Halloween 2017

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 Halloween 2017

Halloween was fantastic this year. When I was workingup in Idaho, I asked Kevin what he wanted to be for Halloween. He thought for a moment, and said, “Hmmm...I know! I want to be a ball!”

Trying to be supportive, while thinking of how difficult a ball costume would be, I said, “That’s a great idea, Kevin, but let me give you some more options so you know what’s available. You could be a monster, a dinosaur, a pirate, a tiger...”

Interrupting my list, he exclaimed, “I know what I want to be!”

“What?” I asked, not sure what to expect.

“A rocket ship,” he pronounced proudly.

Whatever I had been expecting, that was not it. However, he had made up his mind, so I began to look at costume designs. Before I could really invest a lot of time and effort, I decided to see if anyone sold rocket ship costumes. It turned out that there was one available for a good price. Pleased, Grig and I decided to buy Kevin’s costume this year.

2017

So, for Halloween 2017, Kevin became a rocket ship. I have no idea where he got the idea, but it was a fun and unique costume.

Meanwhile, Grig worked on his Bruce Willis from Unbreakable costume. He had to paint the right words on the back of a rain poncho, and that ended up taking a while, but we managed to complete it in time.

I bought a pair of pointy ears and wore my black cloak. I decided I was an elf. The dogs didn’t dress up this year. I just didn’t have the motivation for a lot of things. We didn’t do a Halloween party this year either, we went up to Idaho to attend my brother’s instead.

That was a lot of fun, and I was able to help my dad go through some of his Halloween stuff. He was kind enough to give me some that he didn’t want anymore.

On the way back, we stopped by my grandma's house and my cousins helped Kevin carve a pumpkin. He said that was one of his favorite parts of Halloween.

We also went through the Pumpkin Walk, and Kevin was one of the few kids dressed up, so he created a bit of a stir. It was really fun though, even though it was pretty cold. We didn’t go to the Fall Festival this year, which was too bad, but we were pretty busy anyway.

Kevin seemed to really enjoy trick-or-treating. Our ward didn’t have a trunk-or-treat, but my walking friend invited us to go to hers with her family. It was good to see them. They moved a couple of months ago, so we haven’t been walking with her lately. That’s made it more difficult for me to get out and walking.

After the trunk-or-treat, we stopped by the young single adult ward for a Halloween party. It was fun, but I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a haunted house in the basement this time. Kevin really enjoyed that last year...after he got over his initial fright.

Before we went trick-or-treating, we went to my grandparent's house and had a little Halloween party with my cousins. They fed us some healthy food, and then we drove home quickly so we could get Kevin out before it was too late.

He came back with quite a bit of candy, and we had a few trick-or-treaters drop by our door, though not as many as I would have liked. I think we would have had more, but it was a school night.

All in all, I think it was a successful Halloween. Kevin enjoyed himself, and it is really fun to have a kid old enough to pick his own costumes.

In case you can't tell, we also spent some time messing with the facebook messenger filters. 

Bedtime and Updates

Grig’s appointment went well, I think. We don’t have any real news yet, and now we're going to be waiting for all the paperwork to be sent to the foster care office again, so who knows how long that will take.

Today he also got a piece of metal in his eye at work, and so he had to go and have that looked at. They were able to remove it, and it didn't seem very damaged.

We had an appointment today with our veterinarian, and Siff and Arkhon did super well. The vet was really impressed with their behavior, and she said they were in perfect physical condition...except for their teeth. So, I brushed their teeth tonight, and I’m going to try and continue to do so. We may also need to do a few more things to remove the plaque buildup. Arkhon especially has quite a bit.

Kevin is doing awesome. Last week, we were really beginning to feel defeated. He still ends up in our bed almost every night, and he probably shouldn't be doing that when the foster kids get here. He's also getting bigger, and I don't really like sleeping on the very edge of the bed every night.

However, it's hard to prevent because he always sneaks into our room after we're asleep, and so we don't notice he's in our bed until morning.

