Majoring in Genius: November 2014

[PICTURE ALERT] There will be a lot of them.

At the park the last really warm day

Well, Happy November everybody! As you can probably guess, my life has been a crazy mess of crazy busy mess. For one thing, I am now the primary chorister. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (Those are happy exclamation points.) See, when I was 15 (?) and I got my patriarchal blessing (which if you don't know what that is, here's an explanation), it said I would have many callings throughout my life with music and with children, because that's what I'm good at. As we left the patriarch's house, my mom looked back at me and said, "So you're going to have the same life as me, you're saying?"

Pretty much. My mom has more experience being in primary than I have of being alive. She's been chorister, like, a dozen times or something. And I've been in primary a few times, including teaching classes and being the pianist. So when Brother House asked me to be the primary chorister, I said, "Shoot, that'll be a piece of cake." Because I've got this totally awesome resource/help line called my mom.

Rockin' out!

Also, I almost cried I was so relieved he wasn't calling me to the nursery to be with my boys. That would just have been cruel. But they do that to the dads sometimes, which I feel is slightly less cruel.

But it does keep me busy. And between that and preschool, Halloween, a bunch of different germs we’ve gotten, and all the other random stuff that manages to fill my life, I’ve been running around like a crazy mad woman the last couple of weeks. I’m not proud of it. But it has been happening.

Well, I got one of my preschool days done yesterday (we teach twice a week, but there’s no school for the big kids today, so we moved preschool so the families with big kids could all do something fun together). And I’m now the coolest mom ever, because we talked about . . . DINOSAURS! And let’s face it, what’s cooler than digging in the dirt, even if you don’t find any dinosaurs?

At the Preschool Halloween Party last week

Also, I just love all of Katie’s little preschool friends, this year and last year. Maybe it’s because they’re not my kids (and all kids behave better for other people than for their own parents), but I think they’re all adorable.

And now, what you’ve actually been waiting for: Halloween!!! (Please note that now that I have an Instagram account, I post all the really cute ones there. So there will most definitely be repeats. But you’re not offended, because my kids are the absolutely cutest things in the universe.)

Almost immediately after my last blog post, we carved the pumpkins we picked from the pumpkin farm. Katie and Mike were the primary participants in this (meaning they cleaned out the pumpkins and decided which side was best and were in charge of making the decisions). Katie had a BLAST. They pretended they were doing pumpkin surgery . . . which is a really gross analogy if you think about it too hard. Yeah, we'll just leave that one alone.

But then Katie was also in charge of what to carve on her pumpkin. We got two big 'ole pumpkins to carve, and Mike and Katie decided to carve one and leave the other for me. Katie was adamant that hers be a scary smiley face, like the pumpkin Curious George carves in the Curious George Halloween special. (Can you tell what we've seen a lot of this last month?) (Although, to be fair, the Curious George Halloween special was a lot cuter than other holiday specials that I have seen. And not too dumb.)

With their scary smiley face

I'm quite proud.

Naturally, they expected me to do something cool. I saw some really cute ideas, including one that I tried . . . that didn't work. But then I ended up doing a really cool one. Unfortunately, after we bleached the pumpkins, mine dried out and Cinderella's head shriveled down, so for the last week and a half we've had a pumpkin with a headless Cinderella in it. Alas.

A big truck went by.

Then there was the ward trunk or treat. It was the week before Halloween, and it was so much fun! For the actual trunk-or-treating, Mike stayed at the car and handed out candy, and I took the kids around the circle of cars. I had one hand on each boy, and Katie was the leader. They LOVED it. Except that they didn’t get the hang of the whole receiving candy thing until the end, when they decided to trick-or-treat from Daddy’s bucket several times over. And actually, I was surprised at how few Elsas there were. I thought half the primary girls were all going to be Elsa, but I think there were only two or three. There were some pretty amazing costumes, though.

We tried to streak my hair like Anna . . .

After that we all went inside for dinner and games and such. Katie is the master of primary games (bean bag toss, bowling, etc.) and might be a little too assertive for her own good. But she had fun. And Olaf and Sven got to roam the church being cute at everyone while we walked around socializing. Man, my boys are cute.

