I'm Officially An Old Lady

This.  This is what my life's been reduced to:

Ha Ha!  I'm just kidding.  It's no big deal.  I'm just glad that there are medicines in this world to help with what ails us.  Plus, I only take pills three times per day so one of those rows is just for show.  But I DO take 15 1/2 pills per day, and it IS difficult to remember if I've taken them once in a while.

The pills I take for my hyperthyroidism are working.  The only problem is, I think they make my foot pain SIGNIFICANTLY worse (or maybe my foot pain has just been getting worse on it's own - who knows?). So I take two other pills to counteract the one pill I take for my thyroid.  But after months of hobbling around, I'm so thrilled to have found something that is helping a little.  Are my feet better? Do I have any marathon plans in my future? Certainly not.  But they are GETTING better, and for the first time in months, I feel hopeful that I will find the right dosage and be able to function again. Of course, part of that hopefulness may have to do with the fact that one of the pills I take for my feet is an antidepressant - whatever works, right? Come to think of it, maybe my feet still hurt just as bad, but I'm too happy to care.  Just kidding.  

Josh's Baptism

Joshua was baptized on Saturday, November 5th at 9:00 in the morning.  It was such a special day! Many of his family, friends, and teachers came to support him. Both of his grandpas spoke at his baptism program.  His dad baptized him.  (He was the first person in our stake to get baptized that day, so I guess the water was super hot - they want it to stay warm for the people later in the day.) Then, Josh's dad was able to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirm him a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.  I am so proud of his decision to follow the Savior.  Josh is a very thoughtful, and thought-ful, kindhearted kid.  Our bishop could not say enough about him after his baptism interview. I look forward to watching all the great things that will unfold in his life.

Josh and his dad. 

Family, friends, leaders.  So much love! 

A couple of really cute baptism attendees: Eden and Creed.

Afterward, everyone came over for breakfast and visiting.  As you can see, Alison and Grace got creative with our face paint.  Everyone stayed for a few hours.  Suzette and Kory even dropped by for a few minutes as they passed through town on their way to a wedding.  We had such a great time chatting while the kids played with their cousins.

Now that he's eight, Josh has joined the Cub Scouts.  Look how cute he is in his uniform!  

Atilla The Quin

I wish I could remember all the funny, cute, and often rude things Quinton says to me on a daily basis.  The problem is, he talks non-stop from sunrise until sunset, so I can't remember it all.  Most of what he says is funny.  In fact, the other day Nicole asked, "Why do you laugh every time Quinton says anything?" Because he's so dang cute, that's why.

Having established Quinton's cuteness, I have to admit that he is quite a handful.  My mom, sister and I like to come up with nicknames that describe his personality: like the Little Irish Mob Boss, the Angry Leprechaun, or simply The Dictator.  Any time I tell him he can't have something that he wants, he gets really angry and yells, "I'm Boss, Mom!  I'm Boss right now!" And he truly thinks he is.  He bosses me around all day.  I (lovingly and jokingly) tell people that when he was born, I was hoping that since he was large in stature and he had two angry older brothers, he would be my Nephi. But the older he gets the more I worry that I might have a King Noah on my hands.  He certainly likes to lay around and tell me what to do.  :)

The other day, he was trying to reach something on the bookshelf.  It was way too high for him, so he said, "Me no reach Mom." By the way, virtually every sentence that boy says either begins or ends with the word "mom."  I asked if he needed help.  He said, "Yeah, Mom.  You get it.  You biggah, Mom.  You HOOGE!"  Of course, I grounded him for the rest of his life for calling me huge.

He has a little friend next door named Easton.  They take turns playing at each others houses while we moms volunteer at the kids' school.  They get along really well.  This morning, Quinton woke up super early and I was trying to rock him back to sleep.  He sleepily said to me, "Mom, me go Easton's house?"  I said, "No baby,  Easton's asleep."  He said, "Okay.  Me be weewy quiet."  So I sent him over.  Just kidding.

Quinton loves to read stories.  He has one or two favorites that we read over and over. He's heard them so many times that he likes to read them to me now.   His favorites are "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" and "No David."

Halloween 2016

Here are the highlights from Halloween 2016:

In Josh's Spanish class, they made authentic sugar skulls.  This one's chin is mysteriously missing...

Of course, we had our traditional dinner in a pumpkin.  This year, Bronson drew the faces on our Jack-O-Lantern clementines.

There's my adorable Halloween crew!  L-R: Supergirl Alison, Kylo Ren Joshua, Pirate Bronson, Pirate Quinton, Rey Nicole.

