Fall Festivities

Ben 10 was an ordinary boy until one night while camping with his Grandpa Max and cousin Gwen a mysterious watch fell from the sky and changed everything.

Tonight our family channeled the Ben 10 Crew with one goal in mind.

To raise money and a lot of it while having fun at the same time.

Cousin Gwen used her Super Powers to create a Monstrously Fun game.....

...that drew in the crowds.

She used her inner sight to know just what kids would like.....

....glow in the dark pumpkin pops and for the ultra talented ring tossers, homemade sugar cookies.

The boys channeled all their Ben 10 Alien Strength into playing as many carnival games as possible. On our way home Ethan was just gushing with joy saying, "Mom and Dad you totally brightened my day by taking me to the Festival. This is the best day of my life."

And used their new found powers to persuade friends to give them extra tickets.

Just like in the show Grandpa Max spent his time keeping the Younger Ben out of trouble.

This little "Spider Monkey" used his Alien strength to climb up about 3 feet to get a drink.....repeatedly.

Thanks to this and other carnival games, all the volunteers, parents, and players the Fall Festival was a complete success raising $1,600 USD in just two hours for schools in Afghanistan.

I'd say.....

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Just a note: I purchased these awesome Ben 10 jackets from a women who make them in knit or fleece and sells them on eBay. Last summer when they arrived the screams of joy could be heard throughout the neighborhood. When G saw the boys put on the jackets he started crying and pulling on his shirt. So in his non lingual 18 month old way he was saying, "Hey, where's mine?!" From then on I realized: gone are the days of buying for two;I must buy triple.

We've Been Boo'd

The other evening when night had come.
We were gathered together for some family fun.

When suddenly there was a knock at the door.
We wondered who it could possibly be for.

We'd been BOO'd said the message so carefully placed.

Leaving treats and surprises that disfigured ones face.

Since that strange night our neighborhood lives in fear.....
because now a vampire family is here.

Making Do For A Celebration Of Two

Powdered Sugar has been scarce since the Spring. When we've tried to make our own in the past but it just hasn't quite worked out, the texture was all wrong. I was down to my last bag and a half with 8 dozen sugar cookies to frost and birthdays this week and next I had to get creative.

The result was NOT pretty and frankly NOT that tasty either. Here's Graham's Elmo birthday cake with half whip cream frosting and the last, very last of the butter cream frosting for the mouth. Now I've made some ugly cakes in the past but this might be my worst outcome yet.

So glad he's two and didn't really care.

We did a short photo session in the park before the sun went down.

He actually posed for this one.

Graham really is and always has been a sweet addition to our family.

He thinks he's as big and every bit as capable as his brothers. At times this is frustrating both for us as parents and Graham who just isn't allowed to play outside, or use the bathroom, or get near the computer without supervision. You are teaching the boys that some doors MUST remain closed or big messes occur.

He can speak in complete sentences and when he doesn't know the words he can generally get his point across well. He LOVES the Wii and asks to play it as soon as he gets up from his nap. I wonder how long it will take for him to clue in that we haven't put any batteries in his Wii remote and isn't really playing. Because of he and his brothers obsession with the game it has now been limited to weekends only. The weather is just too nice now to have them sitting on the couch.

He adores the Thomas Train Table and Accessories he inherited from his brothers. He likes light sabers, wooden puzzles, and the song: "The Wheels On The Bus." For FHE the other night it was his turn to pick the song and when we started singing one of the Primary songs and he started SCREAMING, "No! No! Bus! Bus!" So we sang that one instead.

By the 3rd boy it's hard to come up with gifts that haven't already been purchased in one form or another.

We did find something new, after a bit of searching, appropriate for warm weather play.

A water/sand play table with spinners and shovels and big MESSY fun. This ended up being a 3 bath day. I've decided once the sand is gone it will be a water only table. Wet I can handle but wet and sandy is just too much several times a day. The irony was not lost on us that we had to buy sand for this table when we live in the middle of the desert.

Graham we love you! You add such a special joy to our family. Your smiles and giggles and chubby kissable cheeks just melt our hearts. Your easy temperament make you so pleasant to be around. Your big brothers are so good to you. They love to help you at the park and keep an eye on you. They also like setting up train tracks, Legos, and blocks even though they know you will shortly destroy them.

We've Been Frightfully Busy

It's that time of year again.....
Where goblins sneak...

And ghouls shriek....
And little children run in fear...

