Happy Halloween!

What a great day!  It was a really busy day.  Everyone had school -- including A.  She had preschool then we invited her preschool friends over for a little lunch and party.   We had a nice little lunch then had some fun crafty things planned.  However, the kids were having so much fun playing we let the kids play while we just had grown up talk upstairs.

Snow White, Ladybug Princess, Watermelon, and Scary Lion are preschool friends.  Almost a pirate and Transformer guy are older siblings who came along for the fun.  Those four girls are the sweetest group of 3 year old girls ever!  It is so fun to have them for preschool.

I forgot to tell you about the Trunk 'r Treat at K's school.  We TrT-ed our little hearts our then went in the gym for a dance.  Two of three kids felt the music was a little loud but they did eventually warm up to the idea and dance.  One crazy dinosaur thought it was great.  Here he is shaking his spikes to the Chicken Dance:

 He also went up front to demonstrate the Macarena for everyone.  He was awesome and I'm so proud of him for having the confidence to do that!

Of course last night was the main event!  It was fun taking the kids around the neighborhood and visiting our neighbors.  We finished off at Roy's secretary's house.  She is always so good to the kids on Halloween -- preparing special treat bags for them.  This year was no exception even though she just got back from a free trip to Hawaii.  WHAT?!  I know.  The kids Love LindaGill.  And they call her LindaGill all one word, never just Linda.  Funny.  

It was a good time but I tell you what, with all the extra activities leading up to Halloween it is starting to feel like a season rather than a holiday!

Boo Bash

My awesome friend, Heather, invited the kids and I to join her at the "Boo Bash".  It's where the kids can dress up and visit businesses along main street in a nearby town.  It sounded fun so we headed out to check it out.  It was cuh-razy.  I'm glad we went but it seems likely that we won't go again.  Heather was talking to one of the people giving away candy who said they plan for between 2,000-2,500 trick-or-treaters.  In a 2 hour window!  Still it was pretty fun to see all the costumes and the kids enjoyed spending time with their friends.

Dinosaur

"Scary Lion"

"Aargh! Me Hardy!"

Harvest Party

It's that time again where wards think to have an activity revolving around chili and candy.  Good times.  I took the kids while Roy went to get candy for the Trunk'RTreat because that's the kind of advanced planning that we've come to expect around here.  Fortunately he got there in time to have some of Drew's 5 alarm chili with ghost peppers.  Hot stuff.  I played it safe and ate the chili brought.  The kids played it even safer.  K chowed down on tomatoes.  I have no idea what D ate and A ate whatever was placed in front of her.  It was a lot like eating at home!
After eating the youth took the kids into another room to decorate pumpkins (we took small pumpkins for them to color and put stickers on.  No knives with the young men and primary kids.  Not a good plan.) and have their faces painted.  The adults were supposed to check out the 72 hour kit ideas in the back of the gym and get ready for the TRT.  Mostly though we stood around talking until the kids started coming back in -- about 45 seconds after they left (I'm pretty sure that's accurate).
Since it was raining (Inconceivable!) Roy stood in the church hallway to hand out candy and I herded the cats kids around the rooms to get their free candy.  It was a chaotic scene with kids coming away with way more candy than they should.  All in all, a pretty standard ward harvest party.

Plumbing

Today I was a plumber.  See, last night I put cucumber peels in the garbage disposal.  This was apparently more than it could take.  It isn't the toughest kid on the block.  Last night I fell asleep lulling myself into a false sense of security, "I'm sure the dishwasher won't make the sink overflow.  Water can drain, it is just really slow but surely.... besides, even if it fills to the top it will just spill over into the other side of the sink that isn't plugged.  Yeah, that's right.  It'll be fine."  Yeah.  Not fine.  But not as bad as it could have been either.  Just had water over the counter and the rug was half soaked.  Easy-peasy.
So after A and I got back from our morning errands I started taking the pipes apart under the sink.  Not my first time doing this (apparently tough-guy can't handle potato peels or egg shells either).  Somehow this time I managed to break a pipe though.  I loaded A back up into the van and headed to the nearby plumbing store, took a number and tried to figure out what part I needed while waiting for my turn to be helped.  After we got the right pipe, A and I headed back home to complete the job that shouldn't be this much trouble.
Pipe's too long.  It seems they only carry this pipe in one size and figure people can trim them down to fit.  Really, that's reasonable but just one more hurdle in this simple job.  Well, I plugged in the jigsaw (harder than it sounds in my garage) and fortunately it cut right through no problem.  Finally, after nearly 90 minutes I achieved proper draining function!  Yes!

Primary Lessons Work

This is a copy of a letter that Roy sent to D's primary teacher this week:
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Sister Hunter,

Below is an edited excerpt from my journal entry last Sunday.  I thought you might enjoy hearing how your lesson in primary last Sunday brought the Spirit into our home and helped another member of our ward make an important decision regarding paying his tithing.  Thank you for the testimony you have shared with D these past few years.  He feels it keenly.

The Pyatts

September 23, 2012 (Sunday)

D met me in the cultural hall this afternoon.  I was just finishing up speaking with some of the brethren after elders quorum.  D was very excited to show me his new treasure from primary class: a small jar filled with paper and two hearts.  As we left the church and drove home, he told me about the jar, how he had received it in class from Sister Hunter for a lesson on tithing.  When we arrived home, I asked him to share the meaning of the jar with Sheena.  We suggested he teach the lesson to us either tonight or tomorrow for family home evening. . . .

Brother Smith (name changed) came for dinner this evening as usual.  We stood in the back yard watching the kids play for a few minutes.  I asked how he was doing.  He responded that things at work were going poorly.  He was broke and struggling to survive financially.  He gets paid weekly, but said he has not paid tithing the last two weeks in order to buy groceries.  I asked if he had spoken with Bishop Neil regarding this.  He responded “no.”  I told him I would personally rather pay the Lord the money He requires and take my chances with earthly creditors rather than the other way around. 

We had a pleasant dinner.  The kids like playing games with Brother Smith, so I gave D the option of playing some family games this evening with Brother Smith or sharing his lesson with us.  To my surprise, D chose to give his lesson.  By that point, I think I had forgotten that the subject matter of D’s lesson was tithing—at least, it was not on my mind in light of my earlier conversation with Brother Smith.    

After singing an opening hymn from the Children’s Hymnbook and family prayer, D proceeded by having each of us pull a “blessing” paper out of the glass jar.  Each of the folded pieces of paper had some blessing that D had written which he said comes as a result of paying tithing.  D chose to expand on some of the blessings; others he had no comment for. 

We finished the blessings and I encouraged D to share his testimony, but he did not want to.  I was a little disappointed as I knew Brother Smith needed to hear this, but such is the teaching style of an eight year old on occasion.  A minute later though D remembered a story that Sister Hunter had told in primary and he wanted to share with us.  This is my recollection of an eight-year-old’s recollection of Sister Hunter’s story, so it may not be accurate, but the principle taught is still the same. 

Sister Hunter told the children that she was a widow many years ago and had a young child.  Sister Hunter needed milk but did not have enough money to buy milk and pay her tithing.  She went to the Bishop to discuss her situation, thinking that he might tell her it would be okay not to pay her tithing.  But the Bishop encouraged her to pay her tithing anyway. 

Sister Hunter chose to pay her tithing.  Later on, her neighbor stopped by her home, saying she had bought too much milk from the store and asked if Sister Hunter would like it.

I felt the Spirit of the Lord poured forth very powerfully into our home as D shared this story, given to him by a beloved primary teacher.  With great fondness, I reflected how perfectly this story and this lesson matched the very need of the man sitting on our couch.  I wondered how Brother Smith was receiving it. 

