Trunk or Treat

Every year it never fails that just as we get home from the La Madera carnival, we have to turn around and get ready for our ward Trunk-or-Treat party in the evening. The past several years have been hindered by nearby wildfires - last year both events were postponed due to the falling ash and dangerous air quality. However this year the weather was clear and beautiful, if a bit too warm for the season if you ask me (oh fall, where art thou?)

Every year our ward goes all out for Trunk-or-Treat. We start with a dinner in the parking lot, head inside for some (more!) carnival games with prizes, then back outside in the dark to the parking lot where people have backed their cars in and decorated their trunks to pass out candy.

After working the last shift at La Madera we came home with just enough time for me to throw together a pasta salad and for Pete and the kids to get into their costumes:

no one rocks an orange jump suit and matching clown wig like my husband

hippie twins

Ninja Henry

and Darth Vader at the fishing game
(i love the way spell check leaves Darth Vader alone!)

Henry gives away all of his apple-bobbing secrets (use the stem!)

All-in-all our trial run at Halloween went great. I absolutely love this time of the year, and the chance to do all the things I loved doing as a kid with my own kids. I also really appreciate the efforts of everyone else in putting all of these great events together and giving us the chance to make some lasting memories. We'll see you all on Friday!!!

Flashback Friday - October!

As we barrel headlong into the busy, busy Halloween season, here is a look back at some of our other, more mundane October activities:

This may look like an early Halloween decoration, but unfortunately it is the homemade headstone of Squeaky's grave, Harriet's beloved pet rat who passed away earlier this month.

We buried her under the bottlebush tree in the front yard next to Storm, Jack's pet rat who passed away a month or two ago. We had our pet rats for about 2 1/2 years, and they died of old age after a good life. We miss them.





Our district had a school holiday for Yom Kippur, so Jack went to work with Pete (whose school wasn't having a holiday). He spent the day meeting the kids and people Pete works with and helping his dad out with tasks around the school. Martin Elementary's VIP visitor:

with his dad at his school in Santa Ana

if you are one of our kids, these are your hair color choices


photo by Harriet (our mailbox)

Pete recently spent three days in San Diego for a conference - the highlight for him was eating menudo and mole in Old Town San Diego, where he picked up these suckers for the kids

The week of October 18 - 26 has been Red Ribbon Week, where the kids learn about the ill health effects of tobacco, drugs, alcohol etc. and make pledges to live drug free

They receive red wristbands to wear which can be presented to local merchants for discounts

our campus decorated with red ribbons


Friday is wear red day for Red Ribbon Week



And lastly, Harriet would like to announce that she is now publishing her own blog, I will link to it from our sidebar, or you can find it here

and in all fairness I should announce that Jack has started his own blog as well, although I don't think he's been as diligent on posting, you can find him here

A shout out

On our road trip up to Utah this past August, we did the drive from Orange County to St. George in one day, with a stopover in Vegas. Carol-Diane was with us, Peter was staying home taking care of business. We decided to stop by Uncle Tom's castle on our way into St. George so the kids could see his crazy place, and have a swim in his cool pool. (all of this is here)

The stretch between Vegas and the Virgin River Gorge outside of St. George on 1 -15 is pretty much a desert drive. Not many towns, just the land stretched out in front of us, with the mountains we are heading towards in the distance. As we approached this area in the late afternoon, it was apparent there was a mean storm ahead of us. We watched the lightening flash for miles as we drove towards the dark foreboding storm clouds. Soon the rain started to fall lightly, and then as it does in the desert, just immediately started to pour down on us. We drove through the torrents with the windshield wipers on high, still barely able to see through the rain.

The kids were nervous but a bit excited by all of the drama. Some cars were slowing down in front of us, others were blowing past us in the left hand land. Soon we began to drive out of it, the rain tapered off, and then it stopped just as abruptly as it began. At about that time we hit the Gorge and knew we were getting close to St. George.

In the Gorge it was apparent that there had just been a desert downpour. The Virgin River was running full, the rocks were glistening, and all along the high peaks were impromptu waterfalls running down the rock walls. It was really beautiful, and everything seemed so clean and freshly washed. The late afternoon sun was trying to shine through the heavy clouds that were now in our rear view mirror, making for perfect rainbow weather.

We reached Tom's place, and it was apparent the storm had blown through there as well. At his high profile house up on the bluff, the storm had raced through, and the wind had shattered his master bedroom window in the hour before we had arrived. He had it boarded up and was in his same high spirits as always, was a welcoming, entertaining, gracious host to me and my kids. They swam in his pool and we all admired the view of St. George, as well as the dark storm clouds which were heading away from us, further and further west.

