Early November

My grandpa came from Utah to visit my mom, so we went up to see him. Samson just adores his Gamma! (He can actually say Gramma now, but then it was still Gamma)

While I was helping my mom get dinner ready, Katie came into the kitchen and said words I have never in my life heard before: Grandpa Wayne is fun! Fun. I don't know that he's ever been described as fun. Cranky, cantankerous, OCD, yes. But never fun. He was playing doctor and restaurant with Katie and Dancy.

{Thora, Katie, Dancy, Grandpa Wayne, Katie, Tommy}

Thora and her bestest buddy, Lori!

Thora didn't want to leave and refused to get her shoes on, so Lori and Grandpa Wayne tackled her into them.

BFFs! And a reflective slap bracelet from that trip to the firefighter museum.

Popcorn movie nights!

{Samson, Dancy, Tommy}

Oh, goodness! Starting on October 14, our kids spent about 4 weeks throwing up out of the blue. That really plays on parent nerves! Not to mention the extra laundry and scrubbing couches and carpet, or using towels under them so they don't make messes on furniture. It was insanity! But then Shad started work on November 13, and read in one of his training manuals that two symptoms of dehydration are irritability and vomiting. So I immediately got all the kids' water bottles, filled them up and told everyone what their daily quota is. Now when they meet their water quota, they get a piece of Halloween candy. No more vomiting!

During that period of dehydration, though, Shad and I had exhausted kids falling asleep on us. That never happens!

I gave the kids hot chocolate one day and Dancy came to tell me, with chocolate all over her face, "That was sooooo gooooood!"

We went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo again, and the orangutans went all out for entertaining us! The baby was climbing all over his mom and the enclosure fence.

The dad came out and scraped all the snow off a tree stump into his mouth. His mouth was so full he couldn't close it. He just had to wait for it to melt a bit so he could chew it. Then the baby came out and Shad and I got a good laugh watching the dad eat his treat in front of the baby, begging, and not share! It's fun to see some aspects of parent life cross species!

Got a stare-down when Sam pounded on the glass. Sorry, guys!

When Dad wouldn't share, Baby went back to climbing.

When we found some tables to eat lunch, a well-fed squirrel came out begging.

Followed by a peacock.

When we didn't share willingly, the squirrel tried to steal.

I took Katie, Thora, and Samson into the goat pen. We got to pet and brush the goats. Tommy and Dancy had no interest, so Shad took them to a scenic spot and pulled out binoculars. Samson went through a phase of wearing his snowboots daily. That's what I get for pulling out all the winter gear and seeing what sizes everyone needs.

Katie brought Lindsey in her baby carrier.

I'm pretty sure this is the same goat Thora loved on and named Ella just two weeks ago!

Shad and I were amazed at how close we were to the eagles. Both are rescued birds.

Eagles always win in a stare-down.

I was so fascinated by these birds! I've never seen them before! Leadbeater's (Southern) Ground Hornbills

Our zoo is creative with naming their animals. All of the goats have cheese names: Muenster, Colby, Asiago, etc. There are a pair of skunk brothers named Fred and George. A raven named Poe. An American Kestrel named Marty McFly. It makes things more amusing and gives us more motivation to learn the animals' names.

Into November

We started going up to Denver the fourth weekend of the month for our stake temple day. In October, that meant we left Colorado Springs right after our church Halloween party, where at the end I dropped a heavy, metal chair on my foot. The following morning, I could barely manage walking and lamented that my mom didn't still have crutches at her house. But then the pain killers kicked in and I could walk with a limp. It took a long time to heal and my foot is still tender sometimes. Toward afternoon, I was feeling good enough to be able to walk through Park Meadows Mall for us to see the Lego Store and Disney Store. Sam was way overdue for a nap and wasn't very pleasant in the Lego Store. Shad took him out.

Tommy organized the apps on his Kindle. The categories are: school, games, science, music, amazon, kindle, and special. We love his spelling attempts.

I don't often get enough time to practice braiding, but Katie and I realized that church is a good time. I actually did a good one!

Katie braided my hair in return, but we didn't have a hair tie for mine. Katie is a really good braider.

I forgot to mention in Katie's birthday post that that was the day Shad got the call he'd been waiting for: he got a job as at Harris Corporation! He wouldn't start for three weeks, so since he didn't need to be job searching anymore, he took over the parenting business so I could work on editing the book manuscript I had in my docket. He found a fun outing to take the kids on every day.

The firefighter museum.

{Katie, Thora, Dancy}

Pretty sure one of the girls took this picture.

{Tommy, Shad, Samson}

{Dancy, Tommy, Samson, Katie, Thora}

Another day it was the library. After storytime in the morning, Shad took the kids to the park behind the library for a picnic before the ERC opened.

Walmart. Because lightsabers are awesome.

I needed a break from the house and screen, so Shad took us to Palmer Park, which he had previously explored with a couple kids. There was a nice, low haze over the city.

{Thora, Samson, Dancy, Shad, Tommy}

I have been hearing about Home Depot's free workshops for years from friends and cousins who share on facebook. But the closest Home Depot to us was hours away. Finally, we get to go to the workshops held on the first Saturday every month! We meet up with our friend, Jeff, and his daughter, Emmalynn. I love Thora's scrunch-face in this picture! She does NOT like her apron.

{Tommy, Thora, Katie, Jeff, Emma, Dancy, Samson, Megan}

Dancy's face takes the cake in this shot.

{Tommy, Thora, Katie, Jeff, Emma, Dancy, Megan, Samson}

Samson was my little build-buddy. He loves building and fixing things! Ever since this Home Depot experience, he's even more enthusiastic for it. He loves Home Depot and can hardly contain his excitement when he hears mention of it, stomping excitedly and running in circles.

It was a bonus for Sam that November's project was a HumVee for Veteran's Day. Samson loves cars!

Even after we finished building, Sam continued working. After all, there were all those extra nails and glue!

Dancy

Thora, always slightly animalistic.

Samson and Thora were fine and happy until the end when the kids are supposed to show off their projects to an inspector to get an "I DID IT!" pin for their aprons. And they didn't like my suggestion of a picture all together.

{Samson, Katie, Shad, Dancy, Tommy}

"Nah, I don't need anyone's approval. I'm just gonna drive my car."

And then there's usually some attraction to take a picture with. November's was Star Wars. I was really impressed with "Rey's" tough face, but then when she was an elf in December, she had the same expression. Now I think she's just really enthusiastic about this part of her job. Hahahaha!

{Thora, Shad, Tommy, Darth Vader, Rey, Katie, jedi, BB8}

Dancy and Katie started being friends! Now they share shopping dates, dress in matching outfits, and play together!

{Grump-face Dance and Katie Fonzarelli}