Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving is getting better each year! John helped the kids cut out the faces they wanted. If you notice, each pumpkin resembles the personality of the kids. Sariah- cute and happy. Katie John- smiley and missing some teeth. Jonah- Now that he's in 3rd grade, he's playing around with different attitudes and really, really into jokes. What a fun evening of carving, even though the rain drove the carvers inside.
The Jack o'lanterns in action!

Katie John Looses a Tooth!

Katie John has had a loose front tooth for a while now. Monday night we noticed that it was really loose and was consistently set forward in her mouth, no longer in its original position. So we decided it was time for the tooth to go. Katie John was a little reluctant, but in the end agreed that it would be easier to eat without the tooth. John tied the dental floss the first time and it slipped off, the second time worked and she had a wonderful jack-o-lantern smile after a few tears. You can already see the new tooth growing in. Our little girl has been talking to person's unknown.... she had questions about the validity of the tooth fairy.... ack! We assured her that the tooth fairy would come... but only if she believed. I'm not sure how skeptical she really was or if she was just floating a theory by us to see how we'd react. I hope we passed the test.

The tooth fairy was kind enough to leave a shiny quarter, despite the waverings in belief. Thank you tooth fairy!

Giant News

On Saturday October 25th, the 2008 Myrick Family Giant Pumpkin Contest contestants gathered at the Myrick home. This year's committee worked hard all pumpkin season by first declaring independence from oppression and voting out the old committee, nurturing the competitive nature of the participants with poultry references, issuing challenges (again with poultry references) and putting together a very yummy potluck dinner complete with desserts. The results of the competition were phenomenal. As predicted, the reigning title holder was dethroned. The James Smith family pumpkin won with a whopping 185 lb pumpkin! Awesome job Uncle James!

Other category wins include:

Smallest - Julie Myrick
Roundest - Elias Smith

Orangest - Matthews Family
Most Unique - Julie & Mike Myrick (their pumpkin resembled an elephant seal and weighed in at 180 lbs)
Best All Around - James Smith Family
Yummiest - TIED between Smith and Matthews Families

Honorable Mention - Steven & Erin Smith Family for participating from across state lines, great job! We were very impressed with your successful pumpkins.

Matthews Family poses together in triumph with the orangest pumpkin!A king dethroned... good sport though winning the 'most unique' with daughter Julie.

*A Special Thanks to the Heathcote, Emily James, Fox & Arnesen Families for showing up to support our fun event.

Making a Pumpkin into Dessert

As a contestant in the yummiest pumpkin portion of our Giant Pumpkin Constest later today, I am determined to make my own pie from scratch!

I sure hope it turns out well.... it sure looks yummy!

Wilton Ward Trunk-or-Treat

Halloween here we come!! The kids pose for a quick picture before we enter the main area of fun! My mom's ward puts on a trunk-or-treat every year, and it seems we go every year. This year was no exception as we participated in all the fun activities.

There is so much do do: Games, bouncy house, haunted house, food and DESSERTS!
Jonah = Superman (minus a cape he forgot at home)

Katie John = Fauna (the green good fairy in Sleeping Beauty)

Sariah = Cinderella

Keira = Purple and green dinosaur w/pink bow

Jog-a-thon Excitement

The small cheerleaders watch from the sidelines! (Dylan, Keira & Sariah)

Today was the long awaited jog-a-thon. The kids (especially Jonah) have been practicing by running laps in the backyard or up and down our street for weeks now. The small kids and I cheered, waved and championed our runners.

Both Jonah and Katie John ran better than last year. Jonah busted out with 24 laps- that's 2 whole miles!! Katie John ran a whopping 17 laps, which is impressive for a 1st grader. We are so proud of our kids!

Jonah and Katie John enjoy a cooling orange freeze after the big event!

10th Anniversary Celebration

Happy Anniversary to us!

Friday the 17th was our 10th anniversary. John came home with a big bag of gifts and a dozen roses. What a wonderful thing! I got all sorts of useful as well as yummy things in the big bag. I really appreciate the giant bag of gummy bears (i'll just put off kicking my gummy habit for another week) I can again listen to my ipod with the ear thingy's that John got me and of course there was a wonderfully pink sappy card. Thank you John for being that wonderful husband that is a diligent worker, helps where needed and is a devoted husband and father. I love you!

Things that I find myself thinking about lately as I ponder the last 10 years and the coming 10:

1) it's already been 10 years? that can't be right...

2) I guess that makes sense... Jonah is 8

3) wow, does this make me old... or what...

4) do I even remember who my bridesmaids were? (Christy, Kelly & Margarette Wahoo!)

5) how long will the next 10 take...

6) is my favorite color really green? blue and purple are nice too.

7) exercise... i should be more involved with that.

8) why are the gas prices in Mississippi $1 less that our prices?

9) how wonderful it is to have great friends who have made it this far with me :)

10) I sure love my family!

Watch out Christy you're next!

Merry Christmas! (finally)

Tuesday night John and I went to see Celine Dion in concert. Wow it was great! It was our second Celine concert, and as I'm a super fan, I loved every minute of it! The tickets, although, were a gift from John last Christmas happened to fall in our anniversary week. How exciting to have such a fun event that works as both Christmas AND anniversary! On our actual anniversary, I believe we have dinner and a movie (at home) planned. Ok, back to the concert.... she sang all the songs I like, and plus a few new ones that sound pretty good. She also did a tribute to Heart and Queen. We saw a few friends there, which was awsome, and either waved or chatted with them. Did I mention that we had an AWSOME time? It was such a good concert! Yay!

Look how we've grown!

