Jack O' Lanterns

This afternoon, we cleaned out and carved our pumpkins.
Ruby was the only one of the kids
who didn't seem to mind getting her hands dirty,
although Bentley made a valiant effort.
Last year, Brianna did most of the dirty work.
Maybe that's why earlier today Jonah was so anxious for
Brianna and Spencer to move back "to their old home."
The kids and I cleaned out the pumpkins while
John was at work, the kids drew faces on their pumpkins,
and then John did the carving.
In the pictures, it looks like Maxwell and Jonah
are trying to look scarier than their pumpkins. :)

Famous

Sometimes I worry that Maxwell feels like he's always

in Bentley's shadow. All the kids have their own friends,

but because he's the oldest, Bentley naturally knows

a few more people than his brothers, who spend most

of their time at home with Mom. Those extra hours

at school once you start 1st grade really get you "out there," you know? :)
Anyway, many of Bentley's best friends sometimes

mistake Maxwell for Bentley, let alone the kids that

Bentley barely knows. Yesterday, as the three little ones

and I were waiting for Bentley after school, several different

kids asked Maxwell if he was Bentley's little brother.

(At least they didn't call him "Bentley" this time.)

They each remarked on how much Max looks like Bentley.

I worried that Maxwell would be bothered by their comments.

But later, as we walked home from school he said to me,

"Hey Mom, I'm kind of famous. People keep asking me

if I'm Bentley's brother." He was trying so hard not

to smile. Maybe he doesn't mind following Bentley, after all.

Happy Birthday Liz!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!
Thanks for spending the last three years in Utah,

and for holding the above pose long enough

for me to get the photo. :)

Also, thanks for making our dates possible,

and for holding/entertaining Ruby.

Hope you have a great day!

btw- this is my 800th post :)

Articles on Nie

These might make you cry, but there's a lot of good news in them,
and they're very well written.
(Both by Jaimee Rose from the Arizona Republic)

After fiery plane crash, a sister is held even closer

Husband, sisters welcome Stephanie back

Ward Fall Festival

Last night we took the kids to our ward's Fall Festival.
They were so excited to wear their costumes.
Last year, I really wanted Ruby to be a ladybug,

but by the time I went shopping for her costume

the ladybugs were sold out. I was unwilling to

give up my ladybug, so this year

(probably the last I'll get to choose her costume)

she is a ladybug. (complete w/ antennae pigtails)

Jonah stuck to our agreement and wore his
karate uniform for a costume.
In exchange for his compliance, he got new weapons.

It took some persuasion, but Maxwell
ultimately agreed to wear his uniform, as well.
I think he was envious of Jonah's cool, new weapons.

Bentley, on the other hand, was adamant that
his costume be a "real" Halloween costume,
and that it be "very scary." I offered $10 towards a
new costume, and he put together this vampire costume.
We used the money to buy vampire teeth and makeup.
Not a bad deal for me. :)
Just before I took this picture, he looked at me
and said, "Mom, I have bad news. I'm not Edward."

Fall Break - Day Five

I don't remember it being this difficult to keep my

blog updated the last time I was pregnant. Sigh.

Anyway . . . Day Three of Fall Break we watched

Saturday cartoons, and on Day Four we went to Church.

Monday was the fifth and final day of the break,

and John went back to work while the kids and I

went to the park. It was a beautiful day!

It ended up being a pretty short park visit,
because the one child who listened to me
and actually used the restroom before we left home
needed to go AGAIN shortly after we got to the park.
(this person was NOT Ruby - they shall remain nameless)

I asked him if he could wait five minutes,
and he said he could.
He then spent the next 5 minutes reminding
me that he had to "go."

When I finally got the kids rounded up and ready
to leave, that same child cried all the way to the car,
asking for another chance to be good
so he could play at the park longer.

It was really hard to convince him that the reason
we were leaving was NOT because someone had
been naughty, but because HE
repeatedly told me that he had to "go!"

