Halloween and Famiily Pictures, in mostly pictures

blehhhhh....  You know I loooooooove Halloween, right?  And also my kids have been hilarious.  also haven't blogged about the mysterious illness that took over our lives during july, august, september and some of October, and a little of November. 

And now we are about to embark on our travels to Utah for weddings and holidays and so I've got to get sort of caught up.  I wish I had time to blog about it all!

Here are some pictures of Halloween, which was, as usual, wonderful, and horribly exhausting.  I can't decide if I love or hate that Halloween was a full 4 days this year:

You've seen the unicorn costume before, but have you seen the way Layla works it?  I'm telling you, she was sooo loveable.

Looove this picture of Camcake and Bergen, fingers fingers everywhere.

Trick-or-Treating at Walmart home office: Princess Bride (no pics because I thought I would have several opportunities, but she was sooo cute!), Trunk-or-Treat: Angel/tooth fairy

 

delicious little cupcake!



The Aquardians!  That's right, first prize in group category.  You should have seen our performance!  The pool in these pics is a little sad, but it was marvelous before we were too cold and tired to do anything about it.

Jill and Mark.  While Mark professed to be "not too into this" and such, he came up with the idea, and he built the pool, and DANG, you should have seen their moment in the performance.  We called their move the "spoon stroke."  it was good.

Dan and Tara.  Dan drives a big truck and keeps his beard rather gruff, but look at that pose--you know those are just to hide his affinity for pretties and "spirit fingers".  and yes, it's annoying to be friends with somebody who looks like Barbie. :)

Serious as a heart-attack, baby.

lady aquardians, grace and beauty rivaled by none...

except possibly the man (ish) aquardians :)

And now we are finally to the REAL Halloween!  Getting ready to go out trick-or-treating, you'll  note that Cadence is in yet another costume!  That pretty girl with Campbell is one of our favorite babysitters (who is too old now- booo!) who offered her help with the wandering of the neighborhood.

oh....happy kids.

since I was feeling Lyme disease-y that night, I manned the door.  Spent the down-time reviewing "Raising Your Spirited Child" and facebooking about the trick-or-treaters that annoyed me.  Next year I am posting my trick-or-treat rules:  I will not give candy to the following:
 1. Adults
2. Pregnant girls.  If you are old enough for your "fun" to impregnate you, you are too old to trick-or-treat.
3.  If you are under the age of 8 months (i.e. if you are holding a baby who has no clue what is going on, is hopefully not going to eat the candy, and have no other children with you)
4. If you are old enough to drive.
5.  If you have ALREADY BEEN TO MY HOUSE!!! 
6.  If you are NOT dressed up as anything.
7.  If you are wandering around the neighborhood, which is filled with children, shouting obscenities.
8.  If you refuse to take the candy I offer and whine for something else.  and esp. if you do so and a parent does not seem to care.



having curly hair is soooo exciting!  This picture is out of order.  my condolences.

The Witch, Rapunzel, a unicorn, cupcake, and a hotdog examine their spoils.  Thor and his hammer are around there somewhere.  Sigh of happy relief...that was a lot of fun!  

We got our family pictures taken the other day.  I should say, we forced Tara to take our pictures the other day.  I went through a lot to secure this awwwwwesome location, which in the end, wasn't secured at all but we mostly stayed on our side of the fence :)

In order to get some good pictures with this old fuel pump, spencer cooked up this great plan: "hey kids, here are some coins, and here is a CANDY MACHINE!  You just have to find where the coins go to get the candy out."  It worked.  don't worry, we were armed with candy.

see this? (below)  Yes, that is a tree growing out of an ancient truck.  can't tell you how much I love this spot.

There are so many more but it takes about 4 thousand years to upload pictures onto blogger.  anybody else having that problem?

