Picture Pop Quiz

Q. In the following pictures is Erika dressed up for Halloween or the Christmas Formal?


A. Halloween, silly. (She ordered that dress online for $21 and it fit perfectly!!) If this is just for Halloween dress up can you even imagine what the Christmas formal will be? She is so beautiful!



Q. With this picture hint, what did Nathan dress up as for Halloween?

A. Tigger, just like last year. This year his tigger brother also went with him.

Q. What is the best thing to do when you find a slit running the full length of the loaf of bread you bought yesterday and all the bread is crouton hard?


A. Feed the ducks at the Nature Park. (Some of those ducks were taller than Hyrum!)




Q. If you go to the Nature Park to feed the ducks where will you most likely end up before leaving?

A. On the playground equipment.





Q. Who will have the most fun on playground equipment, the toddlers or the really tall
teenager?

A. They all had fun, though Derek had a hard time getting his long gangly legs down the twisty slide.





Q. What gift did Nathan just receive that he sleeps with, eats with, won't let anyone else hold, watches daily and quotes from?

A. The first season of "Greatest American Hero" of course. Isn't that what every 3 year old wants? Thanks so much Heather! And if you'd like a little review of this particular hero phase go back to this post: Nathan's Birthday





Q. Derek and Hyrum are currently bestest buddies. What game do they play most?

A. I have no idea what it's called but it is very entertaining to watch!

Q. What is Hyrum's favorite traveling snack?

A. His socks. He pulls them off every time and they are soaking wet by the time we get to or from our destination. Luckily, I always put clean ones on him just before we leave because he never wears socks unless we are going somewhere.

Q. What is the best reward for 2 little boys who have suffered through mall shopping with their Mom?

A. Playtime at the cool coin operated vehicles at center court. As soon as they climbed on their imaginations took over so it didn't cost me a penny (or quarter, or dollar bill).





Q. How long should it take to make apple pie?

A. That all depends on the pie presentation. Canned filling & store bought pie crust vs. fresh homemade apple pie filling and buttery homemade pie crust: I spent far more time making these adorable single serving pies than is really necessary (after all it is still just pie, no matter how cute it is) but I loved every minute of doughy, creative goodness that went into it. Now I have 16 single serving frozen pies only 50 minutes away on any given day. And if anyone wants to borrow those tiny little leaf cookie cutters for their upcoming Thanksgiving festivities, please call me. That was an impulse buy that I'm still trying to justify. But aren't they so cute?

Hyrum's Sick Day

It has been a hard day for Hyrum. Last night he was up several times and I thought he was just being a momma's boy. No fever, didn't want a drink, just wanted to cuddle. This morning he started throwing up and he didn't stop until about 5:30 tonight. Constant. I mean every time he would sip water it came up with stomach bile. Poor kid. Dry heaves are worse than actually throwing up!

I have accomplished nothing today except for cuddling (and, I confess, talking on the phone). No office work. No house work. No dinner. Nothing. I just held my baby and I loved it. I shouldn't joy in this particular together time because he is so lethargic but I love holding him. I love it that he wants me. However, I do miss my little busy body. The one that climbs in the kitchen sink to play in the water. The one who stands on the toilet stretching from clear down in his tippy toes to play in the water in the bathroom. The one that pushes the chairs around the kitchen to climb up into the cupboards. The one who drags my shoes all over the house. The one who could find mud in the desert.

I did this collage a while ago (remember, I'm at least 2 months behind) and now seems like a good time to post it. During the week that these pictures were taken he would run around getting into all kinds of messes and then he would just fall asleep on the floor. I've never had a kid do this so it was weird to come out of my office and see him sound asleep on the floor or to actually turn from the files I was hiding in to see why his chattering and whining had stopped only to realize that he was sound asleep in the fluffy softness of a bear.


Nathan has missed him today too. He kept asking in a very sweet voice for Hyrum to go play with him but all he got was a blank stare. The cat misses him. He didn't have anyone to run the water in the bathroom sink for him.

