Over the River and Through the Woods. . .

. . .to the Childers house we went. It's awfully nice being close to my sister and Christopher. Two hours - one movie - is the perfect distance in my opinion. Long enough that it feels like a trip but short enough that you still feel like you have your day of travel to do something other than sit in a car.

Jon, Tara, and family along with Maureen joined in the festivity. Everyone arrived on Wednesday, we being the first to arrive. The cousins reconnected quickly and scampered off to play while the adults admired baby Sadie and enjoyed Jen and Christopher's new home.

Jen and teeny-tiny Sadie in all her pink glory

We had mexican take-out for dinner and Jen and I went grocery shopping to gear up for the feast. I really wanted to make this a pleasant holiday for Jen and Christopher and not have the regret hosting at their home with a 4 week old. But Christopher is uber-capable and pretty much did everything.

Christopher carving our 20 pound turkey.

I made mom's fruit salad and attempted at homemade cranberry sauce. I bought a sure-thing mormon cookbook and used its recipe but didn't catch the line "put strainer over mixing bowl" and strained the cranberries over the kitchen sink. I realized fairly quickly that what I was doing "didn't seem right" and read the instructions again. AAAAAHHHHH. So there wasn't as much cranberry sauce as originally intended but there was plenty. And it was good.

If you've read Jay's blog at all you know that Seth has become Mr. Football. He loves the rules and luckily had two cousins who were just as into as he was. He, Caleb and Ansel spent hours outside playing.

Ansel, Jonas and Caleb playing football. I can't believe I don't have one of Seth. They were out there on both days for hours.

I don't know exactly how it worked and occasionally there were tears (Seth came in one time saying that their touchdown didn't really count because he had called a time-out! I think he was trying to ice them!) but overall they were three peas in a pod. Sammy, Jonas and Alyssa formed another threesome and were usually found on the trampoline or in the cubby closet underneath the stairs (along with a stash of toys).

Alyssa and Sammy. Two years apart and best buddies all weekend.

Owen, Natalie and Henry were pretty much oblivious to the rest of them and just did their own cute things. Sadie slept most of the time in a tiny ball on whoever's chest. She really is sweet. I can't believe she is four weeks old. She looks a day old to me. So, so tiny. They change fast. Henry isn't exactly huge but he looks like King Kong next to her.

Henry doesn't look big here. He rarely does except right next to Sadie.

Dinner turned out nice. Tara made her famous rolls that were the hit of dinner. We had candied yams and stuffing, potatoes and greenbean casserole. The turkey was moist and Jen made a lemon meringue pie. We also had some storebought ones that were good but not as good as Jen's.

The kid table. This group has a fair share of picky eaters so Thanksgiving dinner didn't sit too well with them.

The kids ate in the kitchen (or had plates of food that some of them picked off of - ate is a bit of a stretch) and the adults were left in peaceful bliss in the dining room. Christopher, Jon and Jay had picked up a conference table from Christopher's office so we had plenty of room and were very comfortable. The discussion was lively and everyone was in a good mood.

The spread. I tried to get Seth to take a picture of all of us but he couldn't get everyone.

Jen took a picture with basically only me and Maureen paying attention.

We talked about blogs a lot which was amusing to me. Am I too open? I hadn't ever thought so before. No arguing that I am open but, believe me, I don't write everything I think. I concede that in that way, it is different from a journal, but I still feel that I am basically keeping a personal history. Tara hinted that she might be interested in starting one but the time factor intimidates her. Jen's got a new look with help from Jon but doesn't want it public so I can't link to hers.

a very Jon face. He was forewarned.

I'm always surprised by the strong feelings blogging exposes. There are some people who are really opposed to it. I'm not exactly sure why I feel its so harmless. Perhaps I think I'm too boring or normal for some random stranger to become interested in. Do other bloggers worry about that? I just doesn't keep me up at night. And when I hear that often-said worry, I pshaw.

Tara and Jen. Jen is using a "blog-on" hand signal.

We really didn't do much other than visit, read, watch television and drink soda. I know that sounds painfully boring but it was relaxing. The kids entertained each other completely and very little interference was necessary.

taking a break from playing outside to watch a movie.

Maureen and Tara ventured out to shop on that craziest of Fridays and even Jen went to a couple of stores. We all took turns driving Maureen's fancy Highlander Hybrid around and attempted to get as many mpg as possible.

Peekaboo with Aunt Maureen

It was a nice weekend. I wish my parents, Emily's family and Sarah could have been there but I am thankful for the good relationships I have with each member of my family. I am truly blessed.

Book Review #20 - Angle of Repose

Two days later and I am still profoundly moved by this book. I can't stop thinking about it.

I am not a lover of words and whenever I read reviews that say, "savor each sentence" and "beautifully fluid prose" I tend not to be impressed. Just give me the story and make me feel. But Wallace Stegner's sentences really do make you want to slow down and read each word. They all matter. They aren't just puffy and pretty even though they are. It serves the time, the characters, the setting...it's just perfect.

I didn't know before reading this that Angle of Repose is actually a scientific term that means when the angle of the ground is such that things stop rolling down. A 50-something historian who has been disfigured and is emotionally scarred heals himself by researching and writing a biography of his grandmother. He reads through her letters and journals, articles that were published and sketches she drew and extrapolates about her relationship with his grandfather, her kids and others she knew. The weaving and changing in time is subtle and I didn't find myself jarred back and forth as I sometimes do when authors use this technique. You feel their lives sliding until the end when things get to the point where they are still. It is beautiful, sad, motivating, and moving. I feel like this book matters. That you can actually gain something other than entertainment by reading it. It is going in my favorite's section.

Book Review #19 - The Innocent Man

I think I've read all of John Grishams' books. I'm not sure really why since I'm not a super fan. Most are entertaining though and not hard to get through. On the back jacket, one review is quoted as saying "his best legal thriller yet" which is a far cry from the truth.

This is Grisham's first attempt at non-fiction. He says he chose it because of it's rarity. A white man in a white town charged with killing a white woman with white policemen, white lawyers and judge and jury. Apparently, the absence of racial tensions is profound to him.

This is no thriller, as you know the accused didn't do it from the title, and you know early on that he is eventually exonerated. So it is a story of his background, how he came to be the kind of guy that could be accused of such a crime and some background on pretty much every other character involved. You know a bit about his family, his friends, the victim, her family, the town, the baseball coach. Really, I found that it rambles and has a hard time staying on task. On the inside of the book jacket, it reads, "If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you." I found none to be the case. As with everything, those without resources, friends, money, mental capacities usually get a bad deal. It isn't fair. But I don't think it's a broken system. He had lawyers. Not the absolute best (by far), but lawyers. He refused so much treatment for his mental illness because he wasn't mentally fit to accept it. Whose fault is that? America's? His family's? I don't know. But he was sent to death row for a brutal crime he was found guilty of (that is the one thing that actually does disturb. That someone could be convicted with pretty flimsy evidence.) But that is in hindsight which is always perfect.

