Pictures of the Kids

It took me a little longer than I wanted to get pictures of the kids taken this year.  Nathan's school pictures turned out nicely so I ended up ordering a package from the photographer, which I normally don't do because they're so expensive, but I figured it was easier that way!  Kylie had a great photo session with a friend a few months ago at a Young Women's retreat and she requested that I use one of those.  So it was only Jillian and Ben that I had to entice out into the yard for a photo-shoot, but for some reason the weather wasn't cooperating and we were so busy that it took until last week for me to get it done.  When I taking the pictures I always think that none of them turned out, but then after I upload them and look at them on a bigger screen, I usually love all of them!  I think I have pretty cute kids, but I guess I'm kind of partial to them!

Halloween Part 2

Since Halloween was on a Sunday this year, we crammed everything into Saturday.  The day was filled from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM.  Ben had a soccer "Spook-o-rama" from 9:00 to 10:30, kind of like a jamboree where the kids were encouraged to dress up and played mini-games against other teams.  Some of the teams really had their acts together and coordinated costumes.  One team sprayed their hair green and wore green jerseys and had a green blow-up alien as their mascot.  Another had matching rocketships painted onto their t-shirts.  Our team wasn't so organized!  But the kids still had fun.

Then we rushed home, quickly did chores and ran out to the dollar store to get some last minute decorations and birthday gifts for two parties later in the day.  Ben went to a birthday party at the pool while Kylie had her soccer game, fortunately right next door at the highschool.  It was pouring rain, and Brad, Jillian, and I huddled under several umbrellas freezing for an hour and a half during Kylie's game. 

After the game and birthday party, I took Ben to the Wilkes Halloween carnival.  Being the youngest in the family sometimes has its benefits.  I usually spend about $20 on tickets, but they've always been divided between several children.  This year Ben was the only one who wanted to go, so I bought him a $20 wristband which let him play the games as many times as he wanted.  It was so fun to see him play each game until he mastered it.  He was determined to win a certain prize and finally got it at the "bug bash". 

Then we hurried home to eat a quick dinner and were off to the ward Trunk or Treat and Halloween Carnival.  I tried to decorate the trunk with some tulle, glow sticks, and our carved pumpkins.  It looked pretty tacky, but about what you'd expect for a five minute job!  We were running late, and half way there realized we had forgotten the candy to hand out, so had to turn around and go back.  We ended up getting there 15 mins. late.  For the first time in history, an LDS function started on time!  There were hordes of children swarming our car the second I parked, shouting "trick or treat!"  I was trying to get Ben's costume figured out, the scary skeleton that pumps fake blood through its chest cavity, and it was leaking all over the place, staining my hands bright red.  Ben was upset, I was upset, kids were swarming us, it was insane.  Kylie stepped in to hand out the candy and ward off the crowds of kids.   I finally convinced Ben his costume looked fine without the bloody chest and tied his black robe together and sent him off to trick or treat.  The carnival was a success.  Everyone loved Jillian's popcorn costume, and she and her friend Lily won "Best Team Costumes" for their movie-going treat costumes.

After the ward party, Nathan invited his friend Emma over to watch a movie, and I got to stay up and pretend to work on my computer while they watched it.  Kylie had gone to a friend's house for another party, and Nate went to pick her up after Emma left, about 11:00 PM, and I finally went to bed!  Whew!

Sunday evening we had to go to Tif's house to see her costume.  She is always so creative.  This year, Mariko was a bunny (her first Halloween!) Tif was a carrot, and Tad was a farmer.  Tad had already taken off his costume and was engrossed in a football game, so we didn't get to see them all dressed up together, but Tif has pictures on her blog.  Ben decided not to wear his skeleton costume so he wouldn't scare Mariko. He had dressed up as a football player for the Spook-o-rama, so he wore that again.