So, we were puzzling about what to do about this, when inspiration struck. If we wanted him to stop, he had to choose to stop. So, we decided he might need some incentive. We went online and picked out a set of toys for Kevin. He chose some PJ Mask figures. He really loves that show. For the first toy in the set, he had to earn it by sleeping in his own bed for three nights. For the next toy, he had to sleep in his bed for four nights, and so on. There are five toys total. by the end, he hopefully will have learned how to stay in his own bed.

So far, he's earned one toy. Then, he hit a few days where he couldn't do it again. Then, another idea struck me. I told him that if he wakes up in the middle of the night, that he should wake me up (instead of just climbing into our bed), and I would help him go back to his own bed. He seemed encouraged by that idea.

After I told him that, he slept (mostly) in his own bed last night, and I was pretty proud of him. More importantly, he was really pleased with himself too.

Hopefully it goes even better tonight.

December

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Things have been kind of stressful around the house, but we've also had a lot of blessings and a lot of fun things have happened.

The first major thing that has happened is that my son turned four. It's been really hard to believe.

He was so little and cute!

For some reason, with the passing of my grandfather last month, I've had a lot of repressed sadness coming out. My son is really growing up, and the fact that he still doesn't have any siblings has been really hard this month. We are so grateful that Kevin is a part of our family. He makes us laugh and he has taught us a lot. I love being a mother, and it hurts so much that Kevin is still alone. Grig and I have to not only be his father and mother, but also his siblings. I grew up surrounded by siblings, and it is really hard for me to believe I still have an only child.

However, I also am aware that many people aren't even able to have one child, and I know how lucky we are to have our son. I just long for him to have siblings and I know that there are still children missing from my family.

On a less sad note, his birthday was awesome, and he was so excited! He told me exactly what he wanted for his cake, and I did my best.

The day after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas decorations. I was too excited to wait any longer.

Kevin had a great time with that too. I was super excited about Christmas until my grandfather passed away, and then it was  hard for me to get the excitement back, but around Christmas Eve, I started feeling it again.

The week before Christmas, Santa came to the library again, and Kevin was really brave. Before we went in, he told us that he was going to be brave and not cry. He also informed us that he was going to sit on Santa's lap.

He was very brave, and he sat in Santa's lap.

He told Santa that he wanted Justice League toys for Christmas, and Santa said, "I'll see what I can do." Kevin told everyone that was what Santa said. He was pretty excited.

Christmas Eve we had a party at my maternal grandparents' home where we reenacted the Nativity. It was a lot of fun. We left a little early so we could get Kevin to bed at a good hour. As we were leaving, it began to snow pretty hard.

We took a picture, and then we put Kevin to bed.

Christmas was on Sunday (as you are all probably aware). We woke up to over a foot of snow and it was still snowing. We looked at the presents that Santa had brought. Kevin got his Justice League toys, and he was thrilled! Then we ate breakfast and went to church. They only had Sacrament Meeting, so an hour later we came home. Allopex and Havelock came with us, which was nice, because later their church was cancelled.

We opened presents after we returned home. We were all pretty happy with what we received. Kevin got a lot of new books. I got some fun movies, and Grig got some things for a Halloween costume that he's pretty excited about.

The dogs enjoyed Christmas too, and they're pretty patient with us.

Allopex and Havelock are going to be moving out of our home this week. Hopefully, we're going to have our foster care paperwork all finished soon, and we'll have some more children join us.

2017 is going to be an interesting year.

Halloween 2016

We had a most excellent Halloween.We started the day off with preschool, and Kevin and the dogs dressed up for that. Arkhon didn't really like his costume, but Siff seemed to enjoy it. 

We had a fun Halloween preschool. We made masks, drew the letter H on balloons, and learned about our primary colors. After Kevin's classmate went home, we worked on getting ready to go trick-or-treating. Kevin tried on a couple other costumes too!

Once Grig came home, we carved our pumpkin. We had taken Kevin to the store the week before and told him to pick out a pumpkin. We were going to buy three, but when he picked this monster, we decided one was enough. Next year we may have to implement a rule one of my walking friends just told me about. In her family. They had to be able to carry their pumpkin to the car. That is such a good idea!

We each took a side of the pumpkin, since it was so big.

