Trick or Treat, Mom is beat!

Whew, what a week! Lots of goings on here...

Chris went to Chicago for three days. It was sort of a half-retreat/ half-business meetimg type thing that the spouses were invited to, but we figured the cost of my airplane ticket wouldn't be worth it, and we needed a driveway more... so he went by his ol' lonesome. They put him up in a $600-per-night high-rise room that overlooks the city; he said it was pretty amazing to look out at night. He brought me home all the fancy soaps and shampoos so we are smelling pretty, for a few days at least.


Ella loves to have her picture taken...and I am more than happy to oblige! :) She is growing up fast.

On Tuesday we had our driveway poured, it turned out pretty well, it is just so big... lots of shoveling in the winter! The kids have enjoyed riding bikes again, and having somewhere to play outside that isn't just weeds.



On Wednesday we celebrated Taron's fifth birthday...so hard to believe he is five now! I decorated the house the night before so when he woke up he would know it was finally his big day. He had gotten some money from his grandparents in the mail, which funded a birthday shopping spree at the dollar store and Target. He picked out some pirate toys, a few "knight kings" (as he calls them, I'm not sure what they really are called...kind of llike the old Fisher Price "Little People" we used to play with), and a Batman/Joker set. When we got home, I made a chocolate cake and smothered it in frosting, sprinkles, coconut, and whatever candy I could come up with... he was pretty happy with that. He opened his presents from everyone but dad, and then at 11:00 that night we picked up Chris at the airport and he opened up dad's present last. It was a remote controlled airplane, specially designed to fly indoors. We had a lot of fun with that. We all feel so blessed to have such a sweet boy in our lives, he really is our "favorite 5 year old"! We love you Taron!




Young Women's was also on Wednesday night, they did yoga at the Bacon's house. They have a very unique house, feels like a castle inside, very old but modern too, with lots of rooms... it's a fun place to visit and the girls all love it. They watched "The Other Side of Heaven" there a few weeks ago, when we first moved here.

On a Thursday field trip, Sierra got to hold a hawk on her arm and sent it off flying. She was the only one in her class who was chosen and she was pretty excited about that. The next day they had another field trip to go bowling...two field trips in a row, every kids dream!

We were really lucky to have an unusually warm spell for Halloween this year, although it was still chilly by most standards... Power Ranger Caden and Ninja Taron went to Reed's house for a Halloween party before trick-or-treating. Sierra the Spider Princess and Solei the Toilet went off trick-or-treating together since mom walked too slow with Teletubby Ella. Solei received some funny comments on her toilet costume, and she came home to empty the "bowl" a few times before the night was over. My offer to buy the kid's candy for a dollar a pound was taken up by Solei and Sierra, so Chris's coworkers will be enjoying their spoils this year. I just hate having the stuff around, too much temptation to sneak a few....

We worked on the garage all day Saturday and put all the food storage away. The kids helped out and made it so much easier--it would have taken me days on my own. We would love to finish off a storage room in the attic to put things like holiday decorations, etc... but that will have to come later. It really is tough without a basement... but there is a reason the builders omitted that feature...

We found out that our lot was once a creek and they filled in the middle with dirt to build the house so now the creek runs around the house, and that is why there is no basement... a little disconcerting...we live on an island!!! We didn't know all of this when we bought the house; the creek was dry, just a ditch. We'll see what happens in the spring I suppose... after seeing all the flooding in Iowa, I am just a little paranoid though...

Well, it's been a busy week, and I have probably left out some stuff, but bed is calling and I am losing my powers of resistance...good night all.