Happy Halloween

It was a fun Halloween day. Hopefully it lived up to all the kids' excitement and expectations. 

They are downstairs eating junk and watching Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets right now. Corey went to pick up Abi. This morning for school, they eagerly got out of bed to get ready. I drew a frog on Lily's face last night (thanks to this idea!) and tried to touch it up a bit.

The markers kept bleeding into the white paint... and the eyes had rubbed off by the end of the school day. 

We'll have to experiment and maybe get real make up supplies for next year. Or maybe we'll do some fun stuff for Christmas. But it lasted through the night and survived the day at school. But Lily was good with that and wore a black hoodie. Lily is also really excited that she's learned the rhythm and beat for how to play the cup game. She said she taught that in one of her classes today. I'm sure it was mostly a party day. I don't think Abi dressed up for school, but she and her friends dressed up like Alvin and the Chipmunks. She was Simon. 

The elementary kids were thrilled that the fun day of days was finally here - Halloween! Here's a cute picture of all the excited kids at the bus stop this morning - 

Free candy and imaginative costumes. The elementary kids were excited for the school parade. This morning we couldn't find the washable markers, though, so I used black permanent marker for Daniel's Incredibles mask! We'll find out tonight if it comes off!

Owen is going to be an astronaut tonight, but I put that he was going to be a Ninjago Lego guy for school, and he changed his mind a few times (he wanted to be a pirate, then a vampire, etc) but I said he had to stay with the Lego Ninja. 

His 2nd grade teachers plan a musical program around all of their costumes. Here he is on the back row, in front of the pumpkin -

He did a cute job in the program. 2nd graders are cute. 

Just Katharine and I stayed for the program, but Corey and Peter came to the parade too, which was before the program. Parade at 9:15, then program at about 10:00. We saw all the kids in the parade.

Daniel has such a fun personality. Most of the kindergarteners seemed nervous and were not smiling, but not Daniel. He came up and gave Katharine a hug and then continued on his way, waving to all his fans ~

It was outside, again, and it was chilly but not too bad. After D, we saw Owen and Natalie, but Sophi's class skipped in order and she came before Natalie, so I was looking for a Jolly Rancher and not Cleopatra, so I missed getting a photo of her but we did wave and give a hug. Here she is with her friends trick or treating tonight ~

Our neighbors did a pizza dinner for the neighborhood and the kids went over there, but I didn't. Corey was in the shower and I was nursing Katharine, cause it started at 5:30 right when we got back from a bike ride. Probably our last one of the season! It was snowy and cold for most of the trail, but it was nice to be up there one last time. 

I got a personal best on the ride up! I did a few parts that I haven't been able to do before, and I really did them this time! I didn't pause or stop to adjust my wheel, I was proud of myself! I listened to this on the ride up (well, I listened to part 1 on Sat, this time I was on part 2 and I loved the things she talked shared about parenting. It is a must listen! Start at 25:00, so good! So, it was good, cold, but good. I miss fall already. I'm going to try and go to Corner Canyon for one more ride tomorrow, and then there's snow coming Wednesday morning and for 8 of the next 10 days. We're going to need to find a new daily hobby for the winter since biking will be mostly out. Unless we get a fat bike! Maybe I'll take up snow shoeing? Corey's thinking of getting a pass to Momentum for rock climbing. He and Wes might go in the morning. Ok, sorry, back to Halloween. So Corey showered, I nursed K, she fell asleep and so he stayed home with her and I went out with kids - Lily borrowed a dinosaur onesie for Wes so he could be twinners with Peter. 

They called themselves "The Dinosaur Brothers". Checking out some of the loot - Pokemon cards!

We have a pretty great neighborhood for kids to trick or treat in. 

Lily as a Christmas Tree, Natalie as a Jolly Rancher. Lily didn't get candy, she was just being festive and walked around with us.

Getting lots of loot!

One neighbor was dressed as "Your Fairy Godmother" and the kids lined up to talk with her, like they would for a Mall Santa, and she granted them wishes and gave them candy and some kids (like my 3 girls) got jewelry! 

Running from house to house. 

A neighbor Dave has a tradition of making flat bread - 

And some neighbors next to him had hot dogs to roast and smores!

