Kiddos

Hyrum took the fourth test of the GED yesterday and passed!  He has now passed all of them on the first try! :) We intend to fill out the FAFSA in the next couple of days and then he can get the Pell Grant next semester.  Phew!  That will be a relief!  Tuition for a full-time student at EAC is over $1000 now.

Joshua has fallen behind in his math class.  I'm at such a loss for how to help him. We're still working on it, though.  He's been looking at his options for next semester and is excited.  He wants to take C# Programming.  I hope he'll take drawing again as well.  I think if he passes his math class we'll give him a break from math for a semester.

Benji and Michael both have their first wrestling meets today.  I think they're just them competing against their own teammates this time.  I'm worried about it because today is going to be the mother of all dental work days.  Sort of.  Some of the dental stuff will be cleanings, but it's going to be a long one.  We'll start at 10:30, and the last appointment is at 2:00.  Benji's wrestling meet starts at 11:00, and I don't know how long it will last.  Benji's coach is not good at communicating, and we don't even have a calendar.  I'm scratching my head!  Well, Benji's excited, though!  Yesterday he came home with a Thatcher Eagles bag containing a singlet, a jacket, and headgear.

Michael's wrestling meet will be at 6:00 this evening.  We'll see how that goes.  He isn't nearly as excited as Benji is.  He likes certain things about wrestling.  He might want to do it again when he gets into Middle School.  But I think he'll be glad when it's over.  This school year has been hard on him.  He has good friends and is doing well, but he doesn't seem nearly as cheerful all the time.  He comes home all worn out and just looking sad.  I feel sad about that.  Also, his best friend Elwyn will most likely be moving next year, and he's super sad about that.

Jill has been protesting homework by just not doing it the last 2 days.  She's a lot like her brothers in that it takes a LOT of constant coaxing at this point to get her work done.  I know it'll get better because he brothers have gotten better, but I don't have the mental fortitude to deal with that.  She'll do the reading just fine and then mess around with the math and spelling until we run out of time.  I can't understand it.  I would not be able to live with undone homework.

Timmy is doing pretty good at school.  He still has his struggles.  I'm not sure what to do.  I wonder if it's because he's not being challenged enough, so I'm going to see what I can do to challenge him at home.  But he seems to be doing well on the actual work.  He is still pretty obsessed with Troy and Zachary, the other little autistic boys who he can't interact with.  He still thinks they're playing with him, I think.  Well, at least he isn't screaming as much.  Thank heavens!

This post is kind of depressing, isn't it?  Life really isn't so bad.  I'll just try to hurry and finish this up.

Bubby is a strong-willed little fella. He really needs to be potty trained, but he has no desire. He'll sit on the toilet for one second and then jump off, declaring that he's done.  I know there's the idea where you have them shoot a Cheerio in the toilet.  Well, he's the kind that would see that and then dump in a whole box of Cheerios when I wasn't looking. Bribes don't seem to work either.  He does like the idea of wearing underwear, but he wets in them immediately.  I'm going to have to get creative.

Henry needs to be weaned soon.  He's still having a hard time eating, though.  He can't even eat spaghetti.  He stuffs and stuffs and stuffs it in until his mouth is all full, but he can't swallow it because he still has no molars to chew with.  But he's getting me up at least twice and usually more every night.  I'm about to lose my mind.  I'm so, so tired all the time.  He's getting really brave, though, and can walk 5 or more steps in a row.  And he's so cute. :)

Well, that's enough for now.

Update

Henry gives me such a conflict of emotion lately.  He's been getting me up 3-4 times/night.  I wonder if he's trying to get molars.  It's already a struggle just to get everyone in bed on time.  I get everyone to bed, and then I look at the clock and it's 11:00 again.  And then when I'm getting up at about 5:00 or 6:00 after getting up and feeding Henry a few times, well, I'm feeling it.  It's not enough sleep.  I don't feel like I've been able to think clearly in a few weeks.  But then after he gets me up too early in the morning he's just so, so cute.  He grins at me with those 6 little teeth, and I just melt.  He is so fun!  He is getting really brave and can walk 3+ steps at a time.  He is getting to be really fast at crawling and can crawl up the stairs in less than a minute.  And now he can slither down too.

