Candy Construction

We have kept the Hibbert tradition of building candy houses around Christmas time. Instead of the frosted binding of the graham cracker walls, I used melted sugar and only burnt myself twice (an improvement from last year). After construction, I evenly divided the candy I had left over from halloween and what I had saved from other events. Around four o'clock, Patrice, JT and Jayden arrived with a few more goodies and we sat around the table and exterior decorated the houses.

 Builders hard at work

 Additional construction materials

"We can't just eat this stuff now? Why not?"

Jayden sat for a minute but decided the toys upstairs would be more fun than not eating candy, so Patrice decorated their house. Neta was more into eating the bag of sugary goodness in front of her than putting it on a graham cracker box. I managed to get some smarties and a cookie door on, but that was about all that she would permit.

"You did such a good job, Mommy!"

"The candy is for eating. See?! Not decorating.
Crazy grown ups."

I think the kids did a pretty good job. Unfortunately the icing was runnier than Patrice and I remembered Mom's being, even though I used Mom's recipe, so some things slid and had to be held in place for a bit. They construction was completed on Monday ...

...and demolition was finished by Thursday (Xela's house lasting the longest).

Let it Snow!

Last Monday we had enough to go play in and that's just what the kids did. Xela had her friend, Lily, over for the afternoon and they, with Graigry, went outside and built a snow midget. They did a good job.

Nate went outside, not wanting to be left out of the frozen fun, and made himself an ice cream cone, at least that is what he called it. This last week, every time he's seen snow falling, he cheerfully and excitedly says, "It's Christmas time!!" He's such a cute and happy boy, when he wants to be.

Four Saturdays in a Row

We took a Thanksgiving weekend trip to visit Eric's sister, Keri Walker, in Tennessee. They were blessing their little Elizabeth, so we left Thanksgiving evening around 6:30 and got there around one in the morning. Unfortunately our DVD played didn't work, but fortunately I felt I should bring the last two Indian in the Cupboard books we were reading. We finished the third one on our trip down there and then started the fourth on our way back north.

Anyway, on Friday, to get out of the house, we went to Foster Falls. There is an overlook and then a short, steep climb down to the gully where you can be on the water front of the falls. It was an enjoyable outing for the adults and kids to visit nature.

Neta had a good time getting her hands wet and slightly muddy. We had to keep an eye on the kids. They would walk right up to the edge of the water and step in a very shallow part. Nate was all over the rocks. All the kids climbed on the rocks. We boring adults were just happy that no one fell and that we didn't have any wet feet. Graigry also got to learn one of the finer points of being a boy.

There was a bridge, one of those old rickety ones that swing, that you had to cross to get to the falls. On the way back, Eric made sure three of them got a little more swing than they had wanted. It was great to hear them scream. Unfortunately, my phone doesn't take the greatest pictures in motion, so this is a little fuzzy, but you can see what I'm talking about with the bridge. Nate, Neta and Graigry didn't like fast moving grown ups on it at the same time because it would sway or bounce.

When we got back up to the car, Eric had bought doughnut holes and carrots as a snack so we munched on those before our next short stop before driving back to their house. It is always fun to be with the Walkers. The kids love playing with their cousins and they don't live very far away, considering other family members' locations.

Everyone needs a few Saturdays in a row, sometimes.

Bikers at the Church

On the last couple of warm Saturdays, we packed the bikes into the big green van and let the kids ride in the church parking lot. Our driveway is plenty long, but not great for a beginner and new learner, so the parking lot is perfect.

Eric took the training wheels off of Aurora's bicycle maybe two months ago and she has been intimidated by that. When we got to the church, she just needed a little coaching and she was off no problem.

We have two little bikes for the boys, but only one has training wheels. Guess who got that one? Yep! Nate. So Graigry had to start the learning process. Eric helped him a little and then it was my turn. I started off pushing and balancing and running with the pedaller, but was grateful I'd brought my roller blades. Training Graigry is much easier when I have roller blades on and I can roll instead of trot next to the little bike.

He does pretty well for only two days. It took a few tries for him to trust that I wasn't going to purposefully let him fall. He gets frustrated quite easily and his legs got tired, at least that's what he said. Then I mentioned the little engine that could, pulling a large load over the mountain and when we started off from then on, Graigry would repeat: "I think I can. I think I can." as he pedalled. It was great to be a part of that process and if we had the whole summer left to practice, I"m sure he'd have it mastered. We'll have to wait until it warms up again, unfortunately.

