Halloween 2016

Oh Halloween, we love Halloween! It's just so much fun to dress up and trick-or-treat and generally have a good time.

This year Charlie wanted to be Mario, and Emmett wanted to be Blue Toad--NOT Red Toad. He was quite adamant. I made their costumes at the last minute, as per usual, but I think they turned out pretty great.

Now, I can't take all the credit for the costumes; Chad and I are a magical team. It all begins with the boys choosing who they want to be. Then Chad takes us to the dollar store where we inevitably find something incredibly helpful.

This year's dollar store find is the plastic army hat hidden within Emmett's toad hat. Until we saw it, we just weren't sure how we'd pull that off. But we saw it and then the ideas came. Here's what we did: we took a big piece of white fabric, cut it into a circle, and painted big blue dots on it. Then we attached the edge of the circle to the inside of the army hat while we slowly and carefully stuffed the hat with plastic Walmart bags. I checked the craft store and real stuffing was WAY too expensive. This worked beautifully.

The next challenge was the Mario hat. At one point we decided to just buy it, but all the costume Mario hats looked stupid, and I really wanted it to be a baseball hat. So I started searching online, but everything came with mixed reviews. So we gave up on the buying it option and started searching craft stores for plain red baseball hats (which were not the right price online). No luck at JoAnn's. No luck at Hobby Lobby. We were going to tape a paper emblem over a red Raising Cane's hat that we have when I remembered Micheal's. Ironically, it's the craft store nearest my house. And lo and behold they had plain red baseball hats for about $3. Frabjous day! Then we bought a small piece of white felt and hot glued a circle with an M cut out. This worked beautifully, too.

I'm really happy with how the costumes turned out, and I couldn't have done it without Chad's clear head, resourcefulness, creativity, and reassurances. He's the best.

The last several years, we've trick-or-treated in my parents' neighborhood. But this year my mom was out of town and my dad wasn't going to be home during trick-or-treating hours, so we decided to do something different. We traveled from our house south stopping at the streets where our family and friends live. It was a fun way to trick-or-treat and see some of the important people in our lives.

While I really enjoyed it; if we do it again, we'll have to plan ahead a little better. Emmett was so tired by the time we got home that he wanted to go straight to bed without eating dinner. It's a good thing we all had so much fun!

I would not want my teen reading this--in fact, I think I'm giving up on this author.

Sarah J. Maas is the author of two popular teen fantasy series: Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses. In fact, Throne of Glass is a New York Times' Bestselling Series that will be made into a TV show by HULU. And frankly, I think it's all well deserved; Maas is an excellent writer. She has a skill in creating a vibrant world with fascinating characters who are dealing with compelling problems. I have really enjoyed reading her books, but I think I might have to stop.

Working at a library, I am exposed/introduced to a plethora of books--my favorite library perk! And when I came across Throne of Glass, I thought it sounded interesting, so I read it. Then immediately read the next two books. I recommended the series to a good friend; she read and loved them, too. Then we both anxiously and excitedly waited for Queen of Shadows to be released and were not at all disappointed.

In my I-want-to-know-what-happens-next induced depression, I discovered that Maas had started a new series, A Court of Thorns and Roses. I told my friend, and she beat me to it. When I finally got my hands on the book, I first read the book jacket. It was full of glowing, positive reviews, but most of those reviews commented on how sexy and passionate the book is.

I thought that was a little weird, so I asked my friend if this book was really steamy. She said that like Throne of Glass sex is mentioned, characters have sex, but it doesn't really go into any detail. So I went ahead and read it.

My friend wasn't necessarily wrong. As the book moves along, there's some sexual tension eventually leading to characters doing the deed. However, there was enough detail that it made me feel uncomfortable.

Then the book's sequel was released. I was a little wary, so I waited until after my friend read it to get her feedback. She told me there are a lot of sex scenes throughout--much more than the first book.

I was torn. I really wanted to see how the story plays out, but I didn't want to endure any more sheathing sword metaphors or other uncomfortable details. Ultimately I decided not to read the sequel.

Then finally, the next Throne of Glass was released. My excitement was tainted by worry that similar sexual content from the other series would creep into this one. And since the last Throne of Glass ended with some significant sexual tension hanging between two characters, I knew I might not be worrying over nothing.

I began the book. The tension definitely continued from the last book, but nothing happened until halfway through the book. The two characters were on the beach and it was obvious they were finally going to do it. The scene began with foreplay, continued with every intimate detail, until six pages later when the scene ended.

When I say every intimate detail, I mean it. Absolutely nothing was left to the imagination. And this lasted a full six pages.

