Pumpkin Carving

Our pumpkins never did grow this year, so the kids only got one pumpkin each to carve. They were so disappointed. When we grow them in the garden, they usually carve so many they get sick of it. Noah didn't think it was so fun to just carve one side, so he carved four faces into his pumpkin.

I absolulely love pumpkin seeds, so I make my kids sort the goopy stuff out off the seeds, and then we cook them overnight! I love it. Because we had so few pumpkins, we only got a few seeds, but next year look out....We will plant a ton! I think we should have the Arkoudas Pumpkin Patch, and do a whole field in pumpkins.

Max didn't think that putting his hand in the pumpkin to clean it out was too fun, he ended up making me do it for him. But the expression on his face is priceless.

I loved this picture, because notice what the box says! Oh how I would love to "keep Emma frozen" just as she is for just a little longer. I really do wish each stage in their lives was just a couple of months longer. She was loving being outside on the ground. She had an apple and didn't make a peep the entire time we were carving pumpkins.

We feed the guts and scraps of the pumpkins to the chickens and goats, and they loved it. Earlier in the week Mara had tried to pick up a tomato that a rooster was pecking at, and the stupid thing attacked her. She has three great big bruises on her back where he pecked her and huge scratches all down her back and on her hand. Needless to say she is petrified of them now, and cries if we leave the yard to go where they are. I sure hope she can get over the paranoia soon.

Halloween Haunting

I must say that Halloween is my favorite time of year! I've realized this year that the reason it is, is because of all the traditions that I love to do. A favorite is of course, "Ghosting" we love to take treats around and ring the doorbell and run. It is so fun for the kids to sneak, and I get a kick out of them trying to be quiet and shush each other. We went the other night to a house and could see a huge big dog in the front window, so Sam snuck up and I waited on the other side of the fence, safely. Just as he was placing the goodies on the ground, the dog appeared out of nowhere, and I suddenly realized that a St.Bernard was between me and my child. I whispers to Sam to slowly come toward me, since the dog had it's attention focused on me. He managed to escape, narrowly, and we got away, but he never got to ring the doorbell. Needless to say, the dog got a great treat.

Another great thing that we like to do is to make dinners that are "Halloweenish" this year we tried two new ones, that the kids loved!

"Feet of Meat"

Sam picked this out of a new cookbook that I got, and I had to squish the raw meat--yuck! I did it though, and it actually was really good tasting. Once you got over the fact it looked totally disgusting.
"Monster Pizza"
Caleb's choice, and a good one. We had a great time deciding how to decorate his face.
I love decorating for Halloween, and deciding what everyone will be, and of course carving pumpkins and making "Haunted Houses"
We miss having our Arkoudas Halloween party, and really wish that could still occur, we have tried to re-create it, but it's just not the same.
I love this season, and wish you all happy haunting.

Haunted Gingerbread Houses

For family night this week, we had a great time making Haunted Halloween Houses with our friends the Giles.

We used chocolate grahm crackers and frosting and tons of candy to decorate our houses, and don't forget the ghost peeps.

We made them by ourselves last year, and it just was a little anti-climatic, so we invited the Giles over this year so that we could have a contest.

We used tons of candy, and ate a lot of it too.
Sam and Adalie were a team, and they made a really cool house that had eyes and the door was the mouth. They were really creative.

Noah and Porter were a team, and they had a hard time making their house stay up, so they ended up making it a fallen down house with tons of candy. They figured that if they couldn't win with construction, they would win by being the house with the most calories. They just happen to be two peas in a pod! I love it. They are such good friends.

Caleb, Jena and Max made a really cool house, they all had ideas and all participated in making their house very decorated and very unique. I was totally amazed at how they worked together at such a young age.

We all got two votes, and Caleb, Jena and Max's house won, really, no cheating. Caleb still says "I am so surprised that we really won, even though we were the youngest team."

The parents made some also, but I didn't get pictures of them. We had a great time making them, and it was lots of fun to have our friends join us. We even got to shrink Ryan's head :)!

Serving Up Some Scare!

