Let It Snow!

Yipee! It snowed.

The kids are so happy! We only have about 3 inches, but it is a perfect amount to enjoy. I was hoping that church would be canceled. I was scheduled to speak in sacrament meeting today, and did not have a lot prepared. About 30 min before church, the phone rang! Oh! I was so excited! It was just like I'd hoped! I rushed to answer the phone, only to hear, "Sister T... this is Bro. D.... (a primary teacher.) I'm not going to make it today because of the snow." Good grief to high heaven! I'm not even the president anymore and they still call me! (Actually it was because he didn't know the new pres'. phone number.) I was so disappointed that it wasn't a message about no meetings today.

Well, anyway. We faithfully went to church. It was no big deal getting there because Matt had put the studded snow tires on last night. There were less than half the people in attendance. My talk went pretty good. It wasn't too scary because the chapel wasn't even full. The bishop canceled the rest of the meetings, and we all went home to enjoy the sunshine and snow. Matt took a couple kids to a widow's house to shovel her driveway. What a lovely Sunday.

Brother is very funny

A few nights ago the kids were whining at me that they were hungry. Brother asked, "Are you fixing dinner, Mom?" "No," I repiled. "I'm sick of making dinner." Disapointed and annoyed at my lack of mothering abilities, he responded. "Fine. I'll just skip to dessert." and headed to the freezer for some ice cream.

On Thursday evening, we were all gathering around the table to eat dinner. (Yes! I actually made it!) Right then the phone rang. Brother went to answer it. He picked it up: "Dear Heavenly Fath-, Oh! Um, Uh, Hello?" We were all laughing so hard! He was so embarassed! Quickly, he handed the phone to me. It was my friend Pam. She was chuckling. "He sounded a bit confused. Is he ok?" I don't think she had understood the first sentence, since he had uttered it in that typical run-together, rushed intonation that is common in our children's prayer language. "Oh, It's just noisy here and he got mixed up in another conversation." Was all I offered in explanation. Too bad it wasn't someone who would have recognized what he was saying. Then it would have been even funnier. Anyway, The next night it was Brother's turn to say the prayer at dinner. (Yes! Two nights in a row!) As it became quiet, he paused, smiled, then: "Hello?"

Ok. That's all for now.

Much Love,
Maawwwm

Canoeing on Cranberry Lake

After a scout canoe trip at the end of September, we went for an afternoon outing on a nearby lake. One end of the lake makes excellent steering practice with all the trees in the middle of the water.


Here Maddo found a huckleberry bush growing out of a large stump in the lake. These were some of the best tasting huckleberries we found in all our summer adventures.

Fall Soccer

The soccer weather has held out nice. Hunky , Maddo, Peachy, and Brother are all playing this year. Notice Maddo's fashion statement.

Birthday Dillema

Okay, so Mom doesn't have time to post, so I Nephi-I mean I KayBee- am going to do it for her.

Yesterday was Peachy's birthday. We decided to celebrate it today, though, because we didn't have any presents. We keep asking her what she wants, but every time we get a one-word answer: dog. To which she gets a one-word answer: no. All of us know exactly what to get her. I am planning on an easel and a set of HB pencils. Brother wants to wrap up a set of StarWars legos. Dad is buying the latest in bike gadgetry. Mom has her eye on a vitamix that she knows Peachy would just love.
Peachy's opinion? "dog."
Does anyone else around here have problems like this???

It's definitely fall around here. The sun is shining, but I can still see my breath! The darn wind! During the night we can hear it in the air vents. brrrr. We can't even turn the heater on, 'cause we've got to have 'em cleaned first. We've all been wearing snow coats in the house.

I've gotta go do homework. darn homework. phooey on homework.
love,
KayBee

P.S. What are y'all dressing up as for Halloween? :) Only 20 days away! yippeeee!

Fort Casey

Last Sunday we went to S. Whidbey Island to see the wedding of our Art teacher's daughter. Since it was such a long distance, (and a beautiful day) we decided to explore the area. We found this place. It is an abandoned military fort from the early 1900's. It is now a park. The kids really enjoyed exploring. Now they keep asking to go back.

Hunkey Hair

Summer boredom has set in. Maddo, Peachy and Hunkey got creative -- and got a hold of the camera. After many deletions, these remaining pictures show what the kids were up to this week. It took longer to get the things OUT that it did to put them in. And, guess who got to do it. That was not on my to-do list!

Love, Maawwm

Trying again.

This blog thing is sure a learning opportunity. I did it all wrong the last time I got on here. Please disregard that wierd "no-reply" email. You don't have to sign up for an account, etc. Just delete it and laugh at my un-nerdiness. (If I was a better nerd, I'd have this all figured out by now.)

So, if this works, I'll move on to doing the picture thing!

Love,
Maawwmm

Shots.

Yesterday Hunkey got 5 shots in preparation for Kindergarten. He was a pretty good sport about it. We thought he was fine, but today he got a fever and was whiney all morning. He slept all afternoon. Poor guy. I think he is better now.

