Jack o Lanterns - Oh My!

The kids finally convinced John and I to carve pumpkins tonight.  This is the first year that the kids have gone for scary pumpkins, and I blame it completely on Brigham.  He started, and it just spread.  The only one who didn't sucker into was Paul.  Paul knew he wanted bats from the get-go and never changed his mind.  So, here they are, on our front porch.

Joy

Paul

Brigham

Hyrum

After having carved most of these pumpkins on my own (poor John was wiped out after having taken care of the kids all day so I could rest up from my cold), I look forward to the time when the kids are big enough to wield knives on their own.

Guitar Capos for Beginning Guitar

If you are here because you are interested in purchasing a capo for your beginning guitar student, you have come to the right place!  Mr Mouw and I sat down and found what looked to be the best product, and I am going to coordinate the purchase.  I will make the purchase on Friday, October 19th, so you need to get your money to me prior to that date.  I have come up with two payment options:

1 - You can get the money to me in person.  I am at HC from 9:30am to 3pm on Mondays and can usually be found in the family room.  Sorry, that is the only day we are there!  If you choose this option, the cost of the capo is $3.88 each.

2 - You can get your money to me online.  If you look at the top of the toolbar on the right, you will see a "Add to Cart" button.  You can, at your convenience, click on this button and make the payment through PayPal.  Because PayPal charges a fee for this convenience  capos purchased this way will be $4.29.  If you choose to pay online, please email me at tduggar at gmail dot com let me know who you are and how many capos you ordered so I can keep track!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the above address.

Capos for Guitar Class

For those of you who are here because you received an email from Mr Mouw, thanks!  To help facilitate getting capos for the kids in the class at a cheaper rate, I will be making a bulk purchase of capos for those who are interested.  I sat down with Mr Mouw this morning and looked at capos to make sure we are puchasing a product that is worth having.  If you are interested in getting a capo for your child, I will be happy to make the purchase.  However, I need to receive payment before I make the purchase.  So, I have figured out two methods for payment.  You can either bring the money to me at HC, I am here on Mondays from 9:30am to 3pm.  If this time doesn't work for you, I have a second option.  This evening I will be setting up a button on the right side bar that will enable you to pay for your capo via Paypal.  Because I get charged a small fee for using Paypal, if you choose this option, it will be a few cents more.  Since I am currently at school, I can't get all the info together, but anticipate having it done this evening.  So, check back tomorrow and we can get going.  Thanks! 

Free Money

Quick story - At our house, if the kids want money, they can dig weeds to earn it.  Brigham is a prodigious weed picker and always has money.  Paul "doesn't do" weeds and never has money.  Yesterday we were out looking at some chicks (the baby bird variety), and when I turned around, Brigham was handing at quarter to the little girl next to him.  When we got to the car, Paul asked Brigham for some money.  Brigham's response?  "No, you can dig weeds.  That girl couldn't.  I only give money to people who can't dig weeds."  And, when I told the story to John, he choked up a little and said, "He's a Republican!  I love him!"

Some mustache fun this weekend

Okay, I admit it.  I LOVE all the mustache stuff out now!  Not really the mustaches on faces so much, but the cute not-on-someone's-face-being-all-scratchy stuff.  So, this weekend when we decided we needed a fun project, mustaches won.  The boys, Joy and I (okay, Joy and I, but the boys did pick out which mustache they wanted) made these cute shirts with sandpaper, crayons, and an iron.  

 

Ignore the fact that the kids obviously wore the shirts long enough to get them dirty before I took the pictures.  Aren't they stinkin' cute?  I love the mustaches, and Joy did a pretty cute job on hers, too.  If you want to try, go here for complete instructions.

Hyrum the teacher/enforcer

I was a fly on the wall and heard the most interesting conversation in the boys' room the other night.  They were all in bed and were supposed to be sleeping.  It is important to note that the participants in this conversation did NOT know I was in the room.  The conversation went like this:

Hyrum: Would Jesus call his mom "underpants"?
Brigham: no answer
H: Brigham, would Jesus say "underpants"?
B: (quietly and grudgingly) No.
H: Then, should we say "underpants"?
B: (still quietly and grudgingly) No.
H: It makes Jesus sad when we say underpants.
B: no answer
H: Now, go to sleep and DO THE GOSPEL!

And this is why I don't make cookies...

Let me just start by saying that, since the new year started, I have been eating really well.  Nothing crazy, just very healthy.  By that I mean, I am eating mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grains, with some dairy, a little meat, and as little processed food as I can manage.  I cut out chocolate for the year as a personal test to see if I had the self-disciple to give up something I REALLY love.  And, that was easier than I thought.  Since I started eating better, the kids are doing this too.  They eat a lot more good stuff, and have endured the change remarkably well.  Since John has been gone for the past 20 months, I didn't even have to contend with another adult who thought I was nuts.  Well, John got home on Thursday.  And, he likes what we are eating.  But, I have this ridiculous desire to nurture through food - that is, the food I associate with love and comfort.  So, today I made oatmeal cookies.  I found a pretty healthy looking recipe (as far as cookies go) and even added flaxmeal to ramp up the health factor.  But, so far today, I have eaten NINE COOKIES!  No cookies or really sweets even for three months, and in one day I eat NINE COOKIES!  Did I mention that I have been taking the kids to BaskinRobbins once a week for $1 kids cones and I haven't broken down and gotten a single one?  No?  Well, I haven't.  But, today I ate NINE COOKIES!  They aren't even super good.  Okay, they are good, but not NINE COOKIES good!  Urgh, no more cookies for us!

April Fool's - Silly Supper

I have always been a fan of April Fool's, but with everything else going on, I just didn't have time to plan anything big.  But, I think I made up for it at dinner.  We had a "silly supper" and the kids LoVeD it!  I set out odd things for cups, plates, and utensils and put post-it notes on each with the numbers 1-5.  Then, in rounds, I had the kids pick a number out of a bowl, and they got the item that corresponded with their number.  Here are there results - 

 And this is what it looked like when they were eating:

 Pardon the food hanging out of Joy's mouth, she was being silly!

I think we found an new (easy, yeah!) April Fool's tradition!

St Patricks Day!

Running with...ruler?

It was a tough weekend at the Duggar house.  Hyrum was doing a "trick" with a ruler in his mouth and fell.  You guessed it, he tore a big gash in the back of his mouth, just above his bottom molars.  After being assured that we had a guardian angel who made sure he didn't die, the pediatrician sent us to a Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor.  The end result is that Hyrum had his second round of general anesthisia.  Here he is before the procedure. 

 

 The doctor said he did a great job, and only needed five stitches.  Lucky for us, they will dissolve, so we don't have to do another round.  Which is good, because Hyrum didn't like waking up after the stitches.  But, as you can see from below, he is fine now.  In fact, I haven't heard him complain about pain yet!

Dare Devil

Don't ask me how or why, but at some point today, a clothes pin appeared with an insane desire to be attached to someone's nose.  Or, Joy is just a torturer in disguise and it came out a bit today.  This all started with Joy questioning my ability to pin a clothespin to my nose for 10 seconds.  It eventually led to Brigham, in a show of bravado, keeping it there for more than 30.  You want to see this for yourself.

(Go to the main blog to view video if you are reading this in your email!)

Friday the 13th

It was our night to have the kids over for our babysitting co-op, and we had some fun.  I stuck vinyl mustaches on their clear cups and we all LOVED them!

Okay, I loved them the most.  I LOVE mustaches!  At least, ones that aren't actually adhered to someone's face...