The New School Year Shine Has Officially Worn Off

 We're doing well, but I'm already ready to dump school in favor of hiking or outings or projects.

But October is always like that for me because the weather finally cools off enough to think again, and all I want to do is play.

We're doing our work.

And playing when we can.

Sir Walter Scott took the kids to Wichita, Kansas for the temple open house happening there now.

They said the temple is a teeny-tiny one.  
So tiny that the waiting room (the one for kids/friend without recommends to wait for weddings) is across the parking lot in the distribution center!
When asked, every one of my kids said their favorite part was being in the Celestial Room.

I sent them off with lunch, snacks, and directions to a couple of really interesting parks in the area.
They stopped at the big park by the river to have their lunch, play some baseball, and generally work out their kinks before heading home again.  It turns out there's a local wildlife zoo in this park, and they all came home chattering happily about the bobcat, the golden eagle, and the turtles. (There were lots more animals, but these were the favorites and had the best stories.)

One of our sweet friends gave us an entire stack of coupons for free ice cream at Culver's.  
The kid working the counter didn't even bat an eyelash when they walked in and ordered 8 free scoops of ice cream--with a topping each!

I stayed home with the intention of napping and doing chores, but Rose Red needed me because her car alternator had died the night before!  I helped her out.  And Sir Walter Scott had forgotten that two of the kids had dentist appointments on the day he scheduled the Wichita trip, so I took one of their appointments, so that we weren't canceling too much in one day. While I was out, I dropped off some stuff at a thrift store and went hunting for Halloween costume supplies for my crew.  

And then I cut my hair!!!!

Ladybug recently measured it--a full 3 feet long.  

I could sit on it.

But all I ever did is twist it up into a bun in order to get it out of the way and not think about it.

I've been wanting to remember that even though I'm a tired old mom, I'm also a woman who remembers being pretty.

So I watched some tutorials and went to work.

I've worked on it in three sessions so far--10 inches the first day, another 8 the second day, and a little bit more this morning before church.

That's my previously straight hair just air dried with a nickle size dab of product on it!

I knew it would go wavy when it was really short, but I was suprised to see the amount of texture it has at this length.

Some of my kids have never seen me with my hair down and styled in real life.

Baymax says I look weird.

Lola looks at me and shakes her head sadly.

But my big girls like it.

And I'm glad to not look like this:

I took responsibility for another American Rhythm song.  (You'd think I'd know better!) The Peppermint Twist for the big kids was going to have to be cut because the teachers of the older kids were out of time, so I volunteered to remake it for my small people, who already know all of their dances.  I downloaded, cut it, and uploaded it again.  Then the littles and I choreographed it together--at least 75% of it.  We'll finish the final bit next week.

They're going to dance with peppermint lollipop props. 😁

On Wednesday our friend M.T. came home from serving a mission in France.  Her family is Tongan/Samoan/Maori, and my kids were invited to help dance at the airport to welcome her home.  This is what they were practicing for last Sunday night!

It was a very moving reunion ceremony.  

I found myself in tears at one point.

It started with her dad singing a welcome that I couldn't understand in words, but in spirit was 100% a message of welcome and pride in her success.  After that was a bit of call and response between father and daughter, then the dancing, and finally ended with joyful hugs all around.

What an honor it is to be invited to share in these celebrations with our beloved friends!!!

We got home just in time to send the kids off to youth activities at the church--or at a church leader's home.  They had a bonfire party.

On Thursday night, 3 of our CAP cadets were promoted--Cadet 1st Lieutenant, Cadet Master Sergeant, and Cadet Airman.

I don't have a picture of Little Princess' promotion moment because Sir Walter Scott didn't get his phone out in time, and the squadron hasn't posted the pics they took.  I'm sure I'll find them soon, and I can add them to a future post.

We had a really good Wednesday research at the library.  Because we were headed up to the airport in the afternoon, we stayed close to home at our usual library branch.  It was the kids' choice this week, and everyone wrote copiously (for their individual levels).  It makes me want to let them choose every week, but they told me in the car that even though it's more fun to choose for themselves, it's also harder to get started.  The verdict of the conversation is that they like the 75/25 ratio we have going because it's nice to have direction most of the time. 

On Friday, we hit the gym and the grocery store before starting our academics.  Then the kids had to use their time wisely because the boys all headed out the door for the Stake YM campout.  The girls at home started out with plans to binge watch Barbie movies, but they scrapped that plan after a bit and played games/danced with much, much, much laughter.  I was reading in my room and listening with deep joy to  my 4 youngest daughters delighting in their girls' night.

The boys played football at the campground.

I don't think they giggled like the girls did, but they consumed copious amounts of hot dogs and s'mores.  They came home and slept the afternoon away . . . except Mister Man.

He stopped home only long enough to change his shirt and grab his lunch before heading out the door to CyberPatriot training.

I put everyone to bed a bit early on Saturday night.

Little Princess and Ladybug were out the door at 6:00 am on Saturday.  They had CAP drill camp in Jefferson City.

I've checked, and the Wing hasn't posted any pictures from either of the recent Drill Camps that my kids have attended, but Little Princess and Ladybug did take this bathroom selfie!!

That left Lola as the only Saturday soccer player from our family.

She was quite happy to attend.

But I'm quite embarrassed to note that because she was the only kid at home for whom I was responsible, I actually forgot to give her any breakfast!!!!  I'm used to group breakfasts, and without a group, I just never thought about it. 🤦

Fortunately, she asked me for something before we actually left, so she had a couple of minutes to make some toast to stave off starvation during 90 minutes of playing soccer!

I made up for it by letting her have cookies with her lunch.

Everyone is making progress in their academics.  It's just reading and writing most of the time.  Baymax seems to believe that descriptive writing is a thing of the devil (even though he's a voracious reader and loves good writing--he reads passages aloud to me regularly!).  He pitched a fit over writing a single paragraph describing his room at night, but Beowulf, facing the same assignment, wrote quietly and eloquently.

Kids never cease to surprise me.

In Morning Meeting we started Gordon B Hinckley's delightful book Standing for Something.  We're still reading the introduction, but it's all so good!

Baymax and Lola have complete Halloween costumes.  I have the basics Mister Man needs, and now we need to get creative about adding details.  Ladybug's costume will take some serious sewing hours, so I need to mentally gear up for that.  And Brother and Beowulf have a pair costume planned that will be very simple to execute.  I just need to pull together the supplies.

I feel better writing that--knowing we're on track to be ready for our church Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat!