Halloween 2014

I know a lot of people don't get Halloween, but I've always loved the holiday.  I think it goes way back to my days of dressing up like a clown, or a birthday present (compliments of Mom). getting in the station wagon with my Dad and siblings and trekking around the neighborhood, following a careful game plan created by Dad earlier in the week.  Then, after we were good and cold, and our bags were nice and heavy (and we'd been given a donut and a heart attack at the Dye's or the Christensens), we would come home, sit in front of the fireplace and dump our loot on the rug.  We would organize our candy, eat a lot of it, trade it around for our favorite pieces in each other's bags and then get the bathtub nice and dirty scrubbing off our face paint.  What's not to love?

So, now even with the hustle and bustle of carving four or five pumpkins and gathering as many costumes, I still love Halloween.

Dash carving an NFL Redskin's logo into his pumpkin.  I never got a picture of all the pumpkins before the deer snacked on them, so you'll have to trust me when I say they looked great.

Colt carving the NFL Bronco's logo into his pumpkin.

Sport and Dad cleaning up a pumpkin before Sport carved in two flying bats.

Sissy's pumpkin never really developed into much more than a sensory play station for her.

Brandan's pumpkin. 

I sponsored Sport's preschool Halloween party.  Here the cast of characters are making patterns by stringing colored noodles on pipe cleaners.

Sissy has always had good fine motor skills, so she joined the preschool kids and made herself a Halloween bracelet.

The kids had the Friday of Halloween off from school, so they celebrated the day before.  Here is Dash dressed as a football player at the school costume parade.

Colt dressed as a ninja at the costume parade.

 On Halloween Day, the Mountain View high school football team hosted a State playoff game.  Brandan had to run the clock at the game, so I was sitting in the bleachers when I noticed Colt and Sport staying a little closer to me than normal.  Both boys had been sick earlier in the week, but I thought we were over the worst.  I was wrong.  By the end of the game, Colt had a horrible fever and Sport wasn't much better.  We had promised the kids they could trick-or-treat the local businesses, so we hurried home, got everyone dressed and Brandan dragged everyone through a couple stores before we hurried over to the Medical Clinic.

Trick or Treating the local businesses.

By the time we got to the doctor's office, Colt was miserable and sick.  He slumped in a chair and was asleep within minutes. Diagnosis- strep throat.

Sport flopped out on the floor in the doctor's office.  Sport wasn't as bad off as Colt, so they chose not to run a strep test, but just give him meds as well.  Thank you kind doctors!

 After the doctor's office, Brandan took Dash, Sport and Breeze to the ward trunk or treat and taco bar, while Colt slept off his fever at home.  Poor Colt.  His medicine kicked in just in time to miss the ward party, so we bundled him up and let him go around the neighborhood to three or four houses.  Add that to the stash Dash collected for him at the trunk-or-treat, and Colt got enough candy, even if he didn't get the fun experience.

Sport and Sis, the Pirate Princess, counting their loot.

Projects!

For Brandan's birthday, Colt got him all the supplies he would need to make a rope ladder.  Basically, Colt gave Brandan a Daddy/Kid project.  The rope ladder was put on hold until the end of football season, but recently Brandan had a free Saturday and the sun was out, so everyone gathered on the back porch for some family time.  Brand cut the wood and drilled the holes and the kids used the spray paint and helped string the rope.  A few hours later, Brandan scrambled up a tree to hang our new ladder!

Sport climbing the ladder.

Dash hanging out at the top.

Colt taking his turn.

Anchoring the bottom rung.

Projects are messy work.  Sis couldn't be bothered with pants.  Shortly after this photo was taken, she fell on a stick and tore a hole in her favorite panties.  The sacrifices!

Apple Poisoning

During our quick trip to Idaho in the middle of October, we took the opportunity to raid some family apple trees (mostly Grandpa Madsen's) and came home with three big boxes of apples.  We also noticed the tree in the yard of the empty school house also had apples, so we helped ourselves to whatever the deer couldn't reach.  Our family eats a crazy amount of applesauce and we love apple crisp on a Sunday evening, so I planned to do some serious planning.

The family out picking apples from the neighbor tree.  Its kind of a hidden-picture game to find all four boys busily picking.

Dash shimmied up the the top branches and dropped the apples on my head, I mean, down to me.

Colt picked apples from a perch on the shed and Dad and Sport worked as a team.

