Pumpkin Patch time! This year we had so much going on the day of the Cal Poly Pumpkin Patch that I was afraid we weren't going to make it. We left the house at 7:30am to get to the Patch in time. We had so much fun picking out our pumpkins. We had to hurry since Preston had a soccer game (we skipped Chloe's and Derek's games). Preston didn't want to miss his game since his coach had promised to let the boys spray her hair with blue spray if they won. Since they have never lost yet....they were sure they'd be able to do it. Also, Preston's team had a pizza party after the game. Here are some cute pumpkin pictures for you to enjoy!!!
Farnsworth Kids at the Patch:
Derek and Chloe have MUSCLES!
"Look guys, a watermelon!"---Silly Derek!
Searching for a pumpkin can be so confusing...which to choose....
Perfection found at last! Doug snapped this pic at just the right time.
"Ugh...it's heavier than I thought...I can do it..."
Preston and his prize pumpkin.
Sweet pumpkin kisses from Derek. Aww, too cute.
Chloe found a walking stick to help her walk in the patch.
There was a lot of orange to see at Cal Poly.
A few years ago my family was privileged to "gain" a new member of our family. Jared Cass came to live with us. Jared quickly became my kids' best buddy. Over time he found his place in our family. Today he is serving a mission for our church in Italy. I couldn't be more proud.
Jared has been gone for over a year and still has 8 months before he returns. Our kids talk about Jared all the time. Tonight, at the dinner table they were offering cheers (with goldfish crackers). The first "cheers" was for good health (offered by Chloe). Health is something that little one doesn't take for granted and is usually her first "toast." Derek then toasted to Jared being on a mission to be happy. This gave me goose bumps all over. Because right now Jared isn't too happy. Life sometimes gets us down and our human communication issues sometimes feed into that. This is what has been happening to Jared. Poor kid. I know I have been frustrated with communication issues while he has been out on a mission too. We (our family) has sent him packages that he has never gotten. This has been a BIG frustration to me. Especially since they cost us an arm and leg to send. Anyway, when Derek said that Jared was on a mission to be happy it got me thinking. Happiness is His plan ultimately. Being on a mission and acting as Him is and does make you happy. Jared is on a mission to be happy. I know Jared's mood of being sad will be over soon. In fact, it probably already is. It makes me sad that he isn't here and that we don't have immediate contact (communication) with him to make it all better.
Jared has missed quite a bit at home since he's been gone. He's missed "his baby" (Derek) start soccer, learn to write, ride a bike without training wheels, do flips on the trampoline, his 3rd and 4th birthdays, etc. Jared wasn't here for Preston's baseball season, soccer, star student award, cool tricks on his bike at skate parks, getting glasses, his 7th birthday, etc. Since Jared has been gone Chloe has started school, learned to tie shoes, learned to write her name and sentences, paint really well, sing, transform her room, turned 5, cracked her skull, etc. Jared has indeed missed a lot while he's been away. We have missed him for sure. But we are glad he is where he is. We wouldn't have it any other way. So it's bittersweet.
Today I asked the kids about Jared. I asked each of them what their favorite thing about Jared was.
Derek said "He's happy and he laugh and laugh. He throw me way high and we laugh."
Chloe replied, "He hugs me and calls me princess. He loves my heart and my drawings."
Preston said, "Heavenly Father told him to go on a mission and he is. He is helping other citizens know about Jesus. I also love when he plays baseball with me and takes me for ice cream."
So sweet. They love him so much. He is their brother.
Tonight I am missing him (and thinking I have a lot of scarpbooking to do for him). So, I will do one of our lil traditions this Sunday night. I will make hot chocolate and sip it while watching our show Jared. Cheers to Jared for serving in Italy!
Well it is that time of year again. The time where we all may steal someone else's identity for an entire day. The Farnsworth children have chosen their alter egos and can hardly stand the excitement.
Preston will be
He is so excited to be Harry Potter. He has the robe, tie, wand, and glasses. Preston has been playing "Harry Potter" a lot lately. He is very much a Griffyndor fan.