 Grig cut off the top, Kevin and I gutted it, and then we each drew on our creation. Kevin's was tricky because it wasn't really easy to cut out, but after he directed us, we managed to cut out what he wanted.

I also made dinner so we could eat before we went Trick-or-treating.

 Meanwhile, Siff tried on goggles. She was pretty cute.

We finally finished. Kevin loved carving pumpkins! He enjoyed every second of it.

 Here are the final works of art!

 After we finished eating, we went out with some friends and Trick-or-treated for a while. We brought Siff along with us, and she had a great time. Kevin was a hit, and he loved saying, "Trick-of-Treat" and "Happy Halloween." He and his friends took turns ringing and knocking on the doors.

Here's Siff in her costume. Arkhon was not happy about being left home. 

We were supposed to be over at my Great Aunt's apartment complex by 7:30 pm. I looked at my watch and realized half-way around our block that it was 7:26. We quickly realized we weren't going to make it in time and called to tell her that we wouldn't be arriving until a little later.

We finished knocking around our block and headed off; only to find that in our hurry, we had forgotten one of Kevin's shoes.So, barefoot, we entered my great aunt's complex.

Kevin made off like a bandit. My aunt and a friend stuffed Kevin's little bucket full, since we were nearly the last people to visit. It was pretty adorable. We thanked them, took a few pictures, and then drove to my grandma's house. They took the following picture of us.

 Havelock and Allopex were nice and manned the door. They handed out candy while we went out and knocked for more. Kevin loves his uncles, and they were really nice to help out. It is sometimes really nice to have them living in the basement.

We got home late, but we had a really good time. Kevin loved Halloween! I asked him what he was going to be next year, and he gave me a funny look, as though he couldn't believe I didn't already know, and stated obviously, "A T-rex." We'll see if he still feels the same way next Halloween.

When he said his prayers that night, he thanked Heavenly Father for the pumpkin carving, the trick-or-treating, and the candy. Grig and I really enjoyed ourselves too.

I adore Halloween!

First Camping Trip of the Season!

Last week, I said to Grig, "Let's go camping this weekend." 

He thought about it, and once we checked the calendar to make sure it was free, said, "Sure."

So, Friday night, we drove up to our favorite free place to go camping and went to our regular place. It was covered in RV's. We had forgotten it was Memorial Day weekend. (That happens when you don't have any kids in school.)

So, we drove around the lake until we found a pretty secluded place (still nearby the restrooms) and camped there. Kevin fell asleep while we were looking for a place, which was okay since it was raining, so he stayed in the car while we unloaded. The dogs were pretty excited about the water. 

 As we set up our tent and stirred up the dying embers that someone else had left, we spotted a bird out on the water. Grig wondered if it was a loon. I wasn't sure. Later we found out it was a grebe. I think it's a western grebe, though it could be a Clark's grebe. Anyway, we were pretty excited to see them.

 The sunset on the lake was beautiful, and though it was a little chilly, once the rain stopped, it wasn't too bad.

 Right after it stopped raining, Kevin woke up. His first word as he got out of the car was, "Wow!"

He was pretty excited. He clambered over the rocks to get to his father, and the dogs were right behind him. Half way through this trip, we discovered that Siff is well-camouflaged. Can you find her in the picture below? It took me a second when I was flipping through pictures.

 Arkhon was pretty happy to be back at this lake. I took a similar picture of him and Dakota last year. It made me a little sad to return to this lake, just because it was the last time I saw Dakota REALLY happy.

Dakota and Arkhon last year, before she died.

She loved it here. Being back to the lake made me remember how I was swimming, and my old, fifteen-year-old dog swam out to me, even though I was pretty far out. She was so happy while we were camping. Seeing Arkhon sitting alone by the lake made me really aware of her loss again. He's really grown up since she left us.

Arkhon, now leading a new generation.

 As it got darker, we tied the dogs up so they wouldn't wander off and get lost. We sat around the campfire and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows.

