Halloween...Again?

I know, it's December, and in my usual fashion, I am finally getting around to blogging a month or two after the fact.

And in usual fashion, I approached Halloween with a lack of enthusiasm and a little bit of annoyance. Like I've said before...what are we celebrating? Witches, Ghosts, Goblins, Vampires...CAVITIES and uncontrollable SUGAR HIGHS? Seriously! Some have expressed that Halloween is their favorite holiday - as if something spiritual, or patriotic or a "certain someones birthday" wouldn't be a more appropriate favorite holiday. But, I digress (To each his or her own).

And...after this year, I must say that I will withhold my judgements...because...We had a very enjoyable Halloween.

For us, it ended up taking up at least 5 days, and the kids loved every minute! 

First, Matthew was able to dress up at school, and have his class party. So fun!

Then we had to go to the school carnival, not personal favorite, but, again, the kids love it. As room mom, I was supposed to help at a class booth, so Jaron and Josh agreed to go and retrieve balls out of the ball toss. (What good sports!) Like usual, we bought a few raffle tickets to support the PTO, and like usual... we won something! Josh put his ticket in a drawing for a Jamba cup, and 3 free Jamba's - and won - yippee! (Last year we won 4 things!)

We carved our pumpkins, all homegrown from our favorite "gurneys magic hybrid, seed".

We went to our ward party, and all dressed up...except Bill, (he was a farmer :)

On Halloween night, we went to trunk or treat in town, which was especially crowded.  I did not add the usual tootsie roll mix to my stuffed full "thatsa mega bowl" of candy bars, so I ran out of candy in a hurry.

(That homemade 'Mr Potato Head' costume is a gift that just keeps on giving! :)


We went to a little gathering on Halloween at Grandpa and Grandma Bezzant's, for all who could come. The dads even took the kids out for some "real" trick or treating for a minute. Something we don't usually do.

Maycie is hugging Melisa's new baby, Kinlee!

Then, an after Halloween party at Zach and Shantay's. They made everything fun, with their breadstick skeleton, Fish Pond, Pinata, and Italian Sodas, YUM!

So, after a tiring HALLOWEEN WEEK, we were exhausted, but full of fun dress up and party memories. (Maybe even...One of the favorite holidays of the year! :)


P.S. To whom it may concern; (if you read this) I have to say that I am a little bit more paranoid about the use of my apostrophe's, now. My English has become somewhat unprofessional and improper, as I dash and dot and parenthesis through my entries. I hope it doesn't drive you too crazy! :)

We've got spirit!

I will admit...or have I before?...that I was a little less than excited to claim a Sugar City address. I still say I live between Rexburg and Sugar City. (Some people have said, "I didn't know there was another town there.") Bill and I have held back from calling ourselves "Diggers" (our mascot) Not that being a "Trojan" was any better, just what we were used to, I guess.

But, I really love it here! The people. The Quiet. The Small Town. The closeness to a little bit bigger town and college. My dead end street.  Living one mile from town. It's awesome. Last month I even broke down and bought a Digger sweatshirt, for Bill and I to share. (Because it was on sale for 6.99 and I had walgreens register rewards to use :)  It honestly felt weird to wear at first. I know...I'm WEIRD! Kind of like me refusing to wear BYU-Idaho attire, and hanging on to the Ricks college as long as possible. I think I finally bought a BYU-I sweatshirt 6 years after the transition.

ANYWAY...This fall, with the onset of Homecoming week, our family seemed to jump into the school spirit, more than usual.

Every school had it's themed days, and they each joined in the fun.

Jaron and Josh donned crazy socks.


Tyson even attemped to dress as the Grinch, since that's what their class was assigned on one day.

Ally and friends walked down the parade. Handing out candy to the thousands, er hundreds, of onlookers.

Matthew wore his "Digger Blue" shirt

To top off our week, Tyson was chosen as Freshman attendant. And, that threw us into participating in an assembly, parade, football game, and lastly taking his mom to the homecoming dance, so that he could dance in the royal dance and have his picture taken. (I only watched adoringly from the side with the other parents. :) I was wondering if he'd be so embarassed to have me there; but then the sophomore attendant's parents, and homecoming queen's parents, came to watch and even video.)

I guess I can say it...I live in Sugar City, "the sweetest little town in Idaho :)"

Cock -a-doodle- doo!

