Pumpkin Carving

Now that Halloween was over, I figured it was time to carve the pumpkins. Kids did a good job. Graigry got a smaller one that rotted so he doesn't have one. He did make one at cub scouts which made up for the rotten one (it's the one with the straw hat).


Perfect pumpkins and my monkeys

We enjoyed some yummy pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie thanks to the fruit of these Halloween tradition souvenirs. Hurray for fall festivities!

Happy Birthday Graigry - the BIG 10!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRAIGRY!!!

 I can't believe my screaming baby boy is TEN years old!! We had the Dunahees come over for some cake and ice cream after dinner (you see Myya and Myran in the picture). Graigry used some of his Halloween candy to decorate his cake. He created a jail for a few Lego people and a lake and a dum-dum forest. My kids look forward to decorating their cakes, which is fun for them and me. They can be quite creative with their designs. You'll notice the trim of the cake is made of M&M's and Skittles.

Looks like Graigry is about to eat the candle,
but no, he's just blowing them out.

Graigry had one present from us to open, a Creator 3 in 1 Lego plane set. He put it together before going to bed. Bishop and Betty Scott gave him a "Where's Waldo" birthday card with $10.

I wonder if he ever found Waldo.

Grandma Hibbert's birthday package came on the 5th. With things going on that evening, there wasn't time to open presents before bedtime, which made Graigry a little sad, but then I told him if he got up and ready quickly in the morning, that there would be time before school. When Eric got home from home teaching, it wasn't quite 8:00 yet, so he went up and woke Graigry up to open his presents. That was something great for Graigry.

What's inside the paper?

A Nerf football!
We don't typically throw balls in the house,
but we did just this once.

Graigry has a plastic football that he and Nate throw around in the backyard. It's getting deflated and so I asked Mom if she would send a newer ball; maybe Graigry asked for it, I can't remember, but it's here and being enjoyed.

Two Sunday shirts and a watch.
Graigry's last watch broke with his arm.
He was excited to get a new one.

A cool "ultra-foil" puzzle.

Grandma Hibbert also sent him a Ninjago set, a golden Ninja with a temple and samuri. Graigry was up the next morning and started putting everything together as much as he could before school. I think he finally got it done by Thursday. It's reinvigorated the playing of Legos upstairs, which is always a good thing.

They have an entire "town" upstairs in the hallway area. My only rule is that the path between the girls' bedroom door and the boys' bedroom door has to be clear of Lego's and other toys (this leaves the bathroom doorway clear as well) because I don't want someone walking through in the middle of the night, stepping on something, tripping or hopping around in pain and thereby fall down the stairs. Sometimes, I pick up the piles and that, sometimes, creates distress for the children because "my pile" becomes mixed up with the other random pieces in the plastic bin. They know the rule and if they don't follow the rule before I come upstairs, sometimes, there are consequences which creates weeping and wailing.

November-een 2013

The kids had been planning our Halloween theme for a while. When they finally picked it out, Xela got online and itemized the costume for each character. The Saturday of the ward's Trunk or Treat, we had spent the morning helping a friend and when we were done, I had three hours to find my costume. Xela, Ro and I packed in the car and hit DAV first. In route I said a silent prayer that we would be able to find a turquoise trench coat, turquoise purse, turquoise sunglasses glasses, white scarf and turquoise skirt (I said Xela had everything itemized).

Guess what we found in one stop: everything we needed, plus a winter coat for Xela and a red skirt for Ro's outfit and only $36. The sunglasses we had to paint, but Ro was happy to take care of that for me.

So, here we are dressed up for the Crossroad Ward Trunk or Treat.

Despicable Me 2
Starring: Eric as Gru, Camilla as Lucy, Aurora as Edith;
Xela as Margo, Nate and Graigry as Minions and
Neta as Agnes.

Then there was Halloween, so we go to do it all over again. Well, because of a bad storm that was supposed to hit right at Trick or Treating time, Indianapolis moved Halloween from Thursday October 31 to Friday November 1. People don't want to miss out on their begging for candy, so they moved it due to weather. Whatever. When I was a kid, I remember going trick or treating in the snow, with my costume over my winter coat. I digress.

