Pumpkin Carving

McQueen chose to carve out a bat
Tinkerbell loves this little kitty face

Scraping out those pumpkins

Right after dinner on Sunday, we hurried to carve pumpkins before having to take the kids back to their Mom's house. Luckily for the kids, Ashley helped them a lot, or I am not so sure their pumpkins would look as nice as they do.

• While having dinner with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday, we mentioned that Grandma was 65. McQueen then in an astonished voice said, "OH MY GOODNESS, THAT IS SO CRAZY!!!........." then lowered his voice back to a normal tone to say, "I can't even believe that Grandpa is two years older."
• There is a new little girl in the kids Primary class. Their family sat behind us during Sacrament meeting last week. This little girl was coloring all of these pictures for McQueen all through Sacrament meeting. She colored anything he wanted, but loved to color him pictures of them holding hands. She would then draw hearts all around the two of them. I was laughing, because he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that this girl was very infatuated with him. He would even ask the girl to alter pictures that she would draw, so that he could give them to Tinkerbell. At dinner, I said, "so do you like __________in your Primary class?" He said, "yeah, she is nice." I said, "do you think she likes you?" He VERY nonchalantly said, "oh yeah, she loves me." I said, "why would you say that she loves you?" He said, "because she kept drawing me all of those pictures of us with all of those hearts." Okay, so maybe he is not as oblivious as I thought. I am suddenly much more concerned............

McQueen's Bedtime Story

McQueen wanted to tell us a bed time story (that he made up as he went) on Saturday night. I took out the computer and started typing as fast as my little fingers would go. Now, I am able to share this story, filled with plot twists and turns, adventure, Halloween, and excitement. I hope you enjoy his first published story, here it is below:

"Once upon a time there was an ugly witch. Then she made a potion that turned skeletons into witch wands. Then a big Milky (if you don't know who that is, you can search the blog archives) came and sat on the witch and pooped on her. Then a skeleton lifted up Milky to save his friend the witch. The witch then invited them over for dinner. A ghost came and knocked on the door and the "hided" because the ghost was mean. He almost found the witch, but the witch "hided" really well and waved her wand and said, "alacazam, alacazam" and waved her wand and turned everyone into a frog to hide. And then the witch used her wand to turn them back into what they were. Then she set a trap for the ghost. She put a big hammer right at the top of it and if there was an x on the floor and you were standing on it, you would die. Then a cow was right next to them in the next house and the next house was full of witches. Then the witch came and found one vampire in it. She waved her wand and said "alacazam" and turned that vampire into a duck. Then it changed into a duck and he was a duck alright, and he said quack quack all the way to his house and said, "I hate stupid witches." Then someone named Tinkerbell came who was a witch and she turned the vampire back into a vampire. And the vampires name was McQueen. Then somebody named Milky who was a black cat came and said to Tinkerbell, "hey where is that vampire going?" Tinkerbell said, "I have no idea." Then she made a potion and it had a grab nabber in the potion and she made an x with chalk and whoever got on the x would get picked up with the grab nabber and they would get dropped into a pile of garbage. Then one of McQueen’s friends caught him before he landed in the garbage. Then someone named Daddo came who was the ghost. He was the one who caught McQueen before he landed in the garbage. Then the wife came and her name was Ashley and she was a girl ghost. So, vampire McQueen then climbed up a wall and jumped off the wall and landed on his feet. Then Daddy the ghost came and caught him before he landed, but then McQueen got on his dirt bike and his dirt bike had some teeth and it could grab out. If it grabbed your car, your car would explode. Then they all went on their dirt bikes on a hill that was so deep with the dirt that they made it up just in time and they did a pop-a-wheely as they were falling off the mountain. It was a good thing they had parachutes on their dirt bikes or they would have landed dead! Then they went together to have a snack and they had Hello Kitty fruit snacks,strawberries, and blueberries. Then they ran and they had rocket shoes, that’s cool, but then their rocket shoes bring them all the way up to a palace. Then it brought them to the leaning tower of Egis. Then the leaning tower of Egis, ('McQueen do you mean Egypt? Oh, yeah, right. There really is a place on the earth called that Tinkerbell!') they found instruments and played them until the cops came. Then McQueen, the vampire "bited" the good cop and then good thing they didn’t end up in jail or else they would have to talk to the judge and do everything. Then, Luke Skywalker came and he was really the real McQueen. He opened his light-saber and killed evil fake vampire McQueen. THE END!"

