The Rest of the Day

Spooky dinner the night before:
There is never time for an actual dinner on Halloween. Usually I do our traditional "Spooky Dinner" the night after. This year I decided to give the night before a try and made it even easier by getting pizza. It worked out great.

Halloween day:
First up, I spent the entire morning making games for Sable's class party.  The woman in charge assured me they needed them.  However this woman SO over planned that she didn't get to several of her own activities.  We did play the games, but we definitely didn't need them.  No pics of all that craziness, but they were fun games.  Witches hat ring toss, ghost bean bags tossed into pumpkins, mummy bowling and tin can knock down.  I actually painted the tin cans to look like a vampire, Frankenstein, and Jack o Lantern.
I've got 3 kids in school now and the way their school works is there are 2 grades per hallway (pod).  These hallways connect to a main hall with the classrooms at the end of each, kind of like fingers attached to a palm.  That means I've got 3 classrooms in totally different parts of the school.  Oz and I did lots of walking and managed to visit all 3 kids. We visited Sable, watched the parade with her, visited Rome, visited Capri and then were back to Sable for the majority of her party.

After school and a short, pre-"real costumes" break, we all got ready for Trick-or Treating.  The kids are getting amazingly good at taking pictures.  Our family mantra for Halloween is "commit to your costume".  After so many years of doing this, the kids have become pros.  This was our most calm Halloween day.  There is still a real rush to make sure we get all the timing right.  But everybody did amazing, I was beyond impressed with each of the kids.  The post for our family costumes, "The Princess Bride" is here.

After pictures we were off to the town homes.  This is where a lot of the people in our ward, and stake, live.  They are mostly medical and dental students who are going to school.  There are some though who are more permanent.  Our first stop is always our very dear friends, the Thornes.  You can see Anne here who even in this candid moment looks like a model. 

Jeff was HUGE.  People knew he was Andre the Giant (the man who played Fezzik) without even seeing the rest of us.

Candy dump!

Those full size bags of candy that each kid has came from their grandma Cathy.  We go to her house last and they end up doubling their haul just from her alone.

Yes, that is a Bigfoot pumpkin.  And of course it's Jeff's.  

We got such an amazing response to our costumes this year, thanks for all your kind words on Facebook!  Now for next year. . .

Happenings:

-We went to California during the holidays.  It was an amazing trip.  We watched my brother Rob get married.  We went to the beach and Disneyland.  Jeff and I turned 36 and marked it with an epic hike into the desert.  I did post pics of the whole trip on Facebook.   But there's a high chance that's the only posting most of those pics will see.  There are some really good ones, so check it out.

-Oz started potty training. He's not done and in fact is wearing a diaper today.  Frankly, it's freezing and I can't bear to have him run around the house without pants on until it warms up again.

-The weather has been psychotic.  So it'll be a warm day with jackets, or maybe none at all, and then the very next day you'll feel as if your bones are going to freeze in place. 

-The zoo continues to be a favorite place. 

-Capri loves to do my hair before she goes to bed every night.  This was one of my favorites.

 

-Legos and Duplos are out EVERY single day.  My loathing of Legos goes back to having 4 brothers who always had them out for me to step on.  Also having a crazy dog that would eat them and then puke them up later didn't help.  But I am trying to suspend my Lego hatred since the kids are so crazy for them.  It seems, as a parent, that eventually what your kids like you like too.  I suppose that's love.

-Sable started doing a lot of puzzles lately.  She got me itching to do them again too.  The others like to watch as I get them nearly to the end, and then come out like vultures to put in the last few pieces. 

-Sable lost her first tooth!  A few days before it fell out, she started yelling on the couch "Mommy, Mommy why is my tooth so loose??!!"  She was so scared.  Seems that Mommy forgot to warn her that she was getting to an age where her teeth would start to fall out.  Whoops.  I win "Mom of the Year" for that one.

-House projects continue.  I still need to take some "after" pics.  Our master bathroom is FINALLY after months and months, usable again.  That project has been my Everest.  It's still not totally done, but it's looking great and is so nice to be able use it again.  

Library Love

I love the library.   I've spent my life in different libraries.  As a child it was the Bethesda Public Library.  That's where my love of children's books began.  Every year I eagerly waited for summer reading to begin.  Back then we would gather in a room and listen to how the program would work that year.  I can so clearly remember my excitement to start my list of books, and to get my free cheeseburgers as prizes.  I was a McDonald's fan back then too.  Some things never change.

The littles and I visit two branches regularly.  The Parkville Branch, which we've gone to since we moved here nearly 7 years ago and where pretty much everybody knows us and has seen both the birth of Sable and Oz.  And, in the last year we've started also going to the Boardwalk branch.  Mainly for their weekly homeschool program.  It's been great and we've met some wonderful librarians there. 

This week the Boardwalk branch held a summer reading kick-off and it was so much fun.  When somebody hands you tickets for free popcorn and cotton candy bigger than your head, you know you're in the right place.

Sable ate TWO entire cotton candies.  Is that the plural of cotton candy?  I've never had to type it before.

