Happy Halloween

Here's our fun costumes for this year. I found them all at the Salvation Army for $5, with a few accessories for $1. Before going shopping, we looked at costumes online and Samuel saw a Darth Vader costume and asked if he could be it. He was so excited when we went to the store and found one. When we first went, we found the outfit and a plastic mask. But when we returned, we found this really cool hard plastic mask that makes your voice sound like Darth's voice, and it even had some pre-recorded messages. The suit also lights up some too. He loved it. We had a light saber but forgot to bring it.

Poor Samuel didn't have much fun at the trunk or treat. He said his tummy hurt, then said, "Mom I think we need to hurry." On the way to the bathroom, as he was running, he ended up throwing up in the parking lot. Luckily he was smart enough to turn his head so it didn't get on him, or anyone else!! And yes, he had already taken off his mask. But once he got it out of his system he was just fine. Since he had a mask, I let him go to each of the cars since he wasn't breathing on anyone. He never did have any problems after that.

Here's our pretty Jacque!! She was Cinderella. I started looking at the girls' dresses and thought about how cold Halloween usually is, so I made them little cloaks. Jacque's is actually a baby blanket that she got as a baby. I just sewed on an eye and hook thing and ta-da a fancy looking, warm cape was made. And I didn't have to ruin the blanket!!!! Jacque loved getting her picture taken, actually all the girls did so I have multiple pictures of them.

Side view

Jacque's hair. I was actually pleased with myself on this one. I did the woven thing on top and brought them into two pig tails. Then I put it all in a pony tail. Divided the pony tail into two braids. Wrapped the braids around to form a bun and then put the big hair tie around it to hold it all. This was a combination of different styles I found on that website. I thought it turned out very pretty, and she almost looked like the REAL Cinderella!!

I'm not sure where the smile went! She really was having fun!!

There she is!!!

Here's Sleeping Beauty Calista! I made the cloak and hand muff our of some fleece I got for free. The best part is that the back of the fleece already had the words Sleeping Beauty!! It was perfect and it sure helped keep her warm! The crown didn't stay on long. We had to take it off before we left the house. If anyone knows a good way to keep these things on, let me know. They are always popping off their heads.

Sleeping Beauty!! I did a twist around her head and ended it with a rope braid to keep it going.

Calista without the crown and cloak!

I'm not sure if Calista was more excited about the socks or shoes!!!

Ellen is Baby Bop from Barney!! I liked this one and Sarah's because they were both warm. Ellen likes to go around the house with a high pitch squeal which I found out is actually her dinosaur roar! Here are some more Baby Bop pics. She was having fun!

And this is actually the final costume. When she saw the girls getting in their princess dresses, all of a sudden she didn't want to be Baby Bop anymore. She wanted to be a princess. I was worried about her getting cold, so I had the brilliant idea that she could be a Baby Bop Princess! She loved it, although she added that she would be a Baby Bop Sleeping Beauty Princess because there is a medallion on the dress that has Sleeping Beauty's picture on it! Isn't she cute!! We had to explain her outfit to a lot of people!

And here's our Sarah. She's a Poodle!! And she was a warm little poodle. Whenever I felt her hands they were nice and toasty. This is actually a size 2T-3T so it was big on her. I like this picture because she is walking and you can see the poodle better.

Peek-a-boo!!

I love the smile!

What did you say?

Calista goes to kindergarten on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She loves kindergarten and can't wait to get homework. She gets so excited and finishes it within the first 30 minutes when she gets home. If we have to read a story 5 times, she wants to do it NOW! It is fun to see her enthusiasm for learning.

On her days home, she is constantly wanting to do learning, or help Ellen on her learning. It is kind of tiresome to try and keep up with her energy, and at times I wish they could have school every day just so she doesn't get bored. But she is also such a good help at home. She just keeps me on my toes!

Well this morning, I was looking on the computer and trying to listen to what Calista was saying at the same time. The next thing I know, she's saying, "Huh mom, do you? Do you?" I said, "Sure!" not really knowing what I agreed to. But within a few seconds I suddenly realized what I had done to myself. I could faintly recall a small voice saying, "Hey mom, I can count to 100 plus 100. Do you want to hear it? Huh mom, do you? Do you?" And that's when I said "Sure!" So she began and successfully counted to 100 plus 100, which I taught her was called 200! She did a great job, without missing a number! What a smart girl I have!!!

No! He's in a box!

