SPACE DERBY

This weekend was our Cub Scout

SPACE DERBY

(I know everyone knows about the pinewood derby - 

that's for cars - this is for ROCKET SHIPS)!

So after sanding the rocket to into the perfect rocket ship

(well what we thought was the perfect shape - stay tuned)

Kale decided he wanted a silver rocket ship

so he started painting. . .

Then he wanted some stripes - but remember I've posted before

about him not really liking anything crafty   - 

so he called in reinforcements and called his friend Kyla to come

over for advice on stripes and colors.

So here is the final rocket 

(looks good - where did the silver go?)

OK - ready to race. . .

Now in this picture first notice that all of the people are looking to the right -

well, that's the end of the race. . .

Now look toward the beginning of the track - there's Kale's rocket.

So our rocket didn't do so good.

(kinda hard for an 8 year old to swallow at first)

but got over it quickly and had a great time cheering his fellow cub scouts on!

His rocket won the award for:

most likely to be used for time travel!

Kale and his buddy Jackson

after a fun night of racing!

STAR STUDENT

KRISTOPHER was STAR STUDENT

last week at Pre-school.

He loved filling out his "ALL ABOUT ME" poster. . .

He is 4 years old.

His favorite color is Blue.

His favorite animal is a Lion.

His favorite food is Pizza.

The Beach is his favorite place.

When he grows up he wants to be a Baseball Player.

His favorite thing to do is go Swimming.

and. . .

If he had one wish he would wish for a 

POWER RANGER!

He was given the STAR treatment at school.

He got to bring in his favorite snack (Peanut Butter Popcorn)

and he even got to invite a special visitor to come in and read the class a story - 

he picked GRANDMA JIBSON. 

She came into class and read BARN DANCE (his favorite book).

WHAT A WEEK, and WHAT A SPECIAL KID!

(they are learning about the letter M this week and they made this MONKEY)

I think it looks just like him - 

That's my little MONKEY BOY!

The Bike Ride

A few weeks ago the kiddos and I were out in the front yard. We played some basketball, rode the scooters up and down the court and  made roads on our road with sidewalk chalk. Kale then started to ride his bike. He asked me if we could go on a bike ride  - I replied that I don't have a bike - he continued by saying that I could walk and he would ride beside me - I came up with some excuse - He then asked if he could ride his bike to the school and back. 

BY YOURSELF - I thought - No way.

He continued - I know how to get there - I will stay on the sidewalk. I will watch for cars . . . 

I couldn't help but remember all the times I rode my bike around the neighborhood and especially around the block (in Utah we had blocks). 

So I couldn't believe it but I was actually saying YES.

He had to take his brother. They had to stay on the sidewalk. They had to walk their bikes across any streets (***please know they were not crossing any streets that were even the slightest bit busy) and they had 10 minutes to be back. I even gave him the kitchen timer set for 10 minutes and if they weren't back I would be in the car to find them.

So off they went. They were both smiling so big. And there I sat on the corner with Kara sleeping in my arms waiting for my boys to return.

They returned (in about 6 minutes) with bigger smiles on their faces than when they had left. They told me how they stayed on the sidewalk (except for one part when a car was blocking the sidewalk and so they got off their bikes and walked them around the car). It was all that was talked about for a few days . . .

"Kale, Kale, remember when we went on that bike ride"

"Oh yeah!"

FAST FORWARD TO PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE:

Kale had to pick one essay to share with me and here was his writing sample:

(One day I was riding my bike around the neighborhood.

I felt like it was an adventure. But I had 10 minutes to get home.

And my little brother came along with me.

And it was so much fun)

Funny how the little things make for the BIGGEST memories.

APPLE HILL

Here's some photos of our APPLE HILL trip.

Apple Hill is one of our favorite places

For those who don't know what Apple Hill is -

it is about 50 farms - 

some apple orchards, some wineries, some Christmas tree farms, 

some pumpkin patches . . .

You drive along the road and can stop at any of the farms.

Some farms have petting zoos, fishing ponds, apple presses, 

craft fairs and of course yummy food.

 

(here is the map just to give you an idea)

As shown by the photos it doesn't matter where we are 

my kids will find a way to wrestle. . . 

We did manage to pry them apart for some of the day. . .

The main reason according to my family to go to Apple Hill is:

THE WALKING PIE

I couldn't do it justice by trying to explain what it is

just imagine an apple, caramel, gooey, heavenly treat!

It doesn't get better than this!

FALL

FRESH APPLES

and

FAMILY!

"SPAZMATIC"

IF YOU ARE WONDERING IF THAT'S A WORD I JUST MADE UP - IT'S NOT.

IT IS A WORD.

IN FACT IT'S A BAND.

A BAND THAT DRESSES UP LIKE 80's NERDS AND SINGS 80's SONGS ALL NIGHT.

AND A FEW WEEKS AGO I WENT TO HEAR THEM SING (at a BAR - my first time at a bar)

AND I (we) DRESSED UP

(even though no one else at the bar thought it would be really fun to dress up like 80's girls to listen to an 80's band like we did)

SO HERE GOES. . . .

I believe we completely covered the 80's.