I would not call myself a prude, but as the scene progressed, I literally read with my eyes wide open nearly bulging out of my skull. Six pages of explicit, intimate details. In all my worries over what would happen in this book regarding the sexual content, I did not anticipate anything so graphic.

And this book is marketed toward teens.

In fact, after reading the scene, I had to go back and double check that fact. All of Maas's books have been published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens and are indeed marketed toward teens.

Which brings me to the point of this post: If you are a teen, a parent of a teen, or simply a teen fiction enthusiast, proceed with caution regarding Maas's books (and maybe even the upcoming TV series).

I am not going to tell anyone what they should or should not read, that is a personal decision. And maybe scenes like this don't bother everyone. But this really bothered me; I did not like it or how it made me feel. In the middle of my teen fantasy novel was hidden six pages of pornography. I was not expecting it. I do not typically read adult books with romantic themes, because I don't want to chance upon scenes like this.

And I keep thinking about how this would have affected me if I had read it when I was a teen. This would have been traumatic for me. Honestly, traumatic; I'm not choosing that word lightly.

I remember the first time I read a sex scene in a book. In my teenage innocence and naivete, I didn't understand what was going on. It was a short paragraph, but I read it four or five times before I realized, "Holy cow they're doing it!" And at the time it was kind of disturbing; it bothered me despite being brief and subtle. And because it was assigned reading for high school, I finished the book. And even though we never discussed the sex scene in class, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we were done with that book.

A six-page explicit sex scene in a book would have been traumatic for me as a teen. I had absolutely no experience with boys beyond friendship. I wasn't asked on a date until college. I wasn't kissed until my mid-twenties. As an inexperienced, innocent, and naive teen, I would not have been ready for this. I'm in my thirties and enjoying a healthy sex life with my husband, and I'm still not ready for this kind of thing!

I can't even begin to say how disappointed I am. I feel invested in what happens to these characters. So I have picked the book up and continued to read out of some sense of loyalty maybe, but every time I do I get anxious and worried about what might be on the next page. I wouldn't want teen me to feel this way--I don't want to feel this way! I read for pleasure, and I read fantasy for an escape from reality. I don't read to peek in on characters in the bedroom, or to find myself facing some dilemma of whether or not I should keep reading.

If teen me asked what I thought she should do, I'd encourage her to stop reading. So I think I'm going to stop reading this book, this series, and this author all together. Despite how fantastic I anticipate the story to be, I'm not convinced it'll be worth it if what I like is peppered with what I don't like.

Pumpkin Party

We went to a really fun place for our nephew's first birthday: Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns. Because we were with the birthday party, we got in for free, but the regular prices are fantastic. Kids 3 and under are free; everyone else is only $2. (Personally, I hate going to places that are clearly catered for kids and I have to spend $12 on myself when I'm not the one really enjoying it.)

When we first got there, Charlie was super excited for . . . wait for it . . . the hay. Yes, that's right, they hay. In fact he wanted to carry a strand with him the whole time. Not wanting to encourage such weirdness but being the compassionate, loving mother that I am, I said no.

After the hay, Charlie insisted he had to climb the pumpkin silo.

Then we found a mini hay maze.

Then the corn maze.

And a Bigfoot sighting.

Then climbing a hay pyramid.

The petting zoo was a lot of fun, too. They had donkeys, pigs, goats, llamas, angry geese (what other kind is there?), and even a kangaroo.

In a big hay maze, we found the creature from the black lagoon. The boys didn't really care for it.

Then a fun slide that ended in a corn kernel pit.

We had a really good time. You could also buy pumpkins there, but having bought pumpkins for 9¢ per pound before, I wasn't willing to pay their prices.

School Carnival

We went to Charlie's school carnival. It was a fun little carnival with ring toss, fishing pond, bean bag toss, and other typical little carnival games. The absolute best part was the bumper ball field. I have no idea if there was supposed to be any structure to it. Our boys had a hard time standing up and running with the giant balls on them, but they sure loved rolling around--especially upside down. While Charlie definitely had a blast, the look of pure joy on Emmett's face was priceless. Here are some views looking down into the balls:

And here's what the balls looked like with the boys standing (or attempting to stand) inside them:

The boys also got to take a picture with a Jedi and a clone trooper. We love Star Wars!

Bridal Veil Falls

We went for a little walk to enjoy some nature and thought it'd be nice to get away from our usual haunts, so we went up to enjoy some nice, cool mountain air. The "hike" to Bridal Veil Falls is hardly a hike. It's mostly flat, paved, and less than a mile one way. It's a fun, easy, beautiful stroll through nature.

