Happy Halloween!

One thing I love about this time of year is that I can finally open the living room curtains and have them stay open all day. :) In the summer time Jeremy will close them if I open them because he says it lets the heat in more to have them open.  He's right.  We have single pane windows, and they do let in a lot of heat.  But I like the curtains open!  Even if we do have an eyesore house across the street. XD

I think my camera has officially died.  It shuts off and insists that I put in new batteries, even if I just did. :( I'm so sad.  The new camera I got makes everyone look sunburned.  I wish I had bought the one I was looking at first.  Maybe I need a new simple camera like the dying one for Christmas.  I gave the new one to Jeremy and he thinks it's wonderful.  I'm so glad he's had so much fun with it. :)

I told you we made a robot costume for Timmy, right?  He LOVES that thing! He keeps finding it and putting it on and then walking around looking pleased.

I'm kind of feeling disappointed.  I said some time that my heel was hurting from running, right?  Well, yesterday I went to the gym again.  I decided to try to take it easy because my heel was still kind of hurting.  I ended up running a mile after walking a couple of laps.  I tried to focus on turning my foot out a bit.  See, I'm the kind of person who walks on my insoles more than on the outside of my foot.  I thought maybe the hurt was because of striking too much on the inside part of my heel.  That's where it hurts.  So I turned my foot a bit so that I was running more on the outside part of my foot.  I thought it worked.  It didn't hurt while I ran.  It didn't hurt until hours after I was done, and then it sure hurt.  I don't know what to do.  Do I go back to the elliptical where my toes go numb?  Do I just walk on the treadmill?  That feels like cheating, and, besides that, I want to fill in my running chart!  I'll figure out something.  It is sure frustrating, though.  I was sure that after a week off it would be all better, but it's not. :(

Now on to Halloween pictures.  Some of these are from the Burk Halloween party, some are from trunk-or-treat, and some are from our house.  Trunk-or-treat was last night, and I was actually doing really good.  We were going to be almost on time, but those last minutes sure get sucked away fast looking for shoes and such.  And then we decided to wait for Jeremy, and he hadn't eaten yet and needed to use the bathroom.  We didn't get there until like an hour after it started, and everybody was packing up and leaving. :( The kids each got a couple pieces of candy, so we just went and got some candy at the store and Jeremy handed it out from our bedroom door.  He put on a few different costumes and had them come back for more.  First he was himself with a squeaky voice, and he called Michael a fairy princess.  Michael's brothers thought that was very funny.  Then he wore his cloak.  Then he wore his Freeport McMoRan hat and safety vest.  Then he wore his spaceship apron and straw hat.  Then he wore his cap and gown from ASU and his hood from INSEEC.  It was great fun. :)

Jeremy bought a bunch of pumpkins, and we cut out faces on them.  There were enough for everyone.  Here's Brom making his surprised face and eating a piece of pumpkin that got cut off.  I'll have to post more pictures on the photo site someday.  This one makes me laugh. :)

 Here's Jill at Grandma's Halloween party.  I thought I had a better picture of her, but I don't!  I'll have to try again.  She had her pink leotard, pink tights, her blue tutu, and pink ballet slippers with pink ribbons sewn on.  And I put her hair in a bun with a pink bow on it.  She felt so beautiful.  It was fun. :)

Hyrum got his hair painted red and yellow.  He hated the spray and decided we needed to not spray it for trunk-or-treat.  Darn! 

 

Timmy the robot

 

Bubby! I think all of my boys wore this costume.

 

Michael got his hair sprayed red, and then he colored red around his eyes for trunk-or-treat.  He says he was a fire wizard.

 

Poor Hyrum was sick.  He's been sleeping and coughing today. :( He couldn't even make it to Seminary this morning.  (You know Hyrum is pretty sick if he insists on missing Seminary. :( )

 

Benji bought a mask to go with his holey clothes, but it wasn't allowed at trunk-or-treat.  He was trying to look weary in this picture, I think.  He colored with gray marker on his face like five o'clock shadow, and I think he said he was a guy who had traveled a lot or something.  I had actually bought him some zombie makeup, but we found that the package said it wasn't for people under 15.  Dang it!  He was kind of bummed.  And then we were too late for trunk-or-treat anyway.  Ugh.

