October

 I can't believe it's November already.  Last month went by so fast.  Soon it will be Christmas and I haven't even started shopping or preparing yet.

Erin had her 1st grade Halloween program.  It was really cute and they sang songs, recited poetry and showed off all the fun Halloween crafts they had been making all month long.  She did a cute job and was pretty excited about it all month long. 

They made a cat, a pumpkin, a Frankenstein mask and a ghost and sang a song about each one of them, complete with actions.

 The older two didn't get to dress up for Halloween at their school because the school doesn't allow costumes.  Instead, they have crazy hair day and class Halloween parties.  Erin wanted her hair sprayed black because that night for her costume, she was going to be a vampire.  I sprayed it black and she HATED it.  She didn't like that it was "crunchy" and threw quite the tantrum for about 45 minutes.

I told her we could wash it out and put ponytails all over, but she didn't like that option either.  She finally decided to go to school with crunchy hair and came home all smiles.  

Liam wanted his hair black and spiked up all over.  Well, not all over.  He had a very specific pattern he wanted spiked into his hair, and a specific pattern he wanted sprayed into his hair, but I wasn't willing to take the time, so he got spikes all over.  You can't tell in the picture above, but his hair was crazy black.  It was really weird to see him with black hair.  He came home and took a shower to wash it all out because it wouldn't "go with his costume".  His words, not mine. 

Liam created his own Halloween costume this year.  He wanted to be a glow stick man with a glow axe.  We Velcroed all the glow sticks on and broke them and made them glow just as we were starting to trick or treat.  It actually looked pretty cool when it got dark.  His mask was supposed to glow in the dark too, but it was kind of a dud. 

Erin wanted to be a vampire.  I'm all about cheap costumes, so I just went to the DI, found a witch's dress, added a black cape, crazy tights and blood around her mouth and she was happy.  Cameron did paint on some vampire teeth later and that really added to it.  We didn't get a picture of it though.  She did have some vampire teeth, but decided against wearing them, because they hurt and she couldn't talk very well.

Owen wanted to be a ghost, then a zombie, then a pirate.  He stayed on pirate for a while, so I recycled Erin's old costume and found him some pants to wear with it.  After we had the costume all ready, he decided to be a zombie.  I told him no, because we already had his costume.  Cameron came up with the genius idea to be a zombie pirate and Owen was really excited about that.  Thus, the zombie pirate.  He loved looking spooky.

Reagan didn't really get a choice.  She had a black uni-suit thing and we bought her some cat ears and she went as a kitty cat.  She loved painting her nose and loved the whiskers.  She kept saying "Meow Meow" after we had her makeup on.  She did refuse to wear her cat ears, which were really cute, so I made two little ear-ish ponytails instead.  She had a grand time trick or treating.  She would run to every house, get her candy, say thank you and run to the next house.  She sang and ran and had a blast.  It was fun to see her actively participating this year.

Here's Liam's pumpkin.  Nice and gory and disgusting.  He took great pleasure in designing and executing his pumpkin this year.  

Erin designed hers a little more traditionally, and she loved it's vampire teeth.

Owen just wanted a scary pumpkin and his spooky eyebrows were his main concern.

Reagan's was the easiest to carve.  She liked helping clean them out this year.

Our neighborhood is really fun to trick or treat in.  We got scones, chili, hot dogs and hot cocoa on our rounds.  It was nice and warm, so everyone was out and visiting.  There were 2 or 3 campfires going with neighbors sitting around them chatting and eating.  When we got back to our house, it was dark, of course and as we were walking across our lawn, the headless horseman was riding by.  We have a guy in our ward who owns five or six horses and plays the headless horseman some years.  It was a little spooky because he was dressed all in black on his black horse with no head.  We showed the kids, and he heard us, so he came riding right up to us and let the kids pet his horse.  How cool is that?  

This last weekend we had our first snowstorm.  We got about 14-18 inches.  I haven't seen it snow like that in years.  It was kind of fun to sit inside and watch the snow.  The kids loved it and played outside for a long time building forts and having snowball fights.  I was happy to be in my warm kitchen watching them out the window.  Halloween's over, on to Thanksgiving!

Memories and Musings

I've been perusing other people's blogs and it made me realize how long it had been since I'd updated my own.  I mostly want to record some memories I haven't written down and want to remember.

