Let the Games Begin!

 Last weekend, I used up a ton of my tomatoes with some homemade tomato soup.  It was my first time making it, and it turned out pretty good! 

 

 

We figured with some nice warm tomato soup, it was the perfect day to carve our pumpkins.   

Kendall was intent on doing the entire pumpkin gutting and carving completely on her own.  The determination of this girl is amazing.

Sidney deliberately and skillfully carved her pumpkin.  Kevin is looking pretty serious in the background.

I chose to carve a spider into my pumpkin.  Oh, the irony of that!

They look beautiful!  Pumpkins by:  Kendall, Heather, Kevin

...and, Sidney!

The USS No Name.

Sidney came home last week with a very cool assignment.  Her Math Lab teacher had the kids organize themselves in groups.  They were tasked with making a floating ship that could hold as many grams as possible.  The only thing they were required to use was a piece of foil that the teacher provided.  The remainder of the project was entirely up to them.  They brought in random supplies from home the following day and set about building their ships.  Sidney joined forces with Owen and Elona to make this awesome pirate ship. 

Sidney provided the pirate, and Owen provided the cockpit.  Elona came up with the great idea of using 2 liter bottles for the flotation device.

 

On Friday, the team had a chance to see what their ship could do.  It held 260 grams.  the limiting factor was the size of the cup they used for holding the cubes.  They learned a ton through the project and most of all...they had fun doing it!

Today is a Good Day!

Kevin said it best in his public Facebook post today:

Cuties and the 9-3/4 Party.

I will start this post off with a few adorable pictures of the girls.  Sidney has sure turned into a fashionista.  Her and I stopped by a local store recently that was having a tremendous sale.  She loves to try and clothes.  With such a great sale, I let her pick out a few new outfits.  She chose this cute green jumper.

She also picked out this cute little lavender dress.  She tells me that it was necessary since she will need a dress for the Boise Philharmonic in spring.  I pretended to buy that as a rational argument.

I feel blessed to catch little glimpses of both Kendall and Sidney hard at work studying.  I am super fortunate that they both really love school and learning new things.

Last spring, Kendall read all of the Harry Potter books.  After that, we watched all of the movies together.  Our local library had the coolest "9-3/4" party last Thursday. Since Kendall had already decided to be Hermione Granger for Halloween, she was already set with a costume.

Sidney is being "something else" for Halloween, so we improvised and made her a costume.  She wanted to dress as Luna Lovegood in her Ravenclaw robe.

The library had a ton of fun games and activities.  Sidney taking her turn at downing the death eaters

Kendall and Rachel making silly faces while waiting for their turn at Quidditch.

 

The girls had a series of activities they had to complete throughout the evening.  The best thing about this picture...my awesome periwinkle nail polish (lower left hand corner).

They had to find all seven horcruxes hidden in the library

 

Honeyduke's had a bake sale.  We spent WAY too much money there.  I am a glutton for sweets.

As part of the bake sale, someone had made "snitch" macaroons.  Fun times!

Gowen Air Show.

Last week, Gowen field hosted their first airshow in two decades.  Kevin and I were super excited to go.  We were so excited, that we decided to pull the girls out of school on a drizzly fall Friday for the friends and family day.  It was a lot of fun.  Many of the aircraft static displays were just arriving and setting up.  Kevin had to actually get up and move his chair for this Montana C-130 to roll in. 

 

We enjoyed taking the girls on a tour of the plane that flew us both around the world for many years.  I showed them the 'honey bucket'.  They were totally red faced to think that I had to use that on many cross country trips with only a shower curtain separating me and my business with the rest of the plane full of people.  I supposed modesty is relative when you are in close quarters and really have to "go".   The girls watched the crew lower the ramp and posed for pictures.

 

They jumped in the cockpit and proceeded to change all kinds of switches.  A pilots worst nightmare, getting into the cockpit to prepare for takeoff after thousands of kids have been through.