And Parents scream...
Because it's Parent/Teacher Conference Week and the children have 3 half days of school.

So what's a mother to do!
(Ethan said this was his scary Halloween face.)

Make Sugar Cookies and let the little goblins decorate and gobble them up.

We also did some frightfully fun crafts at the Youth Center

to help us get into the Halloween Spirit.

Just Along For The Ride

As Chris and Ethan biked to school this afternoon Chris noticed a stow away.

Unbeknownst to Ethan a small Gecko (similar to the one above, except only 1.5" long and with out the spots) was clinging for dear life on Ethan's bike helmet. When Ethan stopped he said it dive off and ran away as quickly as possible.

These little critters are everywhere around here. We often find them in our garage which is where it climbed into Ethan's helmet for the ride of it's life. It was way funny but a little creepy too.

On The Move

Fracture Update:

The Fracture Clinic in Dharan was not able to see us until the beginning of November or early March. Since the fracture would be well on its way to healing by either of those dates we took a different route.

Yesterday afternoon Zach and I were escorted to the Al Hasa Clinic for a fiberglass walking cast. So although he is slow and a bit wobbly he now can get around without the crutches. He's happy to have a bit of freedom back and so am I; gathering the crew to escort Zach to and from school and lunch was a bit of a pain.

We were given excellent and timely care there yesterday and now we won't have (if all goes well) to travel back and forth four hours to DHA for 15 minute follow up appointments.

On Halloween he will be reevaluated and re-x-rayed to see if the cast stays or goes.
In the mean time no sand, no dirt, no water, no bike, no rough housing (that will be hard with Ethan as a sibling), no jumping, etc. So, from a boys perspective no fun.....or a lot of fun since his Wii digits work just fine.

The Whole Truth And Nothing But..

Good Idea:
Listening to Mom when she says it's not a good idea to be jumping off the bed to catch Ethan's helium balloons.
Bad Idea:
Doing It anyway.

Good Idea:
When you do get hurt tell the truth about what happened.
Bad Idea:
Not telling the whole truth because when you are really hurt you don't get the sympathy or medical care you need as quickly.

Let me explain further. When Zach screamed out in pain Thursday evening (this was an "I'm really hurt!" cry). I ran to see what happened. Although he was sitting by his dresser he was adamant that he had just jumped in the air from the ground and hurt his foot. And when questioned he swore he did NOT jump off of the dresser. Ethan's story was different that Zach had indeed jumped from the dresser assisted by Ethan. I was tired of them arguing and just said, "Enough." My hunch was Ethan was telling the truth.

Because Zach only jumped in the air and hurt his foot we iced it and medicated with ibuprofen. But, only gave him the sympathy equal to the injury assuming he'd be fine the next day. When Friday came along he would not and could not put any weight on it. When we returned from town that evening we went to Urgent Care. On the way there I told Zach the Dr. would need to know EXACTLY what happened to help treatment him.

So the truth finally came out. He had INDEED jumped from the dresser but it was Ethan's fault, he got hurt because he grabbed him on the way down. So yes, he has a broken foot. Yes, we have to spend more time traveling to Dhahran to see the orthopedist. And yes we are ticked that Zach did not tell us the whole truth in the beginning. At least Ethan admitted to grabbing at him. 

Luckily he has minimal pain as long as he doesn't put weight on it. But Zach and crutches are just not a good combination. He may end up with more injuries than he started with before this whole thing is over.

Taking Care Of Mom

When Zach arrived home from school he noticed Dad hard at work and said to me, "Mom I don't want to use my entertainment time I'd rather go talk with Dad."

Once outside he asked Chris, "Is this how you take care of Mom?"
(He was giving my bike a thorough cleaning.)

Chris responded, "Yes, this is just one of the many ways I take care of Mom."

Thanks for all your hard work boys. I can't wait to use my cleaned up, lubed up, and ready for the road bike tomorrow.

Weekly Trip

Two weeks ago all the boys wanted to dress up for our weekly trip to Dhahran. Even Graham wanted to wear a tie. After the pictures they spent (at least the two oldest) the rest of the morning fighting over who looked most like a Prophet, Bishop, and 1st or 2nd Counselor.

Then for FHE last week talked about Treasures and that when we listen to the counsel of the Prophet during Conference we build up a Treasure Chest of Treasures to use in our lives.

