Third times the charm...I hope

I had an orthodontist appointment this morning and for the third time I set up an appointment to get my braces off. The first appointment was way back in February but due to a broken bracket it got put off until April. When April rolled around we decided to go for another six months to see if I could get a permanent retainer on my top teeth. Dr. Luddington wasn't sure it would work but we decided it would be worth the extra time (no extra charge thanks to a contract I signed before I even started this odyssey). It seems that the extra effort was worth it because there is now room for the retainer, yeah!! So my fingers are crossed that nothing else will happen and come December 16th I will have a brand new smile to show the world!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we went on a Joy School field trip to a local pumpkin patch. Maddie and Jeni were very excited to be able to go as well since they were out of school on Fall Break.

First we let the kids run around in a hay maze. They had so much fun!
Then we got a cart and picked out the perfect pumpkin, which was hard to find in 8 acres of pumpkins!
Then we found some really scary witches...
sat with some scarecrows...
and spooked some ghosts!

It was a lot of fun and now we have lots of pumpkins on our front steps. When we got home the kids had so much fun painting the small pumpkins. They are really looking forward to carving the rest of the pumpkins except for a white one we found that we are planning on cooking up in a pie after it's done it's tour of duty as a Halloween decoration. Yeah for multi-taskers!

A Poke in the Eye

A few months ago, Bob and Nathan were playing when Nathan accidentally poked Bob in the eye. Bob responded in typical fashion when something startles or hurts him, meaning he let out a very loud yell of surprise. It scared poor Nathan half to death and reduced him to tears, but from this experience came two things. First of all came a great new game between the two of them where Nathan will sneak up on Bob and gently poke him (anywhere but the eyes!), then he shouts “Poke!” and runs away laughing knowing that Bob will chase after him and tickle him when he’s caught. It is so funny to watch the two of them poking each other.

The other thing that came from this is Nathans belief that the ultimate insult is a poke in the eye. He often comes to me claiming that Grace has poked him in the eye. I’m not really sure what he wants me to do about it other than give him a hug, explain again that Grace can’t control her hands and arms yet and then pretend to say sorry in Graces voice. Then he’s happy and away he goes. His funniest expression of a poke in the eye came last week when we were driving the kids out to school. The sun was just coming up over the mountains and was shining in our eyes. It was really frustrating Nathan who kept complaining about the sun. I guess I wasn’t making the sun go away like he thought I was suppose to because finally in a fit of anger he proclaimed “Mama, the sun poked me in the eyes!”

The First Snow

We had our first snowfall of the season Saturday night and we woke up Sunday morning to find that winter had come. At first the kids were upset by this, they seemed to think that snow cannot come until after Halloween. They were very concerned that we were going to have to skip Halloween this year and it was especially traumatic since we just bought new costumes on Saturday and they haven’t quit wearing them since. When we reassured them that this was not the case they decided the snow was lots of fun. As soon as they got home from church they found snow clothes for everyone and out they headed to throw snowballs and make a snowman.

I went outside to watch the fun and take some pictures and I was struck by how pretty our roses were and how strange they looked against the snow. The two just don’t seem to go together! I guess I’d better enjoy the roses while I still can.

By the way, you can see one of Bob's official signs in the picture. I'm surprised how far 50 of them went and how often I see them as I'm driving around town. Go Bob!

Signs

Bob has decided to run for House of Representatives for the Constitution Party again this year. He ran two years ago and in an effort to get more votes this time than last he decided to order 50 lawn signs. The signs didn’t come as soon as he expected and he was starting to get very frustrated, especially since his opponent has signs EVERYWHERE. Anyway, one morning he was worrying about the signs so Maddie and Jeni disappeared upstairs and a while later they came down with some signs they had made themselves. They wanted to use them so Bob took them around and they handed the signs out to some of our neighbors.

His official signs came a few days later and one evening we all piled in the car and took signs around. The kids sat in the back and banged on the signs like drums and made up a song that went something like “Vote for Bob, he’s not too goofy!” They make fine campaign managers!

Happy Birthday Jeni!

Jeni is now officially six years old! I can’t believe that my kids are getting so big. I can’t possibly be that old myself, can I? Oh well.

We had Jeni’s birthday party on Monday night and were able to enjoy the company of many family members. Nana and Grandma Moultrie came and took Jeni birthday shopping after school and Jeni got the present that she’s “always wanted” (the one that I’d never heard of before I guess) which turned out to be a teddy bear stuffing machine. It came with three bear “skins” and a machine that you put the stuffing in, turn the crank and ta-da, you have your own teddy bear. Later on she got two Barbies, some Polly Pockets and some clothes. But I suspect that her favorite present of all may have been the $.88 box of candy that I bought on a whim and tucked into the package of clothes to make it sound interesting!

