Weekly letter Oct. 23 plus some pictures

Hi everyone,
Here are the high (and low) lights of the week:

1. The primary program was today. The boys all had a part. Joseph gave one of the talks he gave in primary last June, Mosey had a part that he memorized, and Brigham played a violin solo-- "Praise to the Man." They all did a great job. I commented to Ben as they were up there about how far Joseph has come from 4 years ago when he first of all refused to go up there for the program, and then when we sternly "encouraged" him to go up there, he did and then hid under the sacrament table. I guess they do grow up. :-) Not only did Joseph very happily go up there, he actively volunteered to read a second part originally supposed to be given by a boy who couldn't come at the last minute. Mosey is fun to watch up there. He is an enthusiastic singer, and so cute. Brigham did a super job on his violin solo. I guess he got a lot of compliments-- he told me after church, "I feel like I'm famous now!" Joseph and Brigham are among the "big kids" up there.  How can it be that they have only 1 more primary program?! :-(

2. I finished the boys' costumes! They turned out really well I think. I don't have pictures yet, so you'll have to wait until next week. They took a long time to make. My problem is that I am not a very fast sew-er. And I'm a perfectionist. Those two qualities combine to turn any sewing project I do into a bigger production than it ought to be. The more time I spend on a project, the more perfectionistic I become ("I've already spent this long on it, it better be perfect!"). Anyway, after a week of late nights and blowing through 3 audio books, they are finished! The boys really like them. I have gotten a lot of "These are the best costumes we've ever had, mom," which makes it worth it. And the boys get a lot of use out of costumes because they actually use them!

3. The boys had their Halloween piano recital yesterday. Joseph played "Theme from E.T.," Brigham played "Harry's Wondrous World," and Mosey played his own arrangement of 3 Halloween songs, entitled "No Moon for a Witch and a Mouse." It was his first piano recital! And I didn't even get to see it.  The Halloween recital is only for students. :-)

4. Ben fixed the garbage disposal. I never knew how much we rely on a garbage disposal (or at least 2 functioning sinks) until ours broke. The boys and I did a science experiment making a homemade battery with pennies, aluminum foil, and salt water. The battery worked, and then the salt-encrusted pennies got put into a cup of water to soak. Then the cup of pennies accidentally got dumped down the sink. Ben thought he got all the pennies, but apparently one lodged inside the garbage disposal, jamming it up. But Ben put on his Mr. Fix-it hat, took the garbage disposal out from under the sink, found the rogue penny, pried it out, and then successfully put everything back where it goes. My hero!

5. My car broke. Well, it didn't actually break, but it came close. Apparently there is some part that provides pressure to both the steering and brake fluids, and it cracked. It started making a funny sound a couple of weeks ago, and steadily got worse until by Wednesday I did not dare drive it anymore. And it's a good thing I didn't, because if that part had fully broken, the steering and the brakes would have gone out. And that would have been a very bad thing. It's unfortunately an expensive fix, around $1,000, but that's how it goes. I'm really glad it didn't totally break on me while I was driving. Ben took it to the shop yesterday morning, and they ought to have been finished with it by yesterday afternoon, but they got the wrong part and now it won't be done until Monday. Grrr. We'll have to skip TKD, and reschedule flute lessons. There's never a good time to not have a car.

6. Related to #4, Ben played chauffeur for us yesterday. He got up at 7:00 to take the car to the shop, jogged home, drove the boys to the piano recital, drove me to a baby shower, drove to Target to buy some gift cards for me to give as a present for the baby shower (like I said, I hadn't dared drive since Wednesday, and so I hadn't purchased a gift), then drove back to the baby shower to give it them to me, then drove over to pick up the boys from the recital, and drove back to pick me up from the shower. Then an hour and a half later he drove me and the boys up to a park so I could visit teach while our kids played. He went to Best Buy to look at laptops, and then drove back to pick us up. Then it was back home for quick baths for the boys (at the park, they took turns completely-- totally and utterly-- burying each other in the gravel under the swing set. They got very dirty. :-)), and then he drove the boys over to Traci's apartment where she took them to go to the "Boo at the Zoo," a fun haunted zoo thing at the Austin Zoo. Ben and I drove around for a while trying to think of what to do with no kids (it doesn't happen often, and our minds went blank!) before deciding to split a veggie burger at The Cheesecake Factory and then go to the grocery store. It was apparently Homecoming for one of the local high schools, so the place was overrun by gangly teenage boys and appallingly skimpily dressed teenage girls. I can't understand how any parent-- especially any father-- can allow their daughters to go out like that! Even if you have no moral standards of modesty, it defies sense that any parent can think it's OK for their minor daughters to go out in public like that!
Ben and I talked about whether or not the secularizing trend in the western world can be reversed, and if so, what it would take for that to happen. I wonder similarly if the sexualizing trend in our American society can be reversed. Preferably in the next couple of years before my boys reach puberty. :-)


Well, that's it for tonight. I'm going to try to get more than 4 hours of sleep a night, which is about what I averaged last week.
I hope everyone had a great week!

Love,
Gabrielle

We put up our Halloween decorations last week.  Mosey got my witch's hat out of the box and sported it while doing his math homework.  :-)

Cute witch!

Mosey likes to do his schoolwork in interesting places.  On the stairs, on the floor, sitting on top of the table (if I don't catch him doing it first).
Here he is doing some history narration while standing on the couch.  Whatever works!

One of the boys' favorite computer games (and Ben's too), is Civilization.  Recently a friend of ours gave the boys the most recent version, Civilization V, about which I have mixed feelings.  Among computer games, it is pretty good.  It's a game of strategy, it incorporates elements and characters from history, and there is no graphic violence (there are armies that destroy each other, but it's along the lines of Risk).  But it is a computer game, and it's no substitute for regular play or reading.  Played in moderation I think it is fine.  But Brigham loves, loves, loves that game, and, like his dad, can get lost in it for hours.  I have to watch him closely.  :-)  But look how happy he is playing it!


Here are videos of the boys playing their Halloween songs and wearing their new costumes.