That Sunday was not only my first day being the primary chorister, but also the first day we left the boys alone in nursery (they technically were allowed to the week before, but Peter had a hard time so Mike stayed with him). But that week we decided to just leave him and let him learn how to deal with other people. He’s a bit clingy. And it was the BEST day of church we have had in MONTHS.

Some brave YW did a snowflake for her

I don’t know if you grandparent types remember, but going to church with sub-18-monthers is the worst. And if you have two sub-18-monthers, the thought of going to church elicits more groans and headaches and fake flu symptoms than thoughts of spiritual growth. Mike and I have been . . . not too enthusiastic about church for the last . . . oh, 18 months. But now, oh boy.

When I left primary and met Mike over by the nursery room (where we picked up THREE children. Yes, we have THREE children in nursery right now), he was almost giggling he was so excited. “Brittany, guess what I just did. I went to Sunday School AND Priesthood, and I got to hear the lessons!” That’s a really big deal for us. The best part? Peter didn’t actually cry the whole time. Even if he cried for longer than is probably awesome, the leaders acted like he was totally fine (which is how it’s supposed to be, am I right?). Awesome. So church is once again a spiritually enlightening experience, even if it’s still a little tiring for me.

Last week we did a lot of things, most of which I can’t remember. I’m probably on the top ten list of sleep-deprived people in the world. But Mike had multiple tests, and I definitely did things. I know for sure they involved freezing our buns off, because it decided to have a teaser-trailer for this great new thing called WINTER. Yeah, it was cold. When it wasn't freezing, we were crunching leaves. We don't really have a yard, but we have a couple of trees right over our driveway that have been more than generous.

Then, Friday was Halloween. And I actually got pictures of all of our costumes. You know you can't handle the awesome and cute.

It snowed on Friday. And I bet I can guess ~~what~~ who caused it.

We were recreating the scene when Anna gets turned into ice and Elsa cries on her.

All night long he was just saying, "Hat? Hat?" He didn't want to take it off.

Josh loved his Sven costume, too, but it still took bribery to get this picture. He's waiting for me to open his candy.

We decided he was Kristoff from Once Upon a Time, where he's had a haircut.

The headless snow queen modelling my Anna cape.

Aren't we adorable?!?!?! I loved the boys' costumes. I made my costume and Mike's, but my mom got to make the kids' costumes. I only had to take Katie's dress in a bit and then add some velcro and such. So, naturally, about a billion people almost died with how cute my babies were, and everyone asked if I made them. And I didn't. Geez, mom. Steal my thunder.

But we had tons of fun. The boys had really figured out the whole trick-or-treating thing by the time it was actually Halloween, so they got quite the haul. Not as good as Katie's, though. That girl got CANDY.

And it was actually awesome that we decided to do Frozen for Halloween this year, because it was wicked cold, and all of our characters were supposed to be dressed for a snow storm anyhow. Oh, except for Elsa, with whom I got into a very loud argument about whether she needed to wear tights and a coat to go trick-or-treating, because YES. The COLD DOES BOTHER HER ANYWAY, whether she thinks so or not. Little sassy-pants.

She was all happy because I let her wear some sparkly eye shadow.

We didn't end up staying out very late, because my children are not very old, and are not quite able to tolerate sugar buzzes like the big kids get to. There were a significant number of tantrums that night when we got home, especially when we put their buckets out of reach. But they were still cute.

Also, their costumes were really big on them and we might start using them as pajamas.

Besides Halloween, we've just been hanging out trying to be awesome.

Katie, as always, is full of many, varied, and unusual ideas. She loves to play in the leaves and seems to think that because she dressed as Elsa for Halloween, the cold really doesn't bother her. But then her lips and fingers start turning blue and we have to drag her kicking screaming popsicle body back into the house.

Want to hear a sample conversation from dinner? Please ignore the nerdiness of the conversation Mike and I were having.

Mike: But episodes I, II, and III come chronologically before the other ones.

Brittany: Yeah, but they are kind of terrible, and the other ones came first. Seriously.