Another neighbor was serving up hot cocoa and apple cider. It's just a pretty amazing neighborhood and place to live. We love it here. 

Tonight as Owen was trick or treating, he nostalgically said "I'm going to miss Halloween tomorrow..." I'm sure he will. Corey's back with Abi - time for scriptures. We're still going to make it to bed by 10! It's our new modus operandi for survival, and it is working wonders. We've only done it for like the past 6-9 months I think, but it's great. It's still a school night, so party is over - Bye Halloween! We'll see you next year!

A Covenant Land

Happy 4th of July! Our community had a breakfast and parade today. The 8 am breakfast time was helping in us getting kids to bed last night. At 8 this morning, MALSNOD were all ready to go and they rode their bikes over. Soph and Natalie dressed as opposite twins, tights and shirts donated by me. They decorated their bikes on Saturday night over at Sophi's friends house. 

Mel brought along some paints, and she and Lily offered free face painting. CJEP headed over around 9, after Corey got back from a bike ride. And then Katharine and I walked over last after she was finished having breakfast at home. Standing in line for our breakfast - 

Peter enjoying his pancakes and eggs - 

I went to check out the face painting station. 

They do pretty good work! 

Owen and Daniel are airbenders! With Owen's friend Zander.

I walked from home with Katharine in the baby wrap and I carried 4 chairs for us to sit on during the parade. I would have only brought 2, but I knew Corey would offer his chair to a kid if they asked, so I had to bring a few extras. It worked out great - Joseph, Ethan, Corey and I were able to sit and watch. Sophi and Natalie rode their bikes in the parade, and Abi watched the little boys gather candy.

I barely was able to catch a pic of Sophi and Natalie in the parade - 

Wes helped Abi keep an eye on Peter. After the parade, we stayed and visited for a bit.

Owen shared an insight he had: "There are two days we get candy: July, and Halloween."

Then it was time for the carnival. The little kids wanted to go. We asked who of the older kids could help. Eth, you want to go to the parade? "That does not sound fun to me... I guess I'm getting old..." Abi took Owen and Daniel to the carnival, JE&W headed home with two chairs, S&N were already at the carnival (that's where the parade ended), and I walked home with P&K. Corey went to the parade to watch kids. 

Mel and Lily took their painting booth to the carnival and continued their work throughout the afternoon. 

Corey and Joseph went to pick them up a little bit later and invited Davi over and we cooked some ribs that Corey got for lunch, making the 4th complete with a bbq, even though I cooked them in the oven. 

And the kids ate candy, watched Avatar the Last Airbender, and were basically lazy all day. Corey and Joseph, Mel, Ethan, and Davi, went on a bike ride in Corner Canyon (in the 90+ degree heat of the day!) 

Then tonight all left here at 8:30 to go watch the fireworks at Holladay Park. Joseph bought some ice cream drumsticks to share and they had fun and I got to stay home with this sweet face

A few thoughts on freedom- Yesterday we watched Amazing Grace. That is a great movie and an amazing story. William Wilberforce is a man I want to learn more about. I pray that there are great men like him and George Washington in the world today, because we surely need them as much as the slaves needed Wilberforce and as much as the United States needed Washington. And after we watched it, I read a little bit of Timothy Ballard's book "The Pilgrim Hypothesis" (pages 186-190) to the kids. 

"Jefferson's ability to persuade the Frenchman [to sell the Louisiana Territory] would largely come down to the happenings in Hispaniola. If Napoleon, by some miracle, could be stopped there, perhaps he would lose motivation for North America. After all, of the two lands, the only wealth generating one at that time was the island. For the French dictator, the only immediate an obvious benefit of the American territory (mostly just wilderness) was its potential role as a means to support and protect his commercial enterprises at Hispaniola.

"Few today recognize what was at stake during this tense time in the Caribbean. Would the sacred lands of the Gardner of Eden, even Adam-ondi-Ahman, and the New Jerusalem, where so much was to happen soon concerning the restoration, end up in hands of a foreign dictator? Or would Thomas Jefferson prevail and bringing those lands into the protective arms of the United States, the nation that Savior spoke of as the place where latter-day Americans "should be established... and set up as free people by the power of the Father... that covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenant ed with his people, O house of Israel" (3 Nephi 21:4)? 