Thanks Tara, it was all I had dreamed up!  and Thanks Jill, for being the toy-shaker in the background (or dead-bush-stomper, or dog-watcher, or consultant, etc!)  You girls rock!

and as annoying as this is going to be for the rest of the world: I hereby declare that my kids are as cute as humanly possible!  (And my husband, too.)

there, said it.  for you, family, not for them.  glad to get it off my chest.

can you tell i'm tired? no more caps.

and since i'm moving on in my blog to what is coming up next (wedding, etc), I will just say this:

I was never officially diagnosed but Lyme disease makes the most sense.  It actually makes perfect sense, minus the tick.  But that is perfectly easily explained.  It still comes back about once a week or so, usually just for an evening or morning, but that is nothing compared to all day every day like it was back when.  I have an appointment with an endocrinologist to discuss some family history + my blood sugar weirdness, and then if that doc has nothing remarkable to add, I'm going to close the case as Lyme Disease.

And there you have it.







Arkansas State Fair

With the Hutch family, practically in-laws already!

Robyn and I always say (and we are laughing but it's not really a joke) that our friendship was forged in the fires of affliction.  new city, Big city, no income, double strollers, public transportation, worst winters in the world (exaggeration?), spirited children, expensive/questionable schools, dishwasher-less, basement laundry, busy husbands, scary neighborhood, haven't these people ever heard of customer service?, new babies, world-class museums, parades,Wisconsin Dells, cvs/hyde park produce, playgroup, Obama's house, tot lot, tot lot tot lot, tea times, lpf's, recipe nights, baby showers,

uh, the good and the bad, we did it all together.  So it was a given that when the State Fair happened in Little Rock, their new home, we would pack up our strollers and give that cultural event a "what-fer".

And we did.  It was awesome.

and it has taken me hours of attempts to upload photos for some reason, so before I give up forever, here are the pics that did upload, with no captions because I'm tired of trying.  But know this, we had a most wonderful time, we love the hutches, and spencer, matt and I all rode the mechanical bull, and of course, I rocked the socks off of it.  Although I don't think I left bruises over 12 inches long on the bull, I did ride it into the ground, basically.  Yeah, I'm a cool mom.

okay, pictures:  kids, rides, food, and even one of me and robyn (which never happens!)

The World According to a Kindergartener

Excerpt from Spencer's Journal:

Cadence started Kindergarten in the middle of Mardee's sick days, which left me with no time to document her first impressions until now.  She was obsessed with the "cafeteria" (she will correct you if you call it a lunch room), and was convinced that by the end of the first week of school she was the world's foremost expert on the subject. After asking her how her first day of school went, 90% of her answer was details about the cafeteria including the fact that the kids had their choice of Pasta or Hamburgers, and that 9 kids chose pasta while only 2 chose Hamburgers.  She explained with excitement about how kids would have to walk in a line holding their trays with TWO hands so it wouldn't spill.  Note: Cadence brought a packed lunch, and was only an amazed observer for the phenomena that occured in the cafeteria.  By the end of the first week she was insisting that the food in the cafeteria was free, and was rejecting our underinformed argument that it was cheaper to pack a lunch. 

A couple weeks ago I made the time to go eat lunch with her (at 10:30AM!), and everything became much more clear.  First off... school teachers are geniuses and have figured out great systems for controlling an army of kids who are inept at following simple instructions at home.  All the kids wear these colorful lamenated crowns to distinguish who their teacher is and where they should sit.  These crowns also have their name and a 6 digit account number.  When I showed up, Cadence was in the middle of eating her Lunchables creation... 7 slices of cheese stacked between two crackers (see picture below).  It was inspirational.  She was also drinking a carton of chocolate milk, which oddly, I did not pack for her.  I asked about it, and she immediately retorted that it is free and all the kids can get milk.  I was thinking something about our taxes being hard at work to give kids chocolate milk, when she quickly started giving me orders on what I needed to do to get the cafeteria food.  She led me to the line, showed me where to get my tray, started to instruct me on which combinations of food were allowed (1 vegetable dish and a fruit dish, or two of either kind, etc), and showed me where to get the chocolate milk.  As I walked out, a lunch lady at the register asked if I just wanted to put it on Cadence's account.  Sure, I replied.  She glanced at Cadence's headband and punched in her account number as Cadence was just walking by.  Bingo.  I figured out their game.  It's like tatooing credit card numbers to five year old's foreheads and allowing them to do all the shopping they want without thinking they are spending money.  Cadence and I thoroughly enjoyed our lunch.  She really enjoyed excusing herself from the table of her friends because she had to go eat lunch with her dad, and walked me over to a mostly empty table where a few other parents were having lunch with their kids.  She was glowing.

School has been a great boost for Cadence's responsibility. She is much more independent about many of the daily routine things.  She is great about getting herself ready now, but it was not always so easy.  Within the first month and a half she was tardee about 11 times.  We actually got a note home saying that if she continued to be tardee that we would be reported for a case study with Child Protective Services.  We told Cadence that if she was on time every day of the week, then on Fridays she could buy lunch from the cafeteria.  It was like a miracle.  I don't think she has been tardee since.

One of the main reasons for Cadence being tardee is her insistance on how she has to look.  Even before Cadence started school she has been known to say things like "I have more fun at parties when I'm the prettiest one there."  That has set alarms off in both Mardee and I, as neither of us were raised in environments where that would fly.  Cadence would not wear anything that was not a dress, and insisted on cute open-toed shoes.  Several times I would give her specific instructions on what shoes to wear after serving her breakfast, and after I'd get back from taking a shower she would be wearing exactly the opposite and claim she forgot.  As I'd drive her to school she would talk about how the boys at school were "judging her" by saying she is not pretty, and was clearly on a mission to prove them wrong every day.  Since she realized how much that was making her tardee, and since it has cooled down a bit, she has been more amenable to a broader wardrobe selection which includes pants. 

On a recent Saturday, we mentioned we were going to go bowling as a family activity and she lost it.  She insisted she didn't like bowling because they make you wear bowling shoes, and bowling shoes don't look good with any of her outfits.  Every other time she has gone bowling, she has had a great time, so this didn't make sense.  In a great parenting moment, I told her that whether or not she has a good time depends way more on her attitude than on how she looks.  I gave her two options: 1) she could put on her prettiest clothes and go to bed, or 2) she could put on ugly clothes and we could go have a good time.  She put on the "ugly" clothes (which were just workout shorts and a plain T-Shirt), and off we went.  We went to Fast Lanes, but upon realizing that it would cost $30 for our family to bowl and that it wouldn't retain our kids' attention for more than 15 minutes we left... but not before Cadence zipped around their track on a go-cart.  We went to Chuck E Cheese where the kids had a great time and Cadence ran into a friend from school who was celebrating her birthday.  We were assimilated into the birthday party group and Cadence had a fantastic time.  It was a great object lesson in how important the attitude is, and how little your looks make a difference in whether or not you can have fun.

Speaking of great parenting moments, a couple weeks ago we were driving and Cadence was insisting that she knew something better than Mardee did and that Mardee was wrong.  Cadence relishes it when she can claim her mom is wrong.  I stop her in her tracks every time.  This time, though, Cadence took it a step farther and mentioned that she knows more than Mardee does because she is smarter than her.  I stopped her politely and said, "Cadence, let's see about that.  We'll have a quiz.  Cadence, what is 20 divided by 4?" 
Cadence - 7?
Me - EERRRR (incorrect buzzer sound).  Mardee? 20 divided by 4?
Mardee - 5.
Me - Correct!

I asked a couple other questions which Cadence would not know, and Mardee got right.  After the third question Cadence was crying that she was wrong after all three and I said, "See, Mom does know more than you because she is 29 and has learned everything from first grade, second grade, all the way through high school and college.  You will know all those things too after you go through those classes."  Cadence was bawling, "It's not nice to say other people are smarter than you!"  Me - Then don't say that to other people.  Also, you should know that you can trust your mom because she is very smart and knows a lot.  Mardee and I were pretty proud of that little seemingly abusive parenting moment.

Finally I wanted to share about Cadence's class where she learned about drugs.  Why any 5 year old in Bentonville, AR needs to know about drugs is beyond me, but sure enough, Cadence came home last Monday having learned about drugs.  Mardee and I were really curious what she learned so we had her give the family night lesson about it.  She said, "Drugs are VERY bad things you do. Worse than not sharing. Stealing is a kind of doing drugs. Uh oh dad... I think Luke Skywalker does drugs because he cuts people's arms off!" It was funny. We tried explaining them to her a couple other times, but she still didn't seem to get it. That's fine by me.  On a sidenote, I've been having a great time with the kids over the past 3 weeks watching bits of the Star Wars movies with them.  Cadence is getting to a new stage where she is not interested in the little kid shows anymore (Caillou, Super Why, etc).  It is fun for me to relive my childhood with them by showing some movies that left a big impression on me as a kid, and are more entertaining the Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses for me.  Not to mention that Princess Leia 1) doesn't care what she looks like 2) has a can do, brave attitude, and 3) is tough as nails.  A much better example for the girls than Barbie in my view.

