Scarecrow Day….3rd Time Around!

Once again the kindergarten tradition of Scarecrow Day has rolled around!  Scott’s teacher is finally back in the classroom as of a week or so ago and things are slowly going back to the way they were at the beginning of the school year.  Because Mrs. Z is new this year, she hasn’t quite been filled in on the goings on, I’m afraid.  I asked her a few weeks ago when the date was for Scarecrow Day and she looked at me like she hadn’t a clue what I was talking about….and she didn’t!  I don’t know if she just likes to do her own thing or if there just isn’t any communication between the kindergarten teachers, but it seems like she just hasn’t been told about everything they “usually” do.  I thought Scott might be bummed if he saw literally all the kindergarten kids in our neighborhood make a scarecrow and he didn’t.  She told me we could do the scarecrow building, if I wanted to tell her how to do it!  I thought that was kind of funny and honestly a bit unfair that if I wanted my son to do what all the others are doing, that I needed to figure it out.  Like I’ve posted recently, I’m so overwhelmed by everything going on and what I’m responsible for running, it was just another thing to organize, but……I’m glad we did it and I knew I would be…..just…..well, you know…

So, I managed to scrounge up a cute baby outfit, courtesy of Mason, for Scott to stuff for a scarecrow and it turned out pretty cute!  I think he was pretty happy with it!  When we got home I asked him if he would like to put his scarecrow in his room with him.  He giggled and looked at me and said, “Mom, I don’t want my scarecrow in my room.  He freaks me out!”  It was so funny! 

Carving Pumpkins

Here are a couple shots of 2012’s pumpkin carving event at the Brown Family Household.  This year they were a little more complicated than usual……Jared was awesome and carved his own completely.  He carved a silhouette of Frankenstein.  Gavin and I worked on carving a big, ugly spider and Scott carved a ghost with Michael.  Mason was pretty straightforward…..a simple little face.  It was fun!

 

A Little Stressed

To say I’ve been overwhelmed by life and it’s many deadlines lately, would be an understatement.  I guess it beats the alternative…..right?!

A week ago Sunday I had to teach the lesson in Relief Society…..which, if you know me, as “outgoing” as I might seem, I dread public speaking.  That was only further compounded by finding out later that day, that I would have to speak in Sacrament Meeting at church the following sunday (which was the 21st).  I tried the excuse that it was my baby’s birthday that day, but that didn’t seem to matter… ;)  So with that in the background, I also had to line up 6 parents for the kindergarten field trip last Wednesday, call the moms I’d had scheduled to help out in the classroom with the Kindergarten teacher (she’s been out from back surgery and thought she would need extra help, but hasn’t come back and has had me line up help every week and not used it and then I have to call and cancel)….  I also am soccer mom for two of the kids’ teams and had to send out reminders for practices and parents bringing snacks to games, we had problems with Jared’s teacher and had to go in and chat with her, followed up by a meeting with the principal ( which luckily was cancelled because we got to the bottom of our problem).  Did I mention another mother had a problem with Jared’s teacher and moved her daughter out of that class and she was team room momming that class with me, so now I have to plan that Halloween Party, in addition to planning Scott’s Halloween Party ( yes, I am room mom for all 3 of my kids and yes, it’s my own fault), and on top of it I’ve had a pulsing pain in my mouth which resulted in my crown falling out and having to get in with the dentist to get it re-cemented.  AND, the climax…..found a lump in Michael shoulder that we need to get him in to a surgeon to have removed to make sure it’s not cancerous.  Have a little stress, right?  Yah, have basically felt like I’m on the verge of a panic attack for the last week or so and it’s slowly going away now that some of it is off the list.  I also had to make sure things were lined up for a Young Women’s activity that I have to ……get to teach tomorrow night about Family History Indexing.  CRAZY!!!  AHHHH!!!!!  And that’s what I’ve been up to…..

Pumpkinland

Scott had his first field trip to a local farm called “Pumpkinland” over in Vinyard.  He had a fun time and I  got to tag along.

