Halloween Night

For actual Halloween, Camille decided to be an Indian (she insisted on being something different for each party- she refused to be confined to one costume). Claire put Camille's hair into about 8 braids- her version of an Indian hairstyle.

Thankfully, the tradition at our household is for Ben to take them out, which was necessary this time because I came down with the stomach flu and stayed home as miserable as miserable can be.

We only got about 25 trick or treaters- thank goodness. It hurt every time I had to pass out candy! But, the girls had a fabulous time, which is really all that matters.

Skirts With Nobody Inside Them

One of our favorite books is Dr. Seuss' "Pants With Nobody Inside Them." So, Ben and I got a good laugh when we came upstairs to go to bed and discovered this at the top of the stairs waiting for us:

Pumpkins

We dreaded it all month, but finally tonight had to be the night. The girls were so excited- so much so it almost made up for the lack of enthusiasm Ben and I had.

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls

The girls quite literally spent over 7 hours today putting together their dream doll....house? Kitchen? They desperately want a doll kitchen that cost $60, but they haven't saved up their money quite yet. Today they made trip after trip out to the recycling bin and they worked extremely well together- no fighting at all the entire day- it was a miracle!

Here is what they came up with:

Above: Dining room table with all of the requisite dishes

Below:

Refrigerator (see the eggs?) and a pantry with shelves (I'm jealous that they have a pantry! I want one. Maybe I need the girls to get to work on one for me)

Trunk or Treat

Audra just about cried when she realized that our annual trunk or treat was on the same night as a Halloween party she was invited to by one of her classmates. She was especially sad because for the first time ever we actually had plans for a family costume, and there is always a "family costume" prize at trunk or treat, so Audra was super excited to finally have a chance (albeit a minuscule one- people really go ALL out in our ward, and we do not).

So, Ben took Audra to her party and got out of trunk or treat, and I took the younger two over to the church. Oh, man- getting out the door was tough! There is so much work involved for Halloween nowadays!

The committee in charge really knocked it out of the park this year- it was fabulous! They had a carnival- lots of games, tickets, prizes, and of course- treats!

Claire and I wore skates (3 weeks ago Ben decided that we needed to become a skating family. Not as part of Halloween- but a family that actually goes out and skates together. On purpose. Frequently. We have been married almost 13 years and have skated once. I don't know where this from. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but at any rate- the skates were a big hit).

The girls decorated the van by themselves. They were super excited, and I was glad I didn't have to do it!

Halloween Round 1

It was pretty cold and even snowed for a little bit, but that didn't stop my girls from insisting that we needed to go to Trick or Treat Street.

We headed off to the closest HS, the one we have gone for several years, and the line was so incredibly long, we knew there was NO WAY we wanted to be a part of it. It was about 100 yards long, just to get inside.

So, we went to the next closest HS a couple miles away, hoping the line would be shorter. We pulled up, and there was nobody waiting outside- PHEW! But, it was a bit of trickery. Unlike the other high school, the line was inside instead of out, so we just couldn't see the line. But, being inside when it was snowing outside, was a thousand times better than waiting outside!

And, the wonderful display the teenagers put on was just as impressive at this high school! Teenagers can be so incredibly awesome!

Claire was super excited to hang like a monkey, but was surprisingly shy around the pigs- her favorite animal on the planet.

 Here they are with the Peacocked friend from 4H, Lexi.

And, having made it to the finish line- with plenty of loot to show for themselves!

I'm glad to have at least one Halloween activity done- only about a million left to go!

And, side note: Claire already had a poodle skirt, and the girls really wanting to match this year. So, Audra made her skirt, and Claire made Camille a skirt. They turned out super cute!

First Sewing Project

Primary Talk

Every year the children aged 3-12 put on the sacrament meeting program at church, and every year everybody talks about how wonderful the program always is.

But, I, being the person that I am, actually can't stand the primary program in our ward. Why would I say such a thing? I mean, I LOVE kids- especially mine- and who wouldn't love hearing 4 and 5 year olds yelling into the microphone their testimony (which sounds awful, but is really about the cutest thing in the world)?

Here's the deal, though. In our ward, not every child gets to speak. In fact, only 8 children get to give a talk, 8 get to read a scripture, and the rest of the 60 kids don't get to do anything except stand up and sing. It's awful. Especially since it always seems to be the same kids who get to participate every year. I hate it.

But, Audra got to be one of the special kids to say a talk. Of course, this is her second talk in the sacrament program and Claire has never gotten to do one, but nobody except moms cares about such unfairness.

Audra, as always, did a fabulous job. She was incredibly nervous, but once she is at the microphone, Audra actually has amazing speaking abilities.

Here is her talk:

I was asked to give a talk on how I choose the right in my family. In Joshua 24:15 it says, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

In my family, we do many things to help us choose the Lord. For example, we try to follow the Savior by doing service in the community like helping with Feeding the 5,000 and other service projects. We try to be kind to each other. Every night we read scriptures together and pray as a family. Monday nights are reserved for Family Home Evening. Our favorite Family Home Evenings are when Dad has the treats because he always brings us donuts.