Okay so I have this really wierd desire to scare the dickens out of people, I got it from my mom who used to hide around the corner of the hall and jump out at me, or put her face level with mine as I was opening up the front door to walk into a dark house late at night. I always get so scared I flail around and end up on the floor. I love that feeling! I love that heart racing, breath catching feeling of being scared out of your mind and realizing that it is just someone you know. With that in mind, I have to apologize to my dear friend Julie who probably didn't know about my obsession with scaring others. I went to get my kids from her house today, and no one answered the door so I opened it and hollered, and no one answered so I walked to her basement stairs and heard the vaccum. HE HE HE! I snuck down the stairs and unplugged her vaccum then hid in her bathroom doorway. When she came to plug in the vaccum. I just had to jump out at her :) I am still laughing about the look on her face and the scream that she let out. I know... I am wierd...but I love it!!!! Sorry Julie...can we still be friends?

gYmnAStiCs

"nastics" is every Friday morning for Max and Mara and they love it. Every friday it is set up diffrent, there are bars, slides, rope swings, beams, and trampolines. There are things to crawl through, and the favorite of Max is the trampoline that bounces you "freakin' high" This is the slide that ends in a pit of foam. It is super fast and Mara goes flyin off the end and jumps right out to do it again. Note to self... I cannot get out of the pit by myself with a baby attached to me, so don't go in.

Mara would go down the slide and end up with so much static electricity on her that her hair would stick straight up in the air. This is a picture of a mild time, but it was really funny.

Max's favorite trampoline

Max puts his feet in one set of handles and hangs onto another set and begs to be rolled all over the joint. He just giggles the whole time.

Mara can hang onto the bars forever. And loves to swing on them.

Here's us in the pit. My mom went with us since she was here, and we had a great time.

Grizzly Adams...No Grizzly Arkoudas!

So, I complain and complain that I don't like a beard, and that he can't grow one because then I can't kiss him. I really don't like the scratchy. But I have to admit...this is what he looked like when I met him. He was really hot then,and he's really, really HOT now, even with the beard. I guess what I mean is...I don't mind it that much.

Besides, every grizzly bear needs to grow a winter coat, and in Montana, they need it extra thick.

~The Cutest Plummer Crack I Ever Saw~

Mara loves back packs and has spent the entire day loading and unloading the leapster backpack with "special rock" dolls, clothes and any other odd assortments that she can find. It has been so fun to see what she finds to put in it.

We got ready to go "ghosting" tonight for Halloween, and she had to take her "packpack", as she calls it, with her.

She was filling it up after dinner, and Sam and Ryan were laughing at her funny plummer crack and Sam had to go get the camera and take a picture. He is the one who insisted that I post this. It really is pretty cute, if a plummer crack could be cute.

JUST AN UPDATE!

The kids were all ready for church, and we actually had a minute to take a picture or two.

I thought I'd fill you in on our comings and goings.
Sam is turning into quite the strapling young man. He is so fun to have. We love to tease him, and he dishes it right back out. He is so determined to do right I can't believe it. He is a great older brother, and plays with the younger kids and helps babysit them. He is in fifth grade and playing the french horn at school. He likes it, but doesn't like dragging the french horn to school on the bus every wednesday and friday. He is taking piano lessons, and is getting pretty good. He loves to play wild men and is always checking out books from the library that show african or indian tribes and their huts so that he can make better hut. Last winter he started limping, and he is still struggling with a hurt leg. We've had x-rays done, and there is no bone growth problem,or tumor, but his pelvis is slightly tilted, so we are doing exercises to try to help, but to no avail. I am hoping that it is just a growing thing(since he is growing so fast) and that he won't be in pain when he runs for the rest of his life. He doesn't let it slow him down too much, but it is annoying.

Noah is my reader. He is alway reading. I have to hide his books sometimes to get him to do his chores. He love to play wild men as well, and is always getting old squash and beets and other things from the garden and cutting them up to make "stew" he loves his pocket knife, and is hardly ever without it. He is our "chicken man" and takes care of the chickens. He is really attached to them, and has names for most of them. He loves to gather eggs, and is always so excited when there are a lot. He has a very tender heart and it makes him feel really bad when we lose a chicken, or something is hurt, but he is so tough at the same time. He is always making us laugh, and nothing brightens a room more than his great smile and funny laugh.

Caleb is our "goat man" he takes care of the goats, and loves animals. He is always getting books at the library about animals and their habitats. He loves to read about insects, snakes, lizards and spiders. He has discovered reading and is taking to it like a fish to water. He can easily entertain himself with a good book, I love it when they discover that. He is our tenderheart, I have to remember not to raise my voice with him, because he takes everything so personally. I am afraid he has inherited from me the desire to be perfect, and beating yourself up when your not. He is so funny, and can remember lines from movies so randomly and just quote them at the perfect time and make me laugh and laugh. (really all the boys do that) Caleb is in first grade, but is begging me to teach him at home. I am truly considering it since I teach Max and most of the time Caleb is given "busy work" at school to keep him busy because he finishes so fast. Besides I really like my kids around me.