Hyperbole and a Half

There are many ways to get recommendations for new books. One of my favorites is through the Provo City Library's blogs. Libraries are amazing; if you're not familiar with your local library, check it out--either in person or peruse their website. You might be surprised at what you find.

I especially like checking the library's reviews because the librarians read everything, and sometimes I want to read something a little outside my norm. And that is where I found Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh.

Hyperbole and a half apparently started as a webcomic/blog. Then because of the blogs success, the book was published. The book is a collection of stories, often hilarious, from various points in the author's life as well as her ruminations on how she's dealt with depression, not hilarious, and her own self-discovery.

The book starts strong. I was laughing to tears by page 30, and considering the amount of drawings involved, there is much less than 30 pages worth of text. The combination of how she expresses herself in writing and in her simplistic comics is amazing. I loved it.

While the hilarious stories were my favorite part of this book, I also thought the author's introspection was worthwhile, and there were many times where her descriptions hit pretty close to home. She put on paper things I've thought, but I'm not sure I'd ever have the courage to say. Overall, it was an enjoyable, quick read.

Transplanting Iris

I have two flower beds full of iris--no idea what colors/kinds because we bought our home after all the blooms had died this summer. I also have a couple empty (except weeds, they don't count) flower beds around my house. So, I figured I should spread the iris around, and since they multiply on their own this needs to be done every few years anyway.

So we got out the gardening tools and got to work. I started with clearing the weeds from an empty section of flower bed. Then I dug up and separated about a square foot of iris. That one square foot yielded about twenty iris bulbs. I was not expecting that many. I now realize that I have my work cut out for me with spreading out my iris, and I'm trying to think of other places I can put it. Also, should anyone in the area want iris of unknown color, let me know--I will happily share!

Throughout the process, Emmett was my "helper." (We tackled this while Charlie was at school.) He really liked the hand held rake and trowel. He didn't really do what I asked most of the time, but he didn't really get in the way either, so I'm considering this a success.

The one the he did do well was planting the bulbs. The holes were dug, and I told him to put the bulbs in with the roots down and cover them with dirt. It was fun seeing him focus on this new task and his excitement when it was done. (I gave up after the first twenty bulbs; it was getting hot, and I'm lazy.)

Assuming we didn't kill them all when we moved them, it will be fun anticipating their blooms in the spring.

I'm planning on starting a vegetable garden next year, and this was a good start for us in getting in the habit of gardening. We'll see how we keep it up.

Kindergarten: Our Next Great Adventure!

Charlie's Kindergarten adventure got started with his assessment. He met with one of the teachers and she asked him a bunch of questions to get a sense of what he knew. He did great, and halfway through the assessment he turned to the teacher, put his hand on her arm, and said, "It's really nice to have someone to talk to." The teacher smiled and agreed.

At the end of his assessment, he asked if he could give a speech. The teacher looked at me questioningly, but I didn't have a clue about what he was going to do. In the end, he did a puppet show in which everyone died. It was really interesting for me to see a total stranger's first impression of Charlie form.

Then, pretty quickly, came his first day.

The school even had a fun hero themed photo backdrop set up.

Charlie did great. He got in line for his class without any problems. No tears; just a smile, wave, and he was good.

Emmett did just fine, too. He didn't even seem to miss his brother. And it was nice to have some time with just him.

When Charlie got home, he had a small package of M&Ms and a list of questions--one question for each color--about his first day. It was a fun way for us to hear about what he did at school. All in all, I'd say his first day was a success, and we're all looking forward to this fun, new adventure!

Post Halloween Carving

Who says you have to carve your pumpkin before Halloween? Not me!

I kept putting off buying a pumpkin this year. I don't know why. Laziness I guess. But it worked out because Halloween week my mother-in-law brought us a couple from her garden. So then of course I kept putting off the carving--I was waiting for a good time when we could all participate as a family. But we finally carved one! Hooray!

Charlie pulled some of the guts out, but he mostly helped design the pumpkin's face--picking shapes, sizes, etc. Emmett warily ventured to put his hand in the top of the pumpkin, and when his hand came out with one pumpkin seed on it we cheered and said he helped, but that's about all the help he had to give. The boys enjoyed watching, and we had a good time.

Halloween 2014

I love Halloween! The costumes, the candy, the fun. LOVE it!

I've known for months what costumes I wanted to make for the boys. And I've had it in my head as to how I was going to make them. I even started buying the supplies a couple weeks ago. So why did I wait to start making them the day before our church Halloween carnival? I don't know if I'm just crazy and like to torture myself, or if I know that I thrive under pressure.

