I'll get you my pretty...and all your candy too!

(Dave-o with Mrs. Burke)

Happy Halloween!

Steven and James spent the evening at the Sundstrom's Halloween party. James put together his costume last minute (like always). I don't know what he is. Your guess is as good as mine.

This was Dave-o's first experience with "trick-or-treating" and he LOVED it. After an hour of going around our neighborhood, we returned home and he had just as much fun handing out the candy. With each distribution of candy he would say to the trick-or-treaters, "Here you go! Happy Halloween!" Kirsten was very patient with Dave-o.

Justin and his friend Noah wandered the neighborhood scaring the little goblins. Justin told me that one lady asked him, "Are you a Mormon?" Hehe! Yes...a very roughed-up-gun-toting-Mormon.

James' and Steven's

Justin's and Kirsten's

Cut That Out!

We've had a hard time squeezing in the time to carve pumpkins. Thursday was the day we scheduled to do it, then it was pushed up a day, and then another day. (I was oblivious to the fact that Kirsten was wearing her beautiful Sunday dress while carving her pumpkin until I uploaded the pictures.)

Dave-o was quite the nuisance. In wanting to copy his siblings,  he would grab the knives and poke at the pumkins. When that option was taken away, he started drawing on Kirsten's Jack-O-Lantern with a sharpie. I finally wised up and gave him a little pumpkin of his own to wreak havoc on.

Next, Dave-o experimented with using the guts as an exfolient. Eating it didn't go over as well though. Yuck!

Steven's is "two-faced"; James' "snowman"; and Kirsten's is your traditional "Jack"(3-D version).

Justin hasn't finished his yet. He is still in the designing phase of the project.

Children's Book

I just received an email with some wonderful news from a couple of my Houston, TX friends. Linda Bybee has published her first children's book "Untwin" with a friend of hers. It's about being a single birth child (an untwin) with twin siblings (Linda is a mother of four children-two of them being twins). Liz Harris (another good friend who is an AMAZING artist) illustrated the book. It makes me so happy to see them fulfilling a dream. I am definitely ordering a book (with their autographs)

Trunk-or-Treat

I was inspired by this instructional Youtube video for my costume.

Our ward had its annual Trunk-or-Treat party in the church parking lot.

The months prior to Halloween, Steven changed his costume idea dozens of times. He finally settled on a Mime.

We found Kirsten's Elephant costume at Goodwill. She wanted to add a tutu to make the costume silly. Don't tell her she looks cute, or you'll be corrected.

Dave-o was a future Boy Scout.

(Kirsten with her friends: Jessica, Autumn, and Emma. These girls are all within a year's age of each other, yet look at the height difference!)

(Steven, Ben, and James who is a character from James Bond.)

Dave-o and I waiting for the parade of the costumes to begin.

Steven won the "scariest" costume? His confusion showed as he accepted his award. The judges explained that to them, Mimes are very scary. Kirsten was awarded the "Wackiest" costume.

After the parade, Dave-o didn't want me to put him down. He was shivering (eventhough it wasn't really cold). When it was time to trunk-or-treat, he didn't want to participate. So, while I handed out candy, Dave-o chose to sit in the car in his carseat with his blankie.

Kirsten was the only one from our family who trunk-or-treated (because of our "no trick-or-treating rule after the age of 12'). Steven found a very clever loop hole around this. He staked a spot next to our car, put his hat down with a note that read, "Put candy in here" on it. Then he acted like a mime; performing on demand. It wasn't long before he had a large crowd of kids laughing and watching him. They made request like "Fall in the bush... Or...Lift weights" He was a hit! Once his hat was full, the kids threw their candy at him.

At 8pm, I took Kirsten and Dave-o home, while the others cleaned up. Justin was at a Zion Choir party with a bunch of his friends.

I'm exhausted!  

Pumpkin Birdie

Heather Judd, the Activity Day Girl leader, sprinted to my car with her apron ties flying in the breeze. I rolled down my window and she announced to me that Kirsten was going to be the next Enrichment Leader. She went on to say that Kirsten designed the cutest pumpkin at their activity. Heather then said that if this is a result of homeschooling than she missed the boat (her children, but one,are all grown and out of the house).

As we ended our conversation, Kirsten walked to our car taking care to not drop her masterpiece. Isn't her bird pumpking adorable? I love the fish hanging out of its beak.

Prior to today's activity, I bought some purple ric-rac and other decorative objects for Kirsten to use for the pumpkin decorating activity. I gave her what I considered cute ideas for which to use the supplies. Well...she ended up not using any of the stuff I bought; giving it away to her friends. She obviously had plans of her own. And they were better than I could've ever dreamed up.