"Who knew that while the African prince and former slave Toussaint Louverture stood his his ground on a Caribbean island, waiting for one of the most powerful forces on the planet to attack them, so much weighed in the balance? We know history and Henry Adams (grandson and great-grand-son to two American presidents) understood very well the situation: "Before Bonaparte could reach Louisiana, he was obliged to crush the power of Toussaint," he wrote. "If he and his blacks should still come easy to their fate, the wave of French empire would roll onto Louisiana and sweep far of the Mississippi; if Saint Domingo should resist, and succeeding resistance... America would be left to pursue her democratic destiny in peace." 

"Jefferson come in the meantime, refuse to comply with the French trade embargo placed upon Toussaint and rejected any idea prohibit in American merchants from supplying the Indian revolution. Beyond that, all America could do was pray. 

"Toussaint knew he could never expect to win a front-on confrontation with the powerful French, so instead, he led his armies into the thick, forested mountains of the island, where the French would have to come to them and confront the terrifying prospect of guerilla warfare. The French found little success. And then, as could be expected in a conflict over promised lands, Mother Nature took over. And she took over in the form of Yellow Fever - Toussaint's most powerful ally. Nearly half of the first wave of French soldiers immediately died from the disease. 

"But even with those odds, the French were eventually able to capture Toussaint and send him to rot and die in a prison in France, which opened the way for other Haitian leaders who, unfortunately, in the name of revolution, committed horrible and unnecessary atrocities against innocent colonial civilians. Nevertheless, in the end, Toussaint's martyrdom only raised the morale of  his freedom-fighting countrymen, who now dug in harder against the French. His people would forever remember the words he spoke as the French carried him away in chains: "In overthrowing me," he yelled, "you have cut down in Sant Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are numerous and they are deep." 

"His words proved prophetic as the French continued losing ground on the island. Desperate, the French command issued genocidal orders: all men and women, including teenagers (everyone twelve years old and older), must be murdered. They even brought three hundred starving bloodhounds and let them loose on the island to help with the mass murder. But the islanders could not be subdued. They would pay any price to remain free from slavery. 

"After more than forty thousand French soldiers perished, and the former slaves continued to fight back, gaining more and more ground against the invaders, the French finally quit and went home. Needless to say, their great plans to move on to North America were foiled. 

"On January 1, 1804, the island freedom fighters officially established their new independent nation, which they named Haiti, a word from the island's indigenous language, which means "land of the high mountains." Haiti became the first and only nation in history to be formed and led by former slaves after they successfully revolted against their masters, one of the very first nations on the planet to officially abolish slaver, and the second in the Western Hemisphere (after the United States) to achieve independence from the monarchs and dictators of the Old World. The Haitian revolution inspired abolitionist movements in other parts of the world..."

So I just remember, when I first read this book, feeling very grateful for these people in Haiti who fought for their freedom. They contributed in creating the free country I live in. I never knew this story before, but now that I do, I need to remember and be so thankful that they gave their lives for the freedom I enjoy. They played a part and are responsible, along with the Founding Fathers and patriots of the US Revolution, for creating the wonderful United States of America. It is a covenant land, and the covenant, with it's blessings and curses, remains upon it. I pray we will be righteous and serve Jesus Christ, that he may bless us! 

Book of Mormon, Ether 2:12

Halloween Parade

Today was the Halloween Parade. The parade was outside, which I thought was great and much less crazy and crowded than other years of parents and children cramped in the cafeteria or school halls (like 2015 or 2017). I rode my bike over with Daniel and Peter in the trailer, and will remember to get a blanket for them if we go on a bike ride again this fall. They were cold after that and it was pretty chilly until the sun came out, but after it did it was perfect. D&P went to play on the slide, but then Daniel's hands were cold. Peter took off his jacket cause he had to show his Spiderman outfit, so I used his fleece jacket as a neck warmer for Daniel for a bit. Finally the parade started. The younger grades started first and they ended with the older kids. So Owen and his first grade class was one of the first groups to go around the school. He's the Lego guy.

Natalie came along with her class - she put together this Cruella ensemble. 