This summer, we had some cousins over.  As the kids were playing outside, Liam came up to me and showed me a two dollar bill. 
Liam: "Look what I got mom!"
Me: Where did you get that?
L: From James. (a neighbor boy down the street.)
M: Why did he give it to you?
L: 'Cause I asked him for money.
M: What?
L: Yeah, we've been going around to people's houses asking them if they have anything they don't need anymore so we can sell it and get money.  We told them we're raising money for a good cause.
M: What cause are you raising money for?
L: Me.
M: What?
L: I just want some money.  I don't have very much.
Oh man.  We had a talk about how we don't go around soliciting our neighbors for money, about charities and good causes, and about honesty.  He really thought he was doing a cool thing, so it took some convincing.  He had taken his cousins around to four or five of our neighbors and knocked on their doors asking for money.  SIGH.  I made him take the money back to the neighbor boy.  He took his cousins with him and chickened out and left the money on the step.  I made him go back again and ring the doorbell and give it to the boy himself and tell him sorry.  It reminded me of the time he was about four and threw a rock at this big window we had in our front room while we were renting.  He broke the window and Cameron went with him to our landlord and made Liam tell the landlord what happened and apologize.  The landlord was the grumpiest, meanest guy ever and Liam was so afraid, but he did it and never threw a rock at a window again.  I don't like that there isn't a handbook telling you how to handle things like that. 

We implemented a chore system with the kids this summer.  It has been so nice to have help from the children.  Liam and Erin take turns loading and unloading the dishwasher.  They both do a nice job, although every time it is Erin's turn, we have a bit of a fight.  Hopefully, that will pass, although after four months, it hasn't, so we'll see.  Liam, Erin and Owen have all taken over folding and putting away their own clothes.  They each have a basket of their own, I sort the clothes into the baskets, and the kids do the rest.  Surprisingly, (to me) Owen is my best folder.  He folds very neatly and is always the first one done.  I write this down so I can look back and know that there were fights about this.  It took time to implement, but it is paying off.  I used to tell the children "okay guys, we need to pick up the living room." and there were groans all around.  Owen would say "I'm too tired" or "my leg hurts" or "I feeling sick mom".  We couldn't get that boy to do a thing.  Erin would whine about it and Liam would do just the bare minimum.  Since we've been working on this though, I can say "okay guys, let's pick up the living room." and most of the time they will all say Okay Mom. and do it.  Even Owen, who was my excuse maker.  Not all of the time, mind you, but eight out of ten times they'll be really good about doing it.

Owen's new word he says ALL the time is chubby chub.  He'll ask Reagan "Hey Reagee, you want to play chubby chub?"  or we'll ask how his day was at preschool and he'll say "It was chubby chub."  He uses it for everything. 

Reagan loves to talk on the phone.  She talks to dad or grandma or whomever and jabbers away.  She talks with the phone up to her ear when there is no one on the other end.  When she does this, she always says "So!"  and then starts talking.  Every sentence starts with the word So.
She also hates her socks and shoes on.  She really hates her socks and I think it's because they have that line at the bottom of her toes.  That makes me just a bit weary because Liam and Erin were the same way and it took for-ev-er to get out of that stage.  She loves her clothes and will let you know if she doesn't like her outfit.  She'll change it or bring you something else to change her into.  She hates footy pajamas, and hates being covered up at night, so she wakes up at night and is cold, but doesn't want to be covered up.  We're working on a solution to that.

Erin is my responsible girl right now.  She's really good to watch out for Reagan while they are playing outside or anything like that.  She has one loose tooth right now and does NOT want it pulled.  We tried to pull it while we were watching conference and she was adamant that it stay in her mouth.  It has been loose for months now, but she refuses to let us near it.  She is liking school and is starting to like reading a little bit.  It's funny to see how different the kids learn.  Liam took to reading really quickly and has loved it ever since.  Erin hates it, but is starting (very, very slowly) to learn to like it.  She would rather have others read something for her, than do it herself.  That, too is starting to change. 

We started Liam playing the piano, and I think I'll start with Erin too.  She really wants to do it, so we'll give Liam a little bit of a head start and in a few more months, we'll start her too.  It's hard for me as the mom to figure out what's important.  Music?  Sports?  Art?  I guess we go by the child.  Again...where is that handbook?  

First Day of School

I decided to catch up on the blog I would do lots of little posts, so after this post are many more.  Keep scrolling to see the summer fun we've been having.

School has begun again.  I love this time of year, mostly because it means it's almost fall, my favorite time of year.  Summer was two weeks longer than usual this year because of a new policy in our school district.  I've gotta tell you, those two weeks sure make a difference.  Love my children, but I'm glad they have school to keep them busy and not fighting amongst themselves.

Everyone on the first day.  I'm not sure why Reagan is sad in this picture.  She really wanted a backpack.  We found her one and took her picture, but she was still sad.  

Liam is starting third grade.  From the few days he's been going, I will predict this will be a much better year than last year was.  He's excited to start learning cursive and multiplication.  At least someone's excited.

