We Are Ready

Trunk or Treat has been re-scheduled for tomorrow. WHOO HOO!

And it's a good thing, because I have two members of the animal kingdom running wild around here.

Quack, Quack

Saturday's activity was feeding the ducks at Woodbridge Lake . . . and some black pigeon-like mystery birds, two rather violent swans, and a flock of Canadian geese . . . oh, and Ethan, who ate two of the leftover pancakes Grandma Christy brought for the ducks.With Cousin Max & Aunt Tori

Communicating with the geese

Trying to spear a giant carp

Luke is right at home with the animals.

Mr. Postman

There was some serious 3 year-old disappointment when we found out that the annual Trunk or Treat was canceled due to poor air quality.

Luckily, today was a golden mail day: FOUR toy catalogs & a CHARLIE BROWN talking Halloween card from Nana Calder! He could be occupied all afternoon . . . which makes me REALLY happy too!

**Notice the Fall wreath STILL hanging on our door (victory!). I think I've finally cracked grouchy next door neighbor Cliff with my bold rebellion. Maybe next year I'll go for an obnoxiously huge blow-up pumpkin, just to keep things interesting.

What A Week!

Thank you for all the kind inquiries about our family's safety amidst the CA wildfires. I feel very lucky to report that my parents, aunts, uncles, & grandparents in San Diego are safe and their homes were spared (for some details on just how close it came to them, check out Katie's blog). Many families I grew up with were not so lucky and have lost everything. I struggle to even comprehend what this kind of sudden and total loss is like. This week has been a good wake-up call for me as far as emergency preparedness. It also has given me a new measure of gratitude for our safety (even while I try and endure another few days with two toddlers who have a serious case of cabin-fever).

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Friday night's activity was an outing to the Pumpkin Patch!

Luke & Will check out the haunted house. Notice the nice plastic rat next to Luke's head. They also had lovely spiders that come down when you clap your hands. Luckily the boys thought these were funny.
Ride 'em cowboy! Ethan loved the pony ride. Luke was content to wait for his turn in the bounce house instead. We couldn't even get any good pictures because his bouncing was so crazy. It's a minor miracle we avoided any injuries.
Ethan carefully considered which pumpkin to select. Lukey took a flying leap into the pile of pumpkins, mistaking them for ball pit. We probably should have bought several "bruised" victims that Luke was responsible for.
Since we walked to the pumpkin patch, the boys had to sacrifice their leg room on the way home. I think they were okay with it though--we overheard Luke repeating, "oh hi pumpkin," while petting the top like it was a new kitten or something! Does he think pumpkins are alive? Has he seen Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin movie one too many times? I think so. Hopefully he won't mind cutting it open and scooping out it's guts next week.

No Fair!

I am endless trying, and failing, to get a smile out of Luke with my camera. Ethan got his hands on my camera for five minutes and was instantly rewarded with this big grin.

This picture is of Ethan melting into hysterics as I wrestle my camera away from him.
No smiles there.

Police Beat

As a college undergrad one of my favorite things to do during a break between classes was to snuggle up in an armchair on the second floor of the Wilk (hot blueberry bun from the bookstore cafe in hand) and read The Daily Universe. When you go to school in Provo, Utah, there's not exactly a huge crime scene going on, which is what made the Police Beat feature all the more entertaining. While on campus visiting last week, I was delighted to learn that some things never change. Here's just a sample from the Oct. 12th edition (Keep in mind that these are serious threats to student safety that all campus must be made aware of):

-A deer was reported stuck in the fence at the student health center. By the time the officers got there, the deer had extricated itself.

-A BYU employee was driving down the hill near the Tanner Building when his vehicle was hit by a water balloon. There are no suspects.

-An independent study student threatened to disrupt the IT system with constant e-mails and phone calls because he was unhappy about a grade he had received. Several e-mails were exchanged between the student and the department. The student's grade was raised half a point, but he is still unhappy about his grade.

-Three female students were reported for suspicious activity outside of Felt Hall. When police arrived, they discovered the suspects were shooting each other with squirt guns. They were interviewed and let go.

-A female students BYU ID card was used to purchase items in the vending machines of Chipman Hall. The victim was reimbursed for the fraudulent charges.

-Two cardboard star figures were stolen from a promotional booth set up at the Bookstore. One was Han Solo, the other was Princess Leia.

-A female student reported that her former boyfriend was stalking her. On one particular day he called her 26 times. The police will be working the case and more than likely giving him a letter telling him to leave her alone.

-A witness heard an explosion outside of F. Smith Hall. When she went out to see what it was, she saw two males standing near a small bottle on the ground. The device was similar to a dry ice bomb. The offenders have been identified as two students living in Snow Hall. The were charged with misdemeanor violations of disorderly conduct.

Girl's Weekend

This weekend my Mom & I (that's right, NO kids!) flew here:

First we checked up on the new freshman, Dave, who is lovin' life at BYU. I re-lived all kinds of nostalgic freshman year moments by taking him to the the Art Museum Cafe.

Here's my lovely Mom, who made this whole trip possible for me by using her frequent flier miles. It was so wonderful to have uninterrupted shopping/eating/girl-bonding time together with her (not to mention sleeping in!). I love you Mom!

Next we checked out Dave's place, which looked about typical for an apartment of six guys. Ick . . . I had forgotten the squalor that college boys exist in. Believe it or not, this kitchen was supposed to produce a BBQ party planned by one of Dave's roommates for later than night. Luckily, we ate at Octavio's instead.

