Happy Halloween!

The years creep up on you.....Mariah is out trick-or-treating with girlfriends and one of the mom's and one of the dad's. They all stopped by our house for intermission and a break, then took off again. Gib went straight from school to his friends' house for a costume party followed by trick-or-treating. His party rocks until 11 pm. Indy and Taryn are home right now. That may change shortly. They handed out candy, but we don't get many trick-or-treaters here. We had so many in our other neighborhood that I had to buy 20 bags of candy to survive the night. Here, not so much...maybe the equivalent of 5 or 6 bags and the girls give out handfuls since we know there won't be many at the door. Our favorite of the night was the cutest 1 yr old baby who was an adorable purple witch with a tutu'ish skirt (think Anne Geddes style). She said Happy Halloween, trick or treat and "tank-oo". The funniest was a trio of middle-aged boys who stood there with their bags held out but didn't say anything, so Indy just stared them down. The two G.I. Joe's and a "Grease" dude with face piercings crept closer and she cocked a hip and said "aren't you supposed to say something?" and they still stand there and she goes "you supposed to say trick or treat" and the big G.I. Joe goes "I ain't sayin' trick or treat" so naturally Indy replies, "then I guess you aren't getting any candy then are you?" but the other two who said trick or treat get lots of candy. And then big G.I. Joe just goes "TREAT" with Attitude. Luckily for him, Indy was slightly amused and gave him candy anyway. She says he was just joking around.

Jello Jigglers

So here are the Fantastic Four....Jello Jigglers, that is! We have Rainbow Jiggler, Strawberry Jiggler, Berry Blue Jiggler, and Cherry Jiggler. We threw shapes in there too to incorporate curriculum from a few weeks ago - oval, square, circle and rectangle. The kids got a kick out of it, the parents were slightly confused. I enjoyed the response I heard from other staff members, "ask your child, they will explain it to you!". I was told by a few people that we resembled some show on Disney, I think it was Crazy Town, and one little sweetie said I was like Sporticus or something like that. At least he is a good guy, not like that lazy bum who wants kids to sit on the couch and watch tv all day, at least that what she says! But, hmmm, isn't that on a show, where you'd have to be sitting around watching tv to know about it....ironic, huh?! So trick-or-treating at preschool and parties today was a blast. I gave out my Jello Jigglers. They actually turned out pretty good. I even ate several. Jiggled them first too. The only bad part: I didn't really think it through and put them in these cute little condiment cups with lids so I could toss them in the kids' trick-or-treat bags without making a mess....but, it occurred to me that they looked an awful lot like Jello Shooters! So we decided to have the kids eat them at snack time and not take them home to mom!!! No matter what I do....I always seem to be flirting with disaster. It's a wonder I still have a job.

What Can Happen In a Minute?

10. You can mess up the Jello Jigglers you're making for preschool to go with the Jello Jiggler group costume you're doing with the other Pre-K teachers tomorrow (not enough Jello to fill the pan) oops!
9. You can fix your Jello Jiggler mistake and make another different colored batch after raiding your pantry and amazingly finding some more but then forgetting to wait until the first batch was set before boiling the next batch. Wonder what happens when you have to leave Jello in the hot saucepan for half an hour before adding it to the other jello in the fridge? This is why I don't make Jello.
8. You can get caught having way too much fun cruisin' your daughters facebook she left up on your computer and your husband can decide you need your own
7. You can be at preschool racking your brain for things to do because the popcorn won't pop and people keep asking you to come up with popcorn songs, and you've already sung Popcorn Popping twice, and then come up with a fantastic idea to take the Apples and Banana's song and change it to Lots & Lots of Popcorn...only in your haste, you kinda forgot what the U would sound like until you got to the part "ute, ute, ute, lots & lots of puuuup.....uh, oh". Pupcorn, kids, PUPcorn!!!
6. You can be at preschool and get tired of pushing the tire swing with your hands and decide to karate kick it every time instead, and accidentally make a kid fall right through the middle.
5. You can throw yourself in front of a tire swing moving at about the speed of sound toward a child in its path and save a life
4. You can reach inside your pumpkin and pull out a carving and decide it looks alot like a tongue and attach it to your pumpkins mouth
3. You can decide to move your mother's pitiful pumpkin into licking range of your pumpkins tongue
2. You can encourage the other pumpkins to surround it and cannibalize it
1. You can create your first facebook photo album documenting your proud pumpkin bullying moment for posterity

Trunk or Treat!

