Nicole

I was just thinking this morning about a special person in our home.  I love my little Nicki.  She certainly has a strong personality.  I'll be the first to admit that sometimes that can be...um...challenging.  For some reason, she is the child that can make my temper flare the quickest.  (I'm working on it, trust me!)  But she is also the child with the most tender heart.  One of my nicknames for her is "little mother" because she has a natural tendency to want to nurture.  Even when she was three years old, if one of her Sunbeam classmates gave a talk in Primary, Nicole would put her arm around their shoulder and pat them and say, "You did such a good job!" in her motherly voice.   She's very helpful with her little brothers, who both think she's the greatest thing in the world because she takes care of them and is so much fun to play with. 

Last weekend was our ward's "Scouting For Food" drive.  None of the other kids cared much about it, but Nicole wanted to help.  I was loading up some cooking staples, but she kept offering to donate stuff that I hadn't even considered.  Things that she loves and are special treats to her.  I told her I wasn't going to go out and buy more Capri Suns any time soon, and she said, "I know."  She was so excited to think about other little kids who don't get Capri Suns or brownies and frosting very often.  She even waited and watched out the front window until the scouts came to pick up the food. 

Waiting for the Scouts to come get her donations.

Nicki's such a romantic!  Whenever there is a romantic part in a movie, I have more fun watching Nicki than the show.  She gets so giggly and excited that she literally bounces in her seat.  If she has control of the remote, she's been known to rewind kissing scenes over and over until we all want to die!  On Sunday, the youth of our ward sang in Sacrament meeting.  They sang the "As Sisters In Zion/Army of Helaman" medley.  It was very beautiful.  When it was over, she leaned over to me and whispered, "That was SOOOOOO pretty!  All the girls are beautiful and all the boys are handsome."  I nodded my head.  She continued, "but one boy is REALLY handsome."  I asked which one she meant and she pointed to one of the priests in our ward.  I chuckled.  She said, "Don't you think he's handsome, Mom?"  I said, "Sure.  He's handsome."  She asked, "Have you told him that you think he's handsome?"  I had to admit that I hadn't.  I'm sure she wondered why.  If Nicki thinks some one's handsome or pretty, she just tells them so.  She has made the day of many a checker at the grocery store that way.

There's nothing more beautiful than a beautiful girl on a beautiful horse.

Last night, we went to a birthday party for my friend, Jeanette.  She's the one who was in a car accident earlier this year.  Her birthday is on Halloween, so her family rented a ballroom at a local hotel and had a big party for her.  We stopped by for a while.  (By the way, Jeanette is now living in the nursing home here in Rexburg where David works.  We see her a little more often.  She's making some improvements, but will never recover.)  Anyway, Ali and even David were a little bit reserved.  It's kind of awkward talking to her.  Nicole, however, walked right up to her and stood in her line of sight and said, "Happy birthday, Jeanette."  Then she stood for a while with her.  It was very sweet to watch.  I can't wait to watch Nicki as she grows up and finds ways to use her nurturing talents.  She's incredible.

Hablo Un Poco De Castellano

I'm learning Spanish.  Yes, that's right.  Me. 

We wanted to learn Spanish as a family this summer.  David researched it extensively and purchased the best language program he could find.  (Pimsleur, by the way.  He's a big fan!)  This is the beginning Spanish course, consisting of 30 lessons.  Each lesson is 30 minutes long.  I could tell you much more, but you're probably not interested in the details of the Pimsleur language course.   Too bad.  It's fascinating (to me).

Anyway, the girls and I tried taking the lessons this summer.  We made it through two or three lessons before the girls were in outright revolt!  Whenever I said, "Time for Spanish lessons," they acted as if they were being physically tortured.  I've heard that kids pick up languages faster than adults, but maybe that only applies when the kids are submerged in the language.  All I know is it was NOT happenin' with our family.  The lessons were hard for me.  The kids couldn't keep up.   We decided to bag it.

