Dressing Up for School

Annika the Gypsy 
I use to tell my kids when they were a lot smaller that I was going to sell them to the gypsies if they didn't start behaving!  Most of the time this freaked them out and they changed their behavior.  One time I said it Jaren pipped up and said, " You can't do that.  Your our Mom!!"  
My Mom and Dad would tell that to us when we were growing up.  It too is a tradition.




Isabel the Mad Hatter
Isabel did not want a lot of make-up on.  She specifically told me she didn't want her face all white and when she saw the red lips she just about flipped out!!  This girl loves to complain and make life delightful.  In the end, after much praise from her siblings, she felt her costume was a success.  How could it not with that awesome make-up job!!  Doesn't she look great?  This is my favorite of the year.



Hannah the Human Monster
Hannah is currently reading a book titled Fire.  She got it from her Grandpa Rick.  Hannah told me the book is about human monsters.  She wanted to dress up like a character from the book.  I think she looks great too.  No one at school knew what she was.  Either way, it's original and she never got out of character.



Beckham the Ninja
This costume might look familiar.  That's because he wore the same one a few years ago.  That's okay, it's cool to be a ninja!!



'DA TWINS



Grace, the Witch.
 The fun part about her costume is her hair!  I can't believe she sat still enough for me to pull this off.   I knew she was going to be crazy at the school and I didn't want her to ruin her Butterfly costume.  More of that on Halloween.




The Group shot. 
  Before Grace was ready, and just before they stepped out the door.  Don't they look Good?

Shoot!

Backing out of my parking spot this afternoon I had to pause to wait for a lady to pass by.  As I continued on my way out I glanced back over at the woman.  To my horror I saw that her skirt had gotten caught at the waist revealing her religion and rear end for all to see.  Due to the size of my vehicle it takes some maneuvering to get out of tight spots like parking stalls.  I wanted so badly to roll my window down and yell to her.  That would just add injury to insult.  I was hoping to get out of there fast enough to drive closer to say something.  I didn't get there fast enough and she had already entered the store!  I hope some kind person tells her of her wardrobe malfunction.

Leaving lunch with a friend today Grace asked me, "Mom, does Amy fart?"   I told her I had never heard her fart before.  I assured her that we all do this and that it's just a natural part of life.

A very entertaining afternoon.

Ready... Set... Go!!!

Let the Traditions Begin!!

The season for Traditions has begun.  Our first tradition is carving pumpkins.  Kelli and I decided to start this tradition years ago when Isabel and Annika were still babies!  In the beginning it was quite the chore since I was the one to gut every pumpkin, and carve'm.  Now it's quite fun.  The kids didn't get to pick out their pumpkins this year.  I took that upon myself when I saw that they were just 9 cents a pound.  I'm not a patient person and I never want to miss out on anything. So, I had to get them right away.  Of course this caused much contention when the time came to pick out their pumpkins.  Jaren rebelled since he didn't get the BIGGEST one.  Hannah finally gave up the coveted pumpkin choosing instead two smaller ones.  Hey, why not?  Twice the fun.  Now that the kids are older I make them all gut their own pumpkins.  AWESOME!!  Of course I have to step in to get that last little bit of slime.  You know what I'm talking about?  That dark oozing stuff that just slips through your fingers.  You have to be pretty aggressive with a spoon to get that stuff out.  
 


Grace insisted on this little white pumpkin she got from Grandma Penny's garden.
Not sure what's cuter, the pumpkin or that face?



Let the gutting commence!



EEEEWWWWWW!!!  It's so slimy!!



Or So Cool!!!


Silliness always comes into play too!!!

More to come!

Current Creek

After picking up Jaren's barbeque we decided to take a shot at fishing. Well, not much fishing happened. The kids were starving.  Like a smart Mom I brought along the fixing for PB&J sandwiches.  We also enjoyed crackers and cottage cheese, apples, and for dessert; suckers and cookies.  We spread out the blanket and enjoyed our lunch in the mountains.  I had a splendid time watching the kids explore and enjoy being outside and together. 