Around 5:30 he finally fell into a deep enough sleep that I could lay him in his bed but now I don't know what to do. I should probably go to bed but he could wake up at any time and it is still early enough that I wouldn't sleep anyway. It's only 7:15 so will he really sleep through the night? Will I sleep through the night even if he does? I've already checked on him several times in the last hour and a half just to make sure he is covered, breathing, not running a fever and because I'm now having a little bit of separation anxiety having spent the whole day with him in my arms.

Oh, my sweet Hyrum. I think I'll go look in on him again.

During Relief Society last week they handed around a basket full of kits to make plastic canvas blocks for humanitarian aid. I took 2 of them, thinking that it was within my scope of crazy projects and time schedule to fit it in (actually Kara took one and I took one and although I didn't think we would get them done while Kara was here, I knew they would still get done).

Monday came and went rather quickly and soon it was time for family home evening and I was unprepared. I needed a quick idea. I had just read the teachings of King Benjamin in Mosiah and service was on my brain. Couple that with the 2 kits sitting on my dresser and a family home evening lesson just seemed to present itself.

Now I just needed to convince all the boys that sewing was a great way to serve.

After going from Derek to Justin to LeRoy to Justin to LeRoy to Derek giving instructions, I had a moment to stand back and watch as they used their new found skill in simple service to others. It was an obvious camera moment watching them fumble with the needles in giving determination.

We each finished one or two squares that night and after school the next day Justin and Derek finished the rest on their own. Oh, the things these boys will volunteer to do just to get out of practicing their music! Within a couple of calm hours we had sewn together our 12 squares to create 2 colorful blocks.

Monster Madness

We began with jars, tissue paper, mod podge and a huge mess on the table.

Our little monsters came together quickly and now sit in our window sill lighting up our October evenings.

Then came the real creative chaos. With knives a blazing and guts a flying we filled our porch with a spooky pumpkin welcome for all who dare come our way.

Erika and Bri had to get back to homework so their half carved pumpkins still sit, unlit, on the kitchen counter. Nathan's is a cute star but somehow didn't make it into the picture hall of fame and if I wait until dark {scary movie!} to take a picture I will most likely forget and then never get this posted. I have yet to do a pumpkin this year as my duty rests solely in answering the numerous calls of "mom, mom, mom", therefore leaving little time to be a pumpkin perfectionist. Now the mood has passed and I need to focus on costumes . . . oh, and what to fix for dinner tonight.

Sabbath Sweetness

We can't seem to have a family activity without loads of sugar to go with it!

Last Sunday we spent 4 hours making sugar cookies. We didn't just slop on the frosting, we actually decorated them. Then, in an attempt to walk off some of the sugar high we were on, we delivered cookies to our neighbors. Sugar is sweeter when shared!

This Sunday we made carmel apples with all kinds of candy bars chunked up to decorate the sides and as if that wasn't enough we drizzled glaze around the top. Just looking at one of those apples gave me a sugar rush. Luckily, we didn't lose any fillings or permanent teeth during this project.

This week we tried even harder to burn some of those million extra calories with a few games of Twister. After being forced into a few yoga moves by our spinner LeRoy, we were laughing so hard that our faces hurt. At least that helps burn calories too, right?

For some reason we don't have head shots in any of the Twister pictures, only backsides. So, yeah, you won't see a picture of me playing Twister! You just have to believe my sore muscles that I did.

Our sugar insanity leeched into Monday as we prepared to Boo the neighbors. Everyone had a chocolate assignment: cake, pudding, crushed Oreo's, cookies, kisses. It was a madhouse of gravestones and witches hats! With frosting streaking the kitchen, crumbs scattered all over the floor, and evidence smeared on a few snitching faces, we headed out in our finest mugger attire to doorbell ditch our friends in the great spirit of Halloween.

Next Sunday there will be NO sugar. We are carving pumpkins and playing games!!

(yeah, right mom!)

