Black Eye

Last Monday Adam raced across the family room and, just as he reached me, he tripped. I turned too late to catch him. He came down and his eye slammed into the lever on the armchair. It's a dangerous world.


The day after it happened, and today.

Great Student

Caleb received an award for outstanding school-wide citizenship for 1st quarter. He is doing very well in school.


Great job, Caleb!
He has also had a good time participating in after-school Fun Runs each Thursday.

What If...?

Given a quiet moment, Dallin's imagination knows no bounds. He often shares his musings with me when we're eating lunch, so I decided to grab a pen and jot down his thoughts while I munched my sandwich. So here's a sample of Dallin's imaginings:

What if you could jump into space?

What if when it was night time you slept and when it was morning you slept and when it was night time you slept and when it was morning you slept and you keeped sleeping and never stopped? And then you came to heaven and you never slept?
You'd be really strong.

What if Dad was a kid and you were a kid and Adam was a kid and Caleb was a kid and I would be a kid?
We would be sad. We would want a dad. And a mom.

What if it was never morning?

What if you were made out of chocolate?
(In response, I asked him if he would eat me.)
Yes. If I saw you I would eat you. For dessert. If I was done with my lunch or dinner, and I was walking and I saw you, I would eat you.

What if you were made out of chairs?
What if you were made out of treats?
What if you were made out of pears, and baskets, and bread, and candy, and houses and closets, and tiles, and boxes, and a trash can? And your head was a computer.
What would you think?

What if we put glue on your hair and it dried? And you took a shower and it took for an hour! giggles

What if you were sick?

What if you were made out of monsters?

What if you just got in the van and then Caleb was there (in reference to driving to pick up Caleb after school)?

What if your hand was broken and you had a hook?

What if you had one eye? What would you say?

What if we had a pet mouse? (After thinking for a moment, he continued) I would say, "I think that mouse is going to eat all our cheese sticks!"

A Great Day for a Hike

Saturday was beautiful. Sunny and cool, it was a great day for hiking.


We spent the morning here.


We hiked with our friends Matt and Ryland.


It was a great day for collecting sticks,


throwing rocks,


climbing rocks,


and enjoying the desert beauty.


Don't let Adam fool you. He had fun most of the time.

It was refreshing to spend time outdoors, to soak in the rugged landscape and just be together.

Glorious Sunset

Mitch took this great shot.

The Fairies Didn't Come

This morning Mitch got up with Dallin and started fixing him some breakfast. As Dallin sat on the couch he surveyed the kitchen and family room.
"Mom's silly," he said suddenly.
"She is?" Mitch asked.
"Yeah." Dallin giggled. "She thought the fairies were coming to clean the house last night."

Well, they didn't come.

Maybe if I petition the brownies, or the sprites...

The Beginning of Time Out

I sent Adam to his first, full, 2-minute time out. I'll spare you the details of his offence. Suffice it to say that it was shocking and messy. And he did it twice. And at the root of it? Curiosity. Which isn't a bad thing, of course, but it did kill the cat. In Adam's case he sat. Two minutes in the laundry room. And that was that.

All Hallows Eve

And a good one, it was. Cap'n Mitch, the little mates, and I discovered a good amount of treasure in the neighborhood waters. We had a good time too, Arrrg!


Trick-or-treating at Mitch's work.


Caleb in the costume parade at his school.


Scooping out the goop to prepare for carving.


These are our bone-chillin' jack 'o lanterns. Mitch and I won 1st prize with the first one (from a template) at a party, Dallin helped me design the second, and the third is Caleb's original design.


Halloween night. Time to collect some serious loot.


Adam's got some treasure!


Time for a break. Pillaging the neighborhood is hard work.


I happen to love the Cap'n.


The Dread Pirate Dallin


Beware the Curse of the Googly Eyes, which comes upon those who've eaten too much candy.

Aye, t'was a good night for piracy. The boys already be talkin' 'bout what they'll be next year...