Pie Party 2010

We come to you today from snowy North. We worked our guts out this week getting ready for the pie party.  A lot of our activities focused on getting ready for the pie party. We were so grateful for the help that came to  us with cleaning our home and kitchen staff. They helped make the party what it was. We had about 150  people come this year. There were children all in the backyard riding on the toys, swing set, and throwing a  ball. It was a lot of fun. We are grateful to those who brought pie and goodies. The pie party happened on Friday.

Mama made around 24 pies for the pie party. I lost count. By the end of the night I’d had so much I couldn’t  stand to have any more. I think I had 6 pieces of pie! On Saturday morning we got up early and started for  Idaho. We stopped a few times along the way. We spent the night in Salt Lake City at Mama’s Grandpa’s home. He was kind enough to let us stay the night. We made it to North around noon today. In all, we  traveled 1008.5 miles. It took about 19 hours and one over night stay.

Underfoot had Joy School 3 days this week instead of 2 days because a few of the families would be gone for  the Thanksgiving week. So it was a packed in week. Funny Story: Underfoot woke up early this morning  around 5:30 am. Grandpa H. was up getting ready for church. Underfoot asked for candy, and like a good Grandpa, Grandpa H. gave him the candy bin. Underfoot proceeded to eat candy from 5:30 am to 7 am when I stopped him. We got ready for church and then packed the car. Grandpa H. came home  from church to say goodbye to us before the snow storm came. As we said goodbye, Underfoot threw up on the white carpet right at Grandpa’s feet. It was all that candy. Mama cleaned it up. Underfoot threw up a few more times before he felt better.

K2 is curious how things get put together and are taken apart. He helped Mama by throwing the flour off the  table, picking things off the different pies, and sticking his fingers in everything. He has learned to pop the lids  of water containers and pour the water out all over his body. He loves to pour water between two different  containers and finally puts the water on his body.

Grandmother & Point by point

L4’s Grandmother passed away this week. She was 94 1/2 years old. My mother-in-law said that  Grandmother was the best mother-in-law anyone could have. Grandmother was cheerful, kind, and  politically-correct meaning she knew when to express an opinion and when to hold her tongue. L4’s fondest  childhood summer memories were when he would go with his brother, Aaron, camping in the pup tent with his  grandparents and the Scout. She was a dear woman. She and I had the common loves of ice cream,  MASH tv series, and the love of L4.

K2’s escapades this week:

• Underfoot says to me, “Mama, K2 is pouring the milk into the couch.” K2 ended up pouring about 3/4 of the quart of cream into the couch.
• L4 carries a permanent marker in his nerd pack (pocket protector). K2 pulled out the pen and then pulled the lid off and ran away from L4 screaming happily.
• K2 has more bonks on his head than we know where he gets them. With all the scabs, he is still very bright and focused when it comes to getting his own way.
• After the cream incident, I came around the corner into the kitchen to find K2 and Underfoot helping themselves to a bucket of ice cream. The ice cream was then transferred to the couch unbeknownst to me.

Underfoot’s feats this week:

• This morning after buttoning the button on his new suit jacket, he announced to me, “I’m a daddy now because I can button up my jacket.” If that is all it took, there would be lots of Daddies running around. 
• Underfoot was not injured at t-ball practice or his game. This is a feat since last week at his game he chipped 2 teeth. 
• We visited the dentist to make sure that Underfoot’ teeth were not damaged. I wanted to know if the teeth needed to have any corrective work done to them.
• We made a paper chain for how many days until the pie party. That way we have a physical reference to the question, “How many more sleeps until we go to Jilli and Kirky’s house?” We will leave the day after the pie party. 
• Underfoot has decided to wear a hat all the time. He particularly likes a hat that I got from Panama.

Our adventures:

• We attended the temple. 
• We sauced tomatoes, pumpkins, and persimmons. 
• L4 & Underfoot attended the  HOA meeting. 
• I was sick one day this week.