Allegiance to Continuity

Dave-o loves reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with us each morning before starting school.

My Morning Boost

(self-portrait of myself)

October marks my one year anniversary of being a member of The Right Stuff fitness center. I hope this doesn't come across as boastful, but I am extreemly proud of my accomplishment. Not only have I lost fifteen pounds in this time frame, but I feel GREAT! I have more energy and stamina to get through my hectic days. Doing something for myself each day is a wonderful boost. I religiously drag myself out of bed at 6:30am, drive to the church building, load the car with my faithful seminary boys (Justin, James, Josh, and Matthew), drop Justin off at the house, and head straight to the gym with the other three who work out with me (and act as my bodyguards).

When I first began working out, I had no indurance or strength. Now, I am able to run 4 miles in 40 minutes (without stopping, I might add). This week I decided to try a different routine. I've been told to mix things up every now and then to shock the body. For 20 minutes I am alternating between walking and sprinting (one minute each). I read in a magazine that this will boost my metabolism. My goal is to loose 10 more pounds. Then I'll almost be at my pre-pregnancy weight.

The morning regulars at the gym are like family. We know each other by name and care about what's happening in each other's lives. I even found out that my 75 year old buddy, Frank, was baptized into our church many years ago, but is now inactive. He's a church hopper-switching denominations every 10 years or so. He's always asking me how Relief Society is going and I keep inviting him to various church functions. Maybe one of these days he'll say yes.

Hold On

(Justin looking very handsome in his tuxedo shirt and vest with a purple tie. They coordinated beautifully with the girls' purple gowns.)

Yesterday evening, the Zion Youth Choir performed for friends and family. It was like a dress rehearsal for them. James, Steven, Kirsten, and I met Grandma and Grandpa Zinn at the Bernal building to listen to Justin perform with his peers. David was feeling under the weather so he stayed home with a very tired Dave-o.

The fireside was wonderful. In between each song, a few members of the choir shared what the next song to be sung meant to them. Justin spoke near the beginning, which was a relief to him. This is what he said about the song "I'm Going to Sing":

"In October's General Conference, Matthew O. Richardson, who was also my EFY director this past summer, said: 'The Holy Ghost teaches by inviting, prompting, encouraging, and inspiring us to act. Christ assured us that we come to the truth when we live doctrine and act accordingly. The Spirit leads, guides, and shows us what to do. He will not, however, do for us what only we can do for ourselves. You see, the Holy Ghost cannot learn for us, feel for us, or act for us because this would be contrary to the doctrine of agency. He can facilitate opportunities and invite us to learn, feel, and act.'

When we feel a prompting by the Holy Ghost, we should act on it right away. I know that I can be blessed with the Spirit if I am obedient."

The musical numbers were as follows:

I'm Going to Sing
Did you Think to Pray (my favorite of the night)
We'll Shout and give Him Glory
Savior
Praise to the Man
Win the Race
A Gaelic Blessing
El Yivneh Hagdalil (God Will Build Galilee) A Hebrew song
Death Shall Not Destroy My Comfort
Hold On
And the Father Will Dance

For me, the most touching moment of the evening was listening to a young woman, a senior in high school, talk about being in the process of overcoming an eating disorder. Her self worth has increased with the personal realization that her Father in Heaven knows and loves her regardless of her outward appearance. Knowing that she is a daughter of God is her strength in fighting this disorder.

Overall, the evening was perfect. Seeing Justin's grin following the performance made me so happy. I knew that he knew this was a huge accomplishment for him. Great job Justin! I am so proud of you for sticking with the choir even though there have been moments when you wanted to quit. Bringing enjoyment and the Spirit into people's lives through music is a powerful thing. Keep it up!

As a bonus to the evening I even got to catch up with Jan Dickson, a friend from our old Gilroy Ward. Her son, Jeffrey is in the choir as well.

Fiddling With Rags

Last year I had wanted to make a rag wreath, but never got around to. I was more determined this season to get it done. I love how it turned out. Tying the 12 different fabrics to the wire frame was time consuming, but it kept my hands occupied while watching the BYU football game this afternoon.

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Steven's violin teacher showed us this youtube video of Adam Degraff playing "Sweet Child O' Mine". It's absolutely amazing to watch and listen to.

A Day off from School...Because we Can

Being able to take a day off from school whenever you want is one of the many positives about homeschooling. Lately, our family has had a lot going on and I needed a breather. With the exception of a couple of classes that James and Steven had to attend, we had no school.

