Crazy Hair Day

This week was red ribbon week. So every year the kids usually participate in whatever instructions come with the day of the week. They have worn red, walked around the field to get their own pedometer (which they both thought was really cool for a day) and of course they both wanted to do crazy hair day.

Here is Ashley's creation...

We put pony tails and braids sticking up all over her head and even painted one black. She was set.





Jacob wasn't wild enough to do what Taylor did a couple of years ago and cover his head in ponytails with Ashley's rubber bands but here is what Jacob did let me do...





He was very proud of himself and kept asking whose hair was crazier his or Ashley's. Sorry Jacob I think Ashley has you beat.

When I went to pick them up from school Jacob said his friend thought he had burned his hair to get it to look like it did. (Ha ha ha) He also said the girl in his class that likes him said she likes his hair better spikey. (Oohh la la)

One thing thats good about having Ashley and Jacob being the only ones that go to elementary school together is that they've been able to become better friends. It's not uncommon to find them in the garage together riding bikes or skating.



And when your feet don't reach the pedals what do you do? Call over a friend to push them for you :) !

LPA Halloween Party

This last Saturday we hosted an LPA Halloween Party at the park across the street from our house. It was busy and crazy with Jeff taking Jacob to soccer while Taylor and I set up (of course we happened to be in charge of snacks that day too). It was also our Stake Conference that day so Jeff left early to make it to the priesthood session and I had to clean up quick so I could get down to the adult session.

It turned out pretty good though there wasn't as many people as I hoped there would be. There were about 50 people which wasn't bad. The good thing was that a lot of them were newer members so since it was more intimate they were able to get to know people better.

Now it's on to planning the "Harvest Party" for Ashley's class. It'll be interesting see how much we can squeeze into the 30 minutes party window.

Quotes from this week...

1. "BOO!"



(Thanks McAbee's)

2. "Eeeewww, gross! How in the world could it grow 3 inches of mold spores overnight!! What is IN this stuff??"

(Jeff cleaning up the Nuriche sample that exploded in his car)


3. Jacob "That team cheated."

Jeff "No, they were just aggressive Jacob. Thats going to happen as you get older."

Jacob "But they hit me in the chest."

Jacob "They cheated."

3. "Go BYU"




4. "My seat is too hot! Can I just sit on the ground??!!"

"I'm all sweaty" "Is it done yet?" "How much longer"

"How much did we spend on ice cream, $15.00?"

(Rethinking the "bringing the whole family" idea)



5. "Sorry sir, you're in our seats."


(During half/time we realize we were supposed to be sitting on the field seats with the rest of our group. It was much cooler down there)

6. Ashley "I like the modest girls"



(Good girl)

7. "Look at my bobble head picture!"



(Ashley enjoyed drawing pictures about the game much more than watching the game:)



8. Mom "Did you like the game?"

Boys "I forgot about it." ... "It was fun to sit with friends."



9. (Jeff was home sick on Sunday) After sacrament meeting...

Ashley "I'm sick I need to go home with Dad."

Jacob "I'm sick too I need to go home too. Dad said if we were still sick call him and he would pick us up."

Mom "If I let you lay on the couch and watch one movie after church will you stay?"

Both of them (with sly smiles) "O.K.!" "O.K.!"

(Hmmmmmm...)

10. (Kids running through the backyard as I'm in the kitchen)

Dad "Run, pour it on him! Run, throw it!"



(The results of trying out an "eye for an eye" punishment. Jacob throws water on Taylor's shirt...well Taylor gets to throw some water on Jacob's shirt. Jacob then tries to dry it with the fan.)

(I'm thinking Jacob isn't acting too sick)

11. Ashley "Oh dang it. I just washed my hands and now I want to touch the dirty squash. Can I still help make popcorn if I touch the dirty squash?"



12. Mom "Who can we borrow brown sugar from??"



(Thanks Stapleys)

12. "Boo!"



Happy Halloween!

Conference Weekend was enjoyable. Watching conference on TV in Jammie's is the best! It was nice to hang out as a family and listen to conference talks and watch what the church is doing around the world. (We loved the merry go round that lit up the school in Africa.)

