Halloween Trunk-or-Treat

Katie was invited by our friends, the Ostler's, to go to their wards Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween Eve. When I found out that Chelsea's husband worked late that night, I nobly ;) asked if she would like help with her trunk or her kids as my Mike would not be home either. She accepted. So off we all schlepped to their Halloween Party. The kids had a lot of fun eating, dancing, and probably getting enough candy that night to satisfy their sweet tooth for a long time.

Katie was finally convinced that this would be the perfect year to re-visit her Dorothy costume that our dear friends the Zabriskie's up in Idaho had given us. The shoes were purchased last year on clearance for a dollar (as she had outgrown the last pair). Add some "Dorothy Braids", as Katie calls them, and she looked adorable. Christian wanted to go as Luke Skywalker. Although not a perfect interpretation, my friend Keri had given me a Jedi costume and Sandra had a Jedi cape that I could borrow. We had the light saber, so we were set. I love costumes like that!

The decorations for the tables were amazing. They had huge candelabras at each table that were spooked up with cobwebs and crows. I was afraid that they might tip over with all the kids running around, but someone knew what they were doing. Everything looked amazing. I didn't know Halloween decorations could look that good.

Here is another candelabra at the food table. Skeletons, lollipops, crystals and ornaments, oh, my!

The night party was fun and we had fun, like always, with the Ostler's. Thanks for having us come!

Not to get all political...but I just had an epiphany...

Since birth, I have been a part of what I have thought of as a die hard Republican family. I grew up with the idea, and I believe that this was not intentional, that if you weren't republican there was something wrong with you. However, my parents have over the years crossed party lines and voted for democrat leaders at times. So, obviously, that means that they did not really feel that way. They tried to vote for the best candidate. Over the years I have voted for democrats, as well as republicans, that I thought would be a better option on the ballot.

Before I got married I wasn't sure I could really be compatible with my future husband, because, he was a democrat. He later switched, but it had nothing to do with me. Trust me, he doesn't like to be told what to do, so it wasn't me. In fact, I was shocked when he did. Happy, but shocked. A few Sundays ago, he jokingly alluded to this in church and got a few people upset because it was "political". As soon as the words left his mouth I was a bit uncomfortable, because I really don't like to talk politics with others, it can be a pretty touchy subject.

Now I have married a democrat and have friends who are democrats. And while I don't always agree with them, having different view points is helpful. Now I don't agree with the fringe environmentalists, but without environmentalists, would we have our beautiful national parks or be trying to think about how to be better stewards over our earth that we have been given? Honestly, I have only given a small amount of thought to this considering the other things I put my mind too. But it has troubled me. Aren't I supposed to be a good Latter-Day Saint and be a Republican? Now, I am not planning on changing parties any time soon, but I thought that this was a very enlightening article for any Mormons, or any one for that matter, to chew on. Maybe I will encourage Mike to register as a democrat again. Because the jist of it is that having two parties is a good thing. It causes us to look at things differently and because of that we can get to better ideas together.

Our country is too partisan. The reason for having two parties is so that we can get to better ideas, not just to have one idea win. I like that. Thinking that way, party shouldn't matter so much. The end result that we should be getting too, by having a good brain storming session with different ways to think about things, is a better way. So, republican or democrat, libertarian or green, we should be so lucky to live in a country that values the opinions of others so that we can come to a better way. Not just a party way.

The Rocket Derby

Mike and I are not the most detail oriented people. It is just not in our profile. I try. I struggle. Sometimes I am successful. So, last week when we were at the Scout Shop buying Christian's Cub Scout duds I tried to get ahead of the curve and asked Mike, "Do we need to buy a rocket derby kit?" The response was that they would be making/decorating the rockets that morning and then racing them at the derby, which I was responsible for taking my son to. Mike had a meeting.

On Thursday, as I finished cleaning the house for our house guest to arrive last weekend, I sat down and looked over Christian's rocket derby information/schedule sheet for Saturday.

10:00 Scouts register for racing in Rocket Derby

10:20 Tiger Cubs race

"Um...." I thought to myself, "I may be missing something here, but not only does it not mention putting together/decorating a rocket, but there is not TIME to do so". That is when I picked up the phone and called Mike.

"Oh, yeah, we need to buy a rocket for the rocket derby," came the reply.

Mike finally got a kit on Friday (that is a little story too, but we won't share that) and by the time all of us got home on Friday it was Christian's bed time, which meant that the majority of the rocket making was going to be done without him.