Sister Oscarson taught in general conference that, quote, “changing the world begins with strengthening your own family.” End of quote.

Even though I am only 10, I can do my part to strengthen my family by choosing the right. I choose the right by doing my chores, being kind to my sisters, reading the scriptures, saying personal prayers, and fasting.

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi had many trials, but he always chose the right by following the Lord. The Lord commanded Nephi to build a boat. He had never built a boat before and his brothers laughed at him. But Nephi had faith, chose to follow the commandments of God, and he built a boat despite his brothers’ mocking. He said, “I will go and do the things with the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, except He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the things which he commanded them.”

Sometimes choosing the right can be hard, like when my sisters steal my toys and instead of yelling at them, trying to patiently ask them to give my toys back. Or, when I am really tired and my mom asks me to unload the dishwasher but I don’t want to. But I know that being patient with my sisters and helping my mom are the right choices and will make our family stronger.

I would like to share my testimony that I know that if I choose the right it will make me happier and that choosing the right makes a good difference in my life. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

1/4 DONE!

I always say this because it is always true, but it is hard to believe that we are officially already over 1/4 of the way done with our school year!

So far, this year has been the best year yet. Every year has been great, but it really does get better and better. I think there are a few key reasons as to why this year seems to be especially fabulous:

-Audra and Claire are more independent. I can give them a list of what they need to get done, and they get it done.

-I LOVE LOVE LOVE our curriculum.

-I am learning to let things go. If we don't get everything on the to-do list done, it's OK. We will catch up, and it will all work out in the end. I'm much more relaxed about things this year.

-I am really just loving this homeschooling lifestyle. The first year we homeschooled, I was always a little shy about saying so in public. Not anymore. I know people immediately judge us as soon as we say we homeschool (it is definitely a loaded comment), but now I just don't care. This lifestyle is so great, and I love it. I don't care if people judge us anymore, because people who don't homeschool simply don't know- and that's OK. I used to judge homeschoolers, too. 

And, even if I was unsure about whether to continue homeschooling or not, going to Camille's parent/teacher conferences and IEP meeting would convince me that we are on the right path...

While at Camille's said PT conferences, I first sat down to 10 pages of her test scores. That's right- TEST SCORES. TEN pages. For my kindergartner. After her teacher went over said test scores for 14 of the 15 minutes allotted for conference, I asked her, "How much time do the kids have to play?"

Her response- you guys will love this...

"We don't really have time for playing." (so just what sort of socialization are Audra and Claire missing out on?)

Umm....WHAT?!?!?! They are 5 year olds- how is there not time in the day for play? But, I shouldn't have been surprised since there were no toys in the classroom.

So then I asked, "How many books do you read aloud each day?" Why did I ask this? Because reading aloud is perhaps the most important thing kids need at this age. Again, her answer was less than acceptable: "Well, maybe one book a day, if we have time."

I asked Camille what she did at school each day and if she enjoyed school, and she said, "Well, it isn't really fun like pre-school. All we do is work, work, work, work, work, work, work."

Then, today at her IEP meeting, her speech therapist commented about how great Camille is doing with her speech. And, she is doing great. Really, it's just those last really hard sounds like th and r that she needs to work on.

She also mentioned how every time she comes in to get Camille, Camille always has her head down over her worksheet working really, really hard (why is she always doing worksheets? Because that's what all the 5-year-old kids do. She brings home about 7 worksheets every day that she did during school. No time for play- not when there are so many worksheets to do!)

Then they brought in the reading specialist- which has NOTHING to do with her IEP- who proceeded to tell me how great Camille is doing with her reading pull outs. She gets special help since she doesn't know how to read. But I don't need to worry, because she doesn't think that Camille will need a remedial program forever.

Again, umm....WHAT?!?!?! She is in KINDERGARTEN. She does not need remedial anything! I was so livid I almost started screaming right there about how NOT age appropriate and how so far against research all of this was.

But I didn't. You all would have been so proud.

Instead I kept my mouth shut, and remembered that I only have 7 more months before I pull her out and start teaching her how to love learning again instead of being tested every other day.

If I can last 7 months. This whole school thing is really just not my thing.

SOOOOO glad I can pull her out soon!

Cleaning Day!

Today we had a Cleaning Day- and the girls were oh so excited!

Actually, the above picture was totally staged. This was how they originally posed:

While I wouldn't say they love cleaning, they actually don't complain too much and do a good job. I haven't cleaned a toilet in several years thanks to these servants, I mean little munchkins. 

Anderson Farms

We were very excited to go up to Anderson Farms today! I will be so sad when the girls outgrow this tradition. This year Ben's family joined us which was nice- the girls enjoyed having their cousins with them!

And, we went to dinner at Panera Bread where Camille was just too cute: