Baked

Jarom sleeps in his pea pod in the guest bedroom my parents sleep in when they visit. Unfortunately the vents don't work in there, so in the winter it's frigid and the summer it's hot. I bundle him up well at night, but he always ends up on top of his blankets. I finally felt bad enough over his freezing toes in the morning to buy him a heater. It has a temperature control gauge that clicks on and off all night so the room stays the same temp. But if you click on the High button by accident, like I did last night, it will just blows hot air all night long until the room is 98 degrees. I woke up to him crying his head off this morning and his room as hot as a summer day at noon. It was one of those great Mom guilt moments. Poor kid was flushed, sweaty, and ran straight for the fridge saying "Please, please, please" for a drink. He quickly downed two sippy cups of milk while I squeezed him to death and repeated apologies. He's all right, after being checked out by Dad, but I think I need a cookie to help me feel better.

Nursery

Jarom is an official member of the nursery class at church. He's not a big fan. Matt went with him for three weeks prior to the big day. Last week he slipped out and it took Jarom half an hour to realize Dad was gone, and then cried the next hour and a half straight. I know because I play piano in primary and there's only a folding parition thingy that separates primary from the nursery kids. Yesterday he cried for two hours straight, except for the fifteen minutes I caved and went in there to relieve the poor teachers. He'd been crying so hard he had those hiccups and couldn't catch his breath. I wonder how long it will take for him to adjust. He's a pretty stubborn kid. I may have to take ear plugs to church.

Holidays in the Heart of the City

I love Michigan, but Saginaw itself is pretty much a dead town with lots of empty buildings, lots of crime, not very many cultural activies, no down town, and not very many things to do. However, this town knows fireworks. They spend bucks on fireworks. The fourth of July show is pretty amazing, and once every winter they have another show over the river in celebration of the beginning of the holidays. Last year was our first time attending "Holidays in the Heart of the City." We came a little late and everything was really crowded, so this year we parked half an hour early and didn't have to wait in line for anything. Above is Paul and Elyse in the trolley that drove us over the bridge lined with candles in milk cartons.

Free pony rides next to the cathedral. After this we walked down to the lutheran church for free hot chocolate and cookies.

We got to be judges and vote for our favorite gingerbread house at the Anderson Enrichment center. Next to this building is the water treatment plant, which honestly, looks like a huge castle. That's where they have the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The building is really so awesome they completely decorate the grounds with lights.

And we were first in line for a free carriage ride! They had eight carriages making loops on Court street. The kids loved waving and shouting hi to the other carriages we passed. We also walked to a live manger scene and listened to the Christmas story, wandered through the japanese tea garden, and ended up by the river to watch the fireworks from our van--with the heat turned up on high.

