December already??

Is it December already? I didn't even post about Thanksgiving so... it was great.

The latest with our crew is as follows:

We finally have our beautiful boy back! We had been encouraging Griffin to get his hair cut for awhile only to be met with "no way". One day he came home from school and said "Mom, if you buy me a hooded sweatshirt I'll get my haircut short". I'm not above being black-mailed by my nine year old and so I immediately called Steve and told him to get home quick. We loaded up the family and were at the store in about an hour. Griff found a hoodie that he liked and we were off to the salon. We all about had a panic attack when the gal used clippers to cut the back of Griff's hair. It looks so good! He didn't like it at first, but we can tell he's getting used to it. He says he's growing it back out...

I'm thankful to all of the wise people in my life who gave me the advice to carefully pick and choose my battles. In the large scheme of things, it's just hair and in the end HE made the choice to get it cut. Whew.

So, if you look past the bulging bicepts you'll see Owen's injury. He was playing at a friend's house this weekend and got "hung up" on a barbed wire fence, ugh! It looked so gruesome. His friend told him "it will probably leave a scar, but that will be cool so when you show your muscles you'll have a scar on them" hence the picture.

This picture is to shock everyone who knows my McKay! McKay actually found a pair of LACE-UP Tennis shoes that tie and a pair of JEANS that button and zip. I can't believe she wears these. For her whole life, she's only wanted to wear slip on shoes and elastic pants (two sizes too big mind you). Yeah for McKay!!

We had the best time at our friend's house this week. We were invited to Family Home Evening and made white chocolate snowflakes! The kids were very creative and had fun running around and playing. We especially enjoyed the message about how each of us is different and unique, just like snowflakes. It really put me in a festive mood. Thanks guys!

.

My sister found a website that had the cutest dresses! They were an updated version of the 80's T-shirt dresses (remember those?) but the people were charging $60 and $70 dollars a dress. Between Sis, Mom and me... we figured out how to put one together and the girls love them. I think the bows were a little too much for Steve to handle. When I pulled out the camera, the girls started posing like crazy. It was hilarious, they're naturals!

Fall Reflections

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it brings a renewal to my soul. I love leaving the window open at night and the ceiling fan running, cuddling under the blankets. I love the smell of cinnamon, the beautiful colors of the changing leaves and the dry air that replaces the oven-like humidity we're normally accustom to here in the South.

One of our favorite traditions is the annual Chili-Cook off at church. I say "our" not because I have anything to do with the chili... but I love to watch my husband in action as he plots, schemes, shops and seasons his prize winning recipe. This is his second year winning 1st place and it simply brings a smile to my face to see how happy winning this contest makes him. He informed me that once we retire, we are going to start traveling the country searching for food competitions for him to join.

Kaylee and Mckay brought home the sweetest essays from school this week. They are entitled "My Hero":

Kaylee's:

My hero is my dad Steve because he is a policeman. He cares about my family. He once had to go to school and he brought us 14 things back. He's the greatest in the world! (Believe it or not, this actually took up a whole page of wide-lined paper).

McKay's:

My hero is my Doctor. She is so so so so careful with me. When I cry when I get a shot, she says 'let's do it next year'. She says to bring a stuffed animal that might work. She let's me do it next year, can you believe that? (Not really, since that's never happened) She protects me. She knows right from wrong. She protects me from danger. She loves me. I forgot her name. I almost never see her because I almost never get sick. I don't know where she lives. The first time I saw her was because I cracked my head on my Mom's dresser. It bled. I had to go to the hospital. I got a butterfly band aid. My Birthday she gives me prizes. Once I got lip gloss. My hero is my doctor.

As Vice-President of Student Council, Owen is learning that it's not all fun and games. He's been very nervous all week because today at school, in honor of Veteran's Day, he was supposed to dress up like Uncle Sam. He had a complete costume! I felt bad for him but knew he had to follow through with his obligations. When he got home today, I asked him "how'd it go" he said "Great!! The closet where the costume was just happened to be locked". Hmmm... made me think that he sabotaged it or something equally as shady.

