A Little Weekend Miscellany

Remember that Halloween donuts are a tradition in my family? They are. And this year was no different. The husband and I loaded the children (and the canine) in the car and traveled on over to Grandma and Grandpa's casa (after two small stops- the first at Sonic for slushes and the second at the Crocs store) where we enjoyed soup that was too good (in the words of one adorable niece) and donuts that can't be beat.

As we all consumed unreasonable amounts of donuts and soup, ooh's and ahh's were in plentiful supply as each family arrived and we marveled at the ingenious costumes that each family assembled.

emo, emo, pumpkin, Wolverine, Arizona Cardinal

Oldest daughter proved her commitment to piano and was rewarded with the Cleopatra costume she had been working to earn all month. She was on cloud nine, swimming laps in the Nile, if you will.

The family gathered for a Halloween portrait. Complete with goofy faces and zero percent loveliness.

Can you guess what the husband and I were?

As we were trick-or-treating with all the cousins, my sister was recalling how three years ago this very holiday, she was receiving a precious little bundle into her home as they were adopting my adorable little nephew. She recounted how emotional the holiday was as she was waiting for that little boy and hoping and praying that the birth mother would decide to go through with the adoption and not cancel it. My very own little middle daughter was listening to the whole story and predicted that through the whole process that cute little baby was probably thinking,

"Yay! New parents!"

I think she is right.

That does it for the Halloween recap. How about a little Miscellany?

First of all, huge thanks to Megan who notified me of my erroneous BYU Football post. For some reason I thought the Cougars were matching up with the Cowboys this past Saturday. Even though I read the date of the game, it just didn't register. So I posted a football post. And sweet cousin Megan (or was it Eph?) alerted me that I had been a little trigger happy. Look for a correct post on Saturday. K?

Middle daughter is pretty motivated by the Internet. Anything we have a question about, she replies with a, "just go to ________dot com!" For instance, we were wondering a bit about Cleopatra's history- since she has been something of an anomaly in our household of late. So, that brilliant middle daughter told us to go to Cleopatra dot com. Got a leg ache? Check out leg ache dot com, won't you?

Plus, she is pretty astute about passwords. She knows that my password for everything is dot dot dot dot. (maybe you already saw that on the husband's twitter feed- he scoops me on everything with that silly tweeting of his)

You will be happy to know that my OB/GYN is pleased to report a normal mammogram. Also pleased? The husband.

Some of you may recall my escapades regarding one Barta Heiner. I have a new visiting teaching partner. Her maiden name is Heiner. I was chuckling when I found out. And of course I regaled her with the entire Barta saga- after inquiring if she knew Barta and if she were a relative. She is not. Not gonna lie- a little bummed.

Today during fast and testimony meeting, oldest daughter asked why I wasn't bearing my testimony. So I told her I would if she would. We waited for the person who was at the mic to finish and then I stood up to take my turn. Oldest daughter didn't follow. Middle daughter did. So, I was duped and had to bear my testimony without oldest daughter. It was ok, though, because little son was sitting on my lap and kept trying to lick me- bearing my testimony was a great way to escape the licking. Thank you oldest daughter.

Finally, our evening was spent swapping riddles. Two hours of made-up riddles with the children. It was enchanting. I highly recommend doing it with your own little offspring. They are pretty clever. And the husband has discovered that he is riddly-gifted. Who knew?

Woo Hoo!!! Bring on the holidays! This is such a brilliant time of year- so. many. traditions. I hope you can handle traditions. I've got a bundle to share. Look for them throughout the next couple of months. And also, Tune In Tuesday for I don't know what yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. Suggestions?