Rules, Rules, RULES!

Is it just me, or does it seem like there are a lot of kids running around without any sort of parental discipline at all? Bear with me here, Im about to go on a rant...I need to vent!

During the summer months, I have observed the neighborhood children out frolicking about the neighborhood and roaming from house to house...playing on everyone else's swing sets, trampolines, and in their garages. They have even come into my house and asked me for a snack. Excuse me...what? I am not the local snack vendor! I can barley afford or want to give my own kids snacks, let alone all their friends. The only reason they get 2 snacks a day, is because the school requires that they bring a snack to school. Now they are hooked. I make it a point to tell my kids to try not to eat all the neighbors food. Maybe its just the way my kids are, but if they eat too many snacks...they dont eat their meal. And I would much rather them be a little hungry and eat their dinner all gone, then fill up on empty calories and sugar all day. If they are hungry, they should come ask me. Do the neighbors not eat actual meals? Is snacking the new dietary recommendation? Im just trying to crack the cool mom code, because Im totally not getting it. Why is it, when I call my kids in for lunch/dinner, the other kids stay out and play? They look at me like Im from another planet because I want my kids to take a break to come in and eat a meal. How rude am I!?

Do these parents have tracking devices installed in their children? Do they have a bug planted so they can hear their conversations? Even now, nearing the winter months, when it gets dark out by 5:30 pm...I am always the first to call my kids in when I can no longer see them in the darkness. Am I neurotic? Paranoid? Out of line? Just strict maybe? Just when I think Im being the cool mom by letting my kids stay out a little longer against my better judgement, I look out and still see the neighbors running around in the darkness! Dont get me wrong, my kids (specifically one who's short and curious) have been seen wandering where they shouldnt. They have been in places where I have had to go look for them. But when this happens...they are sure to face the consequences of their actions. They know, the rule is that they dont go anywhere without my knowledge. I want to know where my kids are. I welcome the neighbors to play over here, so I can see what my kids are doing...as long as they ask, and they dont want food. =)

Now, we have great neighbors. We really, really do. They are social, friendly, they keep their yards groomed, they dont make domestic disturbances...they are just what seems to be - good people. I just cant complain about our neighbors. But as we all know, being outside of Utah, not everyone shares your same values. This doesnt make them bad, just different. We like diversity. Its no big deal to us to decline a birthday party because it is being held at Chuck-E-Cheese on a Sunday. But what happens, when that same neighbor invites your kids for a sleep over in that same week in which the party was declined? To some you say...let them go. But being the strict parents we are, we have decided to make the rule that our kids are not allowed sleep over's at friends houses. Its for equal treatment really. What may be fun and safe at one neighbors house, may not be at a school friends house when Uncle Joe (the ex-pedophile) shows up for a surprise visit. Im just not comfortable sending my kids to sleep at someones house who I just met.
So first, NO you cant go to that super fun birthday party that is being held on Sunday, and second, you CANT sleep over either. I AM the mean parent on the block. (Just to clarify, they are allowed to sleep over here.)

So lets re-cap:
rule #1: No snacks right before meals.
rule # 2: I must know where you are at, at all times! (they are still kids for petes sake!)
rule # 3: ask permission before going into someone elses home, both mine and theirs.
rule # 4: No sleep-overs at friends houses
rule #5: Sunday is for family time. We can go visit and do things with other people, as long as we are all together. No recreational activities. (Its just once a week!)

So now my question(s) to you is...am I so mean? What rules do you enforce at your house concerning friends? How do you handle sleep-overs? I really must know if its just me being out of line. Please tell me there are other parents out there who discipline their children! I always wanted to be the cool mom...its just not working out for me. You cant be cool and a responsible parent at the same time! At least...I cant.

Halloween slide

Halloween/ Ryans birthday

Halloween just hasnt been the same since we moved to this place. Each year they do trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween, in the broad daylight at the set time of 3-6 pm. Where we are from we did like it should be done...on Halloween. You start out as soon as it gets dark, and go until you get tired, cold or everyone turns out their lights on you. Of course this philosophy doesnt work as well with young children, but they too will grow and also discover the correct method of trick-or-treating.