Monsters of Every Kind

FRANKENSTEIN

Our project this week at Lowe's was a Frankenstein trick. If you pull a string on one side of the Frankenstein it is red. Pull it through the other side and it miraculously turns green. We always have a ton of fun with these projects, and this one was no exception.

McQueen definitely went to the more scary side in decorating his Frankenstein trick
Tinkerbell stuck with the more sweet, funny side of Frankenstein

Quite a difference in ideas when you compare them side by side

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Last weekend the kids once again filled up their "good deed jar." I stole this idea from some friends. It is a jar in which the kids get to put beans, when they do a good deed. Once the jar is full, we do a fun activity. Saturday afternoon, we went to the movie "Where the Wild Things Are." After reading the book numerous times, we thought it would be a great show for the kids. While the kids enjoyed it, and it was a cute movie, it was NOT a kids movie. I guess some critics have said the same thing, but I don't normally read what the critics have to say. The movie was okay (I don't even think it was great), but it was way too deep. There were so many meanings and interpretations to process in what was going on. We were looking for more of a fun, light-hearted movie for the kids. For the most part, this was definitely not it. So, my review: I only rate the movie as okay for anyone; I rate it terrible for 5 year old twins (even if they did enjoy it).

TCU vs. BYU

After the movie, we went back to Ashley's and had a whole bunch of food and watched the BYU/TCU games. Despite seeing numerous monsters from Frankenstein, to the Wild Things, I found TCU to be the biggest monsters of all! I wasn't thinking we were going to win going in to it, but I thought we would have at least shown up for the game! It was a terrible loss and I was disappointed. I thought there was some bad calls by the officials, but we mostly just were outplayed and out coached that day. A terrible loss, but hopefully the last one of the season. I still stand behind the Cougars though as any true fan does. I find more and more that Ute fans are unlike BYU fans in this way: Overall, BYU fans are happy for the Utes as long as they are not playing each other. They find that the Utes winning only helps the conference and it is a good thing. On the other hand, Ute fans typically HATE BYU and want them to die! To the Ute fans rubbing their win in the faces of the BYU fans loss, I say this: Utah didn't deserve a win anymore then BYU did. They lost the game on pretty much every level, except for score. So, congratulations glory hounds, you guys just had the crappiest win of the season! :)

Got Milk?

Last night I was sent to the Tooele area to pick up a piece of equipment. More specifically, I was picking up a breast pump machine. This little girl (I would guess to be 7 or so) answered the door. Having previously spoken to the Mother over the phone to confirm, I asked if her parents were home. As she got her Mom, she expressed her concern about me being a doctor and giving her a shot. Come to find out, it was the fact that I was wearing rubber gloves (something we always do, so as to not spread sickness/infection when picking up equipment) that caused her worry. The Mother came down with the case containing the breast pump for me to pick up. The little girl started to protest to her Mother and me. She said, "you can't pick that up, my brother still needs milk!" The Mother tried to explain that they were all done with it. The next thing this girl did about shocked me in to laughter, although I was still able to keep it under control. The little girl reached up and squeezed her Mom's chest several times and said, "you still have milk in there and he needs to eat!!!!......why don't you want to feed him?!!!" The Mother explained that they only needed it because the baby was in the NICU for a few weeks and now that he is home, she would no longer need it. The girl then said, "oohhhhhhhh. okay, I guess you can take it doctor man." Just as I thanked them and was about to leave, the little girl shouted out, "my name is Ingrid and my baby brother's name is Eric." I thanked her again, and drove away, laughing all the way to Salt Lake.

Sunday at the Conference Center

This Sunday, our Stake (as well as many others) was invited to the Conference Center to hear President Monson speak, for Stake Conference. It was a great session and it was so neat for all of us (especially the kids) to hear, and be in the same room, as the Prophet. Most of the various speakers talked about the Temple and Temple attendance.

Grandpa and Tinkerbell
McQueen and Grandpa

After Conference was over, we took McQueen and Tinkerbell over to the huge reflection pond in front of the Salt Lake Temple. They saw coins in a smaller fountain and wanted to know why they were there. I explained that people throw a coin in there and make a wish. They wanted to do it as well, so we made sure to take them to the biggest and neatest spot. They thought it was so neat to see the reflection of the temple in the water. I really think it is neat to throw coins in these fountains, because from what I understand, the church takes the coins and donates or uses them toward humanitarian purposes.

They also thought the waterfall built into the Conference Center was neat. This is them on the inside of the building as the water pours down just on the other side.