Right before it started Ashley asked me about having our conference booklets that I've printed off the Internet in the past. At her insistence I printed some pages off for everyone.



I told the kids that we would be have a game for family home evening the next night quizzing them on the conference talks and they could use their notes if they took them.

No one took notes except me. In fact Jacob only did one page of his packet and after all of Ashley's prodding for packets she did 1/2 a page.

No problem, we had a fun game the next night at Family Home evening and I was able to come up with lots of really good questions. Those who paid attention the day before got more points than others...hmm hmm... I won't mention any scores though. Needless to say nobody had any notes to cheat off of.

There was a winner and prizes so I'm hoping that they learned their lessons for next time :)

* Monday I had to spend the day at the mercy of Honda as I relinquished my car to them while they fixed it. My dome lights haven't been working for almost a year and there was an air conditioning vent they needed to replace. Since it was all under warranty it wouldn't cost, it just would take time.

I opted to get a ride home and then be picked up later in the day when it was done.

Other than walking to the school to help in Ashley's class, it wasn't too inconvenient. I even got to meet a new friend. Gabriel, who was my driver. He wasn't too talkative unless we discussed movies that were made from comic books. Once that subject ran dry I tried books. He hadn't read any of the ones I mentioned but he told me had read a really really good one, one that he really liked. He said he liked it so much it only had taken him a month to read it, because it was 400 pages. I asked him the title. "I hope they serve beer in hell." Hmmmm, I don't think I'll be reading it but I'm sure glad he liked it.

When I picked up my car they told me the reason my dome lights weren't working wasn't because of a short in the wires (which is what they originally thought)but because whoever installed my navigation system (Best Buy) unplugged my dome lights. Nice.

Well I was glad to have the car back because when I picked up the kids that day Jacob informed me that I was going to be one of two chaperons for his field trip the next day. No note or information from the teacher about it so I'm really glad at least Jacob thought to tell me. So we moved Ashley's orthodontist appointment and I cleared my schedule and prepared to go with Jacob.

* Tuesday I arrived at the school a little late to go to Jacob's field trip after a frantic call from him telling me we really did need a lunch today and not just a snack. I walked up just as Mrs. Boyer was saying "Jacob where is your mom?" Whew!



I got to ride in the bus with all the students but I made the mistake of thinking that Jacob wanted to sit by me. By the time I got back to him he was already sitting next to his friends with no room for me. Of course I should've known at this age :).

So I sat in the back right in front of the rowdy boys who sang a variety of songs at full volume both harmless and dubious in nature. I had a nice view of the girls glaring back at these rowdy boys throwing one eye-roll after another.

(I made sure not to make the same mistake on the way back and I snagged a seat in the front of the bus)

The field trip was to down town Riverside where the students were able to participate in a mock trial. They were able to see how the court system works and read a script taking part in a pretend trial.



The jury even went to another room to deliberate after the evidence was presented. The students gave some interesting answers and insights into the trial that they had participated in. Jacob was able to play the part of a witness.


After they were done with their mock trial we got to walk over to the courthouse and observe a real trial. Two men were being accused of robbery and theft and they were cross examining the officer who had found and arrested the suspects. It was interesting to watch in action some of the same things that the students had just acted out.



We stayed until the lunch recess which actually came a little early because they ran out of witnesses. The court employees as well as the lawyers and some of the arresting officers all stayed in the courtroom and answered the student's questions. The students had to stand up and address the judge by "your honor". I thought he gave some great answers and the students (or at least some of them) were so into it they would've kept asking questions all day. Mrs. Boyer had to finally excuse us so we could get back to the bus.



I thought at this point we would eat lunch together, but I guess not. I had been carrying it the whole time but I guess they weren't letting anyone eat until they got back to school. Jacob was starved at this point but when I let him eat a snack while we were waiting to go in the courtroom the other students pointed at the "no eating" sign so I had him stuff it in his mouth and chew quick. On the bus the "no eating" sign was again pointed out, besides it would've been rude to eat it in front of all the other hungry kids. So I carried the lunch back to the school, gave it to Jacob and then went home to eat my lunch.