A couple updates

Jarom: Elyse has taught him how to say hello, which sounds like "elloooooo." I have taught him to call his shoe a "shoe" instead of "ca ca." I don't know where that came from because none of us use the word ca-ca. He officially starts nursery after the 30th, but the teacher is already letting him come in with Matt for Sunday school. I love the teacher, by the way. Today some older kid was rolling around and around in one of the fabric tunnels they have, not sharing it, and shouting, "I am a bad guy. I am a bad guy." And when an eighteen month old came over and whacked him on the head with a block, the teacher said to the crying boy, "Well, that's what happens to bad guys." He's also learning the hard way how to deal with his frustration that the snack cupboard is locked and he's no longer allowed to scatter the paper cups, plates, and straws all over the floor. Lots of time on the time out bench. I keep telling myself, "this too, shall pass." Luke: After one year, and eleven months, my four year old is officially finished with potty training. We were about to take him in to a specialisit to see if all his equipment was working properly because the kid was unable to hold his water for more than half an hour and still wet himself between potty breaks. I don't know what happened, but suddenly it clicked in his brain. I am so happy I hardly know what to do with myself. He has also become an unofficial Lutheran for a year. When Paul went to Lutheran preschool, everything went over his head. He didn't learn the prayers, didn't pick up on the lingo. Luke, on the other hand, is like a sponge. He finally understands that Jesus doesn't really ride around with us in the car and that it's the Holy Ghost that tells him Jesus loves him, but he still uses words like "So and so sinned today at school when he kicked so and so. He had to tell Jesus sorry." And he sings songs like "Bah, bah, bah, I just want to be a sheep. I praise my Lord, my Savior. Bah, bah, bah, I just want to be a sheep." at the top of his voice in the car or the store. I finally have a child that loves to color! Luke will sit quietly at the counter with a coloring page and actually color it with more than one marker. And finish the page. It's amazing. Paul: In Kindergarten he told his preschool friend Drea that he couldn't marry her because she isn't a Mormon, which thankfully, made her parents laugh. Last week he prayed at bedtime that he would have the courage to talk to Drea the next day. I was thinking, did she hurt his feelings and he wants to talk about it, or was he worried about her, so asked him what he needed courage for. "Mom, did you ever get that nervous all over feeling when you wanted to talk to someone you liked?" Yes, but not in second grade! We had to quickly establish some ground rules, like, no holding hands, no kissing her at all, and stuff like that. I found out the next day he just wanted to know what she wanted to be when she grew up, but forgot her answer. Last year, math time tests were absolutely weekly horrendous ordeals to be got through every single week. This year, with a new program and a new method of study, Paul is sailing along his through his math facts. He is still easily distracted at school by anything: his pencil, the wind in the trees, the clock ticking, and the teacher and I have modified a few of his assignments. I'm so thankful she's understanding and doesn't want him to feel frustrated with school and things that trip him up. His writing really struggles, but with her ideas he felt actually happy about writing and telling a story this last week. He's so creative, I hope he begins to understand he can use all that stuff for writing as well as for all his crazy inventions he thinks up. Elyse Is too quickly become a pre-teen. If we're going somewhere and she knows boys her age might be there, she'll change into her sparkly red shoes and comb her hair without me asking. Yikes, I'm so not ready for the teen years. School has always been easy for Elyse. Is it bad of me to say that I'm glad a few challenges have come up for her? She's been humbled this year by trying to master her weekly piano assignments. I swear she cries at our lessons about every other week. I insist she can master something, she denies it, and within a week or two after forced daily practice, she has it mastered. I've also discovered via recent report card and parent teacher conference that she has something at school she needs to work on too: keeping her mouth shut. She's been moved to an all boy table because she was talking too much to her friends. It completely mystified her when she got an X in two thing on her report card instead of a +. Something about being responsible for her behavior. I think that little shock is just the kick in the pants the girl needs to remember to keep quiet and raise her hand. Her teacher still loves her and called her mature for her age and a real go getter when it came to new learning challenges. I hope she's a go getter about this one, too. She is thrilled because a week from today she gets to go on a two day field trip with the entire fourth grade to a wilderness camp in Midland. Apparently, all of the schools do this here. They have outdoor classes, and hikes, and field time to study nature. I have a firm no sleep over policy at my house, so you can imagine her glee when she found out her best friend is in her four person group and bunks right next to her. It's all we've been hearing from her lips for all of November. Hope she enjoys it while it lasts-ha! ha! As for me, I am doing soul searching and coming up with surprising answers. The most surprising perhaps, was filling out a questionaire while standing in line at the grocery store and finding out I am an "active" person. Not a couch potato, not sedentary, not semi-active. I am a physically active person. I never would have believed it two years ago, but I actually like to exercise now. When I am short on time, I will crank my treadmill up to an incline of 9 and got two miles without think about it, or if Matt is working the evening, will stay on 6 or 7 for five miles. My weight loss is still incredibly gradual, but that's because I love to eat. And I can eat if I exercise. What a revealation! My other big ah-ha of the season is, I have too many extraneous activities getting in my way of what I really want to do: spend quality time with my kids. Not nag time, not homework time, not cleaning time. I want quality time. So temporarily, I'm scaling back on projects, books, and cleaning, writing, critiquing, and computer time. For the holidays, I don't care if homework quality is so-so. I want to go outside and walk with the kids. I want to do holiday baking with them, and crafts from the store, help them make Christmas gifts and cards, explore the town, go sledding, sing at the piano, do stuff together where we just talk and cath up and giggle and dance. I so often dread the holidays because we get overbooked with extended family plans. This year, of the eleven family activities planned, we chose 3 to attend with our love to everyone, but dang it, I'm spending Christmas with my kids this year and i'm going to LOVE it!

Tangerine

While at a local farmer's market stall this week, Matt gallantly offered to buy me a handmade bar of soap from one the vendors. I chose the one I thought smelled the best: a lovely mild tangerine. Today I unwrapped the plain brown paper strap around the bar and read the back. Apparently tangerine is good for irritability, cellulite, exhaustion, nervous tension, and skin care. Oh tangerine, we must be a match made in heaven. How else would I have known to pick you?

BYU Football game

Matt, Jarom, and I just got back from a weekend stint in Utah. A couple months ago we had a wild idea about seeing a BYU football game. I hadn't been to one since my freshman year. With luck and help from family, Matt got time off work and miles from Delta, and we flew out for a short break. Friday morning we took a tour of the conference center. Here's Jarom with the SLC temple in the background.

I've never been on the conference center roof before. Did you know there's four acres of gardens up there? And a big rock mural?

Third level of the conference center. I wish we could have stopped at every painting. Darn 9/11. Now you need a guide to go anywhere in the building. The tour is about one mile long, with a brieft stop on all three levels and the roof.

After our tour, we ate lunch at the Red Iguana on North Temple. For you food network fans, Guy Fieri stopped here to try out their 7 different moles. And let me tell you, the Mole Verde was outstanding. I want to go back and try the other six.

The front door o the Red Iguana is covered with stickers and grafiti. It looks like a total dive from the outside, but people line up even before it opens. If you arrive at 11:15, you're too late to get a table and have to wait outside until one comes up.

After lunch we went hiking in Big Cottonwood canyon. I wanted to see Donut Falls, but we mistakenly ended up on a trail to Dogwood Lake. Beautiful hike, not so great destination. Dogwood Lake is like a little pond. And to our amazement, it was already frozen over.

Jarom didn't like the snow so much.

