My niece Zadi and her husband Jesse were sealed in the SG temple! We are so excited for them. The kids kept saying, "Now they'll always be together!" It was a happy occasion and we were glad we could make it, even if it was a ridiculously quick trip.
The kids chose "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" as their show one Sunday. (Proud parent moment) I was elated when I noticed Gwen and Lindy dancing during all the fun songs, trying to copy the moves from the movie. Adrienne and I used to do that:) Made me happy.
We decided it was time to count how much money was in their tree house fund. They have been saving every penny since about March, and they have $450! We decided that was probably plenty to build a nice tree house in the spring. Now the money they earn will go to them as individuals, unless we come up with another goal.
Brendan and Benson playing in the sand at the Beckstrom's house on home school group day. That sand kept him entertained for at least 30 minutes! Big deal!
Cornbelly's. ..... What was supposed to be a fun outing, was one of the most stressful family activities we've endured. You wouldn't know it from these pictures though! Ha! Long story short, we were ill-prepared for what we were getting into, and limped along most of the outing. Specifically when we lost Lindy twice, and Gwen once. Two of those times, they were so lost they ended up sitting in the information booth for at least 10 minutes (although it felt like an eternity). We were grateful for kind strangers, for sure. I doubt I'll ever get Richie to go back again, but if I do, we know what to prepare for!
That same weekend, I took the kids to the Scarecrow festival, also at Thanksgiving point. I was trying to give Richie a break by taking the kids for a few hours. He looked at me like I was a crazy person and sincerely tried to dissuade me from going, based on our last outing there. However, it was completely wonderful and pleasant! The kids loved looking at all the scarecrows, making fall themed crafts, playing in the leaves, and the free bouncy houses! We are always to cheap to fork out the $5 or whatever it is for the kids to do bouncy houses, so they were extra excited about this, even after getting knocked around a bit.
Here's Lindy making up a story while I made treats. She must have a million story lines in her head all the time, because she can start one in about 20 seconds.
A few years ago we went to Gardener Village with the Andersons around Halloween time. We decided to do it again, and it was so fun! It's such an easy, fun outing, made even better with friends.
My one measly picture from the ward fall party! We were double booked that night and Richie had to go teach swing while I had to be at the party because the Primary was in charge of all the carnival games. I tried to help out the best I could, but let's be real, me alone with 4 small kids is not much help. Luckily, it went well and the kids had a blast.
If Benson had a choice, he would be outside 100% of the time. If you're holding him and open the door to answer it, or yell to a kid down the street, and then don't take him out, he will get really mad at you! On Saturday, thanks to some friendly neighbors, Richie took the 3 oldest to a BYU football game. The kids are now all Cougar fans. :) Meanwhile Benson and I stayed home to get things done. However, I opened the door once, and he didn't want to go back in. So I relented and let him play in the dirt in his pj's for a good 20 minutes. If he was my first, I'd probably stress out about cleanliness and what not. But really I was just happy that he was happy, and we cleaned him up just fine later.
Homeschool is still in full force! Here's Miles practicing his spelling words with play-doh and Legos. I've been reading a book about teaching from a place of rest and peace. (Easier said than done) But something that has stuck in my brain is that Heavenly Father has prompted me to do this. He doesn't expect me to be successful all the time, He just asks that I'm faithful all the time. So now when days don't go as planned, I try to take a breath, and remember that I'm trying my best, so He will make up the difference. Thank goodness.
Pumpkin Carving, ice cream floats, and "Sleepy Hollow". Yay FHE!
On Halloween we didn't do our core stuff (math and reading), but we did do some history reading while playing with Halloween Play-doh, and then we did some STEM stuff by trying to create a stand out of tape and straws that would be strong enough to support a small pumpkin. It was a fun day.
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