It's autumn time!

It took a while this year, but I can definitely feel autumn in the air now! For the last 2-3 weeks we have been about 10-15 degrees above normal for this time of year. I haven't been complaining though because it's been perfect soccer weather. Then finally on Friday evening we had a cold front come through and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. On Saturday it rained off and on all day long - and not just the lame drizzly stuff - it really rained hard a few times!

On Friday I finally broke out the fall decorations (I know, I know - it's been fall for several weeks now). I sat down on the couch to nurse Baby K and the leaf decorations were on the couch next to us and she had no interest in eating until I let her play with them for a few minutes. :)

General Conference Activity Packets

For anyone interested in some activity packets for their kids to do while watching LDS General Conference this Saturday and Sunday, there is a free one for download at Deseret Book's website.

General Conference Activity Packet

I also have several others that people have emailed to me. If anyone is interested in them, leave me a comment on my blog or email me and I will forward them on.

Blondie's class

Yesterday I was able to go and help at Blondie's class while my parents came over to watch Kitty and Baby K for me. It was fun seeing Blondie in her classroom and she kept coming over to give me a hug. As they were getting ready to leave for the day, the teacher had them sitting down in a group so she could explain their homework to them. She showed them the paper that they would be taking home and said that they needed to cut on the lines. Then I heard Blondie pipe up, "I LOVE cutting!" And she definitely does, but I was very surprised to hear her answer out loud like that. Just about everyday at home she asks me if she can cut something. Unfortunately she usually makes a mess so I don't say "yes" every time.

Later Blondie was telling me that there was a boy in her class who was going to be leaving to go to another school. I asked her if that was sad and she quickly responded, "No". Then she thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Well, maybe for him."

Family Night Activity

On Monday, DH's department at the church sponsored a Family Night activity for their employees and families. Since Baby K was still sick with a cold I stayed home with her and DH took the older four kids downtown to participate in some of the activities. They ate some food/refreshments first and then went into the Family History library to do a craft activity. DH had is hands full trying to help all of the kids with some scrapbook/personal history books that they were making. Since it took so long for them to do this activity, they ended up leaving shortly afterwards and didn't do any of the other activities. They did stop and pick up some free gifts that they were giving away to all of the kids. Then as they were leaving to head back to the car, Kitty said, "This was the best day ever!" I think that the kids just enjoyed spending time with their dad and having him there to help them.

Sickness in the family

One downside to having a lot of young kids is that usually when one person gets sick, it doesn't take too long for the sickness to make its way through the whole family. Last week, M&M had a sore throat & stuffy nose for a couple of days and then she passed it on to Blondie who still has a little bit of a runny nose. Then on Friday & Saturday, Baby K and I started coming down with a runny nose and eyes that wouldn't stop watering. Baby K didn't sleep too well on Friday night but wasn't too bad on Saturday.

On Saturday night Baby K slept through the night and then woke up Sunday morning with the most horrible sounding cough. I think a big part of it was from sleeping in her crib flat on her back all night long, but she sounded terrible. You could tell that her throat was hurting her because every time she coughed she would start crying because it hurt. DH stayed home from church with her while I went to primary and then I came home and DH went to Sacrament Meeting with the rest of the kids.

I spent most of the night on the couch with Baby K last night and she still doesn't sound great today. I keep feeling like if she could just get a few good coughs out then she could clear out some of her throat and then she wouldn't sound so bad. I'm not sure if she just doesn't know that she should cough or if it just hurts too much and she doesn't want to. The amazing thing is that she is still pretty cheerful through her sickness and keeps smiling at everyone. I have just been keeping her in her exersaucer today to keep her upright and have been laying her down to sleep in her car seat so she's not flat on her back. Hopefully she is over the worst of it and will get back to normal in the next couple of days. And hopefully the rest of the family will stay healthy. (DH had a sore throat this morning when he left for work.)

Chunky monkey!

Here are some pictures of Baby K, affectionately known as "Chunky Monkey" or "Drool Queen" around our house. I can't believe that she is almost 6 months old already!
She has about the biggest thighs that I have ever seen on a baby. Everyone who sees her can't help but make some comment about how big & chubby she is - healthy looking! :)
She is definitely a fun baby and loves to flash a big grin at anyone who smiles at her!
She still hasn't figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back but she is getting ready for crawling. She will lay on her stomach and lift her whole torso off of the ground with her arms!
She is a very happy and content baby and only gets sad when she is left by herself for too long.

Give said the little stream...

A couple of weeks ago our primary chorister started teaching the kids the words to the song "Give said the little stream". According to her (and the info she was able to find) we have all learned the song incorrectly. If you look in the current Children's Songbook and even the old ones that my mom has, these are the words:

“Give,” said the little stream,
“Give, oh! give, give, oh! give.”
“Give,” said the little stream,
As it hurried down the hill;
“I’m small, I know, but wherever I go
The fields grow greener still.”

I still am having a hard time believing that we have all learned it incorrectly and that it was never published with the words, "the grass grows greener still". My husband and parents are having a hard time believing it as well, but I have yet to find a printed version that has those words that we all learned growing up in the church. So I would like to know if any of you have learned the song with the word "fields" in it or if you have a copy with the word "grass" in it.

More on crocheting...

At dinner tonight, DH and I were joking again about my post about crocheting with my family and I came up with these zingers:

I guess you could say that we were a
close-"knit" family growing up.

and

A family that crochets together,
stays together.

Luke's prayer

Luke said the family prayer tonight and had his dad wiping tears from his eyes by the end because he was laughing so hard. Luke said, "Bless Blondie that she will learn to read a few words by the time she leaves kindergarten. And bless all of us that we can all learn some things sometime in the future."

Exciting times in kindergarten

Blondie is usually really excited when she comes home from kindergarten. It is really fun to see her coming out of her shell and getting involved and excited about things. On Wednesday her class gets to have P.E. time and it is hilarious listening to her try and describe the things they do in that class. Last week they played a game where they were in teams and trying to throw a stuffed frog in a bucket. Each team had a different color frog and then there were cones set up all around the bucket. Some of the cones were close to the bucket and others were farther away. The way the game is played is that one at a time someone from each team takes the frog and stands next to one of the cones and tries to throw the frog in the bucket. If they make the basket they take the cone and put it in a stack next to their team and then the next person gets the frog and tries from a different cone. If they miss the basket then they just pick up the frog and hand it to the next person. Then once a basket has been scored from each of the cones the teams count up their cones and the one with the most wins.

I asked Blondie about P.E. at dinnertime and it took her probably about 20 minutes to explain this game to us. By the end DH and I were cracking up laughing because it was so funny hearing her excitement and her desire for us to understand every aspect of the game. She is not the most eloquent of speakers at this point in her life and it was just fun listening to her.