Halloween 2010

With much anticipation, Halloween was big this year for our kids. With last year a bust from the H1N1 sickness that struck our household, the kids were ramped up for tons of fun! Halloween fell on a Sunday this year so our festivities were changed around a bit. We attended a super fun Halloween party where our friend Tina took this fabulous picture of our family. John is a peace loving hippie, I'm a witch, Jonah is a vampire, Katie John is also a witch, Sariah is a fairy and Keira is butterfly princess. After the pizza and candy house decorating we took off to the trunk-or-treat at the stake center. We spent more time than normal at the trunk-or-treat as it would be the kids' only candy gathering Halloween event. There was a giant slide, nut house, games and hot dogs for everyone! The kids really had a fun time.

Cookies!

For a fun Halloween project we decided to decorate cookies for our neighbors. Each child decorated several cookies and then ran them down to our neighbor friends down the street, who hopefully needed a boost of sugar! Several of the cookies had more weight from the candy corn than from the actual cookie!

Second Annual First Day of Fall Party

This year deciding when to have our annual fall party started with a bit of confusion as to the actual day first day of fall. Our calendar said that 9/22/10 was the first day of fall, and some calendars said 9/23/10 was the first day of fall. So because our calendar said the 22nd (and it would just be a better day all around for us) we chose the 22nd and started making plans.

The whole week before we'd been cleaning, shopping and cooking in preparation for the big day. John and Jonah worked hard on the yard, mowing and edging. I worked on the cluttery edges of the house. Thankfully I was already in super clean mode since the big baby girl clothes clean-out so it wasn't that bad. We had addressed, emailed or handed out over 50 invitations for our big party and so planning for food was a bit daunting. John made his standard chili, spicy chili and corn chowder. I whipped up a turkey noodle soup as well as 2 apple pies and 2 pumpkin pies. John decided that we needed plenty of cookies so after the several dozen oatmeal raisin I made, he made many molasses and applesauce cookies. I suppose it's always good to be prepared!

On the day of the big event we got to work early decorating the backyard and doing all the last minute items. John took the day off so he was able to get the food going as well as help with anything extra.
By the time 6:00pm rolled around we actually had everything done and ready. I know! I'm amazed too! Our guests started arriving right on time and the party got going. A few friends brought some yummy corn bread or rolls which went really well with the food and helped stretch it farther. Next year we may need to scale back the invite list or arrange for more food! Most of everyone we know has little kids, so our backyard was buzzing with conversation as well as the the standard kid noise. Our backyard was filled to the brim with activity. This year I was determined to get a head count and pictures, unlike last year. So about half way through the party I snapped a few photos so we could have some memories of who was there. Our invite list ranged all around with family members, work people, Strauss people, friends from school and neighbors. A good mix of everyone showed up, so hopefully no one stood by themselves not knowing anyone.
My mom pointed out that the Fall Equinox was at exactly 8:03pm. So our party actually ushered in Fall! We looked at the clock just as it turned fall, Happy Fallidays everyone! You never know how long a party like this will last, especially because it's on a school night. We were surprised that most everyone left by about 8:20 and we were cleaning up by 8:30pm. I think things were cleaned up and looking pretty good shortly after nine, because I was exhausted and asleep on the couch by 9:30.

Our final head count: 23 families, 75 or so people. Pretty good turnout!

Happy Birthday John!

John turned 38 today. We made the day as special as we could. The kids woke him up to hugs and Happy Birthday's. For lunch just John and I went out for pasta, which was really nice. As we waited for him to come home, all the kids decorated individual cards. Keira decided she was going to shout "Surprise!" When John finally walked in the door she changed to "Happy Birthday" along with the other kids. He got more hugs and attention as he rested on the couch.
After dinner we had a small party. John's "cake" was a Marie Calendar's Double Cream lemon Pie. YUM! He blew out his candles with hardly any effort (there were only two) as we loudly sang Happy Birthday.
We are always happy to celebrate such a wonderful husband and father, Happy Birthday John!

The Joys of a Three Year Old

This last weekend we dove in and began a much needed project. Keira and a friend had "helped" our wallpaper in an attempt to make a "nest for a spider". I really don't know what that means except they thought they were being helpers. They ended up peeling a 4'x4' section of the wallpaper off in our dining area. Silly me, I was in the other room thinking they were eating their lunch.

