Victory Lap

The other day Oliver finally got the guts up to skateboard all by himself like 10 feet and this is immediately what he did in response to his victory. Sometimes when we go to the store or gas station or something I pull Ryan and Ollie behind my bike with a surf leash while they are on the skateboard, or Ryan just holds Ollie while he rides and skates. So needless to say, this is one of those "cool, big boy things" Oliver hopes to accomplish, and now, true to his name, he has succeeded!!! Next, an actual Ollie, oh I might just have a heart attack. Luckily he only has a longboard to work with at this point.

Halloween is seriously the best

Ollie enjoying his freshly picked garden pumpkins. As you can tell, these little guys didn't make it very far, but just the right size.

Peter Pan, a lost boy, and Wendy. These are absolutely make-shift thrift store costumes, so don't hate.

Prince Eric, Ariel, Flounder, and Ursella. These guys are so awesome, and Sydney just kills me.

Josh and Kiera...aka the baker and his proud product, bun in the oven (Kiera is pregnant:)

Oliver making it out with plenty of loot. You gotta love a byu married student ward party. The odds are SO in your favor as a child.

Cold Season

In my attempt this morning to find ways to keep my child well this cold and flu season I stumbled upon some more info that makes it even harder to help, no medication. Well I just read something interesting on Dr. Sears website. So we all know that the FDA banned cough and cold meds for kids under 2 because it's potentially harmful and even fatal in some cases. Last week they just extended that ban on all children under 4, and they're even looking into research of all children under 12. This stuff makes me nervous. It just reminds me even more about how dangerous it can be to medicate kids and how natural methods should be our first attempt. So here are Dr. Sears tips from his website on what to do:


Run a hot steam vaporizer
Flush stuffy noses with saline
Prop kids slightly upright to sleep better
Drink plenty of fluids
Eat chicken soup or other hot broths
Eat healthy; include fruits and vegetables in daily diet
Use honey for scratchy or sore throats (only for kids 1 year and older)
Take Sinupret for Kids (not a drug but a natural dietary supplement that supports nasal/respiratory/immune system health and function)

I also heard kinda a funny thing, I have no idea if it's true. But I heard if you rub Vick's vapor rub on your kids feet it somehow miraculously clears up their stuffy noses and relieves coughs, worth a try I guess:) And don't worry. It just barely started getting cold and Oliver is already full on sick. It's the worse in the morning, he just wanders around the house in a sad state whimpering, teary, and runny nosed. I don't know how people live in the cold. Maybe their kids immune systems are somehow rock solid. We definitely didn't get that stroke of luck in our family. And does anyone know if Echinacea works? I always give this to Oliver in child drop form and I swear it does nada for him. To top it off, his eczema is getting so much worse with the cold. What's a mom to do!

Pumpkin Patch

The many colors of fall

We asked Oliver where the "gato" was

Indian Corn Mistletoe! Getting frisky as usual.

Since it has been freezing, this patch was on its way out.

Lovin those blue eyes

Family picture!

Oliver apparently thought you just pull yourself through this little opening

These pumpkins were massive

Wheeling our treasures

The goods

Ryan seeks out the most promising pumpkins from the litter

Viva La Vida

Oh how I love Coldplay. If you haven't yet, you must listen to their new album "Viva La Vida". I have finally listened to it enough times to know how I feel about it and the verdict is in, love it. It is such an emotional album, and the music is so uplifting and inspiring. There are a few songs I'm not totally crazy about but the ones I am make up for it. And might I say that Oliver's favorite is #3 Lost! , it's a good one. We rock out often. My fav, the last "Death and all of his friends", I cry when I listen to it, typical:)

Today at the park

Oliver is literally obsessed with the swings, he will not get off. He puts his hands out like this and then when you try to take him out he pulls them back and shakes his head no while yelling "no no no no". Breaking the swing "zone" is a very dangerous game I've learned.

I just love this picture and I promise that he's not going that high.
So when Ollie see's helicopters or airplanes in the sky he always points up and always gets on his tippy toes, like that will take him just a little closer.
The other favorite at the park, hanging and flipping (with mom's help)
What a sweet face. I took this from under the swing. I think I still have woodchips in my pants.

Weekend with family

Brian tackling the Jack-O-Lantern pattern
Annie and Cody getting the best birth control known to man, just kidding:)

My attempt at a photo shoot with Katherine. I will have to burst everyone else's bubble and just admit that I am her favorite, we love eachother.
Noelle so proud of her decorated cupcake
Pete reliving childhood moments
My beautiful boyOur finished products!!!
Pete, Ryan, and Brian (Don't mind Ryan's jock face, they were all trying really hard to not smile normal for me. I took 4 pictures and this is the only one where two were smiling and all eyes are open, you take what you can get).

