November Pack Meeting

This month the boys got to show off what they have been working on. The Bear Den sang some songs (really badly) and then performed magic tricks.

In a modified version of "I'm Getting Not'in For Christmas" Ethan sang "I put a frog in Courtney's bed." It was a cute song. They got a little derailed when trying to sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" but nobody complained about a shortened song.

Ethan singing:
His magic trick:
Here is their version of Rudolph (with a re-start at the beginning):

Thanksgiving Holiday

Grandma and Grandpa Pack, David and Andrew came to our house for Thanksgiving!! And we had a TON of fun.

The kids were out of school on Wednesday, so we spent a few hours that morning making pies and getting beds all ready. Then we played. We went to the library, bought some last minute things and played outside. It was relaxing and fun.

Grandma and Grandpa Pack arrived after noon and we played with them. We went to the park, shot baskets, rode scooters and kicked around a soccer ball. After dinner we visited while waiting for David and Andrew to arrive. Actually, we went to bed while Grandma and Grandpa waited up for them.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and Bryan's birthday!!! We had a wonderful dinner (Grandma made the rolls for us) and then we played games and watched a lot of football.

Dancing with Grandpa:Bryan with his traditional peach pie for his birthday:
Friday, we all went for a hike at a place about 2 miles from our house. There were Indian hieroglyphs. It turned into a rock scramble when we decided to try and get down by the river, but it was fun. We even saw a hawk. Pretty cool!

The scramble down:
The hieroglyphs: On the trail back to the vans:
Saturday, we decided to go up the Red Mountain. We have never done a hike up this before but we know people who have so we decided to try it. We went up to the base of the mountain and found a TON of trails going up, but none of them were the right trail. After scrambling up the side of the mountain for a while we decided that, for safety reasons, we had better get down.

We ended up hiking to the Ivins Cemetery and back. While on our way back to the vans, we noticed a man and his son starting up the Red Mountain. We watched and noticed, for the first time, a trail. We spent the next 30 minutes or so watching their progress up the side of the Red Mountain. It looked steep but now we know where to begin.

Then Grandpa took us all out for ice cream at the Ice Box.

The Red Mountain:
View of Ivins from the top point we got to:
Ethan and Courtney (Ethan was really nervous that someone was going to fall so he didn't enjoy being up there scrambling over rocks):
Andrew's perch:
A lot of time was spent watching football (and BYU basketball). Bryan got a new game table for his birthday so games were set up on that most of the time...or a puzzle was on it. We ate way too much food and had a great time together.

David and Andrew went home Saturday night and Grandma and Grandpa went home Monday morning. It was fun having everyone come to our house for Thanksgiving.

Mountainman Rendezvous

The fourth grade classes had a mountainman rendezvous. They had to earn beaver pelts (pieces of paper with a beaver on them) which they traded for food, games and prizes. I was asked to help at one of the games so I was there to see Ethan have fun.

He got to pan for gold, eat a lot of scones (he spent most of his beaver pelts on food), shoot a marshmallow gun and throw bean bags (that was the game I helped with). I think it was a fun activity for them and they learned a lot about Utah history through it all.

Rollerblading

Ethan hasn't ever liked rollerblading because he fell the first time and it scared him. Courtney, on the other hand, is really good at it and doesn't have fear. The other day some other kids in the neighborhood were outside on their rollerblades so Ethan and Courtney decided to go out there with them. It was hilarious!!

One boy, Carter, is really good at rollerblading and thought it may be easier for the others if they used their scooters as a crutch. It worked great and Ethan figured out what he was doing. For the next 3 or 4 days, that's all the neighborhood kids did...rollerbladed. It was great to have them outside enjoying the great weather and having fun.

That's really a smile, I promise, the sun was in her eyes.
The kids using their scooters to give them balance:
Ethan getting used to his blades:
He had so much fun!

The Splint

Ethan has been living with pain in his heels for about 9 months or so. I took him to a podiatrist who told us it was Severs Disease (not really a disease but a dis-at-ease). The growth plates in his heels have become inflamed and they hurt really badly. The doctor told us to buy some heel cups and have him discontinue all physical activities. The doctor wasn't impressive and didn't spend any time with us. I wasn't very happy but Ethan loved him because Ethan was playing soccer at the time and wasn't enjoying it too much. So the doctor had just given him an excuse to stop playing when the season ended.

The cups didn't work at all and actually made the pain a lot worse. We tried to get him to stretch but he wouldn't listen to us and things weren't getting any better. After watching him limp all over on Wednesday, I called a different podiatrist who got us right in.

