Sunday, October 31, 2010

I Week Foodstuffs

 
Grandma Dawn knew this week was I week, and she bought the children "Ittibitz ice cream."
They enjoyed it after our ice skating.

When it came time to seriously consider what I was going to make for our I week dinner, I found the choices to be fairly limited.  We could have had iceberg lettuce with Italian bread and Irish stew followed by something iced (like all those cookies I made), but in the end, I decided we should go have Indian food, at a restaurant, because Indian food is frequently so complicated to make.  

Remarkably, the children were fairly well behaved and actually ate something.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home.  And lest I be thought an irresponsible mother, the ice cream eaten above was consumed on a different day than the ice cream eaten below.


Brandt is apparently taking the ice cream consumption fairly seriously.


Saturday, October 30, 2010

Ice Skating

Too late I have realized that I probably should have started our alphabet focus a week later so that this week of Halloween could have been H week.  Oh well.  I week this week.  We had some left-over dry ice from the Primary party and I had hoped to make ice bombs (for our "craft"), but it melted or dissolved or evaporated or whatever it does.  Too bad.  I need to find some other "I" thing for our craft.

For our activity, we went ice skating.  Grandma Dawn joined us and I was very grateful.  I couldn't have skated with two children all by myself.  The rink has walkers available to help children skate, and as a result, Brandt was very keen on getting on the ice.  He did quite well.  He zoomed around, got right back up after he fell, and even skated with me without the walker.  Blythe also did pretty well.  She was reluctant to skate with a walker, but she was willing to skate with Grandma Dawn and me, though me less.  I was happy we had a new experience and that the children were game to try.

  
Brandt was very nearly fearless with the walker.

  
Blythe being a bit more tentative,
and skating with Grandma Dawn.

 
Skating with the darlings.
Blythe doesn't look all that happy.

I love these little feet in ice skates.

My bigger feet with little feet.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Halloween: Partying and Baking

Halloween isn't until Sunday, but that hasn't stopped us from partying.
Last night we attended a crazy fun YM/YW sponsored Primary party.
There were games, a fish pond, a cake walk, a spook alley, homemade root beer, and entertainment by the youth.
We got to wear our costumes too.
Brandt was a bit overwhelmed by all the activity (it really was crazy), and Blythe is still a bit young, 
but all in all, we had a good time.

 
Kent and Brandt waiting to do the cake walk and Blythe drinking her roo-butt (which is root beer at our house)

 
Blythe and I are participating in a mummy wrap game.  
We are competing against two other people to see who can wrap their partner the most in one minute.
Even though Blythe eventually began to protest about being strung up in toilet paper, we won.
We each got a plastic body part for our win (and participation).
Blythe chose an eye--I chose a foot.


And here are the children fishing.
That African shirt is Kent's costume.

I made cupcakes for the cake walk.
Blythe saw them on the counter first thing in the morning and shoved one in her face before Kent could stop her.
Hey! A brain is a terrible thing to waste.
Or leave uneaten.

As an activity with the children earlier in the week, we also made cookies.
Two kinds--sugar and chocolate--both cut-out.
We've decorated and distributed.
And eaten.
Way too many. 

Pumpkin, moon, and ghost (not pictured) sugar cookies.
Bat and skeleton chocolate cookies.
All tasty.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Un-restful Thoughts

Brandt woke at 2:30 in the morning.
Kent went in to help him get back to sleep.
As they were lying there in the dark, snuggled together, Kent listening for soft sleepy snuffles,
Brandt said, "Dad."
"Yes Brandt."
"How do you stop a unicycle?"

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pumpkin Decorating

Family Home Evening last night.
We had two activities, not just one.
Two!
We decorated pumpkins, and we made Halloween hands.

We aren't quite to the carving stage of our pumpkin decorating.
At least, not tonight.
Instead, we stickered our pumpkins.

 
A spooky (pronounced "pooky" at our house) face next to a sweet face.
 Blythe wanted all things purple, of course.  

Another spooky face under a cute face.
What you can't see is that this pumpkin is decorated all the way around.

Here is our second activity.
These Halloween hands were our H week activity (a day after H week ended).
Candy corn finger nails, popcorn filled gloves.
This activity was not as successful as the pumpkins.
Blythe helped by shoving six candy corns into her mouth at a time.
Brandt helped by shoving ten candy corns into a glove, but in no particular order.
Several fingers had three "fingernails" and two had no candy corns at all.
I filled two which I am sending to nephew Ian on his mission in California.  

Not Yet!

9:30 on Tuesday night. 
 Currently snowing HUGE monster flakes.  
Late last week we were playing outside in our shirt sleeves, reveling in the sun.
I am not ready for winter.
Grump.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Cornbelly's

In the spirit of the season and knowing the weather was likely to turn foul, we went to Cornbelly's on Friday.  Although we did many of the same things on Wednesday at Hee Haw Farms, it was great to be outside.  The children ran around and enjoyed all the different activities in spite of the fact that there were 7,452 other children and their field trip chaperones.

And old firetruck that was a huge hit with Brandt and Crew.  
When several other children approached to climb in, Brandt closed the doors.

Brandt was pretty serious about the driving.  
He asked where the key was.

Griffin and Brandt.

Ava and Blythe.  
I'm not sure what Blythe is supposed to be in this picture.

Ava, Blythe, Crew, Griffin, and Brandt
All members of some strange corn family.

Sliding

 
Choo choo training

 
More sliding

On a mini train ride that took us through the corn.

It took me three pictures to get all Tysen's children looking at me, and then Ava had her eyes closed. 


 
Enjoying the ride.

    
Funny scarecrows we saw along the way.

This is "The Creature," a giant inflated monster you can walk into.
Inside it is very dark with sound effects like a heart beating and the rumble of digestion.
Brandt wanted to go in, so we did.  He lasted about a minute and a half before he said,
"Go out Katherine! I'm scared."
He really was; he mentioned it to Kent as he was going to bed.

Look at this enormous horse Blythe is sitting on.
She sat on it twice.  
Was she scared?  No.
Did she scream? No.
This horse has got to be four times bigger than Chester, but it doesn't move.  
I'm pretty sure that's the difference.

Brandt as the driver of the carriage the big horse is pulling.

 
We took another hay ride.  
I love a good hay ride.

 
Apparently Blythe loves a good hay ride too.
She got into this one--literally.

Lyla, Tysen, Ava, and Shaley

Giant jumping pillows I practically had to pull the children off.
Too fun.  
How can we get one of these in our back yard?

  
Griffin and Blythe jumped together, threw each other down, then wrestled.
I really think we need a jumping pillow.


 
The cow train.
Blythe is riding in Daisy, Brandt in Gertie. 

The man pulling the cow train with a tractor asked the children,
"How do you make a cow go?  You say, 'Moo!' So everyone say, 'Moo!'"
When the ride was over, Brandt said to me, 
"You don't say 'moo' to get these cows to go.  The man drives the tractor, then they go."
Our bright boy; he wasn't born yesterday.