OCTOBER GOES OUT WITH BANG (or something that is big and crashing)

What.
A.
Week.

Thursday was Joseph's star day. This month's theme was to decorate and name your pumpkin and make a story about him. This is what Joseph did:

So then Matthew wanted on, but I made him use the potato head, not a pumpkin.

Notice that he is dressed as a Jedi.

Thursday was also Matthew's preschool fall program. It was super cute! They did a circle dance. This picture was clearly taken at the beginning because by the end of the dance the circle had become an amoeba.

This is Matthew singing "Four Little Pumpkins Sitting On A Gate". I guess it might be because he is my last, but I could (and do) just squeeze this little boy!

A favorite of mine - the stick tapping song!

On Thursday night we carved pumpkins. I cleaned out the six pumpkins during the day. I did not save the seeds this year. I am the only who seems to miss them.

Ben had a very intricate design and he did a great job, unfortunately, I didn't get a finished picture. Bummer.

Sari just looks cute anytime.

Sari and her owl.

And now the costumes on Halloween Day:

Daniel's costume was my favorite (and easiest). I had to dye the shirt. Everything else was purchased. Thank you, Daniel. He is such a ham! The rest of the costumes I sewed. WHY? Because every year I see my children slipping away and every year I think this might be the last time they let me do it. In fact, it was the first time in four years that Ben let me and the first time in 2 years that Rachel did. I guess it comes full circle. And the little boys just wear out their costumes playing dress up almost all day every day.

I like President Monson looking over Cave Girl's Sari's shoulder.

Hail Caesar, President Monson, and our sign over our thermostat.

One of the Three Muskateers - Matthew. (Sorry, no full body shot of Joseph. I don't know what happened to my brain.)

Rachel as Pocahontas. Her friend from last year, Christi Mauri, and Christian Layman in the background. They are at the ward "Harvest" Party. More on that later on in the post.

Since I was having a nervous breakdown at the church (more on that just a LITTLE further down!), Larry went to see Daniel (no pics - sorry) and Joseph's classrooms to take some pictures and let Matthew hang with his brother. Here the boys are, looking their darn cutest!

Matthew and Joseph at one of the centers. Thank goodness for parents who volunteer for this type of thing. I am not one of them. All that sticky and all those kids - yuck!

Joseph's class picture.

After school Larry took care of dressing, feeding and trick or treating the hooligans. I seriously COULD NOT have done this day without his help. So I am taking a moment to give him a shout out. He is fabulous!

Now, the LONG awaited story - I was in charge of the ward party. My decorating people could help at 6 p.m. Hmm. Since the party started at 6:30, that wasn't much help. I went to the church at 1:30 and met Charmaine. She, Larry (who had the black lung - cough cough) and I decorated all 16 tables, 6 food tables, 4 pumpkins tables and set up the classrooms for the games. I also made all the awards for the costume contest, the pumpkin carving contest, and the chili contest. (Then the people I asked to do totally did NOT read what the awards said - and they were cute too, like "HOT TAMALIES" for the hottest chili, etc.) and just handed them all out all willy nilly. Just one more reason I feel like I have to do everything myself!

Just before I left for the church one of the auxillary leaders called me to say that her game "fell through", and by the way, she never got anyone else to do one either, but she was sure I had plenty so her bailing out on the three games wouldn't be a big deal. PLENTY OF STRESS!!!! is what I had. (Previously, another auxillary told me they would only do one game out of the three I asked them to do and another auxillary only could man-power two out of three, then one of the moms took all the boys home to go trick or treating - mind you these are 12 - 14 year olds!!! so they ended up short handed after all. OOPS! I digressed.) Julie Grover brought a game at the last minute - she even had to make it) and had an idea for another one. I had Julie Stoker do one game and Stephanie Jones do the other. Thank goodness for friends!

Remember Griffin who I babysat from about 17 months to age 4? Now he is seven! He and his papacita came to the ward party! It has been fun to see Griffin grow up. I love Joseph's face in the above picture.

