HALLOWEEN

This little baby went trick-or-treating with friends tonight and brought home a huge pillowcase of loot. Richard will be imposing the "Daddy Tax" on the candy tomorrow when he sees it all. He already taxed the little ones as we were collecting the goodies.

The Pirate Maiden. Tessa borrowed two costumes from a friend and had such a hard time deciding which one to wear! This won out and she certainly looked cute!

The Snow Princess. I had grand plans of making her a snowflake crown, but couldn't find snowflakes in the stores yet. (Plenty of Christmas lights and such, but nothing frosty.) Maia held out pretty well tonight, but she has the flu and so gave up before the rest of the kids. She really wants to go to school tomorrow for the program, but we'll have to see. -- She's still as sweet as can be. While the rest of the kids were counting and sorting and labeling their candy, she was filling plastic bags with her candy and marking them for "mom," "dad," and "Austin." I keep telling Richard that I don't know what I'll do if she catches the usual teenager disease.

"Fweepin' Booty"! Ivy got lots of "oooh, look how cute" comments. I put makeup on her and did her hair pretty for the the Primary Halloween Party -- but she would have NONE of that tonight! Just the dress (with warm pj's underneath) - even the crown was stuffed in the candy bag after a few houses. -- Her trademark at each house was to take FOREVER choosing which candy to take. She'd pick one kind up and consider it, then place it back and pick up another. Everyone thought she was so cute that they didn't mind. She said "trick-or-treat" the loudest and remembered to say "thank you" just as loud! When I told her she was "so good at saying thank you" she said, "yes, I am!" She definitely got the hang of Halloween this year. As we left each of the first dozen or so houses, she would ask "are we going to go to another house to get candy?" I would tell her yes, if she wanted. She always said, "Yes, yots more houses." And each time she walked away she'd say, "Isn't this fun? I yike trick-or-treating!" So cute! She didn't understand why some people didn't (wouldn't?) open their doors, or why the one lady came out and said she didn't have candy - but she enjoyed the night anyway. And, she's a very good candy sharer with her mom and dad!

The gang. We spent a couple hours out - and it was a beautiful night. A little bit chilly, but they all had warm clothes under the costumes. Not one complained of being cold. It wasn't a bit uncomfortable - which is such a great change from the usual Utah trick-or-treating weather.

The REAL Spider Man! This bannister is the original - 120+ years old. Since the day we moved in, he has leaped, slid, swung, climbed, and hurdled it. Doesn't matter how many times we say "don't," Cooper simply can't WALK down the stairs. So tonight I had him "perform" his usual Spider tricks on it for the camera.

This is shot while he's sliding down at full speed. He usually drops from the bannister above at the landing, onto this one and slides down to the bottom with no hands. I'm used to it, but my visiting teacher who was over a few days ago just about went into cardiac arrest. I honestly don't know what to do. It is so in his blood!

Maybe we could interest Hollywood in a "Young Spider Man" movie. No acting classes required.

p.s. Cooper had fun showing off his spider head today at school and while trick-or-treating (his mask got hot so he took it off quite often). Every one just loved it. Our crossing guard went on and on about it, the principal said it was a hit, a dad at school couldn't stop talking about it. Everywhere we went people oohed and ahhed. -- I'm only a little bit worried about the shave fest coming up because, although BEFORE the spider, I explained how we'd have to shave all his hair after, he seemed confused (AFTER the spider) about the fact that he wouldn't have any hair for a while. He keeps saying, "but I'll have short hair, right?" -- One guy who gave him candy teased and said, "You know that will stay forever, right?" Cooper questioned me about that as we left the house. Stay tuned for pictures of the shave. Hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow after school. (at least before church on Sunday!)

Getting Ready for Halloween

So... I had an idea today. Cooper's going to be Spiderman for Halloween, so I decided to give him a haircut to match his costume.