One of the great things about Jeni’s birthday being in October is that we can make fun Halloween themed cakes for her birthday. I found a recipe for a candy that was about the consistency of play dough and the flavor of the inside of a peppermint patty so Jeni and I spent the afternoon making a ghost, a black cat and pumpkins to put on her cake. We had fun spending the time together and ended up with a pretty darn cute cake to boot! Happy Birthday Jeni! I sure do love you!

Bedtime!

The last couple of weeks Maddie and Jeni have decided to help get Nathan and Grace ready for bed at night. Jeni has decided that she is in charge of Grace and will take her and change her diaper and then put on her sleeper, singing made up songs to her the whole time. One of the songs that she made up for Grace goes to the tune “Hush Little Baby” and says

Hush little Gracie, don’t shed a tear.
Mommy’s going to hold you all night my dear.
We’ve been there and we’ve done that.
Hurry Mommy, hurry fast!

After Jeni gives me Grace and goes to get herself ready for bed I have to discreetly check and make sure that Grace’s diaper is on the right way. The other day I noticed that Grace’s onsie wouldn’t stay on the diaper, it kept slipping to one side. I finally opened it up and saw that Maddie had changed her without me knowing it and poor Grace had one whole cheek hanging out of her diaper! At least she hadn’t done anything yet…

Maddie helps Nathan get ready for bed and has come up with a really cute routine to distract him from the automatic “No” of a three year old. Nathan loves Thomas so she tells him, "Come on Nathan, we've got to hurry and go to all the stations so you can go drive Thomas. And if we aren't on time the train will leave without us." So first they head off to the "Flush and Swish Station" (he gets to go potty one last time – by the way, when he has to go he comes and tells me “Mom, I’ve got pee in me”, then I know we’ve got to hurry before he “makes an accident”). Next comes the "Soapy-soap station" (he washes his hands) then the "Wipey-wipe station" (he dries his hands). Then comes the "Warm and cozy station" (pajama time), the "Scrubby-brush station" (tooth brushing time) and last but not least, the "Head-bow station" which is prayers. Every once in a while she throws in "Well done, Nathan" and when they are finished she says "Wow Nathan, you are a very useful engine" in her best Sir Topham Hatt voice. Then it's time to go drive Thomas which is his bed. They have a good time with this game and it gets Nathan in to bed!

I am so lucky to have such great helpers!

Bob's new toy

A couple of weeks ago Bob got a new toy. It is a metal lathe that he has been wanting for years and he finally ordered it online. It came on a cool, drizzly day and I panicked a little bit when the FedEx Freight guy came to drop it off and said he would need help getting it up the steep driveway. The only people I knew that were home are all the other moms that live in my neighborhood and I imagined a whole pack of us trying to get the 700 pound lathe up into the garage. But he assured me that I would be all the help he would need and that if they had packed it better so that it would sit on a pallet jack right he would have been able to do it himself. Anyway, he worked and worked to get the load balanced on the pallet jack and then angled up the driveway the right way and somehow we did it. Nathan thought the big box in the garage was the neatest thing ever, until Bob came home from work and opened up the crate. Then Nathan saw all the buttons, gizmos and wheels to turn and it was nearly impossible to drag him away from “Daddy’s new toy”. They have definitely had some major boy bonding time out in the garage! It took Bob several days to clean all the excess oil off the lathe and get it ready to put into position on his table in the garage. Then with the help of a rented engine hoist and three great neighbors (thanks guys!) it has finally settled into its permanent home.

While all the guys were doing their thing with the lathe I called all the kids inside, including Emily and Ashley who had followed their Daddy over. Emily disappeared upstairs to play with Maddie and Jeni while Nate and Ashley decided to play dress up together. I helped Nathan into his dragon costume that we just got from Costco for Halloween. As you can see I need to figure out how to make it fit him better – I would like grandchildren someday! Ashley wanted to be the princess and once they were dressed up they had the best time playing together. Nathan would chase after Ashley flapping his arms and growling while Ashley ran away shrieking as the damsel-in-distress, at least until she got tired of it and turned around to chase the dragon away instead! They had a lot of fun playing together. It’s fun to see Nathan growing up and learning the social skills he needs like how to play with other kids. Sometimes that doesn’t come very naturally!