A small sampling of the 24 chilis, stews, and soups we had behind these boys. We had a contest, slips of paper on all the tables to vote with. I also put a couple of small play-dohs on the table to keep the kids occupied and the stuff to make paperbag jackolanterns for their goodies.

Brother Dupape in our ward brought the cornbread. Three super duper large pans. I was like, "OH NO!! I FORGOT BUTTER AND HONEY!" He said, "you will not need that with this." I thought, "the man is a baker, but he is nuts." Nope. Not nuts. He was right. The cornbread was more like cornCAKE. I could eat it all day every day. Seriously.

Part of the party was the costume parade. We had the kids match around the gym and then climb up on the pinewood derby track box (President Wells made it so we knew it was strong) and Tracy introduced them and their costume. It was super cute! Much better than just wallking around, the end.

Here are the Four Musketeers - Matthew is D'Artagnan. Aramis, Porthos and Athos(Kylen, Jackson, and Joseph) finally took him in. Tracy O'Donnel (Adam Sandler) was the MC and he did a fantastic job!

Joseph is blurry in the above picture but I love the expression on Brother Blank's face. Is he thinking, "those cute kids" or "Dang glad my kiddos are all grown"?

So, the four musketeers had no problem with the lime light and hammed up their time on the stand.

I hear rumor everyone thought the party was a huge success! I hope so! A lot of people worked so hard! Our small church gym was packed! (Should I do another sentence with an explanation point?! No!) Standing room only. A lot of people brought friends. Oh, and we had a great pinata, but where is the picture of it? Not ever taken. Our camera battery died. After the pinata was done, I filled a plastic bag with a tablecloth and Larry hung it up. It lasted for about 30 minutes and the kids beat the tar out of it. Very satisfying for all involved.

YOU COULDN'T THROW A STICK

without hitting a Mormon at Sari's Choir Concert. All the red circles are confirmed LDS kids in the 7th grade choir. There may be more. It's a big stake. The guests got to sit on bleachers. Bleachers are so excellent for bringing your kids with you. They just really feel like they have their own space (the entire gym) and the acoustics are excellent.

The 7th grade choir was fabulous! They sang "Alleluia Cannon", "Die Meer" IN GERMAN, and "Ja Da". They rocked all the songs. Very VERY nicely done. The 8th grade choir, well, they sucked. Or, as Mr. Smith said, "We have a few kinks to work out". Uhm, yeah. No pictures, I was too busy trying to keep a straight face. (Not that I am one to talk, I can't carry a tune in a bucket with a lid.) Sari is front row, second in on the left.

They even had a bass player accompanying them, and a drummer, but he was in right field. Have I mentioned how much I adore bleacher seating? So great for your back and behind. Really. It's great.

You can put the boy in a suit but you still can't take him anywhere.

Closer inspection reveals that this boy is none other than Liam. Sari has known Liam since kindergarten (very strange for me, I've never lived seven years anywhere in my life). In fact, they had every class together except 4th grade. Above is a picture of Sari and Liam last night. Below is a picture of Sari and Liam on one of the first days of kindergarten. Aren't they just so cute? I think they look so much a like with their solemn expressions, big brown eyes and little noses.

And yes, Sari would be wearing a Power Puff girls PAJAMA top to school. You just have to know Sari. She just marches to her own drum. Even at age barely five.

SOCK ANIMAL TO THE RESCUE

Rachel had to make a mole for Chemistry class. (I have no idea why. She also had to name it and do a spoof on "mole" in the name. Again, I have no idea how this relates to Chemistry.)

Meet Cherry Chocolate Chip Molt (malt - get it?). Poor thing was separated from her family when they were all eaten by coyotes up at Walter's Farm. We are a little worried that in her fragile (fraj-ee-lay - name the movie?) state she might be taken advantage of by some hemole. We will miss her, as Rachel just found out that her teachers keep these for-ever.