 

Joshua - I don't think he said what he was.  He just thought this get-up was funny - the beard and the glow-in-the-dark wig.

 

 Jeremy pulled Timmy and Brom's costumes out of the back of the car so we could get them dressed.  He put them on his head and told me to take a picture.

Here is Freeport Man, ready to hand out candy.

 

And a guy with Twizzlers in his apron.

 

 

And a graduate who needs to shave.  Ha ha!

 

 And here is Benji in his mask.

 

I think we're done with Halloween now.  We may be going camping tomorrow, and then we'll miss all one of the trick-or-treaters that come down our street.

Winged it

I'm not sure what to write about.  It'll probably come to me as I start talking. :)

My blog book came in the mail today! :) I'm so excited!  It covers moving to Utah all the way until Jeremy leaves for Paris.  It's big, it's blue, and it's beautiful!  Some of the pictures came out darker than I hoped, but overall I'm quite pleased with it.

We had a Burk Halloween party last night at Grandma's house.  I am such a horrible procrastinator!  Halloween is my biggest procrastination season.  I leave as many costumes as possible until the last minute. :) Ha ha!  We made Timmy a robot costume with a box and dryer hoses.  Of course, I waited until yesterday afternoon to start.  And Jill was a ballerina.  All I had to do was sew ribbons on her ballet slippers and get her dressed.  She felt so beautiful  It was so fun! :) Michael and Hyrum wanted their hair sprayed different colors, so I had to do that.  Thank goodness Joshua and Benji did their own costumes.  And thank goodness Brom's is the good ol' pumpkin that all my boys took a turn wearing, I believe. We also had to make some stinkin' mummy dogs (pigs In a blanket where you roll the biscuit into a snake and wrap it around the hot dog like a mummy) for the party.  The funny thing is that just the night before we watched how hot dogs are made.  I think I've seen it before, but man!  That is so gross!  They take the leftover, fatty bits of chicken, pork, and beef, and they extrude them through a meat grinder, and then they mix it with lots of salt, some corn syrup, and water in a huge vat.  It looks like pink diarrhea.  Gross!  Then they put it in the casing and give it a salt bath and steam it and whatnot.  Not at all appetizing.  It felt weird to be buying hot dogs after watching that!  Anyway, so we were late after getting all the costumes and mummy dogs together.  Oh, well.  Their part of dinner wasn't ready either.  And Jeremy had class that night and then a tutoring session, so he didn't get there until just before we started singing pumpkin carols (I hate those!) and trick-or-treating to the bedroom doors.  There was also apple bobbing in the bathtub, as per tradition.  All my family but Brom and me tried it.  Yeah, I'm a party pooper. :) It was a pretty fun little party, though.  I'm glad we did it.  Some years we run out of time.

I read an article just recently that was written by a lady who gave good reason to just go with the flow when "six-foot trick-or-treaters" who are only half-costumed show up at your door.  She said that she always kind of grumbled about them, but then one year her own son was a teenager.  He asked if he could have friends over on Halloween, and she said, "Of course."  Well, when the friends showed up, they decided they wanted to go trick-or-treating, so the lady and her husband scrambled around finding costumes.  She pointed out that maybe a lot of kids end up going half costumed because they don't realize until the last minute how very badly they would want to go after all.  That sounds familiar, as I watch Hyrum and Joshua headed that direction.  I definitely have a lot more compassion for those silly teenagers than I used to.  Ha ha!

Hyrum had been adamant about having a full costume the last few years, even though he was getting a little old.  Then this year he just wanted his hair sprayed.  I tried to convince him to be broccoli like his friend Nolan suggested.  Green hair paint and a green shirt.  Perfect!  He's got the curly hair to set it off perfectly.  But he didn't want to.  So he was red and yellow speckled, and it sounds like he's just going to be himself tomorrow at trunk-or-treat.  And this year, Joshua, who also always wanted a full costume, just bought a beard, and I bought him a white glow-in-the-dark wig to go with it.  And he wore the cape from his Darth Vader costume.  I'm not sure what he was supposed to be.  I don't know if he knows, either, but he giggled about it.  That's good enough for me. :)

Benji wanted to be a zombie.  He had a button-down shirt that had a big hole in the back, so he used that and just cut some more holes in it.  He had some pants that he insisted were holey, but I didn't see them until last night.  They had a bit of, I guess, holes down at the back of the cuff.  I nearly cried when I found he took the scissors to them as well.  I just held my tongue and went with it.  We'll buy him new pants if he needs them. :)

Michael found a red phantom costume at Fry's, and I got it for him.  He lost his hood, so he decided he wanted his hair sprayed red.  OK. That worked all right.

