This Drama May Bring a Tear To Your Eye...

though I think it's pretty darn funny!

Hitler reacts to the BYU loss...

Lil' Turkey

We went to story time at the library. Emily, appropriately, wanted her picture taken as a turkey. The librarian wanted her to stick her nose in the beak, but Emily would not. She was certain the beak was just the mouth.

Halloween in a Nutshell (Pumpkinshell?)

Here is a quick glimpse of the last couple of weeks of October. However, I did not get any pictures of the crowded Wee Witchy Day at Gardner Village--which would have been worth viewing since Dad was in attendance. I guess we'll have to go again next year. Right, Mom and Dad?
I also did not get any pictures of the scarier-than-we-thought-it-would-be Haunted Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Just imagine body parts (or bodies) hanging out of all the dinosaur's mouths.
But...I did get these:

Boo at the Zoo!



Here they are, carving pumpkins:







The ward Halloween party:



Maddie with her cousin Hanna.







Maddie with our neighbors Kambri and Devyn. I have no idea where Nicholas was during this event. Somewhere in or out of the building.



And finally, Halloween night. Nicholas went trick-or-treating with a friend, Maddie went trick-or-treating with a friend, Mom and Dad handed out candy, and Darren and I watched cute little Emily bravely go door to door. Right after this picture, Emily's friend joined us. Everyone had so much fun. And I'm still eating Halloween candy--right now, in fact!

Dinner Tonight

Do you already know about the Dinner Tonight website? I found it a few weeks ago, and I love it! Each day they feature a quick and easy recipe. You can find it at the top of the column on the left side of the page.
I print out the recipe each day, put it in a folder, and then when I have to make my grocery shopping list, the menus are already done! Super easy, and we've loved practically everything. Try it.

Silly Emily

Emily says that she likes Chickawawas the best. (Chihuahuas)

Silly Maddie

Maddie said that if she could be a dog, she would like to be a Jack Russell Territory.

Pumpkinland

Here we are for our annual trip to Pumpkinland. If I get my way, you'll be seeing a post just like this for many, many years to come. My kids may be 25, 22, and 18, but we'll all be here. A prediction, if you like.



Enjoying the path to the maze. Discussing how long it will take us to master it this year.



Making sure we understand the challenge. If there's candy involved, you can bet we'll figure it out. (We did; the secret word was "pumpkin".)



A good place to point out that I have awfully cute kids.



Last year we were lost in here for an hour, I swear. (The great thing about the maze at Pumpkinland is that it's actually small enough to find your own way out without maps, or, as ALL people do in the big mazes, cutting your own path through the cornstalks.)
I know I just said it was small, but last year Maddie and Mom wanted to give up and go out the entrance because they were afraid we were going to have to spend the night. But Nicholas and I demanded that we stay the course and eventually we found our way out, weary, bedraggled and hungry.
Not so this year though. Without any trouble, we found the witch's room and then the exit. It may have just been easy this year might be one explanation, but I prefer to believe that we, in our yearly expeditions to Pumpkinland, have become experts on maze navigating, and that if we polled others who had been in the maze, they all were lost for hours and gave up. I'm just sayin'.









Just clowning around. (I've been waiting my whole life for a good reason to say that.)



Emily had to bounce on the toys meant for bigger kids. It was a lot of work for Maddie and Nicholas to get her to the top of this one. And they did it over and over because Emily loved the attention.



Grandma bought everyone pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn and even foam stickers for decorating. We love her!

A Trip to the Gateway

We went with some friends to the Gateway to see the Elephant Walk. Then we went to the Children's Museum, along with 7 billion other people, to stand in line for cotton candy, balloon animals, balloons, and popcorn. Then, we went to Jason's Deli. That's when the fun really began.



Nicholas was proud of his ice cream cone. It was three times as large as anyone else's. Not to be outdone, Cassidy (here's a little side note, the friend I went with, her kids are the exact same age as mine, which is perfect, except for one little flaw, and that is the oldest is a girl, not a boy--and we're never sure if Nicholas and this girl like each other, or hate each other--it's very unclear even under deep and close scrutiny and discussion) anyway, not to be outdone, Cassidy made herself an even bigger ice cream cone.



Sadly, it was a little too big and too wobbly, and shortly thereafter it ended up in Nicholas' chili. He would not eat the chili after this, even though I offered to scoop out all of the ice cream.



Emily and her friend, Lindy.



