MightyMcAllisters

All Kinds of News

2012-02-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

I have been terrible at keeping up with our family happenings. This post will be covering a lot of ground! First: Christmas. We had the best Christmas present days before when Nathan was miraculously given a new job. We feel so grateful and blessed! Here are some of our Christmas morning photos.

Nice to have Christmas on a Sunday so we all look nice for photos! :) But these were taken before we cleaned up:

This is everyone killing time waiting for Jake and Leslie to wake up for the festivities. You know you are getting old when someone has to wake you up on Christmas morning. :)

Yay! All assembled.

We had a good Christmas.

In January there was a scouting court of honor. Jacob received his last two merit badges required for his eagle, and Caleb received his first ever merit badge!

Miriam has joined a club where she is learning to cook and sew with friends. This is her first machine project. It is a backpack.

Camille turned 14 at the end of January. She is pretty excited about going to the regional dances now.

These are photos of a gift Seth made for me. He calls it my nature bracelet, because he found all the things for it out in nature. :) Thanks, sweet boy.

Million Dollar Bathrobe

2012-02-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

I do about 40 things every morning before I get dressed. Probably that is a bad habit that will bite me back one day. At least that is what I think every time I drive my kids to school in my fuzzy purple bathrobe. My bathrobe does double duty as a coat, house dress, and blanket. Considering the utility of such a garment, I really should spend the money to get a good one. The one I have needs another 10 inches of fabric in the front panel. Then my chicken legs, stuffed into my snow boots wouldn't flash you when I get into my huge suburban each morning. I watch for my neighbor to start his truck to warm up and go back into his house, then I race out in my fuzzy robe and start scraping the windows frantically on that big vehicle and pray he doesn't come back out until I have climbed into the seat of my charger. May I never break down. May I never be stopped by a policeman. I tell myself it wouldn't matter--I really no longer have any personal pride.

I guess I could get out of bed and actually get dressed, but my bathrobe seems such a comforting friend on chilly mornings. I huddle wrapped in it for scriptures. I pad down the halls to wake kids in it. I cook and eat breakfast in it. It really is almost as warm as a coat for my morning outings. Sigh. I do get a bit nervous if I have to answer the door in it. It isn't attractive. Another reason to consider replacing it with a million dollar version.

I used to drive my kids to an elementary school that was on a hill. At the time I drove a tall van. One morning, after dropping my kids off and turning around for home, I arrived at the crest of the hill when a dad in a sedan was driving up. From my perch I could clearly see down into his car, where wrapped over an undershirt he was sporting his wife's silky turquoise, lace-trimmed bathrobe as he was driving kids to school. I am not alone. Not in this brave outerwear, or in the need to replace it!

Christmas Choir

2011-12-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Part of our homeschool curriculum this year has Caleb, Miriam and Ethan learning to sing with the Heralders Children's Choir. Tis the season for their Christmas performances. Today was a bit of a marathon as they performed multiple times. This photo is singing for the Santa breakfast. They sang so well! The music consisted of old carols from around the world. Some of the songs they sang are:

The Friendly Beasts

The Wren

Fum Fum Fum

Jinglin Bells

Deck the Halls

The Lord of the Dance

The whole program takes about 30 minutes and includes some dancing and solo performances.

This photo was taken between performances. There was a lot of waiting to do, and the kids were good sports about it. This is Ethan, Miram and some of their friends. They both sing with the younger Carillion Choir. It is obvious they enjoy participating, they both wear smiles while they sing.

Caleb sings with the Classical Choir. They are 10 years old and above. I am loving seeing my boys in bow ties! (Caleb was pretty much born to wear a bow tie...)

This was Caleb's third performance for the day. (in total, he probably sang for over 3 hours today). This is a special performance where the older choir was able to perform at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square they sang Vivaldi's "Gloria", which is in Latin. I was so pleased with Caleb for memorizing all of this! They sounded remarkable. Caleb is on the right in the back row, third boy in.

No photo is available of the choir's self-proclaimed head groupies: Leslie and Camille. They cheered for the kids and got to know many of the choir members. We are all exhausted and happy!

Halloween (Quick, because Thanksgiving is upon us!)

2011-11-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween was fun, as always. This year it seemed to go on all weekend long!

This is Seth and Ethan all dressed up for the annual children's party that the youth put on for them in our ward. They are vampires of the most spooky sort.

Leslie and her friend Katie, all dressed up for the same party. Leslie was a fairy with a crown of flowers.

Also this year, we had a family party to celebrate. Cousins waiting for the signal to take care of those donuts!

The gruesome pumpkin line up.

Jake and Diana showing off their work.

They have a Jekyll and Hyde sort of pumpkin with two faces. Diana was a good sport on Halloween. She got more than she bargained for on this date! Little brothers hovering around and a trip to the neighbor's to pick a whole apple tree! All accomplished in costume. :)

This is the crew, ready to spoil the neighborhood for candy/parties. Jake is a pac man ghost, Camille is a lovely princess, Leslie is a cat, Ethan is a missionary, Seth is a lion, Miriam a cheerleader and Caleb a mad scientist. Dad is the ever faithful chaperon. Just before he walked out the door, Seth abandoned his furry bits and told me he would just roar at people. (hee, hee.)

Bear Lake

2011-09-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Proof that we had a vacation. Proof that we had fun!

Jacob returning from an invigorating plunge.

Cousins + Lake = Happiness

Home Base in the Shade

There is also a nice pool at the place we stayed, and the kids always have to go there after the lake to "wash off the sand". This is an excuse to KEEP PARTYIN'! I love this picture of Ethan. Note the missing teeth in the smile.

And this is Caleb riding the inflatable whale. The whale is a staple tradition and comforting part of the trip. It has a droopy tail this year, but hopefully will be floating for some years to come.

Thanks to Dave and Tiffany for always being so nice to us to invite us to stay in their nice digs at the lake.

In Which Miriam Hosts a Tea Party

2011-09-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

A week ago, Miriam brought a handful of hand-written invitations to me and asked permission to send them out for a princess tea party. How could I resist? She assured me I wouldn't have to do anything. She was right. Camille did it! The sisters had a great time helping with the tea party. Camille waited on the guests and Leslie took the photos (but Leslie had to dress up to enter the room!). Here are some fun pictures:

The Guests.

The Hosting Princess

The Help.

The General Atmosphere.

Odd Odor

2011-08-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Something was not right.
Something was definitely off.
Ewww! What is that smell?!?!
We searched on and off for about an hour, as it seemed to come and go. Finally, we realized that the smell was corresponding with Seth's arrival. What had thrown us, is that it didn't seem to immediately depart when he did--it lingered.

Mom: "Hey buddy, lets get you into the tub, something smells funny."
Seth: "Yeah, 'cause Bubba peed on me. " (Bubba is the neighbor's arthritic dog.) UGH!!!

July

2011-08-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

July was a busy, fun month. The kids spent lots of afternoons swimming in the pool in our front yard, usually with their neighborhood friends. There was one day when the neighbors were all pretty much gone, and even Nathan and I ventured out with the kids. (I know, all that white skin is a bit much!)

This is the super cool nail polish Leslie tried at a young women's activity. It is silver until it gets in the sun and turns pink! She was pretty fond of it, therefore it is documented.

Miriam is just interesting in this one.

This is the last photo taken by my little red camera. It is a tent city in my basement. And a pretty good one at that. I am so sad my camera died, because I have no photos of my family reunion. But we went to visit my parents on July 11th for a weekend with my siblings and a reunion with much of my mother's family. I saw all of my aunts and uncles on the Murdock side and many of their children and grand children. Nathan and I were also able to make a visit to my Murdock grandparents. Grandma was in the hospital, but released soon after our visit, and Grandpa was in his new home at the assisted living center.

We slept in tents at my parent's home and visited. We played in the water at Porter Park in Rexburg and mom and dad bought tickets for the carousel, filling it with their posterity. That was my favorite part, looking all around the carousel at all the cute children and being amazed that two people, and 40 years of good living can turn into quite a busy crew! We attended my cousin Amy Jo's graduation voice recital at the college. Ethan kept leaning to me and asking how they made her voice so loud. It was the first introduction to opera for him. Then we went to the sand dunes--which was definitely my children's favorite part! They came home with sand everywhere, exhausted and happy.

This photo was taken on the same trip at my 20 year high school reunion. Five of the seven people that graduated in my class are here:

Back: Jason Vielma, Shaun Grover

Front: Jenny (Jacobson) McAllister, Tammie (Stewart) Smith, Terry (Wilding) Roberts.

It was great fun to see each other and talk and talk and talk. And laugh. We always did have a pretty good time together. Shaun, Terry, Tammie and I were all classmates from kindergarten through 12th grade. Lots of memories, we were just like siblings and we are glad to be back in touch with one another.

We also spent the 4th and 24th holidays with the McAllisters. Food and fireworks. :) Uncle Paul helped the little boys build model rockets to launch and that was a huge hit. The McAllister ladies also had a quilting day tying four quilts. We had so much fun, that we have scheduled another day, so we are piecing quilts to do it all again.

Ethan Turns 7

2011-06-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ethan turned seven on the 21st. It was a fun day full of swimming and sun. This is him, showing the hole in his teeth where he lost one just the day before. He likes to stick his tongue in that hole.

Sweet! Presents include a few balls: plastic baseballs and a set of bases for playing in our circle. Two footballs, one is soft for playing catch inside. Ethan could play catch all the time!

Walkie Talkies and a cool projector for drawing cartoons rounds out the loot. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Girl's Weekend

2011-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, the boys drove off into the sunset to go to the annual Father and Son's camp out. This year was a bit different in that all the boys were healthy and ALL the boys went! This left just me and the girls and we had a PARTY! It started with a trip to a local art gallery (my beautiful girls are all artists, so I encourage them in whatever way I can, having NO artistic ability of my own).

In front of the Kings Gallery, ready to see the art and jewelry inside. Miriam met an artist who was preparing his collection for exhibit and made a friend. She makes friends everywhere she goes. She pointed to a blank spot on the wall of the gallery and asked if they would not put a picture there so there would be room for hers. :)

Car photos. Long ride across town apparently gets boring.

We stopped at the Dancing Crane, an import store, to see all the fun things from around the world. We came out with bells from India, earrings from Peru and smiles. We also shopped at DI, a family favorite. After all the shopping, we joined friends Alisa O'Berry and her baby Liam for a walk to Leatherby's and huge ice cream sundaes. Home late, but still determined to party, we watched a movie and painted our toenails. Saturday morning we spent at the yard sales.

Camille is showing off her finds, the necklace, the bracelet and the red top . Love to shop at yard sales!

Yard sales took us past the cemetery where Grandpa McAllister is buried, so we stopped for awhile. It was so nice to spend time with my daughters! They are fun and energetic and I'm grateful to be the mom. The boys had a good time at the Father and Son's camp too, but they didn't have the camera.

Leslie's Promoted

2011-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Leslie has successfully finished 9th grade and was invited to attend the promotion dance. We found this new summery dress to send her off in and I think she is looking radiant!

I drove the last jr. high carpool run for the year and cheered! Camille and Leslie are finished. Jake is already in Idaho working for the summer and today is the last day for Miriam. Speaking of Miriam, she had a couple of end of year performances that we attended this week, but I didn't have my camera with me at either of them. Shame on me!

Miriam danced in the school-wide talent show to High School Musicals "I Don't Dance." But Miriam really does dance! It comes out of her heart and she isn't afraid of anything when she is on stage. I am always amazed at her. I also attended her Spanish program to hear her sing some fun songs in what is fast becoming her second language.

