" as our theme. We had a rope set up in the backyard. We blindfolded the kids, and told them that they would be guided by their parents. We couldn't hold onto them, but could guide and encourage them. We then had other family members be deceivers. They tried to talk them out of letting go of the rope, or changing course. Some of the kids believed what they were being told and let go of the rope, and some didn't. Afterwards, we had a lesson on the importance of holding to the rod, and talked about Lehi's vision. They got yummy treats afterward for a reward. The kids had so much fun, and it was a fun family home evening bonding time for us as well.

Dillon 'holding to the rod.'


Logan 'holding to the rod.'



Morgan 'holding to the rod.'

Morgan after enduring the task.

Part of the family night 'get the wiggles out' activity.

Listening to the lesson.

Painting

I've been painting Dillon's room this week. When he took Morgan's room, my intent was to get bedding that matched the color already on her walls, so I wouldn't have to paint. I finally found one comforter, after tons of searching. We had some left over paint, and I decided to do a touch-up on spots, and the color was completely different now. There were polka dots everywhere. So- thanks to my sister in law, Natalie (She had these paints) I attempted some stripes and squares to cover the polka dots. Elder Uchtdorf is right- it is fun to create. :)Here are the final results.


Close up of the stripes.

Dillon-isms (Part 2)

Dillon came home from school and was telling me about some discussions they had in class today. He said they were talking about the upcoming election. He said his teacher asked, "If you were able to vote, who would you vote for?" He said most of the kids said John McCain. (No surprise--it's Utah!) Then he said he raised his hand and said, "Do you know if the President and the Vice-President both die in office, then the speaker of the House becomes President?" Then he says, "If they both die, and Nancy Pelosi becomes President, my dad is moving to another country. He doesn't know if it will be Canada or Mexico- probably Mexico because it's warmer there." After I finished laughing, and wondering what his poor teacher thought, I have to say I was pretty proud of him. He knows the succession order, and who the speaker of the house is. :) I think we better watch what we say, because Matt cannot even remember discussing this with Dillon, but Dillon sure can. :)



One more Dillon-ism. We had stake conference, and Matt was supposed to be sustained in the meeting. However, they read Dillon's name instead. He looks at me and says, "Should I stand up?" Matt teasing him says, "You need to go down and bear your testimony now." He says, "Okay!" and he buttoned up his jacket, to go. Then he asks Matt, "Does this mean I get to be a home teacher now?" Oh my sweet gullible child!

10 Things I am thankful for

I am feeling like I need to appreciate and note things I am thankful for, so here they are in no particular order.

1. My awesome husband.


2. I'm so glad to be a mom.

3. The gospel, and the blessings it brings.

4. A warm house to live in.


5. Holidays.

6. Tivo.

7. My car.

8. Disposable diapers. Seriously how did the Pioneers do it?

9. Matt's job.



10. My IPhone.


Just to name a few, I am obviously thankful for a lot more than these. I'll save those for a different day.

Guess what we did yesterday?





Results: Good news!Camden has a good heart, and can exercise and cry as much as he wants. Yay! :)

Weekend update

We had our fall break last week. We didn't go anywhere, but enjoyed doing things around here. On Thursday, we picked up my niece Ashley and took her and the kids to the mall. We ate lunch, and then came back to the house, and Morgan and Ashley played all day, while I played with the boys.

On Friday, Matt took the older kids to Timpanogos Cave.


I stayed home, so Camden could take a nap. I had planned on going as well, but looked up the info. online and saw that they won't allow strollers on the hike. We don't have a backpack for Camden. The cave is 1.5 miles up. It is VERY steep and there is no way he could walk, or we could carry him the whole time. Anyway, the kids had a great time. They loved the cave, and we keep hearing all kinds of info. about bats, stalactites, and stalagmites. (They are all experts.)
Stalctite of stalagmite?


Hmmmm... Which is it?


Matt was extremely sore the next day- the older the kid, the more sore they were. Logan ran the entire time, and wasn't a bit sore the next day. Oh to be 6 again!
This is just to show how steep it is- and no railing!

Our friends that went to the cave also.

Morgan in the cave.

Logan and Dillon in the cave.

After the cave, I met Matt and our friends at Gateway in Salt Lake. We ate dinner with them, and then went to the Clark Planetarium. The kids loved playing hide and seek there, and seeing all of the exhibits. Afterwards, Morgan and I went shopping for a little bit, and then headed home.



Saturday, we had Logan's last soccer game, until Spring. Then we went out with some friends to dinner and a movie that night. We saw the movie 'W'. Can you say LONG BORING movie? I would NOT recommend it to anyone! Then, last night, we went over to some friends house for dinner. They have 4 boys. It's great for my boys- but poor Morgan! She is often the only girl at functions. I'm sure when she gets 'boy crazy' she'll love it, right now- it's just unfair. :)

ADHD issues

Sometimes I think I may have ADHD. (Is it possible to get that as an adult?) I had a huge list of things I wanted to accomplish today. I was thinking my boys needed their haircuts. Hmmm....I can probably do that myself. We have clippers, maybe I'll try it. So I decide to look online for some tips. What I come across first are tips for little girls hair. I have to browse the entire site and get great hair ideas, only to realize Morgan will not ever let me do her hair in those cute little do's. So I waste some time catching up on blogs. Then- I realize I still have a long list of things to do. (Including cutting the boys hair.) I'll wait on that, until I figure out how.I need to start some laundry. I realize Morgan has no clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, and the boys have tons. So either she has not been wearing clothes, which I am fairly sure I would have noticed, or she has a mountain of them in her room. I go downstairs to investigate. While, I am down there, I decide to get something out of the food storage that I will need for later. I see a box marked Halloween costumes. Hmmm... I wonder if there is an outfit in there for Camden, since I still haven't decided on one for him. I dig through the whole thing, find nothing, then realize there must be another box somewhere, this isn't all of them! I dig through every other box down there. I can't find any others. However, I did find a box of photos. Maybe I should bring them upstairs, so I can put them in the photo albums, where they should be. So I bring them upstairs, only to realize, I never made it to Morgan's room, or brought up the stuff from food storage. I go back down and start collecting the masses of laundry. When I am down there, I remember Morgan has a library book due today. While I am thinking of it, I should see if I can find it. I search everywhere, and never find it. I then take the laundry, go upstairs, and decide to renew the book on-line so I we can avoid late fines. I go to renew it online, and realize I need my library card for the barcode. I'll get that in a minute, I'll just read my new email real quick. After that's finished I can't resist, and catch up on some more blogs. Before I know it, Camden is awake, the library book isn't renewed, the laundry isn't even started, and neither is dinner. I don't have a costume for Camden, I still have no idea how to cut little boys hair, and I have a box of unorganized photos! Please tell me I'm not the only one with ADHD issues! Please???

Kitchen bound

We've been in the kitchen. We salvaged tomatoes, and tons of peppers from our garden. I've been making salsa, and canning tomatoes. We have tons of peppers left. Matt pickled some a few weeks ago, but didn't love the flavor, so I'm not sure if we will do that again. We're not sure what else to do with them, though.




I've also had little helpers making some halloween goodies for neighbors. As you can see, I'm not sure I could do this without them. :)