Weekend before Halloween!

On Wednesday we did another activity for the Letter X and practiced the sound it makes. I painted Charlotte's toenails and put an X on her big toe (sometimes I'm awesome).

 Then Ellie really wanted her toenails painted too and I couldn't resist those pudgy little feet, so painted them red. Everyone's toenails were painted but mine.

 

Twister again! (Our theme for Christmas is going to be family games. I'm excited for the variety!)

Um, this is disgusting but David took the picture so I figured we'd want to remember this story one day. On Friday, Oct 26th, I heard Charlotte come into our room in the morning to tell me that the toilet wasn't flushing. I was too tired to care, so I fell back asleep. When we woke up, the toilet and all of its contents had flooded all over the floor in the hallway (yuck!). When David went downstairs, the ceiling in the dining room looked like this:

So gross. I know.

We had a nice walk outside today.

It rained since we put up our fake spider webs so they look really wimpy now.

Violin lessons are going well (it was team jersey day at school today). Not sure why, but Charlotte has been the one that listens better than Hazel so far.

I think I'm addicted to nutmeg.

On Saturday, we spent the morning doing chores and the girls did their zones. It's difficult to get much of my own chores done because they still need assistance and encouragement, but I know I can't give up. Hazel does bathrooms, Lottie does stairs, and Ellie is supposed to put all the shoes back in the shoe baskets.

Then I took Hazel with me to my ward's Super Saturday to make FHE dice. She tried to eat a cherry tomato to get a peppermint candy (my requirement), but she couldn't do it. That kid hates tomatoes no matter what I do! Then Lottie and I went to Walmart to get a gift for Dominic's birthday party that afternoon.

This girl is her own person. She braided her own hair and created this hairstyle that she was so proud of, so I couldn't change it. She picked her outfit and everything. We had a great time at Boondocks.

That night we carved pumpkins! What a busy day. We watched The Lorax as David and the girls carved away and I worked on making a giant spider to go with the wimpy webs outside.

Not perfect, but much cheaper than buying them at the store!

I really wanted to get all of the kids these glow-in-the-dark pajamas for Halloween but that would have cost close to $80, so I decided against it. Then last week I found this onesie in Edison's size that was on clearance. So we all enjoyed our glow-in-the-dark baby.

On Sunday, I taught the lesson in Relief Society and made a special effort this time to have a handout and a treat! When I was at my moms last weekend, I attended her Beehive class with her where one of the twelve year old young women taught the class. I was so impressed with how prepared she was for her lesson with visuals, handouts, and a treat. Her testimony was sincere and the entire lesson was well-prepared. It inspired me to do better in my calling, which I very much enjoy.

The girls had their first primary program today. The sang in a trio (Hazel, Lottie, and Haley) a song called, "Don't Forget to Pray." Both had a chance to speak as well and did a good job. Charlotte was wiggling so much during the program though that she had to sit in her teacher's lap.

Willow, Ellie's first puppy love.

We got to make caramel apples with Gram. Yum!

Last week of October

Wednesday, October 24th:We went to the Treehouse today for Joy School. Eloise had two huge tantrums--yikes! She can be a tough one when she's tired and there's no pacifying her when she has her mind set on something (like cutting up the Treehouse Art Garden's stencil with scissors...).

Hey mom, that was my alter ego that screamed bloody murder and woke up my baby brother a few minutes ago. Coffee?

Oh, Edison. Look at those Toms. They used to be Ellie's.

I don't know how I got all three to look at me but I'm sure I was making some kind of animal sounds and not using an inside voice.

Just warming up by the campfire.

Cheetah print is taking over the world.

My goodness she looks so innocent here.

When we got home, I put the girls down for naps and then heard a little rustling in the bathroom...I walked in to this:

A curious monkey named Charlotte had opened up my makeup and tried it on, mashing my eye shadow to bits. I took a deep breath, tucked it all away into a safe place, waited until I felt in control of myself and then quietly had a talk with her. I told her that she'd have to have a consequence and decided that she'd owe me two chore coins for my make-up. She said, "Ok, but please don't take away my new coloring book." So I had to change the consequence. Her coloring book is in time-out until Friday. 

It didn't help that she was stinkin' adorable with my mascara all over her face. Do you see that tongue sneaking out of her mouth?

She was not happy that I took this picture but I was not happy to lose some of my make-up so I felt justified. And I wanted to remember that face.

I feel like a pro anytime I cook with a bayleaf. Felt so good, I put in half of another one.

After violin lessons, we got a last minute invitation from Kevin and Vicki to eat dinner with them at Ravoli's. I thought they were brave to invite me with all the kids, but we had a nice time! David was down in Bountiful buying our new van! After we turned in the rental, we realized that we enjoyed having all that space too much to go back. He got online and found a STEAL on KSL. It's the same van as our rental, a Dodge Grand Caravan, but older and with leather interior. I'm in love.

We have arrived. We have a van!

Pumpkin heads

Oh, how I love the fall. We have had beautiful weather here! Here's some fun pics of my pumpkin heads, mostly the youngest one:

Hazel had crazy sock day at school! I've had these flying pig socks forever and that's what she chose.

Yes, they are still in their pj's.

 

Charlotte and I are studying the letter X this week and Edison's X ray from when he fell off the couch really came in handy! That cute little arm (he was fine, by the way!).

That pumpkin hat is killing me!

You can tell he's flapping his arms in this pic.