The other night after a hard day I went into the kids rooms to tuck them in. As I looked at Griffin, I saw a side of him that I don't see very often these days. The side he usually portrays is a cool, confident, girl-magnet who's prone to spurts of mischief and surges of hormone induced mania. As I looked at his sweet unpretentious face, there was that little boy who I miss more and more each day. The one that is being pushed out by an equally as lovable preteen. As I smoothed back his mop of hair, I saw that face that reminds me no matter how old my kids get, I will always be able to see those baby faces just below the surface. I know it will be harder as they get older (I can't imagine trying to find them under facial hair) but it was a sweet reminder that those precious baby faces are never forgotten by a mother's eye.

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Carving Fun!!

Grandpa Allen said that because of the ears on our pumpkin we should call it "Obama"

Hannah Montana - Kaylee Sharpei - McKay The Undertaker (wrestler) - Owen Jeff Hardy (Wrestler) - Griffin

Halloween was a fun and spooky night! We first Trick-or-Treated in our Neighborhood. There were only 2 houses on our street who handed out candy (Bah-humbug... is that an appropriate expletive for Halloween?). Then we met up with Clarence, Chloe and Jarom (Shana's crew) and headed over to Mr. Tom's house to go through his Spooky House. He did an awesome job and almost every house in his neighborhood handed out candy. Then we were on the road again heading to Harlem to go to THE spooky house. It's a great walk-through spooky yard that a family does each year. This was the first year that Griffin got up his nerve to go through it AND McKay decided that she was big enough! Kaylee and Chloe said "No Way", in fact Kaylee said "My feet are planted and they aren't moving". Too bad I had to stay with them and miss the spooky adventure :) After this we hit the road again and headed to Grammy and Grandpa's for a lot of good loot. Then back home for Homemade Cider. (The kids didn't like it, so they had Hot Cocoa.) It was a great night. McKay gets the award for most endurance because she was wearing little high-heels and boy, you should have seen her run! Nana and Grandpa Allen tagged along and seemed to have as much fun as the kids. I think Nana was the only one who screamed in the spooky house.

We got several chuckles and they were all from Owen. While ringing one families doorbell, they didn't come to the door but their door was open. As Owen walked away from the house he said "The spookiest thing about that house is their furniture!" Of course that made us grown-ups want to go peek but we didn't want to get arrested for being "peeping toms". Next, the kids were commiserating about the difficulties with their costumes. Finally Owen had heard enough about people being itchy, or hot or scratchy and he said "Y'all think you've got it bad... I'm wearing TIGHTS!"

A Walk Down Memory Lane:

Owen and Griffin 1999 (M&M's)

Owen and Griffin 2000 Dalmatian Puppies

Owen and Griffin 2001 Scarecrow and Tin Man Wizard of Oz

Griffin, McKay, Kaylee, Owen 2002 (M&M Packages and Candies)

Owen, Griffin, McKay, Kaylee 2003 "Little Red Riding Hood"

Griffin (Spider) Owen (Fly) McKay (Butterfly) Kaylee (Ladybug) 2004 "Bugs"

Owen and Griffin 2004 (They had two costumes because of career day, Policeman and Crocodile hunter)

Kaylee (Fairy), Owen (Dracula), Griffin (Skeleton), McKay (Fairy) 2005 first year the boys revolted against a Theme.

Griffin, Owen (Ninjas), Kaylee, McKay (Oriental girls) 2006

Griffin (Pokemon) Kaylee, McKay (Black Cats), Owen (Ash from Pokemon) 2007

Beautiful Slideshow

I'm still learning things about this blogging. I wasn't able to attach this slideshow to my blog, but it is so amazing I wanted to share it with all of you. It's set to my favorite song and the images are of our Savior.

http://deseretbook.com/video/view/5

Thanks to those who played the "game" from my last post, the answer is...

Yesterday was "wear a crazy hat to school day" and I kept trying to get the girls to wear a hat but they came up with this idea all on their own.

Have I lost my mind??

I sent my girls to school today looking like this... any guesses why??

