Peter's Penultimate Primary Program

The Sunday before last was our annual Primary Program. All three big kids presented their lines well. Phoebe made the crowd chuckle when she said, "My favorite scripture story is when Nephi and his brothers get the brass plates, because it's exciting!" Cooper was mostly intelligible, a feat for our boy with a speech impediment. They all sang and two of them smiled happily whenever I caught their eye.

The biggest standout this year was Peter. Last year while waiting for his turn at the microphone, he spun. Right there on the podium, he spun himself in circles. It was not awesome. This year, he was articulate and poised. In spite of his still-in-effect fear of being in front of an audience, he sounded confident while saying both of his parts.

The thought I had while he spoke was, "Wow, he's going to be a 12-year-old soon and will be giving talks in Sacrament Meeting. He seems ready."

Didn't he just start this whole Primary Program business?!

Because Every Goldilocks Needs a Mama Bear

Pumpkins and Costumes and Candy, Oh My!

We had a very full weekend. Notice I didn't post on Friday? That's because my computer was in Pennsylvania and I was in Maryland. That wouldn't have been a problem except I was so busy with family on Friday that I didn't think to blog until after midnight. I can blog from my phone, but I'm not sure how to change the publishing time and date from anywhere other than my computer. I decided the events of the last few days were important enough to allow a skipped Friday.

But tonight, I'm not going to talk about the weekend. Because tonight, is Halloween.

We kept our celebration low-key. After school and chores were done, we painted pumpkins. This is always fun, but this year was better than most since my Grandma Bonnie is here visiting us, and she is our Official Painting Expert.

After the painting, and a rushed pizza dinner, the kids got their costumes on. My Grandma brought the blond wig as her costume, she thought it would amuse the kids. When she put it on, Cooper looked at her quizzically and then announced, "Oh, I get it, you're a young person for Halloween."

Bryan and Grandma handed out candy while the kids and I canvased the neighborhood for sweets. Sophie and Phoebe both maxed out the carrying capacity of their candy receptacles during our hour-long walk.

We finished the night by sorting through the candy, removing anything with nuts and replacing it with a safe option, eating as much candy as possible, and watching You're the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Overall, a successful day.

I just hope we can all wake up in time for school tomorrow...

Happy Halloween!

Elsa and Anna

Our Blurry Halloween Costumes

These are the best pictures I got of the Halloween costumes tonight. We were waiting in line for dinner at our ward activity and snapped them quickly. We have, from left to right, the Big Bad (Were)Wolf, Goldilocks with two of her three bears tucked into the pocket of her apron, a lumberjack sans ax, and Little Red Riding Hood.

I made Phoebe's vest, skirt, and cape, Sophie's vest, skirt, and pocket apron, Cooper's suspenders and beard, and Peter's ear-hat and (although you can't see it in this picture) attached fur to the inside of the holes in his jeans. I spent over an hour last night picking apart that wolf hat I posted yesterday in order to use the ears and fur in Peter's costume. And I wanted to add at least two more significant details to Phoebe's costume, but time simply did not permit it. As it was, I stayed up crazy-late the last two nights just doing these.

 And now, I'm off to sleep before two o'clock in the morning!

'Twas the Night Before Trunk or Treat

Here I am, up finishing Halloween costumes before our ward party tomorrow night. Want to see a few teaser shots?

A curler selfie. 

We couldn't find any suspenders to fit Cooper, so I made some. They were shockingly easy. 

There are three different costumes in this pileup.

 I successfully read and used a pattern! This is huge!

And for other things, I had to make up a pattern based on clothes we already had.

 This is part of someone's costume. Or, rather, parts of this are in someone's costume.

A few days ago, as I was stressing about getting everything done and sewn, Phoebe looked at me and in all earnestness asked, "Mommy, why didn't you just buy everything?"

I have no idea.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Pumpkin Patch, Part 2

The boys were so disappointed to miss out on all the pumpkin fun. We had an unseasonably warm week with temperatures into the 80s, so I decided it would be a good idea to take the kids to the corn maze at that same pumpkin patch the girls had been to. We went on Tuesday evening about an hour before sunset.

Sometimes I have terrible ideas.