Chloe originally wanted to be Cinderella AGAIN. Hasn't she been Cinderella 100 times already? Jeepers. I have been trying to talk her out of being Cinderella for so long now! But no, she wasn't having any of it. SO today we trucked her down to the Disney store. She was really upset that they only had one pair of "glass" slippers in her size and they were BROKEN. They didn't light up---tragic, I know. Chloe said that she was not going to be Cinderella unless she could have working light up shoes. Hurray! So I took her to a "costume store" (Party City). I figured they had tons of costumes and she could at least decide what she wanted to be. She had no clue what she could possibly be. At Party City I pointed at several costumes and asked if she wanted to be them, nope. Tey all had somethhing wrong with them. "Eww that is just too ugly mom." "Mom, no way, I am NOT being a bug (it was a bee)" "Sick, I would never wear yarn hair."-That was for Raggedy Ann. Anyway, I was starting to lose hope and march her straight back to the Disney store when I hear, "Oh, my, gosh!! Mom, Are these gold sparkly pants to die for, or what?" Gold sparkly pants, you just can't pass those up right?
And so Chloe will be
Sharpay from High School Musical. Chloe is so excited. She keeps telling everyone that she wants FABULOUS just like Sharpay and so it's perfect that she is being her for Halloween cause she is almost her in real life anyway. Yep, our Chloe. Ah, it's no wonder that at times we are glad we only have one girl.
Derek knew what he wanted to be the minute he saw his costume in late August. Yes, that's right. We bought his costume in August. Before school started. He knew and we couldn't chance them not having anymore in his size. The costume suits him well.
Derek will be
A monkey! Shocked? Yeah right. The child LOVES Curious George and acts like a monkey all the time. Now he gets to be one!
Now Douglas just needs a costume. he promised me he would dress up this year (he has NEVER dressed up for Halloween since we've been married). This is HUGE people. What should he be? He wanted to be a flasher but I vetoed that one. Geez. So what do you think? Give us your suggestions!!!!
Oh, for those who don't know I have two costumes Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella so I will be one of those. Again. And I do have the light up shoes. And they work. Just in case you were wondering.
A few days ago (Monday to be exact) Douglas went to LA and auditioned for Hell's Kitchen. This was at an open casting call were about 350-400 people showed up. He had to fill out a 12+ page application and wait and wait and wait. Then Doug was interviewed. Douglas was asked to come back the next day (Tuesday) dressed in a Chef coat and ready to be on camera. On Tuesday, Doug went back and they filmed him answering questions. They took a 20 minute interview and will rewatch it making notes for the editing team. The editing team takes all the 20 minute interviews and cuts them down to 5 minutes. Once the Associate Producer collects all the condensed videos from around the US (they have lots more stops-this was their first casting call I think) she meets with the Executive Producer of the show to view them. They then select a handful (50-60) people to move on to the next round. It sounds as though Doug has a fair chance of making it to the next round. Let's keep our fingers crossed. If he does make it we will know by the frist 2 weeks of November. We will know by the end of the first week in December if he is on the cast for the new season. Filming is set for the first quarter of 2009 so it will be sometime between January and March. If Doug is on the show he will be gone for 5 weeks!
Anyway, we are excited that he had the chance to go. Who knows what could happen? And if e doesn't make it on (and have the chance to earn his potential dream job) then at least he had fun trying out. So many people have said he should be on that show (one of my friends was actually going to try to sign him up for it). So now we can say that he did try!
Preston is very excited at the prospect of his Dad being on TV. He has taken it upon himslef to inform the entire student body of Sierra Vista Elementary. He knows a lot of people too (remember he was nicknamed "the kindergarten president" after his very first day of school ever). Chloe thinks it's pretty cool too though she wanted to know if SHE could be on TV. Yep, that's Chloe right? Then there's Derek. He's a little confused about what being on TV means. He thought it meant you were inside the TV stuck! Pretty funny huh?
I hope he has the chance to make it on. I think he would do very well. Doug is very competitive and would LOVE to create fine dining masterpieces again. He would be on fire and have the chance to show really what he is capable of. Doug would love to one day be the Executive Chef at a Michelin Star restaurant.
Grr! Come on White Lightening GO!
Doug watching the game intently:
Preston as a defender:
Chloe playing soccer:
Chloe's team banner:
We are soccer fans right now. The Lil Cupcakers are learning how to play soccer. They improve with each game. They are learning how to be good sports too (they have yet to win a game). Preston's team White Lightening is doing great! They are undefeated! Derek's "team" is awesome! We are enjoying our soccer season. When does it end again? JK. Enjoy the pictures!
