Roper came to our house late last night.

Not Mister. Just Roper. Our washing machine caught on fire (technically, there was just a ton of billowing smoke and a horrific smell, and Jack said I can't call it a fire because I didn't actually see flames...but doesn't it make the story sound better?) After the repair guy said it was a goner, we went and bought the cheapest machine on the lot. A Roper. I had never heard of it, and now it is my life-line to eliminating B.O.And since we are already spending our meager savings on our trip to CA, add the washing machine, the fact that we believe our camera was stolen falls to the bottom of the list, to be replaced maybe during tax refund time. A moment of silence for our financial woes please.

Thank you.

...So join the choir he did!

In August when we went to Back to School night, we bumped into F's music teacher who told him (and us) that he should join the choir. Reluctant, F went to the first meeting and that was it--he was hooked! Being the only boy in the choir from his grade, we were pretty proud of him. They had their first Christmas Concert (not Holiday Concert--as here in the South we need not mince words or feign being PC--heck, they even sang songs about Jesus).

The obnoxious child in front of me kept sneaking in for a photo op, so here is the best I could do.

The antlers were for the Rudolph Rap! Ahh, we have come so far since the Sugarhill Gang!

'Tis the Season to force a good picture

Every year we say we are going to take a great family photo on Thanksgiving to use in the Christmas card, since we are already dressed up. It has only happened once. So this past Saturday we loaded up kids in the car and under threat of not attending the Christmas Parade, we went to Wild Wood Park to see if the boys could pull off the "Ahh, they are so cute and getting so big" photo. Here are some of our favorites that did NOT make the cut!

Pictured here--the McKinley Boys Choir

Getting no genuine smiles, Jack started talking about poop...

So G at Jacks bidding--no not really, but it looks like it!

S, asking Jay (Manuel, of ANTM of course)

"Is this the emotion in my eyes you are looking for?"

And, deciding they were finished--the stick revolt ensued!

Guess you will have to check your mailboxes to see their "best shot" and find out WHO will be going to Bejing...I mean, nevermind!

Turkey, stuffing, & sweet potato pie

For nicer meals, I appreciate a well set table as much as I appreciate the food that is served on it. Here was our Thanksgiving Table. I wish the picture showed our personalized embroidered napkins! After the meal, the adults were meticulously perousing our Black Friday ads and making lists of our own...this is where we found S!!

And while everyone else prepared the meals, read the paper, & chatted amongst ourselves, this is what the boys did--

Wii are obssessed!

So the hot Christmas talk around our house from all FOUR boys is about who will be getting a Wii (the new video game system, for you old-timers). On the way to school this morning, the conversation went something like this: "Well mom, the Herndons are getting a Wii." "Sarah and Emma are getting a Wii." "Mom, even Michael is getting a Wii!"

--Ah, ha! My in...

"Well boys, Michael is an only child. Would you rather have brothers, or a Wii?" As the oldest, F smiled at me and replied dutifully, "Brothers, of course." As middle child, G expressing in his --Tell it like it is Dr. Phil mentality--cried, "No brothers--I want a Wii!!," as he chortles his evil villian laugh.

There will be no laughter in the house on Christmas morning when the Wii is nowhere to be found, and we return to a simpler time...(did that sound "dickens-y" enough in it's tone of Christmas despair?)

This and Survivor China--I know we are the last ones who still care

So several months ago I mentioned our new favorite thing was Karaoke Revolution. Since then we have had a karaoke party and several midweek stop-ins from friends to "sing a few," not to mention some very late nights for Jack and I. (Once Finn even came down and told us to be quiet because we woke him up! Oops.)
Our dear friends Jon and Stephanie come in this weekend where literally, Jack threw out his voice singing, "You make me feel like a natural woman."

It reminded me that before my sister Summer left for school, she was over and Jack and I were having a duet knockout round to, "Material Girl." Summer recorded us on her phone and put our performance as her ringtone. The next day at Starbucks, her boss came up to her and said, "I think your phone is dying or something, it keeps making this awful sound!"

How can something we are so bad at, still be so much fun!

Is what you make who you are?

So my Jack was telling me about my sister-in-laws blog and a recipe she had recently posted. In a funny twist of fate, as I was making the same thing for dinner that night (the new chill in the air must translate to comfort food universally): Chicken Pot Pie.