Funny story about Alison's costume - she really wanted to be Supergirl.  She asked me months in advance.  After last year's fiasco with the Jellyfish, I decided to look online for something.  I found one that looked fairly well made and had good reviews.  It was a little too pricey for me, but Ali pitched in a few of her own bucks so we ordered it.  When it came, it was in a box from a company called "Secret Wishes - Costumes For Playful Adults."  Ha ha ha ha!!  I wonder what the mailman thought of that!!!

Anyway, back to Halloween:  David took the kids trick-or-treating around our neighborhood while I stayed home and answered the door.  Alison REALLY wanted to go with her friends this year, but we felt like she was still too young and the world is still a little too scary for us to let her go out late with a bunch of 13 year olds on a school night dressed in a costume for playful adults.  Hee hee.  She wasn't very happy, but she was a good sport about it in the end. She went trick or treating with the rest of them.  I know she's getting old, but I felt like I'd rather have her trick or treating with her family than a lot of other things she could be doing.

When Dave and the kids got back, we switched places.  He stayed home and I took them to my parents' house.  McKenna and Payton were there. Payton stayed with Grandma and answered the door.

Adam was even there for a little while.  He had a monster on his i-pad that would say "Trick Or Treat!" for him. He didn't go with us though.  I guess he tried it in his neighborhood, but he walked into the first few houses, then refused to go to any more.  

We trick or treated around Grandma's neighborhood.  It is always fun to go there!  

Many of the houses go all out!

In this house, no one was home, so they set up a candy machine full of treats in their driveway!

I guess the real excitement was happening back at home with David while we were gone.  Now, normally our neighborhood is hopping on Halloween.  We have a lot of young families in our area - tons of little kids.  I hardly close the door between knocks on Halloween.  But this year, a man in his early twenties who was very inebriated and/or "medicated" in some way wandered into our neighborhood and started causing a scene.  I guess he walked right into a couple of our neighbor's homes when they answered the door (I'm SO glad this didn't happen to me while David was out with the kids and I was home alone).  Then he started yelling horrible profanities and roaring like he was in pain or possessed or something!  Several of the men in our neighborhood kind of surrounded him - we have a couple of cops living within a few doors of us, which is nice - while someone called the police.  In the end, it took three cop cars and an ambulance in our circle to remove the poor guy.  Needless to say, there were less trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood this year.    

Double Birthday Par-Tay!

After both boys' birthdays had past, we held a double birthday party for them.  We only throw "friend parties" a few times for each kid (otherwise I would always be throwing a birthday party).  It just happens that two of those times are in kindergarten and when they turn eight.  So the boys each invited a few friends over and we had a fun filled afternoon. Thank heaven for my older girls, who basically ran the show.  I put each girl in charge of a couple of games and they ran with it.

Nicki set up an obstacle course....  

...which included slinking through laser beams. 

The kids loved that. 

Alison played a ticking time bomb game.  It was like hot potato.  Whoever was caught with the dynamite when the bomb exploded (a timer app I downloaded) had to get out of the circle.  

It was pretty intense by the time it got down to the last two.  The kids liked that game so much they asked to play it again.

We did a spy Mad-lib, which had us all rolling on the floor laughing.  

Alison helped the kid all dress up in spy gear and disguises.  Some of them were pretty awesome!  This is Josh.

And this little spy is Bronson.

Here's a picture of a whole gang of spies! L-R: Dylan, Walker, Josh, Devin, Parker, Bronson, Addie, Joonie, Finleigh.

Nicole had clues hidden all over the house for a treasure hunt.  The clues were written in invisible ink, but each spy was given a special pen with a light that could decode the clues.  The treasure at the end of the hunt was the birthday cake, which I guess I didn't take any pictures of.  It was a bomb button.

We ate treats and cake, then opened presents.  Everyone took home spy hats, sunglasses, a spy pen, and a mustache. along with a spy Mad-Lib, magnifying glass, and candy.  

Here's a picture of the chaos known as present opening.  It was certainly very loud, rowdy, and tons of fun around here for a few hours. I think it went pretty smoothly as little boy parties go.  At least our little spies had a great time.

Josh's Big Trip

Our family has a long standing tradition, dating back to when I was a child, that when a child turns eight years old, they go on a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house all alone - with no parents or siblings.  I still have so many fond memories of my own eight year old trip with Grandma and Grandpa Church when they lived in California.  It's sort of a rite of passage for our family - a realization that you are growing up.  And it's very special.

