Halloween ’09

Because today is Friday the 13th, I think I am justified in posting some Halloween pictures even though it is long since passed… We were able to celebrate the holiday in both Orange and San Diego counties. Hannah was able to squeeze in one last field trip to the pumpkin patch  before the move, and also had a costume parade with her new class. We went to the church trunk or treat and did some trick or treating around our neighborhood, which turned out to be a great way to meet a lot of our new neighbors.

Emma had plans for being Hermione from Harry Potter since she fell in love with the series over the summer. She came up with the costume all on her own- even making herself a wand from a stick with some real wizardish personality. We never did end up getting her the Hogwarts robe because I was too distracted with the move to make one, and too cheap to shell out $30+ for a store bought one. Lucky for me Emma looked perfect with her semi-frizzy hair, time turner, plaid skirt, v-neck sweater and suede boots.

Hunter had wanted to be a man eating shark- literally. But we weren’t able to track down a shark for him to be eating, so he came up with this costume on the fly- a pirate king. (We’re all fans of the song from Pirates of Penzance.)  The shirt he is wearing has little skulls and cross bones on it, and with the regal robe, he looked great!

Sabrina was set on being Belle from Beauty and the Beast until she got the adorable candy corn skirt from Aunt Korby a few days before Halloween. She loved the skirt and decided to be a Candy Corn Princess instead, and was adorable. Sabrina is destined to open a Bath & Body shop one day because she loves all scented things. Most specifically: candles, lotions, and chap sticks (aka lipsticks). She has a beloved candy corn candle and once she got the skirt, she wore the skirt and carried the candle everywhere!

Hannah is now a huge fan of fairies. She loves the Tinkerbell movie and books that we have and her favorite fairy, other than Tinker Bell, is Silvermist the water fairy.  So Hannah was Silvermist for our trick or treating nights. At school she wore a more school friendly costume that she got from her Aunt Jeanette  which was from another of her favorite movies, Barbie’s Princess and the Pauper. She was lovely in both costumes!

Guess What I Am?

I finally got my photo gallery caught up through May, and came across some fun things that I haven’t shared. One of them is the game Guess What I Am. It really is “hilarious fun for everyone.” We love this game because even Sabrina can play along without having to team up with Mommy or Daddy, and we can play it really quickly in just one round when we’re short for time, or do several rounds and make it a full game. It gets you thinking and sorting in your mind because you are trying to figure out which person or animal you are by only asking questions, but it doesn’t feel like learning because it’s so fun. We all highly recommend this game!

Not Another Summary

Hunter finishes his first full week in “pageant” in about 15 minutes. Hooray for a week off!

Emma and Hunter have been zipping through the “Harry Potter” series. With the movie coming out this week, they have become obsessed with catching up to it. In spite of the fact that it’s rated PG 13 so they have to wait for Mom and Dad to see it first… although if they have read the book, the movie is the same stuff huh? Don’t know how that will go yet…

Hannah and Sabrina are taking a weekly ballet/tap class together. Hannah loved the first class, and Sabrina did most things. She only refused one excercise that involved leaping and then having the class applaud the effort. She didn’t want any part of that spotlight.

We have been keeping busy with trips to the park or the pool, reading, Wednesday lunchtime with Daddy, playing around the house, a discount showing of “The Tale of Despereaux,” and cleaning up! The latest strategy for this is “five minute flips” where we pick three areas or rooms that need cleaning up and make those our stations. We split into three teams and each rotate through the stations every five minutes. I set the timer and everyone works on their area for five minutes. This seems to work because they can focus their attention for that length of time pretty well, and know that they don’t have to do it all, just keep going until they hear the buzzer.  We do the rotations until it’s clean, so the better they work, the sooner we’re done. I’m not sure if it will work for the whole summer, but for now our house is cleaner than it ever was during school. That’s nice.

I’m still having fun adding to my Mia Maids’ blog and taught a class today on testimony that seemed to go pretty well. I’m also way behind on the photo gallery for this blog, but one day I’ll get back on top of that.I would like to participate in Craft Hope like my sisters-in-law, but the deadline is fast approaching.

Rob has decided to start learning Greek. He has been reading a lot of history on the Bible, and figured it would help him to be able to go back and read some of the Greek text. I know, “Whaa?” But I have to say I’m jealous of his ability to find things like that so interesting that he can read about it for any length of time without falling asleep.

Tomorrow Hunter starts a week of basketball camp, and Emma starts an acting class. Then we’ll do more pageant, swimming lessons, and a family reunion in August. I’m not sure why I have so much packed into summer. Maybe it’s because I don’t want it to become a chorus of “I’m bored” around here, and once school starts again, they’ll feel like it’s a breeze. We’ll see how well this strategy plays out.

