Harvest's End

Right now, my kids are snuggled up on couches and on the floor in the living room, falling asleep to Pandora's Christmas radio. (I love Celine Delion's Oh Holy Night. Absolutely amazing that that kind of sound can come from a human.)

Last night we carved our pumpkins---four this year.

(Can you tell whose is whose? You can't see the metallic pipe cleaner
curls on the one with eyelashes.)

Today was the last day of pumpkin sales. Amazingly, every last one sold, even the "Quasimodos" that we were about to trash. At the beginning of the week, the boys figured out how much they would have to make in order break $1000 in their mission funds and still have enough for tithing and a small gift for Grandpa and the Perkes Family (those who help us immensely in this project). They figured they would have to make $210 this week. They prayed that they could make $210. Tonight they counted up their money. It came out to $209 and change. Can you believe that? They both broke $1000 in their mission fund. (Bryant actually pitched in $13 of his "fun money" since for some reason he was $13 short from years previous.)

Dividing the hard-earned cash and figuring tithing.

This morning we declared war on the back yard. Cleaning out the shed. Cutting back all the plants and flowers. Putting away all the planters, fire pit, and patio furniture. It took all day, but it's a beautiful sight. One part was sorting and storing my harvest spoils. Here's a picture of the "broom corn" I mentioned. Sadly, the picture doesn't do the richness of the colors justice.

Broom corn tassles.

I'm waiting to see how they dry before I jump into the project I've concocted for their display.

Tonight we went to the ward Trunk or Treat. (I've yet to take a picture of the kids in their costumes and we've dressed up twice.) Since Halloween falls on Sunday this year, that is the extent of trick-or-treating. We'll head out to Grandpa and Grandma's tomorrow to avoid the onslaught of trick-or-treaters and have pumpkin pie instead.

Thursday night and Friday night, Bryant fell asleep completely dressed. It made me reflect on Bryant's style, which is: going to sleep fully dressed so he doesn't have to change his clothes in the morning; sleeping on top of his covers so he doesn't have to make his bed; favorite haircut = a buzz, requires no combing.

Things not as they seem.

Today we hauled our last load of pumpkins. With a little bit of musical vehicles, I was able to take both Hyrum and Sariah in "Squirt"---Grandpa's little white pick-up that has three seat belts. That's the funnest part, to all sit together. Sariah informed me, "Since I'm five, I know everything." That was followed by, "When I'm ten I'll go to college."

At the patch, it wasn't quite so gleeful. It was raining and I had two very muddy kids, one of whom kept getting tangled in the vines and crying. I wasn't too sad that it was the last load.

We then went to Grandma's house, but there was no Grandma. Grandma's house isn't the same without Grandma. A little bit of lunch and then we snuck away to the "guest room".

The guest room includes a crib but since Hyrum "knows better" now and the floor is hardwood I decided to try his first nap in a bed. He was so tired it worked. It was hard for me to crawl out from between these two snuggly bugglies to go do what I needed to do to finish up the harvest of indian and broom corn.

Not a great photo, but I didn't want the flash because it negated the whole dark and cozy effect of this snuggly afternoon at Grandma's house.

We got home just before the boys. Bryant was in tears. He'd accidentally banged into a fence on the way home and broke it. Of course it was the fence of the man who yelled at Sariah when she was just a wee three-year-old in pigtails when she held out her hand to feel the rhythmic tapping as she walked by. Bryant was crushed and I wasn't excited about going to make amends, but we both knew what needed to happen. When we got there I discovered he had simply slipped some vinyl off of some blocking, but as meticulous as this man is, it was obvious he had already noticed. We continued our approach. We had to wait for the power tools to cease so he could hear our knock on the wood shop door. We were both relieved when none other than the good St. Nick answered the door. He was so kind, grateful for the apology, forgiving, inquisitive about how school was going for Bryant... He said us he'd show us to the gate. As we were leaving he said, "You're not going to have any more kids are you?" (Sariah and Hyrum were with us.) Smiling I responded, "I hope so, we sure love 'em." He said, "Three is quite enough." At this point Bryant tried to inform him there are actually four, but I don't think he heard. I smiled all the broader. In fact, I smiled all the way home. Sometimes, things just aren't as they seem.