Doing Cheers with everyone!
Melanie and I have been doing alot of activities together. Our kids love it! We love it! The kids feel like they each got to have a friend over when Melanie and her crew come over to visit. They especially like going places with her. I have really liked it because I can be alone with the kids for looonnnggg periods of time while Doug works and I crave adult interaction. Melanie has filled that void. But Melanie has been more than just a casual friend. We have become the Best of Friends lately and I really enjoy hanging out with her and her kids. They are great kids. Derek says Cole is his BFF even! Melanie's good friend James Yee likes spending time with all the crazy kids too. We were lucky enough to have him treat us to Kings Fish house in celebration of Melanie's birthday! The best part was that Doug had no idea we were coming. Preston, Chloe, and Derek thought it was the COOLEST thing ever to surprise DADDY at work! Doug was indeed surprised to see us there. Even though dining with 6 kids can be quite the experience the kids were pretty good and didn't even embarrass Doug--too much. LOL. What is also cute is that Preston and Taylor have been best friends since Kindergarten. Preston's two best friends are still Kai and Taylor.
James Yee, Cole, Preston, Taylor, Derek, and Chloe
Chloe, Taylor, Shauna, and Melanie
Taylor and Preston
My favorite story about Preston and Taylor:
One extremely hot day in the summer we all went to Raging Waters together. After setting up camp in the Kiddie Zone area and playing contently for awhile, Melanie and I decided to take turns taking Taylor and Preston on "big kid" slides while the other watched the little ones. Melanie took the two of them first. They went on a couple of slides and came back. My turn to take them. Yipee! Okay, so they wanted to go on Thunder Rapids. This slide is really a fun one, very popular too though, so the line was monstrous. While we were waiting in line the kids just started talking and playing and I just listened. They talked about Indiana Jones and Star Wars and then they started talking about the slide. Taylor wanted top know if Preston thought it was scary. Preston, the big tough-talker that he is reassured Taylor that he was NEVER afraid on this ride. But Preston did say that a couple of times before he almost fell out of the tube and probably would've surely fallen to his death if he had. We all know how Preston can tell tall tales. So Taylor starts to look a little concerned. "Well, if I get scared or you start to fall off the tube we could just hold hands Preston," Taylor suggested. Preston though about it and then screamed at the top of his lungs, "WE ARE NOT IN LOVE TAYLOR. WE DO NOT HOLD HANDS." Everyone in line cracked up and the two of them were so embarrassed. Ahh, kids.
On Friday night I was being such a great, attentive mother. I knew each of my 3 kids had their first soccer game the following day so I prepped them for bed early.....which was right on time for them, early for everyone else. Preston's coach had called to make sure he was going to be there to play and to remind me to feed him a nutritious breakfast.
Saturday came a little too early for me. I was still pretty tired and slow going until a bouncy 5 year old came into my room. Suddenly I was energized and just as excited as she was for the day's events. First things first, we tackled Chloe's hair. She is very particular about her hair (as I am too). Just because she was about to run around more than ever, did not mean she couldn't look fabulous while kicking a goal. Chloe decided she wanted her hair in just one braid. I pulled her hair back, fishtail braided it, and placed it in a bun. After securing the ribbons in her hair she was ready to wake up everyone else. Douglas made the kids eggs, whole wheat pancakes (with sugar free syrup ofcourse), and chocolate milk. See what great parents we are? Geez.
Chloe and I left for her game after that. The boys were planning on joining us after they got cleaned up a bit. Chloe's game was at 8:45am. When we first got to the AYSO fields there were many soccer games already in play. I did not see her coach or anyone from her team though. I did see a few of my friends and spoke with them a little bit. After about 10 minutes (I had gotten to the field a half hour early) I started to panic. Still no one from the Lil Cupcakers team in sight. Surely I had the right times written down in my planner? Maybe it was Preston's game first. I ran to the upper fields to check. Nope. Hmmm. Just be patient Shauna. So we waited some more. I was becoming more and more nervous. Flashes of Chloe's practices kept flooding my mind and I began to think.....can she really play? Does she even know what to do? Her practices had been kind of a joke. Lots of giggling girls talking, sitting round, and way too many water breaks. Not much soccer going on. Hmmm, where WAS everyone? Finally at 8:45am (when her game was supposed to start) her coach showed up. A few minutes later teammates began showing up. Chloe's game ended up starting a few minutes late.
The Assistant Coach placed the girls in formation on the field. My favorite part was after they had all been placed a girl turned to the coach and asked, "Now what to we do again?" My thoughts EXACTLY. These girls had never actually played before. This was going to be insanely funny. The Coach told them to run and kick the ball into the net. She showed them which net. We were set. The game started and the Dolphins ran down the field with the ball. They kicked a goal. Our Lil Cupcakers stayed right where they were and did NOTHING. Not a single one moved. The coach said, "Go get the ball. What happened? Why didn't you go get the ball?" Not missing a beat a cupcaker replied, "cause that girl had it. It wasn't my turn." The Assistant coach spent a little more time explaining and then they were off again. The dolphins scored another goal with ease. In the second half the game apparently started to make sense to our team. They actually chased the ball and kicked it a bit. Finally we were able to score a goal. Then the Dolphins scored again. Then something even more miraculous happened. The ball was near our goal, the Dolphins almost had another goal. Chloe kicked the ball in the other direction and ran toward the other goal. She was able to kick it all the way down the field. Another Cupcaker caught up to her right when she was at the goal and kicked the ball into the goal. Yay! Go Chloe! Our team lost 4 to 2 but at least the girls sort of figured out what to do in the end. Hopefully they will actually practice a bit more now. Chloe was excited that she kicked the ball all down the field.
Preston's game was next. Preston was so excited when he found out that he would be playing Kai's team. How cool is that? Their first soccer game and they got to play against each other. Preston's team had 3 players out of town so it ended up being 7 against 11. This made Preston have to run around a bit more than the other team. A quarter into the game I had to take Derek to his practice and then game on the south fields. I didn't get to see the rest of Preston's game but they ended up tying. Preston's team had kicked one of the goals into the wrong goal for one of the other team's points. Oh well. Live and learn huh? Preston can't wait until next week to play again.
Derek was so excited to be on a team. He loves his uniform and couldn't wait to play soccer. I took him to the practice and he LOVED it. He was doing good. Derek was such a good listener. The coach even singled him out and had him show everyone a certain stop trick. That's pretty good seeing as there are 40 on his "team." Anyway, after practice they divided the kids up for games. The games were 4 kids against 4. This is where things went South. Derek was on the third field. The coach put a red jersey on him and told him he was on the red team. Derek got angry. He didn't want the red thing on. He said it was too big (the shirt went down to his feet). I assured him he would be fine. Then they got started. Derek got mad that he wasn't using his ball. So he flopped himself on the grass (in the middle of the field) and cried. The coach tried to coax him to get up and play....no luck. The kids tried to get him to play....nope. I tried.....nope. He was just mad as ever and refused to do anything other than lay on the grass and cry. Great huh? So Derek did not play at all in his first game. Derek says he wants to play soccer still. He now says it's okay if he has to be red. And it is now okay if they don't use HIS ball. We will see if all this is true next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed......
Raising Funds
Chloe and Preston are trying really hard to sell items for their school fund raiser. They are trying to get to go to an Extreme Bash party. They each have to sell 15 items in order to go. They have gone to every neighbor that we know and have sold items. Chloe has sold 10 items and Preston has sold 4. I emailed our friends and family and asked for their support. I asked to please check out the fund raiser online and purchase items if they could. Preston has been checking online everyday (twice a day) to see if anyone has bought anything using his name for credit. No one has. He was very discouraged this morning. In his breakfast prayer he said, "Please bless that someone will love chloe and me so much that they will buy stuff and we could go to the party." Too funny huh? I had to let him know that people buy things from fund raisers when they want to or have extra money. It has nothing to do with loving the person selling it. Anyway, I promised him I would post it on my blog. So, since I haven't bugged you all enough (according to Preston), here it is again.
If you would like to support our fund raiser go to: http://www.sigfund.com and buy whatever. Then put Preston Farnsworth or Chloe Farnsworth for the student, Sierra Vista for the school and Upland CA for the city/Sate. Thank you and sorry if I am pestering.
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