October 2014

 The best part of October for us was the long weekend we spent up at Lassen Volcanic Park on a family vacation.  No work, no cell phone coverage, no schedules, no distractions, just pure, unadulterated Family Time.  We stayed in a cabin in the woods - basically a two-bedroom apartment in the mountains.  It was awesome!

We brought the kids' bikes, and with no toys and no TV or books or any reason, really, to stay inside, they played out in the woods constantly.  There was a very shallow stream that ran through the back, and Hazel especially loved collecting moss and water skeeters and playing near the water.  Everyone got very, very dirty each day, then took a warm bath and slept in a real bed.  Paradise!

Todd and I took the kids on a walk through a lava tube...

and on a hike that showcased geothermal elements.  A mini Yellowstone.

My very favorite part of the trip was watching my three kids hike together, hand in hand, for over ten minutes without anyone letting go.  We had some serious family bonding, people!  

One night we made s'mores over a campfire.  The next we popped popcorn and told ghost stories and ran around with glow bracelets on.

 Todd and I blew through three novels (one each, plus one to read together).  It was bliss.  The kids kept staying they wished we lived there all the time.  Our last night, as we got ready for bed, Hazel said she wished she could turn back time and we could experience our family trip all over again.  It was that good.

We didn't go to a pumpkin patch as a family because Hazel and Jack were both going with their schools on field trips.  I feel a little ripped off.  I feel bad that I don't have a single picture of Hazel at a pumpkin patch!  It's been a serious tradition every year!  I did go with Jack's group, though, and I'm glad I did, because he totally loved it.

We carved pumpkins too early, and they went rotten after about a week.  Then we carved pumpkins again and they turned moldy after only two days.  What gives?!  Do I seriously have to dip those things in bleach to preserve them?  

Gemma is getting more and more vivacious each day.  Common words we use to describe her include  sassy, feisty, and wild thing.  She's talking more and more. Two of her most popular catch phrases right now are "stink bomb" (what we call poopy diapers) and "crazy frog' (requesting a song the kids think the Minions sing and love to listen to over and over again).  She loves to read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" over and over again.  She wants to clip all her own buckles and pull up her own pants and brush her own teeth and is very, very insistent that "Gemma do it," or "My turn!" 

Jack is getting more social and less cuddly (sob!) and spends hours, literally hours, playing with Barbie dolls, changing their clothes and requesting new hairstyles for them.  He is extremely literate-aware right now, spotting letters sight words everywhere.  Speaking of which, he's memorizing the sight words Hazel's learning in school.  They're going to learn how to read together, it looks like.  

He's starting to write his name, too!  And finally, he's interested in coloring.  

Hazel is doing great work in school.  She gets some peer pressure from a kid at her table to race through their work and be the first one done, but she usually exhibits self-control and tries to make all her work look her best.  Her teacher encourages them to add details to old work if they have extra time, and some of her papers come home with pretty elaborate coloring jobs.  She was awarded Student of the Month for Respect.  I'm thrilled that Hazel's showing her best self at school, because her best self is a pretty incredible kid, and her worst self is kind of a pain in the neck.  I'm glad she saves that stuff for home.

Hazel's best friends with a girl in he class named Ashley.  She's always drawing pictures for her and making her little gifts.  Last week, she got hold of a bag of buttons I had in my sewing supplies and started stringing necklaces.  She wore one to school, Ashley complimented her on it, Hazel promised to make her one.  That afternoon at home, she not only took ten minutes to string up a button necklace, but she then proceeded to look for a box to put it in, wrapped in in gift wrap, and made Ashley a card with her very own, original version of the "Roses are red" poem about Ashley being her best friend.  It was all a bit over the top.  That's Hazel for you.  She's got a big heart and she loves to create.

She's also quite an artist.  She made this game board for me to use at our church Halloween party.  Cute, huh?

Partners in crime

 I spent every spare moment I had in October - and I literally mean every nap time and evening I could - sewing bat costumes for the entire family.  Hazel had the idea to be a vampire bat, Jack wanted to copy her, she was mad he was copying her, she felt better when we negotiated that all five of us would be bats, and what could have been a manageable project turned into a bit of a nightmare. Fifty bucks and twenty hours later, they were finally done.  Totally not worth it.  They'd better wear those dang costumes again sometime!  (I doubt Todd and I will be wearing ours; that's a little weird.)

It was cute and fun for the ward party and for truck or treating, though.  Here's my only real "action shot."

I made the kids put their costumes back on this morning so I could get some more pictures.  It's not quite the same in PJs, but it'll do.

The day after Halloween, we negotiated with the kids. They picked out five or six of their best pieces of candy, and turned over the rest in exchange for new Legos.  Win-win.