I took Ethan in on Friday and the doctor spent a ton of time with us. The new doctor confirmed that Ethan does have Severs Disease but said that he should be able to become pain free and still play in activities and do what he would like to.

The doctor showed Ethan some stretches to do, gave us a new insert into his shoes, and then gave us a night-time stretching splint for Ethan to wear while he sleeps. The doctor told us that the pain should be quite a bit less in 2 weeks and that he should be feeling great in a month.

Ethan has been stretching and he has been wearing the splint at night (which hasn't bothered him at all) and his pain has gone down considerably!! Bryan always asks him to rate his pain on a scale of 1-10 and it was always a 7 or 8. This morning it was a 1, so I think things are looking up...which is good because basketball season starts next month.

Still Got It!!

Bryan was commenting on how fast I type and so I decided to take an online typing test. Right before we were married, I entered a typing contest and won a free hotel stay. I typed 93 wpm at the time. (I have played the piano for YEARS and I was a typesetter at a newspaper for a couple years, so I have had a lot of hand-eye coordination practice in my life.)

I still type at 88 wpm. Not bad for only typing emails and blogs entries. I've still got it! ;)

It Still Works

My sewing machine went weird on me yesterday and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. (The bobbin has black thread in it but white thread keeps coming up and getting tangled somehow so I think there's something weird going on.) I only had a couple more seams to sew on a Christmas present and I had a bee in my bonnet about getting it finished, so I decided to try sewing on my Grandma Andersen's old sewing machine.

Most people look at this in my house:
and they don't realize that this is inside:
It's a 1934 Singer sewing machine and it works great! (Yes, I looked up the age by using the serial number.) Instead of a foot pedal it has a lever that you push with your knee to get it to go forward. It only goes forward and backward and I'm not sure it even has a zigzag stitch. It's REALLY slow so it took about 10 times the time it should have, but it worked great and all the stitches were even.

Now, if I can't figure out how to get my other machine to stop being a pill, I'll have to sew Christmas pjs on this machine. It won't be bad but it will take a long time!! ;)

Last Game of the Season

Saturday was Courtney's last soccer game of the season. It has been really cold here (about 20 degrees below normal on some days) so we dressed for cold weather. It wasn't too bad but Bryan wished he was in shorts by the end of the game!

The girls did really well and had a fun season. You could definitely tell who had been coming to practice and who had not, but they all improved over the course of the season. Courtney had a great time and was happy to be a soccer girl again.

Here is a photo we took after their last game with their trophies. The parents wanted "coach" in the picture too. Great season girls!!

Breakfast

Our wonderful kids made us breakfast in bed this morning!!! Courtney distracted us by reading stories while Ethan cooked toast and made hot chocolate. They are so sweet and considerate! What lucky parents we are.

Growth Chart

We have been keeping track of how tall the kids have grown by marking it on the laundry room wall. The other day I started to think that it may not be a good idea to do this because we may want to paint the wall someday and I don't want to paint over the markings.

I did an internet search and found a tutorial on tip junkie for a growth ruler from Pottery Barn. Apparently this chart was really expensive and someone figured out how to make it cheaply. I looked at the instructions and it was really simple, so I made one.

It's just a 1x8x6 board (1 inch thick, 8 inches wide and 6 feet long) from Home Depot and then I stained it (I had left over stain), put the inch marks on it with a marker, cut vinyl lettering for the numbers, sprayed it with finish and hung it up. I had to transfer over the measurements from the wall but it was fun to see how much they have grown! I can't believe it.

Last of all I took a new measurement of them using the ruler growth board. Ethan is only about 6 inches shorter than I am! I think it's fun and it turned out pretty well.

The chart hung up to the correct height (I started the ruler at 6 inches so I could avoid the baseboard):
Ethan's growth:
Courtney's growth:

Dancer of the Week

On Tuesday at dance, Courtney was given the Dancer of the Week award. She was so excited and happy to show me her certificate. Last year we had the certificate on the fridge for months. We'll see how long it stays up this time but she was so happy!

Anniversary Dinner

Bryan made me a wonderful anniversary dinner on Monday including a table set with roses in a vase. We had it planned so we would put the kids to bed and then have dinner together. But the kids had other plans. They wanted to be our waiters so they helped get everything ready, including blowing up balloons to throw at us. Ethan even had an army guy hold a "Happy Anniversary" sign. It was hilarious!