POWER RANGERS!

Geeb eees dee Frito Bandito

Don't let the heart-knee highs fool you....

even cute vampires are deadly!

Trunk or Treat was freezing!

They neglected to mention the entire thing would be held outside, so most of us didn't bring coats!

Volley-Finale

Yesterday was the last game of Fall Volleyball. We'll be back on the same team in the Spring. Mariah had a great time and learned alot:

1. always be ready

2. keep your eye on the ball

3. support your team mates

4. concentrate

5. follow through

6. think positive

7. sacrifice is worth it

8. Go For It!!!

And now....

TEAM PHOTOS!

Back Row: Left to Right

Help my robotic arm is stuck to the trophy!; oooh, the ball is so lifelike!;

shouldn't this thing say 1st place?!; act like you've been here before (whistle, whistle, whistle);

don't you think these trophies are pretty?; I think they were made in China;

Front Row: Left to Right

Robotic arm?! Cool, I wondered how you served so well!;

Cheese? Who said cheese? Where's the cheese?!; I should be on a Travel Volleyball team;

ooooh, I can myself in the reflection of the court!

Couldn't resist...here's another!

Back Row: Left to Right

Hiiii-yahh! My robotic arm is unstuck!; oooh, I have a robotic arm now too!;

shouldn't my name be engraved on this trophy?; You've got to be kidding me;

I don't care if it was made in China - I still like it!;

I can even make a trophy from China look good;
Front Row: Left to Right

Wow! My 3-D glasses make this ball look awesome!; I don't even need 3-D glasses to see 3 of them!; Daddy, make them stop; Hey, that's not what the coach meant when he said to keep your eye on the ball!

Team Photo - Tigers 2008

(Mariah loves the "Sweet Taste of Victory!")

- quote by Gib

- blog title by Gib too

Power Ranger in Progress

Here's our Pink Power Ranger costume in progress.

This is after about 3 hours of duct-taping.

We're not quite done.

The guys are doing the helmets for the girls.

Isn't that sweet?!

T got rave reviews at the party next door.

She did, however, have to slightly cut herself out

of the top to get out of the costume!

Guess we will be duct-taping her back in the costume tonight!

I started coming down with the crud again yesterday. Indy stepped in and took Mariah to her party, after she stepped in and helped her finish her costume and go to Target for a gift card! I was not on the ball and when she got home, it kinda made me laugh when Indy asked why all this wasn't done ahead of time?! She's so much like me sometimes, I'm sure it's scary for her. Since I ended up duct-taping for 3 hours, I think she got the better bargain! Me and T had fun though, it woke me up, and there was only one little injury between my fingers and the scissors...hey, a little blood on a Power Ranger costume makes it authentic!

Indy and Taryn are taking the ACT test today. It's Taryn's first time taking it, and Indy's last!!

The Latest and Greatest

Mariah got in a full set of braces, beginning the second phase of her Ortho work. As a four-peat patient family, they said we don't have to start paying until Gib is out of his braces in about 8 months. Mariah chose purple and green bands and so far has been very diligent about her brushing, flossing and fluoride. Halloween is going to be brutal. She got to go to a Sneak Preview of the new High School Musical movie last night for a girls birthday party - they had backstage passes for invitations - very cute!

Report cards came back and everyone did awesome! I'm so proud my kids are such good students because they do it all on their own. I do not stand over them, tell them to do their homework, or remind them of assignments and tests. Mike and I are obviously ready and willing to help if asked, but they only occasionally need us. I get the English papers, Mike gets the math.

Taryn was approached on Sunday by one of the young men at church, asking her to be part of their group costume this year - Power Rangers! She is going to be the Pink one and was asked if there was another cool girl who could be the yellow, since the only other girl who will give them the time of day in the ward besides Taryn couldn't come out for Trunk or Treat. We thought of a likely candidate, a sweet gal who T likes and is a freshman at her school. She agreed to be the Yellow girl Power Ranger. The other 5 Power Rangers are all guys from church. They all got together the other night to start making their costumes out of sweats, cardboard and duct tape, and made plans to meet before Trunk or Treat to watch one of the Power Ranger movies so they could get their "moves down"!!! Sounds like a blast!! (hahaha)

Indy is going to start training as a server soon. She is excited about that. I hope it will develop into a good job field for her to put herself through college. She is putting the finishing touches on essays for college admissions this weekend. It's been hard with work, life, her senior project and tests at school. Our goal was to have everything in this week, but if we can finish it up early next week, she will make the November 1st deadlines for priority scholarship consideration at all the universities she is applying to. Then when studying for mid-terms rears its ugly head, she will be coasting through just waiting to hear back from the colleges. She actually already got accepted into Northwest, but that was last on our list (well, actually, I am not sure it was ever on HER list) and was the practice-test run application.