Oh well. Long story short the costumes were not complete in time for the church party. So Charlie went in the same costume he wore last year, and Emmett went in the "costume" Charlie had the year before last (a white t-shirt of mine and a white pillowcase--ghost costumes are so easy).

Ghost Emmett & Darth Vader Charlie

We had a good time. When in crowds and around new people, Emmett gets kind of clingy and shy, so he wasn't enthusiastic at all, but I think he had fun. Charlie had a blast. You can see his giraffe face paint. He wiggled a lot during the painting because the brush tickled, but it turned out pretty good considering. Emmett and I watched Charlie get his face painted, but he freaked out when I sat him in the chair. Emmett did not want to be painted.

The church carnival provided a few games and crafts and a trunk-or-treat. Walking around the parking lot, Emmett was more interested in the people than the candy. And being shy around strangers (and not much of a talker to begin with), he flat out refused to say trick-or-treat or thank you. We're working on it.

Now, when I say Emmett gets shy and clingy, around strangers . . . that typically means he glares at them and needs to be in physical contact with me. The glare is a pretty good one. I wish I had a good picture, because it is quite hilarious. He tilts his chin down and glares from beneath his brows as if to say, "Who are you? Why are we in the same vicinity? You're stupid. Leave me alone." Emmett is not one of those friendly kids. Frankly, I kind of love it about him.

I did finish the boys' costumes before Halloween, though, so they were able to wear them trick-or-treating.

Diddy Kong Emmett & Donkey Kong Charlie

I got two white long-sleeved t-shirts, removed the sleeves from Emmett's, and Rit dyed the various parts brown or red. I had been hoping to find plain sweatshirts in red and brown and detach the red sleeves and replace them with brown ones, but I had a hard time finding them and by the time I started looking it was a little late in the game to order them online. Oh well, this worked. Then I just fabric painted the stars and tie. I originally thought I'd do a fabric applique, but again I waited too long and didn't want my first fabric applique attempt to be rushed.

Then we put on our glow sticks for safety and headed out the door. One of the first homes we went to had tombstones in the yard, and I said, "Oh no! Someone died here!" Charlie stopped short and did not want to go up to the door. I'm a bad mom. It was hilarious. Then at later houses, he would ask if anyone had died there. At the end of the night we came home with an excellent haul of candy, and I don't think either kid was too traumatized.

I even threw together a costume for me! At the library where I work, costumes are encouraged, so I wore my costume to work and the rest of the day, too. I haven't dressed up for Halloween in a very long time. It was a lot of fun.

Scarecrow Katie

I put my costume together the day before Halloween. I crocheted a necklace and put tassels on it, and I took an old burlap sack that had dried beans in it and sewed wide yarn stitches in a circle around it so I could pull the yarn tight and make the hat. Add those items to a blue t-shirt, jeans tucked in boots, and a rope belt and wam-o! Scarecrow costume.

And here's one last picture of the three of us.

Unfortunately Chad had to work, so he wasn't able to join us. Maybe next year!

When Mom Feels Sick . . .

I don't know how it works at your house, but at my house when mom feels sick the rules kind of go out the window. Not totally. It's not like I'll let my kids get away with murder, but a slight maiming? Yeah, I'm not going to stop that.

This week I had this weird 24-hour bug. It crept up on me one night before bed when I started feeling achy with some chills. The next day I felt pretty awful. After downing some meds, I managed to get myself to work where I spent the next five hours debating whether or not I should go home. When I got home, I crashed. I got some lunch in my belly, took more meds, then laid on the couch watching TV.

We did that most of the day. Hence the following photos:

When mom feels sick, we eat lots of snacks in front of the TV.
(We had Fruit Loops and Goldfish before the applesauce.)

When mom feels sick, we find potatoes in the kitchen,
bring them into the front room, and take a bite.

When mom feels sick, we peel labels
off canned goods and rearrange the pantry.

The potato thing was pretty hilarious. Emmett just plopped down next to me on the couch with a potato like it was an everyday occurrence and took a bite. He wasn't too impressed with it, so he took it back to the kitchen and came back with a different potato. He just held it. Watched TV and held a potato. Weird kid. And now I have a random potato hidden in my sack of potatoes with little tiny teeth marks.

I don't have regrets. I'll deal with the tooth potato when I find it. And one day when I feel like opening the naked can, I will have an adventure. Parenting and being sick is the worst, and I think I did a pretty good job supervising despite it (I even have photographic proof of said supervision). But then I'm not one of those moms who feels guilty for the occasional super lazy day. Balance. Some days are super fun. Some days are super lazy. Most days are in the middle. :)

Fun with Perler Beads

A while back I decided to buy some Perler beads so Charlie and I could have a fun craft to do together. We work on this while Emmett naps. I like doing crafts, and I'd like to share that hobby with my kids. Creating is awesome! Also, fine motor skills have never been one of Charlie's strengths, so I figured this would be a good craft to help him work on that.

