Won't You Be My Neighbor?

I'm feeling a little haggard today. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because my body is doing that whole inflammation thing where, when I catch a new bug, my joints and muscles cease to work. After dropping a bunch of stuff and twisting my knees a couple of times on the stairs, I retired to the tub for a hot bath. I got engrossed in what I was reading and I kept reading it until midnight when I heard Heidi having a coughing fit. I slept by her until 2am then went to my own bed. A few minutes later Addie came to our bed with a fever, stuffy nose, and tummy ache. We gave her some medicine and got her to sleep, then James came in and Rich went up to Addie's bed.

James & Addie are still asleep, I am just up to take my own meds, help Rich shave his head, and see Heidi off to school. Hopefully I'll get back to bed! Dang this cold & flu season!

(I would feel a lot better if "Glee" had been on. Hope you baseball people are happy with yourselves.)

In my inbox this morning I got a fare alert from kayak.com to tell me that I can fly Billings to London for $798...mmm. Also, the house next to ours is for sale...anybody wanna be our neighbors? Click here to check it out! Gotta run...

hello

I've got little Heidi home with a fever she's had since Halloween night, so needless to say, I am not updating the blog much. Plus there are apples to can and Halloween to put away. So this is a quick hello to direct your attention to THIS talk, which is highlighted in this month's Friend magazine. In my humble opinion, it is one of the best talks ever written (as stated here). Have a great day and enjoy!

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OH, WAIT! I'm a day late and a dollar short as usual (at least in Australia time), but we want to wish our cousin/niece, Miss Maeby a A HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY!

Maeby last Father's Day

Maeby on a bushwalk with her daddy last month.

Weekend Retrospect

We had a wild good Halloween this year. This is the first year that all of my kids are old enough to get into the festivities & trick-or-treat independently, so it was fun for me, too! We try to stay away from 'scary' costumes, but I'm all for a cute witch or mummy. I try to think of FUN costumes (like Strawberry Shortcake and Apple Dumplin'--remember that?), and this summer while reading a Dr. Seuss book, we realized that these costumes would be perfect...Here's our gang heading out Friday night to the ward carnival/ trunk-or-treat

(which has morphed into a door-to-door inside the church, which we don't like as much, even though the weather outside is usually horrible).
Cutest Cat in the Hat ever.

Thing One & Thing Two
(trying to do the pose from the post below)

Owning this partay...

Hugging our beloved Aunt Debbie

Our darling niece, Hannah the monkey

Our other darling niece, Rosalie Robot

(her mommy made this costume last week--cute, huh?)

The kids had a blast at the carnival and we came home, watched The Great Pumpkin again (while munching on Cholula pumpkin seeds), and were all in bed before 9pm.

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On Saturday, we did our chores in the morning, then got dressed up for Aunt Angie's awesome Halloween Party in the afternoon (across the street). Angie and Davy made their garage into a fabulous party place, full of fun activities, delicious food, and spooky decorations. The kids had a blast!
Cake ball EYE BALLS!

Hermione helps herself to some veggies and eye balls.

The kids made Gak and iced sugar cookies (above)

They also got their hands tied for the donut-on-a-string game

(this is Cousin Danny, 'the army guy' on the right, with his army friend)

Uncle Davy does the taping...

and Heidi/Thing Two wins the donut game!

Cat/ James played the mummy game

So did Thing One and Hermione

Even Grandma Rosalie joined in the fun, making Robot Rosalie into a mummy!

At 4pm, Heidi went to another fun party. Her "Kindergarten BFF," Chloe, hosted a fun party at her house. Heidi says she had a great time with her school friends. I picked her up at 6pm for...

TRICK OR TREATING!

We went to see Aunt Debbie, Ad's teacher, Mrs. Meador, and then down Grandma's street.

Here is Mr. Phillips (looking kinda spooky himself)--he and Mrs. Phillips were happy to see our kids (his wife was Addie's teacher last year) and said they are coming to Addie's baptism!

Our last stop was Grandma's house! She's the best!

We were home by 7:30pm and had to wash the girls' hair several times to get the blue out for church on Sunday! Poor Heidi got very sick (103-degree fever with a little cough) that night, but everyone else slept pretty well. I took the 2 kids to church today and Rich stayed home to nurse Heidi. I wasn't feeling very great, but had promised to sub in Addie's class and lead the Primary music, so I went. It was a fun day. Normally I am bitter about daylight saving time (read HERE) but this year, "fall back" couldn't have come on a better day!

We wish you all a wonderful, grateful November!

Happy Halloween!

are you having fun yet?

we are! photos coming soon!

MEANWHILE...

try this delicious dip!

it's great with ritz crackers (tastes like pumpkin pie),

pears, apples...

2 c powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese

2 cups canned pumpkin

2 tsp pie spice

(or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each of allspice & nutmeg)

blend & serve!