After exhausting the shopping (and our budgets) on Friday, we hit downtown Salt Lake on Saturday. Temple Square was beautifully decked out with the changing leaves of Fall. The highlight of our day was seeing the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy theater (why did no one tell me that I would need at least an entire pack of kleenex when watching this?! I emerged a wet, puffy mess!). I also finally took a tour of the Beehive House & ate at the Lion House pantry (you're right Grandma--the rolls and honey butter are tasty!).

Besides two wild boys and an exhausted husband, this is what I met upon my arrival home:

Yes, that's a fish tank with four fish and a plastic Elmo scuba diver. Being the fun (and creative) Dad that he is, Will decided a visit to the local Petco was in order. I guess this ends Luke's reign as the "animal" in our house. In all seriousness, a huge thank you to both my sweet husband and Christy, my mother-in-law, for allowing me a chance to "re-charge my batteries" and have a weekend off.

Now it's time to get back to real life . . . cleaning up spilled Cheerios and carting two crying toddlers around Costco . . . but at least I was gone long enough to miss it!

Ferry Ride

For two little boys who love all things transportation, Saturday was their perfect day. We began by riding the ferry over to Coronado Island, where they oohed and ahhhed over the enormous naval and cruise ships docked in the bay, followed by all the beautiful sailboats zipping past us and the coast guard helicopters above us. The cherry on the cake was two fighter jets swooping low over the beach later that afternoon. Aside from the boats and planes, it was a fun place to spend some time catching up with my sister Danielle. She was "lucky" enough to experience an all-day outing with my boys, complete with their funny antics and their meltdown moments. Good thing that Danielle is an expert with kids. She could be in the running for the best second grade teacher ever (she once stayed up into the early hours of the morning making homemade cut-out cookies and frosting for all three second grade classes to decorate). She also bought every kid in her class a seashell from Coronado so that they could have a San Diego souvenir. Now if I could only get her to move here in time for Ethan to start second grade . . . I guess for now we'll just take her when we can get her for a few visits a year. We love you Aunt Danielle!

October

I recognize that California doesn't really have much of a Fall season (I've been informed by friends who've lived elsewhere, who've actually experienced the need to "grab a light jacket" or "rake the leaves" and "readjust the thermostat"). Since I know no different, the fake Fall leaf displays in Target are enough to get me in the mood. Here's what October has brought to us so far:

• My first turn to teach Ethan's preschool: we read the Very Hungry Caterpillar to learn about the days of the week. We then made paper chains and sang a song to the tune of The Addams Family to learn the weekday names--the kid's mostly liked when I snapped my fingers at the end. Ethan points to his paper chain and says "Saturday" seven times in a row, so at least he recognizes what the best day of the week is.

• Billable hours begin: the bane of every attorney's existence. We were spoiled with a three month honeymoon period with Will's new job, since the billable year didn't start until October 1st. Now his hours "count" and he will have to meet the firms minimum required hours for the year. He is doing a great job though and I am really proud of how well he has handled this transition.

• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has been and will be watched countless times: this was the TV special that jump started Ethan's complete Peanuts obsession last October. This October we are now prepared with our own personal copy of the DVD (fast forwarding through the commercials gets really old by about the 15th viewing), a Charlie Brown Halloween lunchbox, and a stuffed Snoopy doll that he holds while watching Great Pumpkin. Oh, and just in case anyone was wondering, it is nearly impossible to find two toddler sized Snoopy & Woodstock Halloween costumes unless you are super-crafty and want to sew them yourself.

• My sister Danielle visits: we get to see her on Friday! Since she lives in Florida, my kids mostly associate her with the amazing packages she sends (thank you Scholastic Book discounts!). It will be nice for us all to spend some face time with her instead. We have plans to ride the ferry to Coronado Island, watch Conference, and stuff ourselves with the yummy brunch food my Mom makes on Sunday mornings.

• I will make my first of many batches of pumpkin bread: the first set of foil mini-loaf pans are waiting patiently in my cupboard. Now if it gets under 80 degrees sometime soon I will be justified in heating up my oven for an hour in the afternoon. It does smell soooo good when it's baking, so next week might be the week.

• I am ready to do battle with Cliff: Three years ago, we moved into our condo on the first weekend of October. Pround new homeowner that I was, I promptly hung a Fall wreath on the door, a housewarming present from my Mom. A week later I mysteriously recieved a letter in the mail from the homeowners association that "plastic wreaths" were not allowed. I have since learned that my grouchy neighbor Cliff was at work. Cliff has memorized the entire 3,000+ page association rules binder in his pursuit to become the dictator of our complex. (And, excuse me, but my weath was no fakey plastic thing! It was made of fake wooden fruit and acorns--get your descriptions right, Cliff!). Nevermind that the neighbor two doors down hangs a ugly Teddy Bear Flag from their front door, or that another neighbor hangs little white Christmas Tree lights from the trees in their patio (just to annoy Cliff, I later found out). I am now three years wiser and will not let Cliff intimidate me out of some seasonal cheer! The wreath goes up on Monday. Just let him try and stop me . . .
  
  

Ouch

Ethan: Mom, what you going to be for Halloween?
Me: Hmm, I don't know. You're going to be a monkey and Luke's going to be a lion . . .
Ethan: I know! You be a COW Mommy, okay?

No. No that's not okay!