Top Braces

Leah has had bottom braces on since June, but they're fairly unnoticeable.

But not anymore!  Top braces are on and she is the cutest!

The orthodontist said that it will take quite some time to "unravel" all of her "rotated" teeth, but the afternoon after she got them on Leah insisted that she could feel her teeth straightening already.  Her smile is already beautiful, but I have a feeling she's really going to be happy about the work that she's putting into straightening her smile in the future!

Thankful

We have so much to give thanks for.

For pumpkin waffles

streaming sunlight

a warm and beautiful house 

blankets to pile on top of a freezing mommy 

an afternoon of car racing 

silly fun

 warm clothes

corners of green in a world that is turning brown

Saturdays spent at the temple and children's museum

  

 And lots and lots of other things.  We hung a few of our blessings up as a decoration. 

 

Chocolate turkeys, grandpa's beard, Books! of Mormon and Tim (which is actually time) are a few of my favorites.  The blessings are abounding in our home!

School Lunch

We live in a fairly strict school district- all schools are locked down and require video request entrance, parents aren't allowed to walk their kids to their classrooms after the first week of school, and parent volunteers in the classroom are rarely requested by teachers- I've only been granted my parent volunteer request in three classrooms so far for the combined 11 years that my kids have been at the school.  

The general attitude at the school is that they'll take it from the door, thank you very much.  There are three class parties a year, and that's it.  No treats or food of any kind is allowed for birthday celebrations, no costumes on parade or pumpkin walks at Halloween, no crafts outside of art class or mystery readers or moms helping to teach the students, definitely no half-day kindergarten or naptime for anyone, no fall break even for goodness sake.  It's a great school but it's definitely serious business.

So it delights me that despite all of the other restrictions that are in place, they do allow students to have visitors for lunch.  Moms, dad, siblings, grandparents, anyone can come and join their student for lunch (as long as you clear the state background check, that is.) 

And you'd better believe we take advantage of it as often as we can.  Whenever grandparents are visiting during school days, whenever Daddy has a day off, and whenever they're serving cinnamon rolls and eggstravaganza, Noah and I are there!  

We purchase a lunch, squeeze into the cafeteria bench, and try to share meaningful conversation amongst the roar of the students.  We get to put classmate names with faces and I'm reminded just how long the day can be when you're lining up, sitting down, standing up, sitting criss-cross apple sauce, and lumped into a group of 26 other squirmy kids.

And there's nothing quite like a big hug from my favorite little people in the middle of the day to help us all get to 3:00.

School lunch day is a little thing, but we all love it!

Best Boy-Isms

These boys love waking up as soon as they hear any noise in the house.  They play "morning games", read books, snuggle up by the fire and generally are a blessing to me in the early hours of the morning with their happy smiles and eager attitudes.

Yesterday I asked Adam why they were up so early.

A- Because we wanted to finish the Stormbringer (LEGO set)... and because we didn't have anything else to do.

It was 6:30 AM.

*****
Noah, while we were walking past the baby section at Target- 

Mom, I think we used to have one of those baby cages.  I used to fit in it.  Until I turned 3.

Baby cages!  What a great name for a pack-n-play.

*****

Noah's had a thing for trying on all the shoes in the house lately.

Noah, checking frantically in the mirror- 

Oh good!  I still have all my teeth in there!

*****

I found Noah in his room today, chair pulled up to the window- 

I'm just going to sit here until the kids get home from school.

It was 1:45. 

Kids start arriving home at 3:00. 

*****

Best -ism ever-

Noah, while riding in the car-  Hey, that kind of looks like Jason!

M- Jason?  You mean Daddy?

N- Yeah.  You call him Jason so I thought I'd call him Jason....

... what is Daddy's real name?

M- Jason.  Oh, you mean his first name?  Arturo.

N- Oh!  Arturo!  I thought it was Ed.  

FFFFF

We add a few 'F's every year- I think now it stands for the Final Family Fun Fall Fling.... and it was definitely fun!  We had to squeeze in the FFF this year because the warm-ish days came to an abrupt stop just a few days after Halloween.  So on a Thursday night we packed up dinner, firewood, some camping chairs and a rake and headed over to our favorite family woods for one last campfire for 2018.  

The sunset was gorgeous over the lake as we crossed the bridge.

 This is one of my very favorite view of Iowa.

 We went straight to our usual hiking place, but the effects of July's flooding were still in full force here by the lake.  There was so much mud, a stream where we've never seen one before and no trail to hike on.  We did not wear the right shoes for this terrain!  Daddy took one step into the squishy mud, slipped a few feet, and we all turned back.  Maybe next year!