So there you go.  They were all costumed. :) I didn't get pictures of all of them, so I'll try to get the rest tomorrow night, and then I'll post them.

Purpose

So I know it's monotonous, but I'm still thinking about school and how to make it work.  I decided that I need to find out what in the world I'm supposed to be studying and start studying it.  In the meantime, I read my Patriarchal Blessing, and it mentions learning and being prepared to teach the Gospel.  I guess that answers that question, huh?  I'm lame and never finished the Old Testament, so there's a place to start.

I've also been thinking - one thing I need to share with my children every day in our little devotional (if I can ever get into that habit!) is my love for the Gospel.  It is lovely, exciting stuff, and I love it.  My kids should know that and catch it themselves.

Joshua has been increasingly frustrated lately and has been dragging his feet, laying around yelling and screaming.  That is a good indicator that he's getting bored with what he's doing and that he's ready to transition.  I need to help him find a purpose and get moving.  We need to figure out what he wants to accomplish and map it out.

Hyrum is ready for scholar phase but is too busy goofing off.  He's so funny!  He would spend all day watching funny videos if I let him.  Right now he's supposed to be working on the assignment Jeremy gave him - a report that answers his own question about the difference between mushrooms and toadstools.  He looked it up and found that there is no difference.  I thought, "What in the world?!"  After a while he said, "Well, there is no difference, but toadstools are poisonous."  Uhhhh... That sounds like a difference to me. Ha ha!  I need to help him draw up a plan and start studying.  I'm actually waiting on the next TJEd book to come in the mail.  It's TJEd for teens, and we're supposed to both read it, and then maybe I'll feel like I know more what to do.  I think, though, that this is one of those figure-it-out-as-you-go things since it's so personalized.

Benji needs to ask some questions and do some projects, and so does Michael.  That is the phase they should be in now.  Science experiments and whatnot, I'm guessing.  I need to help them make a plan as well.  I think today would be a great day to sit down and kind of hammer out some details.  I'm looking forward to it, though.  I think my biggest hurdle is whining.  They know how to push my buttons, and I too easily give in because all my life my job has been to not ruin anybody's life, to not rock to boat or.  Time to just remember that I'll ruin their lives if I don't insist.

I've had the distinct impression lately that what Timmy needs is for me to teach him to read.  That is where Jill is also.  I also feel that I need to employ the older kids to help the younger kids with that.  The only problem is that they don't want any part of that.  They only want to be read to and taught by their mommy.  I think maybe if we did it in kind of a class setting with a coloring page to start with they might do better.  I don't want to push Timmy, but I do want to help him, and it seems like learning to read (even if it takes a long time and we go slow) would be a blessing to him and help him in his learning to talk.

Bubby has been having a hard time lately.  I think he might have gotten hurt falling down.  He has been kind of fussy lately.  And he is getting so quick!  He is practically running everywhere he goes, and he is getting to be quite an experienced climber.  So he runs and then climbs, and before I know that he's gone anywhere he falls off a chair or something.  It's either that or he trips while he's walking and falls on his face.  Or Timmy comes along and pushes him down.  Poor fella!  Argh!  I think Brom is learning to be a little more careful, though.  When he climbs on the couch, he's learned to go down on his belly and slide off.  I'm kind of relieved.  I figure that since I can't follow him around all the time, at least I can try to teach him how to get down safely.  So I've been trying to help him learn that, and he's getting it.  Sometimes he climbs up on a chair in the kitchen and then stands there and cries because he can't get down.  I would rather go get him down than have him fall down.  I recognize that "I'm stuck" cry and we rush in and save the day. :)

Vent

Maybe I'll take this down tomorrow. I'm feeling mad right now.