We watched the full practice show for the Canadian Snowbirds.  About halfway through the Air Force Thunderbirds, the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down.  We watched them from our house across the field on Sunday.  I am pretty sure the entire Ada County Sheriff's department was there watching with us:)

Sid piloting a helicopter.

The girls and I.

The girls climbing on top of the tank.  Kendall went back by herself a bit later.  They let her go down inside of it.  That was a first for our family, as neither Kevin nor I have done that.  She said it was super cramped.

All in all, it was a fabulous day filled with lots of memories and fun.

Striking a Balance.

The last three weeks have been busy.  I have traveled a lot with work.  Our family traveled to Eastern Idaho to watch a college football game.  To top it all off, we have had some unexpected things arise.  Kevin has been having a lot of trouble with his port for the past year.  The oncologist told him it had to be replaced immediately.  UGH.  During the surgery, they tried to replace it on the same side.  Unfortunately, there was too much vein stenosis.  The surgery took about 4 hours.  The recovery has been a bit slow.  Ever since the surgery, he has been getting extremely dizzy.  My internet research tells me that this is not uncommon.  It should go away in 1-2 months.  That being said, we have the oncologist looking into it as well. 

 

All told, we have been doing pretty well.  Our lifestyle has adjusted.  We spend more time at home.  We enjoy our time and our lives.  The girls keep us busy.  Family travel is limited, as Kevin still has a tremendous amount of joint pain and mornings are tough. 

 

I am not sure if I have mentioned this, but we bought a riding lawn mower.  I think this was a rather ridiculous purchase, as I have grown quite accustomed to taking care of the lawn.  In fact, I kind of enjoy putting on my headphones and tuning out the world.  I knew that it was really bothering Kevin.  He had mentioned hiring someone to mow the lawns on several occasions.  I was having none of that.  Then he started flooding me with links to riding lawn mowers.  Finally, I caved.  We are the proud owners of a super awesome, super tiny riding lawn mower.  It is perfect for a lawn of our size, and Kevin has mowed the lawn three times in a row now!  The "Tim, the Tool Man, Taylor" in me was disappointed, because for the same price we could have gotten twice the horsepower and 30% more cutting deck.  However, we would have never been able to move around our lawn and all of its glorious flower beds.

 

As I mentioned, I have been traveling a lot.  Kevin was mostly out of commission.  So, Terrell has helped out in a big way.  She has driven me to the airport.  Yes, I could have taken a cab or driven myself, but it gave me a few more minutes with the girls. 

 

She has been coming over to the house in the mornings to get the girls up and ready for school.  To top it off, she has sent me a few pictures when she wakes them up.  It feels like I am right there.  Sidney is all smiles and ready to go.

 

Then there is Kendall, keeping her eyes closed as long as possible and asking for the light to be turned back off.

The girls had their picture day while I was on a trip.  Grandma took a snapshot of Sidney, so I could see her picture day choices.

 

Kendall opted for a picture day selfie. 

 

They take a lot of pictures and send them to me while I am away.  We also have this awesome app called "Maro Polo" which allows us to send video text messages.  It makes travel so much better.

 

The girls had a few days off this past week.  Terrell and Kevin kept them busy.  They went to Jump Time one day, Planet Kid the next and Ice World the last day.  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  Are you wondering where their helmets are?  So am I:)  While Mom's away, the kids will play.

 

As much as I hate being away, the travel has been pretty awesome.  I love spending time with my team and seeing some fun places.  I took a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle a couple of weeks ago for a meeting. 

 

We arrived a bit early, so we went to visit a few architects and took a walk through Pikes Place Market.  It was the first time I had been there.  It was lovely, except $5.98/ lb for Honey Crisp Apples.  You have got to be kidding me!

 

The girls and I exchange cards before each trip.  This past week, Sidney made me the best necklace ever. 

 

I adorned the necklace while getting ready for a lunch meeting in Pasadena.  It made my day!

