Scarecrow Festival

Every year, Chris's place of employment hosts a huge carnival-type fundraiser. It's all kinds of fun. We spend way too much time there. But, it's all for a good cause, right? Right. The money goes to programs for the students, which is a good cause. And here are the photos of us having fun--it's for the sake of getting kids off drugs!!

Oh, so cute. They're cute, right?

Pumpkin patch. I don't think this one really needs my explanation.

Scarecrows, haybales, kids, sun, and shadows.

Sarah's favorite activity: The bungee jumping thing.

(I know she looks like Cousin It, but it's really just Sarah.)

An awkward angle of Ammon. (Alliteration makes me smile.)

Nathan (a.k.a Superman) likes to fly.

Beth thinks bouncing is the best thing in the world. She jumps everywhere she goes anyway, so this was plain excitement for her. But she doesn't let me call her Tigger anymore. Now when I call her Tigger she says, "I NOT TIGGER. I Wis-bef Lilinoe Woods." It's cuter when she says it because her tongue sticks out on her L's in Lilinoe.

Nathan on the rock wall. He is crazy, but on things like this, he is the most cautious of my children. Weird.

Sarah climbed a short distance (about the same height as the rock wall in Grandpa's backyard). Then she got scared, repelled down and did it again.

Ammon climbed all the way to the top!!!

A little ladybug for my Little Ladybug. She doesn't let me call her Little Ladybug anymore. Now when I call her that, she says, "I NOT YADYBUG. I Wis-bef Lilinoe Woods." It's cuter when she says it because of the way her tongue sticks out on the L's in Lilinoe.

And here we have some sort of Batgirl, Pirate, and Spiderman!!! It was Nathan's idea to have the girl paint his hands. He thought it would help him stop sucking his thumb. It was quite successful, until we found some water.

Mommy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow...We can stay all day.

That's such a catchy song. We had a blast on our zoo trip. We haven't been to the zoo since May. So much has changed...baby tigers, baby snow leopard, baby elephant, baby giraffe, baby Siamese crocodile!!!! Have I ever mentioned how much I love the zoo? We all got in free, thanks to our homeschool group. It was like a field trip. Here are the photos of us doing our learnin'.

Don't worry. The animal in this photo is NOT REAL.
(Safety first. Learning second.)

Ammon's favorite animal is still the penguin.

Nathan and the indoor giraffe house:

This tiger greeted us with some very LOUD roaring.

I love it!!! So does Sarah.

Don't worry. There is glass between Bethie and this bat-eared fox.

The fox was very playful with Beth.

They were running back and forth and she was laughing.

Mamma and baby giraffe.

The kids by a wall. The wall was NOT DANGEROUS.

Oh my goodness. I think I am in love with this baby elephant.

I have video of him playing and running around.

If you have Facebook, check it out. If you don't, check it out on Jeff's.

Beth saying, "*gasp* The giraffe is in your house!!"

Elephant and the cutest kids in the whole wide world.

(Besides the baby elephant, of course.)

Well, that's enough, don't you think? (I took 75 pictures at the zoo, so if you want more, you know where to find me.)

A handful of gems from the week...

There were so many more, but I can't remember.

Out of the blue and in all seriousness, Nathan asked, "Mom, why can't we be in the circus?"

After dressing Bethie for church today, she said, "What a pretty dress. It is a dream come true."

Sarah was sitting on my bed with her feet on the box springs (imagine sitting on a desk with your feet up on the chair, leaning forward with elbows on knees). She said, "I feel like a teenager because I'm sitting like a teenager."

In other Sarah news, she has cut her own hair once again. When do kids grow out of this? She's actually not too bad at it. This time, she cut herself a few bangs. (Or, as they say in the Southern Hemisphere, she cut a small fringe.) When I asked why she did it, she said, "Emma told me if you want your hair long, you have to get it cut a lot." I then explained the meaning of trimmed. She really likes her new hair because the fringe--or bangs (I'm so bilingual!)--hangs strategically over her eye "like a teenager." And today she spent FOREVER in the bathroom. She came out with make-up on. Should 7-year-olds be able to apply mascara that well? I don't think so! She is so obsessed with being a teenager. Not a grown-up, a teenager. Luckily, my nieces, Jaycie and Alyssa, weren't allowed to wear make-up until they were 12, so I can have that precedent as a rule.

Ammon brought in a pumpkin from the garden. It technically belongs to the neighbors, but it chose to grow under the fence and in our yard. Ammon has been tending it all summer. He brought it in and said, "Time for pumpkin pie and a jack-o-lantern!" I should make him some pumpkin pie. But not with that pumpkin, of course.

I think that's enough for now.

Sarah-bo-Barah

Sweet little Sarah Kelani is 7 today. Let's just look at her.

Sarah's favorite animal is still a flamingo. She requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a flamingo and a daisy. So, that's what she got.

Sarah loves dress-ups. Luckily, her birthday falls right when all the stores have Halloween costumes. Aunt Tammy also sent her some fun jewelry and such...

Sarah, feeling generous, let Bethie help her open the gifts.

Sarah got one of her favorite books, I Will Surprise My Friend by Mo Willems. Here she is reading it aloud to her brothers. Or trying her best to read it. ;-)

We went bowling as a family. Here Sarah is with her mom. That's me!

Sarah and Daddy.

When Sarah was born, her Grandma Rawlins gave her a crocheted blanket. Ammon, who was not quite 2 at the time, had a favorite blanket and was sure that every child needed one. He made sure Sarah's blanket was with her all the time. It became Sarah's most prized possession. When she learned to talk, she called it her Sleepy. She has loved it to death. Here is a picture of Sarah with her Sleepy.

As a very special birthday present, Grandma crocheted Sarah a new Sleepy with the same color and pattern.

Here Sarah poses with her two Sleepies. :-)

Happy Birthday to our Princess!

Book of Mormon stories

During Family Home Evening tonight, we were taking turns reading from the scriptures. Bethie opened a copy of the Book of Mormon and read, "Heavenly Father gave us candy." Then she looked up at us and added her testimony: "Heavenly Father gave us candy!" And then we all ate candy.