A Day at the Orchard

It was day off from school today - teachers' curriculum day or something. So, we went with a group of moms and kids from the ward to Honey Pot Orchards out west a bit. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive. The leaves are changing! Anyway, the Orchard is more than trees. It has a farm store with yummy cider donuts, fresh cider, fruits, carmel apples (thought of my mom when I bought them and will think of her again when we EAT them!), and jams, jellies, and honeys. Outside there's a pasture with a pony and baby animals - even three little pigs and their respective homes of straw, sticks, and bricks - and a large wolf lurking behind greenery! My camera temporarily stopped working so I don't have pictures of that - but Ivy loved it. There were also lots of pumpkins to choose from - and Ivy couldn't choose just one. She ended up with three "baby" ones. There is a hayride to the orchards (although we walked) and a hedge maze that is an exact replica of one at a court in England. Very fun day! Would have been better if Richard had been with us, but he's at a conference in Washington D.C. with TigerLight. -- Austin was working. He's a cashier/bagger at Shaw's (like Albertsons) and is often annoyed that people have a preference about their bags. Because so many people walk here, they request their groceries put inside plastic (fewer leaks) then inside paper (for form and holds more) then with another plastic bag stretched over the bottom (in case the bottom of the paper bag bursts). Needless to say, Austin doesn't have a lot of patience for that kind of thing.

This is about the only time Cooper held still. He was running through the grass with friends, climbing trees WAY high, and jumping from fences. He went through the maze 3 or 4 times - was just dripping in sweat when he finished because he RAN the whole way.

Every time Ivy saw another little animal, she would coo "ohhhhhh" and talk so sweetly to it.

Couldn't decide if this was a chicken or duck! Perhaps a Chuck? Maybe he's ready for Halloween.

Little Farmers

Couldn't get Ivy out of the driver's seat!

Found one!

Ivy would pick up one, and then spy another and try to pick it up too. She just couldn't decide. When we were inside buying, she found the tiny decorative pumpkins and had to have one of those too!

Thoughts on Motherhood

My favorite time of the day.

My least favorite.

Ivy's Third Birthday

On September 21st, Ivy turned three! Makes me sad my little one is growing up so fast. Even though the birthday was more than a week ago, she is still depending heavily on the a-birthday-makes-me-special status. If she's being left behind for any reason, or not getting the treat or snack that she wants, or being put to bed - in general, anything she doesn't particularly want to do right then - she pulls out the birthday card. "But I'm the birthday girl, so I get to . . . ." She wins more than she ought to.

A couple of weeks before the big day Ivy announced that she was going to have a "butterfly birthday." Luckily, I had made a butterfly cake before so that was easy, and her sisters and brother got to work making lots of beautiful paper butterflies. McKenna also made a fun banner. On the day of, I bought balloons and hid them in the closet, and she helped me pick out all of the sprinkles and candy for the cake. Then daddy and I took her out shopping (on our errands) for a while, while the "surprise" was put together by the siblings. They decorated the cake, hung the banner and butterflies, tied the balloons, assembled/wrapped the presents, and turned off all the lights. When we came home Ivy was so excited about the little book we had bought her (because she told us she was the "birthday girl") that she didn't pay much attention to the dark house or all the yelling of "surprise!" She just started showing them her new book. It only took a minute or so, though, once they showed her the cake and presents for her to realize what was happening. When she talks about her party she says, "they aprised me!"

The kids did a great job decorating!

Wearing all the pretty stuff she opened -- and eating some of the candy off the cake.

Gifts galore! The shopping cart already has A LOT of mileage on it.

Had to light the candles twice, so Cooper could help blow them out.

Maia bought and gave her Elmo and that's Maia's baby Sammy along for the ride too. Ivy has told me NUMEROUS times that "now I don't have to ride in the cart, mom, 'cause I'm a mama now." Luckily on our last trip to Costco she forgot that and rode with no argument.

With our birthday girl!

Fun with Mindi

So Mindi came to visit. We did lots of sight-seeing and yummy-food eating (our favorite was the Boston Cream Pie!!)

Ivy accompanied us on most days - she's a trooper. This day, as we were going through the subway, I thought she was asking me if we were going to the doctor. I kept saying "no, we're not going to the doctor" and she continued insisting. I finally figured out she was saying "duck tour!"

This time she got to drive the Duck - and was thrilled.