Fast forward a couple of months.  Instead of learning as a family, we decided that David and I would take the lessons together.  Now we listen to a lesson together every night.  Sometimes we do it while we're doing the dinner dishes.  Sometimes we wait until the kids are in bed.  It's really fun.  I look forward to our lessons.  They are VERY difficult for me.  I'm only six lessons into the thing (I've had to repeat one or two) and I feel like my brain is already maxed out, but it's fun.  David calls me almost every day and speaks Spanish to me.  He already knows the language a little bit, so it's not nearly as hard for him.  Its really exciting to be learning something new and its a blast to do it with my husband (except when I'm trying to fall asleep and he keeps rattling off all kinds of Spanish words that I haven't learned yet.  Then, I just want to curse in Spanish).

I know that what I'm learning is basically Spanish in slow motion.  If I were to actually talk to a Spanish speaker I'd be totally lost.  Luckily for me, one of the six TV channels we get is Telemundo.  I'll have to start watching some Novellas.  In the mean time, if I'm ever in a Spanish speaking country and I need to find the Hotel Columbus, I know how to ask.

Jack-O-Lanterns

The Family Home Evening before Halloween is always pumpkin carving day around here.  It's a good thing David reminded me of that this time, because I almost forgot.  We had plenty of beautiful pumpkins from our back yard to choose from.  Each of the three older kids picked out their own pumpkin, cleaned out the seeds, and designed their face.  David and I did the knife work, of course.  Actually, Josh did a little unsupervised knife work once, but let's not talk about that.  Bronson supervised for about a half hour, then he went to bed.

 The kids were all very happy with the way it turned out.  Josh sat on my lap during the lighting ceremony and beamed with excitement.  He said, "Mom, this is so fun! My pumpkin is scary!"   Alison was delighted with her cat face.  Nicole researched all types of Jack-O-Lanterns on the internet before deciding to go with a traditional face.  She likes the classics. 

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Josh Is Finally Three!

Four of the six people in our family have birthdays within 30 days of each other.  Poor Josh happens to be the last one of the bunch.  It's hard to wait when you're a little boy.  Well on Sunday, October 23rd, Josh finally got his turn to be the birthday boy! 

We opened his presents in the morning.  He got a lot of toy cars and a new train set, along with dinosaurs, clothes, candy, a movie, and some money.  What a lucky kid! 

He spent the rest of the morning playing.  Josh is a very enthusiastic player.  He can play with his toys for hours at a time.  When he does, he's so intensely involved in his imagination, he doesn't even know whether or not I'm around.  It's fun to watch.  He has quite a colorful imagination! 

The middle part of the day was pretty typical Sunday stuff.  We did sing "Happy Happy Birthday" to him in nursery.  After church, we went over to our friend's house to see their brand-new-born-that-day piglets.  My goodness!  They are adorable!  How nice of them to be born on Josh's birthday.  After the pig visit, we went home for a birthday dinner.  Josh chose hot dogs, Cheetos, and dill pickles.  Yummy.  He ate five or six pickles all by himself, but didn't touch the hot dog.  I didn't push him too much.  You're only three once and I'm not sure of making him eat the hot dog would have been better or worse than letting him not eat it.  Hmmm...one of life's mysteries.

Anyway, we brought Josh's birthday cake over to Grandma and Grandpa Gee's house.  It was quite the cake!  Last year, I made him a train cake.  When I did, I decided that it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of affair.  When it came time to decide what kind of cake to make this year, we looked at all kinds of stuff.  I found a cute monster cake, or perhaps a farm, maybe a spider... NO NO NO!!!  Josh acted like I was crazy.   Isn't it obvious - birthday cakes only come in one shape...TRAINS!!!  Oh well.  He really does love trains and the girls promised to help. So... ta da!  We made him a train.  It was totally worth the effort.  Not only did he go ga-ga over it, all the boy cousins were totally wide-eyed in awe when they saw it as well.  I wish I had gotten a picture of Josh, Isaac, and Sam sitting on stools plotting which car they wanted to eat.