The biggest surprise this Halloween...Kylie is taller than Tifanie!  I think she had shoes on and Tif didn't, but still!  I'm going to have to stop feeding her or she'll be taller than me soon!

Halloween Happenings

How can it be Halloween all ready?  Last time I blinked, school had just started.  I haven't really gotten into Halloween this year.  (Though to be honest, it isn't one of my favorite holidays...) Only Jillian and Ben are dressing up and I didn't make their costumes.  Jillian is making hers, but we went to Party City and bought Ben's.  I used to make costumes for my kids.  I don't know where I found the time.  It seemed like life was so busy when my kids were little, but now it's even busier!  The weeks fly past and I can barely finish with one thing before the next is upon me.  I don't like to procrastinate, but I'm only able to really focus on one major task at a time and they keep piling up on me, so I often end up putting things off until the last minute.

Anyway, we did get to the pumpkin patch last Saturday, another procrastination...we have a tradition of getting together with our friends the Kollodges and the missionaries to carve pumpkins together for family home evening the week before Halloween.  I called the Kollodges last Saturday to figure out our plans and we decided Sunday evening (the next day) would work best, so that meant running to the pumpkin patch in the 30 minutes between Kylie's soccer game and the time Brad and I had to leave to catch a ferry to go to the temple.  I had put off signing up to have the missionaries over for dinner (of course) and their calendar was full, so they didn't get to come this year. 

It ended up being only me, Jillian, and Ben picking the pumpkins this year. 

At first Ben wanted this really huge one, but then thankfully decided it was a little too big.

The one he picked was still too big for him to carry on his own!

Jillian picked two knuckle-head pumpkins.  They're a variety with warts all over them. 

Nate invited his friend, Emma, to carve pumpkins with us.

Jillian's knuckle-heads ended up being very tough-skinned!  They seemed more like a gourd than a pumpkin to carve, but she persevered and got the job done.

Ben did most of the work on his pumpkin this year! 

The carvers and their finished products.

And the obligatory dark picture.

So after the pumpkins were picked out and the carving was done, the next Halloween event was the costume parade at Ben's school.  I wasn't able to help out with his class party this year because of another commitment, but I did make it in time for the parade.  That's Ben in the scary skeleton costume. 

Next up on the Halloween agenda is the school carnival Saturday afternoon, and then the church Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween party Saturday evening.   We're skipping the traditional trick-or-treating in town since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, but we will stop by my sister's house to see her cute family in their costumes.  And then the next time I blink it will be Thanksgiving!

Our Cub-sprout

I picked up Nathan's Eagle Scout certificate and awards at the scout shop today and also purchased Ben's Cub Scout paraphernalia.  Ben was so excited to get his shirt.  He's gone to den meetings for two weeks now and each week he's complained about not having a uniform.  I even got all the patches sewn on before his meeting.  As I sewed them on, the next six to eight years of sewing on badges flashed before my eyes and I admit it didn't seem as bad as I'm fearing.  I'm even a tiny bit excited.  Maybe not for myself, but for Ben...going to Cub Scout day camp, learning new skills, being in a group of boys who are working towards the same goal, those are all good things, right?  As long as I'm not the den leader...

Baby Torah

Tuesday morning, my friend Brooke gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and I was privileged to be present.  Brooke decided she wanted to try a natural childbirth and asked if I would be her unofficial "doula".  I felt so honored to be asked, especially since I've never witnessed a birth before, and have never given birth in the traditional way.  All four of my children were born by c-section.  But for some reason, Brooke felt I would be a calming influence and I was more than happy to give it a try!  Being there with her and her husband, Nathan, was one of the most beautiful, spiritual experiences of my life.  I don't know how much I really helped, since her labor went so fast...she got to the hospital about 6:10 a.m. and Torah Alice arrived at 6:34 a.m., but Brooke says she was glad I was there.  I was more than happy to oblige! 

Thank you, Columbus.