When it came time for our weekly trip to DHA. Chris was working nights in the field and Graham had a nasty head cold. The kind you don't want to put him in nursery because he'll slime all the kids and toys. So we decided to stay home and watch Conference instead.

What an amazing day. During the morning session I asked the boys to sit quietly and watch at least one talk....and they DID! For the rest of the two hour block we colored and made a cut out Liahona. So I actually got to hear it.

Then by the time we got around to the afternoon session Graham was napping and I told Ethan he could play inside or out but had to do so quietly. But Zach chose to sit with me and listen. He really perked up during L. Lawrence's talk on Courageous Parenting. I knew he was listening intently because he would pause the talk and ask really good questions and wanted to discuss what had been said. He was surprised to learn there were so many things I had been doing as a parent such as limiting video games, and doing late overs instead of sleep overs that had a deeper purpose then to just make his life difficult.

By the end of the talk I was pretty much in tears because I felt like I'd actually done a few things right as a parent and Zach was totally getting it and we just had this moment together that was so great. Is this what it feels like to have your children grow up and mature a bit because if so I like it and want more of it.

Then after it was all over I was telling Zach how proud I was of him for sitting, listening, and asking such great questions for a complete two hours. He then told me, "Mom I was just storing up treasures." It totally took me off guard as I had forgotten about the FHE lesson but...
he hadn't.

Still Here

I'm still here but after that Italy blogging overload I decided to take a break and FINALLY got to start this:

I'm 3/4 of the way done and it's pretty intense.

Sights of Siena

I know, I know you thought I was done. I've just been busy. Why is it now that I've got two out of the house and one sleeping for a two hour block the time just flies by.

Why Siena? The bus station was conveniently a half a block from our hotel and in just 1.5 hours time we'd be there. It is not a large city so we felt we could do it thoroughly in the time allotted. Also because Chris and I adore this city. We just had such a great time the first time we came that we try to relive it on each visit.

Italian's are known for their style. But if you'd asked me if green and pink pastel would work for a suit I'd have to respond that it would be a stretch even for them to pull it off.

O.K. so I m wrong. We passed this veccietto (older gentleman) on the street and he was so debonair I couldn't help myself. I had to capture him. He looked so smooth and I knew he was only out for his morning walk. They just know how to work it. Anywhere else in the world this would have been bad oh so bad.

Usually when I visit Italy I try and see what the latest fashion trend will be. Whatever the majority of women are sporting comes around as fashionable in America withing the next year. This is the first trip where nothing really stood out to me.

This is the main piazza. Every summer there is a bare back horse race held here and each district entering a horse and rider. It is a big deal and can get very emotional both for the riders and spectators. I've only seen pictures but it's amazing to see the piazza turned into a race track especially as it's slanted....with cobblestones.

We let Graham loose because we knew he would get no freedom on the streets as we tried to navigate through different tour groups.

Once the water faucet was discovered the pigeons could lead a more peaceful existence.

Have we mentioned we like pork?

We were happy to discover that along with all the old tours we've previously experience there have been some additions. With the purchase of a combo ticket we were able to climb up above a museum after visiting its displays we got a spectacular roof top view of the city.....

...and visit the cathedral which is ornate to say the least.

It is very difficult to describe this church. Every square inch is covered with something: a statue of a grim faced Pope, a fresco, a molding, marble tiles, stories and biblical scene told in every medium. You just kinda leave in overload.

Our ticket also allowed us into the baptistery where we discovered one of the first members of the Mickey Mouse Club...but he had to keep it on the DL because it would have interfered with his normal duties.
This ornate carving also induce laughter because the delivery of John the Baptist head during meal time seems to have been a bit unsettling. I guess he thought they were bringing him something a bit more appetizing.

We then ventured out a bit, had a great (but slow) lunch, found a grocery store to bring home some goods, and of course one more gelato with several flavors to enhance the experience.

Near our gelato consumption were some school children practicing some type of flag throwing ceremony. It was very entertaining while we devoured the sweet stuff.

After this we headed back to Florence to finish our packing. We took a nap at midnight and got up at one so we could catch a 2AM train ride to Bologna. Then we hung out at the airport for few hours until our 7AM boarding time. So even though we didn't travel a great distance we were still a bit jet lagged for having traveled all night by train, plane, and then automobile finally arriving not home but at some friends who were caring for the boys. After a few hours of sleep we were awoken by some monkeys who were very happy to see us....and the goodies we brought them.