Dragon Training

Our family's new favorite movie is How to Train Your Dragon. It is so cute. We saw it in the theater and I loved it then, but I couldn't be sure if it was really that great or just the fact that Caleb fell asleep--so I got to enjoy it. Nathan picked it up for the boys when it came out last week and we've watched it nearly every day since (it has been good timing since the boys have all taken a turn or two with a 24 hour flu).

So last Sunday Nathan says, "I have a great idea for Halloween..." I thought we were just taking it easy this year. I'd planned on borrowing costumes for the annual Halloween party that Nathan and I always go to. Daniel was going to be a Star Wars trooper, which we borrowed from Grandma. Liam had picked out a dragon costume early on and we found it reasonably cheap (much cheaper than I could have made it). We already had a monkey and spider costume that fit Caleb. So it should have been a done deal...Until Nathan said, "I have a great idea for Halloween...We should all be characters from How to Train Your Dragon." It was just too good to ignore. I love Halloween and we've never done a whole family theme--although I've always thought it would be fun. The only trouble is we decided to go for it despite the fact that our Halloween party was on Friday and our ward's Trunk or Treat was yesterday (Saturday). That left me about 4 days to figure things out. Luckily, we could use Liam's dragon costume that he'd already picked out, and Caleb fit into Liam's dragon costume from a few years ago. I still had to figure out Daniel's costume--he was Hiccup, the Viking boy--that one wasn't too difficult. Nathan's Stoic the Vast, the Viking Chieftan costume was more challenging. I was Astrid the Viking girl which was tricky. I spent a long time walking around the Dollar Store, the fabric store, and the hardware store with pictures of the characters. In the end I was pretty happy with how they all turned out. Nathan and I even won the costume contest at the Halloween party! (2 Movie Tickets!) It was a fun Halloween.

Stoic the Vast
Astrid--my shoulder armor was made from bending disposable aluminum pans. I was really pleased with how they came out. Hiccup--Daniel was very proud of his dagger.

It wouldn't be complete without my dragons. The cutest dragons ever!Looks like another Viking village was raided!

Thanks Grandma for helping us find an "animal skin" for Stoic.

Preschool Halloween

Liam and Caleb had lots of fun at the preschool Halloween party.... Food!

Games!

I was a little worried that the pumpkin they used for bowling over the ghosts, would be smashed all over the floor, but it held up.

They also trick or treated. Caleb wore the Spider costume instead of the dragon one he wore for our family of Vikings.

The preschool group also went to Fog Willow Pumpkin Farm.

It has a great hay pyramid.

The goats loved to be fed and petted. Watch where you step.

They carded and fed the sheep.

The hay ride was really fun. I was worried that the mud would flip up all over us (like when you ride through a puddle on a bike), but we were happily surprised to stay dry and clean. Fun memories. I'm so glad I can be a part of Liam's school group. Caleb wishes he could be go with Liam everytime.

Liam Laughs

For FHE we watched a video about Thomas S. Monson (trying to prepare for Daniel's primary talk this week). One old lady came on and Liam said, "Look she's old and rusty!" I don't know if that means wrinkley or what--It does make me wonder what he'll say about me in a few years!

This afternoon Liam came in to show me the "butterfly" he had caught in his bucket. I told him to be careful or it would fly out inside the house. He told me it wouldn't fly out because it was his buddy and liked him--that might be one explanation. I looked inside his bucket and saw his 'butterfly' was actually a moth--a DEAD moth! Yuck.

Liam inherited a really nice suit from a friend in our ward and wore it for the first time this Sunday. He wasn't eager to put it on, so I tried to go overboard on the compliments. I told him that he and Daddy would be 'twinners', that he looked so grown up, he looked like a missionary. Liam asked if he looked like a Bishop. I told him that sure he did. He then asked when he would be a Bishop and if I would be really old and die. Yikes! You're still 4. Let's wait a couple of years on my funeral plans! A suit is a powerful thing.

Sunday Charade

Daniel came home from school sick on Friday, so sick infact that after certain unfortunate events, I spent the rest of my Friday steam cleaning the carpet and rug in the front room. (Enough said??) He seemed ok after that, but he had some asthma at night which seemed to produce a bit of a cough. Sunday when he woke up he was coughing up a storm, so I told Nathan that he should stay home with Daniel. I left for church with the healthy kids...So you can imagine my surprise when I saw Nathan and Daniel an hour or so later at church. I told Nathan that I didn't think Daniel should be coughing around the other kids. He told me he wouldn't. In fact he said that Daniel had watched me leave through the window blinds. Then as soon as I had gotten down the street, he turned around and said, "I tricked her!" Nathan asked him what he was talking about and Daniel told him that he'd faked a cough to 'tease' us. Nathan asked why he wanted to stay home. Daniel said he wanted the family to stay home and watch "Sunday" movies instead of church today. (We watch the Living Scriptures movies on Sundays.) I guess he really liked General Conference last week. Nathan wanted to be sure that Daniel didn't have a cough so he kept him home for a 1/2 hour or so. There was no cough so he made him get ready and go to church anyway. I guess I should just be grateful that he wanted to watch scripture movies--but I can't help but wonder what he'll come up with when he's a teenager, if he's already faking sick at 6-years-old! Honestly, I think that Daniel didn't want to miss out on Primary, or he wouldn't have told us. What ever the case--I guess we're in for it with this one. Yikes!