With our fall party just days away we needed a quick fix and fast. Saturday afternoon we began stripping the wallpaper which, thankfully, came off very easily. I ran down to Home Depot for some paint and picked a color to match our wallpaper, I chose Haystack. I began to paint and realized quickly that the lemon color on my wall was not a match to the color swatch I had picked out. John suggested giving it a chance and to go ahead and paint the second coat. By the end of the day the paint was dry... and still not a match. As we turned off lights in the kitchen before bed, I said "now it matches!"
So here is a picture of the finished color. We decided to just strip and paint only the one wall in an attempt to keep the project small. I have hopes of returning to Home Depot and coming home with the correct color of paint. For now this works, and I'm on the look out for a picture or item to cover the now large blank space. Any suggestions on what might look good there and not fall off the wall easily? I guess I should keep my eyes open at thrift stores for the next few weeks to get some ideas.

I'm the Mommy....sigh*

Mooooommmmmyyyy! Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy....Mooommmyyy! This is the sound I woke up to this morning. Keira was calling me. I tried to ignore it. I tried to pretend I didn't hear it. I hoped someone else would see what she needed. No luck. So after a few minutes of her serenade, I finally got up to see what the urgent need was. I found Keira sitting on the potty. "What do you need Keira?"

"I pooped."

I love potty training.

Soccer, Salsa and Applesauce... Oh My!

Saturday turned out to be one of the busiest days we'd had in a long time. The soccer season has officially started so we got up early and headed down to Mission School for Jonah's 9:00am game. They played the Foothill Lightning Bolts for their first game on a U-12 field. During one of the scuffles for the ball, Jonah was kicked above his knee with the bottom of a cleat. He was bruised and a little scraped but kept playing. Jonah plays left defender because he is left footed kicker. He did a good job running up and down the field and clearing the ball. Jonah's team won 5-1. Go Doom!

After soccer we picked up ingredients from the farmers market to make salsa. We'd decided last minute on Friday that Saturday had better be a salsa day or we might run out of time and not make any this year. We bought enough for 3 recipes, and at 4 quarts per recipe that's a lot of jars! John did all the prep and chopping while I took a nap. When I woke up I did the cooking, stirring and canning. I think we ended up with 23 jars of salsa in the end. By John's calculations that will last us over a year.
As it turns out, I needed to make applesauce also. My lovely visiting teacher was kind enough to drop off a box of apples for me earlier that week. Jonah and Katie John assisted me with the apple chopping, but I couldn't start them simmering just yet as it was time to start dinner. Oven burritos are a favorite at our house and are pretty quick to make. While the burrito insides were cooking on the stove I got out a box cake and made some birthday cake batter for a cake I needed to decorate for the next day. Then when the burritos were done, in went the cake. About an hour later the apples were on the stove and ready to go.

This weekend was also the 50th anniversary of our stake. There was a big open house at the stake center and there was a need for kids to sit in the fake primary so that passing tours of non-members could see what a primary looked like in action. Katie John and Sariah said they were willing to go, so while my apples were cooking I ran them down to the church building and dropped them off. I came back just in time for the first pot of apples to need "saucing". Keira was my on-looker as Jonah snapped a picture of me putting the apples through my colander. We had a fun time squishing the apples through until it was time for Keira to go to bed and for me to pick up the girls. The applesauce turned out wonderful and I'm so glad I made it!

Now for those of you who imagine that I'm normally like this on a Saturday... that is simply not the case. It just turns out that things fell into place to get done. It is so much better once things are done and out of the way! Now on to our Fall party!

New Baby News!

Things were really crazy this week as we waited for our ultrasound appointment. Our original appointment for Wednesday was canceled as of Monday, I had to wait until Tuesday to see if they could even get me an appointment the same day but at a different facility... maybe. I find out mid-morning that the news was good... whew! The new appointment was only one hour later than the original appointment and at a closer Kaiser. So John didn't have to reschedule his day off which was really nice.

We didn't tell the kids until yesterday morning that "today is the day" we find out if our new little one coming in January is a Boy or a Girl. All of them were really excited for school to be over with so they could hear the news.