Cassidy, Maddie, and Lillie



We ended the afternoon with a super fun run through the fountain. You can see for yourself that it was super fun by looking at Maddie's exuberant pose.

Swimming Lessons Times Three

While they were off-track, Maddie, Nicholas and Emily each took swimming lessons. They all had a good time, learned a lot, and loved their teachers. Maddie was the most nervous of the three, and was a little upset when she found out she could not wear her life-jacket to the lessons, but by the end she was swimming like a pro. Her teacher said she was a hard-worker!



There's Nicholas on the end.



The other moms asked if Emily ever stops smiling. Never! ;)



There's Maddie on the end.

Such Fun Neighbors!

At the end of September, our neighbors planned a street party and had the great idea to rent a bounce house. The kids loved bouncing all day! We had a such a fun time.



That same afternoon we saw a rainbow right over our house. This must mean good luck, or something wonderful, right?

In Which the Story Is Concluded--Part Three

The sisters turned to leave. The brother wasn't really as cute as they remembered. One sister scowled as she thought about how, when he had lived in their home, she never had a warm, dry, fluffy towel to use after getting out of the tub, but was always handed his cold, wet, used-dirty-bathwater towel. She shivered.
The other sister frowned as she considered how, because the brother was allergic to milk, they all had had to go without ice cream. Seeing ice cubes sitting next to your cake on your plate for your birthday causes serious resentment.
They walked quickly toward the ditch until they heard a loud yell. They turned their heads out of curiosity, not slowing their pace.
Their brother was still standing in the circle of trees. He was waving his arms wildly as if something was attacking him. They could see that he would entertain himself just fine. As they threw their sleds in the ditch and looked back one last time, they saw the trees bend. It looked like a strong wind was trying to push them over. Then, with loud cracking noises, all of the trees fell, shaking the ground. The sisters, horrified, turned and ran back to their brother. They could not see him anywhere. It was quiet. There was no wind.
"Brother!" they called, but only a squirrel popped its head out of the mess. The sisters ran around and around the fallen trees, hoping their brother would appear. After several minutes of silence, they cried to each other, "We are such horrible sisters. We were going to leave him here all alone. He had every right to not want us here. We should have apologized until he agreed to return home with us. How can we leave now?"
Just as they decided to climb over the trunks and branches to search for him, they heard a loud voice shout, "Stop! Stay where you are! Do not touch those trees!"
Startled, they turned and saw the old man who had eaten their apple. He was walking towards them carrying a tiny bird cage.
"Take this home with you. You will like what's in it more than you liked that silly brother of yours. I cannot give it to you, because that would be a bad financial decision on my part, but I will sell it to you for just a small amount of gold."
The sisters looked at each other. Neither had any gold with them. They did not have any at home either, come to think of it. They only had green paper money. But they did not have time for this! Their brother could lay dying under those huge trees, and of course they would not forget him for a tiny bird cage. Though they did wonder what was in it. But that was beside the point.
They ignored the old man, not even acknowledging his offer with words, and turned back to the trees.
"Fine!" the old man grumbled. "But don't touch those trees. They are not completely harmless, yet." He shoved the bird cage into one sister's hands, mumbling about how was he going to buy that new acorn salt and pepper shaker set he wanted so much when he just gives stuff away.
The sisters hesitated for only a second. They really wanted to search for their brother immediately. He could be in great pain. As the sister holding the bird cage gently set it down on a rock, a tiny beautiful note sounded from inside. She picked the bird cage back up and both girls looked inside. There, on a slim perch in the covered top of the cage, sat a tiny silver bird. It began to sing as soon as it saw them. The tune sounded so sad, so small and so lonely that the sisters felt at that moment every feeling they must have made their brother feel with their rude behavior. Their stomachs hurt and regret filled their hearts. Oh, if only they could have another chance to be kind to their brother. They would never ignore him, or say rude things about him, or steal his cookies and apple juice again. Neither sister could bear the anguish the bird's song brought them, and together they tried to open the door to the bird cage to free it and rid themselves of the music. The door was locked. With hope, one sister pulled the golden key the old man had given her out of her pocket and tried it in the lock. The door opened and the bird flew out. It flew over their heads, its song changing to one that filled them with happiness. It circled the fallen trees, and then disappeared among them. The sisters could still hear the bird's song and slowly they remembered happy memories of their home and family. The song stopped, and then a second later their brother's head appeared among the branches. The sisters were so glad to see him! He smiled and beckoned for them to come. They climbed over the still trees to where he was, ignoring the scratches the branches gave them. He showed them the tiny nest next to him. It was the size of a walnut, and in it were squished two small spotted eggs. The bird rested on the nest's edge.
"Thank you," the brother said quietly. Then he told them what had happened after they had so horribly sent him away in the ditch. He had cried for many hours at their rude treatment, and then he had climbed out of the ditch and continued to follow it on foot. He resolved to find his own home where he was wanted. Gold coins had appeared along the way, which he had gathered, and he had eaten mushrooms which he found filled him with strength and courage.
He had found the sunny circle of trees which looked like an ideal and perfect place for his home. He had begun gathering rocks and turtle shells from the banks of the ditch to build the walls of his home.
But after spending one night among the trees, the next morning he found that he could not leave the circle. The trees would not let him. Their branches would drop and grab him or their roots would rise and block him. He was terrified. The trees hunched together, not letting light through their leaves, and the brother spent many hours in dark shadows. One day, out of anger, he threw a green turtle shell at a tree. The tree bent with pain for a moment, dropping the tiny bird's nest on the ground beside him. The brother had quickly picked up the nest, but the trees wanted it back. They clawed him and poked him, but he hid the nest in another turtle shell and the trees could not reach it. He threw other green turtle shells at the trees, but they dodged them. The trees, who had not been friendly before, were now very angry, and when the sisters had arrived the brother was fighting them. He had not wanted them to enter the circle because he knew that none of them would be able to leave again. As the sisters had turned to leave, the trees became truly furious with the brother. He feared for his life as they bent towards him. He had hit them with his sword, which really did not have any effect on their hard trunks, since it was made out of fabric, and he had picked up another turtle shell, a red one, and threw it as hard as he could. This shell must have been more powerful than the others because it bounced from tree to tree, hacking and breaking their trunks, and all of them had fallen at once. The brother had luckily climbed into the shell with the tiny nest in order to protect it. He had been stunned when the trees had fallen. In the silence after, he had heard the bird's song, and then tiny chirps coming from the eggs in response. He had climbed out of the broken and dead trees all around him, and that is when he and the sisters had seen each other.
Now they all wondered at the tiny, brown nest, and the small, perfect bird. They heard a low cough behind them.
"I see you have freed my bird and found her eggs," said the old man. "Those trees once were good, but when my bird built her first and only nest there, they became greedy and desired to keep the beautiful eggs for themselves. The bird left to hunt one day, and they would not let her back in. Slowly, over the years, they have become dark and mean. When your brother came, they were very upset that he would disturb them. Thank you for doing what we dared not. Though, you could have at least paid me something, since when those eggs hatch, you will find everything that you have been searching for."
The brother smiled and emptied handfuls of gold coins out of his pockets on to a rock. The sisters, remembering the gold coin they had touched as they were floating down the ditch, reached into their pockets. One sister produced the coin, which she added to the top of the pile.
"Finally!" said the old man, and he scooped the coins into the empty bird cage and left.
After hugging each other and apologizing for a very long while, the sisters and the brother, holding hands, turned to go home. At that moment, both of the eggs cracked open. Two very tiny birds, as big as ladybugs, flew out. They circled their mother, and all three birds flew away.
The brother touched the shining broken shells, and immediately all three were standing before their home. The door was open and their mother was calling them in for dinner. The three siblings looked at each other, and then laughed as they followed three little birds into their home. The birds settled quietly in the nest the children's mother had placed in their silk tree to bring good luck to their home. And they lived happily ever after.
The End!!!