For those of you wondering about "the curly hair boy" you can see him here.

INSOMNIA

I have had insomnia. Three people at Young Women Evening of Excellence told me I looked terrible. (Thanks to the genetic black bags under the eyes - thanks Dad.)

There is no good reason for my insomnia, despite the slanderous and false comments (Kristine, Marja, Utah and et tu Snookie?) in the previous post.

REVELATION

This weekend our Stake Presidency was changed. It is the first time I have been present in a stake for that to happen, I think. It is the first time I remember, anyway. Our bishop (Larry Larson - your right circled) is now (also) our stake president and our former bishop (Chris Grimes your left circled, Sari used to write him notes when we first moved here and he kept some of them and has them hanging on the wall in his office) is the 2nd counselor. It is cool and weird to know these men and their wives. The people with arrows by their heads are who Larry and I are liking for the next bishop (Garth and Rick). Any of the men there would do a good job, to tell the truth. Our ward is small but thick on blessed.

Larry had the opportunity to be interviewed by Elders Perkins and Shumway when they came to choose the new Stake Presidency. I call these interviews "job interviews" but that sounds like I do not believe our leaders are chosen by revelation. Which I totally do. I've had bishops I've loved near to a father and I've had bishops that well, I think we were both counting down the days until he was released or I moved. Okay, that is a total exaggeration. (Not ever that bad, in fact, I think I've liked all of our bishops now that I am thinking about it.)

Our new bishop will see Ben until he is almost 21 (and almost back from his mission!), Rachel to 22 (on her mission), Sari will be 17 and a Senior in High School. Daniel will be ready to date (almost 16). Joseph (will be 12) and Matthew (will be 10) will remember and love the bishop, too. Whoever this man will be, I hope the Lord has prepared him well. He will pivotal in our family's life.

HAUSER CORN MAZE

Yesterday we went to Hauser Corn Maze out in Idaho.

We all had a really great time!

Sari won a ticket for herself and a friend from the orthodontist office. We decided that we would all go and just pay for everyone else in our family. Once we got there Dr. Combs decided that she would pay for everyone so we got in free! Yay! (When you have eight people in your family, it really adds up fast!)

Clay asked Rachel to go, and through a series of plan changes, ended up that he brought his mom and dad and after we all went through the corn maze Clayton, Rachel, Jill and Tom (Clay's parents) went to the scary maze and then out to dinner while we filled up the suburban for only $2.69 a gallon (in Idaho) and drove home. We went to all the checkpoints, of course, that is just the way we are.

Here most of us are. Jill was running through the corn, ambushing Ben, Clay and Tom. Ben, Rachel, Clayton, Daniel, Tom (Clayton's dad), Sari, Larry, Matthew, Joseph, Me.

HAIR TODAY

Have you ever just had so much to do that thinking about it overwhelms you? And so instead of tackling our day head on, you fart around on the computer and come up with something random and unnecessary? Welcome to my day:
It's free and it wastes time! Click here to go to Yearbook Yourself.

1950 - hmmmm. I remember my Grandma Harding with hair like this.

1956 - I look like my dad, or a psychotic lunatic. My dad is not a psychotic lunatic. I think the shading on the bottom of the chin makes it look like I have a chickbeard. The person is dressed like a guy but it was on the girls' board. Let's call this look "Pat" (name the show?)

1960 and here I look a little like my mom's senior picture. I think it is mainly the cat eye glasses. GRROWWWL. (Dad, can you scan mom's senior picture and send it to me so I can show my readers what I mean?)

1966 - I love this look and I think the hairstyle is coming back in style in certain wards in Utah.

No wonder I loved that hair, look how my mom did mine for the Pima County Little Miss Pageant. This may have been the best hair day of my life. It's a combo of the hair above and below:

1968 - I have to say it, I look like my aunt Karen and a little like my aunt Ranae. Does anyone else remember them at this age? Anyone have a picture of them at this age?