You too can Boo! Go here to pick a picture . The poem that we liked best is here.

The Super Saturday Miracle

I finished ALL of my projects today!!!

I had a great time getting high on spray paint, chatting it up with friends in full yelling while sanding down our projects with loud electric sanders (my ears are still ringing), munching away on a delicious spinach salad and conquering the air gun all in one day! Not to mention the sticky fun we had with mod podge, paper trimmers, glue guns, hammer 'n nails and a whole lot of silliness. It was just the kind of day I needed.

When I got my projects home I had enough cheers, high fives, ooh's and ahh's from my kids to last a good long while. Once LeRoy finally had the two rather large objects pointed out to him by Nathan his only comment was "oh, when did you make those". Evidently, nineteen years of Super Saturdays only meant to LeRoy that I was leaving for the day to pick up projects to stick in the closet and forget about.

Don't you love my little Van(na) White? He was very excited about the temple block (it's hard to see but it is the Rexburg temple with the saying "I'm going there someday"). I think he has claimed that for his own.

The only downer to the day was the constant reminder from 2 of the members of the RS presidency that this was our last super Saturday/enrichment/activity EVER! (Their interpretation of the general broadcast a few weeks ago.) Oh, we can still have book group, quilt class, the mom and me day, and we can plan craft or baking activities on our own, no one has a calling for it, and none of them will be under the direction of RS and none of them will be announced in RS. I'm thinkin' it's time to plan a few parties. Today was way to much fun to give up! Thanks girls for a fun day!!

August Adventures

** I did these collages with the intent to post back in August. Now I know how far behind my life is . . . at least 2 months. Hmmm, does that mean we can hold off Christmas until February?

Nathan loved visiting and comforting the animals at the fair. He especially liked "Mary's little lamb" and was so excited when the goat ate out of his hand. He also loved the pigs, which I personally thought were disgusting and smelly, but my little animal lover was in hog heaven.

Once we were able to escape the dairy air of the barn yard we headed to the rides. This was by far Derek and Justin's favorite! They only went on one ride but they did it 3 times and Justin nearly lost his lunch each time. My phone wasn't the right camera for a good shot of their faces as they were flying several feet above us but the photo in my head of their faces frozen in a soundless scream with their features stretched back due to the force of the ride, well, that is a clear image that still makes me giggle just a bit. Oh, the days of seeking the adrenalin rush! If I were to try that stuff now I'd end up visiting the chiropractor, and probably peeing my pants.

We took a short tour of the Teton Flood Museum. I didn't know how the boys would do during the movie ('cause it was done in the '70's and doesn't quite meet generation X standards) but they were actually quite intrigued. Derek and Justin both expressed how "weird" it was to see a movie that took place in our hometown and to see building floating down main street. Yeah, weird! After the old stuff, the movie and a quick scavenger hunt through the museum, we went to the hands on children's room. It wasn't overly amazing (or even slightly amazing) but the boys had fun trying on a variety of hats and burning some silly energy.

We couldn't properly celebrate August without ice cream! This was a surprise treat adventure after family home evening one Monday. I don't know that we have ever just gone on a treat run for FHE but there was no school to worry about, it was hot, and I wasn't running the air conditioning because the bill was so high and the kids wouldn't leave the doors shut and well . . . DQ was cheaper than AC.

Speaking of hot, I could have quit giving baths to these two water logged monsters. They LOVED playing in the water. It was a daily (and sometimes multiple times during the day) activity to run in the sprinklers fully dressed. I started to just strip them down to their undies, toss their clothes over the porch rail and rotate through their clothes that way. They were seldom dirty, just very wet.

See you next year August!

One Day, Three Entries

The wishful, hopeful version of what SHOULD have happened:

Monday September 28th: my morning is all planned out!

5:30 am - exercise, personal study, make breakfast, read scriptures with kids, shower, get the little boys fed and dressed, other kids off to school, make it to the case lot sale at Broulims by 8am sharp with my cash and list all ready.



