Snow's Here!

WHOOOO-EEE!  Yesterday, 71 degrees.  Now, 33 degrees.  Tonight, down to 25 degrees.  Several inches of snow on the way.  YEA!!!!

It's Halloween!

Here are the kiddos' offerings:

The Doctor (from Doctor Who)

A Vampire

An Un-Dead Hunter

A Granny

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Today's Project

As a consequence for some less-than-wonderful choices, Mike and I took away Jer's and Jen's "handheld devices" and unplugged the TV last night.  This morning, Jer was up doing his jobs at 8:30 am, and then he made this--I love when he's in creative mode!

After a few trial runs, Jer made some adjustments, added a couple of accessories, and loaded passengers:

Ah, chores...

Last night, after trying to get the younger kids to do their jobs ALL afternoon, I decided to have them write (themselves) a list of what they each had left.  Here's Jessie's:

Miss Cynth in the Kitchen with the Butter Knife...

Hmmm...  So I admit, it was a REALLY stupid decision to use a butter knife to try to remove the avocado pit.  But I was in a hurry, and I didn't have time to wash a paring knife.  "Let that be a lesson to you..."

(Apparently, avocado pits are a really common cause for emergency room visits.)

Fall Colors

The colors are SPECTACULAR this year!  I got to join Jess this week on her 1st grade fall field trip up the canyon, so I saw them 1st-hand.  Then, Mike and I took a little drive yesterday.  Here's a little taste of what we saw:

Oh, BOY!!! A FALL bird-visitor!

We've gotten used to the springtime visits of birds trying to nest in our dryer vent.  Jer even looks forward to it.  But today (of course while I was in the shower trying to get ready for the Brigham City Temple dedication...) we had a fall visitor.  It was announced, as we've become accustomed to, by the shrieks of Jennifer who said, "MOM!!!!  There's a bird in the dryer!!!"  And, as usual, my heart stopped, and I instantly felt a surge of panic.  How was I going to take care of this NOW?!?  Why again this year?  We already housed 4 starlings this spring.  Here comes the cleanup of feathers, food, droppings, and various cages...  Ugh.

Well, there was only one.  Jer happily caught it, placed it in a licorice tub decorated quickly with a recycled robin's nest, some grasses, and some bread crumbs. He took pictures of it, and tried to feed it microwave popcorn.  When he placed a "leash" of string around it's neck, Mike and I decided it was time (also in a panic) to let it go...IMMEDIATELY!  Jer did, with some discontent, and we managed to clean up and still get to the dedication on time.  Barely.

What fun he has!