Thank you, Columbus, for "discovering" America so we could have a holiday in your honor, on which day banks are closed so Brad didn't have to work and was able to finish painting the house!  Yes, you read correctly, it's done!  Well, OK, not really DONE, done, but the yellow part is done.  The trim is not quite so done. 

This was the part Brad didn't want to do, and I don't blame him.  The roof on the north side is very mossy and slippery, and the chimney is so high up there.  More praying going on while he was up at the very top!

One sad story:  while he was painting up at the very top of the chimney, Brad saw a small hornet's nest in the corner of the flashing.  He sprayed it with paint and then saw two more what he thought were hornet's nests, so he sprayed them as well.  One of them moved, and it freaked him out so he sprayed it again. He was so nervous about being up so high, and now with the possibility of hornets coming to attack him.  The longer he looked at it, though, he realized a little face was looking at him.  They weren't hornet's nests, but little brown bats.  He felt horrible.  We've been trying to encourage brown bats to come live by us, we even put up bat houses in one of our trees, but they've never come to live in them.  He yelled down to me about it, and then one little bat flew down from the chimney, streaked with yellow.  A few minutes later the other one flew down, also yellow coated.  They flew into the woods, and I really hope they live.  Maybe their yellow fur will blend in with the changing leaves and they'll be safe, if the toxicity of the paint doesn't kill them. 

The (almost) finished product! 

Ben's Baptism

Sunday was without a doubt one of the best days of my life.  My youngest child was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He decided that he wanted to be baptized in the Puget Sound.  During Sacrament meeting a few weeks ago, a woman spoke at church recounting her baptism experience in Puget Sound and how she felt warmed by the Spirit even though the water was cold.  Ben leaned over to me and whispered, "I want to do that!"  When we talked about the exact location, he remembered our friend Nya's baptism and said he wanted to have it in the same place.  Fortunately, the same friends who graciously hosted Nya's baptism were willing to let us use their home and beach.  When we discussed the details of the baptism, Ben said that he wanted Nathan to baptize him.  At first Brad was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be baptizing his youngest child, but after thinking about it for a while, realized what an amazing experience it would be for Nathan.  Not to mention the fact that the Puget Sound is really cold!

I admit that I was a little nervous about Ben actually going through with the baptism. I had horrible visions of him stepping into the water and feeling the cold then turning around and running out, yelling, "NO WAY!  I'm not doing this!"  Saturday night when I tucked him into bed, he had a serious case of the jitters.  He was really nervous and not sure he was ready.  We talked for a long time and I tried to reassure him, telling him that I knew he was ready because he really tries hard to do what is right.  He knows what baptism means and wants to be baptized.  I reminded him that we don't have to be perfect after we're baptized, and that having the gift of the Holy Ghost will help him.  We prayed about it together and when he woke up in the morning he was really excited.  Still a little nervous, but ready. 

The weather was another thing I was worried about.  It rained most of the day Saturday and was raining hard when we left for church Sunday morning.  By the time church was over, the rain had stopped and it the clouds were thinning out.  When we left our house at 3:15, the sun was struggling to break through the clouds and by the time we were at our friends' house, it was beautiful.  We decided to hold the whole service outside on their deck, which was a good thing because so many people came they wouldn't have all fit inside the house. 

Before everyone got there, we took a family picture. 

I can't believe how grown up my kids are.  It was so special to see Nathan and Ben both dressed in white.

Of course while we were waiting for everyone to get there, Ben found his way down to the beach and started throwing rocks into the water.  When I called him up from the beach, his pockets were full of shells and seaglass.  Typical boy!

Ben invited his best friend, our neighbor down the street.  They've been friends for about 3 years.  I was so glad he came with his mom and older brother.  Ben was so happy to have them there.  I know it doesn't look like it from the picture, but really, he was!