Jacob's Eagle Project

2011-05-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

We have been working on this for awhile, but the project is finally done! Now just a few odds and ends and Jake will be an Eagle scout! It is a lot of work! Phew!

Paperwork.

Jacob gathered items and funding for hygiene kits to send to the humanitarian center.

The people who helped. 130 kits were assembled.

Each kit has 2 hand towels, 4 toothbrushes, 1 tube of toothpaste, 2 combs, and 2 bars of soap.

This is delivering the kits to the humanitarian center. The kits are sent all over the world to help those in disaster situations. We were truly humbled to see all the donations from our community to help those in need. This has been a great experience for our whole family.

Leslie's 15th Birthday

2011-05-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wow! It is here! Leslie is 15. She has been anticipating this birthday for awhile, sending out lists of her wishes to friends and family, lest they forget the big day. The list I received looked something like this:
1. Tangled

2. Fashion bug cat eye sunglasses
3. Big sandwich
4. Bracelets
5. Rings
6. Heart locket (long chain)
7. Fresh flowers
8. Head bands- the cute kind with big flowers or bows
9. Boxes- any kind
10. T-shirts
11. Hats
12. Pink pens
13. Lip gloss- peachy colored
14. Pretty hair pins
15. Eiffel tower model
16. Chandelier earrings
17. Magazines
18. Lamp
19. Makeup
20. Nail polish
21. Books
22. CDs
23. Sharpies
24. Milkshake
25. School bag
26. Socks
27. Anything for my room- my colors are hot pink, blue (and grey, silver, white, and black)- Paris theme
28. Any suprises

Big Sandwiches were granted.

Anticipation.

Watch out for that guy!

Unwelcome help. Ppplllbbb.

Gorgeous bracelet (I picked it out, so I think so!)

Check out Ethan's face...he knows what is in there! (Tangled is one of those new absolute favorite movies!)

Happy Birthday, Leslie! (Note: Leslie says she is still accepting gifts. :)

Caleb's Band Concert

2011-05-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Caleb has been playing the trombone this year in band and I was able to attend his spring concert this week. The band sounded great and I was impressed at how many kids have joined the band this year. It was a fun concert.

Looking good, Son!

Hansel and Gretel

2011-05-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

I mean, Hazel and Greta. This was a fun play put on by the little girl cousins at a family get-together. It is called Hazel and Greta, because these are two cousin names. Clever Hazel is usually the master-mind.

Here are the children, approaching the witch's door. Miriam is the witch.

My favorite part of this play is when the witch takes the children shopping for ovens. How delightfully morbid!

Finally the police haul off the wicked witch and all ends well. Sigh of relief! I'm so glad for fun cousins nearby!

Seth is a Preschool Graduate!

2011-05-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Seth attended the preschool at Taylorsville High this year. This is him "walking".

Diploma in hand. Phew! He made it. I tried three times to get a photo of him with his diploma, but my camera has a delay of about 1 1/2 seconds, and Seth has an attention span of slightly less than that, so here are the attempts. I thought they were cute just the same.

Not quite.

Almost.

Done, Mom! Congratulations, Buddy! You always make me smile! (Just this morning, Seth snuggled next to me on the couch and said, "Guess what? I can pop my eyeball out!")

Spring Update

2011-05-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is what spring has been looking like around here! Photo taken at the very end of April.

This is the sad demise of our one and only tree. When we moved into this house, I was somewhat dismayed that a home 30 years old only had one tree on the property. The last few years the tree has lost more and more limbs to a bug, and finally, this spring, it never awoke.

So, with two manly men and one suburban, the tree is out. Sad. We will be looking for a new one to plant, but I am afraid the yard may have some sort of curse. We have planted probably 8 trees since moving here and none of them have lasted. This year the dog ate the branches off my baby cherry tree. Ugh!!!

Caleb's Arrow of Light

2011-05-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Caleb earned this a while ago, but due to some circumstances, it was awarded at the end of April. Our cubmaster had a real Indian arrow to award to him and a wonderful ceremony. Here are the highlights.

The arrow, Cubmaster Snelgrove and Caleb (in his new scout shirt, about 4 sizes too big because I've had one of these fast-growing scouts before! "Trust me," I tell him.)

His new scoutmaster inviting him to cross the bridge to Scouting.

Receiving his new neckerchief for Scouts. We are excited for you, Caleb! You're going to love scouts even more than cubs!

Miriam is Nine!

2011-05-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Time flys! Jake still thinks she is four, but my littlest girl is growing up quick! Here are some highlights:

This is Miriam's cake, which she wanted to look like a watermelon. And it did, until, while writing on it we had a frosting explosion and now it just looks like a watermelon with a flower garden in it. Life.

There was much screaming opening the gifts. So fun to have her excited. This is a Barbie. I knew it was the right one when it was holding two of the things Miriam asked for this birthday: a cell phone and a laptop. (Please! The other thing was a water bed....). Happy Birthday, sis!

Track Meet

2011-04-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is Camille and her friend Chelsea at the final track meet this year. Leslie, Nathan and I were there to be supportive. We are a suspect group. If you look closely, you might experience an Elvis Sighting.

Camille learned after the race that she gets to go to the district meet, as she is one of only two competitors in the 400 meters from her school. Run, girl!

Founder's Day 2011

2011-04-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Founder's Day is here again! This year our theme was Joe Vesus the Volcano. Leslie and Camille both drew some pictures to celebrate:

And we decorated the house. Then we took the kids swimming, in honor of Joe spending a good deal of his movie at sea.

Dinner included very large orange sodas.

And after the swimming and the food, we found that we were all pretty tired out! So we watched the movie and ate yummy banana carmel desserts.

Nineteen years! Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Conference Weekend

2011-04-25T01:36:00.000-07:00

Early in April we made a trip to Idaho to see my parents. Conference is always so fun when we are together! Some cute pictures of the kids:

This is Sunday morning session, Grandma put down little pillows for the grandkids to sit on,

And gave them each a lollipop. Smart grandma! Did I mention, it was so good to be together?!

Spring Art Show

2011-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Camille and Leslie both have art in the show at their jr. high. And they both have ribbons on some of them! Wow! What I want to know is how did this mother who cannot draw a decent stick figure, get so many talented artists? I don't know how to help them, they get no where with me, but I do try to keep supplies in the house....that's it, all I got. Anyway, here are the latest masterpieces:

Camille's Mask. I just have to say that this really deserved 1st place, it was such a complete treatment!

I believe this assignment was called a tessellation. Also by Camille. (She refers to this as Buff Birds)

Twittering machine.

This finishes Camille's entries.

Here are Leslie's:

Leslie's metal embossing (tin head, as it is known around here). Nice work, sis!

This complimentary yellow and purple paper globe is Leslie's too.

Leslie's final entry is an Aboriginal dot painting.

Everyone is Growing Up.

2011-03-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today I am sitting down to document some milestones. Jacob has been hard at work for a few intense weeks at a commercial driving school and now has his license! He is pretty stinkin' excited.

Camille has been practicing with the track team and runs in her first track meet today. She is running some distance races, she has the long legs for it!

Caleb has earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light and has his first activity as an eleven year old scout today, a five mile hike and compass course! Wa-hoo! (I love scouting!)

March has been so stressful that I'm not sad to see it go. Survived it. Yes.

Soccer is starting for Caleb, Ethan and Miriam and will run until June, so no rest for the weary. :)

The Last Few Weeks

2011-03-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

We have not fallen off the face of the planet, just off the part of the planet's face which is the internet. Here are some photos to fill you in on the last few weeks.

Ethan and Seth boasting some soap bubble beards. These are a tradition at our house, made legendary when Caleb brought home a Level 2 note (one that must come home and be signed by parents for breaking school rules) which read: Caleb came out of the bathroom with a soap bubble beard. It had the opposite effect than they hoped for, we laughed our heads off that this was a Level 2 offense.

This picture holds a soft spot for me. Caleb having his first lesson in tying his own tie, from Dad and Jacob. I love the uniform of the priesthood and my boys learning to wear it.

We had a fun visit from our good friends the Medleys. A likely group--they played and played together.

Seth wore this cute leprachaun hat home from preschool. Happy St. Patrick's day! In other news, the winds of change are constant and we have, for many reasons, decided to bring Caleb and Ethan home to do their schooling here for a time. Wish us luck in this new, exciting challenge.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

This year we did it. I always grumble about how much Valentine's cards cost for a kid to then bring them home, scatter them all over my floor and I throw them away for a week. This year we made our own. Leslie and I turned out the 100 + cards required for my elementary kids in about an hour. We used the crazy non-descipt pinks and purples from my cardstock and had a fun time doing it. I am not sure what the kids at school will think, but I'm not sure they will care. Any way, saved some money, had some laughs. Proof is in the pictures.

Other happenings from this weekend, Jacob built Rex a dog house. We are glad to have it finished. Rex likes it (phew) but so does someone else.

See the feet? The really black ones? Ethan took a nap with Rex in the doghouse yesterday. Rex was in doggy heaven to have company at his new digs. Mom was a bit disturbed, but boys will be boys. :)

Camille's Birthday

2011-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are a bit behind, but that is standard and shouldn't worry anybody. Camille turned 13 at the end of January! She is very excited to be joining the ranks of the teenagers.

Opening presents, always a hit. The toddler phone on the table next to her is her gift from Seth. :)

Too bad the photo is dark. This is what Camille asked for for her birthday. The request went some thing like this: "Mom, what I really want for my birthday is a yellow flouncy dress." And was delivered about 48 hours before the birthday. Usually the timing isn't a problem, I shop the day before or the day of the children's birthdays quite often, but this request was different. In January, the stores do not have yellow flouncy dresses. They have black, dreary leftovers that weren't special enough to be sold at Christmas time. So Leslie and I went to JoAnns and found this fun yellow with white daisies with blue centers fabric and the gorgeous trim. And I was sewing like crazy right up until time to actually sit down to dinner and open presents. Ugh. But she likes it. Mission accomplished. Phew. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Ready for the Dance

2011-01-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

Regional dances are one of Leslie's favorite things. This is her looking fabulous and ready for another night of music and friends.

More Classic Seth

2011-01-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

Seth has a girlfriend. She is imaginary, but wow, what a woman! Seth tells us things about her all the time. Yesterday while I was driving, this was the conversation:
Seth: "My girlfriend has a monster truck."
Mom: "Oh, really?"
Seth: "Yeah, she has a pink monster truck. She built it. It has pink paint."
Mom: "Cool."

At the dinner table last night, Seth was wearing his new, green Christmas cape, the one with the Sandra Boynton animals on it. Nathan said, "Seth, will you say the prayer?" Seth replied, "You mean Batman?" Nate has been around the block several times as a daddy, he didn't miss a beat, he said, "Batman, will you say the prayer?" And Batman did. :)

Seth's Lunch Order

2011-01-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

Seth is getting old enough to be mischievous. Today when I asked him what he wanted for lunch he said, "Dirt...and paper, and guacamole."
I said "Eewww, that doesn't sound very good!" and he grinned and added to his order:
"and hair, and belly button lint."

