Wordless Wednesday ~ Create-a-costume mess!

What's your medium? and your preferred canvas?

EmmaLece has been drawing on things lately. She knows where she's suppose to be expressing her artistic abilities, but has been branching out and discovering different mediums. Medium as defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary Third Edition: Medium 7a. A specific kind of artistic technique or means of expression as determined by the materials used or the creative methods involved. b. The materials used in a specific artistic technique. Having thus defined medium, let's now have a look at hers:The Wall Canvas using a nice well sharpened #2 pencil.The Body Canvas using a wonderful blue ball point pen.The Book Canvas using both the #2 pencil and the ball point pen.The materials for creative expression include: # 2 pencil, ball point any color ink pen, crayons, colored pencils, and markers!

Now with any luck in a few {like 9 or 10} years she will have moved on to these types of mediums:

These are two of Cody's graded art projects. This is his first year of art. He has noticed why the wrestler got a B instead of and A .... do you see it? He only has half a left arm ... and a hand! But everything else looks pretty good {if I do say so myself}! :-)

Trunk or Treat

Here are the carnival pictures from Trunk or Treat..... didn't take any out side actually getting treats from the trunks.

David and Troy -- I'd just told David, he'd dressed up as a looser in that shirt! Pooooor Bobcats! I'm a Griz fan and he bought this shirt to bug me and other friends who are Griz fans. He also bought a Griz shirt, but tends to wear this one more often-- gets a rise out more people... I wasn't the only one to tell him he was dressed as a looser! He then asked his wife for a glass of water to pour on me and my camera--- nice friends I've got, huh?Robby got some stubble for his pirate costume.Hannah Montana {aka Shantel} and Tigger {aka Heather - married to David}.Savanna and EmmaLece get some face painting done.

The jester {aka Cody}.
Spiderman {aka Scott} gives Dora a hug.Shantel tries out the doughnut eating contest. No hands, but you can use your shoulders.It looked so fun, I had to challenge these two .......Sorry ladies, I win! You had to have the whole thing in your mouth to win, I couldn't breathe cause I stuffed in {as you can tell from the picture!}.Savanna competes against her sister.Time for the pinata! The young women made this bat out of a milk jug and papiermache` wings, it was pretty strong. I think all the kids got to take a whack at it.Savanna takes her turn.Cody was the first to actually get 3 good whacks on the jug. Finally the young women's president broke it open -- But I think she was cheating ... her head was tilted up so as to see just where the jug was.
The fight over I mean rush for the candy!
There was also 'booling' in the hall. EmmaLece knocked these over on her first throw... this is the action shot of her second attempt.
Scott and David.

Shantel and I -- Self portrait. All in all it was a fun evening. There were some nicely decorated trunks out in the parking lot and a prize for the spookiest. What a mess there was to clean up inside afterwards! It fell on our turn to clean the church! Thankfully there were others who also stayed and we had it done and headed home by a little after 9 pm.

Wow! I was Tagged...

I was tagged by Steph to share 7 random things about me.
1) I'm pretty sure that I'm boring! No really, I'm sure people only like me because of my children or that my husband is so entertaining. I think that people are friends with us because of Troy and that they just tolerate me. I honestly told one of my friends that, and well, she just laughed at me and said I was silly. :D
2) I love Halloween, I love playing dress-up with the kids. I'm pretty sure that I have more fun than the kids.
3) I hate to fold laundry -- now, I'll wash and dry it all day long but I just can't stand to fold -- my kids learn to fold at an early age, I don't care what it looks like as long as they given it the ol "college try" and it get into their drawers/closets.
4) I love to read, but this wasn't always the case .... when I was in grade school, I had to go to a one on one reading class twice a week with Mrs. (Myrna) Chaney. Once it caught on, well there was NO stopping me. I read mostly historical fiction, fiction and fantasy/sci fi. I fall asleep if the book is too educational or has no story. I also will read biographies, if is someone I really want to know more about. Mostly I read for pleasure.
5) I love babies -- little ones that can't talk back.
6) I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I have 9 nieces and 12 nephews {one more due in Feb 08}. I have 3 sons and 3 daughters.
7) I love taking pictures, scrapbooking and blogging.
And one more for good measure. 8) I love getting together Friday or Saturday nights and playing games/cards with friends {refer to #1 on the friends :D}
And now I tag {drum roll, please}......... Heather, Andrea, Angie, Darla, Tina, Michelle, Keeley, Melissa, and Sherri. OK, so I tagged a few extra ... some may have been tagged before-- want everyone to get a chance. There are several others I could have and would have except I read on their blogs that others already tagged you.

Preparing for Trunk or Treat...

Friday {well, I guess that should read Today as it is after midnight as I type this up.. and it's still Thursday in my mind since I've yet to get to bed.... so either Thursday is extra long or Friday is a bit short in hours.... anyway,} is our Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween carnival at church. Some of the kids spent the evening working on their costumes......

When they got it just right, they put it in a safe place and got to a friendly game of

chess. Now I'm not any good at this game and frankly I can't ever remember how the pieces move, but Cody has always liked it and in 2nd grade he checked out a book that taught him all about how to play. So he played Savanna and then she played Robby.. {Robby is a SORE looser} and Cody killed Savanna and Savanna creamed Robby! He started in on his usual tantrum, but at the suggestion he should then head off to bed, he changed his tune.

Others still were involved in making cupcakes for the Cupcake Walk, that the Bishopric is in charge of. I found the recipe in the National Geographic for Kids:

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 cup vegetable oil 3 cups sugar

4 Eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla

4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups canned (or stuff you've cooked) pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups. In one bowl, mix the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the wet ingredients just until blended. Add the pumpkin to the mixture. Distribute the batter evenly among the baking cups. Bake for 20-25 mins. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

For your viewing pleasure:

The batter.The frosting.
Creative juices flowing. Cody did the first one, then it was getting time for bed and so I had to suffer through the rest.....

Let your Light shine...

I just went to put a new movie on for EmmaLece {I know, I know, they shouldn't be watching movies to go to bed-- bad habit} and she started to sing {she sings a lot, like all the time} I am a Child of God. It nearly melted my heart. So I stood there and we sang together. Then when we finished, she asked me: "Mother, but where does Jesus live?" I said: "In Heaven." Em: "But it is far?" {Now, last Sunday, I taught the 9 and 10 yr olds and the Primary Pres taught the kids how the songs in the Children's Song Book can answer a lot of questions....} So I sang to her {not that I can sing very well, but I like to sing .. guess she comes by it naturally} A Child's Prayer and she said: "OK, in Heaven. Now could you put my blanket on?" My little teaching moment with EmmaLece.

Earlier today I turned around to see what the monkeys I mean kids were up to and found them like this:

What came first to my mind was "Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." St Matthew 5:16

Our older boys....

The girls have been doing a lot of babysitting for McKelle {piano instructor and friend}. The girls are getting to be good little sitters. Learning all sorts of useful skills. Wouldn't want Cody to get left out in the skill area, and since Wednesday is our busiest day, he helped out. Here is Cody reading a story to Alyssa. He watched her until time for Young Mens {church group for boys 12-17}, so about 2 hours. Cody likes babies. He was always so good to help when the twins were little but not so much as they have gotten bigger {guess he's like his mom! -my favorite stage is the little baby stage}.Just thought I'd throw in a few shots of Cody helping when the twins were little. Little history on this first picture: The twins were sleeping in their swings {18 days old here} and I ran downstairs for a quick shower.... when I got out, standing outside the door was Cody holding both babes! Meaning that he had carried them DOWN the stairs TOGETHER! I nearly freaked! I carried them back upstairs and then gave them back for the picture.Needed to use up the last of the film before taking it to be developed, so Cody showed us how strong he was and "carried" the car seats. {They were 42 days or 1 month 12 days in this photo.}I was having a look at Robby's hair and told him I thought it was time for a trim, he said: "No, I like it like this!" This is how he looked as he told me this. Silly boy! He actually is just coming to like his hair, coming to terms with its fuzziness. He has had issues in the past and even been known to come to blows over remarks about his curly hair. So we're making progress! :-) He use to always want it shaved off.

Wordless Wednesday--Enquiring minds want to see.....

Vacummes and other RANDOM things...

While watching Scott doing the vacuuming yesterday, I got to thinking about him and the vac. It is funny that he really does enjoy that. When he was younger, he was petrified of the vacuum. While we were creating rooms in the basement for the older two, this:was a constant fixture in the house. If the shop vac happened to be between him and the door or him and anywhere he needed to get to, he would simply freak out and refuse to move. You either had to pick him up or move the vac .... it was kinda funny in a frustrating way. As soon as he was old enough to move on his own and you brought out the vacuum, he was gone .... need to find him, follow the screaming! Then all of the sudden, it became his best friend. I think when we first got the new Oreck, is when he started thinking that it wasn't SO bad. Now every time it is pulled out, he HAS to be the one to run it.... and ya know what? He is a good vacummer! Much better than any of the older kids, he looks to be sure he is getting all the stuff off the floor and goes over an area twice to be sure! I would have made a video of him to share, but I didn't think anyone would like to watch my 3 yr old do the cleaning. ... but it was WAY cute {if I do say so myself! :-) }

Some fun things the kids did this day.

Snuck into the kitchen to see what was going on and this is what I found. "We're cooking food!" they said. What they really were doing was unloading the check book and coloring in pink marker all over anything they could find ... like the checks, the counter, any paper within reach!Wish you could have seen her sliding down the rail, it was SO funny! Troy thought that she was going to fall over the edge and that would not have been cool, but she did it several times while I tried to get a good shot. Scott never got it down, he just chased her down the steps instead.Scott said: "We're pirates and bad guys! The bad guy is going to chase the pirate and then tie him up and OK?"

Have any of you got these 'projects' parked around your houses?