After our visit and our swim, we loaded up the kids for the short drive over to the condo where we would spend the night before continuing our journey on to Salt Lake in the morning. We stopped and picked up smoothies, pizza, and delicious twisty bread sticks at The Pizza Factory, then settled into the condo to eat, relax, watch a movie, and talk to our papa on the phone. We were all happy and healthy and well.

At nearly the exact same time that we were having this mini adventure, a small private plane crashed in Arizona that was carrying a young couple and their flight instructor. I'm sure that probably 95% of my readers have followed the story of Stephanie Nielson and her husband who were severely injured in that plane crash. The flight instructor was killed and the Nielson's were severely burned. Stephanie was a popular "mormon mommy" blogger before the crash and many, many people read her tales of motherhood and married life. Now the Internet is returning the favor, her sister has commandeered her blog to continue to tell their story after the accident. Many people in the blogosphere have responded with donations, auctions, fundraisers for the family etc. and millions more, like me, are following their story daily.

I mention all of this merely to say if you haven't read about their story you should, it is very sad and inspiring and uplifting. It is a tragedy that I can barely begin to identify with. The future for the family is completely uncertain, recovery is not even guaranteed, but what is certain is that this young couple will always have the unwavering love and support of their own family, regardless of the future. And that is something I can identify with.

You can read Stephanie's blog The NieNie Dialogues here

and

her sister C Jane has her blog about their recovery here

It is very worthwhile reading. And, now if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go hug my kids.

Mix & Match Friday

Flashback Friday will return next week in its regularly scheduled spot, but this week we are thrilled to bring you:


Thats right, today is La Madera's Mix & Match dress-up day! (okay, so I have one or two children who think everyday is mix & match day, but today was on purpose...)

Harriet went with the pink & purple contrasting plaids, school spirit kelly green t-shirt, royal blue polka dot headband, and black converse lowtops, one of which she would exchange with a friend at school

Jack kept all his craziness below the knee - mismatched argyle socks, one tennis shoe and one slip on

Harriet and her crazy crew
(yes I think they all planned the plaid shorts thing)

Jack and his friends - not a matching shoe among the bunch

Jed of course was excited to join in whatever the big kids were doing - this is how he went to school

Henry was the conservative one, just shorts, a green t-shirt, and his favorite shoes today (with matching socks).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and Go Green Geckos!!!!!
(update! Geckos had a great game and won 4 -0!)

House Improvement

"A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams"


Our fall house project is nearly finished! Except for some finishing touches, some carpet issues and a new closet door, the renovation of our original owner master bathroom is almost complete.
Our bishop was our contractor, and he and his son did the job in just over 2 weeks. Originally there was a waste of space off our master bedroom, with a door leading to the master bathroom, and a door just opposite that one leading into the master closet.
He took out the bathroom door, knocked down half that wall and put a tub/shower where the cramped old-man shower used to be. He built a door frame and dry-walled in the opening that was connected to the bedroom - now the door is between our bedroom and the new improved larger bathroom, which also contains the door to the walk-in closet.

Here are the before photos: (mercifully few of these)

Looking from the wasted space into the master bath - (love those original light fixtures with their hanging chain supports!)




And the after photos -

The decor is mainly white and neutral earth tones with dark brown java accents in the mirror frame and the vanity:


The toilet stayed in the same place, right under the window: (we are getting new blinds)


Where the bathroom door used to be is now a half wall with a cut-out window - the door to the left is the new door and goes to the bedroom: (the door knob to the right is from the walk-in closet door, I am standing in that doorway taking these photos)


The tile is a light color - the fixtures are all rubbed oil bronze:


The dark tile accents in the shower border match the accents on the front of the tub:
and the sconces:
Pete also recently completed another project on his (my) list: he refinished and painted our front doors black!

Very seasonally appropriate for this time of year, they go well with Jed's Halloween decoration:
I also convinced him to paint the indoor side of the doors black, which he wasn't too sure about, but I couldn't be happier with the result:

(sorry about the glare)

Come on over and we'll show you it all in person!!

upcoming events

Here is what came in the mail today:

I'm pretty much ready to fill it out now, but I always wait and turn it into my polling place instead of mailing it in early. That way I get my "I Voted" status sticker to wear around for the day.

This also came today:

Invitation to our friend's annual Halloween costume party.
(i've prudently left off the pertinent personal information)

Enjoy your fall everyone!!

Get a glimpse - group piano lessons

It seems that most of my blog entries are divided into two categories:

1) Coverage of a special event or occasion

2) Glimpse into our everyday life

Today's entry is a glimpse.