 

In case you're wondering about the costumes, the older kids were having a dress rehearsal for a play they've been working on.  Kami is the director.  I'm sure we'll hear more about that in the future.  Belle's grandma costume is my personal favorite. 

Josh had a great birthday.  He's such a cute, happy boy.  He brings lots of joy into my life.  I love the way he talks.  His new favorite phrase is , "Oh, yeah.  Sure."   "Josh, can Nicki sit by you?" "Oh, yeah.  Sure."  "Would you like to say the prayer?"  "Oh, yeah.  Sure."  He can be begging me and begging me for something like turning on a video and when I finally say, "Okay, should we turn on a show?" he's like, "Oh, yeah.  Sure."  Even when he's angry with me, he makes me smile.  I can't help it - when he yells, "Mom!  My mad to you!" I have to smile.  Having said that, I firmly believe that the "terrible twos" are NOTHING compared to the "threatening threes."  Already, Josh has some attitude and anger management issues we need to tackle.  The other day, I told him to come over and let me change his diaper (another issue I need to tackle) and he let out a piercing scream.  Then he said, "Mom, when I say 'Ahhh' it means boys are mad to mommys."  Okay.  Good to know for future reference.

The Straw Maze

For our Family Home Evening activity last night, we went to the straw maze just a few houses up the road.  We'd been wanting to go all season but last night was the first time that both the weather and our schedules cooperated.  We bundled up everyone as much as possible and headed for the maze. 

All bundled up in the parking lot.

Checking out the llama at the petting zoo.

More petting zoo fun.

The maze is a really fun place.  They have concessions there, so I bought each of our kids a bag of cotton candy.  Then, we went over to the little "petting zoo" which basically has animals we're used to seeing - goats, rabbits, pigs, a horse and a llama (that was new for us).  The kids ran around the little maze for a while.  It's made from little hand bales so it's only about waist-high to a kid.  They chased each other and had a ball.  Then, we decided to hit the big maze.

Initially, the girls wanted to go on their own through the maze, but David quickly nixed that idea.  The maze consists of one-or-two ton bales (I'm not sure) stacked two high.  It's pretty darned complex.  We told the kids to stay with us, but I guess we didn't stress it enough.  If we didn't stay RIGHT together, it only took a turn or two to be completely separated.  We learned that lesson right away.  Less than 30 seconds into the maze, I had to chase the girls one way while Dave took off after Josh in another.  After a long wait, David finally showed up again, but without my boy!!!  Two-year-old Josh had gotten lost in a maze and the sun was setting!!!  Talk about anxiety!  Luckily, the maze is run by some friends of ours (you remember, the ones who had a baby throw up at dinner a couple of weeks ago) so Judd and David climbed up on top of the bales and went looking for him.  It took a while, but they finally found him.  He had hooked up with another family, but he was freaked out and bawling!  I'm really glad that he was freaked out.  I would have been worried if he didn't care that he was lost.  When he came over to me, I held him tight and he said, "Mom, mine got lost and mine was crying!"   He had to be held for a little while, but it ended up working out just fine.  He ended up having a lot of fun, but not wanting to let me out of his sight.  Win-win if you ask me!

It was pitch black in this picture, the flash just lit us up.  The boy in the middle is one of Nicki's school mates who came through with us.  His family is part of the group that runs it so he just hangs out there every night.

Bronson lasted about an hour, then he fell soundly asleep.

It took us around an hour and a half to get through the entire maze.  Of course, we just let the girls lead us around for the first half hour so we were thoroughly lost, then David took over as the group leader.  Dave and I wore our headlamps which came in really handy since it's super dark in there.  I have to admit, I was a little uncomfortable.  It's not a great feeling being trapped in a maze, especially when you're trying to keep track of your children.  I was willing to take an emergency exit and go home after about an hour, but Dave led us through just, fine.  Even Ali said, "Mazes are more fun on paper because you can see the whole thing."  I can't even imagine going on the nights that they "haunt" it.  To have things jumping out at you and chasing you through it would be more that this woman could handle!   David said, "Just add jagged rocks, make it wet and icy, and about three times as narrow and you can kind of get the idea of those caves I hiked through last year."  Yikes!  Not thanks!