I guess everything tastes better dipped in guacamole!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

My sister in law was telling me about their Christmas morning and how nice it was, they awoke at eight, watched each other open each gift and it extended over a long time, and was just pleasant. I have to just smile and nod. That sounds nothing like Christmas morning at this house! I think holiday arguments start in your childhood. Someone from that home, marries some one from a home like ours, and you have disaster before the wedding ever took place! The McAllisters in this house have a general gift free-for-all that begins around 6 a.m. and lasts for about 20 minutes tops, tearing the wrapping off everything in site and yelling to each other to congratulate on each new present. Spontaneous celebrations take place helter skelter and mom dives in and out with a camera, taking bad angles of everything that appears promising. Wrapping paper piles about our ankles and small children plaintively hold up their gift with the armor-plated packaging for assiatance in vain until all the unwrapping is accomplished. Here, then, are some of the bad angles we wanted to highlight.

In the beginning, the children check out their stockings and all is still quiet and controlled.

Unwrapping begins in earnest.

Some dancing to music provided by the "Rescue Pack."

General excitement and good will abound.

Seth's new puppy, his name is of course, Rex.

Party just heating up....

Look at that floor!

Jacob grinning about getting the Planet Earth series. Ethan trying the heft on his METAL baseball bat. Last year he wanted a baseball bat and Santa was dense enough to get plastic, so this year his request was very specific. :)

Nathan with all his long missed, stinky cheeses, olives and salami.

O' Yeah. Nerf fest!

Super Seth.

All is right with the world. We had a marvelous Christmas morning. Hope yours was as festive!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Who Wouldn't Go?

2010-12-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

Today Seth's preschool class had a special visitor. I think this is Seth's first experience up close and personal with Santa. He was a little shy, but not enough to keep him away. He told Santa he wanted a Batman mask. Santa told Seth that he was a Batman fan too. :)

It was interesting to me to be in the classroom with the children. Santa had a gift for each of them and would call them up by name. "Atticus", he called out (a good, strong-sounding name, I thought). But where was Atticus? Clinging to his mother's neck at the back of the room, not willing to get closer than 15 feet from the red suit. Other children were sweet to watch. One little girl was so trusting, just like Santa was an old friend, went to the front with awe and belief so prevalent in her face it made me get teary eyed. What a precious thing! Such trust and belief are fleeting in childhood, I just wish I could hold on to that for my children a little longer. Merry Christmas, Seth! And all of my children, big and small. I can't wait to spend another holiday with you. You fill all my days with joy!

Sledding, and Other Happenings

2010-12-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

I'm not even sure where the time has gone since Thanksgiving! I did make it home to Idaho for a visit with my family. The children and I faced the slick roads alone, and the longest time it has ever taken me to make the trek. We spent an hour and a half between Fort Hall and Idaho Falls! But it was worth it! Good to see family and wonderful to go black Friday shopping with my sisters and Diane! We left Dubois at 3 am to be at Target in Idaho Falls by 4! We hit 12 stores and started the drive home at about 1 pm. Crazy and fun and good deals! We were able to join Natalie's family for Dallin's baptism and I saw my aunt Vonda there. She is one of my favorite people. :) Nathan stayed home to work on homework and have Thanksgiving with his family. We missed him and he missed us, but Rex was glad to not be left entirely marooned.

After Thanksgiving came my birthday. But Miriam had oral surgery that day and I'm not even sure where my birthday went! A bit sad, really. I was remembered by several friends and that was nice. And I treated myself to Death By Chocolate cake which makes everything alright. Miriam was swollen for 3 days and we didn't even get any photos! Poor thing, but now she is back to feeling well and it is all behind us. (If you are interested, she didn't grow several of her baby teeth and made up for it by forming extra permanent teeth, so now that she has had 6 teeth extracted, she should be left with something our orthodontist can work with. :)

Now I find myself in the midst of Christmas! Camille's band concert was last week and we have attended two Christmas parties at the church. I think I am just about finished with the shopping. Phew! It is always a big sigh of relief when that part is over. Now I am still working on a few gifts that I am making, then will come the FOOD! (Guess which part is my favorite?)

Last Saturday we took a few minutes to go sledding at the park with the kids. We had a nice time. I only traversed the hill once and then insisted on staying at the bottom to take pictures. :)

Jake and Caleb make a train.

Leslie with her braids flying!

Another train, quite popular this season.

Jake and Seth

Seth and Nathan

Ethan was afraid to get on the sled, so he would slide down the hill on his bum. Ouch!

No photos of Miriam and Camille because they went out before us, and were ready to come in before we arrived. Just imagine them at home making cocoa.

Photographer. Disheveled, splotchy, but for the record, I was there. :)

Jake and Rex and the Snow

2010-11-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that Jacob aspires to be an Arctic explorer, or something almost as adventurous. He has been sleeping out in the back yard in a tent for two weeks now, and last night was the first snow on the tent. This is what it looks like this morning:

I'm just glad the tree didn't drop that limb on him! He says he slept quite well. We have a foot of new snow this morning and there is much rejoicing.

Rex seems particularly fond of the snow. Jake will make a snowball and throw it for Rex to fetch. Rex tears off after it, and then has to nose around in the snow trying to find it. :) Cute dog.

Best Friends Forever.

All I want for Christmas.....

2010-11-17T05:37:00.000-08:00

Ethan lost two front teeth just the other day. I noticed that the two new teeth behind had actually surfaced already, so Ethan started wiggling and Jacob helped pull the loose ones. The toothfairy, showing rare punctuality, came through with a dollar. Now, to convince Ethan that what he really wants for Christmas is teeth. :)

Soccer 2010

2010-11-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

We haven't had any kids in soccer since Jake played when he was 9 (seven year break). So, this year we were excited to find a league just our speed and Caleb, Miriam and Ethan all played. Their last game was on Saturday, and Leslie took photos to remember the season.

This is Ethan. His team is called the Tigers.

Here the Tigers are trying to remember which goal is theirs. :)

Miriam played on a team with a lot of other little girls her age. She had a great time. Their team was called the Panthers.

Miriam is in the center. She can really run and is quite competitive at heart. Fun to watch her play.

This is Caleb in an action shot (far right).

His team was the Burnt Marshmallows. They were one of only two teams in this age group, so they battled each other every week. This is saying "Good Game" to the Orange Crush.

All the kids had a great time and we enjoyed cheering for them.

Now we take a break until spring! Phew!

Volleyball

2010-11-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

Camille and Leslie have been playing volleyball this fall with the girls from our ward. Last night was the last game, but the first one I was able to watch. They are great girls! Photo highlights follow:

Way to go, girls!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Carving pumpkins

Ethan and pumpkin

The crew. Jake stayed home to give out candy, but this was his costume for the big school Halloween dance. Jake is a Man in Black, Leslie a pirate, Camille and Miriam are both the Dread Pirate Roberts. Caleb is The Doctor (Doctor Who?). Ethan the vampire and Seth is Batman.

We had a visit from Grandma McAllister this year, she was the Paper Bag Princess. (A story I adore.)

Much candy was pilfered, many unsuspecting citizens frightened, and we were all pretty happy about it. :)

Seth Goes to School

2010-10-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Taylorsville High School has a preschool program where the students learn about child development and teaching young children. Historically, this is my favorite kind of preschool for my children. Not too serious, just some structure and some fun. Seth started preschool this week. I am not emotional about my youngest going to school unless you count the dawning realization that I could potentially have two hours to myself a couple times a week and that makes me ecstatic. :) (I say potentially, because Ethan was a preschool dropout. So you never know.)

Seth's First Day of Preschool

Seth and his buddy Michael. The second day of preschool was a Halloween party. The kids were able to wear their costumes and parade around the school for teachers and high school kids to appreciate their cuteness. They also did a bit of trick or treating. Please take a moment with me to appreciate Seth's costume for what it really is: A too-small T-shirt with the batman logo combined with a cape from the dress up box and Seth is convinced he is Batman. He zooms around in the cape and convinces most on-lookers, I am sure. To me, I love how a suggestion of a costume transforms a child in their own mind, becoming their reality for a moment. Childhood is precious. What I am learning over time is that we are all still in there, the little child in our heart still loves a good Batman shirt once in awhile, can still appreciate the whoosh of the chocolate as it cascades from the trick or treat bag onto the floor. I'm grateful for my children who allow me to still enjoy Halloween.

Field Trip to the Zoo

2010-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Ethan's class went to visit the zoo this week and I was a chaperone. We had a good time. Here are a few photos.

This is my personal favorite. Ethan is generally a head taller than all of his classmates. Grow, big guy!

Mother Daughter

2010-10-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Miriam and I went to the Mother Daughter party for her activity day girls. It was a fiesta, and so fun with wonderful food! Here are some pictures:

Conga Line

Friends

A Pinata (the girls decorated this cute box)

So fun to be together! Love you, Miriam!

Employment Update

2010-10-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Nathan is still looking for a job. We have several, actually, but none of them come with a salary. :) We want the kind that does. And benefits too. Things are looking hopeful, there has been more interest in him lately, and some big construction projects have been awarded in our area, so we'll see. I hope it comes soon, as we are weary of the situation and battle the depression demons and insecurity more than anything. In all of this, we still have been greatly blessed. This round of unemployment has taught us a lot about being on the receiving end of charity. We have found so many loving people around us and we have been humbled at their goodness. We are thankful for prayers in our behalf, money left at our home and food from friends. We are grateful for the things that we need appearing at yard sales or in bags of hand me down clothes. I am glad for visits at just the right times or phone calls to listen and support us. We feel eternally blessed by our families and friends.

Nathan is plowing through his master's program too. That has been a stretch to go back to school, and I think he is brave. He is also very excited about all of the things he is learning. We hope it will be an investment in the future.

I am pooped. I feel most days like the coyote on the roadrunner show as he falls off cliffs trailing little puffs of smoke or gets flattened by stray steam rollers. The stress has affected my sleep, my waistline, my house, my interactions with the children and my marriage. I wish it all over with. But I know that all change, even good change, comes with stress. There are debts to pay this time and the process of digging out of this mess will be long, no matter what. We are changed by it all. I hope we will do good things with the change in perspective--that it makes us more loving and charitable too. There are direct debts of gratitude that I'm not sure we will ever be able to pay, but maybe sometime we can help someone else.

Rex

2010-09-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

While Jake was gone this summer, I was in his room for something and noticed his year goals posted on the wall. Goal #1 for 2010 was to "Sweet talk Dad into getting a dog." I showed it to Nathan and we both had a smile. But, after some communication, the thing is done. Sweet talking worked and we are the new proud owners of a springer spaniel we found at the humane society. We didn't think we would find a dog so soon! But after spending a couple of hours with this sweetheart, we had to have him.

His name is Rex and he is about 11 months old. He has some doggie manners to learn, but Jake's big desire is to train this dog, and so far, he is doing well. Rex has a bunch of energy, but is calm around children and new people, no watch dog here, (well, he might lick you silly). We just feel very fortunate and excited.

I know this isn't a good picture with the flash, but if you can see the smiles on these faces, you know it was worth it. Welcome, hairy hound!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

The children and I spent Labor Day at Jake's home away from home: Mill Creek Canyon. (Seriously, the guy knows it like his hand!)

The weather was gorgeous and the kids played and hiked and we ate a picnic lunch.

Playing in the creek.

Leslie

Seth--This is his "office". His name for this spot. He spent a great deal of time playing with sticks here.

Caleb

Miriam

Camille

Jake

Ethan

Jacob took Caleb and Ethan on quite the hike, a mile in, build a survival shelter, a mile out. They were pooped! And happy. So often these go together with boys, wear them out and they are fulfilled.

We also had family here for a visit on Saturday and Sunday, Nathan's mom, my parents and Ryan and Natalie's family were here as Jacob was ordained a priest. This is a pleasant lunch with cousins!!! Cousins are one of our favorite things!