When we were served, they went to bed and we ate in peace. It was a great meal and a fun evening with family. I'm happy that the kids were so excited that it was our anniversary.

The food:
The table:
Ethan (with a very serious waiter-face on):
Courtney:

Courtney's New Room

Courtney is so lucky. There is a girl in our neighborhood who loves to give her hand-me-downs to Courtney. Usually it's toys but this time it was bedroom decorations! Courtney was in heaven.

We went over to their house and she picked out what she wanted and then we came home, re-arranged all her furniture, threw away a TON of junk, organized and then decorated. I think it turned out cute and she loves the added "girly" touches. She loves her room now.

I was trying to get a picture of the cute "pink wall" but Bryan and Courtney had other plans.

Thirteen Years!!

Can you believe that we have been married for 13 years? Crazy how time flies.
Love you Bryan!!! Happy Anniversary

Soccer

We just sat through the COLDEST SOCCER GAME that we have ever been to (I'm sure I say that every year but it was really cold today). No, there wasn't snow but it was a cold wind that was blowing!!

We drove to the field and it was windy and cold. I had Courtney put pants and a sweat shirt on under her uniform and I was really glad. But the cold seemed to energize the girls because they did really well. Courtney made a goal that was all her and was one where she had to take the ball from the opposite side of the field to the goal. It was impressive. But I was happy when the game was over!

Courtney has one more soccer game of the season.

The Fun of Speaking Spanish

I am the first to admit that my Spanish is pretty rusty and I get so nervous speaking it in front of people that I forget any words that I do remember but....I do remember enough to catch people trying to take advantage of me. And I do enjoy bartering. ;)

We are selling our crib and changing table on Craigslist and had a couple who wanted to come by and look at it. After a quite humorous phone call to give them directions to our house, they arrived to look at our stuff. They were both Latinos. The wife spoke English really well but the husband did not speaking any English.

They looked at the crib and then I took them downstairs to look at the changing table and hutch. All through the process they were speaking to each other in Spanish and I quietly listened and waited...waited for the perfect time to freak them out.

After looking at the changing table they seemed excited and wanted the crib/changing table stuff. The wife asked (in English), "You want $175, right?" I said that was correct and then the husband said to his wife (in Spanish), "I think we could get her down to $135." I looked at him and said (in Spanish), "You think I'll take $135. No, I won't but I'll take $150."

I wish there was a way to freeze someone face at certain moment because the startled look on that couple's faces at that particular moment was priceless!! Needless to say, they were very guarded with what they said to each other after that, but they did decide to buy the stuff. After that, I made sure to answer their questions in Spanish.

It was pretty fun and Bryan was giddy when I told him what had happened. He loves it when I catch people with my Spanish. No one expects a gringa in St. George, Utah to speak Spanish.

Halloween Fairy

I was informed, by Ethan, that the Halloween Fairy didn't do a very good job this year. Courtney got a making jewelery set and Ethan got a magic rock garden set. He wasn't too impressed and said he wanted Legos. This may be the last year for the Halloween Fairy in our house. ;)

Halloween Evening!

Since I was at the school, I grabbed the kids and we went to the store to get pumpkins. I had been trying to avoid this part of Halloween but they so nicely reminded me that it's something we "have to do!" Courtney had a free pumpkin coupon so it worked out. And, as a bonus, I sweet-talked the kids into drawing faces on their pumpkins instead of us having to carve them!! It worked great. When we got home they began drawing and had so much fun. It took a lot less time and wasn't a huge mess.

My parents came over at 4:30 to take their pictures and give them their candy bar.

Is it obvious to anyone else that I'm going to have to take the Calvin and Hobbes books away from Ethan?!?!
Then we took off for the neighborhood party and fun with friends. Our neighborhood is so great because it's a huge pot luck with bounce houses and tons of talking. The kids love it and the adults look forward to it each year.

There were some fun additions this year. A group of girls did a dance for everyone (it was really good) and a cupcake walk was held for the little kids.

We also had the traditional 2 bounce houses. The little kids get one and the older boys (teenagers) take over the other one and wrestle. Usually someone gets hurt. Last year Ethan's glasses were broken, this year he was kneed in the nose pretty hard. But they still have fun!