Didn't even make it to pack night tonight. Bryant was out of sorts at 6:15 and was on a time-out on his bed when he fell asleep. Talmage had a toothache (I hope it's just a loose tooth) and it was obvious a few late nights of homework were working on his stamina. With James gone, I just threw in the towel and called it an early-to-bed night.

Hyrum wouldn't give up scratching at the door after he was put to bed. I laid him on Sariah's bed and watched him fight his heavy eyelids until they won the battle.

James was so relieved that his group meeting for his class was changed from Starbucks to the public library. He really didn't want to meet in Starbucks.

"All Creatures (and creations) of our God and King"

I think autumn may reveal some of God' greatest creativity.

I try to show it off as best I can:

My creativity doesn't compare to The Great Creator's, but I enjoy trying.

Around Here:

Sariah is now feeling confident riding her bike without training wheels. She was at it for quite awhile in the cold wind at the church parking lot while Hyrum and I watched from the warmth of the van. (Actually, I was following his trail mix trail with a diaper wipe.)

Talmage kicked a home run in kickball today and had us all laughing at the dinner table with his play by play. The Reptile Guy came to his school today for an assembly. Talmage's report, "The rattlesnake was very friendly. I think I saw him smile."

Bryant read a Beast Quest Book that Talmage brought home from school and now he says he can't go to sleep. He was fascinated with his own little blue cornstarch and water science experiment he executed as I made dinner.

Hyrum thinks he can get away with climbing on the table with his puppy dog eyes and puppy dog bark. He is now falling asleep like this:

From time to time, he and Sariah play together. Yesterday, he was her bus driver.
(The bed was the bus.) :

Scratch that bit about Hyrum not having the dexterity to turn a doorknob. Amazingly, he stayed in his bed for naps and now bedtime today. (That is, after I held the doorknob last night until he crashed on the floor. It wasn't much of a fight. He didn't take a nap all day yesterday because he wouldn't stay in his bed, and he was exhausted.)

He wins the precious moment of the day award though. At dinner, James called on him to say the blessing on the food. James prompted him, "close your eyes." With the pointer finger on each had he physically pressed his eyelids closed.

Yesterday, James was trying to get him to say, "Holy Cow!" James said, "say Holy Cow." Hyrum responded, "Moooo!"

Tonight's FHE activity is a favorite --- ding-dong-ditching. We delivered Halloween cookies to each of their teachers, the primary president, and the primary chorister as we had a lesson en route on gratitude. Each child used bat, pumpkin, and ghost stamps to make a card that read, "What do ghosts say the week of Halloween?" Inside: "Boo and thank you." Yesterday, was the primary program and we were very grateful for their primary teachers and leaders and all the hard work they did to help them share their testimonies of Jesus Christ through word and song.

Jail Break

Guess who showed up in our bed this morning all of his own accord! That would be Hyrum. Yes, the crib is no longer an obstacle for him. Actually, I'm surprised that my little monkey has taken this long to check this one off his list. For months now he has been climbing bunkbeds and ladders. A couple weeks ago he scaled right up the sheer surface of my kitchen cabinets to sit on the counter. Quite regularly, I find him dangling precariously from high places. Now we have a brand new challenge. Our only saving grace may be that he has not yet developed the dexterity to turn a door knob.

Rearview Mirror

My rear view mirror reveals much from time to time. Today was a classic. Sariah singing the Christmas carol "Fa, la, la, la, la" and Hyrum trying to sing along.

Project Outcome

This is the final product (times four). Jen, this is how they were designed (forgot to tell you that), but of course you can do with them how you please.