R.I.P. Jasper

Kristen's pet hamster of 5.5 months passed away. She is absolutely devastated!!! And I feel like a monster because I refused to track down a small animal vet and pay the $40 to have him looked at. These critters live up to 2 years. This little guy was soooo active. He was always running and climbing. He would climb the walls of the cage and run all over the place. He also drank a TON!!! About 2-3 weeks ago, he started losing his fur. I made her clean the cage more often. Last night, he was barely breathing. She just sat and held him and cried and then put him in his cage, where he died. From what we were reading about, it sounds like it was probably either diabetes (which is hereditary) or skin cancer. His skin was all crusty and he had a big sore-like thing on his belly. But who knows? It could have been some other kind of disease and I feel bad that I didn't get him in because maybe he'd still be alive.

These pictures were taken over Fall Break--a month ago. By yesterday, his back, stomach, and legs had big patches of no fur. Ah---I feel sooo bad!!!

Lesson: Don't let your kids get a pet---it's too heartbreaking. I'm STILL dreading the day our dog dies. That will the the worst day ever!!

First *Sticky* Snow

The first snow storm that actually accumulated was on November 4-5. It started snowing that night and we woke up to a bit of the white stuff. Of course, the kids had to go out and play in it for a few minutes....

Life

Kendall had a court of honor last week and he earned his Life! That means he's able to start working on his Eagle Scout. I'm so proud of him! He works so hard and tries his hardest to be the best he can be. I have to smile sometimes because he's so willing to help others and neighbors that sometimes we come last (think: raking leaves--ha ha). He's got a great scout leader and an awesome dad to help him along. GOOD JOB, KENDALL!!!

Golden, Crystal, Whatever!

Jon and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday!! It was our 15th. I call it our golden because it was 15 on the 15th, but technically it's the crystal anniversary. We didn't do much to celebrate--went to pack meeting, got the boys' hair cut, homework, leaves (leaves and more leaves), but we're going to San Diego this weekend!!! Jon has to go there for work tomorrow, so I'll fly out on Friday and we'll be home early on Sunday. I'm soooo excited!

Flashback Fridays All Month Long!!

About this time of year, I flash back to the year before...and the year before...and the year before. To quote an old Primary song: "It's autumn time, it's autumn time, the leaves are falling down. It's autumn time, it's autumn time, it's all around the town." Yes, I LOVE autumn, but by this time of the season, I'm more than a little tired of raking leaves. :) We raked up about 20 bags of leaves and still have 2 trees that having dropped yet and 2 that aren't done yet. As Jon pointed out, each year, the trees get bigger and have more leaves. Ai-yi-yi!! The positive--they smell soooo good, they're soooo pretty, and it feels good to get a job done!

WEAR GLOVES!!!

A couple of days before Halloween, I had the kids outside pulling up dead plants, finishing off the garden, raking leaves, etc. I was working alongside them and since we weren't out for too long, and I wasn't planning on really getting dirty, I didn't wear gardening gloves. BIG MISTAKE!!!! About midnight, I was up in so much pain. I thought my thumb would pound right off my hand. I couldn't for the life of me think of what happened. And then I remembered--a stick had poked me underneath my thumbnail. That whole weekend was misery--it kept getting more and more swollen and sore and hot. I couldn't bend it either. On Halloween, I went to the doctor and found out I had a very nasty infection. He put me on a very strong antibiotic. I found out that tetanus is found in contaminated dirt, so luckily I was up on my shot. It's been 2.5 weeks and my thumb still isn't normal--it's tender, peeling, and a little sore. Note to self--ALWAYS wear gardening gloves!!

Halloween 2011

The kids' costumes were all pretty easy this year!! Kristen finally got into the Harry Potter books earlier this year and is obsessed with all things British. She's been slowly gathering pieces for a Hermione costume for months! Doesn't she look oh so happy! We keep getting glimpses of a teenager. Yikes!

Hermione (Kristen)

Kendall decided last minute to go as an 80s rocker. A neighbor had a wig; a friend had jeans and a leather jacket. We rolled his jeans up 80s style and added a bit of black eyeliner. He was good to go.

Ozzy Osbourne--or some other rocker (Kendall)

Jarren got an Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) costume for his birthday and wanted to wear that. We put off a haircut so he could have longer hair for the costume.

Aragorn (Jarren)

Jenna decided to be a snowy owl. I could not find a pattern so we bought one for cheap online. It's officially a Hedwig (Harry Potter) costume, but Kristen did NOT want to have a theme going. :)

Hedwig (Jenna)