The Genius

2010-09-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Last week my microwave died. Are you kidding me? We cannot afford to replace my under the counter one right now, so I entered a plea on my local freecycle. I had a call that same day, saying yes, there was a microwave available, come and get it. I had quite the time finding the house. It was on a road called Shooting Star Ave. I found Galaxy Drive, and Comet Way, so I was sure I was warm, but no. An hour later, I am still hunting for the shooting star and have to stop by a gym and ask for a phone book to look it up. (All the while thinking how stupid I was to not have looked it up before I left home....) Finally, among streets with names like Thornbird lane and Elm street, I found the Shooting Star and headed back home, where I knew I was missing Caleb's end of summer pack meeting...

The man that carried the microwave to my car told me it was easily as old as he was. He looked about 28. I told this to Leslie as pack meeting was wrapping up, and her first question was, "Is it wood-paneled?" Yes. Home to un-pack our free microwave and give it a home on the counter, we find it has a name. Look closely:

The Genius. It has become a new household joke. Going to heat this up in "The Genius". I love this quirky old thing for coming to save the day. I love zapping and nuking my food. It is fun when the blessings come with a bit of humor thrown in.

Check!

2010-08-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yay! Checking a couple of things off that summer list, and feeling so much better! The children and I went to Bear Lake despite some serious opposition.

Thursday morning I bottled plum sauce, plum juice, and made pulp for jam. Leslie picked the green beans and they were cleaned and put in the fridge for another day. We took Jake to pick up his schedule and his retainer. Camille attended "Sevie day" (for the 7th graders) at school, and we loaded the car. Children were actually sitting in the car, when Leslie became sick to her stomach. Please!!!!! Can this not be happening! (Stinkin' McDonalds). We gave her stomach a few hours to settle, and then headed into the evening, Jake driving on the freeway for the first time, mom hanging on to the car door and her sanity for dear life! Jake did well with the driving. We stopped a couple of times for sick Leslie and I took the wheel to drive up Logan Canyon. (Now everyone else is hanging on to something...winding road through the dark, deer and cattle on it!!!!) We arrived at 10:30, where Dave and Tiffany greeted us graciously. Everyone crashed into bed and sleep. But 2 hours later, Seth decided he was ready to go home. Scared of the new surroundings, he and I spent a very sleepless night, one I do not want to repeat soon. But finally, Friday dawned.

The children played in the pool while we prepared for lunch and the lake, and then we spent one absolutely heavenly afternoon under the most gorgeous blue sky, playing in the sand and the water, hot-dogging on a wave runner and getting sunburned. It was a perfect gift. So needed, as I finally feel like I can let go of this summer and move forward. We came home to a few ripe tomatoes too, so all is complete. They can go back to school and I will be content.

Caleb dug in the sand most of the day, an engineer with a medium to manipulate, he was in a state of bliss. Not in the photo, but usually by his side in all endeavors is his cousin Jonathan. They are great friends.

Ethan coming back from a triumph on the wave runner, feeling like quite the man. Uncle Dave was the greatest to take Ethan to pick up the wave runner, thus being the first to have a turn. :)

Bathing beauty.

Miriam is playing dead on the beach. Cousin Bethany is looking more alive.

Jake as a mermaid, note the tail and the clamshells :) Cousins in charge of the art work behind are Naomi and Caroline.

Seth, on the beach, towing Jake in on the inner tube, Leslie in the background. Leslie just lived in the water. She is a fish and can't seem to get enough of it!

Thank you, thank you, Dave and Tiffany! We had so much fun! And, of course, after wearing him out on the beach, and deciding the natives of the house were friendly, Seth slept for 12 hours the second night! Phew!

Jacob drove us all the way home, through Evanston. He even navigated Parley's Canyon with the semis. Ohhh, I am going grey fast, but we are safe, burned, sleepy and happy.

Summer Summary

2010-08-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

We picked Jacob up from the airport late on Aug. 6th. The National Scouting Jamboree lived up to his expectations as a once in a lifetime opportunity. We hear about it a little at a time, but he had a great experience. He left us again to go white water rafting on Monday the 9th in the Tetons. Obviously he loved that too! It has been a summer so full of adventure for him, he really is having a tough time being home. We like having him back, however. And tomorrow, he is scheduled to have his braces off!

We also just came home from our family camping trip for the summer, known in other circles as the Ward Camp Out. :) Gone for less than 24 hours, we still feel we had the full experience. The kids got to pitch and sleep in tents, we played games, ate yummy hot dogs, enjoyed great company. Nathan and I slept under the stars. Well, we tried to sleep, anyway. A few bug bites, Jake and kids caught crayfish and we arrived home pooped and dirty. Also infected with a vicious stomach flu. Ahhh, camping. :)

Now we are staring "back to school" in the face. All of the children are anxious to get back to routine and friends. I am fine with that, but all of the registration hoops have me hopping right now. I also miss them when they go back! This year it will just be me, and Seth all day. Wow, time flies. Seth is enrolled in a preschool that will start soon too. It is two days a week, about 3 hours a day. I think it will be fun for him to have a school to go to too, as he feels a bit left behind.

I am running out of summer and I feel a bit deprived of some summer things. Maybe I'll try to fit some of them in this week. We haven't been to Bear Lake as a family, and Nate's school will mean that we really won't get there all together, but maybe the children and I will venture. I haven't had one ripe tomato from my garden!!! Ugh. And, we have not been to a rodeo. Maybe we'll go to the one at the state fair. I have sent children out on 12 different camping excursions, we have played in the pool on the front lawn, and a few times at the big outdoor pool, we have enjoyed walks in the sunshine and visits with friends on the lawn, we have shared some cookouts. This summer has been full of good things, I shouldn't complain.

In fact, this summer has brought to pass one of my long term dreams!!! I yard sale all summer to help keep us in clothing without the big price tag. Last week, we held a yard sale and made $55. I love trading old junk for money. But the best part is, that around the corner from us, another yard sale was selling this:

It was $50. I traded my junk for three burners + a side burner with a removable griddle, and it had a tank of propane already attached. We brought it home and fired it up! I'm in BBQ heaven!!! I have been looking for one of these for 4 years now! I'm feeling spoiled and blessed. :) So, you know, back to school BBQ at my house!

Tonight's Dinner Conversation

2010-08-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Child 1: "Ethan, you don't even know what a hippie is!"
Ethan: "Yeah, I do. They are those ugly guys that hop around alot!"

Sharing the smile.

Grandma T-Shirts

2010-07-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

My mom sent the children t-shirts this summer, some that she made, and others that she cut out for me to finish. I am still working on the ones for Jake and Leslie, but here are the new shirts so far! Thanks, Grandma Jake!

Quirky Bits

2010-07-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Our Mitsy missed the girls so much while they were gone at camp. She would wander the house and cry to be played with and petted. When they returned, a couple of tired girls dumped their gear in the doorway and Mitsy made herself comfortable on it, glad they were back. We missed them, but it sounds like Heber camp was great!

Also a story from Seth who is 3: Yesterday evening, he told me he had a "Good Plan". "What is your plan?" I asked. "Tomorrow I will wake you up, and I will tell you to make brownies, and you WILL!" came the cute answer. I put my hand up to slap him five and as he turned to go, I heard him say, "Good plan."

And They're Off!

2010-07-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

This morning we sent off to great adventures my three oldest children. Leslie and Camille are off to Heber girl's camp. This is the 6:45 a.m. footage.

Have a great time! They will not be missing us.

Then, later it was time for the long awaited Jamboree departure. Jake has been saving to do this for 3 summers now. All of the boys were super excited.

Much clowning.

Jake's Patrol. Our troop mascot (if you will) is the purple streamliner racing car. All the patrols are named after auto parts. This is the wiper patrol. :)

Here is the group. 36 boys, 4 leaders, watch out world!

They're on their way!

Jacob Doesn't Really Turn 16, But We Feed Him Cake Anyway

2010-07-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Jacob has been away from us for so many birthdays! That is what you get for being born during scout camp season! This year Jake will turn 16 at the National Scouting Jamboree, but we wanted to celebrate before he left.

Getting ready to play big bad wolf (I'll Huff and I'll Puff....)

Camera for the trip, so there will be lots of photos for all of us who must stay behind and be jealous! Love you, Jacob!

A Demise

2010-07-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Camille has a Plantar's wart. At least we think so. Her dad wants to haul her to the doctor to have it dealt with, but Camille has heard that some warts go away if buried in the backyard. We are giving her a week to see if this will work. Thus, there was a unique funeral in my backyard recently. Highlights:

Mourners gather.

A few words were said....

Markers placed. Now we wait and see. :)

Like a Chicken with My Head Cut Off

2010-07-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where time is going. I am running here, there, every where. Each time I turn around, my kitchen looks like the dishwasher has vomited and my living room floor is covered in a new form of outdoor/construction element by a new crop of little boys. Jacob is home from Idaho. We are trying frantically to get all of the gear he needs for his BIG JAMBOREE TRIP. He has been saving for this for 3 years now and we are here in crunch mode, getting ready for it. We are both so excited (yeah, me too) our heads might explode. (Maybe they already did, maybe that is why I'm acting like I don't have one.)

When I slow down enough to notice, my cute kids are all in front of some kind of electronic device way too often. Maybe we need an unplugged week. I haven't clipped coupons for two weeks, much less done any "good" shopping. I also feel lame because I should be getting my visiting teaching done and my reports in for church. Everything take a number. "Yes, your number really is 212, just wait!"

The trouble with all the running is that I keep looking behind me to see if something is actually getting accomplished. It seems that no, nothing much is back there. I had a serious round of depression the last week of June/first week of July, but that didn't accomplish anything. June was made up of youth conference and Brighton camp for Camille and a week-long scout camp for Jake. We keep passing around the bug repellent, sunscreen, etc. Out of one duffel bag and into the next. The kids all had a great time! I'm so thankful for their youth leaders and all of their sacrifices!

I did love our visit to the McAllisters over the 4th. We went on Friday night for a movie and a sleepover. Uncle Jared has a nifty projector, so we watched The Great Race on the wall, ate 12 quarts of popcorn, stayed up most of the night with one child or another, then woke up to Grandma Irene's incredible oatmeal pancakes. We spent most of the next sleepy day together around puzzles with the children playing Little People in the cool basement. It was nice to be together.

Yesterday I woke up to be first in line for a free haircut. Oh, yeah! I needed that!!! Feeling like I lost 10 lbs. (of hair). Then Miriam off to achievement days, a round of kids out the door to the orthodontist's free Raging Waters party. Jacob's massive (serious, you could fit a body in it) duffel bag packed with all the stuff to ride across the country in the semi for the Jamboree. Nate working on homework, frozen burritos for dinner and off to my Espanol class, Nate to his Sustainable Development class, Jake off to gather with his troop for bag check. Home to the exploding house. Nate off to help his mom, with some home repairs (yes, late at night). Pick up and vacuum the living room while brothers and sisters tuck in my littlest ones, then dishes until almost midnight. Whew! When you schedule a child, you also schedule the mom. Did I mention the stream of children in and out to play all day and the sweet visits I had from some friends that make the day slow down a bit, so I can smile? I am grateful for my busy life. I may have to wait a few years until I can look back and see the progress. I think it is a work of many days accumulated, but we are accomplishing it a little at time.

