Fire Drill

Pops was downstairs in the basement working on sanding sheet rock. He created quite the dust storm and even set off the fire alarms! He came upstairs to turn them off and found the house to be suspiciously vacant. I was shopping with Jaws, Superkid and Abz were at piano lessons, but that still left two kids un-accounted for. He started to search the house for Tadpole and Little Chief.  As he passed the front door he saw the missing children standing at the edge of the sidewalk in the street! He rushed out the door to scold the kids for standing near the street. Tadpole looked up and said, "But Dad, you said that when the fire alarm goes off, we're supposed to go to our family meeting spot!" 

And so he did, grabbing Little Chief along the way, whisking him to safety too.

He's our little hero.

Nev-AH!

He's found a word more powerful than "NO!". 

It's "NEVER!" Pronounced, "Nev-AH!" 

And delivered with a smirk.

Quiet Place?

Sometimes after dinner I just need a quiet place to hide for a sec while I regain my desire to be in society.

But I apparently don't have a very good hiding place.

They find me and they pounce!

And wiggle and giggle!

It's not so restful...

But at least it is entertaining for Pops, who likes to take pics and laugh instead of come to my rescue.

I'm going to miss them some day when I have plenty of time to rest. 

So I'm just putting this here so I can remember.

Masterpiece for Mom

I got home from work early to take Superkid for a doctor appointment. Nobody was home. It was the weirdest thing ever to stand in our empty house. Soon I saw Superkid bound across the grass to the front door. I hid behind a wall and jumped out. I succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of him. I decided to stroll down the street to surprise Pops and the kids on their way home from school. I spotted Jaws running down the hill at the top of the street, out in front of his brothers. He stopped and looked long and hard at me as I approached. When he saw it was me he bolted ahead gleefully yelling, "Mom!" Until he collided into my arms. He didn't disappoint. Neither did the others. Just what I was going for. Jaws started picking up the colorful leaves along the road and made a bouquet with them. He explained they were for a picture for me. As soon as we got home he asked for paper and glue and got busy with his masterpiece.

When he finished he told me it was for me and dragged me over to the fridge so that I could proudly display it. Then, knowing how totally cute he is, he said,  "Take my picture!"

Then, being the vain little creature he is, he said, "Let me see!" He looked at the picture and declared, "So cute!"

He has good judgement, he's totally cute!

Trunk-or-Treat

I didn't get any pictures at Trunk-or-Treat. It was a busy night. Superkid sprained his wrist at piano lessons a couple of hours before we left for Trunk-or-Treat. I didn't know that until we were just about ready to leave and I asked him to carry some stuff to the van. Between decorating the trunk, making chili for the cook-off, piano lessons and all the other Saturday stuff- the sprained arm didn't make the radar until we were on our way out the door. I knew it was bad when he quit the candy grab and sat in the van.

But don't worry about us! We got buckets of candy!

As for Superkid, the story is he was at the Top of the Larsen's steep driveway. He plowed straight down the shoot and attempted a sharp turn at the bottom. He probably would have made it too if it weren't for the pesky pile of slippery leaves. The good news is that it got him out of playing with his left hand at his piano lesson.

Here are the Trunk-or-Treat costumes:

Hipster Unicorn

Top Gun Pilot

Optimus Prime

Jaws is the 5th child- which means his costume accidentally got left behind on the couch in the drama of leaving for the party. He didn't mind since he doesn't like to dress up anyway and nobody can deprive this sweet face candy.

Tadpole and Abizella decided that Jaws needed a dress rehearsal for Halloween. So they taught him how to Trick-or-Treat from various rooms of our house...

Success!

Now to consider costume options for the big night!

Boo Bash!

This Pterodactyl and this Top Gun Pilot invited me to their Boo Bash!

It was a fun filled night of stuffing our faces with candy and dancing our feet off.

Hamburger Head

It's all about the accessories. From the Hamburger Head swim cap to the Taco Tuesday dangly earrings, this girl is always making a statement. She is a whirl wind of fun where ever she goes. And with food inspired fashion, she is a girl after my own heart!

A Story of Missed Opportunity

Superkid likes to tell us stories while we drive home from swim team practice. After climbing into the van last night, Superkid said, "Mom, do you want to hear the Story of Missed Opportunity?" I said, sure and he unfolded this tale.

"My friend was annoying a girl by pouring water from a kick board over her head. The girl whined to the coach. So I mocked, 'Oh no, not poisonous kick board water!  You have to go to the ER!'
The girl turned to me and demanded, 'Who are you?!'
What I should have said was, 'Classified' and gone under water.
But what I actually said was, 'Superkid Toad, at your service'.
Total fail. I wish I could have a re-do."

 Probably not the last time you wish you could re-phrase a come-back to a girl!

I've Got This!

The Primary Sacrament Meeting Program coincided with Superkid's last week in primary. This is it. This is the very last day that the all 5 Toads are in Primary. These Toads gave a killer sacrament meeting program. I encouraged the Toads by promising king sized Twix candy bars to all kiddos that memorized their talks. Everyone gave a killer performance. Tadpole was so determined to do it himself. His talk was on baptism and he listed all of the covenants made at baptism. He hit a little snag and the primary worker posted at the microphone went to give him a queue. He waved her off saying, "I've got this!" and then flawlessly delivered the rest of his talk. He brought down the house. 

They all did. I am so proud.

Even though Superkid was technically 12- he didn't actually receive the Aaronic priesthood for a couple of weeks due to the primary program and Stake Conference. But this kid is show time!

Disco Skating

Abz and her friend T got invited to an 80s Disco Skating party!

My favorite was the mini Mr. T, the birthday girl's cousin.

And here is A! The Birthday Girl!

Believe it or not- it was her first time on roller skates!

It was the first time for many of her birthday guests too! I was so proud of Abizella and T. We were the first guests to arrive. As the others came, Abz and T held their hands and helped them build their confidence on their wheels. 

It was such a fun night!