Benji and Michael decided to sign up for wrestling.  I don't remember if I mentioned that or not.  Michael's in a city wrestling club, and Benji's on the middle school team.  I think I already talked about it.  Michael has it on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 AM.  He hates getting up that early.  I have to get him up at 5:00, and then he dawdles and whines and fusses about how early it is and how he wishes he didn't sign up and how he'll never do wrestling again.  I guess we'll see about that.  It's still his choice, but I bet he'll decide he likes wrestling better when he doesn't have to go early in the morning.  That won't be for 2 years, though.

Benji LOVES wrestling.  He has practice after school every day until 5:00.  It means that on Wednesdays he only has a little bit of time at home because he has scouts that day.  But he's doing fine and is really enjoying it.  I'm so glad!  I knew years ago that he would if he ever got the chance. :) Also, his voice is changing again.  It's been a little raspy now and then as it changes.  I think he's pretty excited about that too.  He loves the idea of being taller than me and growing facial hair and all that.  Well, I'm glad he's glad. :)

We're still trying to get dental work done.  Our insurance covers cleanings every 3 months, so it's time for those to happen again.  I also got my teeth fixed.  Now we have to take care of Hyrum's, Joshua's, Benji's, Jill's, and Timmy's.  Timmy did get 1 tooth fixed, but he has a few more.  Hyrum, Joshua, Benji, and Jill all got halfway done.  They don't like to numb both sides at once, I guess.  Anyway, they'll all be done before Thanksgiving, except possibly Hyrum and Timmy.  And today when Hyrum and Joshua went for their cleaning it was discovered that their wisdom teeth are coming in.  Hyrum's need to be taken out soon because the bottom ones are coming in sideways and are about to start pushing against the other teeth.  So we have to wait for them to set things up with the oral surgeon who visits there to do work.  At least they'll put him to sleep for it!  I wasn't put asleep, and while it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it might be, I remember how it felt to have them removed.  Not pain.  Just pressure, and kind of the sound of it in my head.  Not horrible, but not my favorite memory either.  Well, it may have to wait until January when our insurance resets.  I cannot believe how much work there is to be done on our teeth!  I feel like we go to the dentist every 5 minutes.  I'm just glad that I like this dentist.  They are nice, and they do good work.  Thank heavens!

Oh, and before I forget!  Hyrum has been taking the GED test.  There are 4 sections, and he took and passed 3 of them.  He has social studies left, and he'll do that on Tuesday.  And then he can get the Pell Grant next semester.  Thank heavens!!  That will be so great!  It's been quite a year for him!  He got his permit, turned 16, was ordained a Priest, and now the GED.  Next step, driver's license!  We're still working on that.  :)

Jill decided it was her bear's birthday, so she dressed her up and wrapped some presents.  She even put her paper crown on her.  It was cute.  I remember being about 8 and giving my doll a birthday party the day after Robert's birthday.  I think I made her a dress and wrapped it and I don't know what else.  I remember how excited I was.  I was happy that Jill did it too.  So fun!  Her bear is named Snuglee - that's how she spells it, too.

Helping Sunglee open presents

Ward Trunk or Treat!  It was fun, but not as fun as last year.  We were combined with 1st Ward, and they're nice and all, but I liked it better last year.  It was so small and friendly, but there was still a lot of candy.  And this year they had it at 5:00.  Of course, they wanted to do it early, maybe because there's so much else that goes on that night.  But it meant that Jeremy couldn't come.  He doesn't get home until 6:00.  And he went on call that day.  Such a bummer!  But it was still a nice little party.  I ran out of candy pretty fast, and then I wandered around taking pictures and watching my kiddos go around and around. :)

Jill was a ghost

Michael was a banana.  He really wanted to be a football player because Elwyn (his best friend at school and church) was going to be a cheerleader.  But Joe couldn't find his uniform, so that was vetoed.  On Saturday before Halloween Papa took Michael to find a costume.  There was nothing football-ish.  He was really bummed.  He didn't really want to look at the other costumes because he though they were babyish.  But then they went and looked anyway, and Michael found this one and was so, so happy!  It reminded him of this video that he and his siblings like so much.  They think it's hilarious. :) So Michael came home with it without telling anyone what he got, and then he came downstairs and did the little peanut butter jelly time dance and giggle so much.  It was fun. :)

Bubby wore this dragon costume that Evan gave us years ago.  And Hyrum wore his cloak that we made last year and his hat that he got for his birthday.  He went to a trunk or treat with Joshua at the Institute the week before, and he got 3 pumpkin buckets full of candy. Joshua got like 1 1/2, but that's because he was a bit late.