At the end of the day I asked Jacob how he liked the field trip.

"It wasn't fun." he said.

I explained to him it wasn't meant to be fun, it was supposed to be informative.

* Wednesday I went to the parent/volunteer meeting and then to Mrs. Boyer's to grade papers. I was in her room for about 5 minutes before it was time to go to recess.

Just having received our instructions that "no parent is allowed to stay in the classroom, playground, or lunch area during recess or breaks" I had to move myself to the office to be obedient. I guess if we are in any of these areas without a teacher supervising us we are a liability. I won't even get into how I feel about that.

I rushed through grading papers to get done in time to take Ashley to her orthodontist appointment.



She was getting braces and everyone in her class had her scared that it would hurt to get them put on. She was a little freaked out but I assured her she would be fine.

Once we got there I was proud of her. I don't think it hurt her but it wasn't the most comfortable. We had to keep waiting for the orthodontist so the assistant had Ashley lips all pulled back and the vacuum suctioning her out quite a while before they even started putting the brackets on but Ashley was a trooper.

She wanted green and blue rubber bands. (She says she's over pink now)

That night I went to a GATE meeting and learned how I can be a GATE advocate at our school. It was actually a good meeting because they went over some of the myths that are out there about GATE students and got me to be more aware of my children's need to push themselves a little more and being more proactive in their learning both at school and at home. I even woke up the next morning with an idea to use in Jacob's class for their next social studies segment. So the next time I'm in the classroom I'll see if the teacher will go for it.

* Friday I went in and helped in Jeff's office for awhile, played assistant secretary for the day.

After school we cleaned the house, dropped Jacob off at a birthday party, and got Taylor back to Jeff's office for his Ukulele lesson from Jeff's client.



While everyone else was gone I brought Ashley to Farmer Boys to redeem her gift certificate from her award. The rest of the weekend was filled with soccer, errands, visits, church and feeding the missionaries.

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This week...

* We redeemed our FIRST season ticket to an RCC play. They were showing "All Shook Up" featuring a bunch of Elvis music set to a story line. It was a cute 50's theme play with everyone in love with the wrong person until the end.

After we ditched our assigned seats after the first half along with the "kicker" behind me and the "loud mouth talkers" behind both of us, and the "big headed tall lady" in front of us we really enjoyed it.

I would recommend the RCC plays in the future if anyone is into plays, they always do a great production.


* Saturday was the Relief Society broadcast and dinner. It was great! And now I can stop saying Home Family and Personal Enrichment meeting.

I don't think that Bishop understood the changes at first. I had to stop him from releasing all the Enrichment leaders!!!


* Sunday and Monday my sister Angela came to visit. It was so fun to catch up with her and hang out together!



We played games and attempted to have a scrapbook day on Monday. I was interupted with repair men, time in Ashley's classroom, multiple school pickups, dance class and more. I didn't get much done but it was nice to get me motivated to get going on it again. It was also fun to have Angela for Family Home Evening that night.

* This week Ashley had her First experience of having a cavity drilled. She did remarkably well and was a model patient. I actually asked to be able to go back with her to comfort her but they told me to hang on and they never came to get me. I think she stayed more composed without me.

On the way home she kept saying that her face was really swollen on one side. (It was just numb) she kept poking and prodding it and would swear that it was huge on that side :)

* This week I met some of Ashley's classmates including an interesting boy trying to get out of having to read to me by doing an elaborate charade pretending that he had just lost a tooth.

The "tooth" was a hunk of white crayon...he was holding the crayon in his other hand as he was showing us his "tooth". He kept up the charade by holding a paper towel up to his gums to "stop the bleeding". When he realized his hunk of crayon wasn't shaped right he tried fixing it and it disintegrated but he still insisted it was his tooth.

When Ashley got home that day she said this same boy in her class lost a tooth today. I guess he kept it up even after I left :).

* The day after Ashley's cavity was fixed Jacob woke up in a lot of pain from a toothache. We rushed him to the dentist the next day thinking he had a cavity too. It happened to be a partially exposed nerve from a baby tooth coming out. Jacob decided to wait it out rather than have the baby tooth pulled. Luckily he seems to be doing better today.