Little Flower School had a Halloween Bash on October 31, which was all indoors, so we prepped for that event. We were feeding missionaries at 5:15 and the event started at 6ish, so it was a little rushed, but we worked it all in. BEFORE dinner, Eric, trying to get more into character asked the kids if he should shave his head (Gru is bald). Xela excitedly jumped up with a "YES! YES! YES!" I said no, but the light in Xela's eyes was too much to ignore. After about 10 minutes of deliberating, Eric took the clippers to his head. Some of the kids weren't sure what to think.

DESPICABLE ME 2
revamped

On November 1, I took the four youngest to trick or treat in Irvington and Eric took Xela to a sleepover. Candy begging for three nights creates quite the candy stash, in case you were wondering.

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Tradition continues, even though some of the kids may be too old for the pumpkin patch, we all still enjoy spending the time together as a family. Because I get off work early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we decided to go on Tuesday October 1.

Family photo on the "amish trampoline"

"Can we do a silly one?"

I did one like this last year,
liked it and so I did it again.

About-Face!
I love photo shots of my monkeys.

Nate looking out to the pumpkin-eating Tyranasaurus Rex

I love his face!



I love this picture of Nate, taken by Xela.

Another quick picture by Xela.

After the haystacks, we went into the corn maze. We started at the easiest and then went to the hardest, where we spent probably about 20 minutes due to all the circles and dead ends.

Following the leader
(which changes at each turn)!

Neta sharing a hat with a corn maze scare crow.

Kids hiding in the corn.
I can find Nate and Graigry, but no one else.

Kids coming out from hiding.

Bounce house was next on the activity list.

Everyone, but me, decided to spin themselves into dizziness.
Just watching them made me nauseous.

This is my favorite picture.
Xela's flying!!

Family wagon ride for the 11th year.
TRADITION!

We got on the last wagon ride of the day. The only other person on the wagon took a family picture for us. I don't know if we've ever had a family picture on the wagon. I always make sure I take one of the kids. They didn't have their "How Tall this Fall" pumpkin out yet, which I've annually taken pictures of each of the kids next to it. I was kind of bummed to not have that annual picture, but I'm moved on. We'll just have to go later in the season next year I guess. Kids may be getting older, but we still enjoy it (maybe not Eric as much, but the rest of us do).





Indianapolis Temple - I can't wait!!!

I was blessed to be able to take some food to the construction workers at the Indianapolis Temple site on September 11, along with other Relief Society presidencies from around the stake. I was SOOO EXCITED to see the progress on the temple and then to go inside the construction pod/off and see pictures of what the inside is going to look like!! I wish spring 2015 would get here quickly!! Here are the two shots I took with my camera.

The chapel in the forefront and temple in background.
The street you see will be called Temple Way.

Temple progress. The spire was raised
just two days previous.

I'm Going There Someday!

I forgot to add the last temple trip we went on with Aurora, her first trip to the temple. it was a quick trip, leaving at 4:45 for a 7:30 baptismal session and we were home by noon. It was wonderful to be there with Xela and Aurora to serve those that have passed on and serve the Savior. Her are a few shots from that morning.

"I love to see the temple"

While we were waiting for everyone to come out of the temple, I noticed how beautiful the plants were in the morning sunshine and the dew drops on the simple pedals.

The earth is a beautiful place and taking time to notice and be grateful is something we each need to be better at doing. The temple and its grounds are always beautiful.

"My 2 Front Teeth"

Neta was the first of the last two kids to start loosing her teeth. Her bottom two were growing back when within 12 days, she lost number one...

August 6, 2013

...and then...

August 18, 2013

...number two.

Nate kept asking when he was going to loose a tooth and why hadn't he lost any teeth, being the older brother. Finally, he got a loose tooth. He wiggled it and Eric wiggled it and offered to pull it out with a string and a doorknob, but Nate wouldn't go for it. We tried dinner with corn on the cob and that didn't work. On September 5th, at dinner, guess what Nate found in his food after a bite (on something relatively soft)? 

(I don't know why this won't turn upright.)

Then on .... Eric was at school with Nate, who by now had another loose tooth, hanging on by a thread. At recess, a classmate knocked into Nate's face and pop! Tooth number two. (Again, this picture wouldn't turn around.)

