Halloween

Halloween celebrations last for the entire week at our house. The kids like to have more then one time to dress up in their costumes, and of course having multiple times to get candy sits HIGH with them.
We started the week at the Halloween Party at Grandma Riddle's place. They had a few games, trick or treating and treats.

Then on Friday we had out Halloween Party/lasagna cook off/ trunk or treat/carnival at church. It was such the busy place to be! Rebecca fell asleep on the way and slept the entire time until I took her out of her car seat. It was noisy, hot and she was right next to the line for food and her car seat got hit a few times, and she slept right trough it. The kids played the carnival games and walked away with some very fun bird whistles that made a lovely high pitch whistle! The scare of the night came when Ammon disappeared. We searched the building and almost had them announce that he was missing when he was found doing his own cake walk with some other boys in the nursery. It was NOT a funny or cute moment for me-just one of panic.

Ammon showing off his very sugar covered cookie that me made-but didn't eat.

After the carnival/dinner we went out for trunk or treating. Simeon walked with a friend and his younger brother so they were slower and only made it around once. Simeon said they kept losing the younger brother and would have to find him. Corrine went around 2 times with some friends, and Ammon and Rebecca went with mom around once, then Ammon wanted to hand out the treats. He was very particular that he put it in the bucket and you only got 1 - NO coming back!!

Max Hall (BYU QB), A Lemme Leopard, a little Moo-Cow and a Clone Trooper stomped around his halloween.

Halloween day was a blur. In the morning I went to the adult session of Stake Conference. When I got home, Johann left for the leadership session and Simeon went to a bday party. We he got home I left with Corrine for her haircut, and Simeon came home. When we got back we drew our pumpkin faces (we ran out of time to carve them), made mini pizzas, ran to Gr & Gr Smith's and then it was time to trick or treat. We don't get many if any kids at our house, so we left a bucket or candy and went out.

Every year we've heard about a house that goes all out with a pirate boat in their yard. This year we weren't going to miss it. We headed down towards it and spent the next 2 hours trick or treating. The kids wanted to come home and we did-the longer way. Their baskets were nearly overflowing when we got home.
Ammon was funny towards the end. People would say take a few pieces so he'd go Hi-yay and grab with 2 hands. Who could say no to a clone trooper going hi-yay!! He added extra candy doing that.

After the sorting and counting they crashed for the night.

Corrine's new hair style

BEFORE

Corrine has been asking for bangs and shoulder length hair for some time. I figured she was old enough to decide on weather or not to go back to bangs and she decided it was time. (Mom on the other hand wasn't so ready. It's been 18 years since bangs for me!) I was ready though for the straggly uneven mom cut hair cut of a year or so ago to go.

I had a coupon and was ready for a $9 haircut.

We got there and I saw that the back of her hair was knotted really bad. The lady cutting her hair looked at it and said we need to shampoo it to get these tangles out. During the shampoo we found out how they got there.

A younger brother + wet sucker + twisting + not brushing it that morning + fine hair= MAJOR TANGLES.

The lady wasn't even sure she could get the tangles out. 20 minutes, lots of combing and conditioner and the tangle was out-no need to cut it out. Thank goodness!

After the haircut she got a sucker which she was told to NOT let it get near her hair. She agreed to that one and to tell me if her loving brother ever came at her with a wet sucker again!!

AFTER

Corrine is really excited about her new hair cut. She kept saying today it's my 1st day with my new hair cut. Tomorrow will be my 1st full day with my new hair cut! She wanted Monday to come so she could tell and show all her friends at sschool.

So in the end the total for the haircut was $16. $9 for the cut, $3 for the shampoo and $4 tip for the amazing lady who saved Corrine's hair.

Ammon and Lego's

What would our house be like without Lego's and lego people? For Ammon it would probably be down right dull!



A few weeks ago after looking at a Lego catalog, we decided to find and put all of our lego people back together. To accomplish this we had to dump out the BIG box of legos and sort all of them- people and non people. Then dad put the people back together-heads, bodies, arms, hands, legs and feet. Accessories like helmets, hair, weapons and armor stayed off to be put on as needed later on.

In the end we had 42 completeled lego people or clones with a few unfinished ones left over, and more accessories then a large army could use.



He can spend an hour or 2 just playing with his lego people. He'll play games with them and have them go into battles where sometimes the clones win and other times they all die. He makes ships, some elaborate, some simple, with a dozen guys each on them. He know who is who and what they do and do NOT do! Sometimes he's playing by himself, and other times Simeon joins him. Either way-lego people are a HUGE hit in this house!!



And he is really good about cleaning them up. They have thier own special container so they don't get mixed up with the other legos.

100 Days to Dance Marathon Celebration

For years DM organizers have wanted to throw a party 100 days until the Big event and this year they did. We were invited to come to the party. There of course was music, students and energy-LOTS of energy.
Miss Iowa and Miss Teen Iowa were judging a dance contest. When I told Simeon about it, he started busting some pretty cool moves. He was having such a great time dancing that he went up on the stage to show off his moves. He had all the students cheering him on. Corrine went on the stage, but she choose to stand and watch and not dance herself.