Neta's little plastic car had a tweeked wheel so she didn't really have anything to ride. She either chased the other kids, got in their way, or whined that she wanted me to hold her. When Graigry was ready for a rest, Neta would get on his bike and I'd push her around the parking lot, again, much easier with blades on. She played in the van a little bit with Eric, but mostly he listened to NPR with his eyes closed.

Xela and I had a race, her on her bike and me on my blades. I think I won, but I can't remember for sure, no, I won because she had to pull me on her bike for my victory lap.

They were two good Saturdays and activities to do as a family. It was a good thing that I have a key to the church, too many potty breaks.

Who needs a snuggie!

Guess what I just finished? A quilt that I started sometime in the summer after having the jean scraps from a friend a long time before I started. I know the squares/triangles have been sewn together and tied since summer and with Eric gone, I thought I'd take an evening to finish it. I started when the van wouldn't start and I still had the sewing machine out and Graigry mentioned the quilt. I got done, after unpicking one side, twice, about 10:30.

Hurray for finally completing one of the unfinished projects that are scattered around the house!

Now, should I give it to Eric for Christmas? We aren't in need of blankets and it's not big enough for a bed, maybe a twin or toddler bed, but I made it! Maybe I'll wrap it for myself!

Dr Nate

After Thanksgiving dinner, we packed our pillow and bags and drove to Tennessee to visit my sister-in-law and her family. They are the closest Scott family around. They are blessing their 3 month old daughter this Sunday. We got here about one o'clock our time and it took about half an hour to get kids in bed and to sleep.

This morning the kids were all playing. I was trying to read on the air mattress we slept on when Nate came up with a toy stethoscope. He started to put the receiver thing on me and my translation of what he said was:

"I want to listen to your breasts." I was a little taken a back (immediately thought of Mallory and her "boobs") and asked,

"You want to listen to what?"

"Your breasts." He looked at me like what part of breasts don't you understand? Then he put the stethoscope near my belly button.

Okay, I thought. He's either really confused or means something else. I tried to show him where my heart was, which with "breasts" made sense. As I tried to put the stethoscope up where he could hear my heart, Nate enunciated just enough so I understood what he meant.

"NO. BREATHS!"

Got it. And then he tried to put it back by my belly button. "Buddy, I don't breath through my belly button, silly." Then he gave me a "you're silly mom" look, picked up his equipment and left the room.

I don't know that a medical license is in his future.

Trick or Treat 2009

Our halloween tradition is going to the Dunahee's house to trick or treat in their Irvington neighborhood. We've done it for the last four years probably. The last two years, we've used our fire pit out on their front lawn and invited the youth of the ward and their families to trick or treat in the area. This year was the biggest turn out yet. Everyone coming brings candy to contribute so trick or treaters at the Dunahee lawn hit three to four houses in one shot.

This year it started off chilly, with a very cool breeze, but then the dark came on and the wind turned off. It wasn't that bad. I went, again without Eric, who has been fighting a cough since about Halloween, and who didn't want to get Dunahee's six week old baby sick.

Anyway, the kids made a sugar fortune. After the goodie haul, I had them pick one candy, except for Graigry who didn't get the memo and was snarfing things down before I caught his chocolate coated chin. Then we put the bags away until I could go through them. On Monday I let each of them pick 25 pieces to put into their own brown bag that I keep on top of the cabinet. I use them as lunch treats or incentive for finishing foods. The rest of the stuff is saved for Christmas candy house and candy crave solvers for Mommy.

Neta ended up as a clown, but that was her fourth costume in 24 hours. I bought her a bumble bee costume at Goodwill for five bucks, which she wanted to wear until I brought up the other costumes from previous years. Then she saw the doggie and tried that on. Then Halloween morning, she wanted to be a Tigger. Halloween night, she tried on the clown and it stuck (or she ran out of time to change again, either one).

By the time we drove back, they were all asleep in the car. If we'd had an attached garage, I might have left them asleep, unbuckled, in the car, but I carried the three youngest and woke the two oldest so they could play the zombie and drop in their tombs until daybreak.

11 Years and Counting

Because we love DC so much, and due to a conveniently timed work conference, Eric and I spent our 11th anniversary in Maryland. He was in a meeting all day October 15, so I watched more television than I have in years, tried to go to the pool but it was locked, hit the treadmill and the bike, did some young women stuff and surfed the internet from the club lounge until Eric was done around five thirty. We went to dinner at a place close and then went back to the hotel and watched a movie.