 

I had to bring Mason with me so I couldn’t ride the bus (school policy), and  instead I met up with his class over there.  It was a fun little place – I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been.  They had a little non-scary spook house with fun Halloween decorations in it and farm animals for the kids to look at and a little corn maze, tons of pumpkins and a couple little park play areas for them to run crazy in. 

 

 

He had a great time!

 

Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week is the week the kids get to do some fun things to show their determination to “Say No To Drugs.”  So they had a day where they wore red, a day where they wore funny hats, a day where they had “crazy hair.”  This is the one I happened to get a few snapshots of….and here are a couple:

Cornbelly’s

For our last day of Fall Break, we went to Cornbelly’s with the whole family for Family Night.  It’s gotten a lot bigger than it used to be.  The kids had fun running through the corn maze, walking through a couple “scary” houses, bouncing on bounce houses, duck races (kind of like the Regatta they do in scouts, only with rubber duckies), big slides, bean bag tosses and even pig racing!  I think they had a great time.  This year the weather was WAY nicer than it has been in previous years.  I’m holding out for a relatively warm Halloween…..we’ll see if we get that lucky this year! 

Mason lasted all of 5 seconds in his stroller and had a great time just roaming free.  He tried to play bean bag toss with Michael and charged at the school bus cutout, chanting ‘Bus, bus stop.”  So cute! 

 

 

 

 

These pictures just make me laugh.  Yout can’t tell who these boys are related to……right?  Two out of three have their tongues hanging out with serious concentration and focus on getting those rubber duckies across the way!  EVERY time Michael works on anything, he puts his tongue out while he focuses and I always tease him.  So funny how things get passed on like that!

I’m not in any of these pictures.  Like usual, I’m the one behind the camera, but I did manage to get in a good tether ball game with Jared and kicked his trash! ;)  It was a fun night!

Cornbelly's 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Fall Break 2012

This year, Fall Break was a bummer because it started with Michael being in Boston for work (AGAIN) :(  We are grateful he works so hard for us but its true…….we love having him around!  We didn’t let that stop us though, and it began with Scott having a fun Halloween party with his soccer team at his coach (Coach Jenny)’s house.  He said it was a great time.  They played games and had a treat and he came home happy!  He also got to sport his Captain America costume a little early and he liked that idea.  Every night Scott asks us to tell him stories and sometimes he helps tell it.  Lately, it’s involved him being Captain America’s sidekick named “Kindergarten Scott.” It then evolved to him being called Captain America Jr. and he likes that one!  

The kids didn’t have school Thursday or Friday, so we spent the morning of Thursday at a local fun center…..2 hours!  The boys rode a few rides and then enjoyed a round of mini golf, along with a good chase of Mason around the course!  SO grateful I have Jared to help chase him and round him up.  I’ve been hobbling these last few days because of my wart treatment I had lately where the Podiatrist administered a beetle toxin called Cantharidin on my plantar warts and it kills to walk!  We came home and had lunch and pretty much for the rest of the day, we stayed outside to enjoy what I’m sure is one of the last beautiful days of the season.  Jared was awesome and mowed the yard,  and I was able to weed a couple planters and tear out one of the garden boxes.  Michael came home that night!  SO glad!

Friday we made plans to join Kenna and Kelly over at Gardener’s Village for their Witch Festival they have every Halloween.  After some debate though, Kelly decided not to make it.  I think everyone else in the area decided to go though….parking was outrageous!  I’ve never paid for parking there, but apparently it’s standard during the witch season with all the traffic they get!  We went and got one of their Witch Hunt papers where you find somewhere close to a dozen different witches in various settings set up around the Village and they you turn it in for a cookie at the “Naborhood Bakery.”  It started raining, and we looked great sporting our HUGE soccer umbrella that covered me and the baby in the stroller, along with the other 3 kids!  But…it worked!  Kenna invited the boys over to play that afternoon and the boys were so excited!  We had all of their kids over for dinner and to watch the “Avengers” movie with them, while Kenna and Brad had a date night.  Mason was so funny.  He wouldn’t sit still for longer than a minute.  He kept wrestling Scott and coming and sitting on my lap and giggling when my hair would fall on him and then he’d kiss me.  It was so sweet.  He’s such a fun baby. 