Part Two--The Middle of Jordan's Story

As the sisters sailed side by side down the ditch, they began to notice strange things. Empty green turtles shells sat next to red and white mushrooms on the banks. Now and then a star would quickly pass over them. Small gold coins hung in the air. A sister reached over and touched one; it disappeared with a chiming noise.
They watched, but saw no sign of their little brother. They saw a tree with yellow apples, and stopped to pick as many as they could hold. As they turned to go back to their sleds, one sister saw a single green apple. She picked it.
They continued sailing. One morning they woke up and saw that their sleds were resting on the bank. A tiny old man sat watching them. He asked them for one of their apples. The sisters happily handed him one, but he refused it, saying that he wanted the green one. Since the sisters were very nice girls, they gave it to him without hesitation. He ate it in front of them, a little rudely and with loud noises, but the girls waited patiently. When he finished, he held up the core so they could see it. It was a golden key. He looked at the girls with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Are you looking for something?" he asked.
They nodded.
"Then I will give this back," he said, handing them the key. He turned quickly and walked into the trees.
The sisters were discussing whether they should sail farther down the ditch, or begin looking for their little brother on land, when they heard an angry voice. They followed the sound and saw their little brother in a circle of trees, sitting on his dinosaur and waving his sword, loudly yelling at invisible foes. The sisters laughed; he did that all the time at home.
The brother turned and saw them, but instead of acting joyous, as they had imagined, he frowned and politely asked them to leave immediately.

