Outside Playtime

 It has been beautiful outside here, while really cold and horrible over on the east.  We have done lots of chalk and scooters and outside playing with friends.  Nathan made a 100 step hopscotch.  It was pretty long and we all had fun doing it. 

  

Field Trip

I love being able to hang out with my children at school.  Today the third grade went on a field trip to the High School for some theatrical and musical presentations.  Nathan had done it the day before and now it was Ryan's turn.  We had a lot of fun on the 2ish mile walk.  The entertainment was fun and I loved that Ryan let me hold his hand along the way. 

Pumpkins

 

 

 

 Ahh, pumpkin carving time.  Every year we buy a bunch of pumpkins and spend a night, or two, carving and gutting and having fun as a family.  This year has been busy and so I just bought 6 pumpkins and let the kids pick from the pile (I got the one no one wanted but I AM the mom so it was OK).  Each year the kids get better and better and de-seeding their own pumpkin.  It makes the process a lot quicker.  I am not sure when I will let them use a knife and carve their own... 
We had the kids come up with some designs and then helped them cut their ideas into the pumpkin flesh.  I think they all turned out wonderful! 

 

 

 

 

Greg and I were so busy helping the kids that we had to put off doing our pumpkins until the next day.  In the past we haven't carved our own pumpkins but we had a lot of fun doing it together.   Greg is so creative and such a perfectionist.  I love how his turned out.  The next morning Callie announced that my pumpkin was happy while Greg's was scary.

 

Time Out For Women

 This last weekend I was able to go to an uplifting and spiritual feast at Time Out For Women.  Deseret Book Company puts these events on all over the country.  They are associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but they are for all women and mothers.  The music of Jenny Oaks Baker (violinist) and Mercy River was SO wonderful.  My whole body tingled as I listened to "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" played by both groups.  I heard from women with motherhood and careers, women without marriage and children.  I heard stories of hope and love and faith by both men and women.  It truly was a great weekend.  I also got to go with one of my best-est friends from my childhood.  I hadn't seen Christina for about 3 years and it was so good to catch up.  She also brought her daughter and a friend who went to a teenage program in the hall next door.
I was able to run into another old friend from home, Melissa.  I hadn't seen her for at least 7 years and it was again great to catch up.  Our mother's are great friends and I always looked up to Melissa.  And still do as she has 7 boys!  She is an amazing woman!
I really look forward to going to this event again in the future.  It is great to be surrounded by mothers and women who understand what life is all about and how important and difficult our calling as mothers can be.

Caramel Apples

Sometimes I find recipes and plan on making them but never really do.  I thought that was going to be what happened with this caramel apple recipe I found, but I am SO glad it wasn't.  I had all the ingredients and it just sounded good so when the kids were on their way home I started the caramel.  Sometimes I don't look at the quantities of the ingredients and I really should:
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 1/2 C butter
1 1/2 c corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
IF I had looked at the ingredients I would have realized that this recipe was going to make a lot of caramel.  IF I had looked at it harder I wouldn't have accidentally skipped the corn syrup.  But I am a bit scatterbrained at times and so I made a LOT of caramel that was 1 1/2 c less sugary that it should have been.  Luckily it didn't make a difference.  They were amazing!  We rolled them in crushed almonds, coconut and mini chocolate chips (all things that I just had half bags of from other projects).  I hadn't had a caramel apple in a while and I LOVED it.  Callie took a bite and then was done and happy with a squeezy applesauce (I look forward to enjoying hers later).  Nathan lost a tooth in his and probably swallowed the tooth.  Ryan ate half with caramel and the washed the rest off.  Annabelle and her friend loved them and had the messy faces to prove it.  I am sure my face wasn't that different.  I love snack time.  I love surprising the kids with fun and different snacks.  I even invited my cousin over to make apples for her family and I still had enough caramel left to make a tray of it to cut up tomorrow.  Not sure how it will taste but I am sure I will enjoy it.

crazy hair day

I love spirit week.  I have lots of memories of doing spirit weeks from my childhood.  I loved it.  At least I remember that I loved it and I have some pictures of me dressing up really crazy to prove it. 

 I bought some curlers for the girls with the idea of trying it out, but I put them in a closet vowing to learn how to do it, soon.  When I saw that "crazy hair day" was on the list this time around I thought it was a perfect day to try them out and it wouldn't matter if it failed. 

Annabelle surprised me with how willing she was to wear curlers to bed.  I am not sure I want to have an uncomfortable night sleep so props to her!  She was SO excited to put them in and then SO excited to take them out.  While I learned a few things, like the smallest curlers make REALLY tight curls, I think she looked beautiful!

 

 

The boys had their own ideas for crazy hair day.  Ryan wanted one side of his hair neat and the other messy.  Then we sprayed it white all over (the only color I had from past years).  Nathan went all messy and then only half white (the opposite half than Ryan-he did NOT want to copy).  I love my kids and their kooky hair and expressions!

Hiking The Y

 About 13 years ago I hiked the Y on a date.  Greg did it even longer ago then that.  It was such a beautiful week that we decided to enjoy our free Saturday out in nature.  Online the description of the hike said it was steep, and it wasn't kidding.  That was one steep hike.  But we made it and the kids did great.  Hardly any complaining thanks to stops and snacks at all 11 turns.  Greg and I took turns carrying Callie in the backpack and we even let her walk for a bit. 