We have been saying for quite some time that we were going to get chickens. I tried to avoid the subject, since for some reason, the thought of cracking open a farm fresh chicken egg makes me a tiny bit squeamish. (What if a baby chick rolls out?)

But, I've had to try very hard to push my personal feelings aside, as we did get chickens, build a coop, and we are now official brown and white egg eaters. I've even eaten them over easy...a pretty big step for me. I know, it's completely a mental game, and obviously, those eggs from the store come out of the chickens the same way my home grown ones do.
'
Just another step for the Taylor's toward a little more healthy and self sufficient lifestyle.

HOWEVER...They fly the coop...and we haven't enclosed the top of their 5 foot fence...but, Bill won't let them out of the coop, until early afternoon, and they have laid over a dozen eggs, because we finally realized that they were laying eggs all over the haystack, garage, and flower beds. FUN!!! :) (Every Day is Easter at our house!)

It's hilarious to see them fly over the fence, and run for the house as fast as they can, to start scratching and digging for bugs under the shrubs.  NOT so hilarious... the chicken poop on our front porch, and the bark on the grass. It's got to be fixed soon.

After telling me how mean the chickens were, and my lack of compassion, the boys took matters into their own hands, and broke out the soccer shin guards and gloves to protect themselves.

We did have one rooster in the bunch, who grew from just being a little bigger than the rest at first, to his 'teenager' practice crowing and being mean to the kids, to full out loud wake us up in the wee hours of the morning crowing. Since 4:50 is not our summertime waking hour of choice, something had to be done.  With a little help from Grandpa and a dangerously dull meat cleaver, Mr. Rooster was put out of his misery, as were we.  But, I have to say, I'd become a little accustomed to his call after a couple of months - and I missed it, when he was gone. And...young rooster meat...nasty, tough as nails, and not worth the effort!! I'll still be buying my chicken breasts at Broulims!

Reality

I took my two oldest boys to the orthodontist again this morning. Unfortunately, many of our children have not been blessed with the relatively strait teeth, that Bill and I were.  After assessing the progress of their tooth loss and erruption, the doctor called me over..."Mother," (why does that make me sound so old?) "I think we are finally ready to start treatment on Tyson." He and Jaron have lost very few of their teeth on their own. We have affectionately referred to their teeth as 'shark teeth' - as they typically have another tooth grow in behind a baby one, before we realize that they should probably be losing the one in front. 

And so today, I am swallowing hard, and contemplating the long financial road ahead, as I think of the thousands...and thousands of dollars to pay for at least the next three children to come. Earlier this year, I learned a hard lesson as I put off taking Matthew to the doctor, and ended up paying for most of his tubes and adnoids out; when, if I would have done it one month prior, I could have saved myself his $2000 deductible. (Kicking myself!) These kids, whom I love dearly, are not cheap.

I am thinking of the cost of trying to raise up family, and feeling great thanks for the sacrifices of my parents, who had eight children. We were not rich (with money) and my parents gave up so much to raise us. Early on, the clothes were homemade. I even had a pair of designer jeans, that Mom sewed fancy pocket stitching on, and sewed tags on the back, so they wouldn't look homemade. Resaraunts and cold cereal were a rarity. We didn't get a microwave until I was in High School. My Dad didn't own a pickup for years, and so the old family van or station wagon would go up in the hills, and carry home the hunt, or even serve as the occasional trailer for hauling livestock. They paid for dance, piano, dance tour...I did what little I could to contribute, working  for my Dad.  I didn't feel like we were lacking then, but, know now how much they did without to give us what we needed. Thanks Mom and Dad! (At least I didn't need braces! :)

More family fun.

Lydia is officially sitting well at 7 1/2 months, (and now trying to crawl at 8 1/2 months)

 Rich, Heidi and family came for a visit Easter Week, and we had a great time filling a whole week with fun and games. Maycie was sick at first, so she and I stayed out of the way for the first few days. We had family pictures in a studio, all of us! and even got some good ones!

