Sophia's choice.

Sophia got a new fancy dress as an early birthday present. She was told she can wear it on her birthday, on Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other special occasion, and to church. Well, today I'm feeling a little under the weather, with a sore throat and sinus headache and didn't feel up to wrangling the 4 kids to church by myself (since Chris is at work all day). So, feeling badly that she was cheated out of her first opportunity to wear the new dress, I let her get dressed up anyway and I took a few pictures of her looking gorgeous! With the 3 other kids being boys, it's nice that I can always count on her to be the ultimate in girly-girls.

Daddy's Home

I'm not sure what's more entertaining: the dog, Chris calling the dog "Daddy's boy", or all the kids laughing hysterically.

The weirdest smile you'll ever see - this really makes me laugh!

Pumpkin fun.

We had a great time today enjoying the awesome art of Jack-O-Lantern design. Sam brought a pumpkin home from school a couple of weeks ago that his teacher had grown in her garden, and he was dying to carve it. I was surprised by his emerging independence when it came to wielding the fancy, serrated carving tool and designing his own image. After I cut the top open and took out the guts, he did the rest completely by himself, and it turned out great!Then when Chris got home from work we decided to do the rest of our pumpkins, and each of the kids did well on their own, at least with the carving part. For some reason none of them wanted anything to do with scooping out the slimy stuff, which seems like something kids would enjoy. So Chris and I got stuck with that part, then let the kids go to it with their creativity in gear. Noah and Sophie used a pattern, while Chris helped Nicolas, and Sam decided to create his own personal design.

Here are the kids' final products:

After the kids went to bed, Chris and I worked on ours. After several goofy looking drafts of my moose, I think my final product turned out cool. Chris went for something a little more spooky and "Halloweeny", as he put it. I just love this time of year!And our final products (not the best picture, but you get the idea):

Halloween dry run.

I made Noah and Sammy's vampire capes for their Halloween costumes today, and the boys thought they turned out so well, they thought it was worth trying them out with their make-up and everything. This is just one of what I'm sure will be many pictures of the kids in their costumes to come in the following week!

If you build it, they will come.

No, I'm not talking baseball diamonds in the middle of cornfields. I'm talking the soccer mom's mecca of all meccas - Costco!

Now many of you may be saying to yourselves, whoopedy-do, Costco. Allow me to explain. Pocatello isn't exactly a booming metropolis. In fact, for one of the largest cities in Idaho, it's kind of pathetic how few stores and other facilities we have, at least when it comes to having a variety of places to choose from. So anytime a new restaurant or store comes to town, there is some understandable excitement. The opening of the new Costco has been much anticipated since it's announcement over a year ago, so even though Chris and I aren't at all the type to withstand the crowds of people just to find a deal, or participate in the hoopla of a grand-opening, we decided it was worth it today. I'd never even been in a Costco, and may I just say that as a mom of four, seemingly bottomless pits of hunger, children, I think I will appreciate the opportunity to buy in bulk!!

I'm sure over time the novelty of being able to buy gargantuan pies and enough Kleenex to supply all the classrooms in an elementary school will wear off. But in the meantime, I'm sure going to enjoy one of my new favorite things: a Very Berry Sundae made with non-fat frozen yogurt and strawberries - at Costco!!

Tragedy.

My sister-in-law's older sister recently lost her 13 year old son in a tragic car accident. We didn't know him personally, but I know it has, of course, deeply affected my sister-in-law and their entire family. I thought I would post a link to the mother's blog and the obituary for the readers of my blog to look at, if they wish. Sometimes when things like this happen, it's a reminder to us all how fragile each life is and how important it is to show our loved ones we care while we can.
To read the obit, click here:
http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2008/10/19/obituaries/332432.txt

To read the grieving mother's blog, click here:
http://donnandkids.blogspot.com/

I wanted to emphasize that a fund has been established in Calvin’s name at Central Bank. Anyone wishing or able to make a contribution may do so at any bank branch.