Katie: No, there are no sheep on farms, actually. Gram and Papa don't have sheep or piglets.

Parents: . . .

No helpless princess complex here.

She's a really interesting kid. After Halloween, we went to Target to see what they had on clearance, and maybe supplement our already-impressive dress-up bucket. Katie picked out a mermaid costume, and because I will never be able to make costumes like them, I grabbed Spiderman and Wolverine. But the smallest costumes they had were 4-6x.

So, naturally, Katie assumed ownership of the superhero costumes. And she's been rotating through everything in the dress-up box this weekend. Sometimes you gotta be a princess or a snow queen, and sometimes you gotta put on your muscles and fight bad guys.

Here's what I find most mornings.

What I'm really worried about is what she's teaching her brothers. Whether she's doing it on purpose or not, they follow her every move. And first thing every morning, after the boys wake up, Katie goes into their room and sits on the floor making silly faces at them until I can drag my lazy mommy carcass out of bed. They love her. And she's just the ring leader.

As for Josh, I don't even know what to tell you. The kid just seems to be growing like a weed. Every time I look at him he seems to be older. He's noticeably taller than Peter, and definitely holds his pants up better. And he's really starting to talk. Not quite as much as Peter, but he definitely does. Although, remember how I said he used "yeah" and "no" properly? Nevermind that. Now shaking his head "NO" and saying "no!" are his favorite activities. Although, he's usually smiling as he does it.

He LOVES dinosaurs and trucks, and I'm pretty sure he does a better roar than any kid I know. In fact, it applies to most animals. Both boys have really gotten into cows and sheep recently, but Josh is a little confused.

Mommy: What does a cow say?
Peter: Moo!
Josh: MOOORAAAAAAAWWWRRRRR!
Mommy: What does the sheep say?
Peter: Baa!
Josh: BAAAAAARAWAAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!!

There is no doubt that Joshy is a manly man. He makes sure of it. But he still loves to snuggle his mom when he's tired or sick. We all decided to get a nasty cold this week, so I've gotten a lot of snuggling time with my Josh. He doesn't make a big deal out of it, he just climbs up on my lap and sits there, no big deal. Just Joshy and Mommy time. I kind of love it.

He also has SO MUCH HAIR. Seriously. I think he got his dad's and his Uncle Parker's hair genes. There is a ton of it. He needs haircuts almost more often than Mike. It's kind of ridiculous. He's just so blond that you can't tell in these pictures. Also, because my boys have that silly obsession with hats.

I can't get over this little man.

Peter is . . . Peter. He's so much cuteness I can't even stand it. We had their 18-month checkup a couple of weeks ago and you want to know what they weighed? Josh weighed 26 1/2 pounds. Peter weighed 21 1/2 pounds. That's a FIVE POUND difference. Seriously. And it's not because Peter doesn't eat. He can shovel pizza like a maniac. He's just . . . skinny.

And he's the real talker. This boy is like a parrot, and repeats every word I say to him. When I'm getting him out of the bath, I say, "Want me to get you in a towel?" And he says, "Towel!" I say, "Do you want me to make you a sandwich?" And he says, "Samma!" (Please note that a lot of these are approximations of his actual pronunciation.)

My favorite one is when I ask if everyone wants to go get in the car to go somewhere and I say, "Everybody get their shoes on!" And Peter starts chanting, "Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!" Peter LOVES shoes. He always wants to be trying on whatever shoes are in the room, be they Katie's sparkly flats or Mike's slippers. And when we come in from the garage and he sees the shoe pile (because they never end up nicely on the shelf), he starts stacking them up in a line. Because he loves shoes. Like mother, like son.

His favorite now is when he messes his diaper, and starts pointing to his bum and saying, "Poop!" Actually, both boys have this one. More than once have I thought I was entirely on time to go pick Katie up from preschool, when both boys started pointing to their bums and saying, "Poop! poop! poop!" And they have been right. Sometimes they aren't, and they're just excited, but whenever I'm late for something, they're right.

I especially like how Katie is tied up in her dress behind him.

And now for all the pictures I liked but couldn't figure out how to work into the body of the text. If you're bored, you don't have to look at them. :)