You Let Me!

Joshua has been home for the past two days with strep throat. Thankfully, he is well and at school today! Unthankfully, I have it.

On Monday, while he was home and I was busy sorting laundry, he apparently broke into the Halloween candy. I came into the family room to find him lying across the couch moaning. He said, “I don’t feel very good. My stomach hurts.” I head over to give him a big hug and notice a plethora of Starburst wrappers strewn around him.

I said, “I think I know why your stomach doesn’t feel good…you ate an entire package of Starburst.”

To which he replied, “You let me!”

“You mean I didn’t catch you!”

Wish I had taken a picture of the poor kid suffering from strep throat and a post-Halloween stomach ache.

How Fast Can You Eat?

Hal is one of the fastest eaters I know! I thought I ate fast. He claims that his fast eating skills derive from limited time at work to eat so if he wants lunch he has to eat it very fast.

This year Hal is in the bishopric so he got to put his fast eating skills to work at the Fall Festival. The bishopric have to eat a small pie, without using their hands. The first one done is the winner.

Here they go...

He is giving it his best effort...but will it be enough to claim victory?

How can this be?.... he was not the winner! He was beat out by the 2nd Counselor. But the good news is that there is always next year!

Trick or Treating and then some!

Becca went to her first junior high party/dance with her friends. It was sponsored by her school and was on Friday early evening. Becca said that the only time a boy asked her to dance was during the "snowball" and she only danced with him for 6 seconds. I was surprised to learn that there were any boys there. When I dropped them off there was a steady stream of GIRLS!

Apparently, Becca also won some kind of dance contest. We only know this because she has the prize. She will not show us any of her award-winning moves! Maybe it was the hippie costume!

All of her cute friends came to our house for dinner, getting ready and heading out to the dance. We had bone bread sticks with blood dipping sauce, pizza, and bloody guts (fruit salsa) with cinnamon pita chips.

Halloween morning Hannah made green and purple "spider pancakes" for breakfast. She really loves to cook and is always lending a hand and learning new things about cooking. She LOVES to make pancakes!

Cleopatra Hannah

Just before trick or treating.....for the last time!

Next year she will be too old!

Joshua the Vampire!

Hannah and Becca dressed up for the Ward Fall Festival.

Happy Halloween

Our ward Halloween Party is tomorrow. Becca has been asked to provide 2 dozen cupcakes for the cake walk. We have had a lot of fun tonight working on these crazy cupcakes. Hannah and Becca hand-made the spider webs. The spiders are toys, but everything else is edible!

Happy Halloween!

Girls Weekend in DC

Last weekend I got to head off into the big world ALL BY MYSELF! It was wonderful and not something I have done very often since I got married 16 years ago.

Hal and I were actually planning a week away in Washington, DC, when he decided that he would not be able to accompany me over a weekend because of his new bishopric responsibilities. So, I decided that I would go and visit with my friends before he arrived. It was wonderful. My good friend, Allie, wanted a mini vacation also, so we decided to stay at the Gaylord National at National Harbor. It was beautiful. We also indulged in spa treatments and brunch.

Allie works for Genslar, the architectural firm that designed the hotel. The hotel has a beautiful, huge indoor atrium (18 stories). Inside it also has a beautiful fountain with choreographed fountain shows with patriotic music, like a mini Belagio for those of you who have been to Vegas. The hotel sits right on the Potomac river directly across from Old Town Alexandria. The entire area has been built up with a convention center, located at the Gaylord, as well as other hotels, shopping and restaurants. There is even water taxi service to Old Town Alexandria and Georgetown.

It was great to be back in our nation's capital. As many of you know I lived there for six years and miss it dearly! It has been a long time since I have been to DC and a LOT had changed. For example, the existence of National Harbor. What a beautiful development. DC had previously not had a resort hotel so close to the city.

We had a great time and it was really delightful to spend some time with friends. Thanks Allie for driving to Baltimore, in the pouring rain, really late at night, to pick me up and for not being mad when my flight was REALLY late! I had a great time!

The outside of the Gaylord Hotel.

Allie

Carrie, Allie and I ate at Grace's, which not only featured yummy Chinese food, but also this 18 foot high Buddha!

Alice

A beautiful day on the Potomac. The bridge is the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Hal joined me on Monday!

I will post the pictures from our week long visit to the Eastern Shore

and Washington, DC on my next post.

Free Burrito - Support JDRF

Hi Everyone!

As you know our family is a huge supporter of JDRF. I just wanted to tell you that today there is a promotion for a free burrito at Mi Amigos here in Arizona if you make a donation of $1 to JDRF.