At the Union Oyster House - the oldest continuous running restaurant in the country. Paul Revere and other patriots were regulars there! This is where we had the FABULOUS Boston Cream Pie.

Mindi's happy to have found her long-lost boyfriend!

Touching the toe of John Harvard means you'll have a child attend Harvard University. (Richard and I have touched it many times, so it was Mindi's turn this time.) We didn't tell her until after that freshman use the statue in some stupid initiation trick, so then I gave her Germ-X.

Eating more delicious food (we had to keep our strength up!) and Ivy was popular with the little birdies, because she was feeding them my onion rings. (They liked the breading, not the onion.)

We went to Salem for a little witching. Wish we really could wiggle our nose and have our housework (and workouts) done! Mindi really does look like Samantha.

With the little witches.

Our family was spellbound by the witch trials. In this picture you can't tell, but the littlest witch was having a screaming fit, much to the amusement -and perhaps annoyance - of all the bystanders.

Mindi doing a magic napkin trick while we waited for pizza. My kids all miss "fun" Mindi. In fact, one morning Cooper came up to ask me if I wanted a pancake. I said, "yes, is daddy making them?" He said, "Nope, Mindi is, and she's good! She made me a 'C'."
Richard was SO GREAT helping me juggle kids. On Friday he stayed home most of the day so we didn't have to take Ivy, nor get home early to pick up the little ones, so we could walk the Freedom Trail. It's a three-mile trail of historic sites. We took a tour and learned a lot. The weather was perfect!

Our guide - well-known patriot James Otis (I think James. The names all run together).

I loved all the old cemeteries. This one has the graves of Paul Revere, other patriots, and three of the Declaration of Independence signers.

A neat one.

At Copps Hill Burial Ground - maybe an ancestor.
The courthouse where the Declaration of Independence was read to the public for the first time ever.

At Quincy Market.

On the gun deck of the U.S.S. Constitution - the oldest commissioned battleship afloat. It was cool! The woodwork was especially beautiful. -- 54 cannons in all, and I think Cooper climbed on all of them.

Waiting for the tour. Austin was at his new job, Shaws (a supermarket) and McKenna was at a YW activity.

Waiting for the tour. (Tessa was the photographer.) Richard was there with us, but since he had brought a weapon onto the federal installation, they wouldn't let him proceed! He had a knife with a blade longer than 2 1/2 inches. He could have let them confiscate it, but it was too expensive. He could have taken it back to the car, but that was a long walk over the bridge and we didn't have the time. It wasn't an option to have security hold it for him. So he asked the guy if he could just "hide" it somewhere on the base and then get it after the tour. The guard didn't even slightly smile, and just replied "that would be abandonment of a weapon and you'd get a citation." So, Richard didn't do the tour, but we'll go back to do it again because the big kids will love it - and we didn't have time to do the museum and everything.

So one of the greatest things we did was go to the Opera House and see the production "Wicked." It was FABULOUS!!! It's the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy drops in. Amazing talent and spectacular scenery. (I just bought tickets to take the 3 big girls for part of their Christmas. I'm excited to see it again!) -- If you can't figure out what we're doing here - look closely at the poster. -- The Opera House was built in the early 1900's and is GORGEOUS. Very baroque with beautiful plaster carvings, painted ceilings, and gorgeous staircases. -- It was a great night! -- Oh yeah, when we finished we pretty much ran through a nearby scary area to get to the subway. There wasn't another soul in sight - except for the scary guys. We were glad to come upon some police officers, and I told them so.

So, the week with Mindi was GREAT! We played a lot, laughed a lot, and ate a lot. One of my favorite memories is after a long day we were just getting ready to go to the subway to head home. We had been walking the Trail all day and were exhausted from nights of very little sleep. We were in the Prudential Building (a massive office/mall/restaurant complex) that has a skywalk with a gorgeous view of the city. We walked through the doors at the entrance of the skywalk and showed our ID to security. When they informed us it was $11 for the view, we hesitated, knowing we only had a few minutes. So I asked if there was any thing else up there we'd want to do. The security officer said "there's a bah (bar) up there." Mindi sighed and announced, "I want a bed, not a bar!" He raised his eyebrow and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. We've sure laughed about it a lot since!