McQueen wanted a picture of the temple (one which we took with our very own camera!) to hang in his room. Ashley took this great shot, and it will now be printed off to hang in his room.

Parties and Pumpkins

Every year my Dad grows pumpkins for their grand kids in his garden. The grand kids then get together on a specified date and time to take turns picking out their pumpkin. It has been a tradition as long as McQueen and Tinkerbell have been alive and is so neat and special of Grandpa.

Tinkerbell and Grandpa with her pumpkin
McQueen and Grandpa with his pumpkin

Grandpa, pumpkins, and all of the grand kids that could make it out this year. Nine of the grand kids live out of state and one is just too new to come out to play right now. Therefore, 10 of their 19 grand kids couldn't make it.

Shortly after pumpkin picking, we went to a Halloween party. Ashley's boss invited us over to their house where they had all kinds of neat activities and great food. The kids especially loved the miniature hay ride. It was a small wagon (trailer) being pulled around by a four-wheeler. They had a Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie projected on the side of their house, fog machines, the works. We had a lot of fun. McQueen is Luke Skywalker this year (I have had a great time saying "Luke I am your Father" every time he has dressed up) and Tinkerbell is actually going to be Alice in Wonderland despite wearing a Snow White costume for this party.

On Friday night, we also got to go to an adults only Costume party (don't let that sound naughty because it wasn't) with the ward Elder's Quorum. It was a lot of fun to see all the great costumes, eat, and play games. We left just in time to greet the kids coming back from their Mom's house. Ashley made the best white chili with chicken. It was a lot of fun.

Old Lady in the Elevator

A week or two ago, I was doing a medical set-up. The patient lived in a tall building in downtown Salt Lake. I have been to this building before, and the name has always struck me as really odd. The building is named "The Salt Lake Multi-Ethnic Senior Center." Despite the title being absurdly long, I find the title itself slightly absurd. Despite all the places I have been I have never once been sent to the White Only, Chinese Only, Black Only, Hispanic Only, etc. senior centers. I also have never seen a senior center that has a list of the races they will allow to reside there, and those they won't. I guess since I didn't live in the 60s I have never known the world to be so segregated, as to now need a Senior Center to be labeled "multi-ethnic." I really find the whole thing oddly amusing.

So, the patient buzzed all of my Caucasian ethnic self into the the multi-ethnic senior center. I was not worried about my ethnicity, because I felt all races were welcome there. I was worried that someone would be less accepting of me because I was not a senior though. Despite the title of the building and the bigotry I expected to greet me from angry old women yelling from their wheelchairs, and even angrier men shaking their canes in my direction, things were different. I helped the patient and got him the equipment he needed. I then headed back to the elevator to make the lonesome journey from the tenth floor back to the lobby. To my surprise, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor. A little old woman no more then five feet tall, looked up at me with bright eyes, and said, "Ohhhh my goodness!" as she looked at me like I was a piece of meat. While walking towards me into the elevator, "she said, my aren't you a wonderfully good-looking surprise when the elevator doors open?" She then walked right up and hugged me. She seemed just fine to even rest her head just above my belly button. She held me tight against her the whole way down from the fifth floor to the lobby. At one point on the long journey down, I thought she was going to push the emergency stop on the elevator and try to make out with me. The only thing that calmed my fears is the fact that she would need a step ladder in order for our lips to meet. When we reached the lobby, I said, "okay, this is my stop, I better let you go." She then said, "alright dear, just one last big hug for the road." She then squeezed me even harder for a second, before letting go. I shook my head as I laughed my way all the way back to my sweet mini-van. This was not some care facility, these were just apartments for seniors (obviously of many races!). I thought the whole experience odd, until I realized I had indeed been exposed to their bigotry! No, it wasn't the angry kind that I was expecting, but it was bigotry none the less. I think they should have a sign that says, "young and middle aged people, enter at your own risk." So sure they may not be racists there, but I think we can firmly say that they are ageist, and will treat anyone under 60, who dares to enter, like a piece of meat!

Gearing up for NaBloPoMo

What is NaBloPoMo some may ask? It stands for "National Blog Post Month." I am not an official member of NaBloPoMo, but I like to think I belong still the same. I was introduced to it last year by a friend/fellow blogger. National Blog Post Month takes place in November. The commitment: do one post a day for the thirty days of the month. In the past that has never been a challenge for me, but as of late I have been falling behind in my blogging (which also means I have been falling behind in keeping a journal, since they are mostly one in the same), then playing major catch up. So, I am now gearing up. I have just spent quite a bit of time updating all the past events that I can remember, bringing this thing back up to speed. I am working on my blogging regimen and should be able to once again post 30 posts, in 30 days. I can pretty much guarantee that most people won't find anything more frightening then that this Halloween.