Oliver trying to stack the pumpkins like blocks, doesn't work out so well.
Isn't she totally gorgeous?

This past weekend we went to visit Brian&Amanda, and Annie&Cody and also attempt to watch conference, I say attempt cause there were three small children who do not have the best attention spans ever and nap time happened to be right when conference wasn't on, just our luck. Since having Oliver, I have really come to appreciate reading conference talks. So it was a really fun weekend filled with family, pumpkins, and cupcakes. I must force festivities on others because you just have to, it's too much fun. It's sort of nice having so much family in the mormon belt, but we did miss Leah and Steve and her tum tum, Chels and Mom and Dad, and Laura (who is at BYU but had lots of homework, the Y strikes again). I love my family, we are so much fun.

Hawaii here he comes!

Ryan was one of 9 people chosen from his major to go to Hawaii in February for a construction competition. BYU got second place last year so they have quite the reputation. He had to interview and turn in a resume and was stacked against about 50 other guys who applied to go. He is amazing! This is extra awesome considering we want to possibly move to Hawaii and now he can scope out and interview with companies there, that is as long as he can extend his stay a few days. I think he needs a wifely companion right! Why are tickets out there so expensive. Ahhh I can hear the companies knocking down our door already to snag such a guy:)

Why?

Why is it that at every debate McCain comes off as childish and bullying. Every debate I am hoping he will just stick to the issues and be graceful. He will lose this election if he doesn't start toning down his "maverick" attitude. He is driving me crazy. And by the way I am neither for or against either candidate at this point. Frankly, I'm not sure either is good enough for the job, but bless 'em for trying. This election is driving me nuts. Anyone with me?

I love this boy

While I was in the kitchen I heard all sorts of laughter coming from the family room. So I went to look and see what sort of shananigans Ollie was getting into and this is what I found. He thought it was hilarious and was even more thrilled when I almost died laughing. Always out to entertain mom, how thoughtful.

Hope's Boy

I've always been interested in adoption and foster care, so when I saw this book at the library I thought it could be an interesting read. As with all books I read that inspire, now I want to change the world, especially foster care in our country. This kid, taken from his mom at 6, was raised in foster homes the remainder of his childhood, graduated high school with high marks, attended an east coast college, only to graduate from Harvard Law. Sad part is, the home that he stayed in most of those years was probably more abusive and destructive than what life with his mom would have been, had she gotten the help she needed. His stay at McLaren Hall in Los Angeles sounded more like a detention camp for wayward teens, who were often beaten, degraded, and totally neglected. His first night there, being terrified of the loss of his mother without explanation of her absence, and oblivious of life in foster care, was thrown into a dark cell to be locked up his first night for not obeying a standard rule to undress in front of all other boys and shower., something that would surely be humiliating. Just thinking about a 6 year old, sobbing to be heard in the dark, with no one to answer, makes my heart break. No one thought to explain the situation to him, or give him love and belonging, only to discipline him, put him in his place, give him a #. From the facts, there are about half a million kids living in foster care. It's estimated that only 3% graduate from college, and after leaving foster care, 30-50% are homeless within 2 years. I'd like to think that this book was written a hundred years ago, but it wasn't. This was happening 30 years ago, 20 years ago, and probably still. He explains a case in the end of the book about a detention center much like McLaren Hall that exists today. He fought that case of neglect and abuse as a lawyer, but really as a boy who had been through it. I can't even count the amount of inmates at the jail who were abused or molested in the care of foster families. Who let's these people have these kids!!! The system is so broken and these lost people fill up prisons because no one ever showed them the way. Thank goodness for those foster families who actually do a great job. And something that is forgotten is that the ultimate goal in the end is to return these kids with their families, not to another. If the mother's condition is bad, get her help. His mother was tormented by voices, a symptom of schizophrenia and no one ever thought to get her the help she needed until it was too late. She was also raised apart from her mother, who did not have the funds to support her two children after losing a husband in the war. Fact is, I know that if families are broken, everything is. And it's too much to take on, really I know. But these people who ran these institutions just looked the other way when horrible things were happening. If it's your job, do it, and if you can't do it well, get out. My new goal, to be a foster parent someday and love these kids and build them with confidence so one day they will have a place in this world. Do you ever feel like there's too much to be fixed?