Allie Cousteau

Dad here in journal mode. So my little Allie cracks me up all the time. I traveled for work the last part of the week and left poor Wanda at home (see below). When I returned and walked in the door Luke squealed something about candy, super excited to have his dad lift him up and hold him. Wesley was totally excited too. Allie on the other hand--- no running, no squealing; my feelings were about to get hurt. The neighbor girl was over and the two of them were in Allie's bedroom playing dress up. I had to hunt her down to say hi. She gave me a nice little courtesy hug then I asked her if she missed me... Hesitation... "Um... yea a little bit... well not really... but I still love you dad."

My little Allie has always been like this. Homesickness and separation anxiety are not her thing (unlike Luke). These snapshots show her at the end of a downed hollow Great Sequoia log that she and her Aunt Ilene explored. The entrance was pitch black so I gave her a key chain flashlight to use. Always the intrepid explorer.
We visited Pismo Beach during our trip to Jay and Ilene's. Allie had a great time playing in the cold water and then decided to go see what she could see. I watched her for a bit and waited for her to come back but she kept wandering off. So I decided to teach her a lesson by keeping a far distance so as to let her get lost and look around for her family and cry a bit. She won, I got bored, she never turned around and was halfway up the beach playing in puddles, heading for a distant swing set. I went and retrieved her- she was furious that she could not play on the swings.On her first day in nursery, she just ran in without ever looking back. Sunbeams - no sweat. Primary class in California: no hesitation. We got home today from church and instead of running inside she ran outside and yelled across the street at our neighbor Bob who was in his driveway. "Hi Bob, what are you doing?" So we went outside and chatted with Bob for a bit.
Our home teachers came over tonight (Jim Jeppson, the father of our babysitters). He showed Luke and Allie some pictures out of the Friend magazine to give them some clues about what they are thankful for. Allie's response: "I'm thankful to be a good dancer, good gymnastics and I love everyone in the whole world."

She sure is a little Joy.

Poor Wanda

When I saw this... sigh... I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I did cut it out and put it on my refrigerator. Wow... this is my life sometimes, ok a lot. Only last night Jason didn't come home during our melt down since he was out of town. I take great pride in the fact that I don't beat my children. And even more pride in I how hard I work at not yelling at them when there are times I wish to do nothing more than SCREAM. I am not perfect but I have improved. However I did not mention the number of times I have locked myself in the bathroom or hid in a closet.

jasonjoy model.003 2004/6/8

These are our babies about 6 months. Good thing they did not all come together or I would have to mark their arms with a black Sharpie (that may be funny to some of you). Can you guess who is who? Is it easier now that they are growing into themselves?

Brownie Mix

Several weeks ago while in the pantry I noticed an empty box of brownie mix. Luke. I searched and searched and searched for where it might have gone. Today I found the chocolaty powdered mix- still in the unopened bag (whew... sigh...)- at the bottom of my paper shredder.

How do YOU eat a banana?!

We are thinking of you Grandpa Payne and hoping they let you eat something soon.


This is the proof that Wesley really did ingest some portion of it!

P.S. Carter- I am happy (and quite grateful) to say that you were incorrect. After 3 children and many bananas I can assure you that bananas do not stain. It must have been something else that did it to little Uli's clothes.

Labor Day Lizard

Introducing baby Elizabeth... You can see that poor little thing closing its eyes waiting for this all to be over after a long night of captivity and a failed jail break...


Cousin/Aunt Maureen gave us a book called "The Christmas Crocodile" last year. It is so cute. In it the little girl finds a crocodile under the Christmas tree.  It is a cute holiday story for your kids. Sometime right around Labor Day I saw Allie on her hands and knees staring into the hall closet. I asked her what she was doing. "Watching the lizard" she replied. I thought she was joking and... bleeehhh yuck... she was not. I have no idea how a tiny lizard got inside our house and into the vacuum closet. The way she was sitting there watching made me think of an illustration from the book. And then she caught it. I thought that was a fluke until she caught the above lizard outside in it's natural environment. She's quick. So is the lizard but it is obvious who is faster. This was a couple of months ago but I have started calling her "Allie and the Labor Day Lizards".

And no I don't want to hold it.

I could hear you all the way from the principal's office!

Joy walked down to the school to vote (a date by herself!) I am at home w/ the kiddos. Monday morning I had 9:00 appointment at the dentist. With the time change I decided to go on a walk in the hills behind our house before heading out. I walked up the canyon at the end of our street to a shelf at the top and down a canyon to the south. Half way down I heard this blood curdling scream and thought it sounded like Luke! Sure enough, I called Joy and so it was. Wow! I had to see how far I heard him: 1km/ (0.6 mi)! He and Joy were out in the driveway. They were putting out the last of the recycling (she must have been beating him with a milk jug)?

It made me think of my elementary school teachers always getting on our case for being too loud and letting us know they could hear us all the way from the teacher's lounge. All those teacher out there- Carter, Maria, Lindsay, Wendy- does that ever really happen?

Ghosts, Witches, Mermaids & Ducks

Why some people don't like Halloween (and you know who you are) is beyond me! Halloween is soooo fun! I love getting out and visiting our neighbors and feeling that sense of community and celebration. I love how exciting it is for the kids to dress up and be something else! I love being creative with 3 empty paper towel rolls, tin foil, pipe cleaner and red lip stick to try to come up with a costume (I am all about putting something together with what you already have). I love carving pumpkins and cute decorations and the fall weather and colors . I like a little bit of candy but I have no problem confiscating it and hiding it for another day (the shelf life on that stuff... whew... not a big deal to save it until Christmas and Easter etc.- really!). And every now and then I like to be a little scared! Ready for something scary?!....
She's good isn't she!
For those of you anxious to see what our theme was this year, I am so sorry to disappoint you. Honestly, you have no idea. Since Jason worked until 4 am the night of the Ward Halloween party and since Allie had changed her mind so many times on what she wanted to be and since Luke would not wear anything fun... it just didn't happen. Allie decided to wear one of her old dress-up dresses and be the Little Mermaid. It's nothing homemade but it is something we already had. We did buy a wig at the grocery store (on sale). I decided the wig looked like fun so I got one too. Luke finally let us put make-up on him last minute and even wrap some toilet paper around his head and neck which looked really cool. And Wesley's cute hand-me-down duck kept him nice and snug.

This was Jason's 2 second creation. He is so cute!
And he is so cute too!!!



For preschool on Friday the kids could wear orange and black to celebrate if they wanted. I bought these adorable candy corn pants and the hair things as well as Luke's shirt last year after Halloween. I really hoped that they would fit. Turned out perfectly!