Accomplishments

The loss of a baby tooth is quite a milestone in a parent's life. Sure, it's a big deal to a child but for a parent it signifies a step away from babyhood. It shows that your baby is growing up. While this is a great thing in many ways, it's just another reminder about how fast time flies. McKay has already lost several baby teeth but none have affected me as much as the loss of her first top tooth. When the bottom teeth first came out, her looks weren't that different. In fact, when she smiled you couldn't even tell she had one missing. Not the case with her top tooth. It became loose about two months ago. It was a very slow process and as I've watched it, I've dreaded the day it would fall out. As it became looser, she started having a gap between the two top teeth. I had a glimpse of how different she would look once there was a gaping hole in the middle of her smile. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing cuter than a toothless grin (as long as it's on someone else's child). Then to add insult to injury, the other night McKay came running with a tissue in her mouth and her tooth in her hand. She had pulled it out HERSELF. I hope I will adjust to this new phase without too much sadness. Besides, she still has one more and I have a whole 'nother child with two intact top teeth. I don't know if that makes it better or worse!

Owen finished the second Eragon book. He loved the beginning, got bored in the middle and liked the ending. He loves that he can read one book per quarter and have all of his points.

McKay had the most points in her class for Accelerated Reader and so she got a special present. She received a puzzle and at first wasn't that excited about it, but once she got the hang of it... she's put it together several times. The first time, she asked me to take a picture of it completed and low and behold, she dropped it. She got busy and put it together again so we finally got a picture. She dropped it again right after the picture.

Kaylee's accomplishment this week is that she got well all on her own. We didn't have to go to the doctor or get a prescription or anything!! Way to go Kaylee.

Griffin made me very proud of him yesterday. He came home and said that he had "broken up" with his girlfriend. He said that he didn't think she was right for him because she didn't always say the nicest words and she didn't get very good grades. Although I felt a little sorry for her where her grades were concerned, I was pleased to see Griffin make such a mature decision.

Steve gets Kudos for asking me out on a date this week. He usually works on the weekends and so if we want a date, we have to have one during the afternoon while the kids are at school. It's been awhile since we've had a real life date, so I'm excited. We're going to see "Fireproof" which is supposed to be really good. I'll let you know how it is.

My accomplishment this week is learning that I have a talent for milking goats. My sister-in-law and her family are going away next week and have asked me to be their "farm sitter". I was a little nervous about the whole milking aspect, but I was so encouraged by my nieces and nephews that I caught on really quickly. Thanks for the cheers and encouragement Val, Daniel, Carolyn, Joseph, Benjamin, Grace, Thomas, Nathaniel and Julieanne.

Girlfriend Woes

This is for my friend Melissa. Just wait, it only gets better.

Griffin has a new "friend" that lives directly behind us. She is a very cute girl, but quite affectionate. Because of this, I only allow them to play in our yard on Friday or Saturday so I can keep my eye on them. Well, I was looking out the window the other evening and this is what I saw. The sequence of events speaks for itself:

"hmmm, I wonder what Griffin is doing?"

I almost got caught, I had the flash on and Griffin must have seen it.

Well hello there!! Guess who?

Busted!! Doesn't he look like the cat who swallowed the Canary? And, no this wasn't a Friday or a Saturday. :)

My poor Kaylee. I had to pick her up early from school yesterday with a 102 temp. She had some other stomach issues, so I'm hoping that it's not the normal "mystery" fever. All day today she wanted to be with me. I had been working on bagging up the kids summer clothes. So she could be near me, she laid down and used one of the trash bags for her pillow. It was pitiful. She's perked up tonight, but still has a fever.

Kaylee always gets more love than she could ever want when she's sick.

Look out Broadway!