Dancing Ghouls, Ghosts, and Witches

Tonight we went to Wheeler Farm. Ashley found out about this show that is going on every Friday night through October. It is a bunch of High School, or maybe even Junior High kids, dressed like scary Halloween figures. They dance to music, try to scare kids in the crowd and generally make it a fun night for kids and families as they perform. It is a short performance, and then afterwards there are refreshments. They also had hay rides (that we took full advantage of) with Halloween lights all throughout the farm. We then spent a little bit of time exploring the little areas of the farm. We went back home just in time to watch the last part of "Monsters and Aliens" (which may now be on my top 10 list of great kid movies-it is hilarious). My brother had brought his kids over for dinner and a movie because one of their older siblings was at home having a birthday party. We finished up the movie and then rushed the kids off to bed.

• As we were leaving the barn we were walking past a lot of the performers who had tried to scare us. When one walked right past McQueen, he couldn't resist. He jumped in front of their path and yelled out "BOO!!!" followed by him laughing his sinister little laugh.
• McQueen and Tinkerbell were having a snack at the kitchen table. They were talking and Tinkerbell chose apples for her snack. As I listened to them talk, McQueen all of the sudden said, "Tinkerbell, there really are poisonous apples for real, they are not just pretend like in Snow White."
• I love to quietly listen to the kids when they talk to each other as we drive. When we were running an errand, the conversation went something like this: McQueen: "Tinkerbell Jesus has a rocking chair in his house where he lives in heaven." Tinkerbell: "How do you even know that, are you sure?" McQueen: "Yes, I promise, Dad will even tell you....Hey Dad, is there rocking chairs in Jesus' house?" Me: "Yeah, buddy, I would imagine that there probably is." McQueen: "See, I told you Tinkerbell, and Santa has a rocking chair in his workshop too." Tinkerbell: "okay, I just didn't know all of that."
• McQueen said something really funny the other day. We told him that he is so funny. He responded with, "I know." I said, "how do you know that?" He happily, but seriously replied, "because I have clowns living in my head."

Ball Toss and Neighborhood Phantoms

This morning, our project at Lowe's was a ball toss. It actually was a pretty fast project and the kids spent much of their time just playing the actual game. It was only hard because there was not a good angle to lay the wood as you would hammer in the nails. It even came with little hackey sack size balls to throw into it. It is hard to figure out who has the most fun building these toys, the kids or me. Either way, it is such a great time for all of us and it is neat that Lowe's does this. It got me to thinking though. Lowe's must be losing their shirts on these!

Some time this week, someone left a "Neighborhood Phantom" on our doorstep. For those of you who don't know, it works like this: Someone leaves a ghost, instructions, a treat, and a curse. In order for you to remove the curse, you must find two other people to pay this forward to within 24 hours. It was a lot of fun for us to prepare the treats and get everything ready. We also had a ton of fun door-bell ditching the people and running away to hide. We didn't get caught by anyone, although there were some close ones. It was a great experience, as this is the first year that we have been involved in this sort of thing. We had fun and we were able to make someone else excited and happy. That is always a win-win situation. To top it all off, the kids were even able to keep it a secret...........except when that one persistent family wouldn't stop asking Tinkerbell. :)

Conference Weekend

We really spent the whole weekend listening to General Conference. The kids obviously had a hard time sitting through a lot of it, but were good to listen to it on the radio while they played. They made sure to watch President Monson speak to us and were so cute to sit by us on the couch. On Sunday afternoon we went over to Ashley's house for the last session. McQueen was in heaven and didn't mind listening to conference one bit as he played with some original Star Wars toys that she has. Tinkerbell really enjoyed coloring and by the time conference was over, all four of us were down on the ground coloring pictures for each other. As with any conference, this one contained so many great and important messages. I felt like I had learned so much and been reminded of so much. I am constantly amazed at how "in touch" these elderly men are with what is going on in the world today. Their messages truly are for our time and circumstances. I didn't catch everything, so it is great that I can download them and listen to them again and again. I definitely come from the school of hard knocks. My condition worsens even more in this area, when I am trying to help the kids. Now I just have to follow what they say and work on being a little bit better each day.