Summer Rollercoaster

One of the girls from our ward wanted to do some service for Personal Progress and asked if she could come help out here this morning. Of course I said yes, and she spent some time helping the other kids fold laundry and clean the bathroom. They all had fun helping out because we had a visitor, and she was able to be like a big sister to the kids while helping us. Nice!

Our family walked over to the lake to see about doing the peddle boats or canoes, but realized that we couldn’t pay for it there.  We had to go to the association office to buy a pass. Too far to walk and still have the energy for the boats so we scrapped that idea, and the little girls played in the sand while the rest of us played the ABC game. Bummer, but we made the best of it.

We walked back home and had lunch. Leftover tacos, yummy.

Rob and I decided to give the kids a choice in an afternoon activity. Either go get passes and then do the boats, or bike over to the shopping center and visit the candy store. The votes didn’t go over well at all and there was whining, complaining, and teasing that led to pushing… We didn’t end up doing either choice, and cleaned the garage instead. Terrible, horrible, mean parents.

While Rob started on the garage with the kids, and Hannah rode her bike in the front (because she wasn’t one of the whiners) I took Sabrina (in her favorite car, the Civic) to go get boat passes in case we want to try again tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if they would be open today, so called and they told me it was “mostly” closed, but I could still come get a boat pass. So Sabrina and I arrived ready to buy tickets, only to be told that they could only take a check because they were technically closed. “You can’t even take cash?” I asked. Nope. I left there muttering how it would have been nice if the guy told me that when I called ahead…

I drove home and got my checkbook and headed back to the association office. I got the passes and tried not to be annoyed when they told me I couldn’t get the family pass that is the better deal because “they were closed.” Huh?

Sabrina immediately after we walked out the door started fussing about wanting to go to the candy store.  I told her we couldn’t go today because there had been too much fuss, and that was why Hunter and Emma were now at home cleaning the garage. She continued to whine and I told her harshly that she would be cleaning the garage too or going to take a nap when we got home (for some reason these are equally bad to her). I started backing out of my space still trying to manage the annoyance I felt over the last hour, when I heard a thump.

I had backed into another car parked in the lot. I got out to see the damage and luckily there was no damage to the other car; It was an older model with a real bumper, and I just saw some flakes of paint from my car. I looked at my bumper and won’t tell you the word that came to mind. There was a long six inch break in it and it was all scuffed up. I drove home and cried.

Rob tried to make me feel better about messing up the only nice car we own. I know he handled me way better than I would have if things had been reversed. I spent some time alone on my bed, and eventually fell asleep.

Rob woke me up when dinner was ready. He had grilled up some hot dogs for dinner and the kids were all cheerful and happy to see me reemerge from my short depression.

After dinner there was a debate about who should have the first turn on the computer. After a few minutes it was figured out, but as soon as I left the room we could hear fighting about how things were fair/unfair. So then the kids were sent to clean their closets and didn’t get computer time. Mean parents again.

Bedtime went smoothly and the kids all had their stories, prayers, hugs & kisses, and were tucked into bed with smiles on their faces. Maybe not huge ones, but thank goodness there were no tears!

Whew, summer days can be so exhausting. I need some ice cream.

Ticket Call: P of M

We can buy a limited number of tickets with our cast vouchers. Let us know if you’d like tickets and I’ll get them for you. First come, first serve.

Painting: The Making of a Fresco

Picture from the dress rehearsal (our itty bitty camera doesn’t come close to capturing the beauty of it- we sort of broke the rules by taking this picture, so it’s better than nothing)

Hunter performs on these dates:
July 6 – 12
July 20 – 26
August 3 – 9

2009 Prices through us:

Main Tier Center
Sat $60
Th/Fri/Sun $50
Mon/Tue/Wed $40

Main Tier Sides
Sat $45
Thu/Fri/Sun $35
Mon/Tue/Wed $25

Map of the Seating

Four Times Three

Sabrina: 1 – has to have a ponytail and a headband in her hair at all times; 2 – is working on perfecting the “glide” on her scooter; 3 – Can put on her princess backpack, socks, and shoes all by herself.

Hannah: 1 – loves to have “math” printed out so she can do homework; 2 – is learning to ride a big girl bike with training wheels; 3 – came up with a way to get a puppy: “…get a baby, sell it, and get a puppy.” (Once when she asked why we couldn’t get a puppy I told her I would have to trade in one of the kids, and I wouldn’t be able to decide which one)

Emma: 1 – wrote a song called, “My Rainbow SUV”; 2 – started a new blog called Huge Laff as a place to do little web shows; 3 – cracked her tooth while eating a roll and said, “…I saw the sticker on it said 75% off, so it must have been old.”

Hunter: 1 – is raising money for 6th grade camp by doing a garage sale this Saturday; 2 – designed a Lego racer for his last Pinewood Derby. It won second place in the maverick (no rules) races; 3 – scored in the 99th percentile on the GATE test- smarty!