The last .6 miles to the lake was over hard packed snow at a steep incline. For every step up, you slid halfway back. I got a bad case of the giggles going down the trail. For every two slides, I had a fall, then a giggle, and then another slide.

So Dog Lake was completely frozen. I stomped on it with my foot and fell in up to my calf. Don't stomp on a frozen lake. At least I couldn't feel the cold anymore with that foot.

And finally on Saturday we went to the game. This was my kind of football game: we dominated all four quarters and made no major embarrassing mistakes. BYU 52: UNLV 7.

It was fun seeing all my sisters again. Wish I could have stayed longer.

Luke finishes soccer season

Like any other time Luke is concentrating, his tongue is hanging out. I keep expecting him to bite it off one of these days.

Luke played his first season of soccer this fall. They started a new format where 3/4 of the hour is spent on drills and team practice and the last quarter is a scrimmage with your own team. A tad boring to watch, but I think it's better than letting ten four year olds mob the ball for an hour. Each kid was actually given the chance to touch a ball because they all had one most of the time. The favorite time of the day was still snack time. Like our other children, Luke is not very aggressive and usually ran behind the pack in the general direction of the ball. But he was always the first to put his hand on someone's shoulder and say good job, or we'll get it next time. I overheard another parents say, "Who's that kid with the big eyes? He sure is a talkative little guy." Yep, that's my kid: his tongue runs faster than his two legs.

Elyse turns 10!

Surprisingly, Elyse wanted a skate board for her birthday. ??? Well I guess if she's skate boarding she'll be spending less time climbing trees. Which is better: falling fifty feet from the tree top or skidding on asphalt and losing all the skin on your arms and legs?

Saturday I took Elyse and a few friends to a corn maze for her birthday party. I gave them a cell phone and a map and let them wander around by themselves. They made it through in half an hour, walked back in the exit and got lost for an hour and then made it out again.

Carving pumpkins

Matt took this with a 30 second shutter speed--cool, huh Paul gives our pumpkins a thumbs up

Jarom with popcorn on his nose

No, I'm not a chinese man. I decided to be a Mii for Halloween. I gave myself exaggeated eyebrows and lips. It's not a really good picture here, but I love Luke's expression and whacky hair.

First year Elyse did her pumpkin all by herself from start to finish. What do you know, it only takes ten years for a kid to learn how to clean the guts out.

Paul did some of the cleaning, but you can see he still doesn't like it.

We carved pumpkins Saturday night so they'd still look fresh for trick or treaters on Halloween. Elyse wouldn't let us see hers at all until she was done and had a big reveal. By the time I got to Jarom's little green pumpkin, I was tired of carving, so we just poked his with an apple corer and called it a dinosaur egg.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Jarom and his cousin Steven: they're only 10 days apart in age My white tiger Luke Paul and his friend playing human bowling--a favorite fhe pastime at our house

My kiddos: Elyse went as an angel, Paul a spy ( he did his costume all by himself, can you tell?), Jarom in the pumpkin costume all of our one year olds have used, and Luke as a tiger--who couldn't believe tigers could be anything except orange and black.

We normally don't attend the ward trunk or treat and usually just fill our buckets with candy on Halloween night instead, but this year with Halloween falling on a Sunday we decided it was our only chance to get candy. They don't move holidays around here just because one happens to land on a Sunday. Not a lot of people showed up, so the kids got to run around the parking lot twice and get handfuls of candy from people who were trying to get rid of it. Some cars brought games for the kids too: bobbing in whip cream of gummy worms, frisbee tosses, and people bowling. The kids had a lot of fun celebrating with their church friends this year.

Elyse's ten year old pics

I can't believe Elyse turns ten next week. Do you realize that I only have eight more years with her at home? Over half my time with her is gone. She's growing up too fast.

Family Pictures

So I am still learning a lot about photography. This week I took my SIL's fam picture and then set up the tripod and used a remote to shoot ours while she made all the kids smile. Number one lesson learned: never, ever, ever shoot from below. Always shoot from above. Unforunately, the best pic of everyone in the family is the one where I look like I have a huge double chin. I'm putting it up on the wall anyway. It will be great motivation to stick with my weight loss plan. Which do you like better? Black and white or the vintage look--Matt and I can't agree which to print.

Weigh In

I snapped these shortly after my biggest loser group meeting was over one week. They crack me up, so I thought I'd share.

riding bikes

Jarom borrowing Luke's helmut

If his tongue is hanging out, he's concentrating really hard. I keep expecting him to bite his tongue and bleed all ove the place at soccer games.

We finally put training wheels on a bike for Luke. He's getting pretty fast already and we've enjoyed a few fall family bike rides.

Pumpkins at Hemmeter Farm Market

Paul with his new marshmellow shooter that he wouldn't even let go of for one picture.

Hemmeter Market is my favorite place to buy pumpkins when our own crop produces nothing. Since this year we grew three puny pumpkins and there are six of us in the household, I took my parents over there to help us pick a few out. The farmer breeds these to have thick, curvy stems and they come in yellows, whites, and oranges, with tall tall narrow ones and large round ones. It's very hard to choose one, but it's easy to take lots of pictures.