As Grisham lashes out at the legal system, I couldn't help but notice that it actually worked for this innocent man. Because it was a capital case with automatic appeals, eventually, someone working for a federal judge who can grant stays noticed the bad legal work. He got a stay, a new trial, new fancy lawyers and eventually a reversed judgment. It worked. He was robbed of time and freedom and there is no doubt that he was a victim of a mistake but he sued, and won several million dollars. Mistakes happen but I can't think of a better place for them to happen than in America.

Overall, I thought this book was too long, too haughty and really not that interesting. It would have made a nice magazine article. Real life is complicated and in a case like this, where there are so many people involved, Grisham stretched the readers interest too thin and in too many directions. If you are looking for a slow meander through a complicated legal system....this is your book.

I'm a believer!

O.K. So this may come off a bit promotional but I don't know how else to say it. I'm such a believer in the T-Tapp workout. Which is why I've been hanging on for three years. I kind of forgot though, you know? When I was first introduced to it, it immediately struck a chord with me. The biomechanics and reasons behind each move make a lot of sense. It's really a wellness program more than a fitness program. It's benefits go way beyond increased muscle tone and inch loss but also improves lymph function, nerve pathways and activation, alignment, core strength, hormone regulation etc. It's for everyone, the fit, the not-so-fit, young, old, diseased and lame. It also really works your brain. Which I had kind of forgotten about and started to think of it as just a work-out with out music that can get a bit tedious.

I'm so glad I went. You may have noticed from my tone in earlier posts that I had mixed feelings about going. There was a bit of dread. After the initial excitement about Florida and meeting Teresa Tapp, I realized that it was actually going to be a lot of work and not really that much "fun". Especially when I saw the schedule. Each day began with a 6:00 am workout and then there were workouts scheduled every hour to halfhour (depending on which workout it was) until Teresa's master clinics which started at 8:00 pm. Her classes always lasted about 2 hours so we really worked out until 10:00 pm. We didn't have to do every single workout but were encouraged to do as many we could .

Once I was there, I felt excited. Teresa Tapp has such a charismatic personality and really believes and knows what she is talking about. Friday morning, bright and early, we all congregated for the first workout. For two hours, she made us lunge and twist and push and pull but with form tips and reminders so that every move magically seemed harder and different than all the other times I've done it in my home.

a little move called thread the needle

After that workout, my endorphins were out and I was up for just about every class. Bekki didn't have her certification class until 7:00 pm (she's a certified trainer to teach clinics and classes but there are several different workouts and you also get certified to teach different class sizes - she was doing both) so she was really nervous all day.

Bekki before her class

We went upstairs to our hotel room once to take a break for a couple of hours. (I had some granola!) Overall, on Friday, I did 11 workouts.As two of them were Teresa's and each of hers were two hours, it was about 13 hours of workout time. Bekki did fantastic for her class and sailed through her certification. Teresa loves her. We finally got some food from the bar at 10:00 at night and went to bed exhausted.

Plies on MORE workout

Looking good after day 1. Sadly, I looked like this most of the weekend.

The next morning, we realized that Teresa wasn't teaching the 6:00 class and that it was just different trainers so we didn't set the alarm and decided to start when we felt rested. The combination of the three hour time difference, the fatigue from the previous day and no alarm meant that I slept in until after 9:30! Bekki had already left the room and I panicked and went down as soon as I could. I got there in time for the 10:00 class that I really wanted to do but after that first workout knew I was in for a long day. I was just tired and unmotivated from overdoing it the day before. Bekki could tell so she suggested that we take it a bit easier that day and go to the mall (which was a quick walk away) to get some presents for our kids and for lunch.

We went in our workout gear (Ne'er fret...I had my sweatshirt to cover up - didn't want to scare the locals) and it was one of those high-flutin malls with all the fancy stores. Think Cherry Creek or Bellevue square or Chandler Shopping Center. We were a bit underdressed. I'm always amazed how many women choose to shop and walk in high heels. Mind boggling. We decided to have lunch at Cheesecake factory. As always, they had a huge wait but surprisingly none for patio eating. We were both sweating a bit from our walk over to the mall and Bekki whispered to me that it was probably too cold outside for the Floridians. It was over 60 degrees which was like a tropical paradise to me so we said outside would be fine. They led us to a table underneath one of their many heat lamps and I felt like I was in a sauna. It was really hot and I really didn't want to take off my sweatshirt. So we asked for a different table and they took us to the one that wasn't really close to any of the heat lamps. Our waiter asked if we would be warm enough and feeling cocky, we both laughed and said we would be fine (a little condescendingly). While we were waiting for our food, the breeze started up and I noticed we both zipped up our jackets a bit. Then our hands went to our laps and our shoulders came up trying to retain some warmth. We both started laughing that we were cold! The location of our table was completely unprotected from the strong breeze and that breeze took any possibility of getting any of those heat lamp rays. We considered asking for a new table again but pride won out.

We ate and asked for cheesecake to go (I know, shocking, but I didn't know if that would be our only meal for the day) and we took it back to the hotel. I did three more really hard workouts that day and then saved myself for Teresa's master class that night. Watching all of the different classes was fun though. People have such different mannerisms and ways of teaching. Some I liked and some I didn't. We got the giggles watching one girl who had the catchphrase of "nice". She said it all the time. "Lean over.....nice. Get your shoulders back and down.....nice." We started to count how many times she would say "nice" and once we got to 15 lost count. There were a few "beautiful"s too. Everyone was fading and the last workout of the day was led by the only male trainer there. I had considered doing it but chickened out at the last minute and was so glad I did. He killed his class. Moves that normally only take 3-4 minutes were taking over 25 because he kept them in positions for so long.

Dan the Man during a 22-minute PBS (or Primary Back Stretch)

Everyone was shaking. During his hour, I think they only did four moves. Teresa felt how tired everyone was and instead of her working us out more, did a Q & A.

Again, we didn't finish until after 10:00 and Bekki and I were starving. We walked over to a BBQ restaurant (again in our fashionable stretchy garb) and had nachos and a sandwich (as you can see, I didn't sustain myself on my granola and almonds). By the time we got back the the hotel, showered, and in bed it was after midnight and the alarm was set to go off at 5:45 to be down for the 6:00 am workout.

