A few more Halloween Pix

It was so cute--Catherine was a cowgirl, Kirsten was something off of Harry Potter, and McKenna was Pebbles. Chandler kept asking me to hold his candy bag, and I kept telling him that he needed to hold it. So he found a solution to keep his hands empty--hang his bag on his beak! It was hilarious.

Dressin' Up For Halloween

Marissa was a darling, sweet blue fairy this year. She had glittery wings, a jeweled crown, and blue slippers. She loved wearing some of mom's makeup to school. I got to put on Marissa's party at school--we had a pumpkin ring toss, and a cake walk thing (but with treat bags, not cake--you can't have anything homemade.) So each child got to play both games till they got a pumpkin and a treat bag. Chandler came and participated and loved it . After games and treats, they had a parade in the gym, and all the kids loved that--prancing aroung in their costumes, smiling and waving. Chandler was a chicken--such a cute chubby-cheeked boy. He would flap his wings while he ran around clucking. The only thing about his costume was that it was hot, which is perfect at night for trick-or-treating, but too warm to run around inside. I wore a midevil dress that my 16 year old sister made last year--she did a good job. After school, Ty's parents came over to visit the kids, and then we went trick-or-treating to Ty's grandma Lois, to an elderly couple that I visit teach, and to Ty's dental office. My brother, Damon, and his wife, Catherine, came with their little girl, McKenna (she's almost one), and my mom, my brother Darek, and my little sister Kirsten (who's 9), all came over for a dinner-in-a-pumpkin Halloween dinner. (The rest of my siblings and dad were running a spook alley at my dad's garden center.)Then we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Trick-or-treating was fun, but Chandler and McKenna fell asleep half was through it. I think Kirsen and Marissa kinda wanted to go a little longer, but oh, well. At least the weather held out--it barely sprinkled a few times, but nothing major enough to have to go home.

Carving Punkin's

The kids were delighted with the pumpkins they got from Grandma Jentzsch's garden. They each had their own ideas about carving. Chandler wanted a scary, mean face, (thus the mean eyebrows and jagged teeth).a while Marissa wanted a cute, fun face (notice the heart shaped eyes and dimple, which are not easy to cut out, by the way). One of the things they most enjoyed was lighting the candles and bloweing them out each night. We just barely threw them away 2 days ago--they last much longer here in the cold than in the humidity of Florida. We ended up carving them before school one morning, because the kids couldn't wait a minute longer and we wanted the whole family to be here. It was fun.

A typical meal at our house

Sometimes the kids are famished and inhale their food in 2 seconds. But many meals end up like this--Ty and I get done eating practically when the kids start. Then I start on dishes and Ty lays on the couch and the kids?...Well, the picture explains it pretty good. And then it usually ends with something like "Dinner will be over in 5 minutes." "But mom, I'm still hungry. I'm not done. Is there dessert?"

Okay, so it may be a bit of an exaggeration--they really do pretty good, but sometimes we have a meal like this and it makes me laugh and wonder-- what goes through kids' heads? What are they doing and why are they doing it? I've even gotten the whole table cleared up before they notice--"Hey mom, where is my plate? I'm still hungry. Do I still get a snack?"

Happy Birthday Carmelite!!

The big 1-8!! A real adult now. I can't believe it. Carmelite was only 13 when I met her. It was my first week in Florida and she spoke so fast with her accent, I couldn't understand a word. Who would have guessed we would be sisters and both be living in Idaho now? We had a fun time at her surprise party. My kids sure love her, too. She is so good with kids. She's the life of the party. Sure love ya c-lite!!
P.S. Happy birthday to Jessica, Malia, and Rebecca too!! Miss you guys!

One Smart Cookie!

I have to do a little brag on Marissa. We had parent teacher conferences a couple of weeks ago. All of the children took a test to measure where they are at, and then they'll take the same test at the end of the year to record their improvement. They need to get an eleven on it the first time to be up to speed at the beginning of Kidergarten. MARISSA GOT A 34!!!!More than triple!! Her teacher tells me, "She doesn't need to do her homework if she doesn't want to. She scored higher that you need to get into first grade."
She is really catching on to reading and spelling lately. Her handwriting and math are greatly improving too. I'm so grateful for her. What a gem. I love having healthy, happy kids.

Out of Comission...

So, I have a few excuses for not posting in the month of November:
1- Chandler threw up in nursery on November 2nd--oh joy. Then it ended up being a week ordeal because Marissa got it too. They had diarrea and were throwing up the whole week. On Tuesday, the kids fell asleep at 1 in the afternoon and only woke up at 3am for a little snack then slept till 7:30am. They both drank like 2 cups of gatorade per day on Tuesday and wednesday, and that was it. I hate having sick kids. I came out with a big, fat coldsore on my lip--due to stress , I'm sure.
2- My computer has not been, and still is not working very well. Ty worked on it for an hour and I am very slowly, but surely finally typing this post. It's all going in slow motion. So, I haven't even checked my email or read anyone's blogs this month either.

BUT, I'm going to try to get caught up now.