Joshua turned eight on October 23rd.  He actually went on his trip a few days before his birthday because it coincided with school's UEA break.  Lucky boy!  Oh what fun he had!  I charged my dad with taking tons of pictures so I could see all that they did.  He did a fantastic job, so here's a little photo journal of their trip:

My parents picked Josh up from our house on Thursday evening.  They headed straight for Baskin Robbins.  After that, they watched a movie at Grandpa's house.  Josh stayed up much later than he gets to at home.  He slept in Grandpa's office, which is right next to Grandma and Grandpa's room.

As you can see, he had no trouble sleeping.

The next morning, Grandma made him a huge breakfast (both of my parents were amazed at the amount of food Joshua eats).  Then,she packed them up and sent the two boys on their own little adventure!  They went on an overnight trip to Vernal to visit Dinosaur Land.  Anyone who knows Josh knows that he is what you might call a "dinosaur enthusiast" so a one-on-one trip with Grandpa to Dinosaur National Monument was the most amazing thing that he could imagine!

Off they go!  It was Josh's first time sitting in the front seat (he just turned eight and we obey the law - even though he's the size of most twelve year old kids).  Grandma gave him a pair of sunglasses.  He thought that was pretty awesome. The day before, Grandpa went to the library and asked the librarian to help him pick out a good book on tape to listen to while they drove.  They had a lot of fun listening to the story of a dog detective.  

I think that along the way, they stopped for a milkshake.  Or maybe this was once they got there.  Either way, ice cream was involved...

It took about three hours to arrive.

They spent some time at the quarry.

This boy is in heaven.

Looks like a fun interactive display.

They stayed in a nice hotel in Vernal.  Josh has NEVER been in a hotel room before.  He's stayed in a condo with us, but never a hotel room.  It was an adventure!

Grandpa took him swimming TWICE!  Once that first night, and again the next morning.

They ate at a Chinese restaurant.  Josh ate more food than Grandpa!  In fact, he ate himself sick.  I think it was a long evening for Grandpa, but he acts like he totally enjoyed every minute of staying up with a nauseated eight year old. Josh's tummy settled down and they were able to go to sleep around 11:00.

The next morning, after breakfast in the hotel (where Josh ate tons of food again) and another dip in the pool, the two adventurers headed to the Dinosaur Museum.  

They had a great time there. 

The great thing about being the only child is that Josh could set the pace. He read the things he wanted to, but didn't have to wait for (or chase after) his siblings.  I'm sure he mostly just bounced from exhibit to exhibit with Grandpa following patiently behind.

Doesn't he look really old in this picture?

Look out, Josh! He's going to eat you! 

Grandpa totally spoiled Josh!  He got not one....

but THREE stuffed animal dinosaurs! Talk about cool!

In the afternoon, the boys headed home.  They arrived at Grandpa's house just in time for dinner.  We met him there and had a hot dog roast while listening to stories of their adventure.  As you can see, his siblings missed him a lot.  So did I!  I love this tradition! And I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the generosity, time, and effort that my parents put into these memory making, life-changing trips for my children when they turn eight, but I'm always so glad when they come home to me!  You'd think that with four other kids around, I'd hardly notice his absence, but it makes such a huge difference in our home to have a single person missing!  Oh how I love this family!

Joshua's Birthday

Joshua turned 8 years old this year.  Can you believe it?!?  Oh how I love this boy!  He is so smart and kind and funny and talented and intense!  One day, when I was volunteering in his classroom, three kids separately came up to me and said, "You're Josh's mom?  He's really nice to me." or "He's a good friend."  He is.  People are naturally drawn to Josh. I love how deeply he thinks and it's also fun to watch him grow and develop his natural athletic abilities.  That boy is a mover - that's for sure.  Josh gives me the most worries of all my kids - he has since the day he was born with a giant bump on his head - but that only makes me love him even more.  He's an accident waiting to happen because he lives life so furiously! I have a feeling life will never be boring with this kid around.

The birthday boy!  His birthday fell on a Sunday this year, but instead of regular church, we had a special regional broadcast.

He had a delicious breakfast casserole in the morning.  

He got some great presents, which he set out in a lovely display for all to see.

After church, the kids kept busy with this rubber band gun game that David had borrowed from a neighbor for our ward Halloween carnival while I finished up the preparations for dinner.

Josh chose lasagna, bread sticks, and a green salad for his birthday dinner.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us. 

I was just going to make a double layer chocolate cake, but while they were on the cooling rack, I noticed that it could be an "8" cake instead.

Happy birthday, Josh!