About ten minutes into the maze, I realized that we might not have enough daylight to find the exit. And the only flashlight I had was the one on my cell phone. Sophie loved the maze so much that she kept running off and around corners with all of us yelling and running after her. She spent a short span in the umbrella stroller that I brought, but that proved a bumpy and unruly ride. There were tiny gnats everywhere, in our eyes, in our ears, in our mouths, in our noses. We alternated between watching where we were going, not losing Sophie, and swatting away the bugs. And then Phoebe announced, with some urgency, that she needed the bathroom.

I learned a few lessons during this evening. I am awful at reading corn maze maps, but it turns out Peter is pretty good at it. He was our leader and knew where we were even when I was totally turned around. 

I was the caboose of the group, making sure that we stayed together. I prefer to have eyes on everyone, which means maybe I don't trust these small people as much as I would like.

My claustrophobia didn't love some of those tight corn rows. I should have remembered that ailment before I plunked down $24 dollars to go through. I felt a huge sense of relief when we finally found our way out of the maze, with enough daylight left to take a few runs through the much shorter hay maze.

And, even if it felt stressful while we were there, the pictures make the whole night look idyllic. 

 
There were funny moments, it wasn't all bad. As we rounded a corner we heard Peter gasp and say, "You guys! Hurry! There's a peregrine falcon! Oh wait, that's just a pigeon."

And then, a few minutes later, "I know it sounds crazy Mom, but, do you think we should follow the pigeon?"

We did not follow the pigeon.

Pumpkin Patch, Part 1

Phoebe had her first ever field trip last Friday when her class went to a local pumpkin patch. She was so excited and talked about it for the entire week beforehand. A friend from church went as a parent chaperone and sent me a few pictures of the seasonal fun.

Because she had heard Phoebe talk about the pumpkin patch with such excitement, that same day Sophie wanted to find a pumpkin patch too. So we did. And, I found out later, we chose the same patch that Phoebe had gone too, we just missed her.

2000

This is my 2000th post. I realized last week that this milestone was fast approaching. That seems like a lot, and it is. Here are some things that have happened in the last eight years and five months since I started this blog:

When it began I had a two-year-old and a two-month-old.

Now I have a ten-year-old, an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, and a two-year-old.

When it began I dictated our daily schedule and used that freedom to go on adventures to the park and library and friends' houses on a regular basis.

Now our schedule is set by the school and our daily adventures focus on getting homework completed and chores done.

When it began I had lived in two states: California and Utah.

Now I have lived in seven states: California, Utah, Wisconsin, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

When it began Bryan and I were in our fourth apartment of our nearly seven year marriage.

Now we are in our twelfth residence during our more than fifteen years of marriage.

When it began I was overwhelmed at the thought of taking care of my two boys overnight, all by myself, when Bryan traveled for work. Even a full day of on-my-own parenting, from wake-up to bedtime, freaked me out.

Now, though it's not ideal, I regularly handle the all-day shifts and, occasionally, the all-night shifts as well. It's not my favorite way to fly, but I can do it and we all survive mostly happily and no one gets scurvy from all the cereal and pancakes we eat during those days.

When it began only one of my four siblings was married and none of Bryan's six siblings were.

Now all of mine have been married, two still are, two aren't, and one is preparing to marry again. Two of Bryan's siblings are married. Between both sides, we have three nephews, three nieces, and with the wedding we'll happily add two more nieces.

When it began the kids had six living great-grandparents.

Now they have three.

When it began I looked like this:

Now I look like this:

When it began I had no idea how much time I would devote to the blog over the course of almost eight and a half years. I had no idea how much I would stress over planning posts to publish while we were away on vacation. I had no idea how careful I would become about privacy and online safety. I had no idea how important an internet connection while away from home would be. I had no idea that someday I would blog from my phone. I had no idea how long the blog would last.

Now I understand the time commitment of the blog. I know that I need to balance between thoughtful introspection and humor, and that sometimes a picture will do when my brain won't cooperate. I understand the value of making something a daily habit and how much one missed day derails me.

More than anything, I didn't know what a blessing this blog would be. I've recorded so many memories and events and kid funnies that would have otherwise been lost in my sleep-deprived brain. I've marked milestones and passages, both happy and sad. I've documented the kids' childhoods in ways I never anticipated. I've dug deep into my soul and testimony to write what is so dear to my heart.

Happy 2000th post, here's to 2000 more.