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Freak Friday School Halloween Parties

The day began with preparing treats for James' Preschool Halloween party, Heidi's Kindergarten party, and Addie's 2nd grade party (and dinner--wheat bread in the breadmaker and beef stew in the crock pot). 10am to preschool, then grocery store, then back to preschool for lunch/party with the mommies, then home to get the stew done and to assemble Addie's veggie tray & grab the kids' costumes, then off to the Elementary school!Addie as Thing One from Dr. Seuss
Heidi as Thing Two

James was ENCHANTED with this Snow White (Chloe) in Heidi's class.

Daddy joined in the fun

(here he is with James in Ad's classroom)

Addie's class did Mad Science experiments for their party...

...and then the whole school did a parade! Here's Heidi in the parade.

James found another Cat-in-the-Hat to hang out with

(Mrs. Kost) in the parade.

More fun to come...

3 parties down, 3 to go!

(and yes, mommy is draggin' booty...)

So this is Thursday...

My last post was "Monday was fun," but then Tuesday and Wednesday? Not so much. I apparently have a sinus infection, but that's just normal for this time of year. Last year I had swollen Graves eyes, strep and a double ear infection for Halloween, so I count myself lucky this year. I am going to see the doc today just in case it's more than viral. Anyway, we're just pluggin' along over here, having fun with our kids, excited for all the good times coming up...Here's the front porch with all our jack-o-lanterns lit last night...
So much fun!

Two Videos from Last Week

James Loves Babies from MelinFamily on Vimeo.

Fall Color Hunt from MelinFamily on Vimeo.

Monday Was Fun

I was still feeling sick on Monday morning (sinus bug=300-pound-head, at least that what it felt like), so my dear Kim took James to pre-school and brought him home. This week they are learning about I and 9 and he brought home a picture of 9 scoops of ice cream. When I hung it on the fridge, he said, "Mama, I want that ice cream!" ... ...so I made him some Serendipity3 frozen hot cocoa! YUM!
For Family Night, we carved our pumpkins. Addie took a picture.
Rich & Heidi made a cool Jack Skellington

James and I made a Snow White

(yes, he is obsessed with Snow White right now, especially the dwarves Hi-Ho song, and when Snow White "goes to the temple to get married" at the end--I think maybe the castle looks a lot like the San Diego temple where were married). Addie made her own silly face.

Also, notice my hubs' handsome hands in the background...he shoulda been a pianist!

And here is the fruit of our labors this morning!

Happy Spooking!

I bought little flameless tea lights on clearance last year so we now have fake candles to light our lanterns so the famous Livingston wind won't blow them out on Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving, Anyone?

Tonight's family night is all about the pumpkins. Speaking of, did you read this fun little article on msn?

If you'd like a way to incorporate gospel into jack-o-lanterns (I know, it's a stretch, which is proly why the book was a buck), here's a poem from a book I bought for a buck last week, called "My Happy Pumpkin." It's a perfect FHE lesson for the five-and-under crowd. Happy carving!

My Happy Pumpkin

Look in our garden! There are pumpkins on the ground!
Tall pumpkins, fat pumpkins, bumpy and round,
I skip through the patch and I look til I find
The pumkin I want, then my dad cuts the vine.

We wash it & dry it, then cut off the top.
We scoop out the seeds and the pulp and the slop.
We take all the mess and we throw it away
Into the trash—that’s where it will stay.

We cut out two circles to make giant eyes
And a triangle nose that’s just the right size
We carve out a smile and put in a light
My big happy pumpkin shines bright in the night!

My pumpkin is happy & I’m happy, too.
Heavenly Father loves me and makes me like new.
Jesus takes my mistakes & He throws them away.
I show God I love Him each time I obey.
I’m a child of God, he made me complete
From the hair on my head to the toes on my feet.
I’ll try to be good so that others can see
God's love and His light shining through me.

--Crystal Bowman

Melin Kids, October 2007

XXX

[that's "the big 3-0" in Roman numerals]

Happy Birthday to my Sister, Jill!Here's a fun memory of Jill, SIL Audrey, & me with our little babies

Jack, Spencer, & Heidi in 2004.

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Jill, I hope it has been a fabuous weekend and you know how much we love & miss you!
Zipadeeay and Hideeho!

Last night I listened to The Poet & The Poem on the way home from Bozeman. This episode featured an amazing story/project that made me drive really slow so I could listen to the whole thing. It was an autobiography and poetry by holocaust survivor (who has since died), Hilda Stern Cohen (click HERE to read more). Gail Rosen performs readings acompanied by music that was inspired by the poetry, much of it in German, much of it in melancholy minor chords and reminiscent of Jewish folk songs or German opera. It was amazing and I want to read her book and see the DVD that is coming out of the performance I heard last night. I loved how her husband described that she was raised an orthodox Jew and was very precocious in the doctrine and in her testimony and faith, and how that faith was the prism by which she experienced life and was the one thing she would not let the nazi's take from her. She became a religion teacher in Baltimore after the war. She began her religious education at the Jewish school in Wurzburg, birthplace of my husband. How ya like THAT connection?

I love Yellowstone Public Radio. LOOOOOVE it.