Random Happenings From The Last Week

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so:
A little black electrical tape goes a long way in Halloween decorating.  Don't you love our spider web? 

Josh does!

For the first time that I can remember ALL SIX of us stayed home from church this Sunday. We all had various stages of a head/chest cold. Nicki was actually healthy, but she's WAY too 6 to go to church without us.

Here is a picture of three kids watching some sort of Sunday-friendly movie.

Okay, so I let the beets get away from me a little bit...

Attack of the killer beets!!

Speaking of attack...one of my chickens got out of the coop the other day.  I tried for about 10 minutes to get her back in, but she hid under the coop and I couldn't get her to budge.  I decided to give up for a couple of hours, then try again.  Bad idea.  When I came back out a few hours later, all I found were a bunch of feathers and one leg.  Poor girl!  I'm not sure what got her, (I have a feeling it was the Labrador puppies that keep coming over to our yard, but there are skunks, racoons and foxes in our neighborhood)  but Nicki won't go outside alone anymore and whenever I go out, she watches from the house so that she can warn me if a wolf is coming. 

Sorry about the gore, I think it's kind of fascinating.  At least one of my siblings will too.  You should have seen me acting like a detective and looking for tracks or any sign of what happened. 

Oh What A Beautiful Morning

David says that one of the things he loves about having animals is that it forces you to be outdoors when you would normally never dream of going outside.  He says he's seen some of the most beautiful things in his life while braving the elements to care for our animals.  He's right.  We've had some beautiful, clear, cold nights lately that I'd have totally missed if I had the choice.  Many times this summer I was taken back by the beauty of nature while I was milking the goats.

This morning was the coldest it's been so far.  There was a very hard frost on the ground and the weather channel said it was about 30 degrees.  I wasn't too excited to go out there.  I'm kind of a wimp sometimes.  Anyway, I bundled up and went out.  It really wasn't bad at all.  It's more a matter of dressing appropriately for the weather than the weather itself.  I got all set up and started milking Licorice.  As I was doing so, I happened to look out over our yard.  I was taken back by what a lovely sight it was.  Everything was covered in ice - it almost looked  like a dream. The sun was coming up over the house and starting to melt the frost.  As it did so, a misty steam was rising from everything.  Every little spider web glistened in the sun like a crystal string.  The warm milk in the pail was so steamy it seemed like a bubbling cauldron.  It was amazing.  I couldn't help but say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the privilege of seeing such beauty and for a wonderful way to start my day.

Of course, all those good feelings vanished when I realized that we left our potatoes out in the frost last night (they're probably ruined) and then walked into our messy house.... sigh.  If only spider webs were as beautiful inside the house as they are outside...

B-ron Turns One!

Can you believe that Bronson is one year old already?  It seems like only days since I was snuggling with my newborn baby boy.  Looking at these pictures, though, makes me realize that we don't have  a baby in our home anymore.  He's definitely a toddler. 

I can not STAND how cute Bronny is!  He's the happiest little boy ever.  What a charmer!  I especially love his two big front teeth.  He reminds me of Mater in "Cars."  And, of course you already know how much I love his laugh.  Still, he's not always smiles and giggles.  He doesn't like me to leave him AT ALL!!!  And he's recently discovered the joy of hitting people in the face repeatedly. 

He got a couple of fun toys and some clothes for his birthday.  It's kind of hard to find toys for your fourth child - we already have too much stuff!  He loved his presents and played happily with them for a long time. 

The rest of the day was pretty normal.  He played and ate and napped and filled his diaper.  Every day is all about you when you're a one year old.  Daddy had a short day at work so he came home and spent the afternoon with the birthday boy.  FUN!!  Bronson LOVES his dad.  David says Bronson likes him more than any of the other kids did, but I seem to remember Nicki being a daddy's girl too.