This week Mardee went to a parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Asplund and heard fantastic things about Cadence.  She was told that Mrs. Asplund does not have a single concern about Cadence and that she is the model student.  She sets a good example, learns things very quickly, shares well, and is socially astute.  She said that she tells the other teachers that the "baby" in her class is her model student (Cadence is the second youngest).  That was great to hear.  Since Cadence has been on a soccer team it is obvious what a huge difference the age of the kids makes on the field. Cadence is the youngest and smallest out there most of the time, and doesn't quite get the competitive dynamics that exist on the field.  She also can't run as fast or last as long out there yet.  Some of the kids out there are 20% older than she is!  Seeing what a big difference that made had me a bit nervous for the classroom, but apparently it is not slowing her down a bit.  What a terrific kid!  As we keep her "know it all" attitude and aesthetic competitiveness in check, it really seems like that kid can do anything.

Culture Corner

Yes, the last few weekends have been filled with Arkansas culture! And yes, it's basically what you are imagining..

Last weekend was the famed Pea Ridge Mule Jump competition in the nearby town of Pea Ridge.  It was veeeery exciting to see mules jump over a rope over and over and over again..... or apparently it should have been.
Cadence was a serious spectator.

 It was so exciting that somebody in the stands had a heart attack right then and there.  Truly!  And although only yards away from the crowds were the Medics, it took about 3 minutes for anybody to get there! 

This was much more fascinating to watch than the mule jumping.  Somebody shouted, "Are there paramedics in the house!?! and then everybody around started shouting for help.  People were running toward the medical trailer, people were shouting, it was clear something was going on.  So they sauntered out of their trailer and over to the ambulance.  "Hurry!!" People were shouting.  One guy finally yelled as loud and clear as he could, "SOMEBODY'S HAVING A HEART ATTACK OVER HERE AND DYING AND YOU AREN'T IN A HURRY!?!"

What really  had me puzzled, though, was why nobody got down off the stands in all that time so that the medics could actually get to the poor soul.  Note to self: if you think having a heart attack is somehow safer when attending an event where paramedics are close at hand, you'd be wrong.

Happily, we ran into our new friends Jill and Mark, and got to share the food-glory with them.  See:





That's two hot-dogs wrapped in a spiral-cut potato, deep fried. I wish I could explain to you how spooky it is to eat a deep fried hot dog. It's like having lunch with the grimm reaper.  (don't worry, spencer told me right out that my hair "looked like I was trying to look homeless".  Yes, he's that good friend who will tell you if you have food in your teeth.  Or if he hates-with-all-his-heart your shirt.)

we drove a little further out afterward for giant ice cream cones. See that? Bigger than their heads. and they don't have small heads, just saying.

that's the kid's size.



she couldn't look up for a picture, too busy.


And tune in to my next post about the Arkansas State Fair (subtitle: If I ever see the Hutchisons again, it's Zion to me!)

BIRTHDAYS BIRTHDAYS BIRTHDAYS!

Birthday season has come to an official close.  e-e-e-e-e-exha-a-a-a-a-ale... inhale, repeat, two more times.... there, I'm back. 
It's been a stranger than usual birthday season in our house, since I've not been well for most of it, but I'm here to report that it seems that the world continues to turn.

It wasn't an epic failure, except Spencer's birthday, but I'll get to that.

Cadence's birthday was a full-on 2 months ago!  and here I am to report on it.  Five.  Can you believe it?  Did you think she was sixteen based on the stories I tell?  Five.  My little perfect baby is five.  She can shower herself, make her own lunch, and ride the bus home from school!  She is, as always, full of surprises and the most wonderful mix of sugar and spice that there ever was.