1976 - and here I look like my friend from high school, Cindy.

This was my sad imitation. I've never been very good at doing bangs. That yellow shirt as my FAVORITE, by the way!

My sister has not be cursed to be hair-do challenged like I am. Look at her here, 5th grade people! She made her hair look like that when she was 10. It's a gift!

1980 - eewwww I am happy to say that I look like nobody I know with hair like that. It does look like a feminine products commercial, though.

1984 - I could only have wished for hair this great - oh! And a roach clip with feathers to hang in it.

My sister Teilani did have this hair - see? Again I say, bangs have always been my weakness and Teilani's hair always looks fabulous! She also reminded me that the key to success with that hairstyle is "Rave" hairspray. It should have been called "Glue".

1994 - This closely resembles my wedding picture in 1990.

I'm not exactly smiling, but the hair, it's all about the hair here.

That's why I think it is appropriate to put my favorite yearbook picture of Larry's hair here, too!

growl baby (for real this time)

MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM

GuesswhatIdidtoday?WehadthisthingandIdidthisthingandIgotthis:

On round deux, spoken more s...l...o...w...l...y, I learned that today Joseph's class got to visit the pretend fire home of the fire department and Joseph was one of two kids to practice escaping out of the portable house. He felt the door, it wasn't warm. He opened it a little and saw paper flames so he shut the door, dropped to the floor and crawled over to a window. He opened the window and crawled out. For his excellent work, he got this fireman shirt. (We reminded him to never climb out his bedroom window - three story drop to concrete.)

I can already tell you, this shirt is going to be worn everyday (and night) for many many days to come:
Therealfiremenhaveshirtsjustlikethis!Thisisarealfiremanshirt!

HARD TO BELIEVE (weekend update on Wednesday)

but I've missed a few things ...

Last night was Rachel's first choir concert. Mr. Saccamonno (the new teacher) directed Broadway and you could totally tell, with his use of lights. He also kicked up the program a notch. He didn't talk to the parents, but approached it as a professional performance, including the request for no flash photography. The choir walked on first, followed by him, where he walked straight to the stand and began conducting. The program wasn't typed and photocopied on goldenrod paper either, it was an actual glossy page, stapled program. Quite lovely. I love paper. And I am happy to see my ENORMOUS property taxes going to something other than paint on the football field (not that lines are unimportant).

They opened the concert with Rachel's choir singing "There Is Sweet Music Here". See the purple?

They had many other colored backgrounds and sang all about the role of music in our lives. My favorite song of the night was "Inscription of Hope" (the song based on a poem found scratched into a wall where the Jews were hiding from the Natzis). The golden background really added to the feeling from the music as it changed from dark gold to light, like a sunrise. Very beautiful. I got goosebumps.

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love even when there's no one there.
And I believe in God even when He is silent,
I believe through any trial there is always a way.
But sometimes in this suffering and hopeless despair,
My heart cries for shelter to know someone's there.
But a voice rises within me saying
Hold on, my child, I'll give you strength,
I'll give you hope, just stay a little while.
But I believe in God even when he is silent,
I believe through any trial there is always a way.
May there someday be sunshine,
May there someday be happiness,
May there someday be love,
May there someday be peace.

In the top two pictures Rachel is the right hand (as you look at it) group, second row up, second person in from the middle. Her hair is forward on her shoulders.

The last song was my second favorite. It was "Praise His Holy Name" and I just loved the clapping and joyous singing! The lights were flashing all different colors. Rachel is still on the right side, eight from the left. Picture in the background is the Mixed Chorus.

Sing 'till the power of the Lord come down,
Shout Hallelujah! Praise His Holy name!
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see!
Jesus, Jesus, how I love thee!
Shout Hallelujah! Praise His Holy name!
Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?
No, there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross from me.
Jesus, Jesus, how I love thee!
Shout Hallelujah! Praise His Holy name!

