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.

Seasons Change

On Tuesday morning, we were notified that our adopted Grandpa George from Pennsylvania died. Grandpa George and his wife Helen took us on adventures and loved us as their own. We are grateful for the love and respect that they shared with us. We hope the best for Grandma Helen and their family.


Underfoot a week ago came and said, “Look Mama. My fingernail came off.” And it had. A few weeks ago he had slammed his finger in the car door which bled. Gross.... He proceeded to tell me that we needed to go to the doctor to have her take his nail off. When I told him, I would be the doctor he looked at me and said in all sincerity, “Mama you are only a Mommy not at doctor.” Needless to say I wore both hats that day. I amputated the rest of the fingernail off.



We resumed Joy School this week. Underfoot loved going and participating. He apparently isn’t a very messy painter. His style is a minimalist. I think he gets that from his Father. He has started to enjoy coloring more starting this past week. When he doesn’t want to do a job or be helpful, he will say to me that he can’t because he is finishing his work and can’t leave it. Wow! What a retort!

K2 has been trying to cut a molar for about 2 weeks now. This past week he decided that he would eat supper and then he would eat late supper around 10:30 pm. L4 is more kind than I am because L4 would get up and feed K2 and make sure he was doing well. He is a very kind Daddy. K2 also decided audition for the Blue Man Group by painting his body blue before church on Sunday. Luckily the paint was only on his body and the front room floor and was washable. He is quite proficient at opening lids unless they are screwed on extremely tight. I have caught him sucking toothpaste (which I know can be toxic), water bottles, and other random, hopefully non-toxic, items.

On Saturday we had Christmas a little early. Our friends who moved to Alabama asked if we would consider getting some treasures from their home they have on the market. They are the same family that shared their chickens with us. We scored dirt, wiring, a sink, sand boxes, t-posts, and hopefully enough bricks to cover our BBQ/firepit area. It was a fun adventure! We thank them for giving us so much! After we got home from our adventure, we planted our garden in the dark with little boys.

On Sunday was the children’s sacrament meeting presentation. Because L4 and I have responsibilities with the children we got to sit on the stand and participate also. Our boys got to sit with our Tucson adopted Grandparents. They (our boys and the children) did great! In our class we played musical chairs only 10,000 times. To conclude the meeting, I shared one of my talents by playing a duet on my viola. L4 said it sounded good. Thanks to my parents for encouraging me and giving me the opportunity to learn.

Firsts

A list of new experiences this week for each of us: L4 attended his first military
concert. We went and saw the Air Force Academy Band on campus for free. It is paired with a recruiting event for the Air Force Academy. They did a tribute to 1940s Big Band music featuring Glenn Miller. The uniforms were even period. My favorite part of the concert is when they play the different military branches songs and see the current military or retired military. The audience was comprised of mostly octogenarians. I overheard one gentleman say that he was 80 and if he could “up” again he would. His career was 21 years and 17 days. Underfoot and K2 would lead the music or bob along with the beat. Underfoot liked the tuba and trumpet. K2 fell sleep 1/2 way through the concert and stayed asleep. We enjoyed our evening together.

Underfoot had a few firsts this week. He played in his first t-ball game. During his turn at the pitcher mound, he took a line drive to the throat. He said it hurt, and he cried a few tears. When he recounts the experience, he makes the sound of a few fake sobs. He is very happy to wear his uniform. Another first was he went to climb on his bicycle and saw a snake wrapped through the sprocket. He came and told me that there was snake. We called the fire department. It was hilarious to watch Underfoot yell at the firemen as they came to the house, “Firemen come and get this snake!!!” The bull snake they took was about 2 feet long. The bull snake has similar coloring to a rattlesnake and will shake its tail to mimic the sound of rattlesnake. We were proud of him for even recognizing that there was a snake on his bike.

K2 has moved to a big boy bed. We took the crib down. He loves to sleep in a bed. The draw back for me is that he can now get out of his bed at night and walk down the hall to our room. He almost always comes to my side of the bed and sleeps right next to me. He also is a very helpful little boy. He will take all the dishes from the table to the sink after a meal. He likes to pour fluids from one container to the next and back again. It makes quite the mess but he finds all sorts of things to pour.