Don't put down your cotton candy even to color.  Use your left hand if needs be.

As a pre-teen I was my middle school librarian's "teacher's pet".  No joke.  In the morning at my middle school you could either wait outside, wait in the cafeteria, or wait in the library for school to start.  Outside was cold or hot and the cafeteria stunk, so the library was the place to be.  The library could only hold a certain number of students and it filled up fast.  My bus always got there by the time it had filled and the door was locked.  But all I had to do was knock, the librarian would peek out, see me, and let me in.  Why did I get such preference?  Well in middle school I fractured my wrist playing football with my family.  So that got me out of gym and a pass to the library.  I was there everyday for weeks and I spent the time reading and making friends with the head librarian, Mr. Douglas.  He was a very shy and nice person.  I was too.  I think he saw that I was different from a lot of other students. Once I'd healed and was back to gym, he still let me in every morning.  I'd grab the current book I was reading off the shelf and head to my favorite spot to read before school.

In high school my library became the place where I would not only read, but debate with fellow students.  Growing up in Maryland, right outside of DC in a very culturally diverse area led to a lot of political and social discussions.  Not for any class or debate team, but just because we liked to.  Friendships weren't lost because of differing opinions, but strengthened because we understood each other better.  I learned how to make a good argument in that library.  And the idea that just because you're debating, it doesn't mean you're fighting.  

When I went off to college, the BYU library became my second home.  In between classes, and sometimes even in place of them, I headed to the library.  Not only was I surrounded by books, my favorite way to exist, but there was also a media center with individual tv sets in private carrels.  For a while I didn't have any tv at my apartment and I would watch old reruns of "Doogie Howser MD".  But many times I would just sit.  Sit and read, sit and study, sit and think - or not - of anything at all.  Which in my opinion is actually a good thing to do sometimes.  The not thinking part I mean.

Those who know me well know that I have a real dislike of e-readers.  Really, I can't stand them.  I fear them.  I fear they will replace hard copy books, and I fear what they will do to my libraries. That they will disappear and somehow I'll disappear too if they do.  Like my identity is wrapped up and in these special places. 

For now, I'll continue to take my littles to the library as often as we can get there.  They'll grow up with it for as long as possible, hopefully for the rest of their lives.  And maybe one day I'll be a librarian myself.  Dream come true.  Again, no joke.

We're Just Fine

I've gotten so behind in blogging that my Dad, who is the true pusher of this blog called to ask how we were. That means, "you aren't blogging so I assume something is wrong". The opposite is true in fact, all is well. We've been busy with school, home repairs, church, fun, and life in general.

I keep thinking that I MUST post about our nearly month long California trip before I blog more. But that seems to not be happening. Whenever the pictures get put on the downstairs computer before I get them on my laptop, a blogging hiatus ensues. SO I've decided to move forward and hope that someday I get to our California trip - it really was a great one and worth a post.

Life around here:




Zoo trips





Stomping about in Jeff's police boots





Playground trips



This is what you look like when you spend 8 1/2 hours clearing trees, brush, etc., near the almost completed KC temple so it's more visible from the highway. Dirty and happy.



This girl charms whoever she meets. She doesn't even have to try, in fact she doesn't try. She just does. Blue eyes, blonde hair, and sass. It's a deadly combination.



"Look Ma, I'm my Uncle Rob!"



A few months ago, my good friend Brook taught me some braiding techniques. I knew how to french braid, but her tips let me break through to doing lots of new hair styles.



Apparently I am doomed to always be surrounded by my nemesis, Legos. But when one you love, loves something so very dearly that it is the main focus of his life it slowly becomes something you love too. OK, maybe not love, but tolerate and are impressed by said loved one's obvious building genius.



Green smoothies have become part of my day. I make them with lots of spinach, greek yogurt, banana and orange juice. They are delicious and filling enough to be a whole meal. And yes, I save and reuse my cups from various places. A fact that drove my mom NUTS when I was in California. Don't worry, I'm not a hoarder. They find their way to the trash after a little while.



Jeff and Rome tore down 1/4 of our horrendous, falling down, backyard fence. Glory be! I can't wait until more is gone.







Rome falling backwards over a post, it was pretty funny. He thought so too.



Last Sunday Oz slipped in the bath and caught his chin on the edge of the tub. He split the fatty part under his chin open and it was obvious he needed stitches. These were our first injury stitches in four children. Rome had stitches months ago when he had a growth removed, but we've never had to have stitches from an injury. I took Oz to urgent care and expected to be in for it with screaming and crying. Turns out, Oz is an amazing patient. He was awesome the whole time we were there. He didn't move one muscle while he got his four stitches, not even a twitch of his head. The doctor and nurses could not believe that a 20 month old child could be so good. Not one cry, nothing. As awful a patient that Rome is (and really, I love him dearly but he's the WORST), Oz is the polar opposite. He was just as good a couple days ago when he got the stitches out.



And no, there aren't any pictures of me in this whole post. But there wasn't one single pic of me on the camera when I downloaded them. Next time I'll be sure to get some of myself. I know you'll wait with baited breath. ;)