Remember how I was complaining about doing more than our fair share of Sunday dinner? And how I was happy that we would have a few weeks off? Well, I was wrong about time off. It's Becca's turn, and she asked to do it at our house. Hers is too small. That made me feel frustrated! We did get some good cleaning done yesterday, except that all the bigger things in the kitchen were piled around dirty, and the bedrooms were messy. We grudgingly (because you can't tell family no) told her she could do it here, but asked that she help us clean first (the dishes and Jill's room). Well, she helped, but we still have dishes that aren't done. And she didn't touch Jill's room at all. It's not that I expect a maid. But we had an agreement. And now she is here. She was 45 minutes late, and Mom didn't bring syrup like she was supposed to. Does that mean I need to supply that? And throw-away dishes? And a drink? I'm feeling unappreciated and taken advantage of. Honestly, if this were the first time something like this for thrown at us by Jeremy's family I wouldn't complain. But it's not. It happens on a regular basis, and it'll happen again, I guarantee.

Saturday

I've been thinking as I've been copying, pasting, and aligning things in the book I'm working on.  And last night I looked up at the wall above my recliner at the three diplomas that are hanging there. They are all Jeremy's. There's actually one more (an AAS degree) in a box somewhere, and all four of those degrees happened after Jeremy married me.  Do you know what that says?  That says that we as a family have lived through a lot of Papa in school!  Now, before you think that I'm saying that in a snide manner, just know that I'm not.  I don't resent it in the least.  Papa going to school has been a blessing in one way or another or 10 kijillion others to all of us.  I'm thankful for the experiences we've had that came from it.  He's also talking about getting his doctorate, but right now he's still just in the talking about it phase.  It all gets me thinking - I supported his decision to go to school.  So wouldn't he support mine?  Of course, he would!  Sometimes I forget that.  I want to get my bachelor's degree.  I hope I'll finally just do it someday.

Jeremy and Hyrum are off to Thatcher to go to youth conference.  I feel bad for Jeremy.  He was kind of stressing out last night, which always means he gets to bed late.  And then Brom wouldn't stay asleep, and Timmy has a habit lately of waking up at 2:30 with a tantrum, needing to go to the bathroom, even if he went at bedtime.  And when that happens he inevitably wakes up Brom, and then I'm taking care of Brom while Jeremy tries to get Timmy to go potty, and Timmy gets mad about that and sometimes he won't go.  He just wants his mommy, and Papa is not the Mama.  Last night Jeremy stood him in the bathtub after he didn't go potty, and he just stood there crying and wet his underwear.  What in the world?  So then Timmy came and got in my bed along with Brom and me. (After his underwear got taken away.  He's still laying there naked under a blanket.) Jeremy ended up sleeping on the floor, and before the night was over Jill was there with him.  Yeah, I feel pretty bad about that. I have to remind myself that it's not really my fault. 

I also feel bad because Jeremy was volunteered and really has no choice but to go.  They needed some more people from our ward, and the Young Men's leaders can't go, so the scoutmaster was automatically nominated.  Weekends are a bad time for this because he needs to prepare lessons for his college classes then.  Of course, the stake leaders are very grateful that he'll go, but man!  After last night I didn't want to send him!  Went to bed late and got up early.  And I'd rather he stayed home with me all the time. ;) Well, it ought to be a good day anyway.  He took his book with him, so he ought to be able to get some work done anyway.

I'm excited for Hyrum, though.  This is his first youth conference.  I don't think he really understood at all what it was going to be.  He got signed up without hesitation as soon as we heard about it.  He wasn't at all unwilling to go.  I'm just not sure that anybody took him aside and explained what a youth conference is.  Last night I told him, "Hyrum, you're going to LOVE youth conference.  It's like all day seminary."  His eyes got wide with delight, and he was all excited.  I think he'll have a great day. :)

And, to tell the truth, I'm glad Jeremy gets to go with him.  Not everybody gets to have their dad go with them (and not everyone has an awesome dad like Jeremy), and, besides, we were living there in Thatcher when Hyrum was born.  We have all sorts of history there.  It's where Jeremy and I met, and there are lots of places there around town where we have little memories.  We lived really close to the college after we got married, and I often took Hyrum on walks in his stroller through the college campus to pick up the mail at the Post Office. I remember pushing him along, feeling so proud as I looked down at him.  I could not get enough of that little guy.  Hyrum was just 8 months old when Jeremy graduated.