*This week Ashley got her first Principal's award of the year.



Her teacher wrote "Ashley obeys the rules of the classroom and is respectful to authority at school. She is a good neighbor to all her classmates and makes our classroom a better place."




* Right after watching her get her award I headed over to the book fair room to help set up. Set up was pretty fun setting up diplays and sorting through goodies that our kids would be begging us for later.





This week I had the opportunity to work at the book fair 3 times.

What did I Gain?

Retail experience, including how to tactfully tell a child that they can't afford the stack of things that they want to buy...

$10.00 of book fair credit (about $1.00 an hour)...

wet and sticky hands from counting all the change that was either tightly clutched into sweaty fists or dumped out of the bottom of purses filled with unwrapped candy, and who knows what else...

What did I lose...

other than some money to buy my children what they wanted...

1/2 a toenail. It was stepped on by a student. I guess I should've worn my close toed shoes that I am alway sure to make my children wear :)



My favorite customer at the book fair was the boy that exclaimed "Tax?! I have to pay Tax?! But I'm not an adult!!!".

I laughed and told him "That's the privilege of living here."


* This week I had the opportunity to go and volunteer at the Bishop's storehouse. We got to fill truck orders for people that receive church assistance. It was a great opportunity to serve and we were able to sit and each lunch together at the end and talk about the earthquakes in Samoa with some of the Samoan volunteers.

* This week Jacob got to go to his first Court of Honor. He got his first rank advancement and his first patch for his shirt. Luckily we have a shirt swap in our ward so if there is one that fits we use the ones that are available. Jacob found one that fit him perfectly but he's running around with "Fletcher" sown on it :)



Taylor got a bunch of merit badges from scout camp.



Then after the court of honor he had his Board of Review for his "Life" merit badge. He passed :) His goal is to get eagle by 14...



* This week Jacob had 2 soccer practices (as always) and a game today. We were so proud of Jacob. The team lost by one point (5 - 6) but Jacob played so well we didn't care about the score. He's not afraid to get in there and have the ball, and players, running right at him. He played consistently and even helped with a couple of assists. Way to go Jacob!



* Tonight Taylor got to go with Jeff to the priesthood session of conference and participate in the yearly tradition of dinner afterwards with Dale and Steve and their boys. He came home learning a new trick from his cousin Ian. When Ian did it in the restaurant it got a lot of attention so when Taylor got home he thought he'd try to see if he could do it too.

If I could describe it, it's basically two forks being held up by two toothpicks balanced end on end.



It looks impossible but if you get the weight distributed just right and work carefully you can get it to stay.



Crazy!!! It will be a good missionary trick for Ian :)

* And last but not least we had some fun tonight trying to get out our fall decorations while the boys were at the priesthood session...

I went into our shed and pulled out a box of our fall stuff from the very top. The box was kind of heavy but I got it down and set it on top of another box and looked inside to see what was in it.

I pulled out my fall table runner thinking that it had gotten dirty and then something caught my eye in the box. There was fur and what looked like a big rat tail. Immediately I tried to figure out what I would've had in the box that looked like that.

We had bought a fake crow for Halloween that looked pretty real but I didn't remember buying a rat.

I looked closer and pushed the box a little and realized it was a possum. Was is dead or playing dead??



I pushed the box a little and it moved!!

We walked away and came back a couple of minutes later and he was poking his head out...



He was very cute but I know that they can be dangerous and aggressive if they feel threatened so we stayed back. I called animal control and they don't do anything, I accidently called a private trapper first who wanted to charge me $185 to trap him and $85 to relocate him. Yeah right.

I actually happen to ask a family who was packing up from the park if they had ever delt with a possum before and the one guy had a mom that ran a possum rescue place of all things.

He tried to transfer it into another box for me and take it to his mom's rescue but he escaped and ran up our tree, so he gave me his card in case we caught it again.

Needless to say our decorations didn't get up tonight. I'm not real excited to see what "other things" are lurking in the boxes in the shed.