Luckily, the 6:00 am workout was different than all of the others and was basically an aerobic workout called Sweep away the Inches. We all had brooms that we held above our heads and pulled down behind our backs to activate our back and stomach muscles while we marched in place with T-Tapp form. It's all about the form which is butt tucked, knees bent and out, ball of your feet down with big toe up, shoulders back, rib cage up, belly button in. Makes marching in paces way more intense. I took a break during the next class and then did one more class. It was so hard that I actually got tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe I was crying and mentally shouted at myself to buck up. There's no crying with T-Tapp! Well...maybe there was but I didn't see much of it and didn't want to be a novelty. I don't think anyone noticed and after a few minutes regained my composure. But I knew I was done after that. I went and showered and got ready to check out. We went back down to take a picture with Teresa and then went to the airport.

Teresa is so photogenic and me...not so much. But I had to prove I met her even if it's a terrible picture of me.

Neither Bekki's nor my flight left for several hours so we had a long lunch and then went our separate ways. It was a lot of fun to be there with Bekki and I'm glad she got me into this whole thing. She really is an inspiration and a great trainer and source of information. There...my plug is over.

We were hardly ever outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather. To prove how nice it was.

There rest of the day wasn't so great. I used to like flying and was looking forward to a day of reading but airports and airlines are so annoying now. The plane was late so we left Tampa about 45 minutes late. It took us forever to taxi and take-off so I had a really tight connection in Phoenix. Running and one of the last to board, I just wanted to be home but that flight turned into a nightmare. We were descending into Spokane, trays put away and seatbacks fully up and locked when they announced that the de-icer on engine #2 wasn't working and it wasn't safe to land so we were being re-routed to Boise. Andrea was coming to pick me up and I knew she had probably already left and that I had just made her night very late and annoying. The flight to Boise was about 25 minutes and just as we were getting there, they announced that air-traffic control said the best chance of landing safely was in Seattle. We would be enroute there for about an hour, then they'd fix the plane and get us back to Spokane just as quickly as possible. We got to Seattle at 11:30 pm and I called Jay and Andrea to let them know what was going on. Friends in need are friends indeed as Andrea and Jason proved to be. They didn't want Jay to have to wake up our boys so while Andrea was already out at the airport, Jason drove over to our house, got our van and drove it out there to leave it in short-term parking for me. Totally inconvenient and altruistic of them. Thank you!

The flight finally got to Spokane at 2:00 am and I crashed when I got home. I can't sleep on planes and had almost been up for a full 24 hours - 12 of them crushed into a window seat. I read almost the whole time so my neck really hurt (but I got a couple of books read - one a real gem).

This morning hasn't been much better as I found some fraudulent pay pal charges that cleared our bank account. $2000! It's clearly fraudulent and the wheels are turning to get our money back but it stinks. I had a definite feeling of vulnerability that someone hacked into that account and purchased what looks like a bunch of porn (I know...gross. Why can't anyone be a bit more like Robin Hood if they are going to steal?).

I don't like these long recap posts. I wish I could have posted each day because there was so much going on and to me, the interesting things happen in the moments and not the days. I'm glad I'm back!

All smushed together

Normally, I'd separate these thoughts a bit but I'm down to the wire getting ready for Florida and when I get back...poof....these thoughts will be gone.

I hosted book group last night and we had a nice time. Discussed Memory Keeper's Daughter. I really do enjoy discussing books with other people. There is always a different opinion and for me it makes reading the book that much more worthwhile to know that there are other interpretations and feelings out there about it. Jay was on call so I put the boys to bed when everyone got here and they did great. I had to go remind Sammy once about the party rules (we prep a lot for it during the day) and then it was lights out. I'm fortunate to have boys who can handle women gabbing and laughing and still fall asleep. Everyone was still around after midnight but left before being caught by Jay again. No worries there since he didn't get in until after 2:30. I can't remember exactly how this commercial came up but we were talking about working out and getting in shape because they were all wondering about T-Tapp (it ISN'T any form of tap dancing as is the common assumption) but Alisa mentioned this funny clip floating out there on the internet so I went searching for it on youtube and this is what I found. Hilarious.



Today was very busy getting loose ends tied up before I go. I had to get a new sports bra for this trip because it's three full days of working out and I just don't have that many guns in my arsenal. I'm a bit nervous for this whole experience. There are online forums and people chatting about what to bring and someone asked what the majority of people were going to do for meals. Someone replied, "I'm just planning on munching on granola and blueberries!" Um.....so I guess there won't be very many french fries being served. Not wanting to be left out of that whole scene...I went and purchased some of my very own granola AND almonds. I can totally fit in there. There might be a little room service ordered later on but I will be there in my spandex with my high fructose corn syrup free food.

Many other annoying details that I won't bore you with but I was busy all day. I had very little down time. Jay called and wanted us all to go to the Gonzaga game tonight so I took all three boys and we met for dinner and then headed over to the arena.

Go Bulldogs!

I only stayed for half and then took Henry and Sammy home because they were both losing it and no one was having a good time. Seth was wearing his Adam Morrison jersey and very into it so I wanted Jay to have that fun experience and put the others out of their misery.

Someone is having a great time and someone isn't. Can you tell who is who?

Now it's crunch time and I have to pack, fold laundry and set everything out for my babysitter tomorrow. Jay is taking Friday off and has the rest of the weekend off so who knows what fireworks are going to go off here. I'm looking forward to some entertaining stories.

Wish me luck! I can feel the burn already!

Le Cafe

I almost tagged this onto the last post but found myself with a little too much to say about it. So it gets a mention of its own.

One of the perks of Jay's residency is a family meal card. The first year we lived here, Jay got several green cards with actual dollar amounts to cross off and then several pink all-you-can-eat family cards depending on how many call nights he had that month. The pink cards had no date on them and were just like magic gold tickets. We purposely saved a lot of them so that we could use them during his first six months of radiology (they have no call because they don't know anything yet) when he wouldn't be getting any more. Unfortunately, some greedy interns decided to basically grocery shop for their move and racked up over a hundred dollars worth of snack food. The cafeteria staff had a cow, complained to the administration and voila....all the pink cards got stamped with an expiration date after the given month. We had at least 20 unused pink cards that were now worthless.

Radiology call is different than pager call. The residents have no breaks. Their shift ends at midnight but they are stuck at their computers from 5:00 until the last dictation. Unless they get called away to do a procedure which means images start stacking up and then they play catch up the rest of the night. They usually run down to get their dinner and then take it up to their dark little room to eat. The point being, it's not a good night to meet Jay at the hospital for dinner which is what we did his entire intern year. The next day is post call so he never wants to go back to the hospital to eat and often times, the pink cards would expire before we ever made it to the hospital for our free food.

They have since switched to gift card type deal that deducts the amount from a sum given at the beginning of the month, again depending on the number of call nights but we have never even come close to using the amount up. Jay is sick of cafeteria food and I have to beg to bring the family. Sometimes, on nights when I'm taking the missionaries pizza and don't want to come up with a meal for our family and don't want to spend any more money, I request Le Cafe. It was an o.k night to go.


Pasta bar, ginger chicken salad, and some interesting sausage sandwich. They always have a salad bar, deli bar, soup and premade salads and sandwiches not to mention a full array of desserts! I had the ginger chicken salad, Jay choked down some pasta (after aimlessly wandering for awhile with a resigned look on his face), Sammy had spaghetti and Seth had a ham sandwich.







Jay may be sick of it but I think when the day comes when he can't run down and get a free soda and three cookies for a dollar (although I think he might not do that anymore) he'll look back with fondness at Le Cafe.

An inconvenient Truth

For the last couple of years, the missionaries in this area haven't been able to come to ward members' homes for dinner unless that ward member had someone at dinner as an investigator. I believe the mission president thought that the dinner hour could be better served working and tracting. Instead, we signed up to take the missionaries dinner at their apartment. For some reason, they always needed their meals by about 4:30 pm. After a few months of doing this, I became so frustrated by the extreme inconvenience to me that I decided to stop signing up. It was too hard for me to have two meals ready at two different times. Not to mention loading all of the kids in the car, with hot food....getting to their apartment and usually leaving my kids in the car while I ran the food up to their apartment. Once, one of the more socially awkward missionaries made a sarcastic comment about yummy salad (his actual words were "yum.....salad" while holding up the ziploc bag with a disappointed look on his face). I don't feel like I've suffered much forgoing the privilege of feeding the missionaries.

In July, a new mission president came and the rules changed back to feeding missionaries in our homes. As I've never had anything against actual missionaries, I signed up right away. Jay and I both feel that having missionaries in our home to eat and share a message is a great visual teaching tool to our young boys. Of course that first month, the same socially awkward missionary came and an entire hour of conversation with him was interesting. After they left, I asked Jay if they taught missionaries basic etiquette (i.e. conversational skills) at the MTC. He didn't remember if they did or not or thought not and I think that if it's not part of the current training then it should be added. Maybe it's their ages or just these missionaries in particular but they are odd!

I avoided signing up the last couple of months for a variety of reasons but had signed up this month. Yesterday was our big day! But Sunday night, they called and said that they had a discussion scheduled for the dinner hour and would be unable to come any time after 5:00 pm. I didn't understand at first and thought they said they couldn't come until 5:00 and I said that wouldn't be a problem but then it became clear to me what they were saying. Socially awkward missionary was of course calling and I didn't know if he was canceling, asking me if the discussion could take place at my house, or rescheduling. Turns out it was none of the above. They were asking me to bring dinner to them at 4:00! That way, they'd be sure to be done eating and at their discussion on time. I hung up the phone and irritation oozed its way into my body. What's wrong with Taco Bell in this situation? I can understand the financial burden of always having to feed themselves but at that late notice, their conflict becomes my scheduling nightmare?

At first I planned a crockpot recipe that I could take some out at 4:00 and serve the rest to my family at 6:00. But I realized that I didn't have any disposable containers to take them and I've learned not to "loan" missionaries dishes. So I decided on taking them pizza. When I rang their doorbell at 4:10, holding that pizza box on my palm I felt like shouting "Delivery!" Anyway...it's over now. Socially awkward missionary then called out as I'm walking back down the stairs to my van, "we'll come by and share a message with you soon!" I can't wait.

This and That

We've had a nice weekend. On Friday, we went to the YMCA as a family to swim with Jason and Andrea's family to celebrate Jack's one year homecoming. It was insanely busy with three birthday parties and surprisingly cold for an indoor swimming pool. Seth and Sammy went down the waterslide over and over and Jay and I just watched them come out pretty much the entire time. Sammy always makes me a bit nervous because he just goes under and starts kicking but he always comes back up with a smile. He can swim! Jay took Henry down a few times and it looks like we might have another crazy kid on our hands. He loved it.

We came home and put our kids to bed and Jason and Andrea came over once they had put their kids to bed and we played Scattergories(sp?). It worked out great not having to get babysitters but still getting to hang out child free.

Saturday morning, I had the goal to get the house picked up and then paint but hurt my toe on a toy fairly early in the morning. I T-Tapped on it and all my KLTing (that's Knee to Little Toe for the non-Tapper which I'm sure makes it clear as mud) caused me further injury, I'm afraid. The rest of the day I was quite lame. Jay spent the day raking.

At least he has his itunes.

A necessary evil.

It was a brutal job and it took a lot longer than he thought. I watched him off and on (is that rude??? I suppose I could have gone out there and helped him...) and he'd look up and pause. I could tell he was surveying the amount of leaves left. We had way too many leaves for our little yard refuse cart so he ended up making a dump run. I washed my dining room curtains and slipcover on the living room couch. I bought it when we first moved here and had just discovered pottery barn. I was so excited about it looking like the couches in their catalogue but I've realized that you actually need one of their big couches to make the slipcover look good like that.

My parent's hand me down. Mom, does it make you long for the good ol' days? My mom thought of putting foam on the arms to make them a little fuller but to really fill up the arms for the slipcover I would need like a 6 inch thick foam pad.

Mine pretty much looks like ill fitted tarp most of the time. I did take care to pin it in a lot more places than usual but it still doesn't fit very well and doesn't really look that good.

Just like pottery barn.....right?

Someday, I'll have a great couch in my front room. But not for a few more years.

Seth and Sammy helped their Dad in the morning and then entertained themselves watching college football. Seth's friend, Emma, came over and there was a lot of giggling for a few hours. I like that Seth still loves his girl friends and can happily play with them. It helps that the girls are usually willing to play football and soccer.

Kids playing hard need a snack

It was a chilly day so I decided to make chili and finally got out my Cuisinart from my birthday. New things intimidate me and following written instructions to try to figure something out isn't my modus operandi. After yelling at the instructions out loud a few times, I finally figured out how to put it together and then threw my green pepper, onion and celery into it to get it all chopped. I'm pretty sure I had the wrong blade in or something because within seconds, my mixing bowl was a pastel green paste. I figured it had to taste the same so added it anyway. (I was right...it tasted pretty much the same...but less chunky) My toe was really hurting so I was pretty cranky by the end of the day. I took a long bath and went to bed pretty early.

Dad saves the day from cranky mom with an evening game of Candyland

Today was a fairly typical Sunday. We had choir for an hour before church so we got all the boys ready right after breakfast and then ourselves and then it was time to go. We haven't had a ward choir for like 6 months and it was nice to go and sing. Sacrament's theme was happiness so we had happy hymns and talks on being a happy people and the plan of salvation. I had to stay on the stand the whole time because there was an intermediate hymn so I watched Jay struggle with Henry the entire time. He's really getting to be a handful during church.

Feeding him a bottle is impossible. He just likes to do it himself. But he gets distracted so it takes him at least an hour to finish a bottle. Poor kids needs a new diaper. Would someone get his mom?

I had him during Sunday School and spent most of the time in the hallway or feeling like I should take him out to the hallway. Jay took him back for priesthood. I love that Jay considers Sundays his day to be with the boys.

I had a great turnout tonight at Stake Choir. 55 people! We are singing the Hallelujah Chorus for the last song and I think that is what's drawing people there. It's just so fun to sing and we hardly ever get to! And it doesn't even sound bad. There are some really strong singers so I'm not embarrassed at all. It's going to be great.

Nothing earth shatterning here...just a bit of this and that. Florida in four days! I hope my toe gets better!

A Morning Scene

I needed to regain my strength so opted to read all last night and this morning. I finished two books and I have no complaints. I turned on my lamp beside my bed and started reading as soon as I woke up. About 30 minutes into it, Seth came down with a pretty fierce cough (so did Sammy but he's faking it so he can get some cherry cough syrup). I asked him if he felt well enough to go to school and replied that he thought so but then continued to hack away for about 10 minutes. I decided that I didn't want him spreading the love to everyone at school and told him he was going to stay home with Sam, Henry and me. He was disappointed about missing out on wearing red, white and blue (veterans day celebration) but found solace in the fact that he would be able to work in his math workbook and earn more gold stars (I'm not sure where he came from).

I called the school to notify them of Seth's absence and then sort of shifted into half speed. There was no rush for breakfast or making lunch. No rush to get dressed. We were all in our pajamas at 8:15 when Chad's truck pulled into the driveway to drop off Abbie. There I am....hair all matted sticking out everywhere, purple pajamas and no bra. Like a gazelle, I flew down the stairs to put on a cardigan and pull my hair up. I had forgotten that Abbie was coming over to get on the bus with Seth. Seth immediately started dancing around and behaving in a completely irrational way so I asked him if he thought he could go to school. He responded, "ya, ya...me want to go to skool!" while pumping his fists in the air.

Leisure turned into frantic motions of pulling on jeans, socks, an appropriate red, white and blue top and getting the double loop on his shoes just right. Teeth brushed, hair combed, lunch made, snack packed, backpack zipped but no coat to be found. It was actually snowing so I put on his sweatshirt and a windbreaker, a warm winter hat and ski gloves. Got him out the door and Abbie reloaded with her goods by 8:35 to catch the bus.

With an audible heavy sigh, I finish feeding Henry who is in an absolute frenzy now after being ignored in the middle of his breakfast and go downstairs to get on the computer. At 9:05, Seth and Abbie walk back inside saying the bus never came. In disbelief, I asked them if the other kids at the bus stop were still there and they said yes and I start planning my angry phone call to the bus company, tell them to get in the van and tell the other kids to get in the van (We were going to do some fancy, illegal double buckling) and start gathering Henry and Sam. But as Seth is telling the other kids, he remembers that it's late day! Late day! Which means that the bus comes at 9:10 and that I had unnecessarily sent two six-year olds out into the snowy morning for a half an hour.

Calm restored once more, I get back onto the computer and the phone rings at about 9:25 with caller ID showing it's Sammy's preschool. Realizing I had forgotten about preschool, I thought for a moment whether or not to pick up the phone. After all, I rationalized that they could determine his attendance by the fact that he was not there! But, perhaps they had an important message. I picked up and they asked about Sammy and I said that he was staying home and then they reminded me that it was his snack day. Which I have on my calendar but somehow completely blocked out. Sammy was still in his pajamas (including his wet pull up which I cannot fathom how he can stand it) so we switched back into crazy lady mode and I pull off his pajamas. He just stinks to me so I throw him in the shower while I try to find an appropriate snack for 21 preschoolers. I find an upopened box of Ritz crackers and I actually have exactly 21 string cheeses in my refrigerator so I throw both of those in a grocery sack and add a container of Koolaid. Next, I get Sammy dressed and off we go! I did put on a pair of jeans and a bra but my hair is still pulled in its quick updo. Sammy gets to school and I hesitate to switch back to leisure mode. But I really feel like finishing my book, so I put Henry down for his nap and start reading again. I'm almost done when I have to go pick up Sammy and I vow that I'll finish right after I get home. Which I do. Then I get a call from someone I promised I'd teach the alto part of the Hallelujah Chorus. She was calling to say that she didn't know how to get to my house. Crap, crap, crap! Why is my brain turned off? This is someone who doesn't have any kids and I don't want to scare her that my house and my hair is what happens when those kids come along (which is actually true but I wanted her to stay in blissful ignorance). Right on cue, crazy lady hat gets put on and I finally vacuum up all of those goldfish and pretzels from yesterday along with the added color of fruit loops from breakfast! That done and she's still not here I unload and load the dishwasher quickly. Still not here, I wipe down all of the coutnertops. Really it's amazing how efficient I can be when I absolutely have to be. When she comes, my house is a bit cluttered but not disgusting-pigsty dirty so there is no shame. I have kids, afterall. We work on the part, record it so she can sing along at home and then she leaves.

I feel normal again. I just needed to veg out for awhile. Which catches you up to my present. I did get two books read which you can find out about in my previous post.

Book Review #18 - The Undomestic Goddess

Written by Sophie Kinsella of Shopaholic fame, she introduces a new heroine - Samantha Sweeting- who is a high powered banking lawyer with no time for relaxation, friends or fun. After an apparent huge financial mistake, she is fired from her job and in her confusion, wanders around until she stops at a large house in the country to ask for water and directions. They assume she is there to interview for a housekeeping job and after all of the confusion, lies and utter unlikelihood, takes the job. Bumbling attempts at cooking, cleaning ensue and comedy is created. Along with a romance with the gardener and then the unavoidable conflict when her past catches up with her present. I thoroughly enjoyed this light hearted, entertaining book. It was the perfect rebound book. Funny, unlikely and quick, read this when you want to escape.

Book Review #17 - Everything Must Go

This is a brand new book out by Elizabeth Flock who wrote Me & Emma which is one of the best books I've read. She creates another fantastic character in Henry Powell, a boy who somehow lost himself working in a clothing store in the small town he grew up in. The writing is very circular which creates an uncertainty of the date although the author always begins the chapter with the year as its heading. It's not chronological and eventually, the reader is as lost in time as the character. I really felt like I knew Henry, almost felt like I was Henry by the end. Just fabulously written.

The summer after my freshman year of college, I worked in Radio Shack at the local mall and knew people like Henry. But Henry has a story and even though his life seems like a waste, he has his reasons, had his plans. Lots of foul language which will disturb more genteel readers but I would recommend this book without any other hesitation.

And A Tornado Ran Through It

If they made a movie version of my day there would be no beautiful scenery, no beautiful Brad Pitt or calm narration. Let's see...the setting would be a half finished house with approximately 1700 square feet, six kids ages six and under, a distracted Kirstie Alley might star and the narration would be screamed by Sam Kinison.

Who wouldn't rush to the box office to see that? Pure gold, people. I, of course, couldn't see it because then the flashbacks, nightmares and tics would start again.

Today was one of those days that was bad to begin with. I was in no condition to watch any additional kids but the arrangements had been made over a month ago. Maybe it's the shorter days, the rainy weather or the crash after my Halloween candy high but the last two days I have felt funky. Not sad or bad....just blah. So, today, when the extras showed up, I put on my happy face and hoped that the kids could just entertain each other.

Well, entertain each other they did! The trouble started when I got involved.

Due to Henry's mobility, we have the baby gates up. Kids must be drawn to wherever they can't be because as soon as I set those up it was "can we go in the living room?" Then, "Can we get out?" Over and Over and Over. Wearily, I told them to choose a place to play as I would no longer lift them or let them climb over. They remembered that for about five minutes and then started pestering me again so I distracted them with a snack. Goldfish and pretzels would surely keep them entertained for a few minutes. Which they did. Until they started shootling them like missiles onto the floor to see if they would break. I declared snack time over and told them to go watch a movie. They trotted off downstairs and I assumed dinosaurs would soon be responsible for their entertainment but I was wrong. Maybe 15 minutes passed and I went downstairs. I've never seen such a mess in my house....ever.

It was way worse than this but I didn't have the presence of mind to take a photo before I started picking up.I had already put hundreds of cards into piles.

I love board games! Whee!

A constant temptation for mess makers. Dumping out all of the marbles for the marble run that Jay made. Marbles were everywhere but I also wanted to show off Jay's cool creation.

I don't even know how they found these. They were tucked away pretty good in the pantry. (yes, our pantry is conveniently located downstairs)

And I totally lost my cool, which isn't very "cool" when the kids getting screamed at aren't all yours. I told them (loudly) to go upstairs and the youngest started crying that he wanted to go home. My heart should have melted but as I started to pick up the first of what was probably a thousand cards it hardened to icy steel. It didn't take him long to stop crying and I heard the boys playing happily again. You'd think I'd be glad that they weren't upset anymore but I was annoyed. Annoyed that they weren't properly ashamed of their mess. Henry started to cry so I went back upstairs to feed him and put him down for a nap. Laughter was coming from the guest room/Henry's portacrib room so I went to investigate. Disaster number two! They had gotten under the covers to play and thrown everything that was on the bed (it is our favorite dumping spot for things we mean to put away in the future).

Jay had bought a box of tiny pencils for his last pack meeting that will be a joy to pick up.

The bed was nicely made.

I separated the boys and told them it was nap time. There were no tears and everyone actually fell asleep. The problem was I hadn't fed them lunch so knew that it wouldn't last long. I went downstairs to pick up the first mess and just started to cry.

I realize that sounds dramatic but sometimes I am just filled with this feeling of being unsatisfied. I'm sure it's Satan with his whispers telling me I'd be happier with a career doing something that would be infinitely better than picking up Cranium cards by category and sweeping up crushed pretzels and goldfish. But then my brain takes over and tells that devil on my shoulder that I'd still have to pick up goldfish and cards, I'd just be more tired and better dressed. And I would miss Sam's proud declaration that he buckled himself when we have to run an errand and Henry's happy coos when he wakes up from a nap and Seth's hearty "I'm home" when he walks in the door after school. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I know that my kids need me - moi - to be their mother and no one else. I know all this and yet on days like today when I seem particularly inept and unwilling, I would love to give my two weeks notice.

I decided the carnage could be best contained by leaving the premises. Off to McDonalds we went! Unfortunately, we had to come back because Seth was getting off the bus but I told everyone they had to play outside. There were a few more tears here and there but by 4:15 I was down to three kids and that seems to be all I can handle today. The mess is still here (I just can't tackle it right now) but my boys have reverted back into the creatures I know and love.

To end on a happy note, isn't Henry cute at 10 months old? Hope everyone else had a fabulous, tear free, emotionally satisfying day!

And this makes it all worthwhile.

A day off

I have a free day today. Every other day of this week already has something on the calendar but today is free. And I don't feel like doing anything. I'm tired after my weekend. Saturday I painted....ALL day. Jay was at the hospital all day so I got everything taped and finished priming. Most of the banister was already primed so I was disappointed by how long it took to do the rest. It was all tricky painting...in between balusters and underneath the railing so it went slow. After the priming I had to sand down everything. This felt very therapeutic because the before/after feel was so dramatic. I'd been feeling this rough, dull primed wood for a month now and after sanding, it was smooth! I know that is the purpose of sanding but we bought clearance wood and I just didn't think that it would feel so nice. Of course, peppered into the day was feeding the baby and occasionally taking care of a basic need for Seth and Sam. My kids were very neglected Saturday. I told Seth and Sam they could play computer games and Henry spent a lot of time in his jumparoo, exersaucer and high chair. I'm amazed how easily kids pick up computer skills. Sammy (3) knows how to put in a CD-Rom, click on it's icon and get a game started all by himself. He plays this Dora game and always prints out his sticker book (and uses a lot of color ink...grrrr). Seth likes the computer games his mom and dad likes and chose Settlers of Catan, Risk and Mah Jong. He understands how to play them too. Not all of the strategy planning but enough to play and not get frustrated. Odd little boy.

The whole reason I primed and sanded all day was because Rebecca and Andrea were coming over to help me paint after I put the boys in bed. I bribed them with take-out and we had a great time. The law of inertia really came into play and when I took a 2 hour break to go to ACE and get some more paint supplies and pick up Wendy's for the boys I did not want to paint again. I put the boys in their pajamas, called the much better than Wendy's restaurant for our grown-up dinner and went to pick it up with the boys in the van. When we got home, all three boys went to bed without a problem and us girls sat down to a nice long dinner. We all had Thai Noodle wraps with yummy string beans and shared some pumpkin raspberry cheesecake and triple chocolate cake. I was so grateful that they came to help and there is no doubt that I wouldn't have painted if they hadn't been there. Once we started painting, we worked for almost 3 hours! But it didn't seem that long with all of the great conversation. We ended up doing probably 3 coats and there are still some places that need a little bit more that I'll touch up eventually but it looks nice! They stayed and chatted for awhile afterwards and were still at my house when Jay got home at 12:45 am! In all of the fun and fatigue, I forgot to take pictures.

Needless to say, I was a bit tired Sunday. Henry woke up pretty early at 6:45 and Seth and Sam bounded out of bed a little after 7:00. We don't have church until 11:45 so it's always sad when the day starts that early. I gave the boys baths after breakfast and Seth and Sam stayed in for over half and hour. I had left my kitchen and living room in a post painting mess the night before so cleaned that all up. Then time to get ready for church. Fast and testimony meeting was interesting. You know when you have really good ones and not so good ones? This one was....not so good. I got an unfortunate case of the giggles after Jay gave me the raised eyebrows and had to think of some somber thoughts to stop. Ward choir practice right after church, snacks for kids, go to stake center to get music from library, come home and get everything numbered and organized, eat dinner and off to Stake Center for stake choir practice. There was a nice turnout with 26 people attending and I know of at least 10 more people who couldn't come but will be there next week. Because it was a first rehearsal and some of the music is challenging, we did a lot of part rehearsing which is always exhausting. When I came home, I watched the end of the Bronco game with jay (yay!) and then the Amazing Race.

So, my goals for today are to get all the laundry done, exercise, get my house picked up again (Sunday is the worst for messes) and stay home so I won't spend any money. Do you ever have goals to see how long you can go without spending any money? I don't know how long I can go because I don't have very many fresh groceries but I feel like I've just been spending a lot lately and want to have a week where I can log onto my online banking and just see that balance stay the same for awhile.

The Power of the Mind

Some funny Samisms for you.

This afternoon, I hauled Sam and Henry around with me to a copy store, Jo-Ann's, grocery shopping and for a fountain soda. Sam has given up naps (sadly) but still gets tired around 3:00 in the afternoon. I had forgotten one piece of sheetmusic that I needed to drop off for my choir accompanist today so drove home quickly, and ran into the house without letting Sammy get out of his carseat. When I got back in the van, he was fake snoring with a little grin on his face. I whispered, "oh, I better be quiet. Sam is sleeping. He must be so tired. It's a good thing he is getting some rest" and so on. By the time I made it to the stop sign down the street he was really asleep! I chuckled at how his joke backfired. Unfortunately, it didn't last long as he woke up when I stopped the car to deliver the music.

Last week, he said the funniest thing that I can now share because it no longer horrifies me. Seth never had imaginary friends and I'm not convinced Sammy's are real (I think he's just being silly) but every once in a while he talks about imaginary people. Last week, he told me he had a secret. I asked him what it was and he told me it was about his imaginary mommy and his imaginary baby. I did the "Awwwww" in my mind until he proceeded to tell me that he was walking with his imaginary mommy and his imaginary baby and he saw a bunch of other imaginary mommies and imaginary babies and then they started to eat all of the babies. I didn't want to overreact so I just told him I didn't like his story - that it was gross and he started laughing. I'm pretty sure it's just very strange 3 year old imagination and that I don't have a psychopath on my hands. Let's hope so.

Book Review #16 - Expecting Adam

Expecting Adam is about Martha Beck's experiences while she was pregnant with her son, Adam, who was born with Down Syndrome. She recounts incredible spiritual experiences that occurred many times and yet she still seems so unsure of any reason why or how or who. I found it interesting that she seemed content to still be so agnostic. She said "or whatever" so many times in this book and I wanted to scream out loud, "don't you care to know?" She has decided that the who, what, where doesn't matter and is content with just "is". I guess I have a hard time believing her considering how she was raised and what she claims to have gone through. I don't buy her happy rehabilitated hippy self. I'm not saying I don't believe her memoir. Who am I to doubt a complete strangers memories? But I'm dubious of her motives in writing this book. She seems like she is trying to prove that she is the very vogue "spiritual" person now and not at all the very uncool religious person. This will sound petty but she mentioned Harvard, by name, hundreds of times. Hundreds. But anytime she mentioned her father or where she actually completed her dissertation, she just uses the phrase, "at the university where my father taught" as if actually typing Brigham Young University causes her pain and discomfort or somehow isn't a real school. Why? Is it that irrelevant? She did the same thing with other places in Utah. I just thought it interesting that a place where she grew up and that she tried to distance herself from so much doesn't even warrant a proper name. Just a description. Weird. It just didn't sit well with me and cast doubt on her hunky dorky attitude.

She is a gifted writer for sure. Very funny and enjoyable to read. And I agreed so much with her thoughts on why we are here - to interact and love each other. I wonder what it would have been like to read this book without knowing anything about the author. Without knowing that she also wrote a book called "Leaving the Saints" (which I haven't read) or that she was Hugh Nibley's daughter or that she now works for Oprah (I tell you...the entire time I was reading this I kept imaging Martha Beck to look like Oprah's new "Dr. Phil" - it was very disconcerting). I honestly think I would have liked it better. Interesting how my own prejudices influenced my reaction to a book. I am tempted to read her other stuff. Advice? Warnings?

Gratitude

This is a bit early and come November 23rd I may be twiddling my thumbs instead of blogging but I just felt completely overwhelmed with good feelings about my life as I ran errands this afternoon. I think I would be a bit remiss if I didn't include these thoughts.

I was on my way to a paint store, talking to my sister on my cell phone when I saw a man waiting for a bus in a wheelchair. It's cold today and there are snow flurries and he was wearing a sweatshirt and had his hands in his jean pockets. I was flooded with a sense of how blessed I am. Sometimes, I admit, I allow myself to think of my lot as hard. I'll get down about weight, housekeeping, money, loneliness or struggles with 3 busy kids. Of course, no person is free from worries, fears, trials etc., but when put in perspective, I must acknowledge my good fortune. I live in a great country where I have access to information and opportunities and choice. I have a library card and while I may not use it to keep current on the latest science in microbiology, I have a firm grasp on the shopaholic series. I have three healthy, bright, kind children who have so much faith and goodness in them. And I get to mother them, spend time with them and receive their abundant love. I have a husband who really is my best friend and who I love to be with. He works hard and is truly a good person. I have a brother and sisters who are all my friends and we all honestly like each other. I have parents who I respect, admire and feel loved by. I have in-laws who are wonderful people I am more than happy to spend time with. I have learned that isn't always the case in families and I'm grateful for those relationships. I have friends who I think really care about me because I'm not sure what other reason would compel them to bother. Most importantly, I actually believe what I profess to believe. It gives me great comfort.

Those are the biggies. But the rest of my afternoon was filled with things to be grateful for. The Karaoke guy at Costco who makes me smile (sadly, he leave in a few days), helpful employees at the paint store (never shopping at Home Depot again if I can help it), a working furnace that warmed me as soon as I got home and my 10 fingers that can still type pretty quick.

You know what I think spurred on all these warm fuzzies? The house cleaning. My clean house just calms me and it was worth every single penny.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one...

that thinks Halloween is a hard day. I just read Jenny's and Andrea's blog and am so glad that I am not the only one who didn't have a super day.

The day started busy with Sammy's preschool Halloween party. I needed to have him in his costume and Seth ready for school with his costume in his backpack by 8:40. It was just that much harder getting breakfast, feeding Henry, making lunch etc. I don't know why but those Mr. Incredible boots just about put me over the edge. Did you all know they go on before shoes? I missed that memo and those few extra minutes caused me to have a completely disproportionate hissy fit.

