We only had two kiddos interested in carving pumpkins this year. Between work and school, Nathan has been pretty busy, so he opted to skip the carving this time around. Matthew and Malia both chose designs that reflected their current joys. So of course, Malia chose a horse. Matthew chose a wacky music design-the alto clef. His costume is a random music reference as well, but I won’t spoil that one. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow. 😉
With Fridays being flexible learning days, they have kind of become pancake mornings of late. And since Halloween is tomorrow, today was pumpkin pancakes. We mixed it up this year by decorating them with some fantastic black cinnamon syrup. It was a bit harder to draw with than the Pinterest post would have led us to believe, but we managed to get a few identifiable shapes. It looked spooky and tasted amazing!
Today was round three of our Halloween themed FHE treats. Daniel came home this weekend, so we had our treat a day early so he could partake of the spooky goodness. Giant eyeballs are kind of a running gag over here, so it seemed fitting to add some eyeballs to our diet. Rice Krispy treats with some tasty add-ons meant they were simple to make, tasty, and as an added bonus, they made great photo props!
As a senior in high school and a kid who gets along better with people older than he is, Nathan has his eye firmly focused on college. While he still has credits to complete before he can graduate, he is filling out applications and making plans for the next step in his education. He is looking at a major in some kind of physics/applied mathematics field. His first-choice college is USU, which is convenient because he has a brother who is currently a student in the USU engineering department. Nathan is also very interested in continuing his music training and he happens to have a cousin who is a student in the USU vocal music department. With a couple of built-in tour guides, a day trip to check out the campus seemed in order.
Today he drove up and met up with Daniel. He saw the music hall and the engineering lab, asked a bunch of questions, met up with Josh (his cousin) for lunch and shakes and the creamery, and asked a bunch more questions. He came home more excited than ever. He feels at home on campus, which is always a good sign. He’s mentally ready to be there now, but he still has some time before he can start his college experience. He has already been in touch with the physics department about what classes he will need to take, how the major is set up, options to specialize as he completes the lower-level classes, etc. so he has an idea of where to start. Now he just has to complete the application process and actually be admitted. He’s a bit anxious about that part. I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting in due to his stellar academic record, but he still has to the jump the hoops.
Today was round two of my whimsical Halloween desserts. While Nathan and Malia chose to be surprised, Matthew wanted in on the secret, so he became my accomplice in baking. Between the two of us, we crafted a gory assortment of gingerdead men. No, that was not a typo. They were gingerdead…and so much fun to create! With all the drama surrounding the upcoming presidential election being a hot topic of conversation, Matthew felt it would be appropriate to add a politician to our assortment of well-baked humanoids. It definitely brought a little jollity to this much too somber since mid-March household. And anything that evokes laughter is well worth the time. 😊
Before the world went Covid crazy, it was my habit to meet my sister Rachael at our parents’ house for lunch on Wednesdays. It was a chance to have a nice, relaxing visit and to stay caught up on how everyone was doing. Since Covid hit, we have been skipping our lunches in order to prevent exposing the parental unit to the nasty virus. There have been several morning visits for me since summer mornings are cool enough that we can visit on the back deck, socially distance, and without me having migraine issues from the heat. And we did have one girls’ night on the deck a few weeks back. But today, with the cooler fall temperatures and all the kids on fall break, Rachael and I met with my parents for a nice backyard lunch before it gets too cold. Matthew and Malia were in attendance and were so glad for some time with their cousins. The regular visits with my family have been one of the things I’ve missed the most this year, so it was a good day.
A few weeks ago, Nathan submitted applications for Sterling Scholar. He was allowed to submit applications for up to three different categories, so he chose to apply for the award in math, music and science. Each student was only allowed to win in one category. The kids who submitted more than one application were asked to rate them in terms of which was their preferred and least preferred so that if they were being considered for more than one, the committee would know which category was more important to the students. Nathan chose math as his top choice, then science and music.
Nathan got some good news yesterday. He actually had the choir teacher congratulate him and when he looked confused, the teacher made him check his email…right now! So Nathan checked and discovered that he was the school Sterling Scholar in math. Needless to say, he was super excited! He honestly loves math. Not only does it come easily to him, but he gets so excited about it. He comes home and draws equations on my white board and talks about all the stuff that fascinates him. He is nearly giddy about it sometimes. It is actually really funny how excited he gets about it!
Today he got another bit of info. He is on very good terms with the majority of his teachers and as such, they share information with him that they would not usually share with a student. Apparently, he was the top choice in all three categories in which he applied, and they chose which award to give him based on his personal preference. This is definitely not information to share with other students, especially those who applied in the same categories, but talk about an ego stroke!
I’m so pleased with how well Nathan has done in school. He is a good student, he enjoys learning, and his enthusiasm for his favorite topics is so obvious. As someone who is a teacher by trade, having a student who is excited about learning is always enjoyable and never happens as often as you’d like. So I can see how he was at the top of the list three times.
As everyone who is not currently in a coma knows, this year has been different for many reasons. Now the holiday season is nearly upon us and it will also look different. The mass gatherings and large parties are on hold for now and while there are definitely things I’m looking forward to, it is not going to be exactly like normal. With these serious thoughts in the forefront of my mind, I have found myself in need of some whimsy. We generally take turns choosing our weekly FHE treat, but when I told my kids I intended to highjack the treat for the rest of the month, they responded with enthusiasm. They know me well. 😁
This evening held our first October treat surprise. The enjoyment I had in creating it was equaled by the enjoyment my family had in seeing them. And the enjoyment we all had in eating them was enormous. The original idea used chocolate chip cookies, but I think tossing frosting on a chocolate chip cookie ruins both the cookie and the frosting. And as much as I enjoy food that looks fantastic, it has to taste good too. So I discovered a no-roll sugar cookie recipe and it was delicious. It will most definitely be making repeat appearances in our treat rotation.
Our fang-tastic Dracula dentures were only the first holiday themed surprise on the docket. I’m so looking forward to the others!
1.When family picture time comes around, they don’t roll their eyes, they get excited.
2.If I suggest they do a picture wearing face masks to commemorate this year’s hottest fashion accessory, not only do they comply wholeheartedly, they spontaneously decide to do some very serious Kung Fu on Covid.
3.When they are not in front of the camera, every single one of them is behind a camera capturing shots like this:
4.Over lunch, we had a good discussion about general conference in which they all participated.
5.After being trapped in our house for half of this year, they still love each other…and mostly even still like each other. 😉