The vague, male voice version of the morning:

Monday, September 28th: my morning didn't go as I had planned but I still managed to get to the case lot sale.

The really long, sarcastic, female voice, venting version of what actually happened:

Monday September 28th: my life is chaos!

6:15 am - I realized that during one of the 3 times that I was up during the night (LeRoy needing a pain killer and food to prevent a sick stomach, the dumb cat that someone forgot to put out, and Bob who thinks that LeRoy should be well enough just 1 week after back surgery to pick him up off the floor {and if you don't know that story, well, I'm trying to be nice so I'm not allowed to talk about it!}) anyway . . . I realized that I must have turned my alarm clock off. So . . .

No exercise, no personal study, cold cereal for breakfast, we did manage to read scriptures.

7:10 - LeRoy hobbles his way out the door, a little woozy from the wonderful drugs he is taking, to go 2 blocks away to discuss plans for a remodel

7:15 - Just as I am attempting to get in the shower (because I WILL make it to the case lot sale before the insanely long, time consuming line that is sure to happen on the first day) LeRoy calls to inform me that he has run out of gas

7:20 - I yell at Erika for once again taking my flip flops and leaving them at the neighbors house (niceness set aside: I HATE it when she takes my shoes! If they ever enter the house again they are covered in mud and goat heads and usually look like they have some bloody, infectious scum on them because she always has cuts on her feet which she will not take care of. Usually, I see my shoes on the neighbor girls feet because they assume that they are Erika's and those girls share everything. Call me a little OCD but, whatever, don't wear my flip flops! pick up nice again)

7:25 - I grab my gardening flip flops, which are literally covered in goat heads and are soaking wet having been left to close to the sprinkler which ran during the early morning hours, and the gas can which I am hoping has enough gas in it to get LeRoy to the Shell station to fill up.

7:30 - while the rest of Hibbard heads into town to school and work, they pass me: barefoot and bra-less, holding the gas can up to fill LeRoy's truck while he stands there with his hands in his pockets, totally embarrassed that his wife has to lift the gas can for him. I'm no newbie to bare feet and it wouldn't have been such a big deal if it hadn't been so stinkin cold but there I was standing on a newly paved street with tar and freshly laid rocks sticking in my freezing feet.

I had to accept the fact that I was most likely going to be standing in line at Broulims, in the cold, with my boys, Forever! Setting my owns plans aside (finally, I know) I followed LeRoy in to (I thought) the Shell station to fill up his truck, my Yukon (since my fuel light had also just come on) and the gas can. Silly me, I married a Maverik man. So now I find myself directly across the street from Broulims - a new plan formulating in my mind. Still barefoot and without a bra, I fill up the gas can and the 2 vehicles, scoot the gas can across the truck tailgate into the bed causing the gas to slosh around with nowhere to go but out that stupid little tiny air hole. To add insult to injury, my arm is now covered in gasoline and I reek. LeRoy apologizes, while helping me pick the goat heads out of my garden flip flops, frustrated that he has to have his wife do everything for him. I present my new plan.

LeRoy headed home to keep the boys while I went to Broulims. After a couple of shloshy steps I gave up on the wet flip flops (not wanting to draw any unneccessary attention to myself) and immediately headed to the bathroom to "freshen up". What I saw in the mirror above the sink was so horrifying that it became hilarious. I can't believe I entered a public facility looking like that! I took stock of my present situation and realized how far off it was from my expectation for that particular morning: no cash, no list, no shoes, no bra, reeking of gasoline, hair ratted and oily, with dark circles under my eyes both from lack of sleep and the makeup that I didn't take off the night before. But I had made it to my ultimate goal of the morning: the case lot sale.

Luckily, I keep an extra credit card in the Yukon for emergencies (this was not the emergency I had in mind when I put it there but it still qualified) so I marched (need I say again, barefoot and bra-less) to the checkout stands, picked up a list and pen, filled it out, paid, and stood outside in line for 45 minutes with my feet still freezing, folding my arms to avoid the obvious issue that pops up when standing in a cold breeze without a bra.