To be continued...

In Which Jordan Finally Has His Own Story: Part One

Since we are taught that no one can offend you unless you choose to be offended, I have decided to go ahead and write a post for my brother. It has taken awhile because in Jordan's own words, "It is a time-consuming process to create such a momentous tribute."

Once there was a brother. His two sisters were not sure where he came from, he just appeared one day carrying a sword made out of pink Donald Duck fabric. Dark clouds followed his arrival. Soon the parents did not notice the two sisters; something surrounding their son must have blinded them. The sisters were upset and tried to get rid of him. They took him to the orchard and left him, but he found his way home. They locked him out of the house, but the mother always let him back in. Finally, they placed him in the ditch on a plastic dinosaur and let him sail away. He was gone for a long time. The parents were devastated; that was to be expected. The sisters were glad, though, because after three days their places were finally set at the table again. Their mother dug out their old toothbrushes and found their pajamas and read a story to them once more, so they were sure that everything was back to normal.
But when they went outside to play and saw the hut the brother had made between the pine trees, they felt a little sad. They thought this would pass, as it seemed to have passed for the parents. They took their tea set into the hut, but as they spread out the yellow and gray He-Man blanket to sit on they began to cry. They realized that at some point, they must have started to love their brother, and they remembered the few not-so-horrible things that he had done. They thought that possibly they wanted him back. But, remembering the effort it was to get rid of him, they decided to sleep on it. They didn't want to act hastily.
The next morning, finding that they still missed him, the sisters carried their snow sleds to the ditch and set sail.

To be continued...

Maddie and Emily

Maddie's creative dance class started their fall session a few weeks ago.



She's the beautiful dancer on the left.





While we waited for Maddie, Emily and I walked over to the Eccles Community Art Center to see the paintings on display. I had to carry her through all three floors of the house since the first thing she did upon entering was run over to an antique couch, jump up on it, and run back and forth shouting. In the picture above, she shows that she can sit quietly outside, where it doesn't matter.



Then she picked a few flowers.






And then posed for a few pictures.







Don't you love all the Hello Kitty band-aids? I do.

Dinner--Finally

HERE is the recipe I made for dinner last night (fall must be close because I finally made something other than hot dogs or BLT's). The kids loved it!

It's Fun To Have a Kid Like Nicholas

Here is Nicholas' 2008 football team. He's #69 in the middle of the front row.



Nicholas sang with the school choir this year--he's in the white polo and jeans. The choir practiced two mornings a week before school and each day Nicholas would get himself up, dress, he would eat, do his hair, and ride his scooter to school. He has turned into a very responsible kid. He does the same thing with football--he'll come home each night, do his homework, get dressed, fill his water bottle, and ride his bike to practice. We love him!

The End?

I, for one, am quite excited about the powering up of the Large Hadron Collider tomorrow, but just in case we are all sucked into a black hole, goodbye.
By the way, I completely understand what this thing does, but it would just be too much to go into now.

We're Waiting...

So that Jordan knows we all saw his comment on a previous post, and knows we are anxiously waiting for the promised glorious story, I am putting his comment here (it is from the post with the story to Cindy):

Hello everyone, my name is Jordan. If you read this story, and I’m sure you did, you probably noticed that it never mentioned that the two sisters have a little brother. Well, they do, and his name is Jordan (have you made the connection yet?). He loves his two sisters, but they always seem to forget about him, so it is my job to remind them that he exists. In the past, I would have simply published a post requesting that Tiffany write a story that includes him and talks about how diligently he checks her blog, but alas, the good child is always overlooked. In addition, I know that the story would never be written. (For further evidence to this claim please see Cindy’s blog post entitled “For my sister…” and note my efforts to get her to create a post entitled “For my brother…” Also note that as of 9/5/08 @ 2:20 pm, Central time, such a post still does not exist. That’s right Cindy, I have NOT forgotten.)

Thus, (I use this word because I know Tiffany loves it) I employ a new and radical tactic: I will write my own story and post it in Tiffany’s comments! That’s right, I will go straight past the source and BECOME the source!