"Oh yeah."

So that was our last grand adventure over Fall Break.
We followed it up with probably the last popsicles of
the season (Bentley let Ruby have his because only 3 were left - what a sweetie)
and a well-deserved nap/rest time.

Now the kids are back in school,
and I'm pretty sure they're all getting colds.
At least they weren't sick over their vacation, right?

Fall Break - Day Two

I've learned with our kids, that too much free

equals lots and lots of fighting.

That's why we had several "organized activities"

on Thursday - so I could stay sane. :)

Friday, John had the day off work, so we took the kids

to Pumpkinland.

It was Ruby's first time as a "big kid."

We saw tons of pumpkins, and found our way through
the corn maze to the witch's lair.

Once we'd found our way out again,
we checked out the animals.

Jonah liked the chickens, of course.

All three boys enjoyed the inflatable toys
at the end. Ruby, not so much. :)

Bentley's hair in the above picture cracks me up.
So does Maxwell's face in the photo below.

You can click on them for a better view.

Fall Break, Day Two ended with a date for John and me.
Thanks, Liz!

Fall Break - Day One

Today we slept in, ate breakfast, and played!
Bentley stayed in his pajamas almost all day,

but that didn't stop him from shoveling sand with Ruby.

Later on, the kids decorated pumpkins
with foam stickers. By the way, those stickers have been
one of the best investments, ever. I bought a big
bucket of them sometime before Jonah was born,
and we've used them for countless preschool, Joy School,
parties, and family activities. What a steal!

After we cleaned up the pumpkin stuff,
the kids ate pizza and watched some of a
Disney Halloween on YouTube.
Sometime around part 3 or part 4, the boys all
decided to name their children Mickey and Minnie,
and vowed to have dogs named Pluto.

(FYI - Max worked very hard to style his hair in the above two pictures)
This afternoon, Ruby napped while Maxwell and Jonah
played Toontown, and Bentley helped them.
I sorted out summer clothes and filled their
dressers with some winter clothes.
Ruby is now sleeping in her "new" Superman pajamas!
It's like Christmas!

While I fixed dinner, John took the kids out front
to ride bikes and scooters (better do it before we get more snow).

After dinner, we decorated our Halloween sugar cookies.

Well, technically, the boys decorated cookies,
and Ruby ate the frosting.

All in all, I think it was a good day.
Now, if only BYU could pull a win out of the game tonight . . .

Moose and Buffalo

You can see my brother Spencer (aka Moose)

in action in this video.

He's wearing a long sleeved gray shirt

and dark shorts, and is the guy

handing the ball to the QB, Trent Edwards

in the first half of the video.

You can see him 3 times. :)

A Joyful Joyschool Halloween Party

We had our Joy School Halloween Party today.

Guests included a reluctant Bumblebee, Venom, a Ninja,

a Vampire, Princess Belle, Batman, Snow White and her

sister, Snow White, a Giraffe, Spiderman, a Butterfly,

and a Knight. The kids were soooo good,

especially for a party day. They listened to our

lesson, learned a song to sing for their mothers,

decorated treat bags, played pin the nose on the pumpkin,

and took turns handing out trick-or-treats.

Then they stuffed themselves full of treats while the

mothers discussed ways to encourage this good

behavior to carry over to future lessons.

Possibly the best part of the party today,

is that I'm counting it as our family's

Annual Little People Halloween Party.

Usually I have the kids in the neighborhood

who are Bentley's age down to Ruby's age

over for a party around Halloween.

This year, Bentley and Maxwell will both have

parties at school, and Ruby and Jonah both

came to the Joy School Party.

This year, that's good enough for me. :)

I'm out of energy . . . so I'm done.

I've hosted the party while pregnant before,

but this time I've decided to give myself a break.

Bentley is pretty disappointed, but I think he'll

forgive me eventually. And maybe next year

I'll be ready for another big bash.

White Belts!