I organized a meet and greet for the Bountiful Baskets site coordinators with Tanya and Sally, the organizers. The boys and I went to the park and enjoyed the afternoon. My first for the week was that I made caramel popcorn with the recipe I got from my Auntie Kathy. The first batch was enjoyed by neighbors after the HOA meeting. The second batch was enjoyed by Bountiful Baskets get-together-people and L4’s coworkers. I dropped it off at L4’s work as a surprise after the Baskets eeting. We ate enough to have our caramel popcorn fix for a little while.

BYU Homecoming

Happy Anniversary to Dad and Mom! They have been married for 41 years! What a great accomplishment! We wish them many more.

The weather has been cooling off. We had only one day over a 100 degrees this week. The other days have be dipping from mid-90s to high-80s. Last night cooled off to high-50s. It was awesome! Finally it feels a little fall-esque. Yesterday we bought 36 bags of manure to put into our garden so the soil can be enriched again to grow plants.

All of K2’s clothes have been changed because he is growing. For me it is always a sad day when my children become bigger. I hope that I have taught them the lessons they need to know. It is part of the life cycle but do I enjoy the stage of life they are in currently? I really hope so.

As for adventures, we went to the Children’s Museum and co-hosted a local BYU homecoming event. With the Joy School and a neighbor we went and explored the museum. It is the perfect age for Underfoot and K2.
The favorite exhibits were trains and the music room. Underfoot loved getting food in the shopping cart. With two boys going two different directions, the boys were dressed in bright colors so I could find them easily. It helped on a few occasions.

That afternoon we went shopping. I have started to learn about how to coupon shop. It is a whole new world. My favorite part was at the register- the initial total was $94.02 and then the coupons were added into the mix. The final cost $24.77. It was a 73% savings. I keep smiling.

BYU celebrated 50 years in acoustics research this year with the theme “Dare to Discover”, and we really wanted to be at the homecoming events that would highlight that part of the Physics Department for L4 this year. Instead of traveling to Provo, we brought homecoming to us with food, football, and even shirts.
H L and I brainstormed and planned a “banquet” for adults only, a Fun Run and Pancake breakfast, and a tailgate with the game!
L4 and I participated in each event and hope that others enjoyed the festivities as well.
We noticed that we referred a lot to our Penn State experience since that is where our relationship began.
We hope to create more memories for ourselves and our boys.

Pumpkins & Apples

K2 started talking more this week.
He says Lu-ca for Underfoot. He can also say up, down, yo-gurt, and a number of other words. K2 loves to climb up the plastic slide we have in our front room. He slides to the bottom, giggles uncontrollably, and the repeats the process.

On Monday Mama cleaned out three of our garden boxes. She harvested 8 pumpkins as well as a number of watermelons and gourds. After Family Home Evening we stopped at a friend’s house who gave L4 a roll-away toolbox. (L4 was very excited to finally have a full-sized toolbox.)

On Tuesday Mama and the boys were invited to go swimming. They all had a great time. That evening Underfoot participated in his first T-ball practice. It was fun to see him learn how to hit, throw, and catch a ball. On our way home from practice we acquired a used bicycle for Underfoot, training wheels and all. After a little bit of work, Underfoot now has a two-wheeled bike to ride.

Underfoot enjoyed Joy school on Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday afternoon Mama picked up about 150 pounds of beef and about 80 pounds of pork. On her way home she picked me up from work. When we got home we scrambled to get all the meat packed into our freezer.

On Friday we went to the Temple in the morning. After ward, we went on an adventure. We visited Apple Annie’s- a u-pick orchard and vegetable garden. We also went to an organic apple orchard. Mama bought a 40 pound box of apples for 20 dollars. The apples were fresh and did not have a wax coating on them.

On Saturday we worked and watched General Conference. Mama finished staining the bench that we got from our neighbors who recently moved back East. She also finished painting the bathroom. L4 reorganized the Garage to make room for the new tool box.

Mama picked up a baby rattlesnake while weeding. It was purely by accident. It scarred her (and the snake) quite a bit. We won’t be weeding around that bush any time soon.

Last night while L4 was at Priesthood session Mama hosted a pot-luck dinner. She invited a number of women to come and bring their children to eat and visit. Underfoot had a lot of fun with all of his friends.