Bronson's birthday dinner consisted of chili and corn bread.  Nothing but the messiest for him.  Then we all enjoyed a raspberry Jell-O birthday cake, topped with raspberries from our garden.    That's about all we did for his birthday.  It's hard to throw a huge shin-dig for a baby.  They don't really even notice.  The other kids loved partying, though.  They all love baby Bronny as much as humanly possible.  Who can blame 'em?  He is pretty fantastic.





Alison's Baptism

Alison's baptism on Saturday, October 8th was such a beautiful event.  There's nothing quite like being surrounded by loved ones as you takes life's important steps.  Ali was so very happy.

She returned from her Utah trip the night before her baptism.  Grandma and Grandpa Smith, along with my sister Katie and her 10 year old daughter Megan were with her.  My other sister, Kristin and her family had been in Lava Hot Springs testing out their new motor home, but they arrived in Rexburg around the same time as the rest of them.  We sure missed my two brothers and their wives, but they both live too far away. 

Since everyone arrived at dinner time and I was trying to get everything ready for the next day, we decided to eat at a restaurant.  We ended up at Gringos.  Of course, we were escorted to our usual table (the one in the very back of the building where we won't disturb too many people).  Guess who we sat right next to...Kristi and Terry.  Poor people were trying to go on a nice quiet date and they sit next to their loud and rowdy relatives!  They were very nice about it, but declined the offer to join us. 

We spent a little more time with our family that evening.  Not much.  Megan wanted to swim at the hotel and we needed to milk the goats and finish cooking treats for the next day.  Kristin's family slept in their motor home in our driveway.  It was fun to have them so close.  I think they enjoyed living on the "farm."  They got up early, but barely missed the morning milking.  Still they walked around the yard and looked at the animals. 

On Saturday morning, Aunt Amy came over to braid Alison's hair.  I can do a basic braid and even a French braid if I HAVE to, but I can't do anything fancy.  We wanted Ali to have a cute, tight braid so that she could just leave it in and pat it dry after her baptism.  Amy did a darling, fancy, zig-zag braid on Ali's long hair.  She even stayed and braided Nicole's hair too.  We loved it!  Thanks, Amy!  Alison packed her bag with everything she would need, taking special care to cross the items off her list of things to bring.  She checked and re-checked her bag and practiced the hold one more time with her dad.  She was VERY prepared.

Ali was super excited before the baptism.  She was a bundle of nervous, excited energy.  She was literally bouncing around all over, smiling and shaking at the same time, and chattering about a million miles per minute.  Cute girl.  We missed Jodi and Nathan's families, but everyone else was there.   I was trying very hard to keep my emotions under control.  I'm always impressed by how calm and unemotional moms can be when their kids are getting baptized.  I bawl at every single one and they're not even my kids.  This time, due to mighty prayer and a little bit of stress over making sure things ran smoothly, I was able to stay in pretty good control most of the time.  I only got a little bit teary when I watched my baby girl and my wonderful husband enter the water together. 

After the baptism, Alison chattered away while I helped her get into her new white dress ("I can't believe I just got baptized.  I feel perfect.  Perfectly perfect.  Perfectly perfect and awesome.  If someone asks me how it felt, I'm gonna tell them 'wet.'  Wow, that was warm.  I feel perfect warm....." etc. etc. etc. 

About Ali's white dress:  David and I decided that buying our 8 year old a fancy white dress when she gets baptized wasn't a tradition we wanted to participate in.  It's not necessary and it's not practical and we felt like it's a bit, um, what's the word? beyond the mark?  overdoing it?   I dont' know.  Anyway, we told Alison that we'd buy her a new dress, but that we didn't think it should be white.  She said, "Okay."  A couple of weeks later, she told me that she really wanted a white dress.  I noticed that many of her friends had been wearing them to church lately, so was like, "Why?  Because all your friends have one?"  She said, "No.  I want one because white is the color of cleanliness and purity."  I was ready to put up a stink, but that shut me down.  I was like. "Uh...okay.  That's a good reason.  We'll get you a white dress."  And we did.  What can I say?  She was right, we were wrong.  She looked absolutely beautiful.