Max is learning to read, and turning out to be a great kid. I was really worried for quite a while because I struggled with him so much. He and I just butted heads so bad, but now he is great. He is so eager to please, and is loving having me teach him to read. He always says..."mom we have to do school." He still loves horses, knights, and has informed me that he is a master ninja... Caleb taught him. He was a vampire for Halloween last year, and is still intrigued with them and can't decide if he should be a ninja or a vampire this year. He is so smiley and has the quickest whit of all my kids. He is always saying things that crack me up.

Mara has discovered her independance and I am trying to think this is a good thing. She wants to do everything by herself. She wants to pick out her clothes(sigh..) Choose her hairstyle(bigger sigh...) and be the mother to everyone. She loves to wipe things up and sweep the floor. She doesn't want to go to bed or to the bathroom by herself though, the only things I would like her to be independent on. She has discovered singing, and it is so sweet to hear her cute little voice. She loves to play with Max and has found a baby that she has to feed everytime I feed Emma. She is definately a little mother. I love it! She has her daddy wrapped right around her little finger, and usually gets her way with him. She is so fun to have, and so diffrent. She is such a good worker and wants to do everything that I do. She's a great little companion.

Emma has two teeth and is loving food. She just watches her brothers eat and you can see in her eyes that if she could, she'd just reach out and grab their food. She is starting to crawl, but doesn't need to too bad because she just rolls anywhere she wants to go. She thinks that 5:30am is a great time to get up and won't have anything to do with going back to sleep. She is so sweet though that it is hard to get too annoyed. I have truly enjoyed her, I love it all. The early mornings, the needing me all the time, the crying for me everytime I enter the room she's in, and the permanent attachment she is to me. She is so ticklish, and Caleb can make her laugh just by looking at her. She is totally loved by all in the family.

hEre'S yOUr cHalLenGe

Take six saltine crackers, and eat them all chewed and swallowed in one minute.
Bet you can't do it!
Try it and let me know what your results were!

mY dAre dEviL!

Ryan, Sam, Noah and Caleb spent Wednesday after school putting up a zip-line between our trees. It's up pretty high, and the kids have to get a ladder to get up to it. Sam decided he would be the first to try it, so he got all padded up, and put on his helmet and goggles. He looked so funny. He attached the rope to his belt, and away he went. He got a major wedgie, and crashed into the tree, falling right on his bahookie.

It was a good idea though!

There's room for two!

There's room for two! Mara said it as a statement, like it was the most obvious thing to everyone.
I got up Thursday morning before the sun because Emma had a cough and everytime I would just start to doze back to sleep she would start to cough again. Instead of getting highly annoyed, I just got out of bed with her and started on breakfast. Mara followed me, and sat in Emma's seat. When I got ready to feed Emma I told Mara to move and she said, "there's room for two." I sat Emma in and sure enough. They fit just fine. They were pretty funny sitting there eating their breakfast together. I guess that solves our problem of only having five seats at the breakfast counter. Just kidding!

To Utah we go!

The kids were so excited to go to Utah! They were counting down the days for weeks! I had been frantically trying to get ready, and was busy with schoolwork and trying to get the new birth center painted the whole week before. I was feeling so guilty for leaving right when all the work had to be done at the new place, but there wasn't a lot that I could do about it. The stress of it all got to me though, and I got so sick on Thursday night I was no use at all. I had fever, aches and chills and a sore throat to beat the band. Ryan ended up getting the kids dinner and cleaning up and finishing all the chores by himself. More guilt, yet nothing I could do about it again! I really don't like that feeling of feeling like I should do something, but can't. We left Friday morning, October 3rd at 5:00 a.m. Max had an appointment at 2:00 p.m with Wade to have his tooth pulled so we had to get a move on it. I was so sick, I barely mananged to pull myself to the car. We finally arrived, the kids were great! They all slept for 3 hours, and then read and watched a movie and we were there. I should say they were perfect until we got to Brigham City. That is always where the meltdown occurs. Emma and Mara are done everytime we get to Brigham City. They were both screaming because we wouldn't get them out of their seats, and the boys were standing up trying to get some circulation back into their leg. We ended up turning on silly songs and that distracted them until Layton, and then it was a scream fest all the rest of the way to my parents house.