Here are some pics of her birthday:

cupcake pinata found by Spencer, cupcake sand/sea scene by Spencer (under my creative direction, thank you!), mermaid cake by me (my first creative cake. eeeeeever.)

I was really happy with this cake.  Oh, and so was Cadence, which is what matters, right?

It was a backyard beach party, so fun in the sun with a splash was the order of the day.

Birthday girl gets the first whack.

notice Layla's little fingers, as well as Cadence's adorable haircut.

Campbell, two weeks later, had a smaller birthday celebration, since we figured she would rather have her close friends there and we hoped she would appreciate that more than a big crowd.  And since I was feeling a little low, we went the exciting route and did it at good old Chuck E. Cheese's.  I think she was happy with the whole thing.
Campbell turned 3.  Three!  That little thing has really blossomed this year.  She is a true friend to all and sometimes shows it through head-locks.  She loves the color red.  Can you guess how this makes her mama feel?  Mmmmhmmm, that's my girl.  She is every bit as gregarious and intense as she's always been.  And she still uses a pacifier.  Agggh, I don't dare to take it from her.  She's not such a good sleeper.  I keep waiting for a time when I can afford the sleep loss... hasn't come yet.  But she is loving becoming a big girl!  She is learning to write letters, she plays more interactively with friends, and she is becoming a better eater.  And she's in preschool!  Wowza.  Campbell is just jam-packed with spunk and and fun and love.

Here are the pics from her birthday:

Spencer decided to be orginal with his traditional birthday pancake stack and add a Barbie.  It's a pretty cool idea for a dress, no?

Of course, their birthdays are so close that what I do for one, I must do for the other.  Not that I minded.  It was fun :)  I liked the way this one turned out, too.

I love this one.  looooove it.

Just before she leads her own birthday song!

The girls could NOT understand why Chuck E. was being so aloof.  No matter what they did, he wouldn't resond or even look.  What's his deal!?!

Spencer's up next.  By the time his birthday rolled around i was on week three of having noooo energy and that had been joined by headaches and pain in my muscles/joints.  I always fail on his birthday, but this year was the worst.  I didn't get him anything, for one.  I made him brownies, rather than a cake.  I slept most of the day, and even week.  I did take him out for lunch, which would have been pretty cool except I was so sleepy that it was like having lunch with a stack of sticks.  So happy flippin birthday, Spencer.  Next year is your year...

Let's see if we have pics of his birthday:

Okay, well we have one.  I don't think we had enough candles but we used all that we had!  He requested brownies so that I wouldn't go all out and make him a mermaid cake :)  See how happy he is?  He is hard to bother, I tell you.

My birthday is the end of birthday season, being 3 weeks after Spencer's.  My birthday traditionally starts two weeks before and lasts for a week following.  Because I reeeeally like to celebrate myself :)   Normally I like to plan a big hooplah and have some fun but this year, of course, is different.  So we went with some close (wonderful!) friends to a quick dinner and to see "The Help" (have you seen it?  go.  now.  I mean it.  I'll wait...)  Spencer shed a tear or 10 and that was all I wanted for my birthday (okay, not my exact wish but I knew he'd like it if he gave it a chance).  Walking out of the theatre was a little embarrassing as I walk an awful lot like an elderly person when I'm not feeling great.  Tara keeps offering to push me in a wheel-chair...is that because I'm embarrassing to be around when I'm walking? hmm?  :)

On Sunday, my real birthday, my goal was to make it to church.  I made it to the last hour and even got to hold Michelle's brand spankin' new baby boy!  It was worth the work to get to church!  Then I heard a kid yelling in the halls.  To everybody else it just sounded like a nursery kid being brought to a parent for a diaper change but I heard perfectly: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!"  And I knew it was Layla.  And then she found me and what every body DID hear clearly was, "I poopy, mommy!"

Here are some pics of my birthday. 

Cadence worked really hard on this birthday card for me.  Can you read what it says?  "Check out Dad's Junk in the Trunk" (or "Juck in the Chuck" if you prefer).  One of my presents was too hard to wrap so they planned to leave it in Dad's trunk until it was present time.  Are you dying?  I laughed ALL DAY about it.