As I pulled out of the parking lot I did have a moment of gratitude in my otherwise frustrated heart. I was done. Not in the way I had planned it but I still got the important things done for the morning. When I got home I took an extra long shower then treated myself to the joy of filling my storage shelves.

Puberty: Hair It Comes

It began as a tri-weekly boys activity for LeRoy, Nathan and Hyrum to all stand at the bathroom mirror (Nathan and Hyrum on the counter) for a little hair razing. During one of their scavenger hunts through our bathroom drawers and cupboards the little boys discovered LeRoy's old electric razors. Ever since then they have shaved faithfully morning, mid-day, noon, afternoon and evening. I can usually tell where the boys are by the humming that buzzes from their lips as they imitate a big boys world using their "shavers".

I don't know what it is about my boys and facial/body hair but Derek also had a fascination with it at age three. One evening when I pulled his shirt off for his bath I noticed little 1/4 inch to 1 inch marks all over his chest and into his armpits and as I took off his pants there were the same little marks all over his legs. My immediate assumption was that Erika had worked her artful magic on Derek. From the time she could pick up a pencil, pen, crayon, marker or any other writing tool, she had been creating art on walls, blankets, cupboards, tables, clothes and her body. I figured she needed a new medium and had chosen to use her brother.

Derek's response not only proved me wrong but had me laughing to tears and has since stood as one of the great Derek stories in our family history.

"Who wrote all over your body Derek?"

"Nobody."

"Then what are all of these pen marks from."

"I got hair like Daddy."

Our further conversation revealed Derek's desire to be "big like Dad" which, in his three year old mind, meant pit hair, chest hair and leg hair (luckily his hairy desire stopped there).

This manly fetish didn't stop when he turned four. Oh no, he is still waiting for pit and chest hair. When Levi was about 13 and complaining of his arm pits itching we reviewed why that would be only to discover that he indeed had stubble coming in. Derek (at age 8) whined in jealousy, "when can I get pit hair".

In preparation for this silly post I asked Derek if he remembers his past fascination with body hair to which he disgustingly replied, "yes, and I still don't have any pit hair", followed up with a bragging "but I think I might need to start shaving my mustache soon". Evidently puberty is the reverse for him what it was for Levi. From age 12 to age 13 Derek gained 3 inches and is currently the tallest member of our family (even taller than LeRoy), but stubble he has not. Levi waited until age 17 to have any kind of growth spurt but was shaving around age 13. The grass is always greener . . . or the hair is always fuller.

And now you have just been exposed to the puberty secrets of the Edwards boys. It may begin physically around age 13 but mentally it hits them at 3.

Toddlers in Toyland

One thing that I learned from my parents is "good things come to those who wait". This past week our waiting paid off!

We received a call for LeRoy to do some work for a couple that just moved up from California. While he was talking with the homeowner LeRoy found out that they do not have any kids at home so he jokingly asked, "so do you and your wife go out to play in the fort and swing". The homeowner told him that they were actually looking to get rid of it because all of the neighbor kids were coming over to play and they were worried about someone getting hurt and the liability issues that could come from that and they wanted to use the space for a garden. Well, we were ready to take it off their hands!

We by far got the better end of the deal! After a couple of hours of basic electrical work our pay came in the form of a very expensive play area. Yeah, I'd say we scored big on this job!

It took a small army of teenagers, a nearly crippled LeRoy to supervise (and do far more lifting than he should have done), my buff physique, and a couple of hours for us to remove a few bolts, make two trips across a field and 4 more street miles, leveling, reinforcing each screw due to the shifting of travel and 9 ten and under patient cheerleaders to get it all done. We now know that it will hold (all at the same time): 1 adult, 1 eighteen year old, 1 seventeen year old, 1 thirteen year old and 4 ten year olds. AND it withstood the ferocious wind storm that blustered through yesterday. Yeah!!! No more trips to the park for a while!