Nathan has been waiting to hear about results of his job application with IMS Masonry. He feels like he had a good interview with them. He got perfect scores on the series of tests they had him take, and now he is waiting on reference checks. It is a pins and needles business. There are two other men in the running. Do they have families praying for this job too? It is a bit heart breaking in our industry. So many men with such a wonderful set of skills, sitting on the bench. We hope to hear back soon. Maybe even today. When I think about it, I can't really get my hopes up, too devastating if the answer is No. Just breathe.

Almost 8 a.m. and the house is still quiet. My dishes are clean, if I put them away before breakfast, I can sit in a clean kitchen for a few minutes. That would be nice. "Now taking number 209!"

Leslie and a Day Out

2010-07-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

Leslie was feeling a little lonely last week, as Jake and Camille were both away for adventures, so Grandma McAllister kindly consented to watch children all afternoon for Leslie and I to have a day out. We had a great time! Visited a shop called 10,000 Villages where artists from developing countries sell their wares. Beautiful jewelry and other hand work on display. Then we went to an amazing quilt shop where I was blown away by the detail and talent put into the quilts on the walls. Visited a quirky boutique, Deseret Industries, Old Navy and others. Leslie found some new clothes and I found a new vision. It has been so long since I have been out shopping! I found myself looking over my shoulder for the "What Not to Wear" people! I am pretty behind on things.... It was also good for me to see what people are doing with their talents. It was inspiring. We finished up with a meal at Panda Express (one has to have Chinese food!) and then home, tired feet, happy smiles. Thanks for a wonderful day with you, Leslie, and thanks Grandma for making it possible!

Dutch Oven Shin-dig

2010-06-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went up Millcreek Canyon for a Dutch oven dinner with the McAllisters. We had a great time and some Awesome food! Here are some pictures of the festivities:

The Man Camp (Rick, Jared, Seth, Nathan)

Martha and her girls and Jake

Paul did the cooking, check out that three oven stack and the bravery of doing it all in flip flops! :)

And there were smores! Martha and Tiffany brought up these mega marshmallows called Campfire, they were like eating 4 marshmallows in one! They were delectable when roasted, Ethan doesn't seem to mind them burned!

Tiffany and Nelda visiting. Tiffany was brave and brought all her children up, even though Dave was out of town! Superwoman!

You can't see it very well, but this is Grandma arriving! The kids all ran to mob her. She is very loved.

We also celebrated Heather's birthday while we were together. Heather treated us all to cake (that is probably backwards, we should have treated her to cake, but she is generous!). The bummer is, that I got so involved in food prep that I have no photos of the birthday girl, and she was looking so nice, too. Love you, Heather! Happy Birthday!

Ethan Turns Six!

2010-06-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

The big guy is getting bigger! Ethan turned six on Monday. We had a fun family party for him, one with a few friends to come later. He got just what he wanted:

Markers!

I love it when they are young and their wants and needs are relatively simple! Happy Birthday!

Monument and Memories

2010-06-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

They set the headstone this week for Dad McAllister's grave. (The wind took the flowers over, stinkin wind!) It is a beautiful stone. Irene had it designed to make sense of all the graves around it, which are all family graves. She had this pedigree chart put on the back showing how everyone fits together.

Now visitors there will be able to place where their ancestors fit in the pedigree. I am glad to see a marker here. We really miss Dad. I'm so glad for a testimony of the Savior and the gospel, it has helped as we have mourned.

Legos

2010-06-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Caleb made a lego tower today to show off. He and his friend took the photos.

He likes this shot, because the tower looks taller than the mountain. I'm sure Caleb will grow up to be an engineer of some sort!

This photo of Seth came in with the lego bits. Smile, you're on camera!

Survivors

2010-06-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day was one of the best I can remember. We visited the cemetary with my parents and my grandparents to decorate Jacobson and Ashment graves.

Then we went to Swan Valley and participated in all the festivities with all the cousins. It was great to see my cousins and meet their children. Good to see my aunts and uncles, and especially my grandparents. It is not very often that I do, and they are such neat people! We travelled back home through Wyoming and enjoyed the scenery. (At least we tried to, as much as 9 people in a car for 5 hours can...)

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, disappeared in a blur of end-of-year activities all supported by mom. We will not discuss personal hygiene or state of the house here. Sufficient to say that the first load of laundry for the entire week went in on Friday. For my washer, it was probably the equivalent of going on vacation in the Bahamas. This photo is Camille's back as she receives her Presidential Excellence (or some fancy name like that) Award. Good job, Camille! We lived through it all! Survivors of the last week of school. Just thought you'd like to know.

Ethan Graduates!

2010-05-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

Ethan graduated from Kindergarten this week! He was so cute in his hat, but he hated it, and scowled in his program anytime he would think about it being on his head. :) I wanted to take pictures afterward with his hat, but he didn't want that, so this is what I have:

Does it remind you of Calvin and Hobbes? WE LOVE YOU ETHAN!! WAY TO GO BUDDY!

Leslie Turns 14

2010-05-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Leslie is getting really old!!!

Fourteen to be exact.

When I asked her what she wanted me to say about it, she said, "I have pink toenails."

Gotta celebrate some way!

A Visit to the Cemetery

2010-05-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we had early meetings, and took advantage of the afternoon to make a trip to the Salt Lake City Cemetery. This is an old pioneer cemetery, and Nathan and I both have ancestors buried here. It was a great opportunity to talk with the children about the past. I really enjoy cemeteries. I can feel that they are sacred places, this one is great.

Jake and Leslie using crayon rubbing to decipher this old stone.

Grave of Richard Wesley McAllister and his wives and several children.

The latest McAllister family photo. :)

Smelly Feet

2010-05-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

A bit of a zany morning today, must be Friday. Seth insisted on a big dill pickle for breakfast, Miriam had leftover soup. Seth and Miriam called me in to check out their robot:

One with angry eyes and a mustache, the other is their happy face robot.

But what I've really come to talk about is feet! Have any of the rest of you noticed that the soft glow emanating from a computer monitor or television hypnotizes children into taking their socks off? Any time I start to get complaints that someone can't find socks, I glean from under the computer desk and around the TV armloads of socks. This malady seems to be no respecter of age or gender. They're all there (dad's too.) But, summer is coming!!! I adore the days of slipping into sandals instead of hunting down socks!

My children have developed various survival skills regarding socks. Caleb, for instance, can ruin a pair of socks in two hours time. New, to destroyed. So he is often wanting. His favorite tactic is called Hyena Feet. This means that he puts his shoes on without socks and comes home with feet and shoes smelling like a hyena. Jacob scrounges for any socks in his size. Mine. Dad's. Leslies, if he can stretch them enough. Mismatched are OK too, as long as you can't tell when they are in the shoes. (I must confess, he gets this from me, being a tactic I employ if I can't find matchers for one kid or another.) Most of the other children are not so self sufficient, and whine to mom for help. That is my cue for harvesting socks, sown in laziness. Of course it also signals the end of the school year. Most of my children have no knees left in their jeans, stains on every T-shirt and holey socks. It is a wonder it all doesn't self destruct at once and leave them naked in public!

Come on, summer weather!!! We are running out of socks!

Spiders, Where?

2010-05-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Little boys are made with a bucket of energy, a shovel full of imagination, sprinkle on a sense of humor and stir with a stick. Ethan told this story at the dinner table this week:

"Hey, Dad, I saw a big spider in the bushes, and he crawled on my shoe! And then he crawled up my leg, and on my shirt, and then he crawled right up my nose!"

Nathan gave him the look that says, "You're full of it."

Ethan tips his head to one side and smiles. He knows he's caught, so he replys, "Well, I really did see a spider in the bushes, Dad."

My Latest Project

2010-05-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

About 6 weeks ago, I was asked to submit some writing to the Deseret News because they were looking at starting a cooking blog. I did, and the boss liked my writing, but he was actually leaving the paper for another opportunity, and only wanted recipes to fill a blog to sell for profit. I was not interested in that, but all that thinking about what I would do with a cooking blog wouldn't die, so I started one of my own. It is still in its infancy, but functional enough to introduce it officially. It is called Nine for Dinner, and features recipes, photos, menu ideas and ideas for saving money in the grocery store. It will be better as it gets fleshed out with more content and more ideas, but it is a start. I would like it to be of use to all people trying to feed their families, facing the daily "What's for dinner?" and the weekly grocery budget. If there is any one you think might like to use it, please spread the word. If you like what you see, follow along, or grab a button for your web site! As my family and friends, you will probably recognize some of the recipes there! Thanks for sharing! Thanks also to Nelda for the idea.

Commenting

2010-05-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

To all of my dear comment-leaving friends. Comments will now go to a moderation page, not because of any of you, but some funky spammer has been leaving inappropriate links in my comments. This should allow me to catch them so they don't offend anyone. So sorry! Please, pretty please, still leave comments!!! Thanks, Jenny

Miriam Turns Eight!

2010-05-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

Miriam turned eight years old on May 1st! She is my May Day baby, and I always think she was given the clear May sky for eyes. The exciting thing about this year, is her birthday was on the same day as her baptism.

This is Miriam with her Grandpa Jacobson ready to be baptized. We are so happy for you, Sweetheart!

This is Miriam's cake plus cousins, friends and especially brothers to help her with the very big task of eating it! We are all happy at this point. But there is one sad note to the weekend: remember this guy? My nice new potty is clogged again. Might as well just flush a little boy down it once a year or so. I told Seth after dinner on Friday that he needed a bath. Then I stayed visiting with my parents, until the children began to yell, "Seth's Naked!" He was indeed. He also had a bit of toothpaste on his face, so I went to investigate. He had been busy! My bathtub had been carefully smeared with bright blue, bubblegum toothpaste in a thick layer. Counting to ten, I cleaned it up, and began to fill a tub for Seth, when I realized there was water on the floor, and it couldn't be related to the toothpaste play. I questioned Seth, and he told me he had flushed a bottle from a container of bubbles down the toilet. I have tried, but I cannot reach it. Down again!!! I hate being short on toilets, especially this one, because then the three youngest boys come in my room to use mine. Ugh. Bleah! Any ideas on fixing this one without spending another $150 for a new toilet would be appreciated!

Founder's Day 2010

2010-04-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Founder's Day was yesterday and here are the festivities photos! The theme this year was Rhett and Link, two Internet comedians that my children love. You can check out their particular brand of humor at www.rhettandlink.com. We have showcased the Uni brow Song, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and Corn Holing in our party.

This was a presentation of silly songs in honor of the day. A rendition of "Pants on the Ground" by Ethan, Jake and Leslie. :)

Corn-holing. (Bean bag toss, for those of us not from Iowa, I guess.)

This is the crew sporting their Uni brows for dinner which featured Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. I was not excited to try the combination, but after dinner, I had to admit that Roscoe has something here. Nate isn't in the picture, because he was the only one who didn't have to wear a Uni brow, having successfully produced his own. The mark this anniversary is 18 years. Wow! They say that when two people love each other for a long time, they begin to look alike...

It's true.

Heigh Ho, This is Kermit the Frog

2010-04-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

I love it when Kermit says these words just before going out on Sesame Street to report on the news! Here is our latest news: Caleb started piano lessons 6 months ago and this is his first recital. He played Hoedown and Feres Jacques as a duet with another student. He didn't make any mistakes!
This is a photo of Camille and her friend Jenny. They played their duet together and did well. It was Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka dot Bikini.

Some of you already know that Jacob has been taking a machine shop class in high school. He is a natural at it and enjoys it a lot. This is his latest work of art, it is a meat tenderizer.