It's FLU SHOT time! Matthew was off the hook this visit (he's gotta stay off the 'roids - name the movie?), but he will get one in a few weeks. It only took Ben and I three tries to secure Daniel in such a way that he could get his shot. Rachel took the rest of the kids out to the hall for that adventure.

Last Thursday Matthew and I went to Walter's to see all about apples. I love to go there and you just can't beat the Fruit Loop express! (A tractor that drives you through the orchard.)

Here's Matthew's preschool class, under the miracle tree. It is 75 years old and STILL producing abundant apples. Apparently, apple trees only produce for 40 years. Because the lady who did the tour knew this was a Presbyterian Preschool she told ALL the kids about how GREAT God is for making this tree so special. (I agree God is great and it is pretty cool that the tree is still going strong. It must be a Duggar.)

The same lady had all the kids yell, "Jesus!" instead of "Cheese!" Most of the kids yelled "Cheese!" anyway. That is what happens when you are talking to 4 and 5 year olds. The little girl in the green behind Matthew is a poster child for NOT doing 12 hours a day of daycare and whatever you earn as a working mom, you will be paying, once said child is a teen. Holy cow.

You didn't think I'd leave you pictureless did you? Here she is, in her denim and big hair. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was from Utah County (no offense to my amazing friends that live there, but you KNOW that she would fit right in!)

MMMMM mm! That is such tasty cider!!! Unfortunately Farmer blahblahblah (not Mark) was in a foul mood (end of the day) and I didn't take any pictures of him. He still delighted the kids when he ate the leaves of an apple tree like the deer do but when one of them stomped on the metal cart he was growly.

Rachel offered to put the boys to bed once. When Larry and I went upstairs, this is what we found. And lets pretend that I took the time to crop the picture so that their room looks clean. Okay? Okay.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

This is all that was in my mailbox. It's only going to get worse ...

IT'S BEEN A BLUSTERY DAY WITH INTERMITTENT SUNSHINE

so this was the perfect dinner:

Except ours looked like this.

But it was still delicious!

I think dinner (and everything) would be more delicious sitting on THIS tablecloth. Did you see the price? Yikes!

SATURDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY

While I was being a Secret Shopper ALL DAY on Saturday (which was really fun actually and I learned a lot), Larry had some fun with our babies. Daniel is in need of some massive Webelos help, since he basically hasn't had a leader until two weeks ago and he leaves in six weeks. One of the things he needed was a hike. After two soccer games, Larry took the interested kids, and his bb gun to Painted Rock. They had a great afternoon!

At the trail head.

My boys love love LOVE this big rock.

At the top of THE rock. I love these three boys. When Larry sent me pictures on my cell phone, I just wanted to be there, too!

Most of the crew on "the big, slidey rock". Ben opted to stay home, load the yard waste bin with pine needles and watch tv. I swear I saw a big blob of his brain cells next to the couch.

It was the perfect fall day in Spokane - mid 60's, no rain. Ahhhh ...

The view from the back of the convention center. Yes, I took this picture. I think it looks like a postcard. (I had to risk my life to get it, too. As soon as they took a break all the smokers from the seminar rushed outside to get their fix. I think I caught the black lung [cough cough - name the movie] from the one outside venture I took.)

Something tells me that shooting is an activity that Rachel could start to enjoy.

Never too young to learn the finer points of bb gun shooting. We have a lot of squirrels in our backyard, and some day they may become our main food source!

I am surprised that Daniel was SO okay with this.

I don't know ... it sort of looks like Sari is aiming at the ground.

Joseph takes his turn, dressed in his pimp daddy sweats.

The targets. Was this before or after? I just don't know.

Happy kids! Successful day! Looks like Ben, and I really missed out!

WE'VE BEEN POO'D HAVE YOU?

When we first found this on our porch, I thought of my friend, Kristine. She and I got called into the bishop's office a few years back because we said that we were going to put a flaming bag of poo on someone's porch.

