Not exactly 7 things

Emily tagged me to write 7 random things about me. I'm having trouble thinking up 7 things that I haven't already mentioned on this blog. Here's what you get instead:

1. I ate absolutely nothing healthy yesterday. Breakfast was the cinnamon melts from McDonalds (have you tried those? AWESOME!!) and a Diet Coke. Lunch was an In-N-Out cheeseburger, no onions, and a Diet Coke. Dinner was corn dogs in front of the TV (Pie's out of town. That means no cooking for me!) We watched Shrek 3. And after the kids went to bed, did I eat my recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables? No. I had some Ben & Jerry's instead. No wonder my tummy hurt when I was trying to go to sleep!

2. The Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta is tonight and the boys are so excited! I bought a kit for Dean to make his own sailboat and he's as giddy as I've ever seen him about participating. It means a late bedtime for everyone, but I'm looking forward to it, too.

3. I have the most talented friends! You all know about Heather and Ali, but let me introduce you to Blue. She has a new business called That's so Childish and it's almost online. Bookmark this site and check back every so often. You'll be glad you did. (Don't tell Edie, but she's getting a Blue Reid original for Christmas!)

4. The last of my new hardwood is being installed right now! I'm thinking that I won't post a picture of it and the completed fireplace. You'll have to come and see it in person. Ha, ha.

5. All I want for Christmas is a fake tree. Real trees are messy with the dropping needles and the spilled water, and we haven't had one make the room smell nice since we moved to this house. I want one that I can set up whenever I want and take down whenever I want. Thanksgiving to New Year's is too long to keep a real one from drying out, and after all that work, I want to appreciate it for a while. I think Pie will finally agree to it this year. At least he's not vetoing it right away.

6. Tomorrow is Evan's birthday and he's still not sleeping through the night consistently. We've been working hard on it for over a month now. I'm tired. The fact that I'm searching my brain and can't come up with #7 is a testament to how tired I am.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

We went on our annual fish hatchery expedition with Beebe & Con and Pay, Mary & kids. It was similar to last year's trip, so I won't blog about the details again. But here are some pictures.
Con & his mama, feeding the fishies.

Edie could not be bothered with feeding the fish when there were birds around to scare away.

The fish ladder was awesome, as always. Here we are "ooo"ing and "ahh"ing over the huge, huge salmon that were waiting at the bottom.

If you want to come and visit, we'll take you there. It's lots of fun. (hint, hint!)

Rock the Vote!

Have you seen this website? You answer a little survey about your feelings on the issues, and then it tells you which presidential candidate best matches you. I've never heard of my perfect candidate. I guess that means I should study up a little more.

Kids Photo Wall

I've been planning to do this for a while now. Then Ali posted a How To a couple months ago explaining everything I needed to know to get it done. I considered it a sign that I needed to proceed. It's still taken this long.

It's the wall right outside my bedroom door, where the baby pictures used to be.

I think I like it. I'm going to have to stare at it for a few days before I know for sure. Maybe something will get moved around.

Thanks Ali, for giving me a little push on this project!

Ammon, the coolest story in the BoM

Drew and Dean provided the lesson for FHE tonight. They love the story of Ammon & King Lamoni and retold it very well. First Drew read a summary, showed the following picture and the two of them acted out the best parts of the story (the slingshot & arm-cutting, of course!)

I'm including the picture because I think it's really funny. My favorite parts are the sheep and the sad faces on the bad guys.
Ammon, by Drew Fardanesh. Ballpoint pen on notebook paper.

Guess what we're doing today!

Who knew that ripping out carpet could be so much fun??

Experiment

I know I just posted these pictures. I'm trying to figure out Movie Maker. This is what I've come up with. Maybe some day I'll make a real one. I'm already annoyed with this music.

Pumpkin Patch

Last week Edie's preschool class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. It's the same pumpkin patch we've been going to for years on field trips. It's a nice place, not too far away.

The kids get some pumpkin info from the farmer-lady while waiting for the hayride. There's a little petting zoo with goats and sheep that always seem to be starving and really happy to see the kids coming with handfuls of sheep feed. Also ponies that have a big sign that says "Don't feed me. I bite!" There's a kid-friendly corn maze which is really just a path in some corn, no maze turns or dead ends. There's a big hay pile to climb on and around and through.
And then comes the haunted barn. Who thought this was a good idea? It's very dark with strobe lights and fake fog. The spooky things to look at are built into the walls and look like a crypt. Just "dead bodies" for the preschoolers to stare at. There are probably 20 bodies, all dressed in costumes, not unlike the costumes that the kids wore on Halloween. Witches and monsters are first, but then come police men, army men, Spiderman, etc.

The first year we went, we didn't know any better and just walked on in with little 4-year-old Drew. Freaked him out. The next year I peaked in, saw everything was the same and skipped it. It's been the same set-up for the last 4 years. We skipped it again this year and Edie was none the wiser. She had a great time.
(I forgot my camera so the pictures are from Pie's phone.)