A Little Demo...

...Demolition, that is...

We lived in our first home happily for 7 years, not doing much work on it except for paint, until the last two years when we finished the basement, redid the kitchen, and put a deck in the back, not to mention the brand new furnace and central air that we had installed. And then we moved. Well, we've been in this home for 5 years. Aside from tearing apart the front yard to impress the neighbors ;), painting the outside of the house, painting a little here and there inside, and redoing the least-used bathroom, we haven't done very much. Until now *dun, dun, duuun*

Until this:

 Helper Monkey #1

 Helper Monkey #2

 Helper Monkey #3

And there's more! But you'll have to wait for the pictures until it's done. I'm excited for it. But now that we're finally doing some work on our home, does that mean we'll be moving in a few years? Hmmm...

Halloween

S went to a Halloween party at a friend's house dressed as...

me:

(I'm using this picture as evidence for J that, when I want to chop my hair off and go with the pixie cut, I will totally rock it.)

 S went to school on Halloween dressed like this:

(He was amazed when he won the prize for most original costume: it was thrown together in about 5 minutes the morning of Halloween.)

 O was a dentist:

 H was Yoda:

That night we had our own family party. We all took a trip to the grocery store -- J with dog ears and a painted-on black nose, me in my jammies, bathrobe, and pigtails, and our kids in their costumes -- for a bag of treats each, root beer extract, and dry ice. Then home to hang a sign on the door (Out of Candy), concoct the root beer...

...and introduce our kids to the new Doctor Who. (Christopher Eccleston, you were a good one. And Rose! How we miss Rose!) We skipped the ward Trunk or Treat and neighborhood trick-or-treating, but I don't think my kids missed either one bit. I feel a tradition in the making...

A Big First...

 This Big First made me cry. Up until now all of our kids have worn clip-on or zip-up ties with their dress shirts (when they wear a tie at all.) S asked for a green tie to go with his green shirt, so I bought him a regular tie. Here is J, teaching him to tie his first tie:

 This is my favorite picture:

 My handsome boys. I promise they were all happy -- not just H.

September

We began September with a Praying Mantis...

 

 ...crawling all over S...

...whose freaked out face in the previous picture was just because it was tickling him as it crawled up his arm. He was so fascinated by it. Every time it tried to leave him, S would pick it up and place it back on himself.

 

Grandma Lundgren came to visit for Grandparent's Day at H and O's school. 

Who is that mowing the lawn?

Is that my 5-year old?

Impossible!

But true. 

H mowed the front lawn all by himself. Amazing kid!

And, to get in on the fun, O did the back.

He came into the kitchen to get a drink of water and said, "Whew! It is hot out there! I'm mowing the lawn, Mom! I'm going in circles and curves! I don't want it to be all straight like when S does it!" Sure enough...

I am a Jedi Master. Make me breakfast, you will...

School Days Once Again

 When school started, the boys were definitely ready to go. S is in 6th grade, O in 2nd, and H started Kindergarten. I love how these brothers are best friends!

 When did I get old enough to have a 6th grader?!? How did my fat little baby turn into someone ready for Jr. High next year? Ah!!

 H was ready to start school the same day as his brothers. Sorry, little man, one more week for you.

 O with his teacher this year, Mrs. Cullimore.

 Packing up his scooter by himself like the big boy he is.

 I got to drive carpool to S's school the first day. How fun!

 H, after waiting for a week (and asking me every day, multiple times a day) finally started school!

 Oh wait -- that wasn't H on his first day of school. That was him wanting to go to school before he started. This is what he wore on the first day:

 What a handsome little man!

 H with his teacher, Mrs. Smiley. (Yes, that is really her name, and yes, perfect name for a Kindergarten teacher.)

 Busy at work coloring. Did not even care that I was leaving. *sniff, sniff* (And Hooray!)

 S went with us to drop the younger two off at school. What a handsome group of boys!

On the second day of school, S came home complaining of a headache. Coming in from recess, he had tripped on someone else's feet, fallen down, and had the owner of the feet plus another person fall on him and knock his head into the ground. After comparing his pupils (they were the same size) I told him to drink water and rest. The next morning his headache was worse. He felt sick to his stomach and could barely walk straight. I told him he should stay home from school, but he couldn't bear the thought (his teacher this year and his friends are fabulous!! I love them all!), so he got dressed, and told me he was going to practice the piano. I was in the kitchen making breakfast and heard him start playing. "Oh wow," thinks I to myself, "He really is feeling better! I'm glad he's upright enough to play that song!" Um,
…no. It was memorized, played like this:

 I was really impressed. And I kept him home that day. It was a minor contusion, and he was back to school the next day.

We had a friend come over and bring her daughter to play. She really likes H :)