Happy Halloween...

This is my little family. Ethan is "shadow the hedgehog" from the Sonic Series of video games. I'm a baby. Landon an elephant. Jack a frog. Kennedy a baby. And then Shawn. I suppose in this regular attire he could say he's dressed as Val Kilmer, because he resembles him naturally.

This game is a favorite of my kids. Eating a donut off a string without using your hands. They all accomplished the task without any difficulty.

I think this is the CUTEST elephant ever. I just want to squeeze him looking at this picture. He wasn't quite sure what to think of this game playing inside, but when we headed out to the parking lot, and the availability of candy became apparent, he was nothing but smiles.

Open dat! Open dat!

Today the Halloween festivities begin. I feel like we've all been on a sugar high since October 1st. We loaded up on sugar at the High School Parade, then last weekend we went to the YMCA Carnival. I didn't dress my kids up because, well, I'm lazy. I figured taking 4 kids (plus Ethan's friend) was enough good Mothering for the day. The kids played loads of games, and collected loads of candy. Except Landon. All he did was eat candy. Every time he got a piece he'd hold it up to me and yell "Open Dat!" as loud as he could so I would for sure hear him. His bag never filled up because every piece was placed directly in his mouth. After 15 minutes of perpetual eating he started to spin in circles and then flop down on the floor in hysterical laughter. Sugar is a funny thing. My kids all had a good time.

Tonight our church is hosting a trunk-or-treat party. Tomorrow is the actual day of Halloween so we'll get to costume up once again and load up with candy. This sugar high is going to last well until Thanksgiving. Lucky for me I will miss the worst of it because the morning of November 1st I'm headed to New York City. That's New York City as in Manhattan in the state of New York. All alone with my mom and sister Katelyn. 5 days. Food. Broadway. Shopping. Enough fun to hopefully get me through the long winter filled with board study, senior papers, and just basic anesthesia detail.

Odd Girl Out....

I just finished a book for my book club titled "Odd Girl Out" by Rachel Simmons. This book wasn't a novel, more like a research book on the aggression of girls. She spent one year talking to girls ages 9-adult about relationships. She shares a lot of stories from these conversations she had throughout that year, as well as insights into how to deal with bullies. Until I read this book, I'd forgotten how hard it was to be a girl when your whole life revolves around who you associate with, and who is willing to associate with you. I'd forgotten about that time in 6th grade when I was trying to overcome the status of "new girl" in a school and how very hard it was. I'd forgotten about how hard I cried alone in my room when my only friend Kerri turned on me and called me an Indian Giver because I asked her to give me back something that was rightfully mine. I'd forgotten how she managed to get everyone to ignore me for 3 days and when she was helping the teacher rearrange the desks she put mine in the very back of the room so I'd have to watch all of them talk about me and laugh without me. Bad memories. Worse was the memory brought to my mind of when I was the one being the aggressor. The year before I suffered, I caused the suffering. I was absent for 2 days and when I returned a new girl was sitting next to Annie, my best friend. They were laughing about things I'd missed. I started to like Mandi P., she was nice. Our group let her into the circle for a few weeks. After a while Christa was sick of her, so we had to be too. We shunned her. After a week she quit coming to school. We never saw her again. At the end of the school year Annie and I discussed how bad we felt and went to where she lived to make it better. Nobody answered the door. At the end of the driveway we looked back and saw a woman in the window. She told us Mandi had moved because some girls treated her horribly. She thought we were there to be nice. If she only knew we were actually the reason she felt the need to leave. This book reminded me of how hard it was to be a girl when weird social hierarchies rule, and it also opened the terror in my heart as realization set in that I have my own daughter who will encounter such situations. I hope she is never faced with a horrible life-changing scenario caused by back-biting, rumors, and catty girls. I hope she can just find girls to be friends with that like her for who she is, and are nice. I hope she is one of the nice girls at her school and not one of the ones trying to cause conflict. I'm glad I read this book. Even though Pandora's box of worries has now been opened I have been reminded of what it was like. Hopefully I will now be more understanding when my daughter doesn't want to go to school because of a bad hair day, or because the zit on her nose shines like Rudolph. Maybe now I'll have a little more empathy instead of just saying "get over it". I'm just glad I'm not in Jr. High anymore. Adults can be "girls" too, but now I have the confidence to walk away and not get sucked in.

Basketball Camp....