The Official Tech Crew

So the boys had their play "Old Time Rock and Roll" and it was so good! They started with music from the 1920's and went through the 1990's. Before we headed out to the performance, I was a little disappointed that my boys weren't actually "in" the play and were only going to be doing behind the scene Tech stuff. We got really good seats near the front (which were in high demand, of course) and sat back in breathless anticipation. About fifteen minutes before the play started, here they came... the "Tech Crew". I have to admit, they looked pretty impressive in their black t-shirts. As they passed our row, their Daddy yelled "Way to go Tech crew" and started clapping really loudly. I of course, shushed him but secretly enjoyed everyone knowing that these were my boys (especially since they probably wouldn't be seen again for the rest of the night). The boys looked embarrassed but I think they enjoyed the attention, they did after all get very busy adjusting buttons and lights to show us they meant business. Owen's job was to sit at the front of the stage and adjust the music and microphone settings which he did perfectly (he also controlled the disco ball for the 70's segment. I've never seen a disco ball spin so prettily). Griffin was behind stage but I got to see him twice during the performance. He came out the first time to strategically place a chair and the second time was during the song "Her Daddy took the T-Bird away" ( is that really the title?). He was apparently "Daddy" because he walked out "took the T-Bird" at just the right moment. At the end of the play, several adoring fans wanted to have their pictures taken with the Tech Crew (and no it wasn't mom and dad). The girls loved sitting up front on the floor with their friends from school. It was an enjoyable evening. The boys informed me that they will also be the Techies for the 1st grade play (yeah, girls) and the 5th grade play. Sounds like many more performances in the future.

Owen "on the mic"

Behind the Scenes

The Fun of Camping???

When Steve and I first got married, one of the main gifts we were registered for was camping supplies. We were soo excited to get back to nature (although we'd never visited or left nature in the first place). Our first camping trip was at the worst campground in America. To make matters worse, it was 100 degrees. We put up our little two man tent and thought "ok, now what?". Our neighbors had a huge RV and after a few minutes they came walking up with a fan and offered to let us use it. I remember thinking... what do we need that for? Well, by the time the sun had set and darkness fell, it was still 100 degrees. The use of that fan was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for us. Over the next few years our camping supplies became much more elaborate (including our very own fan, oscillating no less). We also became so high and mighty that no AIR mattress was good enough for us. We actually took a real twin mattress with us to sleep on. We giggle now thinking how funny we must have looked with this mattress strapped to the top of our van as we pulled into the campground, but we slept great (this was back in the day when Steve and I could cuddle comfortably on a TWIN mattress. The days before two twin pregnancies left me needing to cuddle a huge body pillow instead of my beloved. Once you go body pillow there's no going back.)

After the kids came, we decided to start camping in real luxury and bought a camper (real luxury includes a potty, well that says it all) which has been the greatest thing.

A few weeks ago, our Church camp out was announced. Imagine my horror when I was told that we were "pioneer" camping and we wouldn't be able to take the camper. Once I recovered from the news, I dusted off the old camping supplies and got down to the business of preparing. Let me tell you that we were the envy of the campground. Our tent was one of the biggest, our built- in awning was one of the only ones and our pop-up bathroom tent was the hit of the event. All was looking great... until the rain came. It was truly a humbling experience to enter our tent after several hours of rain and realize there was in inch of water covering everything. Our pillows were wet, our sleeping bags were wet, our clothes were wet. No one else who had a little tent had any leakage. Luckily the boys had made arrangements to bunk with a buddy. Luckily I was inspired to pack an extra little tent "Just in case someone might need it". We put this up for the girls to have a dry spot and went and sat by the fire to dry out. Someone broke out the fun game of "Scruples" which I had never played before. Once the game got started I realized it was pretty amusing playing this game with a bunch of moral Mormons. Finally at midnight, Steve and I crawled into our soggy sleeping quarters and hit the hay (well, we would have and should have hit the hay if I had let my husband put down a layer of pine straw under our tent. I talked him out of it because it sounded icky to me. Yes dear, you were right) I drifted off to sleep to only be awoken by a baby who wasn't very happy to not be in his crib. He cried for about an hour and I felt very sad for him and his tent mates. After drifting off again, the girls decided to be early birds and woke up at 5:30 am. I really didn't mind because I was dying to get out of the tent and have the night be over. After packing up and arriving back home we transformed our yard into a graveyard of dead, wet pillows and sleeping bags and shoes and clothes. My only solace is that I have a whole 364 more days before I hear the announcement from the pulpit again "It's time for our Ward Camp Out"... that would be a good idea for a movie "The Ward Camp Out, a night of fear and misery... parental discretion advised".

McKay was having a meltdown before breakfast. Notice Steve looks bright eyed and bushy tailed. I thought this picture summed up our trip marvelously.