This spring, Troy and David came by the house and unloaded this old tractor and parked it in our garage. So far, they have spent all of one afternoon working on it. And in July Troy and I took a little road trip with David and Heather to My sister's house and picked up this new project:This is a 1972 Chevy 3-door Suburban. The guys were SO excited to get it! They have spent about 2 hours checking it out and Troy bought a new gas cap! WooHoo, at this rate it will be a new century before they get either one running! :-) Actually it takes $$ to have fix-it hobbies {or any hobby} and well we're broke! If they ever get them fixed up and running the kids are begging that they do the 4th of July parade. Don't hold your breath kids, you'll be old enough to drive before these are ready for their debut!

Ever listen to people and think, they use one word ALOT? This past weekend Hosanna and I stayed up forever {as I said here} and I decided that RANDOM is her favorite word! I think she used that word nearly every sentence! Here is an example of one of the things Hosanna said when I told her that I was glad we had come to the concert: "Yeah, it's cool when random relatives show up." It cracked me up, and then I wondered what word do I use excessively? Do you have a favorite word?

I'm working on my posture! My grandma use to make us "sit up straight, put your shoulders back" and I use to think she was crazy! As she got older and I noticed things more, I realized that she had developed that hump on her back ... you know, the one lots of older people have... and I thought "if I continue to slouch, I too will have one of these?" My grandma also had broken her back twice I think and this may have contributed to it, but I don't want the Quasimodo hump! From now on I'm going to "sit up straight"! I sat through the whole concert like this, and boy was my back tired but I will persevere! :-)

Pumpkins and awards

Pumpkin movers of the Montana... Need your pumpkins moved? We've got the guy, Scott spends a lot of time rearranging the pumpkins. He can spread them out in nice neat lines, make circles and even creative places for sleep. So if you're in need of this service call ###-###-####! Sometimes he gets help from EmmaLece. After these pictures were taken he set them up as a bed and got a blanket to rest in his "pumpkin bed". It is fun to watch them when they don't think they are being watched.

We have started something new to encourage our kids to clean and keep clean their rooms. It's the Clean Room Award, given to the room kept clean for a week. Robby has kept his room clean for over a week and so he was the first recipient of the award. We have yet to decide what if anything will accompany this award. Robby was pretty stinkin' excited to get it first! Way to go Rob!

Ice Cream Personality test ... just for fun

Look I did it, I added one of these silly tests to my post {I'm so proud of myself! :-)} Anyway, this is one of my favorite flavors..... just about chocolate anything! What flavor are you?I don't think That it quite got the personality right... it also said: You're dramatic and unpredictable, like biting into a scoop of rocky road ice cream. Like rocky road, you can be a little bit nutty (or a little bit marshmallowy) depending on your mood. Your friends never know what they're going to get when they hang out with you – sometimes you're calm and sweet, and sometimes you're enthusiastic and flirty. Well, I may have to ask others if they think this describes me ....... hummmmm
Even if you're not a kid anymore, you probably still appreciate things like stickers, juice boxes, and silly nicknames. Peanut butter is an essential part of childhood, and you have a high-energy approach to life that reminds us of a little kid running around the playground. (Bet you'd love to skip all the stuff you're supposed to be doing today and hang out in the park with your friends.) Your personality is a happy, chewy blob of peanutty goodness.
OK, add chocolate and ya got my favorite cookie!

The Temple, Montana All State Choir and such

The first stop on our adventure was this beautiful edifice. We met up with my sister, Colleen, her husband, 2 of her kids and their bishop's son {his girlfriend was also in the choir}. My brother-in-law was sick on the way over {he has been recovering from heart surgery} and so it was a good thing they brought along the bishop's son, he took the kids and Colleen's husband to the motel. {I took these pictures on Sat. because we were pressed for time on Friday. Plus we had to come back since my mother-in-law forgot her overnight bag here and we didn't realize it until after the concert at 10:30!} There is such a peaceful feeling on the Temple grounds.The second stop after we got Colleen's family was, of course, The Olive Garden! Dinner was delish! Then we had to rush off to the concert which was about 20 mins across town. We were in such a hurry that Colleen forgot to get her debit card back from the server {she didn't realize this until after the concert}.This is my cute niece, Hosanna. She tried out for this All State Choir at the end of last school year. You record yourself singing scales and a few songs selected by the judges and then wait until the beginning of the next year to find out if you made it. At the same time she sent in a CD for the All Northwestern Choir. They found out on Thursday if they made that choir.... she did! They will have a performance in Vancouver, Canada in Feb. 08. Once they learn they made the choir, they are sent the music to practice. Then they spend 2 1/2 days as a choir and put on a performance that you would think they had been working on for months! It was amazing! Besides the choir we listened/watched the band and orchestra performances. They were first rate.
The choir. It was difficult to get a good close up shot of Hosanna... these are my attempts with a little tweaking on the computer, they don't look too bad.

My sister, her son, Anders, daughters, Hosanna and Maja, and husband, Cary. Their older boy, Hokan, was preparing for the state cross country meet in Helena on Sat. {edited: He placed 89th out of 129 runners his school placed8th out of 20. His time for the 3 mile was 19 mins 38 seconds. the runners slower due to the cold weather.}

Hosanna and I stayed up talking until 3 am! I think the girl could have talked ALL night, but I was dead tired, so we gave in and finally hit the sack!
P.S. here is a shot of Hokan after his race. Scott calls him "Pokan".