On Friday the kids were out of school. A very smart P.E. teacher decided to hold the 1st annual basketball camp for future ball players grades 1st-6th grade. Ethan loves the game and immediately jumped on board. Kennedy either loves the game more than I thought, or just didn't want to miss out on the way Ethan chose to spend his day off and decided she also wanted to attend. It went from 8am to 3pm, so it was a pretty long day full of drills, dribbling, shooting, and of course pizza. They seemed to have a pretty good time. At least they told me it was worth the money I spent to enroll them. I love it when my kids get opportunities to participate in activities such as this. I think it broadens their horizons as to what they enjoy, and it gives them the ability to experience something they might not get to at home.

Kid talk...

Landon's favorite words (written as they sound):
"Carry you. Pease" (please)
"Hode you. Hode yooooou!" (hold you)
"I deed it! Yeah!" (while clapping his hands) (i did it)
"Get down. Get down." (If I hear this it means he's climbed where he shouldn't)
"Hep you. Pease" (help you please)
"Open dat" (open that)
"Ice. Water."
There are many more 2 word phrases that he says often, those are just a few that I hear the most. I love this phase of vocabulary. It's always surprising to me how fast the words come once the first few are said.

Jackson:
Yesterday he told me that for Christmas he wants his own house with his own knives because he isn't allowed to touch the ones in our house. He said Landon could live with him but couldn't touch the knives because he'd be the youngest one in the house and not allowed. This afternoon he told my mom that for Christmas from her he wants a Halloween costume. Apparently the options he was given from me are unsatisfactory.
In the car one day he asked me if Jesus was going to come back to pick us up and take us to his world. He told me when he gets to Jesus' world he wants to build a house right across the street from Jesus so he can go over to his house anytime he feels like it. Sweet little Jack.

Sweep...

If you are sweeping the wood floor around the dining room table, and your soon-to-be two year old says "Sweep, naughty corner. Sweep, naughty corner." that means:
A) You are a very consistent mother when it comes to doling out punishments.
B) You have a child who has spent quite a few times in said naughty corner.
OR
C) A little bit of both.

My Very Own.....

Shawn moonlights every so often in a small town north of here. He's headed up that direction tonight in fact. This morning he was frantically looking for his wedding ring that somehow was misplaced a few days ago. He found it and was very relieved. Out of curiosity I inquired as to why he was so relieved. He let me in on a little conversation he had with nurse so-and-so last time he worked in their ER. She asked if he for sure had a wedding ring on. He told her he did and then asked her why. She responded by saying, "because you are one of those hot doctors who needs to wear a ring so people know you are taken." People might think this is reason for me to get the claws out and ban him from future employment. I'm not afraid. This conversation held by him and this nurse actually makes me smile. Meredith Grey, I've got my very own Dr. McDreamy. Only I opted for the house, kids, car, and commitment that you seem to lack. Lucky, lucky me.

Bread Bowls...

My friend Jessica has a no-fail bread bowl recipe. When I first started making these bowls I was sure I'd fail. I seem to have a knack for destroying things labeled "anyone can do this" or something like unto it. To my surprise they turned out beautifully. I filled them with my mom's taco soup recipe. Well, all except Ethan's. Ethan can't stand soup so opted for plain turkey. Crazy. Who doesn't love soup in a bowl you can eat at the end?

Make-up Artist...

Landon disappeared the other day. I found him in Kennedy's room. He heard me calling his name and started frantically pushing what he was using into Kennedy's closet. He knew he'd be in trouble. Too bad his "art" was too cute to punish. I'm amazed he was able to fashion this mask by himself. He obviously has an older sister that loves make-up and often uses him as her palette.

Thunderstorms...

It's raining outside. Raining is putting it mildly. It's pouring. The field across the street from my house is flooding. The thunder is booming. The last crack sounded like a gunshot being fired from my porch. Landon is in hysterics from fear. I'm not an anxious person. I'm not afraid of storms such as this one. I actually enjoy sitting in the comforts of my own home, wrapped in a warm blanket listening to the thunder clap and witness the lightning brighten the entire night sky. It's kind of exciting. There are tornado watches surrounding our area. I'm not a fan of tornadoes, due to the extensive damage they cause. We've been blessed with no need to take cover this evening. I feel safe. I have noticed that the only thing that makes me uneasy about these storms is being separated from my little family. I dropped Kennedy & Ethan off at art lessons just as the first tornado warnings were coming across the radio urging various counties to take precautionary measures. My heart stopped beating for a nano-second. Flashes ran through my mind of Shawn, Jack, Landon, and I arranging for safety in our home without the comfort of my two oldest kids. I didn't like it. They are home now and I'm at peace. Shawn is about to head out the door for scouts and I know I won't be able to sit still until I hear the squeal of the garage door opening and see his car parked next to the van. Storms don't bother me, but the thought of being separated from those closest to my heart when disaster is a possibility stresses me out. It makes me realize what is really important in my life. I don't think about my house blowing away, I think about my house blowing away and not having everyone accounted for.

