"How to Carve a Pumpkin"

So that you will know for next year, this is how you carve a pumpkin (as told by Quincy Southwick- age 6). She had to write this paper in her 1st grade class. I thought it was adorable and worth sharing!!

How to Carve a Pumpkin:

1. pik a pumpkin.

2. get some chopers.

3. get a knife

4. cut the top off

5. get the guts out.

6. carev it.

7. get a candel.

8. put it outside

9. put it on my hey.

10. put the candel in then.

11. lite it

In case you were wondering we have 2 bales of hay on our front porch this year, thus placing the pumpkin on "my hey". Nobody says it better than a 1st grader!!

Championship Volleyball Game!!!

Emilee played her first season of Volleyball. Sometimes I wonder what in the world we are doing to ourselves getting another child involved in Volleyball...it's already been our life for the past four years. Em has confirmed that Volleyball is now officially her favorite sport. This was a great season for her team. They started the season without a win until 3/4 the way through. Then they caught on and really worked well as a team together. It was so fun to see the drastic improvement over a couple months. They won all but one of their games in the tournament and made it to the Championship game last night. They placed 2nd. Congratulations Em, you did a great job.

Sometimes I wonder if all of this frenzied running kids around to their events is worth it...but I think they learn lessons they cannot learn any other way. I remember telling a friend (that's you Karen) that I was worried that I was not doing anything to develop my childrens talents when they were young. She told me to be patient and that they would manifest themselves as they got older. She was right!! It's so fun to watch your kids try new things and be successful at some of them. It makes all of the taxi driving worth it!! Even if I might be sitting at the side of a volleyball court for the next 14 years!! Brinley informed me on the day of Kylee's last Sophomore game that she was going to play volleyball when she got big like Kylee. I should have seen it coming when I married my wonderful 6'6" husband. This is all his fault!! But I love it.

Quincy's Choir Concert

Quincy love love loves to sing. She has been singing in Wasatch Choir for the past two years. She loves her teacher Miss Jani. Quincy sings around the house all of the time, but she will not sing any of her songs for the upcoming program. She wants it to be a surprise. At this program they sang a surprise Christmas song at the end. Chris and I both happened to ask her before her program if she would be singing any Christmas songs. She said, "Hey, how did you know?" We both told her we would act surprised!

We had the opportunity to watch our cousins Alecia and Alex in a play last Friday night. It was Aladdin Jr. Our kids loved it. I asked Quincy if she would like to be in a play when she gets older and she thought she definately would like that. She would love to sing and act...she loves to be on stage! Quincy and Brinley sat on their chairs during the play without moving a muscle for over an hour. Good thing our cousins are cultural so that we can have some cultural experiences ourselves.

First Snow Day 2009!!

This is what the teenager does on the first day of snow...curls up on the couch in her coat because she is sooo cold! She did venture out to play for a bit and then got cold and needed a nap!

Brinley thought this was the coolest thing that she could go outside all by herself and sled down the little hill in our yard. She was out there for almost an hour sledding up and down, up and down. She was thrilled to have snow.

By the way...these pictures were taken exactly one week later than the park pictures. What a drastic change in weather in one week. I personally prefer the park weather, but the kids love them both. We can learn alot from our kids! Make the best of whatever you've got!!

Just a little note...this blog is supposed to be our family journal. For the past year and a half I have tried to keep a journal of all of the things we do together as a family...I could not keep up with the printing of pictures and typing everything up. So I decided I'd better enter the 21st century with everyone else and go technological! I must say, this is a whole lot easier. The posts might not be all that interesting, but it hopefully will be a way to document the things we do as a family. I am realizing that my kids are going to be gone way too soon and I want to have something that we can look back at and see all that we did together.

Park Day in November???

We had to take advantage of this abnormally WARM day in November. I wish the weather could be like this for the rest of the winter...I guess that would mean that we wouldn't have much of a winter...which would be fine with me!! It was so nice to be able to go and play at the park. Quincy wanted to take a picnic snack so we took our banana bread and pistacio nuts in a basket. We are so weird!! It was great fun for a Saturday!!

'TRICK OR TREAT"

Here are the 5 little spooksters before they head out trick or treating. Kylee went to a friends house to hang out, decided to change into a costume and go trick or treating. Her parents were unaware of this...we think she is too old to trick or treat!!

After multiple hours of trick or treating they all came home with WAY too much candy.

We did get lucky this year though as Quincy's school is collecting candy to send to children in Iraq. Somehow Chris talked the kids into giving a good portion of their candy away. The only problem is that it is still in the cupboard and we keep eating it!! Those poor Iraqi children aren't going to get much unless we get it to the school soon!!

Just one funny story of the night...Quincy has been off of all foods containing sugar and dairy for the past four months. This comment by Brinley would only happen in our house and only be funny to us. Chris had taken her around the block trick or treating and she was cold and tired and ready to be done. They went to one last house and when they found no one home Brinley stomped off of the porch and said "Come on Dad, I have enough sugar and dairy".