Daniel's Field Trip

Daniel and I had a lot of fun together on his field trip to Fog Willow Pumpkin Farms. We played the alphabet game on the bus on the way out. We got to about Q before we were too far out in the country to find many signs. We finished our game on the way back.

Daniel had fun climbing a pyramid of hay!

He got to groom a horse.

And play with the goats.

He got to card a sheep.

And make a mini bale of hay.

He had lots of fun on the hayride with his friends.

One of his favorite parts was picking out his own pumpkin.

Say cheese Daniel and lama--excuse me I mean alpaca. What a fun day. I love spending one on one time with each of my boys. Daniel is so fun. One of my favorite things about Daniel is that he still blows me kisses and waves me the I Love You sign when I drop him off in the morning. When his school day is over he runs out of his classroom right into my arms yelling, "Mom! Mom!" like I'm the best part of his day--it's definitely one of the best parts of mine. I'm so lucky being his mom.

Funny Stuff

Tonight I gave the boys some cough medicine before bed. So Liam responds to me, "Mom, that medicine tastes like Caleb's boogers!" I don't want to know how he'd know that, and I don't know, so I can't tell him he's wrong...but after a long day and a big headache, he got me smiling and laughing! Only Liam. Gross.

Tonight in Caleb's prayers he said he was thankful for "no jellybeans...nose". Actually, it's not the first time he's included this in his prayers, but it always makes me smile. I too am thankful that he doesn't have a jellybean stuck up his nose--believe me, we've been there and done that and it is no good. I just don't always remember to include that on my thankful list. I think I may start our traditional Thanksgiving thankful list early tonight and start it out with, "no jellybeans up Caleb's nose"--Or anyone's for that matter.

We climbed into the car after a friend's birthday party and tried to get everyone buckled up. Liam couldn't buckle because he was holding the string of a balloon and he was afraid to let go. As I helped Liam, Daniel held the string of his balloon in his mouth while he buckled. Apparently, Daniel was quite proud of himself. "I'm a genius! I'm brilliant!" he exclaimed. "And humble too," I replied. "What's humble?" Daniel asked. "My point exactly," I said.

Between sessions of General Conference last week, the boys and I took some treats around to a few of our neighbors. While we were at Brad and GG's the boys also performed their primary program parts and sang the song, "I Know that My Savior Loves Me" for them. It was all very sweet. Brad then asked me if we'd already gotten home from church. I explained a little about General Conference, but I guess he didn't hear me very well. His response was, "Oh, so when you don't feel like going to church you can just watch it from home??!! That's great!" I reexplained the 'twice a year our prophet speaks to us' bit and he didn't seem as impressed. I have to admit I love having church from the comfort of my living room in my PJs.

At another one of our sweet neighbor's houses we started talking about church and they asked where we attended. I told them the street name but they asked if I'd been to the cathedral in Folsom. I was confused and said no, but it became apparent as we continued the conversation that they meant the Temple in Folsom. I knew that only one of them had gone to the open house a few years ago, so I attempted to explain that yes I've been, but that we don't go there for our weekly worship services. I tried to tell them that it is where we have weddings, and make and renew our covenants with God. Since I couldn't take them through and show them around the inside now that it is dedicated, I explained that we have to have an interview with our Bishop and get a recommend to go inside. My sweet neighbor turned to her husband and back to me and said, "We would be happy to give you a reference if you need one." --What a golden line. I was busting up inside. I explained that the interview is to ask if we are honestly striving to keep the commandments. I could hardly wait to get home to tell Nathan about it. Since then I've thought more about it. I wonder if all of my fellowmen would give me such a kind recommendation-not likely. I guess it's something to strive for. But of course in the end the only recommendation that matters is our Savior's.

Having A Blast at Bishop's

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm has become a fun fall tradition for our family. Nate took a day off work and we even took Daniel out of school for a day so we could go without the weekend crowd. Of course, my boys love playing on the trains. I loved this picture. Caleb is doing exactly what it looks like, "ALL ABOARD!" It is so fun to watch them on the "real" trains... Also on the fun train that rides around the farm...And the playground train. But there are also tractors...Lots of tires to climb and jump on...Firetrucks to drive...Jail for those who misbehave...Or the stocks...Forts to explore...We always take a hayride to the pumpkin patch and the boys each hunt for the perfect pumpkin to carve. There are also the pig races, feeding the animals, lots of yummy food, (Mommy likes the craft boutique), and so much to see. It is a full and tiring day, and you can bet we'll be back again next year.