Here is what the kit comes out of the box looking like, except it doesn't show that the balsa wood comes in two pieces that you have to glue together. Yes, we were up until at least 10 getting it put together. Mike spray painted it gold and then we left it to dry until the morning. When Christian woke up he decided that he wanted to have snakes on his rocket. In permanent marker we did snakes and named it "Viper". Then I added Mike's signature flames. He was getting ready for his meeting, otherwise he would have done it. Here is Christian holding his rocket, trying to be casual with the camera, like he didn't know I was taking a picture.After his race the Tiger parents voted on awards for the tiger cubs and Christian got "Best Paint Job". On announcing that to Mike and our friend Brad, that was here this weekend, they raised their eyebrows and tried not to laugh knowing how much time we took on that one. But Christian was in heaven.

We nearly couldn't find the scout pack in this huge park that they were at and that I had never been to before. But we found them just as they were yelling for the last call on registration. We quickly wound up the rubber bands and went over to the starting area. Christian was so excited. But I couldn't take a picture of that part. Why, you ask? Well, that would be because I didn't pay attention to the little detail of charging my battery. However, I always have my charger, so I stuck it into the pavilion electrical outlet and got a few later.

So, back to Christian. He went down to the end to watch his rocket compete against the other two Tigers that had come (a guaranteed trophy, woohoo). They counted down and then they were off. (Which would have looked like this, if I had had my camera ready earlier)

Here is a picture of Christian watching a race.

So he ran down with the other Tiger Cubs to watch....and he WON! Yeah for Christian. I couldn't believe it. He was so excited. He wanted to carry his rocket around everywhere. He was very proud. He quickly found other things to do while waiting for the other races and the awards...

...like throwing tiny rocks into the pond.

He was ecstatic to get his award. He carried it with him everywhere the rest of the day.

On the way home from the event, I caught Christian talking to "someone" in the back of the car practicing telling others about how he won the rocket derby and that "this" was his trophy. What a difference winning a trophy made. When he got home, he took Mike's old baseball trophy out of his room and "gave it back". He now understood what it meant to win a trophy. He didn't need to borrow his dad's anymore. Christian had his own to cherish now. It was a great day. And I am glad that Christian's non-detail-oriented parents didn't ruin a wonderful experience of participating and winning.

These are Christian's awesome leaders.

I can't sleep without my BLANKIE!

Some of my children have a hard time going to sleep at night. Multiple trips out to the family room to let me know of the multiple ills that have beset them in the last few minutes since they entered their bedroom for bed is not uncommon. After one such night, Katie came out. Again. "Mom, I can't find my blankie! I can't go to sleep without my BLANKIE!"

Disinterested and fairly annoyed at this point I respond, "Yes, actually, it is possible to sleep without your blankie as I have found it out here many times while you are asleep. Turn around and go to sleep."

Think of a siren with her response, "But I NEED my BLANKIE! I CAN'T sleep without my BLANKIE!" She quickly goes into the living room but doesn't get to far as the lights are off and she is afraid of the dark. "I can't SEE it. I don't know WHERE my BLANKIE is!"

More annoyed at this point as her bed time was near a half an hour ago, "Katie, if you don't go to sleep right now I will give you a job (punishment that gets my house clean)".

From her bedroom she is wailing dramatically the mentioned lines about her blankie...incessantly. Within a minute, Christian comes around the corner, armed with his plug-in flashlight and a serious face says, "Mom, she needs her blanket, she can't go to sleep without it". He marches right into the living room, grabs her blanket and on the return trip states, "I got it for her Mom". Katie giggles like a girl that got her way and Christian has been a little man and saved her day. It warmed the cockles of my heart. (I don't think cockles are a good thing to have in a heart, but that night, it probably would have been apt.)

Tiger Cubs, here we come...

Mike exclaimed to his son in the middle of the store, "I have been waiting 14 years for this day to come." Yes, that would be before children, before he even married me. What could it be...buying his son a tiger cub uniform. Of course, working for the Boy Scouts, he couldn't be shown up by the den leader whose son was in full uniform, so we had to get the whole shebang, including the pants. Katie was excited for her little brother to have the uniform too and kept on trying to get more things for him to take home. She wanted to get some pants for herself. The kids think the zip off pant to shorts their dad has for his uniform are really cool, so of course they would want some for themselves. When it came to the hat, well, let's just say the pace of head growth has not slowed down, so he is in the larger tiger cub hat. :) Christian just loved all the attention being zeroed in on him. And there was attention, let me tell you. Mike was one proud papa. You would have thought by how loud he was talking that he was showing off his newborn son. I had to tell him that I was pretty sure that we didn't have to do this quite so dramatically. We had one great service oriented salesman that Mike got in on the picture. (Yes, he made sure we had the camera before we left...check). And if the previous posts didn't confirm that our son was one true to the core ham bone, then these pictures will.

It was a fun family night to the store. Christian has actually been going to Tiger Cubs for a couple of months now. Even though Mike walks by a scout shop everyday on his way to the office, he wanted Christian to have the experience of going and purchasing these special duds. Scouting made a huge impact on Mike's life and I know he is hoping that it will do the same for Christian and Katie.

My Dear Sweet Katie...

Katie is my thoughtful little girl. She really is sweet and loves to be close to me. After having a day of hanging out on Monday,...all day,...together,... she told me that she hadn't been able to play with me yet. At that point it was dinner time, so we decided to do dinner together. She picked the recipe and then helped me brown and season the meat. She loved tasting the fruit of her labors and it is so funny that I used to do the same thing when I was young to have time with my mom. At some point I didn't fear cooking because I was loved to help my mom in the kitchen. (Yes, mom, I know I was no use for the clean up... :) ) I remember browning the meat all the time for my mom. She really didn't have me do much else, because she had a rhythm to her cooking and getting it finished. This same pattern is forming with Katie and I. Hopefully, if I am never able to pass off anything but browning the meat, she will at least not be afraid of cooking anyway.

Katie is very thoughtful in other ways too. Because of this, her brother is being "trained" likewise by her example. Tonight when we came home with a car load from Costco, she immediately went to work helping me get everything in the house. Christian was not to be outdone, he wanted to help too. While I was getting the perishable stuff put away, Katie decided that she was going to get the last thing out of the car and into the house. She took one of the big cardboard boxes they give you, back out to the car, and pushed and heaved a 50lb bag of white sugar out of the back of our 4runner and into it and then proceeded to drag it back into the house. She just warms my heart, and cracks me up. I mean, what does she think she was doing? Good thing for youthful backs! :) And good thing that bag didn't catch on the hitch and break open... :)

Even though she can't concentrate on cleaning up her own room for more than 10 seconds at a time, her thoughtfulness more than makes up for it. (except when I really want it clean :) )

Christian, the hambone...

Christian is definitely a ham bone. I think both kids could give us a run for the money in this category, but for now, I just have a lot of recent pictures of Christian and his funny ways.

First picture...this was a day that I told the kids that they had to have shoes on to play outside. Christian must've come in a million times before he actually left with shoes on. Here is the quickest thing he could come up with...

Yep that is our boy...

As Mike was getting ready to leave on Monday for work, I handed Christian his tie that hadn't quite made it to his room after church. He put it on and went to the front door and said "Have a nice day, I'm off to work!". He took exaggerated steps as he stomped off to work and acted like he was going to get in the car. Mike thought it was hilarious and he had all of us giggling at him. (and yes, there are three different shades of gold/yellow on that boy...)Christian keeps us smiling around here. He is one great kid...

Dates, Dates...

It has been almost a month since our last "date" day with the kids, but they love these days that we spend a few hours one-on-one with them. A magazine gave me the idea and it has started a tradition. The kids love it so much that they clamour for and remind us about them.

Christian is a boys boy. He and Katie play really well together, but whatever they do together, he does it from a total boys perspective. (Notice that although Katie convinced him to let her put make-up on him, and he thinks it is a great gag, he is doing a "Karate" type move in the skirt)
He loves Star Wars. He loves all things Star Wars. He finally caught on to the fact that there was a new CGI Clone Wars Star Wars movie in the theater. Christian was so eager to get to the movie, he got done cleaning and was nearly wetting his pants he wanted to be gone so bad. Oh the realities of having to wait for the theater's movie schedule. He had a blast going to the movie and hanging out with Mike.

Katie had been looking forward to going out to eat. She now loves potatoes, which is ironic considering that while we lived in Idaho, she hated them. Her wish was to go to Wendy's and have a baked potato and a frosty. When she found out that the boys were going to a movie, she wanted to go to one too. We were on a budget so we found out that the Narnia Prince Caspian movie was playing at the cheap theaters and off we went. She loved sitting on my lap, holding my hand and having my complete attention. The kids really love the one-on-one time that they get for a few hours.

When we were done, Katie was thoroughly bummed out. She wanted more. As we drove to rejoin the other half of the family she suggested that since our date was done, as I had clearly and exhaustively explained, that Mike and I should switch children and start a new date. Katie is nothing, if not persistent. She decided that going to Costco as a family was great idea in the end, considering the alternative was sitting in the car with her Dad waiting for me to be done. Not quite the alternative date that she had been hoping for.

They are looking forward to the next date...we just have to figure out a minute that Mike will be home long enough to have one...