 Erin is starting first grade.  She really likes her teacher and has lots of friends from Kindergarten in her class. So far, she's done really well going to school all day long.

 Owen started Preschool.  Just today as I picked him up, he told me "Mom, preschool is the best ever!"  He really needed something.  Poor guy was bored last year with everyone gone.  I can't imagine what this year would be like without preschool.

 Reagan is staying home with mom.  She thinks she's just as big as the other kids and needed her picture taken too.  Cameron gave each of them a blessing the Sunday before school started and she climbed right up onto the chair for her turn to have a blessing.  She got one too.  Silly girl.  

End of Summer

Labor Day weekend marks our neighborhood's annual block party.  The street in front of our house is blocked off and the neighbors down the street make hamburgers, hot dogs and pulled pork and everyone else brings salads or chips or desserts and we set tables up in the middle of the road, line chairs up along the sides and eat and talk.  Since it's in front of our yard, we just took a blanket out and ate on that.  The whole neighborhood came out and visited and ate.  It really was a fun time.  Since the road was blocked, all the kids rode their bikes all over and played in all the neighbors' yards.  We did get a window broken in our playhouse, but that's all the damage we had.  We were planning on replacing the glass with plexiglass anyway, so it's not a huge loss.  Everyone had a good time.

After everyone was done eating and just as it was getting dark, the tables were cleared out of the way and one of the guys in the neighborhood did a fire dance for us.  It was really cool.  He did a great job.

Erin is Six

Erin had a birthday just before school started this year.  She turned six.  She was so very excited to be six like all her friends.  Now that she's six, they will all start turning seven.  Poor girl will never catch up.  Erin is my steady, responsible one.  I feel more comfortable leaving Reagan outside to play with siblings if Erin is out with her.  She is a great help and loves to help me with whatever it is I am doing (unless it's doing dishes.  She hates that.).  She takes turns loading and unloading the dishwasher, folds her own laundry, clears off the table, makes her bed, and picks up the house.  She is a great helper.  She likes to help with cooking too.

She decided she wanted a brown bear for her cake this year.  She wanted brown so it would taste chocolaty.  At first she wanted a brown baby, but she ultimately went with bear.  

Miss Erin is quiet around those who she doesn't know, but quite funny, happy and crazy here at home.  She is sensitive to those who are struggling and tries in her quiet way to help out.  I can see her growing up more and more. 

Happy Birthday to Our cute Erin.  We love having you in our family.  We wouldn't be us without you!

Lagoon

We got some very discounted tickets from my sister (thanks Mur!) and decided to go to Lagoon.  It was after Salt Lake School District was in school and our district wasn't in yet, so it was the best Lagoon day ever!  There were no lines.  We just walked on every ride.  We left Reagan with Grandma and told the kids were were going to have a picnic at a park.  We pulled into Lagoon's parking lot and Liam said "This isn't a park, it's a giant sand pit."  They were pretty disappointed until someone figured out it was Lagoon.  Then there was much celebration in the back of the van.  We all had fun.  I went on all the rides with the children since Cameron's stomach doesn't like riding.  He was the photographer and moral support.  He did go on a few rides with us.

He did go on the Sky Ride, which I wasn't as nervous about this year as the children were bigger and not as likely to slip under the restraining bar.  Irrational, I know, but my fear none the less.

Cute Erin on the Sky Ride.  All three kids went on all the rides.  Every single one.  Well, there were two that Erin and Owen couldn't go on because they weren't tall enough.  But everything else they got to ride.  I was so impressed by all of them, but especially Owen, fearlessly walking onto each ride.  

Like this one.  Yep, that's us in the back.  All four of us.  I thought it warranted a closer look and... 

I zoomed in on this one.  Look at Liam's face.  That is the face of pure terror.  I still laugh when I look at this picture.

They went on this one too.  We are four of six - SIX - people on this ride.  So much fun I tell ya! 

Note all the empty seats.  Fun times. 

Here's proof that Cameron was there.  This was on the train.  A nice break from the hot sun. 

This one was Owen's favorite.  We went on it three or four times. 

This was Erin's favorite.  We went on it twice. 

We didn't get a picture of Liam's favorite - The Samurai - But this was his second favorite.  

I am so glad we got to go this year.  We told our children we could go, but then it was just way too expensive.  With these tickets, we all got in for just over the price of one ticket.  It was a really fun day.