Miss Isabel.  Always has to have something adorning her hair!



Miss Annika.  Always running ahead of the others.



Miss Grace. What's the outdoors without a cool stick?



The Gang.  Looking cool and enjoying the suckers.




Of all the pictures I took that day, this is my favorite.  The mountains are majestic, the lake sparkling and my kids trekking in the high brush.  A practically perfect fall day in the Utah Mountains!!!  Nothing could be better, seriously!





I had to take the opportunity to get one really good photo of my kids. They are my test subjects and have to endure many moments like this. I hope in the end we all are rewarded with the memory of the day.

First Prize

Over the summer Jaren attended his first full week of Scout Camp.  They traveled to Current Creek which is just outside of Strawberry Reservoir.  The Current Creek Camp Caretakers were running a contest.  Who ever caught the biggest fish would win a brand new Barbecue.   While fishing Jaren caught a fish that was about 15 inches long.  At that time it was the largest fish.  We had to wait all summer to see if his catch would win the prize.  And it did.  Brent had Friday off and suggested we drive up there as a family to claim his prize.  I jumped all over this idea.  I LOVE driving up the canyon.  I did it a lot with my family growing up and wish we did it more often with our own children.

On the back road heading to Current Creek we got stuck in a cattle drive!  We seriously could not maneuver our own steel beast.  So we sat, and waited while these snotty, slobbering, mooing cows sauntered past.  I'm such a city girl.  It was thrilling to see real live cowboys doing what they do.  We were amazed at how many cows there were, and the terrain in which they lived.  Brent had fun pointing out all the Mama cows with their baby cows.  Beckham piped up and exclaimed it was like a pattern.


See the cowboys?
The cows left behind a lovely prize for us too.  Cow crap splattered all along our runner board. 



Jaren with Patty, the camp care taker, claiming his prize!



Jaren is such a great kid! I love it when I can get him to laugh at my silliness and jokes. I remember when he was just a little guy being so proud of him pointing out different pictures in a book. I thought he was so smart. He still is. Not only is he smart, he is kind, a hard worker, does great in school and is a great leader. I'm proud of him. I hope I can continue to be the mother that he needs to find success in life. I hope I can find the courage to say no when needed, and to let go as well. In just a few months I will have my first teenager. Jaren will be turning 13. HOLY CRAP!!! I know it's going to have it's ups and downs. I hope to keep a happy attitude and love him more during the downs.

A Big Thanks

Monday would not have been manageable without the help of great peeps.  First to that stranger who took compassion on a woman walking with a child on her hip.  I know I was totally bonkers to get in that car with him.  I think we still have to put trust and faith in the human society.  There are still good people out there trying to do good deeds.  And he succeeded. 

Second, to my sweet Sis-in-Law who dropped everything she was doing to help me out.  Not only did she follow behind me, but she ran me on my errands, and called to check on me.  I value Kelli so much and feel so blessed to have her in my life.  It's hard living across the country from my own sister.  Having Kelli around eases that pang of separation.  She is always so helpful, supportive and loving!  Thanks Kelli, you are the greatest.

And third, to Amy, for letting me borrow her van so I could get finger printed.  And for driving me down to actually pick up that beast of burden.  What would life be like without good friends to rely on?  I know the Lord sends friends in our lives to be His helping hands.  I am grateful to Amy and for all my other amazing friends who are always helping me out. 

Monday could have been a bad day.  But it wasn't, thanks to kind and generous people!