I led the music during the confirmation portion of the program.  It's part of my calling to do music at baptisms.  I thought I would be fine, but looking out over all my family and friends is what made me start crying in the end.  Oh well - it just wouldn't be a meeting without Kelley Gee crying all over the place.  Grandma Gee gave a wonderful talk about the Holy Ghost.  I feel like I learned a lot and I know Alison was hanging on to every word.  The confirmation was lovely.  David said some beautiful things in her blessing.  What fun we're going to have watching Alison's life unfold.  It's gonna be a doozy!

After the meeting, we ALL went to Grandma and Grandpa Gee's house to eat.  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!!!  We tried to get a church, but they were all booked and our house is too small for that many people.  We ate pizza (Ali's favorite food, and frankly - easy for me) salad, fruit, and tons of treats.  I made 6 different kinds of bar cookies and cakes.  David said it was a cookie bar bar.  Everyone stayed and visited and played for a while.  It was a great afternoon.  I was so busy/nervous/emotional that I didn't take a single picture of the family.  Not at the baptism, not after!  SHAME ON ME!!!  Please just imagine 31 attractive and well-behaved people eating normal amounts of food.  My family all headed back right afterwards.  Each of them had a commitment on Sunday so they had to head back.  We stayed a while longer and tried to clean up as much as possible, then headed home ourselves to work on our yard and house.  It was a wonderful, special day.

On Sunday, Ali stood up in front of the congregation at church and was introduced as the newest member of our ward. She looked beautiful in her new white dress with wavy hair, thanks to Amy's braid, and a huge, toothless smile.  Later, she got up and bore her testimony.  That's a really big deal for her.  Nicki bears her testimony every fast Sunday, but Alison has a hard time with nerves.  I was very proud of her for getting up there.  She is a great example to me of striving to choose the right, wanting to understand the gospel and many other things. I love my Ali-gator!

Ali's Special Week

As if turning 8 isn't exciting enough, Alison got to spend a few days in Utah all by herself with Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  This right-of-passage tradition has been part of our family for at least a couple of generations.  I still remember my week in California with Grandma and Grandpa Church very well.  I have great memories of feeling very old and very special.  I am glad that my parents allow our kids to have this experience, even if it was hard for me to watch her drive away with them.

My parents drove up to Idaho during the last session of General Conference on Sunday afternoon.  They went over to Grandma and Grandpa Gee's house with us that evening and spent Monday morning with us as well.  Then, they took Ali home with them.  They listened to a kid's book on tape while driving.  Seriously, it was much harder than I had expected watching my little girl drive away.  She was so excited, though.  You couldn't help but feel excited for her too.

Standing in front of Grandma's house.

I won't share every detail of her whole week.  She had a total blast!  Grandma spoiled her in every way from shopping and fun activities to Ali-friendly food to giving her a manicure to lax bed times and zero chores.  She visited with family and watched fun movies.  She had such a great time.  I talked to her on the phone every evening and she would just buzz with excitement as she told me all the details of her day.  On her third night there, I asked if she was getting home sick yet.  She said, "No!  I'm having way too much fun for that!" 

Justice is Alison's favorite store.  She saved up her birthday money to buy some stuff there.

One of many pizza meals.  That girl loves pizza!

Going to see Lion King in 3-D.

Ali had just finished telling gma that she and Nicki always point out yellow cars ("bumblebees"), convertibles and VW Beetles ("Herbies") to each other, but she'd never seen all three together when they found this "bumblebee convertible Herbie" in the parking lot of the mall.

Shopping!

More pizza!

At the Treehouse Museum, Alison got to participate in a play.  She's the sheep on the far left.  I understand she was quite a convincing actress.