A Day At The Lake...

A few weeks ago we decided to take a picnic to the lake. Not to swim, just to sit at the point enjoying the beginning of fall. This is my favorite thing to do as a family. The kids love to throw rocks in the water, collect shells along the shoreline, and examine bugs. Shawn loves to follow them around and photograph every moment, while I enjoy sitting on the sidelines and just watching them all do their thing. Sometimes we get an angry face or two in a picture because so-and-so just threw a rock causing trauma, or the camera-in-the-face is getting irritating, but overall it's mostly a positive experience.

Jack-O-Lantern...

We have our own real life Jack-O-Lantern living with us this year. No need for the carved pumpkin kind at our house.

Halloween Traditions....

Holidays to me are basically just a good excuse to make sugar cookies. These cookies are too dangerous for me to make more often than that due to my voracious love for this particular kind. Who doesn't love the soft dough blended with cream cheese frosting topped with an m&m or other tasty ornament based on the holiday it surrounds? My children have come to love this cookie making tradition as much as I. It is very interactive, with a delicious ending. I make the dough, and while it is chilling we clean the house. (Extra incentive to get some work done). Then we all wash our hands and assume our positions at the kitchen counter. Everyone grabs their own rolling pin, the cookie cutters placed in an equal opportunity location, and we are off. Each child is given a generous glob to work with, while I then quickly roll and cut the rest myself. Onto a cookie sheet and into the oven they go. Jackson eats most of his glob, while Kennedy and Ethan are finally getting the hang of the roll, cut, place method. (Landon napped during this portion of the event). While I clean up and finish baking the kids venture off and entertain themselves for awhile. I make the frosting while the cookies cool. "Froster" is also my designated position. Maybe in a few years I'll delegate that out, but for now it belongs to me. All the frosted cookies are then placed on the kitchen table where once again the kids arrange themselves in their designated areas. I place a pile of candy corns and m&m's in front of them and they go to work. I figured Landon would eat his candy too quickly to notice what he was actually supposed to do with it, but I underestimated his ability. He grabbed a cookie close to him and set to work. I was pleasantly surprised. The other kids accomplished their job beautifully with little mistake. I was impressed with their creativity this year.

Another tradition in our family is to make ghosts and bats and hang them from our ceiling. This was started when Ethan was 2 and I was desperate for an entertaining activity. It began with me cutting and the kids decorating with markers. As the kids have gotten older the activity has expanded to meet their ability. This year we were able to venture into the world of origami bats and ghosts with arms. This year has been my favorite by far.

The Love of Reading.....

I love to read. I have always loved to read. I give all the credit for my book loving to my parents. They both have been avid readers as far back as I can remember. Library trips were weekly events. My dad used to read me nursery rhymes to get me to sleep. He has told me that sometimes he'd read for hours before I'd nod off. (I can still recite most every rhyme from memory). When I was old enough to read myself I would read by flashlight until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I hid my favorite books under the boards of the bunk bed, and secretly stashed my flashlight alongside them so they could easily be found when the lights were out and the door shut. At our family reunion this summer every single one of my siblings and both parents were engrossed in a book. If someone was missing we knew they had found a corner to hole up in to finish the last chapter or two in uninterrupted silence. It wasn't until I was married that I discovered not every family reads as much as mine. Shawn reads textbooks, not novels. He has listened to a few novels on cd while driving long distances, and has enjoyed them. He simply can't find the time amidst all the anesthesia journals to pick up the latest John Grisham. He does, however, know of the importance of reading to the kids. We both have read to the kids from birth on. Kennedy is now reading and she loves to read to anyone who will listen. It's so much fun as a mother to witness your two kids snuggled up on the couch engrossed in a book. Ethan started reading books at night last year. He was so into reading I bought him a headlamp so he could read in bed. He has already devoured many novel series. He's currently working on Animorphs. Sometimes he'll wander out of his room around 9:30 or so to get a drink and when I inquire about the time he'll say he was so caught up in his book he needed to finish or he'd never be able to sleep. To me, reading is the best excuse for a late night.

My baby......

Landon is getting so big. He is such a little boy now. I love this picture of him leaning back on his arms like he's so cool. He lugged this maverik mug all over the park. I think it weighed almost as much as him when it was full of water.

The Big Game....

