Trunk or Treat

 We had our annual ward trunk or Treat and chili cook off last night! And this year we have Rachel the Zebra, Scooby Doo Joseph, Ninja Adam, Iron Man Johnny, Crocodile Josh, Wicked Kate Witch, Butterfly Anya, Shakespearean Ruth, and Eskimo Arwen.

 The kids "trunk or treat" in the parking lot. Then we go into the church for games and chili. And then there is an amazing, well done, spooky, gorey spook alley for anyone who wants to be creeped out. Our ward does an excellent job making Halloween fun. In fact, the whole neighborhood attends-- not just the Mormons.

 A guy in our ward dressed up as Mitt Romney-- Impressive!

 And so the mess begins. My method is to let them eat as much candy as they want to as fast as possible because let's just say 8 kids can make a huge mess with a pile of candy! The less I have to clean this up, the happier I am!

New Car

bobble-head Josh

Wish it was a real new car... I gave in and let Josh pick out a little hot wheels car at Target yesterday, even though it is neither Christmas or his birthday. He is just so cute, I couldn't help myself. And let me tell you, that was a well spent $.97. He hasn't put it down. He drives it over everything. We are hearing a constant drone of, "vrrrrrrrrrr"

Drive

 We've had this 36 piece dinosaur floor puzzle since Ruth was 2.5. The last two years I kept it in storage because my kids are destructive and I did not want to loose the pieces. But, when I changed out the summer clothes for the winter clothes a few weeks ago I found that I needed more storage space. Out came the puzzle. I just stuck it on a reachable shelf in Anya, Rachel, and Joseph's bedroom closet. A couple days later, the puzzles was part in their bedroom, part in the downstairs toys, part in my bedroom, part in the laundry room etc. Then Anya and Joseph realized they could match the picture together and do they puzzle. They spent three hours one morning putting the puzzle together and seeking out all of the pieces to the puzzle. They actually found them all. And NOW-- Joseph is OBCESSED and ADORABLE! He spends hours every day building the puzzle, breaking the puzzle, building the puzzle... His favorite place is the halfway point on the stairs.

All of my boys have displayed this sort of drive and force to figure something out.I am always pleased to see my boys using their natural drive to problem solve and discover. It is just a good thing!

Joys

Joy is:

 Kids who love you,

 Baby's Smiles,

 New kittens,

 Hard work and chocolate cookies,

 Siblings that get along,

and siblings that adore each other.

Rachel: My Chatterbox

Rachel excitedly came home from school with a free kids meal to Costa Vida for reading lots of minutes. I promised her a date. Rachel wanted mom and dad to come along on her date so the three of us went tonight. Rachel is my biggest chatter box, and she has a million interesting things to say.

On the way there, we asked Rachel about her friends at school. She told us about her three best friends, Morgan, Riley, and Logan. Riley and Logan are both boys. Morgan has a crush on Logan and Rachel has a crush on Riley. Rachel told me how Morgan said that she is going to marry two boys because she wants to have so many kids that it is going to take two boys. Rachel told Morgan that she would not go to heaven if she married two  boys. Then Morgan agreed with Rachel that it is better to only marry one boy.

Rachel told us about another girl who never keeps her promises. She said that this one girl always tells another girl that she is going to play with her at recess and then never does. She said the girls is only nice half of the time. The other half of the time she is mean. Rachel said that her friends are always nice to her.

In the restaurant, Rachel told us how all of the food tasted yucky and how her drink tasted funny (apparently because of the bubbles).

On the way home, Rachel said she and Anya and Joseph always turn on the bedroom light after we leave their room at night. Sometimes they put a puzzle together and sometimes they play games. Rachel told us how Anya made up this game where they jump from the top bunk onto Joseph's bed. Anya named the game, "The Biggest Jump". Rachel said that she is the best at it.

Then Rachel told us that when she gets tired she makes Joseph and Anya scratch her back. We asked her how she made them do it. She said that they always do what she says because for some reason they think she is the boss of the room. Rachel said that sometimes Anya thinks she is the boss of the room and will not do what Rachel says, but that Joseph always does what Rachel tells him to do and that he never tries to be the boss.

Rachel is fun to talk to. She brings me into this secret life of my middle kids that I don't really know anything about. I'm glad Rachel likes to tell all. I love hearing all.

Feeling a Bit Frightened

This is my most expensive birthday present. John bought me the Utah Valley HALF Marathon. So it is happening. I will have to run a half marathon June 8, 2013. I am terrified. I couldn't even run the mile in the 4th grade. I am NOT a runner. This will be hard work for me, but I need a healthy body to be the best mom I can be. So starting this week, exercise means more. It means training.

Such a Fun Kid

I could probably write, "Such a fun kid" about all of my kids. Today, I am thinking of Joseph. He's my happy little guy. I love his humor and his smiles and his love of food and his imagination and his gorgeous hazel eyes. This kid just melts my heart every.single.day.