Happy Halloween, May the Force be with You

 This is Cory before work this morning. They dressed up and at his meeting he introduced himself as Han Solo...

 Avery decided he wanted to use this as his light saber

 Aiden enjoyed wearing his costume

 Lidia's Leia costume turned out cute. I was not happy Wednesday night when they had a carnival and she was helping with face painting but they were using craft acrylic paints instead of something washable. She got green paint in several places on her white dress and I tried a million things and it would not come out. I was so mad at the leaders that decided that was ok to do. I ended up just trying to cover it with white paint.

 note to self: all white is not flattering, especially when you need to loose a few pounds anyway

Luke, Anakin, Padme, Han Solo, Leia, Yoda

Earlier today I was busy sewing last minute because I procrastinated and had a million other things going on and of course the kids were bugging me because they always do when they know you are busy so I was pretty grumpy with them telling them to clean up. At 2 I decided I needed a lunch break so we went to Sonic for happy hour. At 4 I was done and told the kids they could watch a movie while I relaxed in the tub. Then we got dressed in our costumes and went trick or treating around 6. My kids don't last more than an hour, if even that long. Once their bucket starts getting heavy they are done. Avery was afraid to go to some doors. I like getting out and seeing all the neighbors. The Andertons came and went with us and then the kids ate candy and watched the Nightmare Before Christmas. Now they are in bed and hopefully will be able to get up for school in the morning. While we were out trick or treating some stupid teenagers were running around acting like fools and ran right into Savannah knocking her down on the ground, spilling her candy and ripped her earring out of her ear. Ginger got on to them and they said sorry but what can you do really. Poor Savannah was really upset. Her ear bled a little. Luckily we had fun anyway.=) It was nice and in the 60's today. First time we were not cold trick or treating I think. Ok it's 10:30 and someone just came to my door. Really people! I don't pass out candy after 8:30 on a school night.

Prayers for Millie

Thursday I took Millie to the vet to be spayed, get a microchip, and get her shots. She did well. On Friday she seemed fine except her eyes were goopy. Duke had a cold in his eyes not long ago and I still have some antibiotic eye drops so I put some in her eyes. Today she was squinting a lot and acting a bit strange and her eyes were still goopy. I went to put drops in and saw that her corneas were cloudy and light blue. I was worried. Was my dog going blind? Why? I called the vet ER and they said to bring her in. The vet thinks she may have had a reaction to the vaccines and then scratched her eyes because they were bothering her. Now I am doing the drops three times a day along with moisture ointment and once the scratches heal they can give her steroid drops. We are hoping and praying this works and her eyes get better and not worse. She can see but not really well. If in the end they decide this started because of a reaction to the vaccine then she will have to have vaccines without one part in it in the future. Millie seems to be healing quickly from the spay but needs the pain medicine for her eyes instead.

Other than sit in the ER today, we also replaced our doorbell and a bad lightswitch, and went to see Puss in Boots. It was a very fun movie. The kids were cheering and dancing at the end. Avery especially was dancing in his boots wearing his cowboy hat all around the theater during the credits. I ran to the fabric store to get a few things and then came home and at 9:30 someone rang our doorbell which right now is set to be someone screaming. I just so happened to be right there and looked out the window by the door and saw one kid run off and another standing there staring at me speechless. I asked him what he wanted and he paused and then said trick or treat after which I told him it's not Halloween yet and gave him an ugly look and he left. Looked like he was 14 or so. Silly kids.

A Pumpkin Day

Today has been pretty fun. Lidia and Aiden got to wear their costumes to school and got lots of compliments. Aiden says his mom is good at making 3D costumes, not like the silly screen printed ones at the store. I thought it was funny that he put it that way. Avery's class played pumpkin games. After school the kids helped clean up the house and put up the Halloween decorations. We watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Then we had our friends the Andertons over for a pumpkin party. We carved our pumpkins and ate jack o lantern pizzas, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, along with some veggies and juice. The kids watched Alvin and the Chipmunks meet Frankenstein and then we went over to the community Pumpkin Walk which was improved this year with no lines. It was pretty chilly outside.

Millie was spayed yesterday and seems to be doing pretty well. I even let her play with Duke today. I am making her sleep in her own crate until she is completely healed though. They usually love to sleep all snuggled together.

We are supposed to have a nice 60 degree Halloween this year. It's a miracle! Hooray that we have not had snow down here yet and that it's not supposed to be really cold and rainy like last Halloween until Tuesday.

