In Costume

Avery as Tinkerbell
With her short blond hair, her cute bootie and sassy personality, the costume just makes her that much more in character.

Abigail as Sleeping Beauty
This is pretty self-explanatory. Though I must add that Abigail's golden hair curls naturally at the ends in the same way Disney's Sleeping Beauty does.

Warren as (a very sad) Prince Caspian
He had just lost his sword for the 2nd--and final--time tonight for playfully walloping his sister in the rear. He even tried to buy it back with money. How do you explain to a 5 year old you don't want money, you want better judgment?

Apparently Avery wasn't pleased with my lack of Halloween Spirit and tried to dress me up with a scary face or something. Maybe like that scene in "Hook" where Tinkerbell watches as the little boy shapes the now old Peter Pan's face into what it used to look like...

I Know You Will Be Honest...

Tonight I was singing a favorite lullaby to Avery, "Child of Mine." It's a Carole King song from the album, "For Our Children." It was one of the first CD's my family ever bought back when we got our first CD player in the early 90's. Well, just after Warren was born, I saw the 10th anniversary edition of the CD for sale and bought it for old times sake. (If you're interested, it also has a rockin' Little Richie version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider"--my family once danced to it a a church talent show with my brother Brent all dressed up as a spider with stuffed black panty hose.)
Well, I'm singing the song, and I came to a line near the end: "I know you will be honest if you can't always be kind," and laughed inwardly because I finally understood that line. Here's why. Last week I made a comment about changing my clothes so I could play outside with Warren. He didn't understand why I was changing them and explained very matter-of-factly that the reason was "cuz' you're too wide and fat, mom." "What do you mean?" I prodded, interestedly. Kind of patronizingly he expounded, "The reason that your clothes don't look so cute on you is cuz' you're too wide and fat." I followed up with, "Do you know why I'm wide and fat?" "Yeah--it's cuz' you're old." Ouch. No, really, I wasn't offended or upset--I had quite the happy chuckle and then explained that because I am pregnant, 5.5 months now, I am growing as the baby grows. He remembered this, too, because I told this story a few days ago, and he cut in, "But it's because my mom is pregnant." Honest, if not kind.
Needless to say, later as I read this talk on unity, I shared with Warren the advice, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I didn't reference the wide and fat comment, but, I'm hoping his bright little mind will pick that up and thus avoid any future altercations that might involve an audience that doesn't appreciate Warren's "humor" the way I did.
It was a reminder for me in another way, too. Coming from Warren--and I know he really must think I am fat--I wasn't offended at all. I took his comment at face value, no strings attached. When he said it, I didn't let my mind start translating his statement to other meanings like, "And I am therefore worthless...ugly...lazy..." or "And that means he doesn't like me!" Yet, if someone else--probably anybody but my kid--had said the same thing, or even something slightly more tactful, I probably would've been offended, or felt poorly about myself. So this little story is proof to me that no one can offend me--I can only offend myself. To quote a wise man, "[I]t ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

3 Happy Faces. Sisters.

These were the faces created by Sarah tonight when she descended upon our house with 3 pumpkins, boundless enthusiasm, lots of patience and lots of love.

These are the 3 faces the smiling faces above created.
It's amazing how much easier a pumpkin carving tool kit makes the job.I love the enthusiasm Sarah has for holidays. I love doing special things, but sometimes the project has a hard time making it out of my brain and into reality. But Sarah makes special moments happen. I've always loved my sisters--I have 4, and now also a wonderful sister-in-law--but after reading this article, I am consciously dedicated to making them an active, living part of my life, not just people I see on Sunday or call to watch my kids. I'm not great at nurturing friendships; I admit I'm kind of a homebody with an independent streak that often makes me hard to be with, and I'm too opinionated for my own good and probably most others' comfort. But who better to wear off these rough edges than sisters?
More shots of the evening:

Letter to "pedr"

Warren's uncle, Peter, is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Central America. Here is Warren's letter to him:

der pedr, ( Warren typed that by himself)

I can run 10 miles an hour. I know because I was racing my mom home
from my friend's house and she was in the car. At school I am learning
about one song called, "The Family of the Sun." (You sing it to the
tune of "The Farmer in Dell") Here are my favorite verses:

The family of the sun, the family of the sun.
8 planets all in all, the family of the sun.

Mercury is hot, and Mercury is small.
Mercury has no atmosphere, it's just a rocky ball.

There is a verse for every planet, but Pluto is ex'd off on my sheet,
since they decided Pluto isn't a planet because there were 2 bigger
planets than Pluto. We are studying planets at school. 10 10s is 100.

I'm going to be Prince Caspian for Halloween. And I have a plastic sword.

I made a telephone line out of a hose. I wish I could show you in the
email, but I can't. It would be like this: I put it in the playhouse
window and I speak through it and mom and dad will hear me. Or
Abigail, but to Avery I just say baby words to.

This is funny; we have two (play) cars and they're made of wood and
one just has 1 circle and one has 2.

Here is Warren's testimony (age 5) to share with your investigators:
You try to stay clean not dirty. Dirty is your sins, and clean is no
sins at all. I believe that if I am clean with Jesus' help, I will be
happy.

Love,
Warren

Sick Day (and Night)

Last night Avery awoke throwing up. Poor kid. The first time i got her bathed and all cleaned up, she threw up all over again. So we had another bath in the sink. She still threw up 4 more episodes--twice after we put her back to bed. Luckily, in all these 4 cases she successfully avoided her pajamas and sheets as we held her in creative angles and lifted her quickly out of her bed. It was quite the late night party. She and I finally fell asleep on the couch, where my right leg and foot was eaten alive by a zealous mosquito. Just before midnight I could take the itch and dead arm no longer and she and I moved back into our own beds.

Avery is a little quieter--and more cuddly--today. She even gets to have her binky all day, something she only gets at naps and bedtimes.

Still, she couldn't resist giving me this smile after swinging in the cool morning air had sufficiently restored her mood and I got the camera out. It's nice, and reassuring, to see her smile. Pushing Avery in the swing is educational for me. Last week, she kept saying, "Hi!" and I kept saying "Hi, Avery!" Finally, a bit exasperated, she pointed with her finger and said, "Up!" Apparently I was not pushing her "high" enough.