 We stopped by the secret pine needle hideout, just like the one the Boxcar Children stayed in!

Tromping through the woods they go.  Notice that Leah is wielding a rake, just in case they encountered another "tur-coyte" like last year.

There is nothing like the smell of woods in the fall.

Leaves!!!  Leaves galore!! 

 Emma, Leah, and Noah had a great time building leaf nests 

 and burying themselves deep in them.

 Pure leafy joy!

Adam, not so much.  He told me it was because of this Calvin and Hobbes strip- ha!

Jason built us a great fire, and we all gathered around for brats, hot dogs, apples, and roasted potato chips with melted chocolate on top.  You never know what will become a tradition, I guess...

 The only animals we saw or heard this year were a few birds and a deer or two.  Nothing hooting or howling at us this time, but boy were the kids afraid of the dark this year!

 We told stories and laughed at jokes and peered into the darkness until the sun went down and the cold behind us was stronger than the fire in front of us.

 Then we packed up and headed back home, smelling like smoke and happy that our lungs were filled with fresh fall air one more time before winter settles upon us.  Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow!

Dance of Doom

The kids made up this dance to go along with the ridiculous lyrics of the Dance of Doom from the LEGO Ninjago movie.  They danced along with the song for months before I realized that they had made up all of the moves.  

The song talks about silly things that Lego minifigures could do to torture themselves- and humans- like "take of your legs but keep your pants on, then take off your head and throw it at your mom. Now that you're lighter, do a push up then out of your neckhole quack like a duck.  Lie on the ground and just stay put and wait til a human steps on you and hurts their foot."

It's classic kid silliness, but I sure do love watching them do the Dance of Doom!

Cub Scout Fun Day

Adam and Daddy had a great time at the Cub Scout Fun Day- shooting cannons, 

learning about weapons, 

climbing around a log cabin, 

pedal-carting, 

and spending time with some buddies!

Halloween Celebrations Galore!

Despite my wish that it was still July, October traditions had to be honored, and honor them we did!  Starting off with the resurrection of the Halloweenie Roast, a celebration we haven't participated in since we left Indiana.  

We all dressed up, and I took exactly five pictures of the entire night. 

And it was a lot of fun!  We had about 50 people in our backyard, roasting hot dogs and running around playing night games.

Donuts on a string and bobbing for apples were all hits! 

 That was a fun night, but man it was a lot of work!

 We decorated cookies the next day- just our family- and the kids came up with all kinds of silly creations, including Santa Claus, mermaids, Albus Dumbledore and Nipples the Halloween ghost. 

 We finally- finally!- had enough leaves to make a modest sized pile to jump in.  

 Crisp fall leaves are the best!

And on to pumpkin carving!

Jason loves using his hidden artistic talents to help the kids carve exactly what they want-

 this year we had an owl (designed by Leah, carved by Mommy and Leah), origami Yoda (carved by Daddy and Adam), a cute little pumpkin princess (Emma's, carved by Daddy), and a traditional jack-o-lantern (designed by Noah and carved by Mommy). 

 Look at this cute little pumpkin with her cute little pumpkin!

 And then finally the big night was here!  The weather was beautiful for Beggars Night- quite possibly the nicest we've had since moving to Iowa- and the kids had big plans for gathering as much candy as possible.

Noah and his two next-door-neighbor friends all happened to be dinosaurs!

 Off they go!

  Leah had orchestra, but once she got back I gathered everyone back up on the porch for our annual costumes picture.  

This year we had Harry Potter and Hermione, a princess (she didn't want to wear the belt and be considered Elena of Avalor) and a triceratops.

And they were off again!  Everyone had invitations to trick-or-treat with friends, but Leah and Emma had big plans to stick together.  Jason went with them.

 Adam met up with his fellow Harry Potter buddy- 

and Noah and I tried to keep up with them.  He made it twice as far as he ever has before- we even went down a second street before he and I gave up and headed home.  He still had plenty of candy to show for his efforts- all the kids did!

 At some point in the night Noah pulled out a notepad and paper and started jotting down his favorite candies.   Such a grown up and funny thing to do.  He was thoroughly satisfied with his spoils!

 And the next day was officially Halloween, also known as the extra day of celebration that we don't really need.  Not one of the kids appreciated my costume.  Emma begged me to take the wig off as soon as she saw it.  I'm not a very good black haired witchy mom, I guess.

 Back into costumes they went for the church trunk-or-treat!

 Emma went for a more casual princess look this time around.

 Leah with a few of her friends, including "Tina, you fat lard" from Napoleon Dynamite.

A few trips around the parking lot and these cuties were done! 

And that made for one more happy Halloween season in the books!