A Little of This and That in October

Well, October really outdid herself. It was the most gorgeous fall maybe in the history of ever. Perfect weather, and the colors absolutely popped. My biggest regret was that we weren't out in the autumn glory enough, soaking it all in and storing it away to last us through the cold, dark months that are coming. But you'll see from the activities below that we at least made an attempt. Fall festivities included . . . 

Listening . . . to Mike's dad speak in General Conference. Mike's dad spoke during the Saturday afternoon session. If you heard his talk, you probably recognized the story he shared since it was about Aaron's bone marrow transplant. He related this event to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which was a humbling and powerful analogy for our family. We went to the Conference Center with most of Mike's family during the session, and it was really tender to be there all together while such a personal story was being shared. Maxwell never likes attention, so he immediately folded over in his seat as soon as Mike's dad started speaking, even though I assured him that no one knew that he was the Maxwell being spoken of. If you didn't get the chance to hear the talk but would like to, you can read or listen to it here. (Also of note: it was Clark's first time attending General Conference in the Conference Center.)

Passing . . . off sight words. When Ian started kindergarten, his teacher told the class that they would be passing off 100 sight words throughout the year; when they passed off all 100, they'd get a box of candy as a prize. That was all Ian needed for motivation. He passed off groups of ten at every opportunity and got through all 100 during the first month of school. 

Driving . . . through the fall colors. Mike, Clark, Silas, and I drove the Alpine Loop while listening to the Sunday morning session of General Conference. Unbelievably, the other boys didn't want to come. They really missed out because that drive was everything good about fall. Every turn in the road brought another colorful vista. It was too good, and pictures will never do it justice. 

Switching . . . up when I study my scriptures. My personal scripture study had taken a real hit over the last couple of years. I was still reading every day, but it was usually a hurried 5-10 verses at night before I went to sleep. When I was watching General Conference, something that Elder Renlund said caught my attention: "Feasting on the words of Christ, as found in the scriptures, stimulates revelation." I have been prayerfully seeking some peace and direction lately, and I strongly felt the prompting to make real time to study the scriptures. And so I switched my reading to the morning. I make sure to have my notebook with me, and I write phrases, questions, and insights as they come to me. I haven't made it happen every morning (and on those days, I'm back to my drowsy reading at night), but each time I make the effort, I am rewarded with a flood of inspiration. It's been kind of incredible actually and very rewarding. I've found myself looking forward to learning from the scriptures and not just reading to check it off my to-do list.

Finishing . . . a crochet project. Even though I learned to crochet long before I learned how to knit, I hardly do it anymore. But after seeing some cute crochet bags at a couple of stores, I decided to make one myself. So I busted out my old crochet hook and started making granny squares. The first couple were fun, and then I just wanted to go back to knitting. But I forced myself to keep going because I really wanted the finished object. I had to pace myself over the course of a couple of months, giving myself little milestones every week. But I eventually finished it, and even found perfectly matching fabric for the lining, but I realized that I far prefer knitting to crocheting.

Wearing . . . perfume. My mom might disown me for this one. She has always been very sensitive to smells, so when I was growing up, all scents were banned from our house (any scented detergent, soap, lotion, etc.). But I have always loved good scents. And one day, it just dawned on me: I don't have to just enjoy it when other people where perfume. I can wear it myself. I think it had just been such a big no for so much of my life that it took me until I was 37 years old to realize there was no reason for me to keep avoiding it. But this was a completely new world for me, and I had no idea where to start. I knew I didn't want something overpowering that would make me feel sick after a couple of hours. So I asked one of my friends if I could borrow her perfume for a few days just to find out if I even liked wearing it, and she generously obliged. Turns out, I loved it. After the initial testing period, I ended up buying a little sampler two-pack from Versace. This has been such a fun little addition to my life that has brought me a lot of joy. Call it a midlife crisis, but I am fully embracing it. (And don't worry, Mom, I'll leave it off on the days we come to visit.)

Visiting . . . the pumpkin patch. The month zips by so quickly, and I knew if we didn't get our pumpkins before fall break that it would practically be Halloween before we got there. Luckily, we found an evening where we were all available. I had toyed with the idea of going to one of the bigger farms that have multiple activities and attractions, but in the end, we went to our favorite simple, family-owned farm. I don't like crowds, and this one is never ever crowded. It's just perfect, and we had such a nice time together.

Reading . . .  some spooky books. I was able to read a couple of seasonally appropriate books, thanks to book club. I read A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (loved the writing and the way the plot was laid out; didn't love the resolution of the mystery) and also We Have Always Lived in the Castle (a dark and twisted classic by Shirley Jackson). And it didn't feel right to be in October without some Harry Potter. We finished the series last year, but Ian was eager to hear it this year so we started over with the first book, and that made October feel complete. I also added a new picture book to our Halloween collection by one of my favorites, Oliver Jeffers: There's a Ghost in This House.

Traveling . . . to Washington D.C. with Aaron. Mike and I have been wanting to take Aaron on a solo trip for awhile, and it finally happened this month. We had such a fun time, and I'll share more about it in its own post in a week or two. 

Going . . . on a fall hike. We made it up the canyon for one (only one!) fall hike. And it was a short one at that because we went just as the sun was setting. We went with Mike's sister, her husband, and their dog. As soon as we were up there, I deeply regretted not making time in the mountains a priority all season because the colors were just so stunning. 

Enjoying . . . two band concerts. Now that Aaron is in high school and Max is still in junior high, we no longer get to go to one concert for both of them. They had concerts on back-to-back nights, and we were lucky to get grandparents there on both nights. This was Max's first time performing with the jazz band. I thought Aaron loved jazz band, but Maxwell has taken that love to a whole new level. He listens to jazz music almost every night (usually recordings of the songs they're playing in band) and lives for the early morning rehearsals. I knew about this love, but even I was surprised when he took it to the stage. Max has always been somewhat self-conscious around other people, but when they started playing, he was jiving and grooving and totally in the zone. It was so cute. Aaron, on the other hand, has had a lukewarm experience with high school band so far. It's such a shame since he loved it so much in junior high. 

Making . . . time for the temple. Between Covid and Aaron's illness, Mike and I fell out of our regular habit of going to the temple at least once a month. But after General Conference, we recommitted to attending consistently. We had a really nice time in the Jordan River temple on a Saturday afternoon. It felt so good to be there.

Finishing . . . another session of diving. At the end of the summer, Bradley really wanted to continue with another session of diving, but a few weeks into it, he suddenly decided it wasn't for him anymore. I don't know what changed since it was something he loved so much over the summer. So he finished off the last few lessons, and now he's taking a break (maybe permanently). Swimming, on the other hand, has come to the front of activities he loves. He recently said to me, "I just realized that if I kick when I'm swimming freestyle, I go so much faster!" I had to laugh at that. 

Disobeying . . . the pediatrician. We were all shocked when Silas, at only 8.5 months old, took his first steps at the beginning of the month. By the end of the month, he was traversing the whole house on his two feet. But in the middle of the month, he had his nine-month check up with the doctor, who asked, "Is Silas crawling yet?" I replied, "Well, actually, he's walking." I expected the doctor to be surprised but encouraging. Instead, he looked me squarely in the eye and said, "That's got to stop." I chuckled at the impossibility of such a request: stop a baby who has already discovered the world opening up to him? But the doctor was adamant. "Don't encourage him. Put him down on his bottom, not on his feet. Make him crawl." Our pediatrician has eight kids of his own, so I was kind of shocked that he thought this was something I could control (although, of course Silas had been receiving tons of encouragement and praise from all of us--who can resist celebrating those first toddling steps?). I knew that Dr. V. was a firm believer in the value of crawling for strong brain development, and I wasn't discounting that at all, but I still decided to completely disregard his advice, for three reasons: First, Silas had already been crawling for two solid months. I figured he'd put in his time and had already mastered lots of cross lateral movements. Plus, he was still falling down plenty, at which point he always switched to crawling for a bit. Second, it seemed impossible to reverse development. Silas already knew too much. He wasn't going to be okay going back. And third, I firmly believed it would be emotionally damaging if we suddenly stopped celebrating his progress. So yes, I disobeyed the doctor. And yes, Silas is now a little walking machine. 

Hosting . . . a Halloween party. The weekend before Halloween, we decided to invite all of Mike's family over for a Halloween party. Everyone came in costume, and we had a great time eating and chatting and playing. Many thanks to Mike's mom for bringing doughnuts on a string, Mike's sister, Sonja, for demonstrating some mad scientist experiments, and our nieces, Addie and Laura, for face painting. Without them, it probably would have felt more like a get together. With them, it felt like a party. 

Carving . . . pumpkins. I was kind of shocked, but all of our kids carved their pumpkins all on their own. Even Ian. He pulled out all of the pumpkin guts (with a little help from Mike for the final scraping). And then he carved the entire face, free form, by himself. It was my favorite.

Participating . . . in a basketball clinic. Clark has never really played basketball before, so when I found out that a three-week clinic was being held at the high school, I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to try it out. Turns out, it wasn't really his thing.

Dressing . . . up as characters from The Princess Bride. Maybe our favorite family theme to date. You can see more photos in this post. 

Closing . . . out the month with all the normal Halloween festivities. The elementary kids had parades and class parties (Bradley's class party involved eating live crickets--yuck!). In the evening, we ate hot dogs and soup with our neighbors before taking to the streets and knocking on doors. Max and Bradley went off with friends (much to Clark's disappointment, who wanted the whole family to stay together to play up the Princess Bride theme). Mike and I took the little kids around the neighborhood while Aaron stayed home and passed out candy. The weather cooperated, and it was a really nice night. 

And with that, October is done and finished!

As You Wish: Halloween 2022

I was going to save the details of our Halloween costumes for my monthly recap post, but I realized I had too much to say and too many photos to share to combine it with all of our other activities from the month. 