Ali and McKenna drawing dinosaurs at the Treehouse Museum.

Ali and Grandma brought doughnuts to Grandpa's work one morning.  Grandma went home and Ali got to stay with Grandpa at work for a while. 

Alfredo at Olive Garden

Ali and Grandpa.



On Friday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa brought Alison, Katie, and Megan up to Idaho.  They arrived around dinner time.  Alison was so happy to see us again.  She jumped out of the car and ran into the house before Grandpa even put it in park.  She had so much to tell us and show us!  Nicole was beside herself with joy at having her sister back.  Nicki and I really had a great week together (She was so different!  I wonder how much of her acting out is due to being overshadowed by a louder, older sister.  I'm going to have to watch that more closely).  But  no doubt about it, Nicki missed Ali - especially at bedtime.  It felt so good to have her home again.  Like a missing puzzle piece had been put in place again in our family.

Our Dinner Party

Our family was invited to eat at a friend's house tonight.  The mom of the family, Sarah Riley, is a kind of newish girl in our ward.  She's from California.  She married Judd Riley, who grew up in this area.  They have two boys, ages 3 and 2.  They're really fun people and I like them a lot.  Sarah and I are twinners.  We must think exactly alike because we run into each other everywhere: the park, the store, the fair, the library.  We're always at the same place at the same time.  It's almost spooky. We always PLAN to do stuff together, but rarely actually hook up.  Usually some one's kid gets sick or something like that comes up.  Anyway, we've been looking forward to this dinner for a while.

Sarah put a lot of effort into the dinner and decorating her house, etc.  She made cute Halloween-y cupcakes and prepared a couple of games to play after dinner.  We were enjoying the meal, but the four boys were pretty loud and rowdy.  Her youngest son was really sad and crying.  Each kid needed something or didn't like something, and Josh kept leaving the table to play with their toys. You know, pretty much a typical meal.  After dinner we were chatting for a minute when all of a sudden, the sad youngest boy threw up all over the place.  (Oh, so that's why he was crying.  He's sick.)  Sarah hurried and picked him up and ran to the sink, but he was still throwing up and Sarah slipped on it and fell HARD to the ground.  It was kind of amazing to watch her mother instincts at work because she totally sacrificed her body for the safety of the boy.  She looked mortified and I thought she might cry for  a while, but I just got up and started cleaning the floor with her husband and within a few seconds, we were all cracking up.  Judd kept saying, "Well...it's certainly been a memorable dinner!"  Sarah laughed about the puke smell in her hair every time she turned her head.  They felt so bad!  I felt bad for them.  As far as germs go, our kids are either going to get sick or they're not - and one dinner isn't going to be the reason.  They get exposed everywhere they go.  I'm not too stressed about that. 

Judd gave the little boy a bath and we stayed a little while longer to play the games Sarah had prepared.  Of course, the kids were in tears about wanting to win, etc.  What's new.  Then, we went to their back yard and held their bunnies.  The husbands played darts for a few minutes while Sarah and I chatted, then we left.  I had a great time.  One of the things I love about Sarah is that she's so real.  I feel like I can be myself around her.  She reminds me of myself in many ways. The things we think about and the struggles we face are nearly identical.  This dinner may seem like a nightmare, but it was just typical, crazy, exciting, family life and we had a great time.  On our way home, I was telling David that we should reciprocate soon and invite them over, but I messed up my words and said we should retaliate soon.  Dave thought that was pretty funny.

David's Birthday

David turned 42 on September 29th.  I think he had a nice day, although he didn't get a kitty party or anything cool like that. 

He opened presents from the kids first thing in the morning.  You gotta love Dollar Store presents from young children.  They always know the best things to get like a six-inch plastic bust of a tiger.  Who doesn't want that?!?! 

Don't you love Cookie looking on from above?