We also have new paint on some walls. My main floor bathroom is a beautiful shade of pale lavender and my laundry room is sunny yellow. Nathan has been painting like crazy and my house is looking great! He had an interview over the phone the other day, but wasn't qualified for the position in Salt Lake. He did exchange e-mail addresses with the interviewer so I can teach his wife to coupon shop! :) Only Nathan. He can always make a friend in 2 minutes time. He also has the most exciting and nerve-wracking news: he has been accepted to graduate school and will start pursuing a masters degree in real estate development in the fall. We are going to hold each others hands through this. He really will do well at this, I am sure. In the meantime, he has been doing a kitchen remodel and looking for work. So, Kermit signing off, that is the news, folks!

Easter, etc.

2010-04-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

This year we went to visit Dubois for Easter and conference weekend. It was our first time staying with Mom and Dad in their new little house. It was fun to see the things they chose to have around as they down-sized and how their new home suits them. We were able to see Natalie's family and Shane's. And Cody and Jessica made the long drive to visit with us on Saturday, and then drove back that evening. A particularly touching sacrifice as Jessica is expecting in May, and I'm sure it was hard on her! It was so good to see everyone! The children are all growing so fast! Weather conditions (snowing and blowing--this is Idaho) made it tough to hunt Easter eggs, but that didn't stop us! Aunt Diane had filled a bunch of eggs and the oldest children hid them for the younger children in my parents big upstairs room. This is the twins and Seth in the background hunting their eggs!

It was cute and fun. We enjoyed conference and drove home on bare roads despite the interesting weather. It felt so good to get home. I always get a little homesick.

Spring weather here in Utah has brought out the yard sales! I was driving home from the grocery store on Friday and stopped at an estate sale. Among the computer monitors and ancient rubbermaid I found this sideboard and hutch!

They were covered in contact paper. Leslie counted six different patterns of it! So we pulled and scrubbed and oiled, and now they look awesome in my kitchen! I was super excited. I have wanted storage with some display space for my kitchen for a while, and the price was right, $30.
Also nifty is that Leslie now has the old kitchen shelf in her room, and she is pleased with new storage and a new floor plan in there.

Sugar Cookie Revelation

2010-03-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

I love sugar cookies! They are among my favorites. But the time it takes to roll them is always longer than the time it takes for them to disappear. I hate when the cookies are gone, but you can still smell them!

Yesterday afternoon, I had a cookie attack. I needed cookies NOW!!! So I started flipping through a cookbook, trying to find something that matched my craving, (it is an art to match your craving to the thing you are about to eat) and could be made quickly. From the pages came a beam of light, signalling the ONE! The title: Drop Sugar Cookies. I tremble at the excitement! Could it be possible to have my favorite without the hassle? I had to know! Since I am blogging about it, you can be sure the answer is good!

These are fast, soft and taste perfect. I am a bit of a sugar cookie snob. I like the ones I like, and there can be no substitutes, but this recipe tastes like the genuine article.

Drop Sugar Cookies

3/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract (I used vanilla)

2 eggs

2/3 c. oil

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Mix the sugar, vanilla, eggs and oil until they are uniform color. Add the flour and baking powder, and mix well. The dough will look a bit oily (this worried me, so I share). Drop onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 min. Take them out before the edges brown, they will still look a bit doughy. (Unless you are like my mother and like them crispy, then brown away!) Yield: 2 1/2 dozen. I doubled the batch (of course).

I frosted them with a basic powder sugar icing. Bliss! Nathan and Jacob both preferred them without the frosting, so do what you like. I am just so excited that sugar cookies will be showing up more often around here!

Big Bear

2010-03-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

Last evening was cub scout pack meeting. Pack meeting is for the whole family, and they always have some kind of activity, and give out the awards the boys have earned in the last month. This time the activity was some balloon relay races. In this one, you were supposed to hold one balloon and bounce it against your other balloon to keep it in the air. The kids had to cross the gym and return. Miriam's balloon got away from her at every turn! That is her in the blue shirt. The green balloon in the foreground is the one she is supposed to be chasing. :)

Caleb earned his Bear award and a gold and silver arrow point. When you have a cub scout rank advancement, the final test is whether or not you can pin the pin on your mother. They always tease the boys not to poke mom. Caleb fumbled with the back of the pin and dropped it twice. His leader claimed he had dropsey. :) He is turning 10 this week and will be moving into the Webelos den. We are happy for you, Caleb! Good work!

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2010-03-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

It is spring! The time of year when all little boys get to re-connect with the outdoors. It has always been a source of consternation for me that little boys seem to need so many rocks and sticks. And alot of dirt. It is just part of the growth ritual to bring collections of rocks, sticks for swords, and bits of brick for car garages all into the house. In the spring too, there is always the snow and rain, not enough usually for the kids to stay inside, but enough to make the dirt into mud. That comes inside too. This photo is Ethan and Seth making a snowman in a recent storm. Which reminds me that it is bulging closet season too. When all the coats and all the jackets and all the boots and even some flipflops are all coexisting in the closets. I don't dare put the boots and coats away yet, but the warm weather clothes have a way of filtering in.

Don't get me wrong, I love it when the boys play outside! They have spent the last two weeks digging in our garden spot. They pretend to plant and weed and report on what is growing. Their imaginations have new fodder and they are busy and happy full time. Speaking of imaginations, however, this is what they made in the kitchen last night while I was concentrating on a new dinner recipe:

Seth calls it water soup. They filled these three doll containers with water, and some Ramen noodles they found (I don't want to know where) and the vegetable scraps from the garbage. They were also excited to score the can opener that I had just trashed in frustration, and they borrowed the ever-favorite Turkey Baster. They had a ball. I took the picture to document their cuteness, but now it has got to be cleaned up, ewww, and all that.

A final word on rocks and sticks and boxes and other toys that cost nothing but make the happiest play things...in this world of media and video games, it makes me smile to see the classics being used.

One of Those Days

2010-03-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

You know it is going to be one of those days when the first time you see your reflection is while frantically scraping ice off the Suburban windows. You have a rooster tail. You console yourself that it doesn't really matter, and drive off, into the sunrise. Some days are sillier than others.

Out of the Clear Blue Sky

2010-03-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

I have four broken windows in my basement. Only one was broken in a way that I think would normally break a window--it had a log fall into the window well. The others were all fluke things. A nerf rocket. One broke when Camille tried to put a little suction-cup mirror on the window, her hands went right through! I was so relieved that she wasn't cut! So, we are sure that the glass is brittle and we have had pieces of dry wall covering half of four windows for quite some time now. Repairing them has been something I have wanted, but we haven't been able to afford it with all of the unemployment we have experienced.

Then today dawned. Early this morning, there was a contractor at my neighbor's house. I wondered to myself what she might be having done. Later a small stack of windows appeared, leaning against the contractor's trailer. They were the ones from her basement. Nathan noticed them first, and went to investigate. She was replacing windows with spiffy new ones, and her old ones were destined for the trash, but (and here's the miracle) they fit my basement windows!!!! Nathan was able to replace 3 of the 4 without any headaches, just pull and plug. The fourth window is different, but now that he has it all pulled apart, he is off to the glass place to buy a new pane, and we will have light once again! I am ecstatic!

It is the specific miracles that remind me how much Heavenly Father is aware of us, and our needs and our desires. I am always humbled when one comes my way. I am so grateful for this one!

Mad-Eye Miriam

2010-02-28T07:18:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday morning, Miriam had a puffy eye, just a little swelling and I suspected pink eye. But, by evening, this is what she looked like! And, despite the smile, she was in a lot of pain. She was given a priesthood blessing, and was comforted for the night, and Wednesday we took her to the doctor. They sent us straight to Primary Children's Hospital, the diagnosis being one that can affect vision if not treated. She had an infection in the lining of her eye socket.
On Thursday they did surgery to drain the abscess.

And this is what she looked like on Friday afternoon, about 24 hours after surgery. They sent us home, because as soon as she felt a little better, she was all over the hospital, making friends with all the nurses and exploring. The team of doctors said they had a hard time keeping her when she acted so well. Now the trick is that she must take six bottles of very stinky, nasty antibiotics over the next 12 days. Miriam says, "It tastes like a camel's butt." (I have to believe her, as it smells like poop.) Jacob just wonders how Miriam knows what that tastes like. :)

We are so grateful for all the phone calls, gifts and love that has been expressed for our little girl over the past few days! Thank you!

Depressing

2010-02-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

What I really don't want to say here is that we are once again un-employed. But this is true. So we are back to looking for new work. This is three years in a row that we will spend February and probably some months following unemployed. Sigh.

Camp Tracy

2010-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

Some of you will recall that Jacob worked at Camp Tracy with the Webelos Wilderness program this last summer. A few months ago, Jake mentioned that he would like to work at the camp again this winter. The next I heard about it, he had an interview! (Way to hustle, boy!) He was accepted to work with the cub scouts, and maybe a weekend with the boy scouts when they were really busy. He is two full years younger than the other staff members, so we understood this arrangement. However, after the first "busy" weekend, Leaders discovered that Jacob has some special qualifications that they like to take advantage of 1) He loves to be outdoors, rain, sleet, hail, Bring It On! 2) He has boundless energy. They can point to a mountain, say, "I want you to hike boys up and down that slope all day. " and Jake says, "Sure." and loves every minute of it. So he has been invited back for several weekends to work with the scout age boys. He has been working the rifle range in the evening and the snow-shoe and skiing trails all morning. He took these photos this weekend.

This is looking down on the camp from a snowshoe trail.Jacob told me that it is tradition for the scouts to retire a flag each weekend at the winter camp. The flag this weekend was a big one. In Jacob's words: "Only three groups of people can retire flags, Mom, the government, the U.S. Military, and the Boy Scouts of America. It took all of us to hold that flag, and my arm hurt from saluting before it was over. We salute the flag as it burns until no part of it is recognizable as a flag." I share this because it is so sweet to me that my son is learning about patriotism, and gets to participate in such a manner. As a mom, I am so grateful for scouting! It is an inspired program, providing needed guidance by dedicated men for growing boys. Marilyn Monroe may sing about diamonds being a girl's best friend, but for me, give me Eagle pins. I want what those boys have gained by the time they bestow that pin on their mother. I want it for all of my boys. It benefits all the people they associate with, all the time. Grow, boys, grow.

Camille's Birthday

2010-01-30T05:05:00.001-08:00

Camille had her 12th birthday this week!! I can't believe how time flys! She made her own birthday cake, designed, baked and decorated. :) It is a garden theme, with chocolate cake to represent dirt, green frosting for grass, yellow "flowers" to hold the candles and gummi worms, you know, for worms.

This is Camille modeling a couple of presents. The pink apron is for her new found love of the kitchen and the cute blue hat was made for her by a girlfriend. Super sweet. She is really excited to join the young women's program. She played in her first basketball game last week and they won. :) Love you, sis! It is fun to watch you grow.

Macho Man

2010-01-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

These are Seth's muscles. He loves to show them off, but if you ask to see his muscles, he will ask you to help him take off his shirt. This way you can truly appreciate these bad guys!!! Funny, adorable boy.

Dangerously Unbalanced Woman

2010-01-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Look closely at the woman in the corner. See her yawn?
See why?