Thursday morning Eric had another meeting out of the hotel, so I did some of the same stuff, but got to the pool before ten and didn't watch as much television. Eric was back by two and we hit the Metro to go downtown DC. Unlike last time when we enjoyed such wonderful weather, it was chilly and wet. We didn't walk the mall and it was too late for a tour of the capital so I decided I wanted to see the Smithsonian of American History. I got to see Dorthy's ruby slippers, Kermit the Frog, some instruments, a Dumbo ride from Disneyland, but my favorite part was walking through the wing dedicated to Abraham Lincoln.

It was a bit emotional for me, especially when you first walk in and see THE hat that he was wearing the night he was shot. Later on there is a cuff or bandage or something that has stains on it from his blood. There are two face masks, one at the begining (with a mold of his hand) and one at the end of his presidency. Being the president really ages you quickly. There are quotes and life sketch paragraphs on the wall retelling or accounting something from his early life through the end of his presidency, all helping you better know the great Lincoln (you've got a lot to aspire too Graigry!). The one life scene I took a picture of I liked because it showed that he did what work was available, I felt. He worked at what others might think menial and below them, but he worked, never aspiring to a grand position or even thinking that a little country boy would end up saving a nation.

 Across the hall was an American Presidents and artifacts section. It had a wall timeline of presidents, pictures and names, their years in office and some event tied to their presidency. In the next "room," you could vote on who you thought was the most effective or efficient president out of I think it was five. There were different uniforms, dresses, toys, pictures, desks and other stuff from those living in the White House. There was one place where you could pick the inauguration and stand in as president. I think this one was JFK's. One day Love (then again, I really don't want to be a first lady)!

The Smithsonian closed at 5:30 so we left and tried to get something to eat. We tried "The W" which had a decent view of the white house, moreso if it wasn't so overcast, but it also felt more upscale and had a bar type atmosphere, so we left after browzing. We headed up a few blocks to another restaurant, but there was a 45 minute wait. They told us to check another place a few blocks away. There wasn't a bad wait, but I didn't feel like paying $15-$20 for a plate of food. Finally we decided to catch the Metro, go back to the hotel and eat there. By the time we got back to the hotel, I think it was between eight and nine. We were tired and hungry.

We left Saturday afternoon on a direct flight to Indy, so we weren't able to get back to downtown DC this trip. There is so much to see and do. I can't wait to take the kids, when they are older and will appreciate it more.

A Spoonful of Sugar

I wish I had Mary Poppins to help me clean up my house. Saturday Eric decided to take down the ceiling in our family room (the room that now has the stairs in it. For those that have not seen the house, it is plaster, lathe and very old insulation plus filler insulation we had shot into the house about four years ago. You can imagine what kind of a mess that made.

Luckily we thought to cover the piano, but other than that, EVERYTHING on the bottom floor of the house, has a layer of soot on it, some layers thicker than others depending on where they were in porportion to the falling debri. At one point, with the soot all over his face, Eric looked like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: dark eyes, dark eyebrows, scruffy shadow on his face. I had my own sooty look, but didn't care to look into a mirror until Eric decided to take a wipe to my face. My hands are still a grayish color. I think I might have to loose a layer of skin to get it all out.

Eric and the kids helped vacuum and wipe down on Saturday, but that just got the first bit off. So, I've been cleaning EVERYTHING all day today. Washed all the bed clothes because, even though our door was closed, the kids watched movies in there after their early baths on Saturday and were there on Sunday as well. I couldn't see a lot of dirt on the linens, but knowing how many times I wiped kids' feet, arms, hands and faces clean, I know the sheets and blankets needed to be washed.

I pulled out the carpet rug in the office because the ground in soot from debri and dirty feet was not worth cleaning. Quicker to chuck it and call it good. I've sprayed the blinds, which are currently drying outside (thank you Heavenly Father for a beautiful sunnyshiny day). I've mopped the floors a total of four times in the last 48 hours. I've vacuumed and wiped the bookshelves and books twice, the laundry table two or three times, the computer desk has had a vacuum and two wipe downs, the keyboard needs a sponge bath in alcohol, and I'm covering up the couch and chairs in the living room with sheets until I can find something cheap to buy. They are old (a hand-me-down four years ago) and I don't know that I want to rent a carpet cleaner to clean them. Is that lazy of me? Maybe I'll buy furniture for my birthday, but then, who wants something nice when you have kids that, well, are kids?

The kids continue to help clean by not keeping their shoes and/or socks on like I've asked. This afternoon their feet aren't as dirty as they were yesterday, so I must be making some progress. Here's a picture of their feet. The picture doesn't do their feet justice, but then again, they aren't as dirty as they were Saturday and the sunlight through the window helps.