I was happy with costumes this year.  The kiddos weren't very demanding with them.  Almost all of them wore something that we already had.  I only made 2 costumes - Joshua's and Henry's. 

Joshua was Wirt from Over the Garden Wall.  I was really happy how his costume turned out.  I actually made it out of fitted sheets because it was kind of cheaper than fabric and they were out of flat sheets.  Why are they always out of flat sheets?!  Every time!!

Betcha can't guess who Timmy was. XD He was so happy with this costume.  We already had it and it fit great.  I think we bought the cape separately for cheap years ago, and the suit was a hand-me-down.  That's the best kind of costume, especially when they're happy with it. :)

Here's Benji.  He wore last year's cloak and a mask he bought years ago and never used.  I think it looked pretty awesome. :)

Henry was an octopus.  You know, like Henry the Octopus on The Wiggles- an old kids show that was on Playhouse Disney years ago. I wonder if they're still on.  I suppose that technically he was a socktopus.  XD  I sewed socks on a black onesie and then put a pair on his legs like leg warmers and voila! Henry the Octopus.

Bubby cried for his candy for about a half minute on the way home because he couldn't reach it, and then he fell asleep.  Cute little fella. :)

Happy little octopus with a sucker :) 

I think he had a nice time too.

And here are some pictures I pilfered from the internet of Hyrum the first night at Fall Sing.  Isn't he a handsome fella?!  I'm so proud!  And I'm trying to no-pushily convince Joshua to join Men's Chorus next semester.

I don't think I told you, but Fall Sing was great.  I didn't like the Cheesers.  I guess they're called Company now.  They did a story from a different country with fake accents.  Jeremy was offended.  I don't really understand why.  I just didn't really enjoy it.  But then after they were done the Women's Chorale came on.  They have a new conductor this year, and he did an amazing job!  I was quite impressed.  I didn't like the girls quartet.  They were way, way too loud.  The guys group was better, though, they're not a quartet anymore.  They sang that song "Next to Lovin' I Like Fightin' Best," and did a great job. A Capella did a great job too.

Hyrum's group was one of the first ones after Company.  They were really good.  They sang "Say, Dear, Will You Not Have Me?"  And they sang one called "The Pasture" that was really nice and slow and pretty.  And they also sang a funny one called "The Drummer and the Cook."  It was funny!  It's about a drummer who falls in love with a cockeyed cook.  It keeps talking about how she has one eye on the pot and the other up the chimney.  It's cute.  

I was surprised how Dr. Bishop changed the Alma Mater.  I was kind of sad about that because now I can't sing along so much.  But it was also quite pretty.  I might just have to ask him for the sheet music.  I never met him before and never saw him conduct either.  In fact, this was pretty much my first exposure to him.  He is no Dr. Lunt, that's for sure, but I think he does a really good job.  I was really surprised, though, how few people were in the audience.  We always sang to a packed house.  It must have been because of Dr. Lunt.  Well, maybe people will start coming back for Dr. Bishop.  Except he is kind of getting old.  I wonder.

Well, anyway, here are some fun pictures.  Enjoy!

Oh, and one more thing.  These pictures were taken by Todd Haynie, who is our new stake president too. :)

Do you see Marlin Whetten in the middle there? :) I don't think he remembers me, but that's OK.  So many people have come and go over the years.  But I remember him. :)

Ha!  I thought I was done!  I was going to close this up and move on with my life.  Well, here's a little fella - ahem - "helping me take a nap."

And then I came downstairs because I gave up, and this is what I found. XD

Jill was out for a few hours for a dentist appointment on this particular day, and someone wrote this on her math homework.  Ha ha!  Papa says he needs a gun.

Cute fella

We didn't go to our fair, but Timmy won some ribbons for the stuff he entered with his class. :)

Zonked out

Check out how dirty his feet and legs are.  He LOVES when he can get outside.

Bubby did this while we weren't looking one evening.  And guess what it is.  It's oil paint from Hyrum's set that he got for his summer class.  Oh, boy!  I can't get it out.  It's now our conversation piece, I suppose.  Or do we like it because it gives our house character?  Ummmm....  I don't know, but better to laugh than cry, right? ;) He painted himself and the laminate floor and Henry and Timmy too.  That all came off, though.  Phew!