Miriam and Family Home Evening

We were shopping in the baking aisle shortly before Miriam was responsible for a family night treat. She started hopping up and down shouting "pink cake! Pink cake!" I usually bake from scratch, but she was so excited, we bought a pink cake mix. Then, hoping to build skills, I got a little tube of pink icing, imagining that she would decorate the cupcakes with pink squiggly marks. She didn't. She decorated with pink puddles. The cupcakes with squiggly marks are the ones I did to show her how. She was happy about it, though.

Pioneer Activity

Early this summer our Primary had a Saturday Pioneer activity. They had a handcart replica, and learned how little could be packed (less stuff than I'm packing in the back of our van for our one week road trip, although more food). Afterward, the children made ice cream. The ingredients were put in a sealed glass jar, which was put in a #10 can with ice, then sealed. The children rolled their containers back and forth for about ten minutes, until dessert was chilled and thickened. The most interesting part of the day was watching Miriam "adopt" an older girl, whom she tagged along with most of the activity, like a new-found sister.

An Officer's Wife

I've been waiting to post until we found our camera again, but it hasn't shown up, so I may be posting without photos for a while.

Yesterday Cory was officially commissioned as an officer (with the rate of an Ensign). We took all the children, clean and dressed-up, to the ceremony. Afterward, we hung around Seattle for lunch (in the Center House) and playing in the fountain.

We returned to Hometown in time to submit Trevor's kindergarten registration. This year they have two full-time kindergartens and two part-time. They will be drawing names today. We should get a phone call today or Monday if Trevor is a "chosen one" for full-day kindergarten. I'm hoping for it, because it would save us an extra trip to the school.

Pending Inspection

Our house has sold, basically. We got a second offer this week, asking for lower plus full closing costs. We counter-offered so we would pay closing costs, but the sell price would help us almost break even. He countered offered again . . . aiming to leave us $3 grand in the hole. So much for our investment, but we suspected as much when we listed the house. We all slept on it. Our realtor called his realtor and they volunteered to each take $1000 off of their commissions. That way we don't have to pay more than a monthly mortgage would be anyway to clear out. As long as the buyer isn't stingy over the inspection, we close September 10th, right before Cory starts Officer Development School (boot camp). Our new house should be done around November or December.

Drive-In Movie

As a special family night activity, we went to the drive-in. I hadn't been since I was about Kaith's age. I warned the children in advance that it was kind of a grown-up movie (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, rated PG), but that it might be fun for them because the screen was outside. Miriam obligingly fell asleep for us on the way there (she woke just before the previews). To pass the time while waiting, Cory started us on an alphabet game. He said he's played it with the children before, but I was surprised at how good the boys were at it. For this game, the first person said something that started with the letter A, the second person said something that started with the letter B, and so on. The boys had to sing the alphabet song to figure out which letter came next. I think we got through this game all the way twice before losing interest.

As for the movie, I think we lost some of the nuances of the movie when all the children tried sitting/standing/climbing/squirming up front with us and changing the radio settings, but overall it was a lovely family outing.

We all slept while Cory watched the second feature, Transformers 2. The car needed a jump start to go, but apparently the drive-in comes equipped and trained for that. We were on the road in almost no time.

Adventures With Pizza Dough

I was stretching pizza dough Monday evening when the children came in, wanting to help. I gave each of them a crust and mat to work with wile I chopped the lunch meat to go on it (yes. lunch meat). Miriam and Trevor got out rolling pins and got to work. Miriam was excited when her dough rolled unevenly and looked like a hop-a-roo. Trevor must have gotten bored after finishing his rectangle, because next it was rolled up, then smooshed into a ball. When I looked again, he told me it was "grown up pizza." He had gotten a leftover packet of crushed red pepper from Little Caesars, opened it by himself, and smothered the bottom of the dough with it. His creativity did not end there, though. He partially flattened it again, then pressed letter cookie cutters on the top. He was very proud of his word pizza, although a little uncertain what it said.

Piano Parking

After the older children were in bed Sunday evening, I unwound by practicing hymns. I was absorbed in my own actions for a while, and was only vaguely aware of Sterling playing near me and on me. I don't usually allow the children to play with toys on the piano, but when I saw how carefully he had parked his cars on the groups of two white keys, I didn't want to interfere. When he decided he was done, he put his fingers on the keys to play a parking song.