Wii!

What could be better than cousins and a Wii? Nothing! They can get out all their energy and excitement without ever making physical contact. Love it! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Besaw - one of the best Christmas presents ever!

Battle

It is a very odd thing that my kiddos all get along so well and have so much fun playing Battle! They run around the house play-fighting. It is hilarious when they play-die; it can get quite dramatic.

It is frustrating as a parent, though, that so often when they don't play Battle, they really fight. I mean, grrr: What the heck!? Why is it they can't just get along and stop fighting about such stupid things?

For me, the real battle seems to be to keep the peace. Harmony in the home is such a beautiful thing; I just wish there was more of it!

Eat Your Veggies!

When Melissa made this meal I insisted that I take a picture because it really does mark a major milestone. When we got married, I was hardly a vegetable eater. I mean, I ate vegetables: potatoes, carrots, beans, and peas. (Ha!) One day I came home to our newlywed little apartment (in Provo) after having gone to class and smelled a really foul odor: "What have you been cooking that stinks so bad?" After Melissa sheepishly informed me she'd just had cauliflower, I said, "Please make sure that if you ever cook that stuff again, I am in a different state!" Okay, maybe it wasn't that exaggerated, but to this day Melissa repeats the story with some sort of similar outlandish declaration that is quite akin I'm sure to what I actually did say.

Everything pictured in this meal is from our garden or the community garden. The kids loved it, and even I loved it! That's right, I actually eat cauliflower now...and broccoli, beets, asparagus, zucchini, and squash. I still hate tomatoes, though, which is funny because everyone else in the family LOVES them. Last Thanksgiving I even tried Brussel sprouts just to demonstrate to my mother-in-law that I had in fact learned to appreciate vegetables. I'd have to say, though, that I hope to never eat Brussel sprouts again.

Hankerings to Paint

Every now and then Melissa gets a hankering to paint. I used to offer resistance because I thought white walls were perfectly fine.
I've since learned, though, that resistance is futile. I don't even protest anymore (except for her latest hankering to re-paint the ENTIRE upstairs). If she gets a bee in her bonnet, something is going to get painted. This time it was Madison's room.
So here we have the before, during, and after pictures of Madison's room. As usual, it does look better. Now I wonder if we can make it half a year before she gets another hankering.

Happy Halloween

This year was the first year in a long time that we didn't have a costume theme for our family. I think part of me was secretly hoping everyone's costume would bomb so I could do a theme again next year! However, nobody's did, and we all had a great Halloween!

Craig makes a great Captain Hook and all the kids think his hair is hilarious. I was a scarecrow, Mackenzie was a sassy Sharpay from High School Musical, Madison rocked as Hannah Montana, Clayton was a gallant knight with a very cool sword and shield, and Morgan was the cutest Dorothy ever. (I'm obviously very objective.)

Thursday morning Morgan's preschool class put on a great Halloween program, and to our delight, her teacher was Dorothy, too! Halloween morning Morgan and I helped put on a party for Clayton's class with Miss Hart that really kicked off the excitement of the day. After school we drove to Craig's work for a company trick-or-treat party and were able to see just how creative some of those tech-guys can get! Then we came home to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Kenzie and Maddie went off with Courtney but were great about checking in. I supervised the trick-or-treating of Clayton paired up with his bud Jaxon and Morgan with her friend Paige. We had beautiful weather for a Utah Halloween and were able to hit almost every house in the neighborhood. Craig got candy duty at home. All in all it was a great Halloween and the kids ended up with quite the candy stash! Next up - Thanksgiving - and from the sounds of this video, Morgan is getting ready!