I started out with buying a bucket of a variety of colors, like this. Charlie doesn't really care about what colors he has, and he's not quite ready to really follow a pattern or create a pattern of his own. I've been able to make a few things with the color selections we've got, but for projects that use a lot of the same color, I'll probably need to buy additional beads. I'll also need to buy some bigger pegboards. Here are some patterns that I want to make for Charlie:

Captain America & Batman

Superhero or other brand specific toys (like Nintendo) are typically expensive, and this is a good, cheap alternative. And Charlie gets very excited when I make him something like this. And by very I mean that he will be thoroughly entertained for at least the next hour playing with it. At least.

The first time Charlie and I sat down to do this, we spent some time sorting the beads by color, and he did pretty good with it. Then we started putting the beads on the pegboards. He did ok, but he didn't understand what the end result would be, so he lost interest and didn't really have enough beads on his pegboard to make anything. I made a rainbow heart.

The second time Charlie did much better. We sorted some more before we got started. Charlie put a good amount of beads on his pegboard. I still had to help him finish his project, but he did very well on his own. And I made him a Pokeball. He was thrilled!

The next time we invited a friend and her mom over to do beads with us. Also a success. We had a good time and both kids were pretty successful in making theirs--still needing some help to finish.

We did some more yesterday, and I made Charlie a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Michelangelo at his request. While I was looking back and forth at the pattern, Charlie took a look, dug around for some beads, and said, "You need two pink for his tongue!" And handed me two pink. I was surprised and impressed. I think next time I'll have him help me build one from a pattern. Maybe he's closer to being ready for patterns than I thought.

The word of the day while working with the Perler beads yesterday was "loseable." Charlie kept saying, "These beads are loseable." Over and over and over. It was a little annoying, but I didn't know a word to teach him as a replacement. After all, these beads definitely possess the ability to be lost. What other word for that is there?

Summer Fun

We've had a couple adventures this summer and had some good times, so I figured I'd share.

The Living Planet Aquarium

We went to the aquarium on a rainy day with my sisters and their husbands and kids. Overall it was pretty fun, but the building was PACKED. And frankly, how busy it was pretty much ruined it for me. There were a lot of cool things for the kids, including an open tank to pet stingrays and sharks. But there were people two deep and shoulder to shoulder, so participating meant waiting forever or shoving your way in. There is also a really cool tunnel under a large tank, so you can walk in and be surrounded by sea creatures. But again so many people it was a little claustrophobic. Charlie liked seeing the sharks, sea turtle, jelly fish, penguins, otters, giant snake, and more. Emmett was also really fascinated with watching all the fish. They had a good time. I'm not sure it was worth the $26+ for me and the boys to go, but if I could get a discount and get in on a day/time that is less crowded, I'd do it again.

This Is the Place Heritage Park

This was so much fun! I was a bit of a grouch the day we went, but overall I had a great time. It was easy to spend all day here with all the cool things to do. We didn't do everything, but we did get around to the petting zoo (which wasn't too impressive, but the boys loved it), pony rides, train rides, and doll making. With each ticket, you get a wristband with three punches for the special activities, so we had to pick and choose anyway. But I was able to let the boys use my punches, so they could do more. There was also Indian jewelry, panning for gold, and some kind of printing craft (which I wanted to do but didn't figure it would be child friendly). There are also a couple areas for the kids to run and play: a play city with kid-sized pioneer buildings and a splash pad (not a pioneer experience, but great for cooling off). You can even minimize walking by taking the train around the perimeter of the park; it has about five different stops. This was totally worth the $19 for me and the boys to get in. I want to go back.

However, I was a bad mom the day we went there. I figured we'd be in and out of buildings enough that sunscreen wouldn't be necessary. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Charlie and I were fine; a little pink the next day but it wasn't a big deal. Emmett got burnt to a crisp--literally. My boys get red faced easily when they're active outside, but when Emmett's face was still lobster red after his bath that night, I knew he was burned. Then he had a rough night's sleep that night waking up several times. One time when he woke up I took him to the kitchen to get him a drink of milk, and when I turned on the light, I realized the skin of his face was falling off. It was like his burned cheek had turned into a giant blister that popped; it was oozey and gross. Eventually it turned into a nasty scab. He's all healed up now, but his cheek and nose are scarred. I'm hoping the scarring will go away to with time, but we'll see. I'm never going to assume sunscreen is unnecessary again.