This year however, the county decided that since Halloween was on a Saturday, they might as well trick-or-treat on a Saturday. Why whoever thought of such a novel idea!? They didnt quite hit the mark of going out at dusk time. We still had to head out at our appointed time of 3:00 in the afternoon; but maybe over time they will realize that this too is preposterous and should be changed. Even with what seems to be an obvious change to me, the people who have lived here and done that forever, could not be persuaded that going in search of candy on Halloween was a good idea. Maybe over time, they too will realize that this is the best way, if for any other reason than just because- I...said so! I mean, why trick-or-treat permanently on a school night?

Anyway, with this wonderful news, we thought it was appropriate to celebrate. We sent out some invites, and starting planning for a Halloween party. As time grew closer however, and I realized I had 18+ kids coming with their parents, I started wondering what I was thinking and began to panic. Halloween this year turned out to be the busiest, and most stressful yet. Ryan and I started off the morning the way anyone would on the day of the year that you eat the most candy...with a dentist appointment. Can you believe, I didnt eat one piece of candy all day? Its true. As soon as I got home from the dentist, I began making enough cookies, cupcakes, popcorn hands, and soup to feed 36 people. It was non-stop until the guests started arriving at 3:00 and I knew it was time to finally get the kids costumes on. Then, off trick-or-treating they went, while I prepared Mummy Dogs with the help of one of the gracious guests who must have sensed my level of stress. The kids all came back too soon, and I continued to run around like crazy trying to make sure everyone was being entertained and having a good time. After all, I invited them here, and it was my job to make it worth their while. I dont want to be known as the person who throws a lame party! So the kids decorated their cookies first which clearly wasnt very well thought out since they all wanted to eat them right away...right before dinner. Then they decorated treat bags to put their popcorn hands and already eaten cookies in. Thank goodness I also has ghost suckers and activity pages to put inside them. By then, the mummy dogs were through for anyone who still had the appetite to eat them.

As the kids ran off to create a tornado throughout the house, (which was expected) the adults got to sit down and eat. Yay, my first seat all day besides the dentist chair! Too bad Ryan opened an aggravated liter of soda pop and it sprayed all over the kitchen, and the food. Sitting is over rated anyway. After dinner the adults were led down to the basement to walk through the haunted house the kids put together, while I lit the candles on Ryans Birthday cake. Half way through the candle, Ryan finally came back up and we sang a quick version of Happy Birthday to salvage what was left of the candles. Lastly, we tried to scatter the children so we could play Halloween charades/pictionary. 30 minutes later, with noise and kids running everywhere, the game started. It was pretty simple...I guess those online clues may have been for kids, so they joined in on that game as well. After everyone had finally had enough, they all packed up and left. Now all thats left is the lingering hope that everyone else didnt feel as chaotic as I did, and actually had a good time.

In the midst of all the craziness, I neglected to even take pictures of the kids in their costumes, so I made them put them back on and pose. This also gave us the opportunity to finally pull Ryans birthday present out of the closet for him to open. Sorry babe. Clean-up, baths and bed couldnt come fast enough, since we had to wake up for 8:30 church in the morning. Thank you for the hour time change! And thank you for days of rest!

Finally what you've all been waiting for, the kids in their costumes:

The Devil

The Witch
The Dalmation
The Tiger
The chicken
Napoleon Dynamite

I couldnt get the slide to post here, so its posted before.

ps. Ryan just read through this and made the comment that it sounds like I didnt want everyone to come to the party. I just had to clarify, that although I was a basket case and stressed out, I am glad that we were able to have a party and most people were able to come. I just like things to be perfect, and thats nobodies fault but my own! I just have hopes that it was fun for all! Thanks for coming...if you came!

Happy Halloween!

*Pause the music at the bottom of the blog before playing this video. Then turn up your speakers!*

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Museum Hopping

Ryan's sister came out for a visit this past weekend for the first time. Ryan had to spend some of the time at the temple, so it was up to me to find something fun to do in the cold fall weather while he was gone. I know we could probably just stay home and visit, but for some reason we always feel like we need to make it worth our visitors while, since to us...it would be like a vacation. And who doesnt want to have a good time on vacation? So I decided to check out the local museum scene. Its close by, its indoors, its something we havent experienced here yet, so why not?