Hand all your kids a dollar and have each of them buy a sneaker and everyone will get a free burrito. Today only!

Musical Theatre Workshop

Under the Sea. Joshua is the octopus in the center.

Please forgive me as I try to play catch up with our blog from this summer. In early June, Hannah and Joshua participated in the Summer Musical Theatre Workshop. This group meets every day for two weeks to learn an entire musical production. Then there is a performance at the end of the two weeks. It is great fun for all the kids as they each have to audition for certain speaking parts. The directors of the program put together a story line that weaves through several Broadway musical numbers. Each year the story and songs are different. The kids have participated once before and they had a blast. It is even fun for me except for the mad dash midway through, when I have to locate costumes for them according to the parts they get. It always involves a trip to either Goodwill or DI.

Some of the songs this summer were from Hair, Suessical, Godspell, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella to name a few. Each child is required to audition and everyone receives parts in more than one song and at least one speaking part. Josh auditioned to be the Cat in the Hat and was really disappointed that he didn’t make it and then he was furious when he found out that they cast a GIRL in the role! You should have heard the rantings and ravings: “Don’t they know the Cat in the Hat is a boy!” He worked very hard on his lines and really put his heart and soul into it so I was sad for him. He did get a different speaking part and had a lot of fun so the furor dissipated.

This video is from the song "Hair". All the videos are fairly short.

"Hair" video again!

Hair video - another short one.

"We Beseech Thee" video

My Feet

My Feet
by Hannah Walker

Hannah wrote this poem about her feet. She is recited it to us for Family Home Evening last night. Her performance was exuberant . . . and hilarious! Sorry you missed it. But, here is the poem.

(The stench of)My FEET
Look at my feet
they smell so sweet
but to me, they smell like raw meat

oh oh the stench of my feet

I walk in the room
no shadows will loom
for my feet make them swoon
and I feel like a common loon

oh oh the stench of my feet

The beach is near
and also clear
because of my feet so dear
and because they are near

oh oh the stench of my feet

Oh WOW my feet smell freshier
because i've discovered in-shoe freshener
I have new shoes which are quite meshier
And my feet are much less wettier(with sweat)

oh oh the NEW stench of my feet

Bobcat

Joshua had his first official pack meeting (meaning in a church, not at someone’s pool…which is the only way to survive here in the summer). He got several awards but is most proud of the fact that he got his Bobcat and now is on the trail to becoming a Wolf. Having never been to a pack meeting before, he was enamored! He was very taken with the ceremony of putting a boy that is advancing behind a screen, and then blowing smoke all over the church, and then having him emerge as a different animal (i.e. Bobcat to Wolf, Wolf to Bear). I am so glad that someone invented cub scouts. What a great program for these boys. He also got to participate in the flag ceremony, which thrilled him. He had quite a grip on that flag and took his responsibilities very seriously!

When he became a Bobcat they gave me a Bobcat pin (in this case they probably should have given it to his Dad…but I am not complaining). Joshua had to pin it on me. We took one step away from the podium and he wanted it back. “That is mine! Give it Back!” I told him that it was for the Mom. He was not amused. After the pack meeting convened he kept working on me to give it back to him. He really couldn’t understand why I would get something when he was advanced to Bobcat! He is so cute.

Also, on another funny note, they had uniform inspection. He passed with flying colors, except for one thing: his neckerchief slide was on upside down. As they were pointing this out to him at inspection he piped right up and explained that his Dad put it on him. Everyone chuckled. He was given the BIG candy bar for being in code 100 percent!

This video is of Joshua participating in the flag ceremony.

Summer Rest and Relaxation

Rocky Point

Right after … and I do mean right after…as in 48 hours…we got home from Luke’s wedding we went to Mexico for a little rest and relaxation and I am so glad we did! It was perfect timing as we went two days AFTER Memorial Day so the crowds were thin and the weather was PERFECT. Little did I know that this would be the most restful part of my summer. I did savor it. “Relax” is not a word in my vocabulary. The only place I truly relax is in Mexico. There is something very wonderful about no cell phone reception. I think my ease of relaxation also relates to the laid-back pace and Mexican way-of-life! And possibly the great food!

This visit we actually rode horses on the beach. Becca has been begging us to ride since we started going to Mexico, but we just couldn’t get it coordinated for some reason. This trip she finally got to ride a horse on the beach. Now, she wants to take Jasmine next time. Too bad we don’t have a horse trailer! Not!

Happy Summer!