Last month Jack and Harriet started taking piano lessons. Their first exposure to music was really in the fourth grade when they took music class at school and learned to play the recorder.
They both really embraced that instrument, had a great music teacher at the school, and overall enjoyed the whole experience.
So it seems that piano lessons is a rite of passage for most middle class American kids, and mine should be no different, right? But finding a teacher and having time to take them to lessons and sit and monitor their practicing, funding a teacher and basically being able to put up with the inevitable resistance to practicing had thus far seemed like to too tall an order for me to fill.
I was aware of a music school located almost right across the street from our neighborhood in the same complex as our local Ralph's grocery store. I know it specialized in group piano lessons at a competitive, if not reasonable rate. I've known people that have their children enrolled and have been very pleased with it. The only problem I had was that the teacher required the parents to attend the 50 minute lessons for the children aged 3 -9. I was no way going to attempt that with my two younger ones. Just didn't seem worth it.
I found that Ms Kristen, the woman who runs this music school known as the Phoenix Feather Academy, offered an older beginner class for kids ages 9 -11, and parental supervision is not required. So, I got the twins excited about it by telling them that some of their classmates go to Ms. Kristen's school, and reminding them how talented they had been on the recorder, and they both agreed to start attending.
Well, if you're still with me, one month into it and things seem to be going well. The set up is in a large room with a smaller inner three-sided square of keyboards. Ms Kristen sits at the head of the square and plays along with the kids while they sit at their keyboards. Parents are invited /(required) to sit on the outer ring of chairs to observe. I've done this for a few minutes at each lesson, and feel completely up-to-date.

Here are some photos:

sitting at their keyboards

Jack picking out a song
(they are supposed to sing solfège, which is saying the notes "do re mi" as you play them, Jack does this very quietly)


Harriet plays while Ms. Kristen teaches
(and pipes out music for the kids to play along with over the
speaker system, which is actually a lot of fun for them)


they also learn music theory etc. from her, whiteboard style



Jack and Harriet with Ms. Kristen

Flashback Friday - Some Som-O

This is a classic in our family - an oldie but a goodie worthy of its own little post.

Jack, about 3 years old, with a recently split open som-o (aka thai pomelo) on his head. Our nanny was the master of opening these fruits, which are similar to a big grapefruit.

She is the one who gave him this "hat".

Give me some sugar!

My so savvy sister-in-law Sarah has launched her own business-

She has started Sugarhouse Ink - an online invitation/announcements custom design site.

I've seen her work before and it is fabulous - check it out for yourself at:

www.sugarhouseink.com

she's got an amazing offer going on, 50 deals for 50 states. Be the first from your state to place an order and get 50% off!!!!

so take a peek today and see what wonderful, creative things she has to offer!
(like Christmas cards! You know you're going to need them! AND she has the most adorable models!!)

When you left your house this morning, did you think to walk?

Today is National Walk to School Day.

I know, that's a tall order for such a car culture as we have here in OC.

This is the day that people like us, who live close by, walk to school like any other day, and receive a sticker as we pass through the gate which reads: "I walked to school today!" (the other kids who usually get rides to school have their moms drop them off around the corner so they can be seen walking up to the school and get a sticker as they come to the entrance)

But more than emphasizing the health and environmental aspects of walking, this is about safety, and raising the awareness of drivers and walkers alike in a school zone.


Apparently ours was only one of two schools in our whole district (!) to recognize Walk to School Day, so the local Sheriff's office gave us a lot of attention.

There was a sheriff's vehicle the kids could climb inside of:


And a table set up with senior volunteers giving away goodie bags to the kids filled with stickers, pencils, coloring books and temporary ninja turtle walk-to-school tattoos:


And there were at least four or five uniformed officers on campus:


All to emphasize walking to school and doing it safely:


That's right, Be Safe and Be Seen.

I've been proud of the kids - so far this year we have met our goal of walking to school every single morning, and we haven't been late once. Last year I had 4 kids at 3 different schools and spent my fair share of time shuttling them around...

After the morning's excitement we dropped the twins and Henry off at their classrooms, then Jed and I walked back home like we always do, avoiding the long out-of-the-way crosswalk, and just jaywalking across over to our own street.

Pete's school in his district also recognized National Walk-to-School day, but he was all on his own, no Sheriff's deputies in sight.

Here's some photos from his school:

Where did you walk today?

Behind....

What I've been doing instead of posting on our blog:

feeding children
feeding husband
researching and writing paper on Autism
going to and from the elementary school four times a day to drop off/pick up various offspring
visiting new family in the ward (seven kids! 11 year old boy! 9 year old girl! and they live right up the street from us!!)
cheering on Harriet's (and Pete's) soccer team The Green Gecko's (we're 2 and 2)
going to Home Depot (where everybody knows your name...)
priming bedroom for painting
staying up way too late (a common theme in my life) to watch The Killers on SNL
painting bedroom
watching conference (and finding joy in the journey)
cleaning up Legos
spending quality time with my husband
reading Sue's new blog!!