The only glitch in the day was with the programs.  While I was trying to print them out, my printer ran out of toner.  I called Brad's parents to ask if they could print them, as well as Kylie's talk.  When 4:10 came around (we were supposed to start at 4:00) and they still hadn't arrived with the programs or the talk, we started to get a little nervous.  Brad's mom and sister arrived about 4:15, very apologetic, with one program and Kylie's talk.  They had also run into printer problems, but at least they were able to get Kylie's talk printed!  I felt so badly that I had caused them extra stress and made them late.  Kylie did an excellent job explaining baptism.  She is so confident and well spoken. 

By the middle of Kylie's talk, Brad's dad still hadn't made it there, and Brad subtly urged her to extend her talk a few more minutes.  If he hadn't said anything, no one would have known she was stalling for time.  Brad's dad got there just as we were walking down to the water, and of course we would have waited longer before the actual baptism to make sure he was there.  It is such a blessing to have both sets of grandparents living on Bainbridge. 

Everyone gathered on the water's edge.  Another small miracle, the water was perfectly clean and clear.  Sometimes there is an edge of foamy brown stuff and seaweed along the beach, but not today!

The sun broke through again right when Nate and Ben were getting ready to step into the water. 

 And they walked right in, no hesitation at all. 

Nathan's voice was strong and clear.  The people who had stayed up on the deck said they could hear perfectly.  A thrill ran through me as Nathan said the prayer, then lowered Ben into the water. 

Look at those faces!  Pure happiness!

Jillian and Brad had warm towels to wrap Ben in.  I love the lighting in this picture, the dark clouds in the background, but the sun shining right on Ben.

Brad took Ben and Nathan up to the house tp get them warmed up and into dry clothes.  During the wait, we asked a few people to share a baptism story.  Outi shared part of her beautiful conversion story, Micah talked about being baptized in the Mediterranean Sea, James told us how grateful he his for his conversion, and Mike told a funny story about baptizing a pregnant woman during his mission.  Picture very little water and a very pregnant belly sticking up out of the water! 

After Ben returned, Aunt Ashley spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost.  She had a gift bag full of things to remind Ben about what the Holy Ghost does for us:  a soft, fuzzy blanket, a flashlight, a compass, a picture of the sun, a stuffed animal, and bell. 

Then Brad performed the confirmation.  Another thrill ran through me when I saw all the men surrounding Ben.  I hope he realizes how much he is loved and that he can turn to any of these men, or any of the people who came to his baptism, for support at any time in his life.

After the service, everyone crammed into the house for refreshments.  I wish I could have talked to everyone who came to thank them for sharing this wonderful day with us.  It meant so much to have so many people there and know that they are truly our brothers and sisters. 

As we were driving home, the big black clouds opened up and dumped on us, but the setting sun in the west cast a beautiful rainbow in the eastern sky.  It was definitely a day of little miracles and one our whole family will always remember.

The Big 8

Do you remember how excited you were to turn eight?  No?  I don't either.  But Ben left no doubt about his excitement.

His birthday fell on a Saturday, which meant he had a soccer game.  Not only did he score a goal in the game, but his team won for their first time!  That alone would have made for a great birthday.  After the game, the team sang Happy Birthday to him and got to eat donuts. 

Later that afternoon, he had his birthday party.  We started out at the pool.

Then we came home where Kylie had prepared a treasure hunt.  The kids read a clue, than ran around the yard searching for the next clue.  Kylie made up some pretty hard ones this time!

Fortunately it was a nice day, so they could play outside most of the time.

Later in the day we opened presents from family.  Jillian gave Ben this cute piggy bank.

Ben was so excited to receive his very own, personalized, set of scriptures.  Our tradition has been to give the kids scriptures when they turn eight. 

Nathan gave Ben some Pokemon cards, and also bought a deck for himself so they could play together.  It sure brought back memories of when Nate was this age.  He loved Pokemon for years!  Looks like he still does.  And Ben also received several Lego sets.  He'll keep busy for quite a while putting them all together. 

Happy Birthday, Ben!