Graigry fell asleep on the couch last night and this morning woke up looking like a chimney sweep. Neta, after four baths in the last 48 hours (two were just rinses, I guess) still has a face soot painted wherever her fingers have landed. Here she is sporting her five o'clock shadow.

They don't mind the dirtiness of it all. Neta actually had fun playing in the mess, rather, helping us pick up insulation, on Saturday. It's just Mom who has to clean things. I just keep reminding myself that this kind of mess has happened before and we, the house and I, did recover and feel clean again.

The Great Pumpkin with an Apple Appetizer

We went to Anderson Apple Orchard for another pick of apples (we are just finishing the bushel we picked in September) with Aunt Patrice and Cousin Jayden. You can't live in Indy and not take advantage of fresh from the tree apples for apple crisp, apple muffins and just good crisp apples so we got together while the kids are on fall break (besides, Xela, Ro and Graigry were feeling jipped that Nate and Neta had gone to the Reads more often than they had). I brought two bags from last time so we only got a peck and a half and it will probably last us another month, depending on if I make apple sauce or muffins with it.

We got home from that about five o'clock after a stop at the dry cleaners and gas station on the way home. I had texted Eric earlier to see if he wanted to do pumpkin patch for Family Home Evening. I looked at the weather for the next ten days and consideration that we are going to be gone this weekend and Eric and I will be gone next Thursday through Saturday, I figured it was Monday night or freeze to death in the name of family tradition. It was a perfect night to play at the pumpkin patch.

We payed, put on our bracelets and then hit the hay. Here are a few of my favorite pictures form the haystack.

"Isn't this kind of high? And you want me to jump?"

"Okay! I trust you to catch me!"Queen of the haystack

I just like this one. I wish Neta had been in the middle, then it would have been perfect.

CORN MAZE

We always to the corn maze. This year, we went early enough that there weren't patron paved paths yet. Usually we go in the easiest and come out the hardest, but we did each one individually this year. Eric is good to let each kid take a turn to say which way we are going to go. Whenever we reach a fork in the road, someone else gets to say which way. We start with Xela and work our way down and start the loop. Sometimes if one person didn't like the direction we were headed, they did a 180 and we went back the way we came. Other times, Nate and Neta, who weren't taking mental location notes, got us to go in circles. We even met some dead ends, which we'd never done before (thanks to the unintended paths connecting the mazes). The maze is another one of our favorite parts of the pumpkin patch.

"That way!"

I like to have the kids hide in the corn, take a picture and then see if we can find them. In the first picture, Aurora made herself a little too obvious, so I picked the harder I SPY MONKEYS in the MAZE picture. Xela is squatting. Nate is better camoflauged because he's wearing light green. I think Graigry is behind or between Nate and Xela.
Eric always talks about how beautiful the corn fields are as he's driving around the state, so I took a picture of them. Granted, this is not driving by them at 60+ mph, but it was still fairly pretty, with the sunsetting through them.After the corn maze, we wanted to play on the huge blow up slide, but it was closed, so the kids did the bouncing castle. Neta kept barking like a puppy. I have a video of it, but it won't upload.

Xela and her Toyota jump (do you remember those commercials)?

Before the hayride, we saw a new addition to the pumpkin patch play things, a "Team Challenge." Eric took the older kids over while I got Nate and Neta out of the bouncy house. Then he came over and said he wanted to race me. I got toasted. You dive through those holes, then climb up a wall then go through a horizontal sandwich, then a vertical sandwich and then some sort of door hole, then you turned around and come back through it. Xela took me on. I think I lost that one too. Apparently I'm not as quick and nimble as I once was.

Xela decided to challenge Dad. He said she cheated. She denies it. Whose side are you on?
WAGON RIDE

Then it was off to the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch. It was the last one of the day and by the time we climbed up with our picked pumpkins, you had to strain your eyes to see if anyone was still out in the field. The camera on my phone didn't like the evening shade, so I apologize for the dark and blurry photos, but it is what was available to me.

"My baby!" I'm the grandparent to a pumpkin. Lovely."It's too heavy!"Just right!

Graigry and his goosebumped pumpkin

Aurora had no problem carrying out her pumpkin...

...but Xela did, all 26.7 pounds of it. She carried it alone, that's the rule. She made it to the wagon, to the check out and then to the car. HEEVE -HO!

Traditional wagon ride family picture, except this year it's in the dark.

SO, we get back, weigh and pay for our pumpkins and then I find the "How tall this fall" pumpkin that we ALWAYS take pictures at. Again, it was dark, but I had to get a picture of each of the kids.

HOW TALL THIS FALL??