Pardon our dust

I'm trying to find a look and feel for my blog that is more...me...us...whatever.  I also figure I've been misguiding Ayn Rand and The Simpsons Google searchers long enough, so I'm also trying out new blog titles, since Blogger insists I have one.

Quarantined

K was sick earlier this week; fever, headache, etc.  We told him he needed to be careful around his brothers, especially, in hopes that whatever he had would somehow not infect the rest of us, too.  The second day of sick he decided he felt well enough for breakfast.  I set the table and went back to preparing the meal.  When I turned back around, K had moved his place setting from the table to the counter.  He told me it was safer for everyone if he ate alone.  So sweet, and pathetic.  But so far, he's all better and no one else has come down with anything.  So thanks for the lonely sacrifice, K.

Halloween!!!

I'm just going to put all of the pictures from the week leading up to Halloween here, since it was all for the same holiday. 

Except this is two weeks before Halloween.  Close enough.  We went to the local Pumpkin Walk with S's preschool.  Here is S and two of the other boys being eaten by a giant Jack O Lantern!  Look out!

My mom's ward Halloween part and Trunk or Treat...

then my batteries died.  My sister has more pictures, but I've yet to get my hands on them.

Next we have the Halloween story time at Aunt Steph's (aka: Mother Goose) library...

Our neighborhood Costume Parade

Our Halloween Feast!

And finally, Trick or Treating!

Happy Halloween, pard'ner!

Good morning, Halloween!

I made jack-o-lantern pancakes this morning for breakfast.

I tried this a few years ago, but K balked at the idea and spent that morning instructing me on the proper use of chocolate in cooking. I knew he'd be cool with them this year, though. Sure enough, he loved them. Told me I was the best "cooker" ever.

By all appearances, J also seemed to enjoy them very much.

And then S. S is currently 3.5, which in my [albeit limited] experience means it's pretty much him against the world all day, every day. In our family, 2's got nothing on 3.5.

He refused to eat them, citing their unnatural color as reason enough.

Should have remembered that the last time I tried this was when K was 3.5.

Ah, well. Happy Halloween.

westering

S: Mom, J was westering.

Me: He was whistling?

S:  Westering.

Me: Oh! Wrestling.

S: No! Westering!

Me: Whispering?

S:  Yeah, westering. He's so cute.

This little piggy...

Stealing an idea from my mother-in-law, I talked about service today for Activity Days, washing the girls' feet and discussing how Christ washed the feet of the disciples. My boys watched on through the activity, anxious for the girls to leave so they could have a turn.

With the girls out of the house, both boys flopped onto the sofa and started taking shoes and socks off. I got foot baths, complete with bath salts going while they discussed what colors they wanted on their toes. We rubbed in lotion after the soaks, and then onto the painting.

S's toes were nearly too small for the separators, and he got a foot cramp not long after they went on.

But K totally got into the whole thing, munching on his popcorn, laid back. The kid knows how to relax.

S opted for black toes with ghosts.

K went with monochromatic greens, ghost on one big toe and a witch on the other.

I think it's my turn next.

A boy's best friend

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, as evidenced by J's sweet little baby curls being in tact. sigh.

p.s. I love this picture even if there are no potatoes in it.

J has taken quite the liking to red potatoes of late. Not to eat them, necessarily. He just likes to play with them. He carries them all over the house. I found them in the play room, in the bathrooms, in toy bins, in drawers, under beds, in shoes, wherever.

He plays with them so much that S and K have begun to call the potatoes J's best friends. Whenever they see him with one, again, it's "J has another best friend, Mom!" and we have to try to wrangle them out of his hands before he hides one a little too well and we have potatoes growing under the sofa, or something.

I have to take care to make sure our pantry door gets shut good and tight these days. At least until Chirstmas when J will be recieving some less-likely-to-rot substitute best friends that I hope he'll learn to love just as much as the red potatoes.

In other cute news, he's been trying to whistle...

I know, I stink at whistling.

Go Stallions!

I love where we live. It's a very small town with a ton of community involvement. This year, after years of fighting for one, the town opened it's own high school. Everywhere we go now we see black and blue shirts, bumper stickers, etc proudly displaying school pride. But it isn't just the high school, it's that it's OUR high school.

This is homecoming weekend (do they call it homecoming when it's the school's first year and there are no alumnus yet?). Yesterday afternoon my neighbor across the street called me to let me know there would be a parade going through the neighborhood celebrating the school's homecoming. Free entertainment within walking distance? Yes, please.

When we got to the park I was surprised to see how many people were out for the parade. There were lawn chairs lining the streets and a crowd gathered at the park. It was a party. Then the parade came by. Our back-yard neighbor is the vice-principal, so he was in the parade. Our next-door neighbor works in the cafateria, and her husband drove a float with all of the lunch ladies on it. The track team, with many neighbor kids participating, ran around and around the entire time, giving high fives to all the kids. Everyone was yelling and cheering friends and family on. I couldn't believe how many people were involved in the parade itself. It had to be nearly all the student body.

And the candy! SO much candy it was like it was raining the stuff. I got hit a few times with some, and tried to keep J back so he wouldn't get hurt! The boys were beyond giddy with it all.

It was just so fun to be out there supporting our little town with everyone else. It feels good to be part of a neighborhood and community that are involved and care about each other. Even if the football game didn't go so well that night.

Amazing thing about being a parent

Even after we've seen it all before, we still find it absolutely adorable when the third child learns a new trick.

Wild Rumpus at the Purple Cow

There is a little children's book store in the next town over. I'd never been before, but had heard it was really sweet and run by an amazing woman. I had read in a blog that she was doing a Where the Wild Things Are storytime today. S was super excited to wear K's Max costume from three years ago and I dragged out S's Wild Thing for J to wear. The pants were a little small on J, but we made do.

The storytime was so cute. First they had a woman read the story, then the kids all got to make Wild Thing masks and paper crowns. Then the story was read again with the kids participating with their props. Afterwards they had cupcakes. There were a lot of people there, but it was run so smoothly and just fun. I was really impressed.

.

S had a great time in part because of all the attention he got. Mine were the only kids dressed up, and the store owner made a big deal of it, taking pictures, and having S come to the front to show everyone his costume. She even gave him a special movie poster for Where the Wild Things Are. After it was all over S told me he wanted to give her a hug, she'd made such an impression and made him feel so special.

Storytimes are every Friday at 11:30 and we'll be back. This is exactly the type of business I want to suport around here. I think it will be fun to take my boys here for thier birthdays and let them pick out a special book. It's just a really fun little store with very friendly service. We had a great time.