Testing

This is a test of the Family broadcasting system. . .

This is a test, only a test.

(There is nothing interesting to read. ) :(

If this was a real use of our Family broadcasting system, there would be a page of fun news information for you to enjoy.

Here's hoping that something news worthy will happen soon!

Love, Maawwm

Brother Wit

My mom is here visiting, and as a special treat we all went to our favorite "all you can eat" Chinese buffet. We ate and ate and ate, lingering over third helpings of ice cream (that would be Maddo.) After a while, the waitress brought the check and the customary plate of fortune cookies. Brother, made an astute observation. "When they bring the fortune cookies, that is their way of saying, 'You have eaten enough now. Please leave.' " I do believe he is right.

The Backyard Visitor

We had a raccoon coming around the backyard. He was getting a little too comfortable being in our backyard so the kids wouldn't play out back. We had to take action...

As you can see, the first attempt to capture the critter was unsuccessful. The next video was taken by the kids while Mom was out for a jog and Dad was at work.

The raccoon was taken to a nearby lake and released. We don't know who was terrorized more, the coon or the kids.

Variations on a Theme

Sunday. Again. Since everyone here doesn’t like Sundays (except the Dad) I try to make it a little better by making treats in the afternoon. It is our once a week sugar experience. A little while ago, we got a recipe that the kids were all excited to try. It involved Ritz crackers, peanut butter and marshmallows. When we went to make the treats today, we didn’t have any marshmallows, but DP reminded us that we had a jar of that marshmallow fluff stuff. It had come with us in the move from Kenai I think. We also discovered we were out of Ritz crackers, but we had some of the butter flavored big circle crackers that we buy at Costco. Everyone agreed that it would do. (They were pretty desperate.) Then Maddo decided she wanted to play with the chocolate candy quick stuff and melted a few squares of it in the microwave, in a plastic baggie. She was going to cut off the tip and drizzle designs on waxed paper, let it harden, and serve it to everyone. (That is one of her specials when she is on treats for FHE.) So, instead of the peanut butter, we spread the fluff and then Maddo drizzled the chocolate on top. It turned out pretty good. So, there is a recipe for you to try! A lovely adaptation from the original.

Here is another Maddo story. Yesterday we were outside enjoying the sunshine. Suddenly I remembered that I was supposed to sunblock the kids. I called for Maddo to come get gooped. “No way!” She replied. “Sunblock is bad for your skin. Are you trying to kill me? In 10 years you’ll be sorry you made us use sunblock!” She continued her tirade: “Besides, it’s probably just as bad as white bread. If you won’t feed us white bread, why are you trying to put sunblock on us!” (All the kids prefer white bread and are in constant consternation that I won't buy it for them.) She ranted for a bit longer. By then I was laughing (inside) so much that I didn’t have the heart to force her to sunblock. She did have a valid argument, as she had heard me spout off something along both those lines in the past. (Although I don’t know why she chose to link the two together.) Why do kids not listen when you are intentionally talking to them, and listen attentively and regurgitate the things you wish they hadn’t heard?

Ok. That's good for today.

Our First Try

Ok, so.

Everyday amazing, awful, and sometimes hilarious events happen in our family. These events are constantly running through my mind. "I should type that in our family newsletter!" I tell myself. But I never seem to sit down and type them. Then after a few days (as I already stated) the event has run all the way through my mind and exited-- permanently. The next time I'll remember it is when I am dead, and my life is passing before me at the judgment bar. So, in an effort to preserve our memories, and get brownie points in the Family History category, I hearby start this blog. I also hope that some of our stories will make us all laugh. (And in some cases, if I'm not laughing, at least someone could enjoy a good chuckle at our expense!) ;)

So, on to the stories:

Thursday was a day of tragedies. The morning started with us finding a dead bird laying on the patio. We guess it had flown into our french doors by the kitchen. Poor bird. I was fully prepared to turn it into a nature lesson and let the kids observe it's structure, etc. But the kids were too sad and grossed out and promptly scooped it up with a snow shovel and hucked it over the back fence. (Into the wild blackberry area -- not the neighbors yard.) Later in the day, the kids discovered that one of their "pet" frogs living in our pond had died. I assumed it was from the extreme excess of overhandling that it had endured over the past couple days. Our pond is a mecca for neighbor kids and visiting children. The frogs are the star attraction -- with everyone needing a chance to hold it, and pet it, and send it down the water slide, and float it on homemade rafts, and balance it on their heads, and dangle it by one leg high in the air. . .
May the frog finally rest in peace!

Now KB is sitting here saying, "Nice way to start a blog, Mom. Type something good."

However, as she was saying that we heard a large KLUNK sound coming from the garrage, followed by,
"Oh! Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine -- that's why I was wearing my helmet."
Seeing as how the youngest 3 children are alone in the garage, and that the large metallic clanking and dragging sounds are continuing -- it is now necessary to end our happy narration and go investigate.

Much love,
Maawwm