 

 

 

 

 Usually there is a path to the lower part of the Y but that was closed off and so we had to go the extra bit to the top.  Then Nathan went up to the very top of the white.  When he came back down he started to run and while his face was smiling, we could tell that he couldn't slow down.  Luckily he was running towards us and Greg was able to catch him right where he is standing in the picture and stop him.  It was a little crazy and not only for us, another dad said it scared him watching Nate.  We made sure there was no more running. 

 

It took us a couple hours for the whole hike and since the kids had free kid meals at Texas Roadhouse we decided to splurge.  It was delicious but the kids hardly ate anything.  Too many snacks and yummy rolls.  It worked out great because they all it for dinner and I didn't have to cook anything.  After lunch we headed to Toys R Us.  We let the kids browse the whole store and write down anything that they might want for Christmas.  I can't believe how close it is getting and I don't like to be out in all the snow and holiday rush.  Hopefully these long lists will make it a lot easier.
It was really fun hanging out as a family and chatting and laughing, and struggling together.  I am so proud of my kids for making it up to the Y.  We saw a family that didn't make it up and that was motivation enough for my kids to definitely make it to the top.  Go BYU!

Fall Break

I can't believe Fall break has come and gone.  It really is amazing how time flies with kids in school.  I decided that we would enjoy our fall break with a balance of things at home and things outside.  On Thursday we headed to the Hogle Zoo.  I wanted to get there earlier than we did, but I let our morning be a little lazier than usual.  I even went to the gym an hour later.  The zoo was perfect.  The weather was nice and not too hot, the animals were up and active, and I loved the fall colors everywhere.  The kids got along and didn't get lost (like last time) and there was no fussing when I pulled out PB&J for lunch. 

 The tigers were really active and pacing back and forth.  At one point I saw a leopard in the cage next to the tigers peek out, see the tiger and then dive back into his cave.

 

 

 The kids loved the reptile house, just like I did when I was a kid.  Callie especially loved not being in her stroller and walking around and climbing on everything.  She HAD to bring her baby and she would even lift it up to the cages to show the animals to her baby.

 

 The new part of the zoo had polar bears, seals and otters.  It was very fun but more crowded that any other part of the zoo.  We left the zoo right when it was starting to get hot, really hot and uncomfortable.  The plan was to meet Greg for ice cream on our way home.  Callie inevitably fell asleep and she even slept through the whole ice cream part.  We got Greg, drove to the shop, I stayed in the car with her while everyone got some ice cream and then we ate it next to her while she slept.  And she slept all the way home after that. 
That night we played night games (again) with some new neighbors.  They created a Tron game where they get decked out in lots of glow sticks and then put some together as circles and throw them at each other.  Everyone had a lot of fun!  The new neighbors have an older daughter and then a child each of our kids' ages and the same gender!  The little girl Annabelle's age's name is AnneMarie.  The crazier part is that her middle name is Belle and Annie's is Marie.  They have become great friends!

 On Friday we headed over to the bowling alley in the rain (thank goodness we did the zoo Thursday) and met our cousins.  The kids all had fun trying out their arms and using heavier balls.  Every time I wasn't watching Callie, she would grab a ball (usually the 9 pound pink one) and start walking around with it.  I am so lucky she didn't squish a toe.  We all had fun and I even was extra nice and gave them all a few dollars at the arcade.  We came home with candy, whoopee cushions, squeaky goo and wacky rings.  Later that night we painted pumpkins with Greg and had some friends over to watch The Avengers.  Next to Harry Potter this was the most intense and violent game my kids have seen.  They LOVED it!  Annabelle even sat through the whole thing. 

 On Saturday Greg and I were able to escape the kids for six hours to the BYU game.  While we didn't win, I had SO much fun.  I love the spirit and the excitement.  Some people get so upset with the losses, and while yes, I would rather BYU had won, I just love being with my honey at BYU.  SO many memories.

 On Monday we relaxed all morning and picked up after our long weekend.  Later in the afternoon we headed over to the aquarium.  We hadn't been there in a long time.  Aunt Katie, Aunt Bri and Uncle Devin met us there and we all had fun walking around the exhibits.  The older three weren't afraid to touch the sharks and rays.  Callie loved seeing "Nemo" and other fish she recognized.  We were able to see a penguin feeding show and a guy holding a tarantula. 

 Before we parted I treated everyone to frozen yogurt.  So yummy.  I love Greg's family and am so glad that they wanted to spend time with us. 

 All in all we had a fabulous fall break.  There was lots of down time for playing with friends, coloring, baking and messing up the playroom.  The kids all read a ton--I LOVE to see my children read.  As we were getting The Avengers set up both boys were trying to finish a chapter before it started, and their friends were even here!  On Friday evening, after the zoo and bowling and ice cream and arcades I asked the kids to work on their Reflections entries.  Nathan kind of freaked out and said something like, "This is the worst vacation ever.  We haven't been able to do anything fun."  I was proud of myself and kept my cool but told him to go straight to his room because of how selfish of a thing that was to say.  After reminding them of all the fun things we did do this break I think, I hope, they had a lot of fun.

Arrow Of Light

 Nathan received his arrow of light this week.  It is the highest rank in Cub Scouts and it can be work on his boy scout uniform next year.  His birthday isn't until February but with the help of great leaders and extra work at home he got it done early.  He really wanted it and as we were getting ready to leave to the ceremony he said, "I bet you are really proud of me mom.  If I had a kid getting his arrow of light I would be proud of him."  I assured him that yes, we were so proud of his hard work. 

 5 boys earned it all together!  So exciting!  The mountain man had them hold their arms to a square for a long time, a really long time.  He told some stories and had them each tell part of the boy scout motto or law.

 

 Congrats Nathan!  We are so proud of you!