Here is Courtney attacking the banana:
Ethan with Brennon and Braydon.
When it started getting dark (kind of) the kids split into groups and began trick-or-treating. I ran home to hand out candy while Bryan went as a parent with one group. It's a great time for the dads to chat and not feel like they are gossiping like women. ;) I got our luminaries out we had made weeks before and lit them. They looked great....until people began stepping on them and breaking them. Oh well. Next year I will put them more on the porch so they are decorations rather than lighting the way. Or I may put them in front of the garage where people don't walk.

When the kids got home it was time for them to sort out their loot. They are allowed to keep 5 pieces of candy each (Bryan and I also get 5 candies from their loot) and the rest is set out for the Halloween Fairy to take and leave a toy in it's place. This was a rough part for Ethan because he couldn't decide what to give and take.

They usually dump it out on the floor, divide it into piles of alike items and then they mull over what they want to keep.


After the decision was made they spent the rest of the evening (until bedtime) opening the door for trick-or-treaters and trying to scare them by yelling "boo!" They got a few but for the most part people just looked at them strange. ;)

It was a fun day/night and the kids had a great time!! Now on to Thanksgiving...unless you go to a sctore and then it's on to Christmas. ugh!!

Courtney's Class Party

Courtney's class party was after the parade (which worked out great because I could help in both parties and see the parade!). The room mom had a hectic weekend so she didn't get anything planned until Sunday night so I had to run to the store early Monday to get some supplies.

They had four stations: caramel apple monsters, scary story telling, ghost making and painting. She also had a cake walk (with candy), a "how many candies are in the bottle" guessing game and a craft to make a bag. It was a great party but really packed with things that we didn't have time for. Ugh! But the kids had a great time.

Courtney loved making the caramel apple monster. They got to dip the apple and then put body parts on it. They turned out cute.

Here is Courtney decorating her bag:

Then she went to the guessing table, made her basket and rotated to the scary story telling. They had to fill in a paper with words and then they read the story. It was funny.

Courtney then rotated to a ghost making station. This was the one I helped with because it was a big project for kids to do in 10 minutes. We stapled arms onto a paper plate while the kids drew their faces on it. They were supposed to cut out pieces from construction paper but it wasn't working at all, so they got to draw.

Then they rotated to the coloring station where they got to color a mask.

When they were all finished the winner was announced of the guessing game and they played a "cake walk" type game to win candy/stickers. By this time the bell had rung so they had to quickly clean up and go home.

The kids had a great time!!

The Halloween Parade

In years past they have had the parade in the morning. The way they do the parade is that one class begins and they travel through each classroom in the school with that classroom full of kids joining at the end. When everyone is attached they go outside so parents can see them. After the parade they would all gather on the basketball court outside and dance. It was hilarious and so much fun.

For the last two years they haven't had the dance party on the basketball court and then this year the parade was in the afternoon. But the kids still loved giving the other kids high-5s as they went through the classrooms. And then they get to see everyone's costumes.

Courtney was a vampire and Ethan was a ninja.

Here is Courtney with her friend, Courtney.
Here is Ethan with his class.

Ethan's Class Party

The school Halloween Parade was in the afternoon this year (a bad idea, in my opinion because the kids couldn't go to school in their costumes and had to change after lunch so it was a mess) so Ethan's class had their party before the parade. After they ate lunch they hurried back to their classroom to get dressed in their costumes.

The party was split into four stations: cookie decorating, pictionary, pumpkin guts and bowling. Ethan and his good friend, Cody, started at pictionary. They had a lot of fun with that one because they had "practiced" at Ethan's party the Saturday before.

They rotated to the pumpkin guts game. Now, Ethan has a really strong gag reflex and this game made him nervous. They had to dig in cold spaghetti inside a pumpkin until they found a marble. They put an apron on Ethan, blindfolded him and off he went....and immediately began to gag. I was nervous he was going to throw up. The woman in charge of the game immediately told him to take his hands out and wash them. He felt a bit bad about not finishing the game but was pale and didn't feel very good for a while afterward so he agreed that it was best that he not play "gross out" games. For the next 10 minutes, every time he thought of the pumpkin guts game he would start gagging.

I had to take a picture to prove that he tried but you can tell that he is gagging and the woman behind him is telling him to take his hands out.
Then they moved on to the cookie decorating station. I helped with this station but really didn't do much. It was a simple station so I helped the mom in charge (Cody's mom) put out the cookies and then the kids were on their own. It gave me time to take pictures and chat with the other moms.

They then bowled, which was fun but not to great for pictures. Ethan and Cody wanted their picture taken with Mrs. Belliston, their teacher. She is great!

When the party was over I ran outside to get into position for the parade.