The kids have really grown! I decided a group shot of all the kids was needed to document how big everyone is getting. Keira is almost 16 months now and a very active little girl. She loves swings, eating grapes and being tickled. She is learning to talk, and says about 5 clear-ish words that we can understand. Sariah is an active 4 year old. She loves to "read" books and rollerskate, her favorite food is burritos. She is in the process of learning to read short easy words through phonics. Katie John, almost 7, is doing well in school. She loves to go on playdates with friends, read books with mommy and play dress-ups. Katie John is happy that I'm sewing her Halloween costume this year, she will be Fauna the green fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Jonah is a busy boy. Between cubscouts, school and chess club, he's a happy boy. Recently he and his dad worked down at a neighbors' house, moving bricks and digging holes for about 5 hours (with a lunch in there), he came home super excited to be paid $.30 and 4 cookies. Our goal is that all our children grow up to be good workers, and Jonah is well on his way to learning how to work and the value of hard earned money.

So now you have an update on the kids and what they are doing. I just can't believe they are growing up so fast!

Quilt

Over the last month or so I've been working on a quilt for the Humanitarian Aid with all the scraps I have. I just made the top, but I'm excited for how it turned out. The kids (especially the girls) kept asking if the quilt was for them. I told them it was for another family who needed a warm blanket. They were happy with that answer, but quickly wanted to know when I was going to make them a quilt....

Miss Me?

We'll, it seems i've been neglecting my blog. It's not that we've not have updates to post.... it is that my camera broke (the button just popped right off) and I'm a little down about that. Suddenly my kids are super cute and doing wonderfully clever things... all undocumentable because I don't have a camera. GAG! My new-to-me ebay camera is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow (monday). Yay! Let's hope the kids are still doing cute stuff tomorrow!

(check out the new poll at the bottom of the page)

Bobcat Jonah

Jonah has officially earned his cubscout rank of Bobcat. He worked really hard and was able to pin me at the Pack Meeting this month. He is so proud of his accomplishments. He also earned several belt loops and badges. Good job Jonah!

(many thanks to Shannon for letting me borrow her camera)

River Cats -vs- RedHawks

Last night our whole family went out to a ballgame. John got the tickets from work, enough for all of us. So off we went to West Sacramento to see the River Cats play in their first playoff game against the Oklahoma RedHawks. We were in section 106 which is on the first base side in row 19. The seats were very good, the kids could see all the action. John and Jonah brought their mitts in case a foul ball came our way. It was amazing how many foul balls came our way, landing several times just a few seats away, unfortunately none landing in either glove. Plenty of home runs kept the action going as well as John getting on the big screen. Ok, Ok, it was as he was returning to his seat that he crossed the camera's path, but he was up there! To the kids delight, we ate cotton candy, ice cream, hot roasted peanuts and hot dogs.

Remember the Chicago "fanatical fan"? Well, it applies here as well. Jonah learned the art of "making noise" every time something exciting happened or the big screen told us it was time to "make noise" just the same as his dad. What a combo they were. By the 7th inning Keira was done, she had just passed her wild cranky won't sit still phase (that lasted about 3 innings)and just sat quietly on my lap for the rest of the game.

Jonah, still looking for that special foul ball, was surprised by a nice man (who had caught a foul ball just a few seats away) who handed him his ball. What a nice thing! Jonah's excitement could not be contained, he had a real foul ball! Katie John and Sariah had fun for a while, but soon tired out, we took a lot of trips to the potty and to the drinking fountain. We hadn't planned on staying the entire game, as it was a school night, but the game moved along quickly and didn't go into extra innings. On our way home all the kids but Jonah fell asleep on the short 15 minute ride home. I'm sure the kids will have great memories of our family trip to the ballgame.

Jonah hard at work

Recently Jonah decided he needed a new bike. He had discussed with us several times the possibility of getting a new bike. To his initial dismay, he would need to earn the money to pay for his new bike. His attitude soon turned positive when he discovered money jobs. Mowing the lawn is one of them. Funny story: John and I had talked about how much we would pay Jonah for each lawn. We figured $2 per lawn was fair, not too high, not too low. Meaning we'd be paying him $4 each time he mowed the front and back yards. When I sat down with Jonah to talk about how much we would pay, I said, " We'll pay you $2 to mow the lawn." And he said after pausing a moment, " One dollar a lawn, yeah, I think that's fine." A little surprised with his interpretation but willing to go with it I said, "Do you think it's a fair amount?" He said, "It's a lot of hard work, I sweat a lot, but I think it's worth it." Apparently $1 is big bucks at our house and I didn't even know it!

Jonah is a really hard worker, and mows the lawns with great efficiency. We really appreciate his happy attitude and gladly pay him his hard earned $2 each week.

Melt Down!

BREAKING NEWS! Yesterday, on an ordinary stove on an ordinary day, disaster struck the innocent. Mr. Taco Seasoning was quietly sitting after assisting with dinner in the kitchen. The night was quiet, the kids were in bed and the dishes washed. The air smelled of fresh baked brownies.... when suddenly a distinct burning sensation was felt by Mr. Seasoning. He couldn't move, the air thick with a burning, horrible smell. The heat intensified and began to take it's toll, there was no way out. The unrelenting heat badly contorted his once smooth exterior. Seasoning knew his time was coming to an end as he slowly slumped over.

Mr. Seasoning was later found by his associate, John Matthews, but sadly it was too late. After a quick investigation, it was determined that Matthews had set the oven to Self Clean and neglected to move Seasoning from the stove to the counter, his regular hang out. Mr. Taco Seasoning will be missed until his replacement arrives later this month.

Case Update: Mr. Matthews was charged with spice neglect and fined $8.00 in restitution.