Last night, the boys had their white belt test!
All the kids signed up through community education
were invited, but only our three boys made it.
It was kind of fun to have it "family only."

John was able to reschedule something at work,

and he surprised us by being there!

I'm so glad he was able to come.

The boys have absolutely loved the karate class,

and it was wonderful to see the joy on their faces

while they showed off the things they've learned.

Here they are with Justus, showing off their kicks.

The picture below:
Jonah looking in the mirror at himself with his belt
and the board that he broke, Maxwell getting his belt,
and Bentley proudly displaying his broken board.

Here's our tough white belt Bentley.

He is already working out how long it
will take him to advance once he starts
regular lessons.

Maxwell and his white belt.

Doesn't he look serious?

And finally, here's our Jonah.
I told him give me his toughest look.

For any interested Grandparents,
I've uploaded the board breaking videos.
Just a note on that - the boys were a little
worried about splinters, about the board being
too thick, and about Jonah not being able to break one.
In the end, it wasn't too scary. They loved it.

Pure Joy or Board Breaking Videos

Canyon Recap

Last night we made the trip up the canyon to see the

changing leaves and the falls.

We bravely (or foolishly?) left the stroller at home,

and even Ruby got to walk.

She was in heaven.

Last year, she really wanted to be let loose,

so it was fun to see her chasing after her brothers

and having such a good time.
The boys climbed trees, climbed mountains,

avoided spiders, and threw rocks into the river.

That's always been their favorite part.

Here are a few more photos from our excursion:

I Feel Good

A couple of people have asked how I'm feeling . . .

and mostly I feel good. Very, very tired

(hence little or no blogging, cleaning, cooking, etc.),
and kind of sick, but good.

I'm excited to meet this baby in April,

and I'm hopeful that the 2nd trimester

(it started this week!!!)

will be a good one like it was with Jonah and Ruby.

More energy (or any energy for that matter) would

be a really great thing for October, November, and December.

Things are always so busy from now till the end of the year.

I was released from Primary early on in this pregnancy,

so not having that daily stress has been really nice.

There is a lot that I miss about being in Primary each week,

but I haven't missed the constant stress that I created with it. :)

So anyway, I'm excited, happy, and hoping to have more

energy and be less sick for the next few months.

That's how I'm feeling. :)

I'm also excited about the great blanket and burp cloths

that I won in an auction for Nie Nie.

The stroller blanket will be perfect for our many
walks to and from the school every day.
The color (brown) is also perfect, because once again,
we're planning to wait till our little one gets here
to find out whether we'll have a boy or a girl.

For anyone who's interested, there are still benefits going on
to help Nie Nie and her family.
You can find them here.
Another cause worth a look is Carol's auction.
Complications in her labor and delivery resulted in the amputation of both
legs below the knee and of one arm, as well as leaving her blind.
Such a tragic story. Donations help with her care and recovery.

A New Champion

Tomorrow our family will quietly pass a milestone.

Ruby will be 21 months, 3 weeks old, and she

will set a new R* Family record for being "The Baby."

This record has been held by her brother, Bentley,

for the last five years. His reign as "The Baby"

lasted 21 months, 2 weeks - making him "The Baby"

for the longest amount of time, so far.

Bentley narrowly retained the title after Jonah was

unseated as "The Baby" when Ruby was born

21 months and 3 days after Jonah's birth.

Our sweet Maxwell's reign was the shortest by far.

He was "The Baby" for only 18 months, 2 weeks.

(although he didn't seem to mind - he's in such a hurry to be BIG)

We congratulate Ruby on her accomplishment,

and hope she enjoys being the baby while it lasts.

What she does not yet understand is that plans are

already underway to remove her from her throne.

In April, she will hand the title of "The Baby"

over to a younger brother or sister.

It remains to be seen whether her excitement over A BABY

(she really likes babies)

will overcome her anxiety about sharing her mother's lap,

her father's attention, and her brothers' adoration.