Then I read this note on the back and realized it is just a fun thing, like being Boo'd only with flames and pretend poo. What's not to love?

Whew! It's just chocolate.

PHOTO TAG

My friend Staci tagged me. I have been tagged a lot and sometimes I do it, sometimes I have already done it. I don't want to be blogger rude and not acknowledge the tag. Anyway, I have never done this one. I thought it sounded fun.

The idea here was to take your 4th folder in your pictures and click on the 4th picture and then write about it. Well, my pictures are all on CD (mostly) because the computer keeps randomly restarting itself and one of these days, it will stop. SO, instead, I randomly selected a CD from a stack nearly one foot tall. Then I opened it, closed my eyes and randomly clicked on a picture. This is what I got:

You see now why I don't play the lotto.

This from Larry's sister, Kathryn's house. My kids have a love/hate/fear relationship with this bear that Randy must have shot, I really don't know the story (will any Sant readers respond?). It used to hang above her couch in her family room. I don't remember seeing it last time I went downstairs, so it must have moved with the remodel.

I think this picture is more in the SPIRIT of the blog. It was also on the CD but not selected at random. One of the traditions we took from Larry's family is to act out the nativity on Christmas Eve.

This picture was taken before Ben figured out if he was the donkey he got to say a$$ whenever he wanted to. We are hoping he outgrows that soon!

I tag Kristine, Tristie and Kim. I am laying odds (for what that's worth - haha) that out of my blogging friends, you are the ones with the most random pictures. Take your 4th photo, from your 4th file, post it and tell us about it.

PS following up on this post about my pillows, the mistake is that I put the patch (which is supposed to be and they are the same size) on the bottom of the one pillow. See how the flowers are upside down? UGH! Trust me, now that I've told you, that is all you will see when you look at them!

CARDIOLOGIST

Note to self: cardiology appointments take 2 1/2 hours.

Ben is fine, he just sometimes gets a racing heart and dizziness. He is wearing a "King of Hearts" (a device with two leads hooked to his chest and a mini computer to push a button and it "records" what the heart is doing) for a month to record the "events". He can continue his activities as usual.

Larry took the boys to work, thinking it would be about half an hour. Instead, it was TWO hours! Oops! Sorry, honey! They had a great time!

SADIE HAWKINS CONTINUED:

After Cross Country yesterday, whilst hot and sweaty (I should look so good after running for two hours), Rachel answered the door and found this:

A closer inspection:

How cute is that? I know, I love it, too!

Now that you've read this, I have a question? How is Sadie Hawkins done where you live, or when you were dating? Matching shirts? Who paid for the clothing? Etc.? Etc.? I know the girl buys the ticket and pays for the dinner, I am talking about other details. This is the first time in 9 years that Mead High has done a Sadie Hawkins Dance so we are not sure what is what these days.

SADIE HAWKINS

Last night Rachel asked a boy to Sadie Hawkins. We are waiting to see what he says. His mom assures me that the answer is yes but won't give me any clues.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Cross Country. Soccer. Arctic wind. Babysitting. Croup.

Details:

Yeah, Sari flew past her. She doesn't win, but she does well!

Caught on film! Rare footage of Matthew paying attention to the soccer ball. If I had a better camera I am sure that you would be able to see the icicles in the wind.

Joseph loves soccer and has not a competitive bone in his body. He is happy when anyone does something right.

Notice that the cold doesn't bother the kids at all.

The Stewart kids were mesmerized by "Tarzan". What a good mom they have. She doesn't destroy their brains with the television. We will see if we get to babysit again ... haha.

Up ALL night (literally) with Matthew and the croup (all my boys get it). In some weird twist of good fortune, he has a well child check today. What are the odds?