Suddenly, Siff started woofing; very quietly and softly. We heard a twig snap, and I whipped my camera in the direction of the sound. An eye gleamed green in the light of the camera, and I got the impression of a large animal (at least as big as a large dog). It wasn't too far away, but we lost sight of it pretty quickly in the darkness. Kevin got a little scared, but the dogs were calm so it was probably a deer or a dog. It's hard to know. I would really like to know what it was, but it left us alone, so we didn't chase it either.

We went to bed soon after. Siff slept against the outside of our tent all night. She loved being outside and with us. I don't think we ever saw her too hot the whole trip. Arkhon curled up nearby as well, and we slept, protected by our hounds.

The next morning we woke up early. Grig already had a fire going, so we ate our breakfast of muffins and doughnuts and then played for a while.

In this picture, Kevin is using the fire-poking stick as a weapon. He is shooting his "gun."

After a couple of hours, Grig got tired and took a nap while Kevin and I explored the surrounding area. We were excited to see a different kind of bird, which was correctly identified as a cormorant (though the actual species is a double-crested cormorant.) We actually caught one on video eating a fish. That was pretty cool.

We realized again how different Siff and Arkhon are. When Arkhon was a puppy, and we came camping, it took him two days to finally be exhausted. Siff was tired after the first night. She was really happy though, and even off the leash stuck around. Arkhon disappeared one time (which really surprised and worried us). He didn't come when he was called, which is nearly unheard of for him, and so we started worrying that he had been hit by a car or stolen. In all actuality, he had found the dumpster, and his nose had turned off his ears. After that, he listened a lot better, and didn't wander anymore, but we were a bit upset with him.

Kevin and I found a neat place by a couple of trees where we found some nice round rocks. Those rocks became dinosaur eggs, and the t-rex Kevin protected them from the dogs and me. They eventually hatched, though when I tried to pick one up that I thought had wandered from the nest, he told me that they were all still with the eggs. It turns out, I don't always imagine the same things as my son.

We were pretty close to the boat dock, so after a while, our peace was broken by people unloading their boats. Grig woke up about then, and we did some climbing and exploring.

 This was a particularly fun fallen tree. You could balance on it and bounce up and down. It made me feel like a kid again.

 These are the boys running down the boat ramp. Siff and I enjoyed watching them. Right after this picture was taken, Arkhon cut in front of Kevin and made him trip. It was an accident, but Kevin skinned his knee a bit. A few minutes later, they were right back to it.

 I found a cozy tree to climb into, and Kevin joined me. It was so nice to be out in nature. About this time, I found a really good stick and threw it into the water. Up to this point, Arkhon and Siff had been wading, but not really swimming. Arkhon finally remembered that he knew how to swim. After that, he fetched the stick nearly a dozen times.

He was a great swimmer. Eventually, he was tired out, and then he didn't want to swim anymore. Siff would get chest-deep, but she wasn't motivated enough to really try.

 Then, around noon, we put on our swimming suits and got into the water. The water was cold, but after a few minutes of moving, it felt warm to me. Grig said it never felt warm to him, but we all had a great time. Kevin plunged right in, and would walk through the water while moving his arms and call it "swimming." I made Siff swim one time too, but that was enough for her. I think as summer gains heat, they'll be more excited about it.

After a while, Kevin started to shiver, but after eating a doughnut, he wanted to get back into the water. I really enjoyed swimming too, though at one point, I was pretty far out, and a truck pulled up and began to back its boat down the dock. I had to rush back to shore to get out of the way, and after that I was tired.

After a while, Grig made us lunch of ham sandwiches, and we warmed up and ate. Here, Kevin is hiding under his towel. I think he's pretty hilarious.

 Here's our tent hidden in the trees. We'd found a spot with great cover, but it was pretty lumpy.

 Everyone felt really rejuvenated. It was hard to leave, but we had to get back home. We had some things we needed to get done before the Sabbath.

It really made us grateful for this world that our Heavenly Father has given us. Things worked out really well, and we were so grateful that we found a place away from most of the Memorial Day campers. It got a little loud after a while with all the boats blaring music on the lake, but we still were pretty far away from most of the craziness. We didn't fish this time, because I need to renew my license, but we still had a really good time and enjoyed spending time together as a family.

Hopefully we'll be going again soon!