Starting to get a little excited

It's slowly sinking in that we are really going to move overseas for three years. I don't think Cory's boss is excited about him going. Oh well. It's a family decision more than a work one but it will be experience as far as work goes too. The kids will get to attend a nice private school there. I think it will be great. It is British system so different but they have so many resources and such small classes and a very structured environment with real uniforms and such. The schedule sounds good too and the kids that need extra help can get it. Lidia still needs reading resource. She is improving but still behind. Aiden and Avery are in the process of lots of testing right now so we can hopefully figure out how to help them. Avery's results thus far are showing a language processing problem and we are taking he and Aiden to be tested for auditory processing disorder at Primary Children's after Thanksgiving. Luckily our school is very willing to accommodate however they can whether you have a label or not so we are requesting a speaker for Avery to have on his desk or wear so that he doesn't tune out the teacher along with other competing sounds. The teachers at our elementary school already wear the voice amplifier necklaces in class anyway. Aiden goes in for the gammet of testing next week. He is looking forward to it. He thinks there is something wrong with him. I tell him there isn't, he just needs to pay attention and work instead of drawing constantly. Of course that doesn't help so I'll pay the bucks to the psychologists to try and figure out what is going on with him. Tristan could do excellent in school be he refuses to do his work and is outright defiant and rude about it. Schools pretty much only use positive reinforcement these days and it doesn't work with him. You have to put him in time outs or punish him with extra work to get him to cooperate at all. His teacher doesn't know what to do with him and I don't either. I hope the British system gets him in line, if not they might kick him out. My good friend Ginger is going to be his permanent sub when his teacher goes on maternity leave. He says he doesn't want her to. I'm sure it's because she will tell me daily if he was bad or not and then he'll be in trouble at home too. So anyway, I'm excited about the school there. It's also a cool area to live in near the cotswolds which was my favorite when I was there. There is a base an hour and a half away that we can shop at for some American things and some more affordable items. We should be able to rent a nice home comparable to what we have here. I'm so excited to visit all the villages and towns that our ancestors are from. I am nervous about driving there but I'm sure I'll adjust. The kids are excited. Lidia will miss Shannon terribly and I will miss Ginger and Carrie and my lovely neighbors and my family but time will fly by and they may come visit and we may take a trip home half way through. I have several friends living overseas so I may get to see some of them and get to visit all the cool places they have been blogging about. Now I need to shut off these thoughts and get back to last minute Halloween sewing. Loving procrastination.

Be careful what you wish for...

It may actually happen and that may bring on lots to do and a little stress. Cory was unofficially offered the administrative job in England. It's not official until you go through paperwork and such. He has to start in late May. It seems that it is still early enough that we can get a full refund on our Alaskan cruise. Guess we will wait and take a Mediterranean cruise later instead. Guess we will also have to cancel our plans to go to Nauvoo next summer. Maybe we can see B&B and baby before we leave. All are welcome to come visit us overseas! I have a feeling the time will fly by. I have been very busy with the kids and all of their appts to the dentist, orthodontist, psychologists etc on top of subbing and everything else a mom has to do. I also have to take Millie to be spayed this week. I have not put out any Halloween decorations yet or finished sewing. Too many distractions. Now I'm gonna want to start sorting things so packing will be easy when it comes time. Some things will stay behind in storage, somethings can be given away, some things you take in an air shipment so you can have it soon and big things come later on a boat. We will rent out our house while away for a few years. It is starting to feel real to Cory. He felt a bit queezy all day.

Fall Break in Vegas

Thursday we drove down to Vegas. Traffic in Utah county was horrible and delayed us at least an hour. Cory was nice and did all the driving. We stayed at the Residence Inn by the conference center. It's kind of old but updated somewhat but I like having a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen. The second bedroom and bathroom were an upstairs loft. The kids liked that. That night we went to MGM Grand and saw the lion habitat but the Lions were not in there. We ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe there and the kids loved it, they were just amazed with the atmosphere. The food there is not very good and way overpriced. Then we walked over to M&M world and had fun looking around in there but were disappointed that the movie was not being shown anymore that day. We walked down the strip to the Bellagio fountains which were cool as always. I hated all the porn on the streets though, the billboards and flyers they hand out and litter the street with are full on trashy porn. We will not go out there again. Friday the kids swam in the hotel pool and hot tub. It was nice the whole time in the low 80s. We also went to the Ethel Mars Chocolate Factory tour which was so short and a bit lame and then looked at her big cactus garden. After that we went to eat at a buffet my friend had recommended. It was good and affordable and the kids loved their first real all you can eat buffet experience. That place had a theater too so we went to see the new 3 Muskateers movie. It was fun but kind of silly how they mixed in matrix type action and spies and modern inventions. It was like it was fused with steam punk and the story was weak. We also had to go to Target to get some cold medicine for Avery and a few groceries. Saturday we went to Red Rock Canyon. It was nice and we did one of the shorter hikes and saw people running Ragnar. Then we went to visit our old friends from Maryland, the White family. It was nice to see them. They have been in Vegas for several years now and are moving to Kansas City in a couple of weeks. When we left there we headed to Mandalay Bay and picked up our Lion King tickets and went to see the shark reef aquarium which was really overpriced but fun. The large tank has lots of different kinds of sharks swimming over, under, and around you. It's set up like you are inside the hull of an old sunken ship and you exit through a clear tube. We then saw Lion King which was great and the kids and I loved it but for some reason Cory wasn't impressed. What a rain on my parade. I told him to pretend he liked it anyway. I think he's just a grumpy gus about a lot of things lately especially if they cost money. Male pms? Lol After Lion King Avery was ready to go back to the hotel and play, it was a long time for him to sit. When we got up to go he headed out to the lobby ahead of us and he went in the opposite direction of the crowd so we couldn't get to him and soon couldn't see him anymore either. Cory saw it happen while I was gathering our things and I wish he had thought to yell stop that kid or something but instead I ended up going to security for help finding him and Cory and Lidia and Aiden stayed in the lobby and a security guard found him and brought him to Cory. It was like the longest and worst fifteen minutes ever. Avery was upset but it doesn't stop him from wanting to be independent and go off on his own. We have to do better about keeping him close until he's big enough to go on his own and not get lost. After that I was mentally exhausted and we just went back to the hotel and hung out and went to bed. This morning we had breakfast and then headed home and the trip was fine until we hit darn Utah county again. It was after seven when we got home. I'm tired and have to sub tomorrow and I have tons of laundry to do and Halloween costumes to finish. It will be a busy week!