Her ingredients list contained things like rotisserie chicken, shallots, fresh parsley, handmade pie crust, white wine, etc.

Here are my ingredients (all four of them): chicken found at the back of the fridge, cream of chicken soup, whatever veggies from the freezer don't have freezer burn, and a can of pop-top biscuits (sorry you weren't home to pop them, Jack!).

The contrast of the two "pies" made me laugh (was the laughter to hide my tears?). Although, I don't dare ask the question, "Which of the 2 McKinley sister-in-laws would you rather dine with?" I think I know the answer.

Dr. Frankenstien not Frankenstein

For Halloween this year, I was Dr. Frankenstien, not to be confused with my lab partner, Dr. Frankenstein. My laboratory experimental cake walk was so almost spooky...

I passed out prescription bottles with chocolate eyeballs and the label:

Prescribed by Dr. Frankenstien, Dosage: 3 eyeballs daily to cure the Halloween Frights!

Past the age where I can convince them what to be (I thought the 3 musketeers would have been great, or a band of vikings, or even have them dress up as my "botched experiments," but I had no takers...), this is what we ended up with: Frog, Wizard, and Ladybug!

The kids were so antsy to get going, we put them in their costumes and rode scooters and skateboards until it got a little darker (but not much)! We also wound up with so much candy we can probably just dump it into stockings at Christmas and call it a day. And in an inconvenient twist of irony, I scheduled dental appointments for all the boys today--the day after Halloween. Who does that?

Here are the boys with their jacko-o-lanterns. F's is self-titled, "Vampire," G's is "a bad guy." G wanted to pose making the face of his pumpkin--F barely wanted to take the picture at all.

--

All That I Am

This post is for Jaime only. I know that others will read it but it won't have the same sentiment.

This pic is from one of my favorite times with you.

All that I am. All that I ever was. Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I love you babe.

Coping with cardstock

So, I am a card sender...birthdays, holidays, events, etc. I enjoy sending cards. My sister-in-law and her family have been evacuated from their home in Modjeska Canyon, CA because of the raging fires. It appears as though the outlook is hopeful at this point, but they are still not cleared to be back in their home and may not be for awhile yet. I made this card to send them and realized that mail to a home they can't even get to is the last thing they need.

So, here is the non-cluttering version of the card for Chris, Guillermo, Quetzali, and Toto. You are in our thoughts and prayers and we hope this turbulent spell will subside soon and all will be well again. We are so glad you are safe and that your home, while sporting the ashy-smell design style, is still standing. We love you.
Love, Jaime, Jack and the boys!!

No Xavier Roberts found in this Patch

Today G's preschool class went to the pumpkin patch. S stayed with a sitter, so G and I could enjoy the trip, just the two of us. Here are the highlights:

"These pumpkins are dirty and slimy!"

"This pumpkin is too heavy!"

"Do I have to see the animals? Animals stink!"

"Is it snack time yet?"

But being reminded that this is what it looks like all around me, while spending the morning with my middle son, made it a great day!

Eyeballs and bloody bunnies--just another friday!

After school F invited a friend over and we celebrated it being FRIDAY by making some Halloween cupcakes. They were suppose to decorate the cupcakes to look like eyeballs.

This is what they wanted to do instead!

And then Jack came home early (you know, after taking some Friday afternoon funeral leave, of course) and decided he wanted to do one. This was what he came up with...It is titled, "Bloody bunny."

And all the while, S sat in his chair drinking grape slush from Sonic and eating unfrosted cupcake after cupcake...and was thrilled.

"Life is burritoful" OR It's not 3000 miles by foot, but it is a trek!

The Washington D.C. Temple, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Our stake has a temple trip 2 times a year and we try to go to the temple more than that, but we at least go then. We usually try to couple it with something for the boys, so this time we got a hotel with an indoor rooftop pool and we went to the National Zoo. I love DC for making all/most of the national exhibits, FREE! An added bonus when we have to leave early because of meltdowns.

S cried the whole way (6.5 hours) up to DC and most of the way home. He was up twice an hour, every hour from the time he went down until 4:30am. On TH, all three of the boys were sick and we weren't even sure if we were going. But fevers subsided, rashes lightened up, and we were off.