Once we were at the school, Sammy had a blast. His mask didn't fit that well over his glasses and his nose and eye seemed squished but he said he was comfortable. I kept trying to fix it without success. It was hard being there with Henry. He just wants to crawl everywhere and believe it or not...preschools are not baby friendly. Lots of little things to swallow and things to pull off shelves to hurt themselves.

Can I choke on this?

I justified that I didn't need to be there the entire 2 1/2 hours (to the horror, I'm sure, of some of the supermoms) and drove to 7/11 for a big ol' soda. I took a lot of time in the van and eventually made my way back in. They had cute games and food but eventually, the kids just wanted to have free time.

Play-doh - he's Mr. Incredible...or Dash. Whichever.

Sammy made his way to the play-doh table which I'm thankful for because that is something I just don't like to do at home. Glad he can get his fix at school.

After preschool, I put Henry down for his nap, got Sammy his lunch and started making these spider crackers.

It's not even that cute. You'd think with that kind of time they'd be cuter.

I had seriously underestimated how long they would take and I ended up taking almost an hour for fourty crackers. How sad. Sammy only wanted to eat his preschool candy and said he was done with lunch after only eating his yogurt. His entire sandwich and fruit was untouched. I decided to engage in what turned into the thirty minute war. Sammy has turned into a poor eater. He leaves a lot of food at meals and then whines and whines for snacks. I don't know why I chose a day I was already emotionally empty to fight him on food but I wouldn't budge. He sat there on the barstool crying and calling me mean. I ignored him while I slathed peanut butter on eighty little round buttery crackers. Eventually, he pulled the "potty" card and I let him off of the barstool. He had eaten half of his sandwich (he kept telling me his stomach would explode) so when he came back with those gigantic bifocal eyes still shiny with tears, I told him he could be done. He said in his most encouraging voice, "now you're being nice, mommy!"

Next came Seth's party. His elementary school is great about making the day really fun for the kids. Each room has a room party and the entire school goes on a chain parade where they go through every classroom. It's like follow the leader, so each class gets to be in their class and watch the rest of the school parade through it and then they join the end of the line and follow the parade.

Blurry parade picture. My boys are the incredibles

There were great costumes and great games and great food. Little siblings were invited so I had Sammy and Henry at school too. The party itself was very nice. Henry fell asleep so I just sat there and talked feeling no responsibility at all for helping out.

Zonked out. Wish I could join ya buddy!

When it was time to go, the trouble began. Rounding up Seth and Sam in a swarm of other kids, with school stuff, party stuff, baby bjorn and discarded costume parts while trying to get to my van before the school bell rang -- it's just like they say -- totally herding cats.

After school, we all decompressed. I put Henry down for another nap, and got onto the computer. Seth and Sam watched a movie and I could tell they were competely overstimulated. I made homemade mac-n-cheese for dinner (Tara's recipe) and then realized we were running a bit late if we wanted to make it to the trunk or treat at the church on time. That started my mood up again but Jay calmy took over. He got Seth and Sammy out of their costumes to put warm sweats and sweatshirts underneath, got them back into their costumes and fed a screaming Henry. Eventually, we all ate at different times (cozy family dinner) and managed to get into the truck a little after six.

The church building is under construction for remodeling so part of the parking lot is gated off. The parking lot usually makes a horseshoe and in the past, the trunk or treaters follow this natural course. The fence threw everyone off, however, and rather than parking on both side and walking across the grass in the front, cars (except us) parked on both sides of the street in front of the church when the one side filled up (how safe). I was determined to get the party started on the other side of the parking lot so sent Jay off with Seth and Sammy and sat in the bed of the truck with our big bowl of candy waiting for the kids to realize that candy existed elsewhere and also to encourage all of the cars that were slowly searching for a spot to parallel park to realize they could just pull into that parking lot and set up shop there. Alas, the power of herd mentality was too much to overcome and not a single other vehicle pulled into that side of the parking lot. After 15 minutes, I gave up and walked over with Henry AND the big bowl of candy. Since I didn't have a vehicle, not very many people stopped to get candy from me so we still have this massive amount of costco candy left. Henry must have gotten cold because he started screaming so we tried to get home as fast as we could to warm him up.

When we got home, Henry and I sat in the dark (so trick-or treaters wouldn't come to our door) trying to warm up while Jay took Seth and Sammy around the block for more mindblowing fun. I think it took Henry 10 minutes to calm down. I actually started to worry that something was seriously wrong the way he was thrashing about but eventually his crying lessened so that he could drink his bottle. I put him to bed as Seth and Sammy got home and I just wanted Halloween to be over. Tired of costumes, candy, doorbells and old kids without costumes mumbling "trick-or-treat" at my door (we never get cute little ones...only greedy 15 year olds) I told the boys bedtime. Sadly, I forgot to take many pictures. When things were happening, it was too hard to hold Henry and a camera and I have realized that I didn't take any of them posing in their costumes. So, guess what I get to do again soon? :)
Jay must have been just as tired as me but he put Seth and Sammy to bed and we watched a DVR'd Law and Order.

Other holidays take this much work and are this exhausting but at least they have a bigger purpose, a more noble cause. This is a kids holiday but until they magically are able to buy costumes, buy candy, make treats and take themselves out, I suppose I'm going to have to continue to be involved.

Today I volunteered in the morning and watched KariAnns' boys in the afternoon. I splurged and had someone come and clean today so I just took all of the boys to McDonald's Playland to play for the afternoon. Henry is at a hard age. He just wants to crawl around (which I eventually let him do) but thinking about the cleanliness of McDonald's floor just made me shudder. Thank goodness for GermX! True story....while I was entering the play area, I was holding Henry, had a diaper bag and purse on my shoulders and carrying a tray of drinks and french fries. You guessed it...the drink fell over. Huge diet coke spill! Right in the play area too, because I was trying to get back where the birthday party tables are. Sheepishly, I set the tray down and went and notified a manager. Then I had to go back and face all of the other mothers frantically trying to keep their sock-footed children away from the spill. I went to my corner and waited an appropriate amount of time before going to get another Diet Coke. While I was getting my Diet Coke refill, I got 3 waters for the boys and put them all in a drink carrier. Went back to my table and after taking out the 3 waters, the carrier flipped and my Diet Coke spilled again! I was able to grab it pretty quickly and clean the mess on the table with napkins. Sheesh!

So now it's just after 3, the boys are watching a movie and KariAnn is coming any minute. I have to make dinner for someone in my ward and deliver it (Shredded BBQ beef sandwiches, coleslaw and baked beans) and then make phone calls tonight. Busy, but anything is better than last night.