On Josh's birthday, we drove to Jackson, to enjoy the fun pool and slide.  The kids had a blast. I'd have to say, not my funnest drive ever. I had a bit of a head cold, and have never felt the pressure of altitude change going up and down the Jackson pass as I did that day. :( 

 We enjoyed a fun dinner at Wendy's (the restaurant)

  Then sang a little "Happy Birthday" to Josh

 and broke out the homemade hostess cupcakes, filled with whippy, marshmallow creamy, frostingy filling, and topped with creamy chocolaty ganosh...that's right, I made ganosh! ( and little white swirls)

 Happy Birthday to Joshua. Happy Birthday to you!

Greg and Hailey blessed their sweet baby, Cash, on Saturday. He was born with Spina Bifida, and has such a strong little spirit. He has endured many surgeries, treatments, therapies, and pain in his short little life thus far. But, he is a fighter, and and is just doing so well. We love him. We had a very nice family dinner afterward.

Here we are with Grandma Carlsen. She is battling cancer, and just finished her Chemo treatments, which were the pits. But, she is trying to feel better.

Easter weekend, we colored some eggs. Good thing Aunts Heidi and Natalie were on top of things, because if it were up to me we may have been doing Memorial Day Eggs.

Our Hula Hoopin' boys

Pretty Aunt Amanda and Maycie

We took a little day trip to Pleasant Grove the following weekend. (For some reason those bellowing cows and cheeping chicks make our dad want to get home, (the seven kids could have something to do with it, too.)  Here we are with Great Grandma Harward.

We played at Great Grandma Bezzant's and visited with Kirk, Jen and family, before they were finally able to head back to Japan. Uncle Doug and Aunt Tammy have a great back yard for swinging, and sand castle building and sword fight battling.

Kirk came home from Japan in time to see their new baby Amelia born. What a sweetie!

 

Uncle Bruce gave Maycie a ride in his chair. A year and a half ago, he fell from building his shop and broke his neck. It left him paralyzed, but he has made amazing progress, and thankfully he is able to get around in his chair and has gone back to teaching elementary school.

I used to climb in this same tree in Grandma Bezzant's backyard, when I was their age!(probably my brothers more than me.)

Taking time...for a little fun

The last month has been filled with a little fun and excitement... After the earthquake in Japan, we watched, we waited, we worried, and so did my brother who was there with his family. Their view on the happenings didn't seem quite so worrisome as the picture that our national news was painting. Mostly they knew that the food and water in the stores was growing scarce. Just days before the recommended military exit of dependents, my brother had the impression to get to the base quickly and get his family out. So, surprise!!!!!!!!!!

One of them said, with fists pumping in the air, "YES!! We're out of school for RADIATION!!" (My only laugh about the, Radiation.) They stayed and played for several days, then went to Utah, then came back for another 5 whole days! I don't think they know yet, what the future is for them in Japan.

This was the scripture reading garb on the last night here. :) When the kids went off to school, us girls watched "Barefoot Contessa" and this is what she made, homemade toasted coconut marshmallows. So, while trying to come up with a fun last night activity, what's more fun than making and eating yummy food? One messy kitchen, and eleven belly aches later, we found out it is possible to make a homemade marshmallow. Much yummier than their store bought cousin. We got cute new baby cows while they were here. All we have to say is that we're thankful that the ones born to our mama's are alive and kickin'!

Then our friends the Mills came to visit for a day. So, while we didn't go anywhere for spring break, the party came to us! We even had a sleepover. Such fun!

Just so that we wouldn't be disappointed by the lack of snow, mother nature decided that we needed a repeat of last years spring break. The little boys jumped up in the morning, and searched for gloves and hats (which I JUST put away) and got to work. Matthew burst in the door, "Mom, this is PERFECT snowman snow!" And it was. Within half and hour, or less, they had built a little village of snowmen, all by themselves. Quite impressive for little boys!

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We gave away our beautiful barking dog last year, and since then the kids have asked semi-regularly when we can get another dog. Matthew drew a picture, and had me write, "My dog, Buck" on it. So I did. Then he asked me to take him to the park, so we could hang up his picture, because that's what people do when they "lose" their dogs. :(

So, to make everything better, we got two schnauzers, Kia and Philo. :) They're indoor dogs, and they are so obedient.

Just kidding. They're my sisters. We did dog sit for a whole week. It wasn't bad at all. But now that the dogs and the cousins are gone, we feel a little empty.

But, not to worry. Our cousins from Maine will be here all this week, and another party is just starting.

To be continued.................