Gib, I've discovered, is the most closed-mouthed child I have. Tell you what, you got a secret you want someone to keep - tell Gib. I sure won't be able to wiggle it outta him! I'm not giving up, and he sure is making this harder on everyone than it has to be. Man, all he had to do is give me a name and it would have passed over in a day or two, but nooooooo, he had to be all secretive. As a Perfect-Man-In-Training, he has alot to learn about women and secrets. Other than that, Gib is doing well! It's time to start selling Christmas Wreaths door to door (that's always fun) to earn money for his Scout account. Last year he got to go skiing on what he earned selling wreaths.

Some good news from me too! Our preschool received the highest score we've ever achieved in the certification assessment! We've always been a 3 Star program (the best you can be) and this year got a 6.2 something out of 7 which is unheard of!! Go us!

Tonight we have two costume parties - one for Mariah, one for everybody, then tomorrow is Trunk or Treat and Monday is the Colts game at the stadium! What a great few days we have ahead! For the costume party tonight, I think I will borrow some of T's duct tape and Mike & I will be soda vending machines. I saw it when I was looking for Power Ranger ideas for T. You tape the cans to the tape and dangle it around your neck - how easy is that?! Last year we were "lame excuses" - we try to stick to our true personalities here.

Shocking, I Say!

It's time for another playground blog! I lasted about 10 minutes before boredom overtook me today. I'm just not cracked up to be a playground observer. It is agonizing....my mind thinks of all the others things I could be doing, and then the voices start complaining about how little fun they're having.....well, you know how it is, right?! So, I looked around and aha! Weeding! I can't get in trouble with that, can I? I had a few little helpers and we pulled weeds out of our new 4" deep mulch until we couldn't find anymore. We did it to help our elderly caretaker of the preschool who would usually be weeding for us, but is in the hospital recovering from quadruple bypass surgery. The kids loved helping Mr. Duane out. We shared some quality time hunting down weeds, nobody got hurt, and the kiddos received excellent weeding lessons! Pretty soon we had kids looking for those last few weeds like they would if it was an easter egg hunt. Some kids pulled out roots over a foot long!

Then as I was passing the slide, some kid got the horrible idea of going down the slide upside down and backwards and I would catch him (geez! where do they come up with this stuff?!) so I told him that it would be more fun if he went down feet first and we'd see who could shock who first...me or him?! It was a static-y day. Well, snap-crackle-pop! it was a doosie (it seriously kind of hurt) and next thing I know there's about 10 kids going down the double slide shocking me at the bottom. We'd hold out our fingers and just let the tips touch as the kids reached the bottom and CRRAACK! Of course I yelped, blew on my fingers, and made faces just to make the kids giggle and send them scurrying back up the stairs to shock me again! Oh what fun we had!

You'd think I'd be done, wouldn't you?! But I was begged to be the Jello Jiggler Monster again. By the cutest little bug-a-boo with her little shy smile. Who can say no?! But wait! We have revamped the game to make it safer. We now sit on the balance beam after a couple unfortunate injuries and the game morphed into little jigglers sneaking out of the fridge before I can count them all and while I'm looking for them they sneak back in. Well, sneaking while running & screaming that is. Still we had an almost-bloody nose last week so I had to institute another new rule - jello jigglers don't have long legs, so they can only race walk, not run. Because when 20 kids start running like cockroaches when you turn on the lights it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. All the other teacher lined up to laugh at me demonstrating to 20 kids sitting in a row what race walking looked like. I apparently make quite a silly sight. We played a few rounds and then I taught the kids about the saying "Quit While You're Ahead". So they put me in jail.