But, we trudged up there, did some temple work, went to the Zoo, ate a whole mess of junk food (including Chipotle twice--thus the title) and came home. Alas, we survived another trip with the children--with only favorite memories from the boys.
-on the metro "It's too loud!"

G's favorite parts of the trip:

"1. The animals

2. The zoo

3. It was a great trip!"

F's favorite (can you tell he's on his way to being a pre-teen):

"1. hotel

2. zoo

3. stake center" (that's where we have the babysitting swap while we are at the temple

S's favorite:

1. Climbing over/on exhibits

2. Being home again!

Women of my "HAIR"-itage

The Meacham women in all their glory (and little jaime in a red sundress)

I (jaime) loved growing up around all these women because:
1. They were not afraid to have big hair
2. They weren't too pretty to fight
3. I had lots of "moms"
4. Someone was always around to play Barbies--even when they were too old and swore me to secrecy not to reveal their activities to the "world"
5. I grew up to love the company of strong, sometimes grumpy, often sarcastic, and rarely perfect, women.

Toilet fears-legitimate or conjecture?

The kids' great-aunt Wendy (how old does that make you feel, Wend?) and their cousins R and H bought the boys these outdoor Halloween games. They have been a hit.

I was preparing to purchase a Halloween movie to send to R & H for Halloween, when Brittany told me not to. True, rare is the time when Brittany tells me to stop, do I stop (even when it probably is in my best interest...), but this time I did. Here is the question I ask to each of you. Is Gremlins too scary for an 8 and 11 year old? I thought not, but Brittany said she was scared to use the toilet for a year afterwards. Any other potty-phobes?

She could have done this to my hair...

But she didn't. So thanks. While I was in UT, my aunt Kathy came in and we were able to spend some time together that was long overdue. She is a hair stylist, but claims she only cuts boys hair (she has 4 of them...so she has grown accustomed...). After convincing her she could do nothing bad to my hair that wouldn't eventually grow out, I got my free hair cut! THANKS, KATHY!!

That said, Kathy has never heard of blogs, or blogging, so this is her bait. I told her I was going to post for her, so Kathy, hope you remember to check my blog after the sun possibly damaged your brain while you were in the Bahamas!

Here are 5 things I love/remember about my Aunt Kathy:
1. Growing up, she was the tall, dark, beautiful, and tall aunt, which gave me something to aspire to in my short, short (jeans) genes. (On a side note, the women on my mother's side all have this beauty about them...and an unparalled thinness...thanks for leaving me in the lurch on that one...)
2. She used to paint my fingernails and toenails and I thought that was the coolest thing ever!
3. She has a house full of boys and is still alive to tell me about it. And smile while she talks!
4. She pulled the heck out of my hair all the time and it made me cry--but it made me beautiful (do you feel the sarcasm oozing out of my voice as I say the last part?)
5. She was someone who I could talk to when I was younger--someone who took a vested interest in me, or at least feigned it.

Hope you had fun in the Bahamas, and I hope you remember how to use the technology to check this. love, jaime

Happy Birthday Jaime!!!

Happy Birthday Jaime. I hope you have a great time in Utah. The boys (myself included) miss you dearly but we are doing well. See you soon babe!

Nature Deficit Disorder? Not MY kids!

Today Jack had late church meetings, so in order to break up what I call the "witching hours" (pre-dinner time, like 4-6) we called our friend the Turners (whose dad was also gone all day with church meetings) and we decided to meet up at the park. Being Sunday, we went to the walking nature park, rather than the ones with the swings to avoid the inevitable begging/denial. Radford is on a mission to connect all paths in the city so there is a walking path connecting the entire city. Wildwood Park is one of those paths, along a creek, with foot bridges. The kids love to go walking there and ride scooters or catch bugs.

S found great fun and was laughing hysterically when he found a rock pile and starting throwing rocks down in this dusty "puddle" (what do you call a puddle that is dry? a hole?).

S was totally on his own--he was independent on the walk, just as he is in everything else.

S took a break and plopped down on the path...he's our cheeseball!

And I know it looks like I only took pictures of S, but it's just that his were the only ones that really turned out, besides the group ones.