September

So this morning I was cleaning the kitchen while I burned CDs for the families in our ward with the Primary Program songs on them. I was sitting at the computer changing the CDs and Gracie started walking around my chair saying, "Duck, Duck, Duck." I took her subtle hint and asked her if she wanted to play Duck, Duck, Goose. Her face lit up and she said "YES" so we went into the living room and sat on the rug with Joseph to play. Gracie took her turn to be the "ducker" first. Then it was Joseph's turn and he started to say, "duck, duck" but then instead of "duck" he started counting, "one, two, three." For some reason, we all thought that was really funny and we started laughing. After that, the entire game was making up new things to say instead of "duck, duck, goose." It seems like any time I play a game with Joseph, he changes the rules on me. It made me think about the spontenaity and joy that my children bring into my life. I am not a very spontaneous person--in fact, I'm pretty boring when it comes down to it. My kids love the unexpected and the "silly" things that they encounter. And I'm glad they do because it helps me to lighten up and to enjoy life more. Here's a picture I took of Joseph and Gracie after we played our little game:

Also, here's our first day of school pictures. My camera is broken and doesn't always focus for some reason. Claire looks worried in a couple of shots and I'm sure she was nervous that morning. But she LOVES 2nd grade, she loves her teacher and she lucked out because her best friend is in her class. Christian is mixed on 3rd grade--he says his teacher isn't very "fun."

I did a friend party for Christian's 9th birthday. We did it at night and had pizza, cake and played capture the flag in the dark. I let the boys paint their faces with camoflage makeup which was a bad move. I intended the camo paint to be a few stripes of green and light brown. But some of them dug their fingers into the black paint and CAKED the black all over their faces. Of course, Joseph was happy to jump on that bandwagon. I'm somewhat stressed about what the mothers of Christian's friends secretly think of me now that they picked their sons up from Christian's party covered in very-hard-to-remove black paint. I do know that it took me 20 minutes each to clean Joseph's and Christian's faces. Christian and his friends had a fun time though so I guess that's the most important thing.









Here's the kids playing a game they call "monsters." They lay on my bed and kick all their feet under the blankets:

Joseph and Gracie and I went to the zoo this week with our ward's playgroup. You can't see it but there's a HUGE pig in the background of this picture:

Ron took Christian to the Yankees game last night. They had really good seats and had a great time!

Well, that's what we've been up to in the past month. I worry about things--my brother Mike, being so far away from family, trying to get more organized, the economy and abortion (it bothers me that it happens so much and that the battle lines are so artificial). But life is going well and I feel blessed.