Halloween Decorations

Once again Halloween has rolled around.  This year I tried out a couple different decorations that I really liked.  They don’t look like much to anyone else, but I thought they were fun.  Pinterest has been a website I’ve really liked to look at lately.  It has so many fun ideas.  The front door was decorated with duct tape, crepe paper and plates.  SO EASY!  And….really cute.  I also saw a pin where someone made patterns with tape and spray painted pumpkins, so I tried that too and it turned out pretty cute! Oh, and I almost forgot……indoors I bought a bag of googley eyes and taped them randomly all over the door! 

I’ve got two costumes down; Scott will be Captain America and Mason will be his sidekick; Thor.  Gavin can’t decide yet what he wants to be and time is running out!  Jared  saw a pin on Pinterest of someone dressed up as a Slurpee and has decided that is what he wants to be, so I have to get going on that one too!  I bought the fabric, now its just sitting down to figure it out. 

Conference Weekend

Another conference weekend has come and gone.  We have good Conference times and not so good.  I’d say this time around it was probably categorized under the latter…..not because of the messages per se, but because of the rowdy company we keep.  These boys were a little wound up this time around and when that happens….good luck!  Its alright though.  I still love the atmosphere of a General Conference weekend. 

Yesterday we had soccer games at 8am, 1pm and 5pm.  That also made it hard to focus.  When Michael went to the Priesthood session at 6pm, we went over to my sister Kenna’s house to hang out.  The kids had a great time and I cut Kelly’s hair!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I’m hoping she still likes it today as much as she was convinced she did that night.  I’ve NEVER cut girl hair before, and to on top of it, I gave her layers!  I guess we’ll know how she feels if she never talks to me again! 

Falling Apart

Well, it appears it is an unlucky thing to be related to us lately.  Our family has been falling apart!  Last week Michael found out his grandmother, Grandma Coleman has a growth in her thyroid that may be cancerous.  It’s apparently growing faster now and she will have to decide whether to operate or not.  She is 92, so the risk is obvious.  Also, Michael’s dad took a spill during a temple session at the Los Angeles LDS Temple because he passed out.  He hit his ear and cut it open and it apparently was bleeding a lot.  Last time something like this happened, they discovered blockages to his heart, so we’ve been worried.  So far tests have been inconclusive and he has been advised to consult his specialist and we are waiting to see if they can form any better conclusion. 

Then there is my side of the family.  I guess our nephew Steven broke his finger playing soccer and this last week, my grandmother, Gee ended up in the hospital.  My mom said she wasn’t feeling so well for a few days and was acting kind of funny.  That’s when my mom noticed her heart rate was really rapid – 155bpm resting.  So mom took her in to the ER where they admitted her and decided it was an atrial fibrillation and put her on yet another medication.  She is now home and doing better.  My mom said that once she read the paperwork, Gee argued about taking her meds and now we will see if she can be persuaded.  The doctors are also saying that there’s a possibility they may need to explore the option of surgery for Gee as well….I guess she has a leak in her aorta, but once again, there is the age factor.  It think she is 85.  Not a fun time……

End of Soccer Season…..

Soccer season is coming yet again to a close.  Hard to believe how fast time goes by, truly…..  This last weekend was the first of Gavin’s games I was able to sit down and enjoy.  It seems like every time he plays, one of the other boys has a game right before or right after, so I have to leave early to get them to their game or get there by half time and miss the first half!  I was so proud of him!  He really brought his game!  He likes to play goalie and does a great job.  This is him in the orange shirt, as the goalie.  He tackled that ball many times and once used his whole body for a block!  Michael has been coaching his team and although I got quite the look for volunteering him, I think he’s really enjoyed having some time to work on soccer with one of his boys.  I know he has.

Scott has had his first try at soccer and seems to really enjoy himself.  You know, it’s more like just randomly running around a field and seeing if you get lucky when you make contact with the ball, at this age.  He’s just happy to be there and makes us all smile. 

Here are a couple pictures of his time on the field and one of Mason’s typical behavior during a game when we make him stay with us and he doesn’t want to……..**sigh**