John and I gathered everyone for a family meeting. I asked who thought it would be a girl (Jonah, Sariah and Keira) and then I asked who thought it would be a boy (John and Katie John). I split them into the separate groups boy/girl and had Keira reveal the news "a boy". At first Jonah didn't react. He thought Keira said the wrong thing, she should have said girl. Because it's always a girl. I had to convince him that the baby really was a boy and that he would finally have a brother. After that... he was really happy. The girls reacted well and are now asking me all sorts of questions about names for this baby and is the baby kicking and when can we feel the kicking. John made it a point to joke with the kids that they didn't notice that he voted for a boy, knowing that they all knew he knew. Jonah pointed out that he'd noticed, but thought that John was trying to throw everyone off track.

Since John and I have decided that this is our last little one and have made sure the kids are aware of our decision we've been getting interesting thoughts from them. Yesterday Sariah said, "how can this be our last baby? You can have babies until you're 60."

"Well Sariah, 60 years old is awfully old to be having a baby..."

"Ok, well at least until you're 50!" Sariah is showing high confidence in her answer at this point.

So in the end we struck a deal. After this baby we'll just wait and see if anymore babies come along. Sariah is very satisfied with that arrangement, she is content to wait and see. Jonah is happy to be finally getting a brother but he's made it clear he's hoping for the best "Mom, I really need TWO brothers!" Sorry Jonah. Katie John thinks she knows why this is our last baby. "It's because after this baby is born our van will be all filled up, we won't be able to fit any more babies in!" Good try Katie John.

So with all the girl or boy excitement handled, I can get on with the giant clothes giveaway as I will now happily dump all the girl clothes bins up to size 2T into the donation pile. And I will no longer have to store anything Keira grows out of! Yay for less stuff! Yay for bookend boys!

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I'm still working on my back log of posts. scroll down to see my new stuff. I added TEN new ones just today!

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Missionary Jesse RWH !!

My brother Jesse has returned home from his Pittsburgh, PA mission!
This kids are waiting anxiously for everyone else as well as information on Jesse's flight, which we soon found out that was arriving EARLY!

Our first glimpses of him coming down the escalator.

We only had a few moments for hugs, chatting and pictures before he needed to rush off to the high council to be released.

Here is the whole group (me of course behind the camera) that came to the Sacramento Airport!
Back row: Emily, Joseph, Justin, Christina, Jonathan, Jesse, Mom, Dad, Julie, Keira, John
front row: Eden, Logan, Jonah, Grace, Max, Katie John, Mason, (in front of KJ and Mason) Paul and Sariah.

New Baby Cow!

On a visit out to Grandma Myrick's house we were able to see the new calf. Rosie, the cow had recently given birth right before our visit.
Keira and I have a fun time posing for a picture in the hay!
Sariah, Keira and Katie John were all able to pet the new calf and spend time learning about taking care of a momma and baby cow.

Daddy Daughter Dance

John took the girls to the "Daughter of my Heart" dance, a fun event our school hosted for Valentines Day. Katie John and Sariah have been looking forward to this "date night" with their dad for about two weeks. There was a chocolate fountain, pictures and tons of dancing. They really had a great time.

In 3D!

Jonah is checking out a comic book in 3D! The glasses looked so good on him I just had to take a picture!

Adventure Base 100

As a den leader for cub scouts I get to attend all the super cool activities that they do. This year the Boys Scouts are celebrating 100 years of scouting. The adventure base 100 is an event that we attended at Cal Expo. I escorted my little wolves around to each station, but occasionally was able to snap a picture of Jonah doing fun things like the ropes course (above). We saw a digital pinewood derby, tons of scouting memorabilia, did a ropes course, saw a short movie and took pictures in front of green screens.

This is Jonah and his friend Mitchell "white water rafting" for their picture.
I was able to have my picture take with the other attending den leaders, Joanne and Dara. What a good time we had, despite the long walk, downpour of rain and the gigantic puddles!

Katie John has reading glasses! She is super happy to wear her new glasses anytime she can. She has a pair for school and a pair for home. Her reading improved on the first day she took them to school!