Well, heres why...

Doesnt he look just thrilled! The local "Dinosaur Museum" was pretty pathetic. They had a bunch of dinosaur replica models scrunched into the middle of this one tiny room, and that was it. Supposedly there was a basement with something else there, but it was closed for a class going on. Thank goodness this was free!

Katelin sacrificing herself to the T-rex. "Please...take me now!"

This fence outside was their favorite part of the whole thing. And there was a little hill to run down. Bonus!

Okay, onto the next attempt...Museum # 2. The City Museum. Lets cross our fingers!

Luckily, this one was a bit more entertaining. It doesnt win by a lot, but the kids did enjoy it after the last one. Heres the underwater exhibit during the Cretaceous period. And hey...a live dino. Now thats what Im talkin about!

They even had a little kids section, where they could experiment and play with things. I think I will make something like this wall in our future playroom. Just popsicle sticks, buttons and wooden shapes with velcro on the back. You stick it on the wall inside the frame to make a picture. Heres Zack, helping perfect my masterpiece.

Katelin and Alissa making a "stained glass" design.

Zack makes trains with everything, from pillows, to benches, to books and animal toys, movies, marshmallows and cereal. You name it, he will build a train out of it. Here is his latest one, built with thread spools.

The second floor of the museum featured a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan and the trees with their changing fall colors. It really is much better in person, or even when it is sunny outside, but you get the idea. Madi took this shot.

Surprisingly, the kids even enjoyed the arts portion of the museum. So maybe they have a bit of culture after all? I try.

So I guess it turned out to be an okay excursion. Its not so bad for being free entertainment that is only 10 minutes away, but...next time, we'll skip the dinosaurs!

Two front 'teef'

The long awaited, much anticipated, and very exciting day finally arrived. Katelin is now without her two front teeth. Doesnt she just look beautiful!? Oh, how it would be to get that excited about something as small as a lost tooth again. But now whatever will she eat all that halloween candy with?

Deja Vu

Does it seem to you that these birthday posts are getting a little redundant? This time of year we get pretty birthday'd out. Its one after another from July to December. But to top off the repetitiveness, Alissa chose to celebrate her birthday this year, the same way she celebrated it last year....with a trip to the Rain forest Cafe, and then off to Build a Bear. Click here to look back a year: http://ryheathtaylor.blogspot.com/2008/10/alissas-4th-birthday_12.html.

The difference is that this time Alissa turned into a big 5 year old! We are glad that she had so much fun last year, that she wanted to repeat it, and I love Build a Bear as well, so its all good. She also chose to bring her sib's along this time too, which they all enjoyed.

The day of her birthday, she got to open presents and have cake and ice-cream. Here she is getting ready to tear em' open! And pictures of her much anticipated loot.
Another Barbie Movie: The Three Musketeers.

My little pony

Little People camping set.

Alissa chose to have a Dalmatian puppy cake this time, which she also helped decorate like last year.

The next day, we were off to finish celebrating. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera for the restaurant and bear building experience. Zack was actually terrified of the restaurant the whole time, and wouldnt eat (with the thunder and all). But he was loving cleaning his own little dog in the air bath at Build a Bear. Alissa had this Polar Bear picked out before hand from looking online. She added a growl and a stylish fur coat to keep her warm at the Antarctic (not shown here). Her name is Angel.

Katelin, Alissa, and Madi with their new pets. Zack did not want his picture taken, but he got a mini replica of Alissa's pick last year. Here you can see Angel's coat.

We hope Alissa had as much fun this year as last. She can be our families little drama queen, but she is also super sweet, and loves to cuddle and give hugs. This week she cant stop telling me she loves me...maybe she is buttering me up for something, but its okay. She is super smart and knows exactly what she wants and definitely goes for it. She loves fashion...dressing up and picking out her own clothes for the day. She loves getting new clothes and stuffed animals. She has so many "pets", I think they are starting to push her out of her bed at night. We are happy to have Alissa in our family and experience all that she has to offer.

Now for a 3 week birthday break!