I think I will be a Jello Jiggler Monster for the Halloween parties next week. Taryn and I were looking at goofy sunglasses that had alot of potential. We have some wildly colorful fake hair left over from Crazy Hair Day, and I could probably print jello jiggler images off the computer and tape them all over me. Maybe I'll even make jello jigglers for their parties! But that might be stretching it. I think maybe I've made them once. Maybe.

Power Rangers to Duct Tape?

Taryn was asked to be the Pink Power Ranger by a group of young men at church who were going to be, obviously, all the other Power Rangers for this Saturday's Trunk or Treat. Well....after scouring the stores today and sqeezing into the child's size 10/12, we decided that Taryn no longer can get away with a childrens body suit on her teenager body. Yeah, that would not have been good surrounded by a group of boys, huh?! So.....we get home and have an email saying they couldn't find any Power Ranger stuff either and now the Plan B is to find an idea that has something to do with Duct Tape?! I think they still want Power Rangers, but made out of Duct Tape.

So, who has an idea?

Pumpkin Farm

We had Fall Break and enjoyed a 4 day weekend. We went to an apple orchard and a pumpkin farm on Saturday. Getting pumpkins is my favorite Fall activity. I wish we could go out in a field and pick 'em ourselves, but the next best thing was this little country farm out in the boonies with (and this is something you don't get to see real often) a bunch of old farmers running around in overalls. That almost made up for the pumpkins being pre-picked!

Mariah & Indy - two cuties in a squash

Taryn doing the tongue thing - we were trying to get her to stick her head out far enough to accidentally lick the flowers. We are self-entertaining people.

Gib grabbed a wagon; the girls jumped on. Isn't that what he had in mind?!

Oops - this is the END of the hay maze...

Ta-daaa!

Did I mention it is a hay maze for kids under age 5?!

No wagon? No Problem!

So, all I asked for was a nice photo of my kids in what was obviously a Photo Opportunity Spot

I think I managed to capture one "nice" shot before THIS happened!

We drew quite a crowd of overall'd observers.

They enjoyed the performance.

This photo cracks me up....Taryn has quite a pumpkin belly! I love the bump on the top of her pumpkin! Can't wait to see how she carves it.

Mike is a Big Grinch at the pumpkin farm, so I said this pumpkin looked like him

He said, "No, my pumpkin's right here!" Told ya he was a grinch. He didn't even get one. That's OK, I always get two to make up for it.

Gib says choosing a pumpkin is like choosing which girl is the cutest at middle school
he still won't tell us her name (he will continue to suffer our abuse until he does)

Indy's Perfect Pumpkin with a Swirly

(and Gammy trying to run away from the photographer)

Mariah went BIG!

(Farmer BillyBob only charged us $8 for it too)

Here's Taryn's Twisted Character Pumpkin

That's My Girl!!!!

And that was our day at the "other" Farm!

We went home and Indy worked on her college essays, Mariah & Dad made chocolate chip cookies, Grammy made apple crisp, I worked on our 3 ward craft event, Taryn cleaned her room, Gib did something (probably homework), and then we all gathered for movies and Phase 10. What a great Fall Break day!!

You've Seen The Video

Now here are the photos I took!

"Welcome to the Farm"

Tandem Guy Chad hooking Mike up, while Mike's coworker mills about

Big Steve showing Indy how to hold herself to jump out of the plane, that's pretty much all you need to know!

Indy and Big Steve heading out of the hanger

DZ Chad filming Indy for the pre-jump interview

Here's their plane. It landed at the Farm for the last run of the day, so I was able to get a photo

And they're off! The plane flies over the farm as it spirals up to 14,000, but when they jumped, I could barely see the plane - it was just a tiny white speck in the sky

Indy & Big Steve's canopy was bright enough to spot right away

Coming in to the drop zone

Landings were fun to watch. At first it seems like they're coming in too fast, but at the last minute, they slow it all down and come in for a perfect landing



DZ Chad capturing Indy's famous Scared Spitless comment!

Here comes Mike! I had a hard time finding them in the sky

They were the last to land, I was getting a tad nervous

DZ Chad and his little dog Claire report it was a great first jump!

Mike & Indy comparing notes

All the jumpers return to the hanger to de-harness and jumpers pack up their chutes for the last sunset run of the day.
Here we are - the Nutso's as my friend so eloquently put it!

Here's the plane coming in for the last landing of the day at the Farm instead of the airport

and DZ Chad, Indy's videographer, on his sunset jump for fun!