Christmas vacation here was pretty crazy. You know the movie with Chevy Chase where the weird relatives come to visit? We ARE the weird relatives. We spent a lot of time in our Sunday clothes at the funeral, viewing and a family baptism, and just church. The rest of it, we pretty much spent in our jammies. We drank out of bowls alot. I have a bunch of cups, but everyone takes one to their bedroom and then comes back for another, and pretty soon, we are drinking out of bowls. Sigh. Then we take a safari into the bedrooms to find the cups. The wild animal noises are provided by children because I said we would have to CLEAN UP. These are the code words to signal the wild behavior, and loud wailing.

You know the mental and emotional steps you go through anytime you have to defer to someone? I do that constantly. There are enough people in this house, that compromise is the way we function. After I do this for two solid weeks for 7-8 other people, well, lets just say I'm a little crazy right now. I don't care what anyone else thinks, or wants or needs. Talk to the hand! It might have something to do with my Suburban being dirty. You know how you see cars that say "wash me" written in the dirt? Mine says e=mc2 (squared). Caleb keeps writing it. If they were to dig my Suburban up in an archeological site, they would find such layers of detritis that they would dedicate entire teams to deciphering our culture. My family room is a jungle, my laundry looks like Everest. I'm sure I'll get altitude sickness when I tackle that one.

What I am trying to say here, is I need a vacation from the vacation! Monday was back to school. Every one of my kids had an emotional melt down of some sort. So Tuesday was my turn. (We try to take shifts.) I left the kids with frozen pizza for dinner and ran away. Not far, maybe not far enough, but I am back today, and the laundry that I woke up certain to do yesterday is still sitting there. I have more command of myself today, the tic has subsided into a periodic twitch, so maybe it will get done.

I feel bad. I usually welcome the break and the noise and fun of having my kids all at home. I think it is the added sadness and emotional work of comforting everyone that has taken the real toll. It has been hard. I say it here, because I realized last night that I haven't taken opportunity to talk about it much. Nathan has been gone from home alot, to be with his family, which is as it should be. But I haven't talked at length with anyone about my own emotional struggles. Lucky you!

My sister gave me a tile for Christmas that says "The only normal around here is a setting on the washing machine." This is accurate. If you see me in the near future, and my car is clean, and I have my make-up on, congratulate me, for we will have found our new normal for a moment. :)

Christmas Came Just the Same

2010-01-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

These are some photos from our nativity on Christmas Eve. The kids always love to dress up in whatever seems the thing at the moment.
Wise Men (ahem, Women)

I believe Jake was behind the camera, but he started the evening as Mary's donkey. I find I don't really have any good shots of Christmas morning. Things happen so fast, it is hard to tell what is going on! But Santa found us and we enjoyed ourselves. We spent a lot of time with family. We are glad to live close to Nathan's family. And I had visits in December from Shane's family, Natalie's family, my Uncle Duff and his family and a surprise visit from my mom and dad on New Year's eve. Thanks everyone, so nice to see you!

In Loving Memory...

2010-01-05T12:38:00.001-08:00

Nathan's father, Stephen McAllister, passed away on Christmas Eve, early in the morning. A second heart attack proved too much for his diminished reserves. We are sad he is no longer physically with us. We are grateful for the comfort of the gospel. We are grateful for family and love and friendship. It has been a time of sweet reflection on Dad's life and on the beauty of the plan of salvation. Love you, Dad. We will miss you.

Festivities

2009-12-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

We have had all kinds of concerts this year. Leslie had a choir concert, and I attended a marathon sing-around today. But, the photo being posted to represent all of this is Camille's band concert. The performance was actually a bit of a crack-up. The 6th grade band this year consisted of 1 trumpet, 2 saxophones, 1 clarinet, and 5 drummers. All the drummers played all the time. The bass drummer with particular zeal. And he was standing right behind Camille. All the songs sounded like drums. My favorite then, was "Up on the Housetop" because after the kids all sang "Ho, Ho, Ho," Camille's trumpet would sound loud and clear (no drums on this part) "Who wouldn't go?" right on key, right on time. Good job sis! I'm sure you did great on the rest too. Leslie was fun to watch sing. She enjoys it so much, and she sings from her heart. Caleb, Camille, Miriam and Ethan all sang with their classes today. I enjoyed it all, and Seth was a pretty good sport for staying the whole morning in the lunch room. :)

The next photo is from a few days ago. We had a big snowfall, but it was warm enough for the kids to walk home from school. Jacob came running to say, "Mom, come and see Ethan's new pet!" I was worried. Never know what little boys will make into pets, but this is what it was:

The snowball is about twice the size of his head, and Jake had watched him carry it up the road, slowly eating it. Ewww.

This is where the snowball had to live, if it was going to live in the house. The next morning, I found the bowl of water in the TV room. Snowball pets are easy to dispose of when they die. Even easier than goldfish. :)

Blog Block

2009-12-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

Not what you think it is. Not that I can't think of something to say, but one of those times when you have a lump in your throat and you can't. I haven't posted about my father-in-law's heart attack yet, but I need to record a few things so I can move forward.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, my father-in-law had a massive heart attack. The surgeon was able to relieve the blockage in his heart, but Dad had been without oxygen for an undetermined amount of time. He is basically in a coma right now, having sustained damage to some parts of his brain.

His family feels it keenly. There has been much prayer and soul searching, and a kind of endurance mourning. He is not dead, but he is so far from us, that it is painful. A state of limbo where sadness mixes with hope and submission. I wish I were more help. We all do.

I find it hard to carry on with every day life so far. We have socially accepted customs where we mourn if someone dies, but what if you just lose someone's activity and interaction and everything else, except their body? We go back and forth between hope and despair. I watch my sweet mother-in-law, as she sits by his side everyday. Time ticks forward. Christmas is coming. Still the changes we pray for are not yet manifest. His children go to work each day and stop in when they can. The grandchildren pray for him and draw pictures for his room. It is a time to stretch our souls.

I am so grateful for this family that I have married into. I am also grateful for kind words and prayers from extended family and friends. We feel loved as you express sorrow for us, and let us know of your concern and prayers. We love you too. Thank you.

The Elusive Hobo

2009-12-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

You may recall that Caleb was a hobo for Halloween this year. When he told me what he wanted to be, my first thought was, "Yay! that will be easy." and my next thought was, "How did he come up with that?" I still don't know. What I do know is he is pretty interested in hobos. He asked me what a hobo was about two weeks ago, and where he could find one. I tried to explain that hobo is an old word, that we don't use much anymore. People who were once considered hobos, would now be called things like: Homeless, Migrant Workers, Alcoholics, Mentally Ill or Vagrant, therefore, we are more politcally correct, or at least more descriptive in our use of language to name what we used to call hobos. My kids don't buy it. They obviously have a mental picture of what a hobo is, and they are on the lookout for a few. Today, we passed the school crossing guard, a gentleman of advanced years, with a portly tummy wearing a hoodie. Pouring forth from the hood was a gray beard that santa would be proud of. My kids promptly pronounced him a hobo and dissolved into giggles. Caleb announced that he had a friend who had seen a real hobo, and he had asked her mom for money. He is not so sure of Santa, but he seems determined that hobos do exist, and he is going to hunt until he is satisfied.

The kids got out of the suburban at the school and blew me kisses. Then Caleb stretched his arms wide, flexed his hands forward and yelled, "Air hug!" Miriam quickly turned around and sent me one too. I love you, fun, zany children!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today I am posting a poem written by Camille for school this week. She said the assignment was to write a Thanksgiving story, but as she started, it began to rhyme. :) I love that it is accidentally a poem. :) It is illustrated by this good looking turkey, colored and cut out by Ethan in kindergarten.
Happy Thanksgiving from me too. It is one of my favorite holidays.

Thanksgiving

It was almost Thanksgiving,

and sweet thoughts were near,

to have fun with your loved ones

and friends who are dear.

I think that Thanksgiving

is a time to give thanks,

Not a time to be rude or do

rude little pranks,

A time to show loved ones

that always you care.

Not a time to fuss about

clothing or hair.

A time to tell stories

to listen, to learn.

A time to forget

a time not to yearn.

A time to be merry,

be thankful, be giving.

A time to be glad that

we all are living.

A time to be glad

that we live on this Earth,

And multiply more

with each child's birth.

A time to remember

the good times we've had,

And forget all your worries

and times that were bad.

Now friends, I say this to you

with a great deal of care,

Do not think about shopping

or clothing or hair.

Have a jolly Thanksgiving

be happy, be merry.

Have fun with your friends

Bob, Shane, Dick, or Larry.

And even if your friends

don't own just these names

have fun and leave thanks

that always remains.

Miriam is looking forward to singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth", but she really needs three! The tooth fairy just wants a break. :)

Honking

2009-11-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

My kids love to drive to Idaho, because they know that on the wide open interstate up north, if they are lucky, they can get the semi-drivers to honk for them. When ever we go to pass a semi, Seth will shout, "Get your honkers up!" This is the signal for everyone to put their arm in the air and pump it up and down in front of the windows to see if they will be lucky this time. They hate it when the drivers aren't paying attention, or if they are talking on a cell phone. They scream and wave ecstatically for any driver who graces us with a big HONK!!!!

Most of my kids understand that here in the city, the truckers don't use their horns unless they need to. Seth does not. Today we were driving to the elementary school to drop Ethan off for kindergarten. We drove up behind a big Walmart truck, and Seth yelled for the honkers. Ethan tried to explain about the futility of the effort by saying, "Seth we don't honk here. This is America, and in America, we don't honk!" :) I thought all of you still using your horns out there should know.

What you don't know....

2009-11-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

I hide things. All the time. I never dreamed being a mom was such a sneaky business. But it is. It could be that it is just me, I used to hide things as a teenager too, but then, it was for the same reason: I was the oldest, and there were children around.

I hide chocolate. I hide cookies. I hide granola bars, juice boxes and any thing else likely to be wanted for a specific purpose at a later date. It has become very hard to hide food from Jacob. My instinct is to put things up. But he is taller than I am, driven by insatiable hunger, and practiced. He has been finding what I hide for 15 years now.

I hide shock and surprise, disappointment and pain as needed.

I hide very little from Leslie, because she is an observant child, and it is almost impossible to accomplish.

I hide nothing from Nathan because it is unnecessary. He doesn't look for things. He thinks I hide things, but this is confusion, he just doesn't know where it goes.

I hide the TV cable when I think we have had enough for a while.

I hide Christmas and birthday gifts, and sometimes the wrapping paper for the gifts, so it will still exist when it is time to wrap presents. Small boys are drawn to wrapping paper rolls, they like to unroll and destroy the paper, and the gravy is playing swords with the cardboard tube.

I hide vegetables in my baking.

I hide things in my closet and my drawers. If you are one of my children, caught in my closet, you are dead meat, pounded with a mallet.

I hide the clothes kids have grown out of, but will be mad that they need to go to a new home. I take them out of the wash each time I fold clothes. I hide this from the children too. They do not know there is a pile named Confiscate.

I hide matches. I have four boys descended from a long line of pyromania.

Sometimes, I hide myself, in my room with the door locked, for a few minutes of quiet.

There are troubles with hiding things. One, is that around Christmas time, I can't find the clothes in my closet. Two, is the older I get, the more forgetful, and the more I have to hide surprise when I find something I forgot I had hidden. Three, is I am tired of this. At some point, I may give up on the mysteries. I may just buy you a gift, and hand it to you, what ever day I get it, and instruct you to remember what it is for and when. I may just open up and tell you when you've blown it, whatever the ramifications. I may learn to live in the moment so much, that I will never plan for a future meal or treat again, and just let them eat all 8 boxes of pop tarts, the minute I walk in from the grocery store. But I haven't done it yet.