You will remember that we have done a family Halloween costume for every Halloween since 2008 when Aaron was a baby. It has become a tradition for our family and something we plan for and anticipate every year.

But there is a vast difference between planning costumes for three people versus eight. As we have added children to our family over the years, the impact of a theme has become more epic but also so much harder and more labor intensive.

After last year's groovy costumes (maybe my favorite of all time), my kids quickly agreed that we had to do Princess Bride this year. It is a male-dominant story (always a must with our family!), and it happens to be one of our family's very favorite movies and books. My kids watch it on almost every road trip because we have a DVD of it, and they can quote almost the entire thing from start to finish. It was just too perfect.

But even though we knew what we wanted to do months ago, we didn't do anything about it until the second week of October. At that point, putting together eight unique costumes felt really daunting. In fact, Mike was not on board at all. He doesn't mind dressing up, but he dislikes spending so much time and money on something we'll wear one time as a family (and usually only for a few minutes together before everyone scatters for trick-or-treating). 

I agreed with him somewhat, but it has also become a beloved tradition for me, and I love looking back at the photos of our costumes over the years. I wished I could just make all of the costumes myself and not bother him with it. But I knew that I couldn't. I wasn't trying to pass the buck. I was being realistic and admitting that I didn't have the creative talent needed to create some of these costumes. I was willing to split the responsibilities but not take on the full load.

Clark had his hopes firmly set on this family theme, and Clark works hard on people to get what he wants. After much persistence  and incessant reminding, we finally rallied and buckled down to the task. And I have to say, when we finally all got into costume and pulled our group together, I was pretty ecstatic. Eight coordinating costumes is a ton of work, but eight coordinating costumes also looks amazing.

Here's a rundown of each costume:

Mike: Fezzik the Giant; all pieces were borrowed from our friends who did this same theme last year. Bless them! A pretty convincing giant, I have to say.

Amy: Buttercup; if we had even one daughter, I'm sure I would have been relegated to Valerie (Miracle Max's wife) or the booing hag. There are perks to being the only girl in a family. This costume was also borrowed from the same friends. Honestly, it was so nice not to have to give a single thought to two costumes and just be able to check them off right away. (And no, for those asking, Mike does not like me as a blonde.)

Aaron: Inigo Montoya; I purchased an "Inigo Montoya" costume. Borrowed the sword from our friends. Easiest costume ever. (And I feel like it's actually one that might get reworn on its own in the future, so I was fine paying for it.) 

Maxwell: Prince Humperdinck; the tunic, cape, embellishments, and leggings were all thrifted. Pretty proud of this one actually. Savers is kind of a magical place for Halloween costumes. The slippers were his own. We bought the crown, wig, and sword. We tried to curl the wig to give it loose waves, but curlers didn't do a thing. But I did give the bangs a quick trim.

Bradley: Wesley (i.e., the Dread Pirate Roberts); already owned the black shirt, pants, and gloves; borrowed the mask, belt, and head scarf; purchased the sword. Maybe the most recognizable character in our group; Clark was sad that he ditched us during trick-or-treating.

Clark: Vizzini, the Sicilian; definitely the most challenging costume of the lot, which meant it fell to Mike to recreate it. Clark was the most invested in these costumes out of everyone, so we felt like we couldn't do a second rate job with his. I purchased a bald cap/wig, but it didn't look great. So Mike bought another bald cap and added hair to it himself. It was better than the first option for sure, but our makeup skills with blending were amateur at best. For Vizzini's signature outfit, Mike started with a thrifted vest, which he then painted to look like the fabric in the movie. He added trim and bought green velvet fabric for the sleeves which he attached to the vest. Clark wore a white dress shirt underneath. I thrifted the leggings and the boots. (I'm pretty proud of the boot find, to be honest.)

Ian: The Impressive Clergyman; this was my creative contribution, but you didn't find me handpainting fabric to look like the brocade in the movie. Instead, I took one of Mike's white dress shirts and used it as a base. I cut off the collar and shortened the sleeves. I made the sash, priestly vestment, and hat. I think he was recognizable even without his costume being completely authentic. 

Silas: a Rodent of Unusual Size (R.O.U.S.); I purchased a basic gray mouse costume, and then Mike dyed it brown (it took two attempts because we tried the wrong dye first). 

I had everyone put on their costumes the day before Halloween so we could take some photos without having to compete with trick-or-treating. We had fun acting out a few of our favorite scenes, which you can see below.

"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."

"Mawage, that bwessed awangement. That dweam within a dweam."

"Stop that rhyming, and I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"

 "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you." "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."

"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise."

"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed."

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders--the most famous of which is, 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia--but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian 

when death is on the line!"

"To the pain."

"You know how much I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it; I’m swamped."

"Mostly dead."

We have a couple of ideas for next year, but we are also realizing that it might be time to retire the family costume. Our kids are still very agreeable to it, but it's much more difficult to go around as a group than it once was. Also, I think I am done trying to make obscure costumes. I just want to be able to buy or borrow everything. So stay tuned. But if this was the last year, at least we are ending on a high note.