Thanksgiving Week

There are so many things to be thankful for in life. I have been trying to get a handle on this phase of life and to no avail it often seems. My kids just keep getting bigger and busier and I keep trying to figure out how to keep pace with their needs.

Maddie has been going through ups and downs that most likely just come with the territory when you are the oldest and ten years old. She is either sweet and patient or the exact opposite. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to her mood swings.

Andrew has been immersing himself in Pokemon. He likes to watch the shows and play the video games and collect pokemon cards. It is an obsession that has led him to ask us why Heavenly Father and Jesus didn't create this world with real Pokemon. He also recently expressed disappointment that we had chosen a name like Andrew for him. When we asked him what name he would have chosen for himself, he responded "Pokestar." We are still calling him Andrew.

Zack is loving kindergarten. Once he gets home from school he likes to really get comfortable. Almost daily, while I am fixing him lunch, he disappears down to the basement and re-emerges with barely any clothes on. He hates wearing shirts and quite often prefers to just strut through the house in nothing but his underwear and sometimes his slippers. Then, because he is freezing cold, he wraps himself up in his twin size comforter and his quilt and drags them through the house with him. I cannot begin to tell you how greatly this irritates me. He usually steals everyone's pillows and takes them all around with him. He is really into being comfortable. When I complain about his state of undress and the amount of bedding mess, he looks at me with frustration of his own and tells me if I would just buy him a Snuggie he wouldn't have to do this. I have not been able to find a kid-sized Snuggie anywhere, but I have done a good amount of searching. When we need to leave the house Zack once again appears fully dressed in an outfit entirely different than he began the day in. I do way toooooo much Zack laundry. Oh, and even though I put him to bed every night in pajamas, I would say four or five nights a week he at some point gets out of bed and strips down and sleeps the rest of the night in the nude. It is not because he is wetting the bed or some normal reason like that. The only conclusion that I can come up with is that he is strange. There is a slight possibility that he does this sheerly to aggravate me. If so, it's working.

Mylie is the biggest drama queen I've raised since Andrew. In fact, she is very much like Andrew. She loves to sing and dance and tie everything up. I can't begin to tell you how many My Little Ponies I have had to rescue from dangling shoe lace deaths. Andrew also loved to tie everything up. I have spent a lot of time in my life untying monstrous knots that Mylie and Andrew have tied. Mylie, like Maddie, loves art. She draws fabulously detailed pictures of everything from monsters to princesses to aliens. She can throw the biggest tantrums and she quite often gets her way.

I have started having my kids bite a bar of soap if they have bitten one of their siblings. It has been mildly effective, but we get fabulous family enjoyment out of gathering around to watch the perpetrator bite the soap. It cracks me up every time I hear, "Get the soap! Get the soap!" Andrew has never had to bite the soap.

My kids had all week off this week for Thanksgiving. We stayed home and did fun things like decorate the house for Christmas, go on outings to places like the gym and the movies, and invite Grandpa Lee over to have Thanksgiving with us at our house. Ben took off work so we could all be together and it was so fun.

Ben and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary on November 23. Maddie gave us each a one dollar bill, because, as she said, "when you put one and one together, you get 11."

We are doing well. We are busy as can be with school, church, work, and sports. I am thankful for my family and the special memories we are creating.



There are so many fabulous stories from this soccer season. The majority involve Zack and Mylie, who were on the same team. Zack was perhaps the best player on the team and Mylie the worst. She was a total diva, if you couldn't already gather that from the team picture below. She does so enjoy all attention to be on herself. When the photographer asked her after this picture to put her arms behind her back, she put them behind her head and posed. The photographer had to finally say put your hands behind your bottom. That got big laughs from the rest of the team, but Mylie was FURIOUS.

We arrived a little late to one of the games. Zack loudly yells to the coach, "Hey, if you want to win you better let me in the game. I'm the best player you've got!" Whatever my kids lack in humility they make up for in confidence.

Mylie refused to play unless the ball was pink. Her team played 95% of the season with a pink ball as a result. The boys on the team weren't very happy, but Mylie was elated.




Maddie was a witch (as she has been for most Halloweens). The other three wanted to go as a themed group. We have Zack as a knight, Mylie as a princess, and Andrew as the dragon wizard.

Zack is really into holidays. He was so excited to carve pumpkins. Andrew, on the other hand, came in for maybe two or three minutes then said, "I'm just not really into this" and left.

My Grandpa Hatch passed away on October 26th. Maddie and I flew out to Utah for the funeral. It was nice to see everyone, but such a sad occasion. While I was in Utah, Ben and his parents manned the fort. My other kids had a soccer game, Zack's 6th birthday party, Trunk-or-Treat at the ward, and Halloween while I was gone. I was sad to miss those fun things, but Maddie and I had a fun time with the extended family out in Utah.

Maddie got to go trick or treating with her Allen cousins (Brooke's kids) and with Jessie's little boy, Brody.