Reagan's 2nd

Reagan turned two.  She wanted a plug cake for a long time.  (That is what we call her pacifier.)  So I was looking up how to do one of those cakes, but she suddenly changed her mind and decided on a dog.  I let her pick the color and she chose blue.  She is my happy girl who loves to cuddle.  She likes to play with the big kids and feels like she's just as big as they are.  I took her in for her 2 year check and she has lost weight, so we will be keeping an eye on that.  I think my sister's son who turns one soon weighs as much as she does, skinny little thing.

Blue dog, speaks for itself. 

Reagan is my only one who stays home all day long with me now.  Everybody else is going to school in some form or another.  She is learning to talk pretty well.  Consonants are still pretty beyond her, but we know what she's saying most of the time.  She talks about her singer (finger) and knows all her sibling's names.  I can tell her to call everybody for dinner and she will stand at the top of the stairs and yell "Owen, Yeeum, Enin, Daddy, EAT!!!"  over and over again until they come running up the stairs.  

She is reminding me more and more of Owen.  Though she is a little less energetic.  They have a lot of the same gestures and speech patterns though.  We're glad we have her.  She sure is fun to have in our family!

The Zoo

We went to the zoo.  I wasn't particularly excited, because I'm not a huge fan of the zoo, but they have changed it so much, I don't feel as sorry for the animals anymore and their new polar bear, seal, walrus exhibit is super!  We went with Julie and Jamison and everybody had loads of fun I think.  We stayed for most of the day.

Children on the rhino! 

I did feel a little sorry for the eagle.  He didn't have much room to fly, poor guy. 

This is a bird's nest just of the eagle pen.  That's why my boys are being crazy birds. 

The elephants are always fun.  You can just see the baby at the left side of the picture below his mom.

Elder Kendall's Homecoming

My nephew came home at the end of July from a mission served in Africa.  His family invited my sister and I to the airport to see him come home and we thought it would be fun for the kids to experience an airport homecoming.

Erin got to hold a sign his family had made. 

This is my niece waiting patiently (ha!) for her brother to come down the stairs.  She missed him a lot I think. The whole family was so excited to see him.  And when he came down the stairs, Shannon screamed "There he is!!"  I thought it was funny that later Brad said to her "I seriously was going to call you and tell you not to make a scene."  He knows his sister well.  Glad they love each other so much.

Here's the family, so happy to have their missionary home. 

And here's Shannon after her long awaited hug from her big brother.  Welcome home Elder Kendall!!

The Village

The kids wanted to go to a petting zoo.  It was on our Summer of Fun list this summer, so I took them to a petting zoo at Gardner Village...on a weekday.  Of course, the petting zoo is only open on Saturdays and the animals are kept elsewhere on the weekdays.  Sigh.  So, we decided to look at all the shops and feed the ducks instead.  Luckily I had thought ahead and brought some bread.

The shops were really fun, but made me feel like I am not reaching my crafting abilities.  I expect that's what they want you to feel so you will buy more stuff.  Reagan decided she would eat her bread instead of feeding the ducks. 

I love this picture of Owen because he so very rarely smiles normally in pictures.  Usually it's either forced or a big, showing teeth GURRR smile.  Plus his curls are fun. 

Each of them got to choose one candy from the candy store and they sat by the pond, ate their candy and fed the ducks. It turned out to be a peaceful day.

Parade

We went to our annual parade here in our little city.  This year, it was crazy!!  There was an entry that our stake spearheaded with Helaman and his 2,000 stripling warriors and everyone was excited to see it.  We also heard rumors President Monson would be the Grand Marshall.  We aren't allowed to set chairs or anything up before 7:00 am the morning of the parade, but there were chairs and awnings and blankets all over the place the morning before the parade.  So, Julie and I took our chairs down and set them behind the sidewalk to reserve our spot and took turns driving past during the day to make sure they were still there.  Then we got up at 2 in the morning and spent the rest of the night sleeping with our stuff.  There were a lot more people there than previous years.  President Monson was not the Grand Marshall, but the 2,000 warriors were quite a sight.  We had had a Family Home Evening lesson that week talking about them and so our kids really thought it was cool.

My sister and her kids came down to go with us too.

Reagan just liked that she got candy from the floats. 

Owen loved the bands and would dance all over when they came by. 

Here's Helaman with his warriors following... 

These pictures don't give the scope of how many boys there were.  They were lined up across the whole road and the line went on for three or four minutes.  Each of the boys had a staff that had metal on the bottom of it that they would pound the ground with every few steps.  In the middle of their march, they all stopped and you could see the staffs at the front of the line start pounding and it spread throughout the line until they were all pounding in unison.  Then they pounded faster and faster and stopped, put their staffs in the air and yelled "We did not doubt!!"  It was really awe inspiring and gave you a visual of just how many young men went to battle with Helaman.  It was a good visual lesson for my kids.