Unfortunately, writing this dramatic, yet effective introduction has taken longer than I originally anticipated and I am out of time, so the story will have to wait. BUT IT WILL COME…MWAH, HA HA!

(Question, Jordan, for this is vague--why do you assume that I would not write a story about you, just because Cindy didn't? I was totally going to, but now I think you may have offended me.)

Update: The Mouse

The mouse is no longer with us and has moved on to a better place. By this, I do not mean he is living out back by the waterfall now.

Labor Day, Rain, and the Kangaroo Zoo

We had planned to drive out to Antelope Island on Labor Day. At the ranch there, three times each year, they have pioneer activities like candle dipping, rag doll making, and bending nail rings. We've been once, and the kids were looking forward to going again. But when we woke up to dark clouds, lightning, rain, wind and even hail Monday morning, we had to come up with a different idea. So we took a trip to the new Kangaroo Zoo in North Salt Lake.



Emily has become very brave the last couple of months. She did everything Maddie and Nicholas did.



She laughed hysterically each time she went down a slide.



Cute Maddie.



Glow-in-the-dark miniature golf was the favorite activity, though.








Even though it was beautiful and sunny for the ride home, Emily rode all the way under her umbrella.

Update: The Mouse Still Lives

So, what would you do if you have seven-that's right-seven traps set in the basement and the mouse won't DIE! It's not like I can pull everything out of the storage room looking for it--it's truly not possible and I'd rather begin feeding the mouse Brie and hand-smashed peanuts before I did so much work.
Oh please, mouse, run over one of my traps. I cannot function with you in my basement.

Anyway, I just noticed to my shock and dismay that Cindy has not looked at my blog for a very long time. She never does comment much, but usually she at least looks. So I think I will use her lack of interest to my advantage--it's time for another story about Cindy.

The Girl Who Could Fly
Wait--That's the title of the book Maddie checked out of the library tonight. I hate it when I do that.

The Girl Who Did Not Like Her Sister and So Moved Far Away

Once upon a time there was a girl who did not like her sister. There were many reasons. The sister often borrowed the girl's socks, stretched them out, and then put them back in the sock drawer dirty and stinky. Each morning this girl had to study her socks to see if they had been worn yet; the people she worked with had begun calling her "Smelly Feet" because she had unintentionally worn used, smelly socks. Not original, but still hurtful.
Another reason she strongly disliked her sister was because she insisted on calling her at 6:00 in the morning to see if she was going to have waffles for breakfast that day. You see, her sister loved waffles and loved doing everything the same, like wearing the same clothes and doing her hair the same and eating the same stuff at the same time. But the girl was becoming tired and sick of waffles. She hated to lie, but lately she had just been having granola for breakfast and telling her sister that she was having waffles.
The last reason she couldn't stand her sister--I guess there were not many reasons she disliked her sister, just three reasons, it's easy to exaggerate-- was because her sister would not brush her teeth. This was unacceptable because the girl's husband was a dentist and could smell bad breath a mile away (he also could spot yellow teeth a mile away, but let's not brag).
So the girl moved to Alaska to get away from her sister and her irritating, sock borrowing, waffle eating, forgetting to brush ways.
And her sister was very, very sad.
And promised not to steal her socks, even when she forgot to do the laundry and she didn't have any clean ones of her own. She would just wear sandals. Even if there was five feet of snow outside. It was worth having frostbitten toes if she could have her sister back.
She promised not to wonder what her sister was eating for breakfast, and just eat her own waffles alone in silence.
She also definitely promised to brush her teeth at least twice a day in order to be less offensive to everyone, not just her sister.
And because this story has a perfect ending, her sister moved back. And they lived happily ever after.
The End

There will be more, Cindy, if you continue to slack in your blog reading duties.

Football Season

Nicholas will play in his fourth football game this weekend. This year he is playing nose guard, and he loves it. He does a great job. The first week he was named Player of the Game, and the second week he was the Defensive Player of the Game. He also long snaps and plays on the punt return team. He likes his team and his coaches this year. It's fun to watch his games!



Grandma and Grandpa drove up one weekend to watch Nicholas play. This huge, red Gatorade was his award for being the Defensive Player of the Game.



Maddie and Emily like going to the games.





After the game we drove up Ogden canyon to try a restaurant called The Oaks.



The food was good and we enjoyed eating next to the river. Happy football! Go Syracuse!!! Go Utes!!!