Carson's moves

Carson had so many great ninja moves--although I think he was a GI Joe character--that I felt he deserved his own collage. Notice that he was so speedy, many of the pictures are blurred.

Halloween

Halloween was so fun. On Friday night we went with our neighbors from across the street, Robert, James and Janie to a haunted swamp at the Port Hueneme military base. It was super spooky and super fun. On Saturday we went trick or treating with some of our friends. Claire went with Cambria and Kayla. It was her first year going with friends and they went with Cambria's older sister Mckenna and her friends. I think Claire was loving being out with the teenagers and not with the parents. It was wierd for me though. There was also a super spooky haunted house they they waited an hour in line for but said it was worth the wait. Even Ella and Miriam braved it through. Ella admitted later that the haunted houses were too spooky--but she was pretty brave. In case it's not super obvious, Ella was Dorothy from the wizard of Oz, Kade was the lion, Carson was a GI Joe--don't know which one but he had some great Ninja moves, and Claire along with her friends were spooky softball zombies. They all looked great. Oh yeah and Kade was so cute at the doors saying "ticky teet" that people kept giving him extra candy. It was adorable. Needless to say it was a great night for Kade and candy.

Look who got a haircut

Kade finally got a haircut. I've been loving his long blond locks but it got a little too long. At first it started out as a trim but it turned into a little bit of a mullet and then Matt had to take it all off. It just got shorter and shorter and shorter. He looks so different--still so adorable. It reminds me of when I cut Steph's hair when I was, like, eleven or something. In my memory I had my mom's permission--but in hindsight I can't imagine that I did. I had to keep cutting and cutting and cutting--trying to get it even. I turned out pretty awful and she looked like a really cute little boy. Steph you should get me a picture so I can post it with this blog. I am still awful at cutting hair. I've tried a few times with my girls and even myself but it never turns out good. Good job Matt.

Life is good.

I love my life. It is good. That's not to say nothing every goes wrong in my life--but over all it is a happy life and I wish it could remain how it is. My kids are growing too fast, I am getting older, things are changing here and there i just want things to stay how they are--nice and happy.

So I am the art teacher for Claire's fourth grade class. That's right--31 fourth graders and me learning art together. They claim you need not be artistic, although I do think I am a little bit creative and slightly artistic it is definitely not one of my greater talents. Today we worked on two projects--a spider candy holder and a halloween scene. They did pretty good but we were unable to finish the spider and will be finishing it on friday. It was pretty crazy and it took me a while to come down from the chaos of 31 fourth graders but I enjoyed it and it's nice to get to know Claire's classmates. She was pretty excited to stay and help me clean up after. As much as I would like to think it was because she wanted to be with me, I tend to think it was to get out of class.

I saw Ella on my way to Claire's art and she was sitting at the lunch table with her friends eating lunch and it made me sad. My Ella is in school. Spending more time with her friends and teachers than with me. I miss her. She came and gave me a big hug and that made me feel good.

Carson scored 3 goals in a soccor scrimmage tonight. He was on fire. And one other thing--the other night when I was snuggling Carson for bed he sleepily said, "your the best, mom."

Today a couple of neighbor girls came over to babysit Kade and when I tried to pay them they refused payment saying it was just too easy and he was so good. He seems to have that effect on girls. HEE HEE. He is pretty adorable.

I just got off the phone with Matt. He is traveling a lot for work lately and I miss him. We talked for about a half hour which is pretty good for a non phone talker like matt. We just talked about the interesting and some not interesting things of the day. It's nice to have someone to talk to about my day--even if sometimes he watches TV and I blog while we are talking. Love is grand.

This is why life is good.

Some classics

Well here's some pictures to take us back in time. Here's a picture of me, my mom and dad. How sweet are my dads pants. We are in front of Grama Hicken's house. I also love the car.

Me, my mom and my Grama Hicken on my blessing day.

My mom at BYU Hawaii

I love this picture of my mom and dad. Young, cool and in love.

The Secret Garden

I just finished The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved it. I read it as a kid but I think I enjoyed it more as an adult. I loved her descriptive writing and the imagery it conveyed. I felt like I was in the garden. I loved the message of hope and renewal. One of my favorite passages is on p.256
At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done--then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago. One of the new things people began to find out in the last century is that thoughts-- just mere thoughts--are as powerful as electric batteries--as good for one as the sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live.
This book inspired me to be more optimistic and let good thoughts replace the bad. It also inspired me to do more gardening:) I recomend it.

More on Italy--The Amalfi coast

Here are some pictures of the spectacular Amalfi coast. I wish my pictures could do it better justice. We drove from Sorrento to the town of Amalfi on this narrow two lane highway. We went first to Positano which is the town built up the hills. It was so beautiful. The streets were narrow and filled with shops and street vendors. We went down to the beach where we swam in the mediterranean sea. The water was clear, blue and warm. We noticed that we floated more than at home which makes us think the water has higher salt content. We rinsed off and ate lunch then were off to Amalfi. I loved Amalfi. It was so quaint and we found this beautiful church where we saw a bride and groom on their wedding day. They pulled up in a cute vintage convertable and walked up the many steps into the church. Then here comes the bride played and the rest is history--I hope they have a wonderful life. Anyways, the day was magical and I loved spending it with my love--I think the Amalfi coast may be one of the most romantic and beautiful places in the world. We also, of course, had gelato. And since I brought it up I might as well say that we ate gelato everyday--some days twice. Some interesting flavors we tried were cantaloupe, fig, apple, lemon(two varieties--one tart and one creamy and sweet), watermelon, nutella, walnut, and then the typical chocolate and strawberry. My favorite was the creamy lemon and cantaloupe and my least favorite was fig. Matt's favorite was the strawberry. We loved the gelato.