Sophi was a strawberry Jolly Rancher candy.

After the parade, Daniel and Peter wanted to play, so we did. 

It was good to be outside. Peter coming down the slide!

In his "cowboy" hat. 

Weee!

I love my little boys.

Abi and Lily dressed up for school yesterday. They didn't have a parade, but they just got to wear their costumes. Lily found this Mario outfit last night (and last minute!)

And Abi and her friends had been planning for weeks to be the Care Bears. 

Abi was "Share Bear" and brought some dumdum suckers to share with people, cute. After the kids got home today, they all wanted to play G-switch. They've all been pretty obsessed about this game recently, and I've let them play it too much (cause I'm not feeling that great). Natalie introduced it to them this week. Last week they were all about Fire boy and Water girl. I thought this picture of the kids after school was kinda funny. You've got Sophi there in her Jolly Rancher outfit, next is a part of Natalie's head (her body is wearing black on Sophi's left) next Lily, holding Peter in his cowboy hat, then Daniel, Owen, and a neighbor friend Lani May. 

Corey and I went on a date tonight at Bandits. People will be trick or treating in our neighborhood tomorrow night instead of on Sunday, so we'll be taking a break from video games this weekend and will trade it for an overdose of candy I guess. Happy Halloween tomorrow!

Play With Me?

We're happy to be back home with our kids. I'm especially happy to get to see this little face again all day~

At Corey's parents house, Peter was loved playing with this little three race track car toy - a picture Wesley sent me on Saturday night - 

And when we were back at home, I remembered that we had a Fisher Price car track thingy. I looked downstairs and brought it up for him to play with. The Fisher Price toys have still been out at the top of the stairs and Peter had lots of cars and characters to ride down it. He also liked pushing down his Disney Cars characters. 

It's so cute - he'll be playing with the toys, and when we walk by, he'll sweetly ask if we want to join him. When Corey walked by this morning before work, Peter said "Dad you wanna play cars with me?" And he sat with him and play cars for a little bit. If I sneak away, he'll catch me when I walk by again "Mom you wanna play me?" (Sometimes he gets the "with" in there, sometimes he doesn't, either way it's adorable). My favorite character is Bo Peep, and think I'm giving her a southern belle accent, but maybe it's an accent of my own creation. It's fun. The track isn't great, and the cars can't make it around the loop and through exit unless they get an extra push, EXCEPT for Snot-rod! He is the only one that can do it, although just barely, I think his heavier weight in the back lets him make it, so that was exciting for us as we played cars. Yesterday was a lazy rest day for me. Abi and Lily lucked out too cause it was the end of the term, so they didn't have school. Corey got to go to work, so that is not fair for him (but thanks honey!) Today I've been catching up on stuff. We got a little bit of snow this morning during our carpool drives. Nothing that made the roads too bad, but it did make the mountains beautiful! I was catching up on laundry today and this was a gorgeous view from our laundry room window - 

It's Red Ribbon/Say No To Drugs week at the elementary school. Yesterday they did an activity in class, and today was crazy hair day. Corey took Lily to jazz band so I could stay and help the Sophi and Natalie ready. I usually get photos of their crazy hair, but I didn't today cause after I got them ready, I had to take the jr. high carpool. S&N were gone at orchestra when I got back. I didn't remember to tell Corey to get pictures, so I'll just have to describe it. Last night, they remembered it was crazy hair day, so Natalie had me put tight curlers on the top of her head, so the top of her hair was crazy curly (like Lily's when she was Amelia Earhart) and the rest of her hair was down. She put a bow in it too and it looked pretty silly. Sophi had me dampen her hair last night and put a French braid in half of it, so today she went with half a head of wavy curls and the other half of her head was a high side ponytail. Owen wore a hat. Tomorrow is crazy sock day, then on Friday they get to go to school dressed in their Halloween costumes and there's a parade at 9.

Tonight after dinner, Corey shared a few Dry Bar comedians with us. I did the dishes while this guy Brad Upton was on, pretty funny. We liked him and other comedians there were good too. Brian Regan's brother Dennis is one of our favorites. "Well I don't know! And now I'd like to learn it!" Funny stuff. It's good to be home.