Ammon was being really shy and not talking and interacting with the students until one girl spent a long time just playing with him and he finally opened up. After that he was a non stop energy ball. He joined all the glow necklaces to make a GIANT lasso to catch dad with.

Rebecca enjoyed watching all the students, but she wouldn't smile while we were in the dance hall. As soon as I took her out she'd give me huge smiles. She wasn't crying, just taking it all in. Perky came over to meet her a few times, and she would grab the fur on his hand and pat it.




As part of the night we were introduced on stage just like they do at the BIG Event.

All night Simeon watched students do the cash machine and he wanted to give it a try. The students were entered in a raffle if they did it, but the kids just got to have fun in it.

Primary Program

The theme for this years program was 'Families Members have important responsibilities."
Corrine was the 1st person to speak, followed by Ammon and a few kids later was Simeon.
Corrine had a long part which she had almost completely memorized. We made a sheet that she could look at the remember the words.
Corrine's part: "Family Members have important responsibilities. 'Organize yourself, prepare every needful thing, and establish a house. A house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.' D&C 88:119 Families work better when everyone does their part. What are your responsibilities?"

Ammon's part: "I brush my teeth and get myself dressed."

Simeon's part: "In our family we have jobs that we need to do everyday like emptying and loading the dishwasher. If we didn't do our jobs then we wouldn't have clean dishes to eat with. A few weeks ago we started earning warm fuzzies. When we do our jobs without being asked, say kind words to each other or help a sibling with their jobs, we gets to put a warm fuzzy in the jar. The jar sits on the kitchen table to remind us to do our part in our family."

During the program Ammon got restless and wanted to see who was speaking, and since he was sitting in front of the pulpit, he did what made since to him-he stood on his chair and tried to see who it was!!

Pumpkins

This fall we just couldn't make it to a pumpkin patch on a dry sunny day, so we did the next best thing-we went to the Hyvee pumpkin patch.

Hyvee had alot of pumpkins on the far side of their parking lot by a fence and tree. I figured that I could take some pumpkins out and put them by the tree and pose the kids by them and take some pictures. When we got to the pumpkins Simeon found a crate that was cut open so they all climbed inside of it.


I was excited that I could get pictures of them and that you couldn't even tell they were at a grocery store.


Next year we'll hopefully get to a pumpkin patch, but if we don't we know where to get a picture!

Fall Colors

This year we are having the most beautifully colored leaves in our yard. In years past the tree in the front has had purple/brown leaves that fell that color. This year is something brand new and more beautiful then ever. The leaves started brown, then turned purple, then green, then yellow, and once they've fallen off the tree they are turning orange. When the sun is shinning brightly the girls bedroom has a golden glow to it from the leaves on the tree. It is just beautiful!

The Japanese Maple in the backyard has turned to fire red color.

The bush on the side of the yard is multicolored from yellow to red.



Fall is my favorite time of years for the beuatiful colors and the crisp air.

Rebecca discovers leaves

Rebecca got her 1st experience with leaves today. She was absolutely fascinated by them. She stared at them at first, then reached out and grabbed them and would try to get them to her mouth. The stems would poke her in the face and she'd flinch, but then try again to get it to her mouth.

I took so many good pictures of her in the leaves and couldn't decide which ones to post-so here are a few of them.

Super Sisters

This afternoon Corrine called me into the front room to see the Super Sisters in super sisters capes. Corrine tried to fly Rebecca through the house, but the cape was a bit bulky on her.

Daddys are so comfortable

Rebecca found such a comfortable place to rest and suck her thumb-dads shoulder.


She doesn't suck her thumb very often, but when she does it looks so comfortable and adorable!

Light the Night

Tonight was our 3rd year participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk. This year the pre-walk festivities were held outside of Kinnick Stadium, which is the University of Iowa's Football Stadium, and the walk was on the concourse of the stadium. It was a very cold day with a strong wind, which made it even colder. Luckily when the sun went down, the wind lightened up.

Before the walk to kids spent hours jumping in a bounce house, with only 2 minor injuries, got their faces painted, ate pizza from Boston's and played with their Geico Geckos. Our friends band Lady Lowe performed.



The field was open, but we didn't know if we could go onto the field, so we just let the kids in the bleaches, then later found out we could have gone down to the field.


Our team this year was small just the 6 of us and Grandma Smith, but we had lots of spirit. Next years walk Simeon will be off all meds and will be stronger.



No matter how many times we participate in the walk, to see Simeon wearing his survivor shirt and carrying his white SURVIVIOR balloon will always bring tears to my eyes.

Tasty Belly Buttons

This fall Simeon started participation in the library's performance group called Kidspectacular. They meet once a week after school for a few hours and work on the plays that they perform throughout the year.
THe 1st play they did was "Tasty Belly Buttons". It was a compilation of a few different folk tales from Japan. Simeon tried out for the Old Man and got the part. It was a small yet significant roll at the beginning of the play.