The game was to start at 7, Kennedy needed to be there at 6:45. At 6:15 we were still debating if we should make it a family event, or if I should go alone to watch Kennedy. I thought I should go alone, but at 6:30 Shawn decided all the kids should get a taste of football. Ethan was dragging his feet in protest, Jack was wound up from parade candy, and Landon was just whiny. But, I relented and we all loaded into the van. Because it was the homecoming game, and we live in a town that thrives on local events, you can imagine how packed the bleachers were. We ended up on the grassy hill designated for parents of the rah-rah rookies. The incline of this hill was unbelievable. My feet were cramping just trying to keep my body from sliding into the people sitting in front of me. Jack loved the hill. He was about 10 feet from where we were sitting starting from the top and running to the bottom. Over and over. Until he was so thirsty he could run no more. Ethan started out enjoying the game, until he realized there was a concession stand that we were not frequenting. Then his complaints became known. Loudly. He finally covered his head with the sweatshirt that was too hot to wear and laid down on the blanket. Nice. Until Landon thought he was trying to play "jump on me" and one hard thump sent him into hysterics. This wasn't even the end of the 1st quarter. Kennedy was finally up to cheer. It was short, and I couldn't really even see her from where we were. She came off the sidelines smiling and giggling with her friends, so it seemed to be successful in her eyes. I would have loved to watch the drill team perform at half-time, but couldn't sit through another quarter. Home to bed seemed to be the only option. Next year if it's a family affair we will bring our own drinks and possibly sedate the children with something before we venture out of the house.

Homecoming Parade....

Kennedy was invited to march in the parade with the rah-rah rookies, and Jackson's preschool class was decorating vehicles to ride as a group. (Small town, everyone gets to participate that can think of a reason). The parents of the preschool kids needed to walk alongside their child, probably to keep everyone focused on actually finishing the parade. Shawn was off early that day and volunteered to watch from the sidelines with Landon and Ethan so the rest of us could participate. I dropped Kennedy off at her destination with instructions on how to find me after, and Jack and I headed to his meeting place with decorated bike in tow. Jack and I found ourselves at the very beginning of the parade, right behind the fire truck. (And the fire truck's siren. Fabulous.) As we were waiting for the signal to begin riding, Jack started looking around at the kids we were with. "Hey Mom. That kid is in my preschool class. Mom, that girl is in my class too. Mom, that is one of the teachers in my class. That's funny that they are all here at the same time as me!" They did decorate their bikes in school the previous day and have been talking about the parade for a week. You think my son would catch on that we were marching with the kids in his class and that is why we were surrounded by them. Good one Jack. The parade starts and we are off. It was fun. And short. The only complaint Jack had was that if he was in the parade he couldn't catch candy from the sidelines. We had a contingency plan that Natalie J. would throw candy at him after the parade, but because we were so early on in the game we were able to sit at the finish line and catch enough to satisfy. Kennedy came after us so I was also able to catch a glimpse of her in the throng of girls she was with. Fun parade. Next year we'll all get to do it again.

Rah-Rah-Rookies....

The Varsity cheerleaders at our local high school hold a cheer camp for kindergarten through 5th grade girls. They meet the saturday before the homecoming game and teach the girls some basic cheers, a short dance, and just have a good time. This was Kennedy's first year to participate and she loved it. When we first got in the gym she was her typical "observing" self. I was afraid she would just watch the entire time and get nothing out of this clinic. I stayed for a few minutes to watch. All the rookies were in a giant circle (about 100+ girls) with Varsity cheerleaders dispersed throughout. There were 4 varsity girls in the center of the circle. They began playing a game. They were singing some kind of chant and the girls in the center would start spinning with one arm pointing. When the chant ended, whomever the girls arms were pointing at would come into the center of the circle replacing the one who pointed. I knew Kennedy would never go into that circle, even if pointed to. Wrong. She was in that circle within 2 minutes of the game starting. After only 8 minutes of playing she made it into the circle 4 times. Remember, there were over 100 girls. The odds of her making it in the circle once were slim to none. But 4 times. That means she went into the circle when she wasn't actually even being pointed to. I learned that my "observer" child likes the spotlight in some situations. When that game ended they started another. This game wouldn't allow her to cheat her way into the spotlight, and as I watched I could see her body trying not to just jump in and risk social outcasting. I have to say I loved watching this side of her. It is a rare treat to see her come out of her shell in such a large group.

The cheers they learn at the clinic are used to perform between 1st and 2nd quarter at the homecoming football game.She had such a great time. I'm so glad she had this opportunity. It was good for her, and good for me to see that she does have a "showy" side. T-I-GERS we are the TIGERS!! (I'll be chanting this one for a number of weeks I'm sure).