GUMDROPS

As most of you may know by now, I have a little love affair going on with Amy Butler's stuff. Okay, so a lot of a love affair! (Oh, and don't even get me started on Joel Dewberry fabrics ...)I made these pillows up a few weeks ago and finally sewed the closing seam. They are sort of ottomanish, but could be made into beanbags or whatever you want! I LOVE them! Ten points to the first one who can find the GLARING mistake that I just don't want to unpick and fix.

SOCK AND GLOVE

Hello friends ...

I made these sock and glove animals this week while watching the debates. We have a zebra, a bear (or meerkat), piggie, and dog. I like the dog best, someday she will have a scarf and then I will update her.

EDJUCATIN' THE CHILRUN

As you may know Larry and I have cheap seat season tickets to the Broadway series that comes through Spokane. We bring our binoculars, but you can't beat the sound we get on top.

I took Ben, Sari, and Daniel to the matinee. Larry took Rachel to the night showing. (Captured, the rare real smile from Ben).

I told you we were in the cheap seats. See the wall behind Ben? He took a nap through Act One. But loved the Second Act. All the kids loved it and so did I!

Do you get this picture?

If so, you've seen Phantom.

DANIEL AND THE DENTIST

If you haven't heard, going to the dentist with Daniel is a he!!ish crap shoot. Today was not bad, after he convinced the dentist to fix his cavity with no anesthesia at all. Who would have guessed that would be the easier and best way to treat Daniel's mouth.

Goodbye Valium, "quiet room", and three hours of sweat and tears. I won't miss you.

Oh, and like a crap shoot, just because it worked today doesn't mean it will work next time.

PAST TIME

Being five months over due, I finally got 'er done:

MUFFINS WITH MOM, SOCCER SATURDAY and BLOODY SUNDAY (aka weekend update)

Farwell Elementary (or Fartswell Smelementary as the kids call it) had "Muffins With Mom" sponsored by the PTO. I don't what is better than sitting in a hot, crowded cafeteria first thing in the morning, with everything wet and smelling like dog and eating dry muffins. Oh yeah, hanging out with these guys is what made it great! (Matthew was sad because he didn't get to stay and go to big kid school.)

Saturday, like most of the week, was rainy. Larry took the boys to soccer in the shower. This is Matthew's team. He is on the right. Make the pictures bigger on the next few shots to see the expressions.

Matthew is in the middle below:

How cute were those boys? I love the smiles and the looks on the picture above.

Larry captured this shot at Joseph's game (he is number 2). I thought it was pretty cool:

Later in the downpour, I mean game, Joseph was goalie:

Matthew was messing around with the camera (Larry let him, in an attempt to keep him occupied) and he took this picture. I really like it.

At Priesthood Session Ben and Larry caught up with Tracy. Tracy isn't really asleep, he was just copying Ben. Someone hit our car trying to parallel park next to a fire hydrant. Coincidentally, Larry saw a guy walking around looking distressed and asked if he could help. The guy said,"yeah, I just hit someone's car and I can't get unhooked from it." Larry looked outside and said, "That's my car." We just got a small dent but the guy scratched and dented the entire side of his minivan.

Sunday we had the O'Donnals and their cousins and aunt over for General Conference. As you can see, it was silent as a church in the room while we were watching.

Actually, the kids were pretty good. In between sessions, and before dinner we played Tripoly (about the most fun game I've ever played a fast moving combination of Hearts, Texas Hold 'Em Poker, and Michigan Rummy). The missionaries came over for dinner and they sat in on a few hands. Larry didn't think it was appropriate, but I thought it was fine. What do you think?

The little boys played Snakes. They get along SO well. They never fight when they are playing together. It is great.

It was all fun and games until Jack fell trying to climb the fence and got a head lac. Tracy and Larry super-glued it together and it sealed up great:

During dinner, the little boys were rocking their chairs and Matthew took a header. Because of the location we decided to go in to the ER. We didn't dare use superglue so close to the eye and I couldn't get a steri-strip to stick. Charmaine drove us to Sacred Heart Pediatric ER, while I held pressure. My friend, Julie, had told me earlier in the week how superior they were to Holy Family ER. She was right! While we were there for a few hours, we had a private room right from the start. I have a lot of experience with ERs and we are driving the extra four miles, 15 minute drive to go to Sacred Heart from now on.