CHELSEA pulled of JAZZERCISE perfectly.

LINDSAY was an 80's PROM QUEEN.

BRIANNA researched for hours on the internet to capture MADONNA'S essence.

and MARISSA and I,  (as Lindsay put it)  everyday 80's RADICAL.

So after a little posing (OK a lot of posing by ME) we were off.

What took me back  - was that we started getting ready for the night at around 9:00 pm and were leaving the house at 10:00 pm. I was tired before we even started. But not to worry - we had plenty of TAB to keep us going.

After the initial 15 minutes of complete embarrassment being the only ones dressed up in a bar full of people we made our way to the front of the stage where we danced the night away to "JESSIE'S GIRL" - and "GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN"!

Chelsea thinks I looked a little tipsy in this picture and thought maybe I was sneaking stuff behind her back. Sorry to disappoint Chelsea - it's just that it's going on 1:00 am now and I've been up since around 6:00 - cleaned a house -including my 4 bathrooms - kept a 4 year old occupied and held a teething baby during the 8 year old's baseball game - prepared a young women's lesson for the next day - fed dinner to my family and got 3 kids tucked in bed before I  left for this night of FUN!

Thanks girls - when do we get to play dress up again?

NINE MONTHS OLD

9 months has always been that age for me when you realize

how close they are to being 1.

She is a MOVER and a SHAKER.

She's everywhere and into everything.

(quite a change from the boys)

She adds so much FUN into our days

with her laughing and following us around everywhere we go.

(yesterday I caught her climbing the stairs - she was on the third step before I even noticed)

I LOVE YOU LITTLE MISS!

HAVE YOU VOTED YET?

I DID!

For those who know me well

you know I have always been fascinated by politics.

(I was a political science major for heavens sake)

I remember very vividly at a young age going to the church with my mom while she voted.

(I was probably only taken along to watch my younger siblings)

And I don't know if that is what sparked my interest in government and politics but I remember it. 

I even remember that my mom was wearing a red shirt.

I have voted in every election since I turned 18. 

I even voted absentee while at College.

I'm proud of that.

But even though I have voted in every election that I could this one was special to me.

I felt empowered as I filled in that bubble for Prop 8 today.

I kinda felt at peace this morning. I don't know if it is going to pass. I hope and pray it does. But what I do know is that I followed the prophet today and for the past few weeks as I have been making phone calls and walking door to door and taking my family out in the pouring rain last Saturday to hang door signs. As Kyle would drive down the street and Kale and I would jump from the car running from house to house as Kris sat in the back seat pointing out the houses he thought we missed. I was proud of my family. I know that I put my best effort forward in helping this cause. And I'm proud of that - a little humbled even.

This morning after I got home from voting - Kyle called me from work and told me that there had been an accident last night that involved some sign wavers from our ward. My heart sunk as he told me the details.

Last night it was pouring rain, not just raining, pouring rain. And yet faithful members were out on nearly every corner of every intersection last night waving signs as cars drove by.

Apparently, a car ran a red light and hit a truck, causing it to spin into our group of sign wavers as they crossed the street in the cross-walk. A member of our old ward was hit by the truck and injured. He is in surgery this morning from internal bleeding. 

(Please keep him in your prayers. He is the counselor from the bishopric I worked with when I was primary president. There is not a sweeter, more compassionate man that I know.) 

Also our Prop 8 coordinator from our ward was also clipped by the truck, but not badly hurt.

I take comfort in her words after the accident - 

"It will take more than a little bump on my head to stop me!!!"

                                    

This sums up how I am feeling today.

Um. . . Where did OCTOBER go?

I can't believe October is over!

So here's a little recap of our OCTOBER FUN!

We met up with friends for our annual

BISHOP'S PUMPKIN PATCH TRIP

Yes moms were present but somehow as we all piled out of cars

the dad's found themselves with all the kids and strollers.

It was heaven for a few minutes.

The afternoon was spent. . .

Riding the train

Feeding the animals at the petting zoo

Jumping on the "Hay Trampoline"

Going down the "Barn Slide"

And

THE HAY RIDE

(it took Kara awhile to get used to the hay)

Here we are in the GIANT PUMPKIN PATCH

This is like the worst picture of my kids - but I love that

NONE of them is looking in the same direction!

But we picked out the PERFECT PUMPKINS

so later we could do some CARVING!

My family always had a tradition that we would carve the

coolest pumpkins

(you know the ones in the pattern books)

Each year we would each pick a pattern before we picked a pumpkin -

because we had to make sure the pumpkin would fit the pattern.

It was a night of precise tracing and cutting until we had the perfectly carved pumpkin.

So Kyle and I have carried on that tradition

UNTIL THIS YEAR.

The boys really wanted to draw their own faces on their pumpkin.

I had to let them.

(even if it was a little reluctantly at first)

I couldn't care that the eyes weren't evenly spaced - 

or that the triangles weren't equal on all sides - 

BUT

my boys were proud of their pumpkins

and that made them

PERFECT PUMPKINS!

All leading up to HALLOWEEN NIGHT!

The VAMPIRES came out to play. . .

GOODBYE OCTOBER!