My birthday, my daughter, and my phone

We celebrated my birthday last weekend.  We went to the temple Friday night, did an endowment session and half of a sealing session (there was a live sealing we had to wait on).  Saturday we had a choir rehearsal, and we had cake with Grandma & Grandpa.  Benji took all the pictures - I may update with one later, because I don't have them.

Mother-daughter night at Activity Days was ... an experience.  We played minute-to-win-it games - which generally I don't really enjoy (I prefer mind puzzles), but I was happy to have a fun time with E ... which we had, except ... we didn't win.  This seemed to devastate E.  She was in tears when we left (small consolation that she wasn't the only one!).  *sigh*  Here she is maneuvering an Oreo cookie from her forehead to her mouth without using her hands.

So on Thursday, J (bless his heart) took my phone to the bathroom with him, and dropped it into the toilet.  I was looking for him, and found him just in time for him to say, "Mom - I hate to say this, but... I accidentally dropped your phone in the toilet.  But don't worry - I washed it off!"  After the shock, all I could do was laugh - which he did not appreciate.  It actually was still working - a little wonky, but working.  Then last night, it died.  So we bought a new one today.  I'm still hoping my old one will come back to life, and we can return the new one.  Maybe it just needs a couple more days of drying.  So ... I don't have as many pictures today - so I'll post these random ones:

Wanna be a dinosaur, Wampanoag Thanksgiving, and Water problems

I have been checking out educational CDs from the library to listen to in the car with the kids for probably over a year.  My children are in a dinosaur phase - especially E, the eldest.  So when I found a CD called "I Wanna Be a Dinosaur," I knew it would be a hit!  For family night, E and J put on a short concert of them singing their favorites.  So cute.  Next time, I'll have to get video.

Can't not put in a picture of T - he was sick last week with what we think was croup.  Bark-cough, and lost voice for a couple days, spent a lot of time steaming in the shower, but he is pretty back to normal now.  Here's a pic of my dear, little boy.  Which reminds me - J really loves his brother - I mean, we all love each other, but - J told me today that he would die for T, he loves him so much, and he's so cute.  :)

On Veteran's Day, we went on a field trip to American Village - a place where actors dress in period costume and teach history.  There is a replica of Mt Vernon, and a church replica from Colonial Williamsburg, and a replica of the Liberty Bell.  Oh - and stocks and pillory:

Anyway, they offered a special program for homeschoolers this day, doing a re-enactment of the First Thanksgiving.  It was quite clever - and interactive - E was chosen as a volunteer to sight land - she got to shout "Land, Ho!"  Then, we literally walked into the woods to meet King Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoag to bring him gifts and a treaty.  Somehow, E got chosen again as one of the volunteers to offer a gift to the chief.  So in this picture, she is up front, down on one knee, holding up the bread offering.

Then, after some games on the lawn (J felt better about E being chosen twice, because he got to hide a stuffed turkey behind his back for a game of hot-and-cold where you "gobble"), we went to the feast.  I was concerned that the children would find it boring, after their somewhat disappointing reaction to Williamsburg, but they had so much fun, they didn't want to leave.

So tonight, after the kids were tucked into bed, T was leading me downstairs.  When he needs us, he will very determinedly and quietly lead us somewhere.  If I'm in bed, he might try to pull my foot to the floor or move my arm.  In this case, I wasn't in bed, and he led me to the stairs going down before I figured out he wanted to watch tv, but I am very grateful that I indulged his tugging (I like to encourage communication), because there was water literally pouring down the wall downstairs, and dripping out of the ceiling.  Here's some of the damage in the ceiling tiles (some of the stain is old, but wet parts are new).

Speaking of T communication, I was trying to feed him at dinner, and he turned his head away and very clearly said, "Don't want."  He seems to get cuter every day.

Halloween, History (the family kind), and a Haircut

Well, my older children were really excited to be a six-headed monster for Halloween.  They prepared paper plates that looked happy, sad, mad, and jealous.  But when it came down to Trunk-or-treat time, E was a cat (she made the ears herself out of pipe cleaners and construction paper), and J was Spiderman.  T refused to don the bunny costume, so I put him in a Lion shirt Friday night, and put him in a Mexican poncho Saturday.  It rained on Halloween itself, so we limited the trick-or-treating, to our neighbors.

Love this boy:

Then there's this boy (whom I also love):

He watched as I attached sources to ancestors on our family tree, and wanted to help.  Now he is a family history monster - it's all he wants to do ... besides watch tv.  "Mom, when can we do some more, you know, famiy history?"

Benji has been extra busy with work lately.  So when he said he didn't have any meetings today, I took full advantage to go and get a haircut.  Here is how the hairdresser styled it:

I like the soft look.  I was going to go shorter, to match the regrowth of my hair from the surgery, but I think it blends nicely.  We'll see what it looks like when I try to style it - ha.  The salonist was very generous, and said I could come back for tweaks within the next day or two.  She regularly cuts Benji's hair.  J says I don't look like me anymore.  E says my hair looks more like Grandma's, and it's not me; "I like it; but I liked it BETTER before," she said.  T just smiled as if I looked funny.  :)  Benji didn't seem to care one way or another  Ok.