Never a Dull Moment...

What a week! It started off so well and then ended with a bang. Literally. So, let's take it from the top.

After the hair-cutting debacle of 2009, things settled down for a bit. I managed to keep the kids in line for a good week by dangling the bribe of a trip to Aunt Kristin's in front of their noses. The kids were mostly well-behaved and cooperative last week and even though they never fully managed to clean up the basement like they were supposed to, we still headed on over to the cousin's house to spend the weekend for General Conference. Fun was had all around and there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth when we finally had to leave on Sunday evening.

Jane had her 1 month check-up on Monday (10 lbs 5 oz --75th percentile, 23 1/2 inches -- 95th percentile) and I dragged Ethan along with her for his 6 year check-up because somehow -- in all the shuffle of being pregnant and prepping for the baby -- I failed to get that scheduled for him back in June.

A rare smile -- Jane at 6 weeks.

The whole motley crew.

After the appointment, we still had some time to kill before we had to get Grace from preschool and Sophie from the neighbor's, so I decided to be a "fun mom" and simultaneously kick-start our fall festivities by stopping at the store on the way home to get a pumpkin to carve and cookies to eat for Family Home Evening that night. FHE was a hit, and while poor Scott tackled the jungle that our yard had become -- I seriously should have taken a before picture of the amber waves of grain (figuratively speaking, of course) that were undulating in the front and back yards -- the kids helped me carve our jack o'lantern. I had them draw the picture on first and luckily there was no fighting over who did what -- Grace quickly called the eyes, Ethan wanted to do the mouth, and Sophie was happy to do the nose. The resulting pumpkin was 100% my kids. It makes me laugh just looking at it. The problem with carving up a pumpkin this early in the season in our climate, however, is that less than a week later it is already starting to mold. Ew.












I continued my streak of fun mom later in the week by letting the kids decorate some pumpkin cans. As Ethan has noted this season, we are sorely lacking in Halloween decorations. Some of the few things I have are some old tin cans that I painted and decorated a long time ago to look like a family of jack 0'lanterns. The kids have been intrigued by them since I pulled them out last week and have been wanting to make some, too. Since they're relatively easy to make, I finally gave in and agreed to let them make their own. Hilarity ensued. j/k. Well kind of. I think their finished product is hilarious-looking, and since they had so much fun in the making, we may just make a few more before this season is over.

How to Paint a Pumpkin Can:

1.) Spray paint a tin can white.

2.) After white paint is dry, sponge on different shades of orange till the can is covered.

3.) Let the orange paint dry, and then use Paint Markers to draw a face on your pumpkin.

4.) Enjoy your handiwork. (Left to Right -- Ethan's, Grace's, and the original).

And now we're coming to the close. Saturday was the long-awaited and much heralded "Date" day, and the big prize for this week's chores was a trip to McDonald's. All 3 kids chose this as their date because McDonald's has hit their target demagraphic with the stupid toys they include in their Happy Meals.

THIS is the sole reason McDonald's was the venue of choice this week:




After a busy morning of trying to convince Grace that she had to finish cleaning her room or she wouldn't get her date, I took the 3 clowns and it was off to McDonald's for an extra bonus of eating and romping at the Playland. The kids got their Happy Meals, rejoiced over their junks, ate their food, and were off to play within 15 minutes. I was all settled in at the table seizing the rare moment of peace and quiet to myself by tackling the LONG needed chore of cleaning out my purse when I looked up and noticed Sophie about to climb after the kids with her shoes still on. I told her to take off her shoes and put them in the little cubbies and then I turned back to the task at hand. After a couple seconds she finally decided to comply and here is where catastrophe struck. As she was running, she tripped (over her stupid Crocs, I'm sure) and fell flat out striking her forehead on a pole. I heard it all happen and looked up just as she was starting to cry and then a split-second later watched in horror as blood started gushing from the wound. I'm really not very good in emergency situations, and to be honest I was freaking out internally as my mind was racing a hundred miles an hour trying to think what to do.

I scooped Sophie up, yelled for Ethan and Grace to get their shoes on so we could go, and tried to staunch the bleeding with a napkin, all while trying to gather up my things, calm Sophie down, and stay calm myself. Luckily the other people in the play area saw what happened and this SWEET old man ran and got some ice and wrapped it in a handkerchief -- because who really carries around handkerchiefs in this day and age except for the elderly -- to hold to her head and then gently picked her up and comforted her while I got Ethan and Grace ready to go. We trailed to the car, a pitiful site I'm sure, with Ethan crying just as loud as Sophie and freaking out that she was going to die. Grace started crying, too, and as we drove to the hospital -- which was fortunately just a few blocks away -- I tried to convince the 3 of them that Sophie would be fine and was NOT going to die. Grace was fine as soon as I said Sophie probably just needed stitches. Ethan transferred his freaking out from the thought of her dying to the new thought that getting stitches would hurt her. What a sweet big brother, right?

We made it to the emergency room (which, by the way, is Sophie's FIFTH trip in her 2 1/2 years of life), I got us signed in, and then managed to find a courtesy phone to call Scott at home -- because of course this was the one time I didn't have my cell phone with me -- while trying to keep us as far away as possible from the guy who was coughing up a lung in the waiting room. Fun times, in deed. Scott came with Jane to meet up with us, we switched places -- the last thing I wanted was my newborn to catch some infectious disease from the hospital, Grace ran away while I was gathering up all of our stuff, and Ethan ran off to "bring her back."

We finally made it home, and about an hour later Scott and Sophie returned with her gash taped together and glued shut with some Dermabond. Here are some pictures of our little supermuppet. The wound detracts from the hair cut, don't you think?

Side-note. This outfit is the reason why I love letting my children dress themselves. How fabulous does she look? It's like she knew she would need to look extra cute for some grand adventure today. And she was even so far-sighted that she had packed her pluggie in her purse for a little extra comforting as needed.







Alright, we're winding down here. Today was our debut at church as a family of 6. I wanted to get a family picture before-hand, and we were well-slated to make it to church on time where I hoped to grab someone to snap a quick pic before the kids were all in disarray, when our plans for punctuality were foiled by a self-medicating 2 year old. Yep, that's right. Sophie somehow managed to get the child-proof lid off the Children's Motrin and downed a dosage cup full (this according to Ethan who couldn't stop her in time) while I was still getting dressed and Scott was trying to get all our stuff ready to go. Nothing like a call to Poison Control to get your week started off right. Luckily the 3 or 4 teaspoons she managed to ingest were not a fatal amount, and after that minor setback we were finally off to church (brief synopsis -- We were 20 minutes late, Ethan freaked out during sacrament meeting because Scott wouldn't play the "Dot Game" with him, I realized once again that Sophie's volume control is seriously lacking during church, Grace lost it by the end of Primary, and Jane was a super champ. All in all, it went much better than I was expecting. And in the end, I managed to get a shot of all the kids after church).

All in a day's work.










And just for fun...

Here's a picture of Sophie in happier times doing her "pageant pose." If any of you have watched TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras" I think you'll recognize the ridiculous move I'm talking about. I trained her to do this move on command a couple months ago, and every single time she does it -- head nodding and bobbing on her little fist while doing a "cute" little "pouty" face -- I die. Laughing that is. Enjoy:

Ultimate Grand Supreme material. No?