Ellen is very to the point sometimes. Ori and her family spent the night Thursday night. Adam had to go to Boardman to get a pipe for a guy in Utah, so they made a "family vacation" out of it. After breakfast, Ori, Ellen and I were sitting around the table, waiting for Ellen to finish her breakfast. Somehow we got talking and Ellen said, "Pops died!" Ori was trying to be sympathetic and said, "Yeah, that sad....but he's happier where he is now." Ellen's eyes get big and she says, "NO! HE'S IN A BOX!" I guess she hasn't caught on to all of our talks about what happens after we die.

Girls Night at my house!

The boys were gone for Fathers and Sons, so the girls and I took advantage of the situation. As soon as they were gone, we opened our snacks (frosted animal cookies) and started painting our nails and getting our hair done. Then we went to the High School Football game to show it off. I Googled girl hair and found a site that gave me step by step instructions for these cute hair styles (http://www.princesshairstyles.com/). I had a lot of fun and the girls felt like princesses all night! I might have to repeat them again, but Jacque's and Calista's will have to be on days when I have lots of time.

Jacque's is called woven piggiesI got to learn how to do rope braids for Calista's!

Ellen and Sarah's are the same because they have the same amount of hair. I really liked this one, and it didn't take much time, so I will probably be doing it more regularly.

Here's Sarah's pose. She would smile as soon as she saw the flash!

There's almost a smile!

Aaron's microscope

Many of you have probably heard that Aaron was inventing his own kind of microscope. Here's the story about it:

At work, anyone can start the machines that run the tests. Only Techs can accept the results, but with their computer network, the Tech doesn't have to be standing in a particular lab. Someone in Pendleton can accept results off of a machine in Portland. The only thing that a Tech has to be in the lab to do is to look in a microscope and view slides. There is no way to do that remotely.

Aaron is the manager over the Med Techs here in Pendleton at the lab, but he also is kind of over other places too. If someone in Twin Falls takes a vacation and Boise can't fill the slot, then it's up to Aaron to find someone to fill it. If no one can, then Aaron gets to go to Twin Falls to fill it. Well this happened last year. No one could go, so Aaron got to be the one to go. He spent a whole week down in Twin Falls, just to look into a microscope 4 times. Yes, he did other work and stayed busy that whole week, but if he had a microscope that could be run remotely, then he wouldn't have had to spend that week in Twin Falls. That spurred a thought. He started looking online, and found some microscopes that could work, but they cost about $100,000 each and he wanted about 10. So then he decided that he was going to make his own. That was around September 11, 2010.


This was a long process, but we felt that we were guided as we went along. Where we ended up was nowhere close to where we started. On August 2, he was able to bring the microscope into work. A phlebotomist can put a slide on the microscope stage, and Aaron (or someone else) can get on their computer in Pendleton, see the slide (digital microscope eyepiece) and control the microscope with their computer.

Aaron built the microsope and I got to help figure out how to make it work. I didn't have to actually program anything, but I found the software and circuit board on the Internet and learned how to use them.

The computer department now needs to look at it and see what they need to do to get it to work on their Internet line.

Calista's First Day of School!

It finally came! Calista has been waiting for a full year for this day, and she was so excited last Thursday to go to Kindergarten!!! Earlier that week we went to the store and picked out a backpack (Barbie) and lunch box.

Pilot Rock has full day Kindergarten every other day, so Calista's days are Tuesday and Thursdays. She was a little bummed that her friend Eli gets to go on Monday and Wednesday, but I think they might be better friends this way. Calista has been a very good "mother" to him, and he might enjoy some freedom! Usually they separate the Kindergarteners for a few weeks to get the rules down, and then they join the classes for the rest of the year. However there are so many this year, that it looks like she will stay on the T TH schedule for the whole year. I'm a little disappointed because I think I've gotten Calista about as far as I know how, but I guess I will learn more this year too.

She came home from school Thursday just as excited as she had left that morning. It was a great day. She told me who got to keep their stars up and who had to take their stars down. She listed all the rules that "teacher" had told her, and she and another kid were the only ones that earned an "R" card for good behavior. It looks like she's going to have a great year!!!

I forgot to take pictures of Samuel and Jacque on their first day of school, but I remembered to take a picture of all of them on Calista's first day. I just happened to delete it just before putting it onto my computer. So I will have to take another picture of them hopefully tomorrow.

Samuel's getting into blogging

Samuel was playing with dominoes and then said, "Look mom!" "Hey can you take a picture and put it on your blog!" I was busy making bread so I told him that he could get my camera and take a picture. So he did! Here's his masterpiece!!