Activities

K2 decided that he wanted to shower by himself. He climbed in the tub and turned the water by himself. He enjoyed the refreshing water until we entered the seen. He didn’t care that the water was cold nor that he was fully dressed. K2’s determination is incredible. His language is not yet clearly discernable, but he does have a few words. He can say “I want” very well. At the conclusion of prayers he screams an almost intelligible ahh-mmmme, especially when he is hungry and sitting in his chair at the table.

On Wednesday Mama went to a conference on the frontal lobe of the brain. A friend watched the boys. Mama learned a lot of interesting things about how the frontal lobe works and has developed. That evening we talked late into the night about the things that she learned.

Underfoot and Mama hosted joy school in our home this week. Joy school has been a blessing for Underfoot and Mama, but it does bring some stress when it is Mama’s turn to teach the children. Underfoot loves the social interaction with the other children. Underfoot says that no one likes to go home after Joy School is over. A friend gave Underfoot a learning toy. It is a mini computer. Underfoot loves it.

On Friday night we attended an honors banquet where I was presented with an award at work. It was neat to get to know some of the upper management of the company. The president of the company gave a short lecture on physics, which I found interesting. We got to dress up and go to a fancy hotel for supper. Mama really enjoyed the dress up part.


We are excited about our fall garden. We have peas, beans, onions, garlic, and lettuce coming up. Our tomato plants continue to produce but they appear to be infected with something. Yesterday we got some fungicide to help our citrus trees. Perhaps we can use the same medicine for the tomatoes. One of our chickens has started laying eggs again. It’s a good thing, because we were contemplating a fresh chicken dinner.

Yesterday we attended another one of Underfoot’ t-ball games. He had a collision with another player in between 1st and 2nd base. He ended up on the bottom. He got a few scraps but he’ll be just fine. I worked on the Scout. After supper I put some icicle lights on the pergola as part of the pie party preparations this year. We still have to get out some of the invitations.

Mama has created a blog challenge. Last Sunday she mentioned that she was going to have 30 Days of Pie on her blog. This means that each day she puts up a new recipe and pictures of the pie that she makes for that day. In addition to the pie, she adds comments about traditions in our family. She is also giving away a few items (non-pie) to encourage people to participate and leave comments.

Halloween

Happy Birthday to L4 and Haley! We are glad they are part of our family!

Pictures

The boys got to dress up and go to 4 different Halloween parties this week. Two involved candy which tickled them pink. We attended the celebration party of our friends’ son’s adoption. Underfoot and K2 got to play in a jumping house, and Underfoot took a swing at a pinata. He didn’t exactly know that one is to dive the candy. The next was the Joy School Halloween party. At the end of the day, they did a performance of 3 songs. Underfoot liked “The Mean Old Witch Song” the best, and I liked the Joy School theme song the best “I Got Joy.” We attended a book club dress up too!

L4 has been working a lot at home and work. From the brick we received last weekend, L4 has started a BBQ/fire pit area. He spent most of the evening digging, smoothing, and laying brick. It will be lovely when we finish the project. At work there is a critical deadline coming so L4 is spending many hours at work to meet this deadline. We are grateful he has work.

Underfoot and I craved a pumpkin from the one of the giant pumpkins we grew. K2 is developing his speech every day. He says a lot of words. We are working on please and thank you.

I returned to the ENT Doctor for a check up on the growth in my neck. There hasn’t been any change.

We attended the “Trunk-or-Treat” at church last night. K2 went as Aslan from the Narnia Book Series and Underfoot a pirate. L4 and I dressed up as a hilly billy couple. I even blackened out a tooth or three. Underfoot has caught on to what Trick or Treating is and will look forward to the adventures next year.

In November, I have decided host a “30 Days of Pie” challenge on my blog. I will be posting a different pie recipe every day. I will giveaway prizes though out the month. Let me know what you think and enter to win. We will still be having the pie party...just in case you were worried.