The sleepy jelly needed a patch and bandage to hold it on so Matthew got to be a pirate! ARRR! After this, his nurse talked in an Irish brogue pirate accent. Matthew LOVED it.

If you want to see the stitch, click on the picture. It was pretty cool. They had an emergency in during prime numbing time so it was starting to wear off. They only put in two stitches because Matthew was starting to feel it.

Looks good, doesn't it? I wonder if I will have to fill out another form?

And that concludes our weekend update. Thanks for tuning in.

FAMILY HOME EVENING with the Derbys

On Monday we had the Derby's over for FHE. I like to have people over for FHE because the house gets somewhat cleaned at the start of the week. After Sunday the house looks like a hurricane blew threw it. No, really, it does.

After the lesson (by Ben and it was fabulous - all about prophets and following them. Larry played Samuel the Lamanite and we threw mini marshmallows at him while he shouted commandments and we jeered. Then we played 20 questions and guessed the latter-day prophet - harder than it sounds - we got the idea from Deseret Book website.) we played "Disney's Scene It". One of the tie-breakers was between Elizabeth and Ben - it was a thumb war, best two out of three.

Can you find Joseph? Apparently all the fun and games was just too much for him, and he fell asleep with the Chinese dragon he made in 1st grade that day.

Matthew, Andreya, Me, Kara, and Ben kicking Ben's bootie at "Ben Wins" or, as it is known in retail stores, "Disney's Scene It". Not only can Ben beat most everyone at this game (we beat him but it was everyone against Ben and the score was 7 - 11) he also can quote the movie lines right along with it. I would like to see Ben and Utah go head-to-head on this game. It would be hilarious!

Jennifer and Tim, Jennifer is due the first of November. We are so happy that they found each other. They were sealed in the temple last month.

BY POPULAR DEMAND: LARRY'S DATE INTERVIEW OUTLINE

Well, because I have never been at one of Larry’s date interviews, I don’t have a clue what happens. Larry reports no use of drugs, intimidation, promises of a horse head in bed (Godfather, anyone?) or violence. I will let him tell you:

I usually start with something like, "If anything happens to my daughter while she is in your care tonight...well, let's just say that I would not mind going back to prison."

Just kidding. I really do NOT do any of those kinds of funny things that we fathers joke about.

The interview really varies each time. But I always ask them what their plan is tonight (they better have a plan or Rachel's not going). I compliment them for their plan and say something like, “sounds like you guys are going to have fun.” I also usually let them know how confident I am that they will follow the prophet and the teachings found in the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet while they are out with Rachel (whether or not they are Mormon). This reminds them that that is exactly what THEY want to do.

I also point out that it is in their best interest to focus on keeping her happy because girls talk, and we all know that within a few hours of her getting home all her friends will know whether or not you are a fun date. If Rachel has fun with you, then your reputation for being a great date spreads. Thus, it is in YOUR best interest to keep Rachel safe and happy, and make sure you do NOT do anything that might make Rachel uncomfortable or that she (or I) would not want to you to do.

Again, my goal is to educate them to the rules, what their boundaries are, and the benefits of making good choices tonight and always.

Well said Sweetie. Larry is all about education. Oh, and our boys will get the same talk before they leave when they are old enough to date. Knowing some of the girls out there, I wish I could interview them!

LOVE NOTE FROM BEN

The banner Ben put on my phone. For this, he shall be granted another day of life.

THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK

My darling niece caught a hockey stick in her eye.

In the car, on the way to Urgent Care, where the Doctor asked, "What are you here for?" Never mind his dangling participle, was he blind?

Now who needs make-up when your face looks like this?

Yep, that's gonna leave a mark!

Hopefully her face will soon be restored to it's natural beauty.