Boy oh Boy were the kids so excited to see grandma! Caleb said "when I get there I'm running into the kitchen because I know that's where grandma is going to be" They all ran, and I slowly made my way to the couch were I stayed the rest of the day and most of Saturday! It is no fun to be sick on vacation. We watched conference, and I loved it. Saturday afternoon, Rondi, Cami and Chloe and I went to the Body Worlds exhibit in SLC. That is a whole nother topic. Let's just say that I had a few moral issues with it, but it was interesting. On sunday Ryan went up to Park City after conference to attend his Mosquito Convention--yes they have those, funny huh!- I went up on monday with the "girls" in Ryan's family and Emma to shop. Emma and I stayed overnight and went to the banquet with Ryan and then Tuesday I dropped Ryan off at the airport to go to Seattle for another meeting. The boys stayed at my mom's and had a grand old time--of course-- Greyson got to stay home from school to play with them. "Lucky" is what my boys told him he was--forgetting that they were missing a whole week and a day of school.

Emma slept wedged between pillows at Park City. She rolls all over the place when she sleeps, but can't sleep next to me, or she constantly wakes up and needs to be fed to go back to sleep.

Here's us just before the banquet. We had a great time! It was fun to see old friends that Ryan used to work with.

When I got to my mom's on Tuesday, Joy and her mother in law came over, and the boys all wanted to go home with her. They all jammed into her car. You can barely see Sam peeking through, Mara was buckled with Lucy up front. They had a great time with their old friends. Mara and Lucy played so good. I had a conference for school Tuesday night, and all day Wednesday and Thursday. It was pretty interesting. I had to do my first venupuncture(collect blood for testing) I was fine doing it to someone else, I got it the first time, but I don't do needles in me. I totally had a stress about someone poking me--yuck! I jumped! So sorry to my partner!

Jamie and Brian blessed their baby on sunday, and we were going to go home after the blessing, but the roads were closed, so we ended up staying one more day and leaving on Monday.

Sophie and Max are exactly one year and two days apart and I think they look the most alike of all the cousins. I think they look like brother and sister, but maybe it's just me. I would love to have a child with curly locks!

We were so full on the way home with all that we had to take back, that Emma was kinda an after thought. She was totally surrounded with stuff. Good thing she slept most of the way!

What a great trip! We were so glad to be able to be there for Cale's blessing, and to be around family. It was great to get back home, and start a fire and snuggle up downstairs. That was of course after all the work of unpacking and putting away was done. That is definately the worst part of vacation. Putting away after.
This face sums up how we all felt about going to Utah! What a great trip we had!

Just a flashback!

So happy happy happy to my dad! He is 70! I can't believe it, he still can work me into the ground. He is going to retire the beginning of next year, and then he says he can finish all the projects he's left undone around the house (okay so my mom says that's what he'll do ;)!) He was always so rough and gruff when I was growing up, and it is so fun to see him with his grandkids. He is just a big push over! He coos and spoils and give the grandkids anything they want... he never did that for me! What gives? It is so cute to see him with them. I love it. What a great example he is to me of hard work, dedication, honesty, thrift, integrity, and forgiveness. I truly am who I am in large part because of his example and "solid as a rock faith" He's the best and I love him greatly.

Okay, wasn't that just yesterday? That was four years and two kids ago! Seriously, How grateful and how saddened I am by the quick passing of time. Is it possible to be both? It is for me. What a great time of my life to have all the little kids gathered around, where I know what they are up to and I am still a major influence in their lives, how quickly that will pass, and for that I am saddened. What great kids I have. I am truly grateful for each one of them and their quirky personalities.

A Sink Bath

I was cutting corn off the cob so that I could freeze it today, and Emma would have nothing to do with me putting her on the floor, so she had to sit on the counter right next to me. I'd say it was annoying, but I actually quite like that she has to be by me all the time. At least I know that she likes me. She got into the tomatoes though, and had them squished all over herself. There were seeds in her hair and all over her face and shirt.

I decided that since she had just had a bath, and I didn't want to fill the tub again, I would just put her in the kitchen sink. She loved it! I got the rest of my corn bagged and the kitchen all cleaned up and she was having a marvelous time in the water and I could watch her. We might just have to remember that for the next time I have a big project in the kitchen to do! Mara thought it was quite fun, and being the little mother that she is, had those tomatoes seeds off Emma in a flash.