Orange, orange pumpkins

L had his buddies over today. I thought I'd be brave and bring out the paints. They got on over-sized t-shirts, I covered my table in paper, we squirted paint and went for it. We found that red and yellow paint make orange and blue and yellow paint make green--just the right colors for our pumpkins. I got messier than them all, but I think we all had fun. The pumpkins turned out cute too.


Tonight we had our traditional pumpkin carving night. Everyone dug in and got their hands goopy. This is B's favorite part of the pumpkin...other than pumpkin pie.

T, L, and A worked on the "baby" pumpkin. L insisted on the pumpkin having a happy, smiley face.

X, B, and I worked on the big one. X had worked all afternoon on the "plan" for Spooky the Pumpkin. We ended up doing two faces on this big pumpkin, Spooky and A's fang-bearing, scar-wearing, BEWARE pumpkin!

And the finished pumpkins...Such a sweet, calm, little bunch.

But wait!?!

Had YOU fooled! They went a bit mad--Halloween MAD! HAHAHAHA!

Sick of Sick

The air feels refreshing and crisp. The trees are gradually changing color. Autumn is in the air. And my little folks, T, and myself have all been sick. For the past month. During the best season of the year. When we should be revelling in the cool breezes and autumn air, we've been in dealing with fevers, coughs, stuffy noses, aches and pains. The sickness keeps going around and around my family like a merry-go-round that won't stop. I tell it, "Go away and don't come back another day--ever!" Errrr...

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight for Family Home Evening we (minus T, whose turn it is to have the sniffles and crud) hopped in the car and drove to the Pumpkin Patch. The kiddos were so excited that they ran from maze to maze and bounce house to bounce house. I felt like I was trying to take pictures of wild animals who wouldn't hold still! I did get them to hold still on the hay ride (I think they were wearing down.). A terrific time was had by all (except for T. But hey, he got the peace and quiet of all of us out of the house).

Perched on a pumpkin

Who IS this tall gal?!

X with Darth (or Dark as he says) Vader.

When I say "Smile" this is the grin L puts on.

A Splash of Color

Now that the weather is cooling down my flowers are starting to really thrive. I only planted them in March and it's now October, but hey, it just takes them time. Isn't that the way it is with life? Sometimes amidst our best efforts, things don't seem to be happening, then kaboom. Full blossoms!


I am also trying to take advantage of our two growing seasons here. I've been trying my hand at this gardening thing for some time now with only a few zucchini, a handful of carrots, wormy lettuce, some bright red strawberries, and one potato to show for it, but I'm determined to get the hang of this gardening thing! It's a good thing my family doesn't depend on my gardening skills for food, or we would STARVE! I tried taking the picture so the nice little potato plant would show and not the lovely weeds, the straggling spinach, and the sporadic carrots. Notice the size of this potato plant! Of course, I took the picture way down low, so the plant would seem like Jack's bean stalk.



The sniffles and coughs have been going around our house. It's L's turn now. This photo was taken before he was sick, but this is what he has been doing since he's been sick, so I stuck it in.


And this weekend, between sicknesses, we rode bikes. Think the girls need new bikes?? These were their bike when they were little tikes, but they still love to race around on them! Silly, sweet girls.

A Case of the Grumps

Today I woke up grumpy (on a Friday too!). I just saw the negatives: the dirty dishes, the unmade bed, the school lunches to be made, the money to be sent to school for yet another activity. Grumbling and mumbling was met by all who crossed my path. But now I feel much better! So what changed my perspective and mood? I've reflected on this and this is what I came up with:

1.) I let off some steam in an email to my sister. Writing things out helps me so much--it's usually my journal or my sister. Lucky gal!
2.) I prayed for help with my mood and my weaknesses. I said sorry, turned it over, and felt peace.
3.) I read my scriptures. I'm reading the four Gospels right now and loving it so much. I can feel my testimony of Jesus Christ strengthening. It's amazing how this is a balm to my soul.
4.) I went outside to enjoy a crisp, fresh morning full of God's creation. I also did some physical labor (not really hard labor mind you, just trimming my bushes).
5.) I laughed with L as he learned to pedal his tricycle, forward and backward, forward and backward.
6.) I spent time making foam jack-o-lanterns with L.

And that case of the grumps disappeared.

Transportation Day

X has been studying different types of transportation in his kindergarten class. To end all the fun, each child (parent) was asked to make some form of transportation from a box. Thankfully, we just pulled "Frank" out of the garage (Yay for past Halloween costumes!), glued things back together, and off we went. There were hot air balloons, airplanes, ambulances, police cars, princess cars, batmobiles, trains, and even a Ty-fighter from Star Wars. I was very impressed with all the creativity these little folks (parents) had. These little drivers had quite the adventure with traffic jams, collisions, and speeding tickets, and going the wrong way on a one way street. Watch out when they turn 16!

Cheap Christmas Idea!

Looking for that perfect gift? Trying to get the Christmas shopping done before the mad rush? Here's the perfect gift for your 3 year old! His booster seat! We brought in the car seat today as we were switching cars around and just set it to the side. L popped himself in it, strapped himself in, and realized he was...stuck. Hmmm...this could be useful. The magical car seat has provided hours and hours of entertainment for L and X as they've made it into a race car, a space ship, a fort, and lots of other things that only they can imagine. So just bring in the car seat and stick it under the Christmas tree. Voila--Christmas is taken care of minus the headache.

Archery Fun

Yesterday B & A went with their activity day groups and learned some archery skills. We had a terrific time learning to "notch/knock" an arrow and "fire at will." Of course, we had a clever girl ask where Will was! Four girls at a time went into the archery range while the other girls in the group worked on "cat's cradle," chatted, or tried running up trees. We even saw an armadillo off to the side. The lucky bugger didn't get one arrow shot his way. We had such a fun time, and I'm so happy I could be with my gals, though I don't think I'll ever ask them to shoot an apple off my head.

Robin Hood in-the-making???

B, putting on her arm guard.

Giggly girls + bow & arrows = FUN!

Snack time.

One Year Down--a few more to go

I did it, and it only took me 5 years to do it! I printed and organized all the photos from the year 2003 AND 2004! Forget scrapbooking--I'm lucky if I get a photo labeled and slipped in the sleeve of the album. Maybe someday I'll attempt the big S (scrapbooking). But for now I'm giving myself a huge pat on my back! X can finally look at an album with pictures of himself. For the longest time, he looked at pictures of the girls and asked where he was in the picture. We let him know he was in heaven looking down upon the scene "live." He can now experience the joy of seeing himself in print. Now little L is wondering where HE is in the pictures. Sigh. Guess I'd better work on 2005.