Halloween

Most of the kids had croup this week.  There were several nights of interrupted sleep by little  knocks on the bedroom door in the middle of the night with complaints of coughing and wheezing and one poor little guy who was having a difficult time breathing.  The kids spent most of Halloween day snuggled in blankets, watching Netflix and bemoaning the fact that it was Halloween and they may not be able to trick or treat.

 But I figured if they could drag every chair from every room in the house and make a large fort in the dining room, they could spend a little time trick or treating the neighborhood which always culminates with 

 "The Great Candy Exchange" that takes place the next morning.

 Everyone gets to get rid of the candy they don't like and exchange it for something they do.

 Some people are very organized and methodical.  They organize their candy, count it, and take an inventory just in case any one gets any ideas about looting their stash.

 Some people just toss it in a bowl and some us negotiate to get all the m&ms by agreeing to do the kids chores and bake a pizza.

 And some of us who were sick and didn't go trick or treating get to pick something out of the family bowl.

And some of us finally get an excuse to use the Halloween stamps they bought from Michaels for only 75 cents.

Latah County Fair

This week, we headed to the county fair. 

 I couldn't convince child number 1 to join us...something about watching Jericho reruns.  But kids 2-5 were game.  Of course we did what all good fair goers do, we headed to the cotton candy first.  It was a big hit.

 Followed by looking at livestock.

 But then those kids discovered the joy and thrill of all the rides.

 There was the Yoyo.  I wasn't sure if the boys were up for the ride. 

 But they survived...

 Meredith mainly watched.  She was too small for most of the rides she wanted to go on.

 Of course, there was the gravitron.

 The kids were a little dizzy after that one but it was their favorite.

 There was a lot of talk about riding the ferris wheel.

But the ferris wheel was no comparison to running into friends at the fair...

who were a little better prepared than I was.  Thanks, Kendra for keeping the kids hydrated!

Free Cookie Friday

See this lovely lady here?   The one holding the delicious plate of chocolate chip cookies...

That's our neighbor.  She's sweet and kind and lots and lots of fun...

 And did I mention she is brilliant?  She's an inventor of sorts...she invented FREE COOKIE FRIDAY

 and the neighborhood kids couldn't be happier

One more reason to look forward to Fridays...not that I needed one.  (  =

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school.

 The first day of seventh grade

 and fifth grade.

 The first day of second grade and of course (gulp)

The very first day of kindergarten...

He was so excited that it was hard to get a picture of him.  Kindergarten in Idaho is only three hours.  Our little guy is in the afternoon kindergarten class with a fabulous teacher.

We are renting a house only a half a mile from the elementary school and middle school.  There are lots of kids all around and so we have a group that walks together.

This is a view of our new  neighborhood and route to school.  It's up hill both ways but so, so beautiful.

 I wish I had a better lens so you can see the mountains in the background and rolling fields of wheat.

 And these are the sweet, sweet girls that Bella has been blessed to have as friends.  There is a great group of Beehives here that Cardi has been fortunate to meet.  Lucky for her there was room in the carpool so she didn't have to walk to school this morning.

This is John and Aweehoo, his rubbery, light up toy.  He gave me strict instruction when I dropped him off at school this afternoon to take good care of him...feed  him twice a day...and give him lots of hugs. 

And this is Aweehoo and what's left of John's light up sword...and what I hope are many more memories to come.