Metal mouth

Lidia gets braces in two weeks. The appointment has been made. Aiden gets spacers the next day and will get his expander two weeks after that. There goes several thousand dollars. Cory had an interview for another position in England this week. We'll see what happens. The orthodontist will hook us up with an American trained orthodontist if we move to England next summer. We are driving to Vegas tomorrow. The kids are excited. Its nice and warm in the 80s there. Im also trying to get some sewing done on these halloween costumes. I had forgotten I would be gone a few days for fall break and Ive been subbing. Good thing Cory can sleep through my late night sewing.

England

Cory did not get the position he applied for in England but was told that he was close. There were a lot of applicants. They did tell him that a few more positions will be coming open in the coming year and to apply for those. So, we'll see and I will just try not to think about it. It wouldn't be a big deal except that if I let Lidia get braces I need her to finish them out here because orthodontics are not the same over there. We would like the experience of living and working over there for a few years but we are also very happy here and it's a lot of work to move there and back. For now I will be happy about not doing all that work.

Little kids

So I think Avery will be my tallest kid. He is actually taller than many kids his age but certainly not the tallest. My other three are small for their age. Lidia and Aiden almost weigh 70 lbs. each and are in 7th and 8th grade. I was small but even I weighed 75 lbs in 5th grade. Tristan and Avery are almost 50 lbs each. Tristan is taller than Avery by a little bit but skinnier. I kind of wish I had started Tristan and Aiden in school a year later. They tend to get pushed around more due to their size and as boys feel kind of insecure being small. Cory says he didnt shoot up till 10th grade so I expect that with Aiden and Tristan. If Avery takes after my family he may shoot up a little sooner but not much. I shot up when I turned 12 but I expect it will be more like 14 for Lidia since she is soon to be there and has not shot up yet. She still wears a size 12 in clothes and a 4 in shoes. Lidia is about ready for braces and Aiden has a crossbite that needs to be fixed with a palatal expander but he is not ready for braces. He still has 11 baby teeth. Tristan will need braces later as well as an expander. He has two missing teeth and severe crowding in that tiny mouth. We will likely end up pulling the other two teeth and just let him be missing those and it will give him more room. Lidia needs her last three baby teeth pulled. She has really long tooth roots that are hooked on the ends and dont come out easily. She has had a lot of baby teeth pulled. Avery recently lost his first two bottom teeth. He was so excited. Tristan accidentally knocked the second one out. It was traumatic with lots of blood but once the shock was over and he was all cleaned up he was happy to loose a tooth.

It's Fall!

 Saturday Ginger and Ryan ran the Layton 1/2 marathon. I took their kids to cheer them on. We were lucky and drove up right as they were running by.

 Ginger coming in to the finish

 and Ryan just a few seconds later, they both finished in under 2 hrs

 Go team Anderton!

 We took the kids to the pumpkin patch.

 J&J is always nice and has free pumpkins and rides out to the patch.

 pardon my messy ugly hair

 I love my fingerless gloves

 Then we drove up into the mountains to see the fall colors and we ended up at the top of the mountain and there was fresh snow up there.

 Guess who has missed playing in the snow?

It was a fun Saturday. We even stopped at Farrs for ice cream on the way home. The Ogden temple is pretty much gone and now they are rebuilding. After we got home, we left the kids here and went to dinner at Taste of India with Ryan and Ginger. It was pretty good but the sauce is rich so you can only handle so much. I mostly like the naan and just dipping it in curry. I got lamb but it was just ok. I ate some of it and brought the rest home for the dogs.
Today is Columbus day and Cory is off but the kids have school. Cory and I went to breakfast and lunch together and ran some errands and rode our bikes. While riding on the trail at Jensen we saw tons of big grasshoppers, fuzzy caterpillars, a pretty big garter snake, ducks, etc. I also had some fun saying things to him in Chinese with Google translate on my phone. If I ever get laryngitis, my phone can talk for me, and in 50 languages at that. hee hee