My children are affected by this. If you find they grow up to be spies and detectives, you will know where the blame lies. They should be pretty good at it though. Wheedling into mom's secrets for years should be good practice.

One More Photo

2009-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

This one wouldn't fit on the other post, but too cute to leave out!!! Ethan did all the carving by himself. He was pretty proud. :)

Halloween

2009-10-31T19:49:00.001-07:00

It finally came!! The long awaited holiday of candy and costumes! We have had a carnival and a ward party to dress up for already, but it is the big night tonight and we pull out all the stops. :)

Miriam's 2nd grade class painted pumpkins to display at our local grocery store. Hers was a winning pumpkin, she was given a $5 gift certificate. This is the adorable girl, with her pumpkin.
Pumpkin carving at our house today. Caleb was trying to look like his, in case you hadn't noticed.

Camille and Leslie worked on this one together. It has shades.

The tall pumpkin was a joint effort by Seth and Jacob. Thanks for growing great, cool pumpkins, Grandpa Jake!

Here they come! Camille is a spy, Ethan is spider man, Miriam is a fairy princess, Leslie a hippie, Caleb is a hobo, Seth is Tigger, and Jacob is a chaperone this year. He, Ethan and Caleb went far and wide after the treats.

Girl Stuff

2009-10-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Camille is our only girl at Achievement Day age right now. Tonight was the Mom and Daughter party. They had a Halloween theme. We ate bloodshot eyeballs (devilled eggs) and severed fingers (hot dogs, with a tortilla bandage wrapped around it) and yummy sandwiches. Then, the girls bobbed for apples and they had us do each others hair. This is what we looked like when we arrived at home.

Now for Miriam's great news! She lost one of her front teeth! She has been wiggling it for days.

Of course, the world's flakiest tooth fairy attends our house, so she woke up disappointed because that tooth fairy was delinquent. Sigh. I'm sure she will come around.

Autumn Checklist

2009-10-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

Do any of you get the list in your head? The one of all the cool things that make each season perfect, and you want to go down it and check them all off?

Some of the things on my Fall list:

1) Play volleyball (check. Still sore.)

2) Eat pomegranates

3) Read a really tame ghost story. I am a big chicken at heart. Last year I read Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This year, I want to read the rest of The Woman in White. I started this summer, but didn't get more than a couple of chapters in before I had to return it to the library. Now, I have my OWN copy. :)

4) Walk on lots of crunchy leaves. I have stomped a few already, but I am waiting for the trees up the street a ways, they dump huge piles, and it is so fun to slosh through the leaves, almost to my knees!

5) Go to a football game and YELL really loud! (I haven't done this in years, but Jake may look around and find me at his high school game in the near future. He probably won't claim me :).)

6) Watch "Meet Me in St. Louis", which you maybe think of at Christmas time, but my favorite scenes are the Halloween scenes.

7) Eat doughnuts and cider. Well, really and truly, it is my mom's doughnuts that I crave, so to officially check it off the list, I'd better make her recipe.

8) Break out the sweaters.

9) Watch "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" with my kids.

10) Harvest the garden, can and freeze the food. Stock the storage room. (check)

11) Read the cookbooks and start baking again! :)

12) Starting my Christmas planning and shopping.

13) Read "The Little Broomstick" with my kids, and "The Oxcart Man".

14) Get out my adorable fall rubber stamps and make cards. Send them to people, just to spread the joy of autumn.

And last, but not least.....Celebrate my Birthday. Then we can officially get on with winter.

Alas, October has been flying by!! Halloween is upon us. Some of the list can carry on to November, but I must prioritize, for I am just not in the mood for ghost stories after Halloween is over! One cannot attend the football game if the season is gone. Carpe Diem! Get out of my way, stuff of little consequence (anything not on the list), I am on a mission!

Good News!

2009-10-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Nathan took my camera to use it for work, and I just barely got it back. Sorry for the delay. We have SUCH NEWS! Seth has finally done it! We are wearing our underwear and feeling so big!!! I am rejoicing. He still has a few accidents, but I cannot complain, because he is staying dry all night, he is doing all the poos in the potty and it is only the occcasional, "Oh, I forgot to stop playing and come tinkle" accidents. And they are the easiest to clean. So HOORAY!

I spent last week trying to restore some order to my house. It was so yucky! Mom shouldn't get sick, it isn't pretty. But now, I am down to 4 bathrooms that need some solid attention, and here I am, hiding out on my computer. :)

I can't get enough of the weather right now. It has been warm and nice here. Today it is gray, but what a nice backdrop for all the fall colors. I have tried several new recipes this week, but none of them have been very exciting, so I am posting an old standby today, that we love! It came from a neighbor of mine who grew up in New Orleans.

So, now I guess it is off to clean those potties.

Bleah!

2009-10-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

I stole this line from Snoopy, one of my heros. Sigh. (and this one.) I spent several days trying really hard not to be sick, so now I've made it worse, and I have to stay down for a few days. At least I have sweet family and friends that check on me, and bring my family food and clean up after them. (Thanks, Grandma!)

Our weekend to Idaho (me and 7 kids--always an adventure) was great. We enjoyed conference with my parents and Natalie, Arnica and Shane's families. It is so funny to have wall-to-wall children, TV blaring to drown out the buzz, conference bingo etc. It made me think back to conference at my grandparents as a child. I used to play the game to jump the peg into the holes and try to just end up with one. We were wall to wall back then too--what a blessing.

Mom and Dad are in the middle of the moving process and are digging through years worth of life to sift and sort and only save what will fit in their new, smaller home. Alot of that stuff belongs to their kids, so we tried to help. It is a little sad, to think of them in a new place, but exciting too. They have been painting and building shelves at the new house, and it looks fresh and expectant. Soon.

While I was there, I inherited my great grandmother, Josephine Murdock's jewelry box. It is a sweet box, but mostly because it is evident that her hands cared for it. It is painted creamy white and has oriental pictures on it, and only a few costume pieces inside. One entire compartment is dedicated to holding her curlers, metal style with a hinged clamp. Practical. Two of the compartments were sealed forever when she mended the box after the Teton Dam Flood caused water damage. My great grandma was a tall lady, and her watch is there, reminding me of her big hands. There are a couple of the brooches I always remember pinned to her sweater. There is nothing of worldly value here, but as I opened the box, and viewed its contents, I was reminded of a woman who had been content with what she had. Who had found joy despite a tiny income for the majority of her life. It brought back memories of her wide smile and big hugs. That was the precious part of the inheritance. To look into the shabby little box, and be given eyes to see the real "jewels" my great grandmother adorned herself with. May I emulate this in some small way. Thanks Grandma Josie, for the legacy.

Happy Fall Y'all!

2009-09-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have a stamp that says that. :) The weather is PERFECT!!! There are pears in my dehydrator, and I will be making my once-a-year pie today. It is a beautiful, delicious pie, but my husband and children don't appreciate it like they should, so I make it once a year, and eat it basically alone over the course of a couple of days. That is fine with me. I don't mind a bit. :) Pears and plums and grapes are my favorite fruits, all fall friends. Volleyball, football games, sweaters and pomegranates. Cool temperatures, interesting weather and all the trees putting on their favorite colors. Doughnuts and cider. What's not to love?

Seth is potty training right now.... Sigh. It is always a bit of a chore, but worth it in the end. I am just stoked that this is my LAST ONE! Come on, buddy! You can do it! I am hoping that the kids being home all weekend will help. A little positive peer pressure.

So, I want to take a vacation. Not one to go see something or do something, but one where I go away and do nothing. :) Or at least nothing that involves anyone else's opinions or needs. I want to read a book all the way through, and watch a movie without consulting anyone else's time table or tastes. I want to lay around under a tree in the gorgeous fall sunshine. Maybe I'll buy some pretty yarn and crochet an afgan. The funny thing about me and vacations is, I am happiest at home. Maybe what I really want is for my family to take a vacation and leave me here! :)

I am just grateful it is the first day of a long weekend. At least the school bell won't be one of my voices for a few days. Teachers, don't expect us to open the backpacks this weekend. It is just too nice outside to not savor the last of the weather! And it is women's conference this weekend! I have a ticket to go to the conference center. Wa-Hoo!

Nathan is getting his feet under him at work. It has been crazy, but what a blessing! He is over 4 projects now. There is a lot of work to be done! Another good thing to celebrate, so "Bring on the Pie!"

Catch a Wave

2009-09-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I was sitting in my kitchen, having just finished a do-it-yourself assessment for depression. I was reading up on what my "borderline clinical" score meant, when water started to pour from one of the kitchen light fixtures. I hurtled up the stairs, yelling, and bust open the bathroom door to find Caleb, naked, standing in an inch of water and bubbles on the bathroom floor. He had given in to his inner Big Kahuna, and was making some waves. "Towels!", I yell, "Bring me towels!" "Turn off those lights!" Children rush to obey. (Wish I could bottle whatever it is that gets them to cooperate in emergencies, so I could spray it around once in a while.)

There were some frantic moments. We did get it all soaked up, and fans turned on to all the right spots. These things almost never happen when Nate is home. At this point, I decide to congratulate myself that my depression is only borderline clinical, and move on. :)

Nathan got a job on Wednesday. I applied for it last week. (Yes, truly.) They called for an interview on Tuesday, offered him the job Wednesday morning and he started work Wednesday afternoon! They thought he might want to get a bit familiar with the project before heading up the pre-construction meeting on Thursday! :) We feel like it is a miracle. We are just so grateful and blessed. Thanks for all the prayers in our behalf! I think it will help with the rash of depression too. :)

"So smile every mile, for wherever you roam, it will brighten your road, it will lighten your load, if you sing your way home."

Talent Show

2009-09-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite annual traditions in this ward is the Primary Talent Show. It is always fun to see the children perform, and the audience is always so positive and cheers them on.

This year, Camille played "Sweet Hour of Prayer" on the piano.

She also acted as the MC for the show.
Ethan had a light saber duel with Justin, our neighbor.

Miriam sang the "Connected" song from Barbie Diamond Castle.

Caleb did a vegetable comedy act, in which he sawed off the arm of a volunteer from the audience with an oversized cucumber, but the photos didn't turn out and they may have been considered graphic material. :)

After the talent show, we went to the McAllsiter's house to celebrate Paul's birthday Nascar style. Complete with mullet wigs, which were, of course, the favorite things. :)

Paul and his mini self, Caleb.

Finally, meet Monstro. He is our garden giant, tipping the scale at over 1 lb. !!

Double Whammy

2009-09-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

Nathan and Seth celebrate their birthdays back to back. Nathan really wanted Seth to be his birthday present three years ago, but Seth wanted his own birthday. Nathan is 40 this year! He wanted black balloons, because, as he said, when you are older than 40, you don't enjoy them as much. Sadly, I couldn't track down any black balloons at 10 on Saturday night, so, I just bought one, that said "Over the Hill". Ironically, before the party could start on Sunday, Ethan had let the balloon free into the wild, and it floated off, over the hill. Sigh.

This is Nate, basking in the glow of his many candles. There aren't 40 of them, just enough to roughly make a 4 and a 0 on his favorite, standard coconut pecan frosting. :)
Nate's favorite gift was a book (fancy that :), by Natl. Geographic called 500 Trips. Note Seth, carefully studying the gift opening, because he would have to take it on the next day....

Wa-Hoo! Seth turns 3! We have been anticipating the family sharing of popcorn and the soon to be potty-trained last McAllister. :)

Seth loves his new kitty pillow. Happy birthday, my birthday boys!