The girls put a smile on my face always.  Sidney all dressed up for no apparent reason.

Kendall always a fashion leader.  She can pull off styles that most of us would never even dream of.

In other medical news, Sidney has been having migraines for the past three years.  They were coming on just before Kevin was diagnosed, but they have stuck around.  We had an MRI in the beginning to be sure there were no abnormalities.  The pediatrician has assured us that the fact they continue is a good thing, in the sense that it indicates there is nothing too serious.  He said that serious illness in children will present itself very quickly.  She often vomits from the headaches.  They come on super fast and can be quite debilitating.  The pediatrician recommended that we see a neurologist to get a second opinion and discuss migraine medication.  We did that about a week ago. 

The neurologist also reassured us that there is not a serious illness.  They presented us with a number of options and suggested that, at this point, medication might be a good choice.  The migraines have disrupted her life quite a bit as of late (missing school, activities, etc.).  We started her on a medication last week.  It will take a couple of weeks before it is totally on board.  We are hoping that she will get some relief!

Go Mustangs!

Cal Poly was scheduled to play ISU, so we decided a road trip was in order.  We left early on Saturday morning.  I threw on my shoes and jumped in the vehicle.  We had to stop at a store about 15 minutes from our house.  I kept feeling as if I had a stick in my shoe.  So when I got in the store, I took off my shoe and tried to shake it out.  I stuck my hand in the shoe and pulled out this!

 

If you are not freaking out right about now, there is something seriously wrong with you.  I am sure that my jumping around and screaming in the store was quite the sight to see!  And, Grandma Terrell, it is not just a cute harmless bug.  It is an ugly, black, thick, shoe stealing, nasty, clingy, HUGE bug.

 

The girls loaded themselves up with healthy, nutritious snacks and off we went. 

I just love this picture of a girl and her Daddy!

We got close to the field and took a family picture with the Mustangs practicing behind us.  This year we actually got seats in the visitor section, so we were not the only green ones in the crowd.  The game was awesome, though Cal Poly lost 34-38.  To say they have not been having their best year would be an understatement.

Losing the game did not dampen our spirits though.  We had an awesome time!  The girls enjoyed every moment of the entire game.

Cupcake Wars and Crafty Kids.

I absolutely love that my girls love using their imaginations.  They seem to enjoy most any craft, including baking.  Kendall and her friends have been very excited about baking lately.  She had her friend Keeley over a few weeks ago to craft some amazing cupcakes.  My only rule, you make the mess you clean it (dishes included). 

 

What does that mean for me?  Do not, I repeat, do not even pick into the kitchen until the whole fiasco is done.  Kendall and her friends are really good at cleaning the whole mess up.  They even set the timer and challenge themselves on how fast they can do it.  However, somewhere between the start and finish, it looks like a bomb went off.  I repeat...DO NOT peak into the kitchen until the job is complete.

Sid (or should I say Princess Leia) decided to adorn her cupcake with chocolate.  That is my kind of cupcake.

Sidney decided her American Girl doll need a fort to hang out in.  She asked me for a cardboard box and off she went.  Several hours later, she gave us a tour of the clubhouse.

The detail was amazing.  There was a jeweled doorknob and a welcome mat.

If you look super close you will see a remote control, a book, rain boots and a TV (on the guide channel).

She even made dog dishes, with food and water, out of clay.

This is a random picture that simply makes me giggle.  Sid as decided that if she does not want her Dad to take the last bite of the food she is saving for later, she must put her name on it.  I laugh, because this is a "learned" behavior.  Hey, the girl gets territorial over her sweets.  I can appreciate that.

 

Cortni stayed the night and it was a perfect night for cake decorating.  I had just picked up the coolest cake pan at a yard sale.  The girls were ready to try it out.

Kendall has gotten quite good at cake decorating.  The lessons from Grandma Terrell have really paid off.

The finished product. 

Look at those proud and happy girls.  The only thing left to do?  Eat the cake.