So, what did we do instead? I took Kirsten to the dentist first thing this morning because one of her fillings had come off taking with it a tiny piece of her tooth. Our dentist filled it and said not to worry about the chip because she'll be losing that tooth in another 6 to 12 months. Kirsten was pretty much useless for the next eight hours due to her "feeling funny". The numbness in her mouth really bothered her.

We came home and made some Candy Corn dipped Marshmallows (see picture above) to give to our neighbors.

Then I left Justin in charge while I helped Sascha and Lisa make a bag/purse for Lori as a "thank you" for her many years of service as Relief Society President. She just started a blog that will inspire all who read it the importance of making lemonade out of lemons. Because of this, we used lemons as the theme for the bag as well as the contents that we are putting in it.

A couple of hours later, Kirsten and I made carmel popcorn. Then we packaged all of our goodies up and loaded three pumpkin pails to "Boo" a few lucky individuals.

It ended up being a very productive, fun day (except for the visit to the dentist).

Goodbye Thursday Meetings

(Me, Lori, Sascha, and Lisa)

For two years, Relief Society presidency meetings have filled two hours of my Thursday evenings. As of right now, I will have to find something else to do on those evenings (which won't be very hard...trust me).

As a last hurrah, Lori, Sascha, Lisa, and I went to Orange Leaf for some yummy frozen yogurt. We talked about the uphill battle that Lori will be facing with her ovarion cancer and shared funny "female" stories. I have loved serving with each of these ladies and love them with all my heart. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve as secretary for the Branham Ward Relief Society. In those two years, I have learned many things, such as, mastering the functions of a copy machine, doing the visiting teaching report, designing a successful newsletter, creating flyers and sign up sheets, etc. But the best part was getting to know every sister in our ward by name. Doesn't get better than that!

The BOTTOM line is...

If I were to make a list of all the things I get to teach my children with my favorite at the top and my least favorite at the bottom, potty training would be located dead last. It is for this very reason that I have been putting off the inevitable. David keeps asking me when I'm going to do it and up until now I've had some good excuses, like school just starting, traveling to Idaho and Montana, etc. I've even tried to pass the baton off to one of the boys, bribing them with money if they'd do the dreaded deed. But alas; the task has fallen on my shoulders once more.

Well, today seemed as good a day as any to start potty training Dave-o. After giving him a bath, I only dressed him in a shirt. Waist down, Dave-o was naked. Why do I do this? Fourteen years ago, I found myself in the same situation. I was potty training my first child (Justin) and was getting nowhere with it. While at a park near our apartment in San Jose, I started talking to another young mother with a son the same age as mine. Our conversation eventually turned to "potty talk". Her son was wearing underwear and I was eager to hear her secret. She told me that in India (where she is from), their homes have dirt floors so they just let the little ones run around naked. They quickly learn and recognize the sensation of peeing and are soon potty trained. I immediately implemented this new found knowledge and in a couple of days, Justin was wearing underpants. This same technique was used on the three other children that have joined our family with the same success.

Back to Dave-o...he DID NOT appreciate being naked on his bottom. He repeatedly asked me to put his diaper on, but I held my ground and said no. I brought out his potty chair and Dave-o cried saying, "No like potty chair. No like it!" Then he wanted me to hold him. He was whiny and clingy until lunch time. Needing my limbs returned to me so that I could make lunch for the gang, I sat a very upset two year old on the potty chair and walked away. Ten minutes pass and Dave-o is hysterical. Justin is mad at me for doing this to Dave-o and is confident that he doesn't need to be potty trained until he's like 4 or 5. Outwardly I argue with Justin's reasoning, but inside, I'm being swayed to his thinking. Then, all at once, the crying stopped. I walk over toward Dave-o, picked him up, and noticed a good sized puddle in his potty chair. With cheers of joy we all hugged our naked baby and sent him to bed for his nap (with a diaper on).

The rest of the day went better. Dave-o stopped his whining and went potty two more times. He has yet to go number 2 (the poor guy). Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

Pumpkin Patch

(Steven picked out a VERY squeaky wheelbarrow. We quickly made him exchange it.)

My family will affirm to the fact that I love keeping with tradition if at all humanly possible. So, this evening we revisited our favorite pumpkin patch (Uesugi Farms).  

David helping Dad push the wheelbarrow.

Kirsten and Steven

Justin and James

Dave-o (I love his dimple!)

Dave-o loved watching the train choo-choo around the farm. We contemplated taking him on it. Then we remembered the experience we had at Bear World when Dave-o threw a 15 minute tantrum after being taken off the train there.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place pumpkins

Kirsten, Steven, James, Dave-o, and Justin

We'll be back next year!