He practiced hard and knew his lines by heart, but then 3 days before the performance they found out that the old woman, who Simeon exchanged most of his lines with, wouldn't be there for the performance. So the day before his lines were changed.
He looked so cute in his costume with his beard and glasses. He was nervous for the play, and spoke softly, but he knew almost all of his changed lines. We were very proud of him and the hard work he put into the play.

Bedtime Prayers

The last few weeks Ammon has been teaching me patience and humility.
He has hit a stage where if he doesn't want to do it, he thinks it's his, or your in his way-a temper tantrum or a hit is mostly likely coming. He thinks getting dressed and/or going to bed is the worst thing ever. It's been a stage I look forward to moving past.

On the other hand he has hit a stage where he WANTS to say the prayer and his prayers are so sincere and honest. The other night he was praying and said "and thank you for my bed. It's so soft and comfy. It's too comfy because I don't want to get up in the morning." He's been asking for Corrine to get better (she was sick for 3 days with a fever and cough). One night he said "thank you for all the delicious food." He struggled with the word delicious and tried a number of times to say it right. He prays for his stuffed animals and is thankful for them. His prayers are so sweet and said so lovingly.
It's at night when I'm putting him to bed and these sweet words come out of his mouth-the stress of the day melts away and the spirit fills my heart.

I'm so greatful to be a mom to our 4 wonderful kids-it's the hardest, most tiring job, but it's also the most fulfilling and rewarding job!!

Firefighter from head to toe

The annual Fire station Field trip with the library is always looked forward to with such anticipation from Ammon. This year we almost had to give up our spots as Corrine was sick that week. Luckily dad came to rescue and came home to stay with Corrine so that Ammon could go to the Fire station.
When it came time to get dressed for the day Ammon insisted on wearing his fireman jumper (complete with Dalmatian dog), fireman rain jacket, fireman helmet with shield and spot to talk into and his fireman light up shoes. He was a fireman from head to toe.

Part of the tour a fireman gets into their gear from head to toe and even turns on his air tank and talks through his voice projector so the kids know what a firefighter would look and sound like if they were coming into your house to rescue you. Ammon went up to the fireman and starting talking about their helmets and how they were alike, Ammon told the fireman: "Mine is not real because it is only made out of plastic." The firefighter told him his was real and hard and let Ammon knock on it to feel it.

Since he was completely dressed like a firefighter he got asked a couple of times if he was going to be a firefighter for Halloween. Each time he'd roll his eyes and say: "No, I'm going to be Clone Trooper!"

Ammon always loves this field trip, and since he'll be starting kindergarten next fall, this was his last time he'll get to go.

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE FOR IOWA!!!

The University of Iowa has regained 2nd place. Please keep voting-or start voting. The voting ends on Friday and WE CAN WIN the ultimate new game room for the hospital!!!

www.xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.org


What is this for are you wondering. Microsoft is giving the top 3 hospitals a new gameroom worth $10,000 each. We had 1st place and my heart flew, then we dropped to 4th and my heart sank-now we're in 2nd place and again I'm flying. WE CAN WIN-and you can help.

Voting should only take a few minutes, but it's going super slow today. Be patient. Vote with as many email addresses that you have.

Lots of thanks from the kiddos at the hospital

The Game of catch up

Today I added alot of posts for your reading enjoyment!! The fartest back one is Sept 29th-the day I turned 30. Yikes-when did that happen?!
We've been busily trying to keep on top of other things that the blog gets put on the back burner until I get some quiet time. Today is one of those days. I kept the girls home from church. Rebecca so she's not exposed again to the flu (she got exposed on Weds and so far she's staying healthy) and Corrine wasn't acting right yesterday but is fine now, but I wanted to be extra cautious. I guess it's the boys who coughed through church when they weren't coughing at home this morning. It's anever ending battle with germs and winter time and trying to decide when to keep them home and when to send them out.

Locks of Love

I decided I'd had enough of my hair. It was getting in the way, it was hot, and when I put it in a pony tail I would get a headache. Add to it the fact that I'm losing the thickness I had while pregnant with Rebecca and it was time for it to go.


Johann knew I was going to cut at least 10" off, but didn't know how short I would go after that. I ended up getting 12" cut off, then having the top of my hair cut so it was 5" long. I had completely forgotten how curly my hair was until after this cut.

I really like it short, it's lighter and faster to take care of, but I do sometimes miss pulling it half back and ponytails. I think I'll let it grow long enough to pull it back on top, but keep it above my shoulders.

This is the 2nd time I've donated my hair to Lock of Love since Simeon got sick. I actually cut it back at the beginning of September, but just kept forgetting to post it. (Mostly because I'm always behind the camera and didn't have any short hair pictures to post.) I still have people who don't recognize me with such short hair.