I don't know about other tooth fairies, but the tooth fairy that comes to the Scott house is a bit of a slacker. She rarely, if ever, comes the first night. Sometimes she has had to leave notes of apology because had been on vacation and wasn't able to get to the pillow for a few days. Nate, on the morning after loosing his first tooth, upon finding that his tooth was still in the baggie was a little sad. Xela did a good job trying to explain that maybe the tooth fairy tried to get here, but in all her flying, she got lost or pulled some other direction. It was cute to watch her use her imagination and try to make her brother happy. She's such a good big sister.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Nate found the baggie with his tooth in it, where the tooth fairy had written with a Sharpie, "Nate - 9/5/13."   "Mom, what's this? It has my name on it?" I quickly tried to change the subject, telling him i didn't know and to put it back where he found it. The baggie has since moved to an undisclosed (as of yet) location. The tooth fairy at our house needs to be a little more on top of things, I think.  :)

Happy Harvest 2013

The prophets teach us to grow a garden and since we've moved to Indy (11 years now - WOW!) we've had a garden. Some years are better in the produce section than others. This year, I planted peas, beans, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, cantaloupe and cucumbers. Last year, with the months long heat wave and water restrictions, we didn't get too much. This year is much different.

Cucs, broccoli, lemon boys, cherries and peppers.
YUM!!!

I took cucumbers for lunches on a regular basis.
A little ranch dressing and I was set!

Cucumbers anyone? Really, they won't all fit in the fridge.
I took some to work and we shared with friends.

Kids devouring the first canteloupe of the season.
We were all SO EXCITED! After working outside for a few hours,
this was a tastily refreshing treat.

The neighborhood planted some grapes about four years ago. I got a Facebook message that the grapes were ready to be harvested so I went over one afternoon and with the help of the neighborhood drunk, picked two walmart bags full. It took me a few weeks, but I made...

HOMEMADE concord grape jelly. I think in total, I made 12 pint sized jars. Two we gave to Pat and Suzanne in the neighborhood, who gave me the heads up. We finished our store bought jelly and have started into the first jar. Neta has it everyday on her sandwiches.

With our abundance of tomatoes, I've made quite a few jars of speghetti sauce as well. I won't have to buy speghetti sauce until a few months into next year. YEA!

I'm grateful for a garden, for the internet that finds recipes for me within moments, and for a friend that years ago taught me how to can. Follow the prophet and you'll be blessed!

First Day of School 2013

Nate and Neta started school before Xela, Aurora and Graigry. Neta said she was excited and Nate said he was a little nervous. He has a teacher that is new to the school, so we'll see how it goes.

Day 1 School Year 2013-14

Nate heading into 2nd Grade

Neta ready for 1st Grade

After much research, discussion and visits, Eric and I decided to put the three oldest in a nearby Catholic school, Little Flower. There was already one church family that sends their children there. Eric visited with the principal at Little Flower and with the Turners (one of our church families) and we made the move. They started on August 14th, two weeks after Nate and Neta,and they have LOVED it. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year goes.

The classes just had elections (there is only one class per grade, except in 4th grade - Graigry's grade). Xela and Aurora both gave a speech to plead their cause for being elected this past Friday (8/30/13). By the end of school, Xela was elected 8th Grade class Vice President and Aurora became the 7th Grade Class representative for the Student Council. They are excited.

Like I said earlier, we'll see how the rest of the year progresses! I'd have a picture of them, but Eric took them to school and forgot to do that important piece of chronically family history. ;)

CCHA Summer Swim Party

Work has an annual Fun in the Sun swim/bbq party. This year it was on July 27th. The kids LOVE it. When we left last year's event, as we were driving home, the kids asked, "Are you going to be working there next year so we can go again?"

They started asking about this year's party in March. Finally the day came. It was a little cold, so not many people got in the water, but being the fish that they are, mine did.

Before swimming and food, there were some games, an obstacle course of sorts and my kids got totally into it, as you'll see from the pictures below.

Neta's whipped cream face.

Xela tossing bean bags into a basket before...

digging for Oreos buried in whip cream.

Nate goes all in looking for Oreos.
(I LOVE this picture! No fear; all about the Oreos!)

Got it!!!

Mommy even whip creamed her chin,
successfully grabbing an oreo.

Water balloon toss is always a blast.

Xela tosses the balloon to...

...Mommy who throws it back.

Just like last year, the toss turned into fight rather quickly and the two coolers of water balloons disappeared. Next year I'll have to bring three coolers. Food was great and plentiful. We swam and jumped off the diving boards until nine o'clock and then headed for home. The kids asked the same question as last year. If I'm still there, then yes, we'll definitely go play!