The conference today is at the Institute.  That is also a place full of memories for us.  We went to so many classes there.  I put together a bunch of puzzles and ate lots of cookies from the cookie jar and listened to lots of people play the piano there.  I put up lots of notes to Jeremy on the note board there.  I sat in the library there and studied in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism all sorts of things about the Temple as I prepared to go to the Temple.  I even got a blessing there at the Institute once, and it was just what I needed.  And it's also the place where I went to church every Sunday in college.  I was in at least a couple of Relief Society Presidencies, and the wives of the members of our bishopric worked with us.  I love those ladies a lot.  James and I both bore our testimonies there at church one Sunday, and he said he was proud of me.  That is something I'll never forget.  And it's where I received my recommend to go to the Temple for the first time! :D I love that place!

I've got a sore, achy throat this morning.  It's aching all the way down my sternum too.  I started to lose my voice last night.  I don't like losing my voice.  I think I ought to take some more Vitamin C and go back to bed while I still can.  It's just so nice being up while everyone's sleeping sometimes. :)

Benji

Benji has been wanting to cook a lot. Well, the boys all have. Today Benji got his job and school all done and even did a bit extra stop he could make dinner. He picked steak, which Timmy calls snake, and scalloped potatoes. I helped him with the potatoes. They came out so yummy! I think I would make them more often if they didn't take so long to make! Benji cooked the steak himself. He did better this time. He cooked it slower so it got mostly done in the middle. :) Improvement! Jeremy likes his steak still mooing a bit, but I don't!

Anyway, yea for Benji! One more thing he can make.  :)

And since it's throwback Thursday for one more minute,  here's a picture of Benji and Michael back in 2009 or so. :)

Wednesday

Today turned different from how I expected. I went shopping in the morning and it kind of threw everything off. I left my phone in my purse after the shopping trip, so I didn't get the reminder to take Benji and Michael to scouts until 20 minutes after it started. At the time I had the two little ones in the tub. And soon after I saw we were late I got a call from their den mother. She wondered if the boys were coming. I said I forgot, and by the time I got everyone loaded in the car and drove over there scouts would be almost over. She told me to please bring them anyway because it was really important for them to be there that day. (We're still not sure what in the world was so important.) So I got the little ones dressed and got over there. I decided to just stay there since it was almost time to go. We ended up playing on the grass while we waited. That was fun, and I took pictures on my phone. (I'd upload them, but they're on my phone.) My favorites were of Jill holding Brom's hand as he walked down the sidewalk. :) We ended up being there long after time to go, and I'm still not sure why. But then there was no Boy Scouts. That made the schedule feel weird.

I also didn't go to the gym. Last night my heel was hurting way more than when I wrote. I decided I'd better take a day off, and it made me sad. I might should have just gone and done upper body. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day.

Speaking of the gym, Benji has been coming with me most times. He plays around a lot, but he does use the cardio equipment a bit. Sometimes Joshua comes too, and he and Benji have a great time joking with each other. I like that. I think Benji likes the extra attention. I like the company, and I also hope I'm setting a good example.

Brom still doesn't want to be weaned. I'm having a hard time finding things he'll easy instead. He does like peaches, bananas, applesauce,  and yogurt, but not every time. He likes Graham crackers with milk, but Graham crackers are of limits for me because they give me the runs. I need to not even buy them because I like them do much I eat them anyway if they're in the house. Anyway, so he's still nursing a few times a day. Oh, and waking up at night, refusing to sleep in his own bed. Jeremy wants me to go cold turkey. Well, for one thing, OW! For another thing, I feel like I'm getting to little sleep as it is, and when I have to be up at five to take Hyrum to Seminary every morning I just can't bring myself to put myself through the long nights of crying. That obviously means it needs to happen anyway, right? Maybe I'll try on the weekend, but then I won't be able to keep my eyes open in church. :P Frustrating! Well, I'll figure it out eventually.