All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth...

Grant is snaggletooth no more! That tooth finally fell out while he was eating trail mix before school (not sure why he was eating that after breakfast...). It had been bleeding and causing stress, and we were all trying to convince him to just pull it out, but he wouldn't. He was going to carve his pumpkin with a snaggletooth like his, but after his tooth fell out, he revised his carving plan.

Date with Aubs

Aubrey and I went to a mother/daughter event with a bunch of mom friends and their daughters. It was all about helping girls remember that they are daughters of the King and loved by God because of who they are, not what they look like, etc. They had singing and dancing and all sorts of stuff that most girls between the ages of 7 and 11 love. (I went with Kari years ago, and she did not love it but enjoyed the time with friends.) Aubrey loved it and loved being with friends. We carpooled with two other moms and girls and met up with more for dinner before the show.

Amy Woodard took this photo for us. She said we had the perfect fall outfits for church. :) Aubrey and I share a love of cute clothes, jewelry, and pretty things. She'll be the one raiding my closet and my makeup drawer in a few years!

Pumpkin Patch

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. I love going with our family to the pumpkin patch, and it's even better when we get good weather like we did today. This may have been our last Liepold Farms trip, though. We tried to convince the kids to go to a different place, but they insisted we go because it's tradition. They had fun, but I think we'll do something different next year. We checked out Burns Farm later in the morning, after a quick hot chocolate break at home, and I loved it there--small, simple, and beautiful. Someday we may need to take them to Sauvie's Island and do the huge corn maze, but now we have another great local option for next year.

This and That

Aubrey and Grant started riding the bus to and from school this year (saving me so much time, not having to wait in line!), but I still drive Kari and Joel to and from school. Some days we pick up extras, and some days my kids are the extras Christine or Jen pick up. These middle-schoolers were feeling silly one day, waiting for one more kid to hop in the van and decided to stick their heads out the sun roof.

Last week we had 40 jr high kids and about 10 leaders/drivers at our house for the appetizer portion of their progressive dinner. We served mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce, caesar salad, and bread. It was an impressive number of people in our house and record, too, I think. They're a great group, and we are so thankful for our church's youth group and that our kids get to be a part of it. It was a joy to serve them in this way.  

The kids were all at school, and this kept creeping me out every time I walked by. Silly Joel! 

Kitty Chasing

The cats needed rabies vaccines and license renewals, and I had a free afternoon, so I decided I'd take them in and get it done. I got out our pet carriers--one cardboard one and one solid, plastic one-- grabbed the smaller cat, Tiger Lily, and attempted to shut her in the cardboard carrier. She was terrified and destroyed the box in her efforts to escape. I managed to grab the other cat, Oreo, and tried to get him in the solid pet carrier. He didn't go for it. He struggled and escaped my grasp. It took multiple attempts, but after 10 minutes or so, I was able to get him locked into the carrier. He had sprayed in his terror at being chased, so he didn't smell so great and neither did the carpet in my bedroom, unfortunately. He was not pleased and yowled incessantly to let me know it, but he was in. I left him in there and quickly drove over to my parents' house and borrowed Tostie's carrier. When I got back, Oreo was still yowling, and Tiger Lily was hiding upstairs under our bed. I could not get her out. I had a baseball bat and was poking her, prodding her, and trying everything I could think of to get her out. I pulled the bed away from the wall, and she ran out of our room and into Kari's, where she promptly hid under her bed.  I hadn't thought to close my bedroom door when I chased her out, so when I finally got her out from under Kari's bed, she ran back to my room under the bed again. At this point, I was hot, sweaty, and mad. More poking, prodding attempts, and she eventually ran out and back into Kari's room. I finally smartened up and closed every other door upstairs, so there was no other place to go but downstairs. It took me 45 minutes to get that silly cat into the carrier--45 minutes! I chased her around the house so long she started panting like a dog with her tongue hanging out. I ended up having to use a towel to grab her, wrapped her up in it, and shoved her bottom first, towel and all, into the carrier while I stood it on end. When I arrived at the vet, I was literally dripping in sweat, but I was determined to get those vaccines and be done with it. I didn't want to have to do this again anytime soon! It really was comical, and I found myself wishing someone else had been home to witness the ridiculousness of it all. The cats did just fine at the vet, believe it or not, and went back into the carriers, no problem at all! They were traumatized, though, and were meek and mild the whole rest of the day, probably completely worn out from their ordeal. I know I was worn out! I had a bed to fix, though, once we got home. When I pulled our bed away from the wall, I broke most of the supports under it and had to take the bed apart (king sized bed--two heavy box springs and a big, heavy mattress), drill the supports back in place, and put it all back together again. I took pictures to document my crazy afternoon.  

Capitol Field trip

Aubrey's 4th grade class visited the state capitol in Salem a few weeks ago, and I was able to chaperone. I drove (didn't have to ride the bus--no room) our van and brought three other moms, too. I love being able to do things like this with my kids and their classes.

Crazy Fall

We didn't exactly thrive, but we survived September and have finally adjusted to new schedules and new routines. We have soccer six days a week right now, between practices and games. Joel's season has been a little rough because of a new coach, and we've had to deal with some drama on that front-- life lessons about not everyone being nice and things in life not being fair. Grant's and Kari's seasons have been positive, though, and we only have a couple weeks left. Aubrey decided to play volleyball instead this fall, and she's had just one game so far.

I have been at the schools quite a bit with a few sub jobs and then volunteering and helping with the big Harvest Hustle fundraiser again. I was able to go to East Orient  and volunteer for the Jog-a-Thon again this year, too. It's always fun to chat with other parents and the teachers while we mark the kids' lap cards as they run by. Between having kids there for so long and subbing last year, I know most of the students, so it was fun to cheer them on all morning. It was a beautiful, warm day!

The 2nd annual Harvest Hustle was a success, as well. Our team of ladies put in so many hours preparing for this event. We had a great crew help us set up the night before, and this year it didn't rain! Greg designed the maze and got that set up that evening. It was a vast improvement on the tiny hay maze from last year!
The weather was perfect the day of the fundraiser, too. I really enjoy working with the ladies on our team with the PTC. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.