The great thing about having so many little clivelings is that I don't have to do any of my own birthday stuff.  I have servants who blow out my candles, unwrap my presents, eat my cake...

here's the "juck in the chuck" :)  I never knew I'd be so happy about food storage.  yay!

okay, out of order, too tired to care.  Spencer and Cadence top of my mucho chocolate cake that Sam made (as in Sam's Club).

You know, Spencer certainly has every right to be worn out and tired of serving on me and doing all my jobs and hearing me complain, and so do my friends around here who have really been carrying a lot of the burden along with him.  But Spencer, as well as my good friends here, act as if it's nothing.  I'm soooo grateful.  Really.  Every prayer I say, guys.  thank you thank you thank you.  And they didn't stop on my birthday.  I felt like i've been treated so well while I've been sick I didn't really deserve any special birthday treatment but I guess I did :)

happy birthday everybody.... (ugh, so sick of saying that :)  )...

My letter to this month's Orton Family Newsletter:  Thought it was a good little note about some goings on around here--


How lucky I feel that I finally thought about writing to the family newsletter today and it just happens to be the extended deadline! So serendipitous that I thought I should get up from my resting place (naptime around here is serious business) and write a quick note to say hello from the Clives.




We are happy and mostly healthy around here, school is in full swing and emotions of little ones are being tried as their schedules have been shocked and rocked. But they are loving it. Spencer is totally overwhelmed and worried sick about having teenage daughters because the conversation on the way to kindergarten between he and Cadence (our eldest) revolves nearly entirely around if she is beautiful enough and which boys at school judge her beauty to be sufficient and which ones do not. We are trying to convince her that it is NOT the most important thing, and she seems to already be of the opinion that we know nothing because we are parents. How did this happen so soon!?! But I try to reassure him that she will someday think this through a little and if we keep reinforcing the character>beauty thing, it will hit her one day. We hope. I suggested turning in all our barbie movies for the Anne of Green Gables cartoon, but Spencer said no, she's too ugly. We laughed and then wondered how our child got this way...



Campbell just started preschool and has been merciful enough on all of us to act potty trained while there. At home, though, it's a free-for-all again. How looooong is this going to take!?! She is bright eyed and excited to learn though, and has even been a little easier to manage in most senses. I thought it was because she sprained her foot really bad and so couldn't walk very well, but as it's finally healing, she's coming out a more...calm (relative, of course, to before) child.

Layla talks in full sentences now and my favorites are things like "Mommy, cheese! Yeah, cheese, okay, yeah!" She and I are enjoying some time together with her sisters at school. Unlike her sister, she's been growing MORE difficult. She was my angel baby and now is my terrorist toddler. When Cadence went through this phase, I called a child psychologist because I was sure she was crazy. Now Layla is just the same and I take a deep breath and lower my head and get ready because I know it's going to be a long, tiring, entertaining couple of years. But at least this time I can relax a little knowing she doesn't need therapy and there's not a whole lot I can do, except enjoy it while it lasts :)




For those of you who know I've not been feeling well, just a quick update: I am slowly improving. My enery is pretty good for about half of most days, and then I need to slow down and rest. The headaches and pain are improved but not gone. I'm monitoring my glucose levels now since the current thought is that I have hypoglycemia which is complicating something else. The lyme and other tick-borne panels came back negative yet again but I'm still holding on to that possibility because I do think the antibiotic helped. I'll be seeing an endocrinologist next. In general, I'm feeling really optimistic about this. I don't feel like it's as big of a deal as it could be, whatever it is. As in, I doubt there is a tumor somewhere causing it or some life-altering problem, just something that needs to be fixed or tweeked and then I can move on. Meanwhile, I'm really grateful for all the support and love and thoughts and prayers. And don't worry about it. I'm telling you- I feel really peaceful about it, in spite of wanting to have answers.

And in other news, our dog almost killed the neighbors' cat on Monday and that was a total drag. Thank goodness the neighbors are really understanding and forgiving. Although I'm scared to death to see the vet bills that we will be paying! Luckily the dog is just cute enough to be worth keeping. Barely.


___________
 
Hopefully I'll blog soon about birthdays as well as the wonderful visit from Mignon and Joel!