All the boys helped can the apples to one extent or another, but Spitty was my super helper.  He especially liked licking the warm applesauce right out of the bowl.  Yep.

 During my marathon week of apple canning, I also dealt with several other small crises, including, but not limited to, a bucket of spilled sugar courtesy of Spit and Sis, potty training Sissy with an average of three to four accidents a day, teaching preschool at our house, two birthdays and a two children with the stomach flu.  

Colt got pretty sick one weekend (apple poisoning?) and had to stay home from church and school.  Luckily, he had Sis, and her baby, to snuggle him on the couch while I canned apples.

  

Sport's 4th Birthday!

No five days are longer than those between Colt's birthday and Sport's.  Sport was absolutely dying.  The day came at last, and I believe it was worth the wait.  We spent the morning picking apples and then went to the Lyman pool for the afternoon.  I think that's called karma.  I vaguely remember spending 10 birthdays in a row in the Blackfoot pool.  Sport loved it so much he puked a little in the pool.  Also familiar.

Sport and his Dora and Diego birthday cupcakes.

Sport loves packing things in his backpack which recently ripped out.  Perfect timing.  He got a new backpack and a letter and number electronic game.  

Sis and Sport immediately began fighting over the new toys.

Random, but Interesting

I found these little gems just now and even though they won't be in the correct chronological order, I'll set my OCD self aside for now in order to include them as a part of our family history.

For General Conference this fall, we made a giant bingo board and the kids worked together to fill in the squares.  I don't know if it really helped them have a more spiritual experience, but I liked hearing them calling out things like, "Hurry, he just said 'church'!  Where is our church picture?!"

One late afternoon, Sport was standing at the back window when he started shouting about a raccoon.  We all ignored him (a skill Brandan and I have mastered, we learned the art of ignoring from our kids) because we assumed he was referring to the wild Siamese cats in the back field.  He kept it up and we finally caved in time to see a big, fat raccoon wander through the back yard.  After reading Where the Red Fern Grows this summer, naturally, the boys decided to give him chase and managed to corner him behind the neighbor's shed.  Don't worry.  Brandan and I yelled at them to stop from the safety of our bedroom window. 

Dash is suppose to read at least 15 minutes a day and Colt needs read to at least 10 minutes a day.  I've worked out the arrangement pictured above. Some might call this lazy parenting.  I just call it smart.

Moose (I know, again)

I remember when we first moved to Upton, I actually interrupted someone mid-sentence to point out some nearby deer.  They weren't at all impressed, with me or the deer.  I couldn't understand their reaction until we had lived there a few years and seen enough deer to be good and sick of them.  Well, now we live in Mountain View and we still see a lot of deer, but we haven't lived here long enough to think the moose unexceptional.  So, we our buddy, Bull, showed up again this fall, we were happy to snap his (pretty sure its a her, but habit, you know) picture.

Bull by the tramp

Bull making a mad dash after Spitty and Sis yelled at her from the back porch.

  

Colt's 6th Birthday!

Colt had a pretty great 6th birthday, I think it may have even lived up to all the hype in his head.

Colt's birthday treats for his class.  Colt is no stranger to Pinterest.  He looked up and picked out these Halloween dirt cups himself.

The coveted birthday headgear.

Colt and his animal birthday cake.  After a dinner of Colt's favorite, alfredo noodles and garlic bread, we shared birthday cake with our friends and neighbors, the Linfords.

Colt wants to be an "animal scientist" when he grows up (think Brady Barr, Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin), so he got lots of animal books, and a new season of Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr to watch.  In addition, he also got a remote control helicopter.

Flying the 'copter.  Its hard to spot, but it's hovering in front of the couch.

Pumpkins & Fish (but not for dinner)

Colt's Kindergarten class has a monthly Community Field Trip.  I've been able to go on the last two and have been a major hit with my assigned buddies.  This month we went to the pumpkin patch outside of town.  

Colt really liked the photo ops.

Colt and the pumpkin he picked out.  He has big plans for a pie.

Franken-Colt

The patch.

 In the middle of the month, we made a quick weekend trip to Idaho to celebrate Great-Grandma Minnie's 100th birthday.  While we were there, we also celebrated Colt and Sport's birthdays with little parties with the Claysons and the Madsens.  After the party at the Madsens, Brandan and Uncle Tyler and 7 small children trooped out into the dark to do some fishing in the canal.

Success! Four big trout.