When D finished, I asked the children what decision the Lord would want them to make if they only had enough money to either pay their tithing or buy milk for a little one.  K responded that the Lord would want her to pay her tithing instead of to buy milk.  D agreed.  I affirmed K’s answer and shared my testimony of how the Lord watches over his faithful saints who pay their tithing.  I also shared the time from my mission in Chilton when I needed some things from the store, but did not have enough money to pay for them, how a member happened to be in the store the middle of that work day, and volunteered to buy our things.  That had never happened before on my mission, and never happened after, but did happen the one time I needed it.

After the lesson, Brother Smith sincerely stated the lesson on tithing was just what he needed to hear.  I had no doubt that the Lord taught Brother Smith this evening through the mouth of a child—doctrine that child had learned in primary.

Today

Today's Lunch:
A peanut butto and honey fandwich cut into tri-nagles followed by a blue hockasicle

Today's Concert:

Today's FHE:
Jumping on the trampoline and grilling hamburgers for dinner wrapped up with ice cream and a rousing hand of Uno.
Today's Disturbing Scene:
Fruit flies procreating on my nectarine.  Thanks for the loss of appetite guys.  At least they died happy.
Today's Field Trip:
A and I went to the "baby doctor" to check up on the baby.  All is well except the nurse put my weight in wrong so the doctor's record says I gained 9 pounds in 6 weeks.  Um, yeah, NO.  Did get flu shots for A and I.  (feeling bruised on my arm...)
Today's Naptime Movie:

*sigh* Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy....

Today = Good Day

Following Up and Stuff

I feel as if I should follow up after the spew from last week.  I actually really like the regular bus driver, B.  She is reasonable and nice.  In fact, yesterday she was 10 minutes earlier than she has been all year so naturally I wasn't out there.  I heard the bus and ran outside not long after she got there.  She was very pleasant and kind and joked about how she had time to kill because she was so early.  K was off the bus as soon as B saw me come out the door.  I still think the bus rules and restrictions on Kindergartners gets carried away and haven't completely dismissed the thought of driving K myself.  However, I do appreciate the goodness and convenience of the bus and the nice regular bus driver.  And K does love to ride the bus - she really does not want me to drive her to school.
(tangent story: When D was in kindergarten, he had a friend who rode the same bus, got on/off at the same stop and was in the same class.  Two-thirds through the year, this friend skipped into 1st grade.  All of a sudden no one had to meet him at the bus or drop him off.  Nothing changed, he just was in 1st grade now but was still D's same age. Feels a bit silly to me....)
So anyway, still easy for me to be irritated but I really am trying to work on it.

Today was A's second week of preschool.  Last week was our first week.  It didn't seem too different because I was teaching so she didn't actually get to go to preschool.  She just kind of was at preschool.  Every morning she asks me if it is a preschool day because she loves it so much.  This morning those were literally the first words out of her mouth!
A: "Is today preschool?"
Me: "Yes baby, today is preschool"
A: "Today is a school day for everyone!"
We have a sweet little group of girls for preschool this year.  I was hoping to keep the group smaller and younger since A is only 3.  It worked!  I found three other moms of 3yo girls who all live in my neighborhood.  I was worried about A holding back and not participating, especially since the other 3 girls know each other well from a playgroup they had last year.  I think starting at our house helped that.  She was able to get back into the routine of preschool and meet her new friends in the comfort of her own home.  Today she was as excited as could be and sounds like she was involved and happy the entire time she was there.  I don't worry about A being happy.  She is almost always happy and peaceful.  But she is also reserved and content to hang back and watch.  Going to preschool for a few months at the end of last year with K helped out too.  She just really loves preschool!

In other news:

How awesome is that!  I've seen all the pictures Heather took at D's baptism now.  As soon as I can figure out how to download them from the site they're on, oh baby, watch out for deluge of pictures!  Also, I really want to blog about D's baptism.  It feels overwhelming though.  I want to do it justice but I don't think I can so I guess I will just blog what happened.