Broken down and Finger Printed

Yesterday started out like any other Monday.  A trip to Grandma Wood's for some cleaning.  I was going to run a few errands before, so I got an early start.  As I was turning onto HWY 6 my ginormous 'Burb started making the most horrible clanking and grinding noises.  UGH!!!   I slowed down in fear of the noise. Due to the ingrained road preventing sleepy drivers from careening down the embankment  I pulled all the way over and came to a complete stop.  What to do now?  I have a cell phone, but no minutes.  What did we do before cell phones?  First, we turned on the emergency blinkers, check.  Then we pull out any children that we have with us.  For me, that would be Grace.  Lastly, lock the car and start walking!  Yup, down busy HWY 6 I trudged with my baby girls on my hip.  I could see the gas station in the distance and knew I didn't have far to go.  Courage, woman.  I noticed a red SUV pulling around.  This nice young guy rolled his window down and said, " I saw you and couldn't just let you keep walking.  Do you need a ride somewhere?"  I told him I just needed to go to the gas station so I could use their phone.  Without hesitation, (can you believe I did this in the world we live in), I climbed in grateful for the lift.  He offered up his cell phone which I also gratefully used.  My first call was to the husband.  The second call was to my sweet sister-in-law!  The young guy dropped me off and Grace and I waited for Kelli to arrive.  Kelli drove me back to the broken down 'burb.  I called Brent he instructed me to do a few things including driving the darn thing to Big-O.  Going about 15 miles an hour I made it off HWY 6 and into a quiet neighborhood where I decided I could no longer drive.  The noise was too loud, to knocking, and just not right.  Using Kelli's cell phone I called Brent again insisting on a tow truck.  He was not happy with me and that decision. 

Later that day we learned the diagnosis for the beast.  I feared it was the transmission.  Instead, it was the rear calipers.  They had frozen up.  Jack informed Brent that I was smart to stop driving it.  If I hadn't of, the whole rear end would have been ripped apart.  UGH!!!  We also learned the cost of the repairs.  Due the exorbitant amount I was forced to go down and apply for an RC Willey credit card.  UGH!!!  After filling out the form I was on my way out again.  Jack came calling after me telling me he had forgotten something.  RC Willey  now requires a fingerprint for all applicants!  I was like "WHAT!!"  I've never been fingerprinted before in my entire life!!  Jack told me that if any company defends against identity left it's RC Willey.  He asked if I knew who owned the company.  I didn't know the answer.  He quickly replied, "Warren Buffet."  Alrighty then.

For the most part I dealt pretty good with  this catastrophe.  It's a catastrophe when your trying to get out of debt and not use credit cards.  I wasn't so much upset with the break down, or even the cost of the repairs.  These types of thing happen.  No use in wallowing in self pity. The idea of these repairs setting us back that much more, is sickening.   What can you do?  Nothing but trudge along and hope for miracles.

Winning the Sportsmanship Award

This year Hannah played her little heart out. She scrambled around that field as a mid-fielder, defender, and forward! She was awesome! The only downer is that her team didn't win ONE game!! At each game the referees give points to each team for Sportsmanship. Hannah's team won that honor this year.


Hannah anxiously awaiting her t-shirt.  She was one of the few that LOVED the color Yellow!




Yellow matches her bright, vivid personality!



This is just half of her team.
See what I mean about my kids coming in small packages?



Look at those stunning BLUE eyes!
Hannah is such a joy to have!
Congratulations on such an honorable year!!

FYI:
Isabel and Annika's team took second. They had the same amount of wins as the other team, but they had one more loss and one less tie.


Jaren's team came in 3rd. In his first game against Provo their goalie dove for a ball hitting one of the Provo players and breaking his leg. Yeah, it was a compound break and not pretty.

We Love Soccer

In the summer my second home is the baseball diamond. In the Fall, it's the soccer field. 5 of my 6 kids played soccer this year. We had a soccer game, or three Tuesday-Friday. This year was so much fun! Even though my kids come in small packages, they pack a PUNCH!!!


Annika discovered power in dribbling.  I was amazed at her ability to weave in and out of a crowd of other girls, down the field, and even score a few goals!!



Probably the most exciting thing about soccer was the ice cream that followed anyone scoring a goal!  Ice Cream came courtesy of Beckham, Annika and Isabel.  



My Sweet Twins!!  







Soccer wouldn't be complete without the CRAZY socks!