David worked on his birthday, but he was able to get done early.  He was home in the early afternoon.  He rested and read for a while (he's been fighting a pretty nasty cough).  Then he got to work on his dinner.  I bought some nice steaks for dinner.  We usually eat cheap steaks, but these were fancy.  He cooked them on the grill using America's Test Kitchen's recipe and they were delightful!  I made the baked potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, and drink.  Dave's parents joined us for dinner.  It was delicious.  Sue came by afterwards and we all had Dave's favorite birthday cake - one that has no cake in it.  Only ice cream.  Thank heaven for DQ! 

Ohh, I love that man!

Dave's presents were all well received.  Of course, he either bought them himself or told me exactly what to get.  Not a single surprise in the lot.  Oh well, when you're old, you'd rather get something you like than something unexpected. 

Our Eight Year Old

Can you believe Alison's 8!!!  In some ways she seems much older than that, but on the other hand it seems like she was barely born.  It's hard to imagine our lives without her.  She's such a happy, excited, thoughtful little girl!  We all just love her.

We started celebrating early this year.  Even though it was a Saturday and she could have slept in, she woke up before 6:00am.  She was ready to get the party started!!  We opened a few presents in the morning, but saved a few for later.  Then we ate not one, but TWO of her favorite sugary cereals for breakfast (Cap'n Crunch and Cinnamon Life).  Ugh.  After that, it was time to get ready for her 10:00am birthday party.

We only let our kids have "friend parties" in kindergarten, when they turn 8, and when they turn 12 (if they even want one then).  On the other years, we celebrate with our own little family.  By setting those ground rules from the beginning, we avoid lots of begging and pleading for parties every year.  It just so happened that this year, both girls had parties.  Wow!  What fun!  Ali has been planning her birthday party since the beginning of the year.  (That's just how Alison rolls.  She is currently worrying about how she's ever going to be able to find our house once she starts driving.)  Anyway, she was torn between having a a few friends spend the day at the beauty college with her or having a big party at home.  She ended up going with plan B.  We had 14 kids over for a cat-themed party.
 

Ali Cat.  Showing 8 fingers for her 8th birthday.

Josh was a real tiger!

Nicki looks sweet enough to pet.

I spent the first hour or so of the party painting each child's face like a cat.   Meanwhile, David and Suzette (who graciously agreed to come help out) helped them make headband ears, play "pin the bow on Hello Kitty," "eat the doughnut off the string like a kitty" and "crack the cat" (where you try to make each other laugh, but cats never laugh, as we all know).    After games, we ate brownies with mint chocolate chips melted on top, ice cream sundaes, and gold fish crackers and Swedish fish (you know, because cats like fish).  Oh, and of course milk, which I let them, drink out of cups instead of lapping out of bowls.  We opened presents.  Alison got so many fun things from her great friends and family!  Then, they just played or watched a Hello Kitty movie until their moms and dads came to get them.  I think Alison had a great time. I hope everyone else did too.  I'm pretty sure Sue and Dave didn't.

Painting faces.

Happy Birthday to you!

That's a lot of kids!  Wish you could have heard the noise level!

Say, "Meow!"

The rest of the day was fun as well.  Alison chose Cheese on Bread for lunch.  Grandma Shirley stopped by and wished her a happy birthday.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee came over to visit and give her a gift.  Her most exciting present of the day was a coupon from them saying they would take her to lunch at the restaurant of her choice.  Then, she and Nicki played with her new toys while I tried to squeeze in bottling a batch of salsa.  For dinner, she ordered pizza and ate it while watching "Rio" with dad and the other kids while I went to the general Relief Society broadcast.  She really liked the movie. 

Turning 8 is such a big deal!  It seems like the fun is just beginning for her.  She's so ready to get baptized!  She had a great experience at her bishop's interview.  She's looking forward to being baptized and confirmed.  She received her very own scriptures with her name engraved on them.  She also gets to start activity days, begin taking piano lessons (which she actually started a month ago.  Her teacher is Aunt Kristi and she really loves it!), get her ears pierced, and spend a few days in Utah all by herself at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house.  But we'll save all that for another day.  For now, she's just happy to be 8!