Skype. It's a Wonderful Thing.

Just thought we needed a picture of
Nathan Fillion being adorable here.

The big news this week is that we Skyped with Megan this morning (which is why there's no letter from her). We chatted for nearly two hours, were loud and crazy, got to meet her host sister Sanjna (I think), and basically enjoyed talking face-to-face with Megan again.

Some things that haven't made it into her letters/posts yet.... (Megan will have to correct me if I get this wrong....) She thought she was lazy and lived a slow life. It's nothing like what it's like there. That, and her whole schedule is about three hours later. Breakfast at 10, dinner at 8, bed at 2 a.m. And there's so much downtime. (Which is also a cause of boredom on her end.) They don't let her out of her sights, so she really is safe. But that's also a complaint on her end; she'd like to be a little less taken care of and be able to explore some. She is picking up some Hindi, though she says her teacher gets frustrated because Megan's really bad at languages. She knows how famous people feel now, because not only is she really guarded, everywhere she goes, she's got the "paparazzi" in her face, taking pictures. She's also learned the best way to eat spicy food: mix it in with lots of rice (she's eaten more rice in the last month than she has in her whole life, she said), scoop it up, and swallow it as fast as possible. Oh, and they think this soup with prawns and oysters is what caused her allergic reaction. Stay away from shellfish.

That said, she seems to be doing well. She and Sanjna had a good rapport going, and were quite cute together (sorry, I am the mom. I'm entitled to think this way). And she already has tons of stories to tell (which, per Madsen protocol, is the Most Important Thing). She said she's been going with the flow for the most part, and she thinks that she'll be traveling some after Diwali, which is next week, getting out to see different parts of the country/Rotary District, in November and December. That'll be different, at least.

Afterwards, we all asked if we were doing  okay. Caitlyn says she doesn't think her relationship with Megan has changed; it's just that she can't go hang out in Megan's room and talk for hours anymore. Alison says she only misses Megan because the rest of us aren't nerdy enough. Kristen's says she doesn't notice Megan's gone (sorry!). What I really want is information, so as long as there's communication on her end, I'm okay. It's when she's offline for a long time that I start getting anxious. Russell said he didn't feel like he was talking to his daughter, but rather some other grown up. I guess that's a sign your oldest is moving on.

The rest of the week was normal. We did have our combined ward trunk-or-treat last night. Alison and Kristen had fun running around, and basically had cupcakes for dinner (since there was no ketchup for the chili). Caitlyn hung around me and talked the whole night. She was a bit disappointed that no one got her costume, but then, when you're a character from a popular, but not mainstream, TV show, I think that's to be expected. I was a bit disappointed that my minion costume didn't work out. It made me a little sad.

We've been really busy, though, with running around. Even though the weather's been nice, we haven't had the time to get outside and do the work necessary for winter. (And rumor has it it'll be a snowy winter. Then again, the meterologists are only right 50% of the time. Right?) Maybe this coming week. It's hard to believe it's almost November. I always start to panic a bit around this time until I get a plan for Christmas. Then I'm good. I think I'm just about there.

Costume Time

It was the Trunk or Treat tonight, so it was the initial testing of our costumes.

Alison was the Avengers. (Yes, ALL of them.)

Caitlyn was Castiel from Supernatural. She was amazed that Elder Kempler (he's new) had a tie the EXACT right color.

Kristen was going to be someone from Percy Jackson but changed last minute and wanted to be a "modern" vampire. Thank heavens she doesn't know about Twilight, and didn't want to be sparkly.

And I was going to go as a minion, but couldn't find overalls. So I needed something last minute. And Caitlyn suggested this. My shirt says "Error 404 Costume not found." It got a smile out of people.

A New 'Do

Alison's friend Clarissa came to piano with pink-dyed ends on her hair, which Alison just loved. Clarissa said it was really easy and just done with KoolAid. And so, Alison decided that what she really needed was to die a blue strip in the front of her hair. So, Clarissa came over today to help her.

First you have to mix two packets of Koolaid with a cup full of boiling water.

Then tie off the part of your hair you want to color.

And soak it in the KoolAid mixture for about 10 minutes.

Alison got a neck cramp.

Then take it out and rinse it out with cold water.

Blow dry.

And voila! Cool hair.

She's quite happy with the way it turned out.

French Silk Pie

A while back, Caitlyn discovered that she liked French Silk Pie. I don't know why we never figured this before; it's essentially just fancy chocolate pie. So, she asked for it for treat one week. I couldn't find a recipe fast enough, and so we just bought one, which she deemed no good. This past week, she asked for it again, and specifically requested that I find a recipe to make it from scratch. I just looked a recipe up on the internet, and it turned out pretty well. It's not as fluffy as I would like it, though. I don't know if it was that I didn't beat the eggs enough, or if a different recipe would work better.

I didn't get a picture before everyone ate it.

1 9-inch pie filing, cooked and cooled
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the sugar with an electric mixer until light colored and well blended. Stir in the thoroughly cooled chocolate, and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 5 minutes on medium speed after each addition. Spoon the chocolate filling into a cooled, baked pie shell.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

A bit of fun

So I uploaded the pictures to Google+ and discovered that they automatically make Gifs. These make me happy.

Dad, you have an awesome camera.

Only the Good Stuff

Because this week was just that bad.

 

Despicable Me 2: was hilarious. There was pretty much no plot, but it didn't matter. It provided the laughs I/we needed.

 

Much Ado About Nothing (the modern one): for the second time. I enjoyed it, even if Russell and Caitlyn found fault with it.

 

Yesterday was gorgeous, and we got some work in the yard done.

 

I went out to help Caitlyn's girl scout troop at their Haunted walk, but it turned out I wasn't needed. I stayed and went through the walk with them anyway. Caitlyn and I had fun being Not Scared. (Well, I did get scared once because they grabbed my foot. But that's it.)

 

Reading House of Hades. (I'm almost done, Megan. Promise.)

 

The Primary Program. The kids did really well, and I was proud of them. So I made them cookies.

 

Making a French Silk Pie from scratch for the first time.

 

And that's about it.

The St. Louis Zoo

We went to St. Louis last weekend. Mostly to see Rick Riordan (post on that here), but also to see my sister and her family and my parents! We went to the temple:

We swam some, and ate lots, and played games, and talked. But on Saturday morning, we went to the ZOO. (One of the girls commented, "It's been FOREVER since we've been to the zoo!") And it's a fantastic zoo.

We saw giant sharks:

Lots of Halloween decorations:

 Talked to seals:

Rode the carousel:

Talked to orangutans:

Watched a really cool seal show:

Rode the train:

Climbed statues:

And basically had a grand time with grandparents!

 It was so much fun!

Thoughts From a Dark Hotel Room

It's actually not that early in the morning -- 7:15 -- but Caitlyn and Kristen are still asleep, and Alison's taking a bath, and I figured instead of lying awake in the dark, I'd get a letter written before the drive back home today.  But, since I don't sleep well in hotels (but I got 5 hours last night, which is better than the previous night's 3), this might be rambling and incoherent. I apologize in advance.

The main reason why we came -- the Rick Riordan event -- was awesome. We showed up at the site a half hour before the event, and the line was already halfway around the building. I knew it would be; I meant to ask the first people in line what time they got there, but never did. Once we got in, we had  an hour to wait -- Alison and Caitlyn started reading while we did; Kristen complained of being bored. Alison also started complaining of a headache. Someday -- I don't know when -- I will remember her tendency to get dehydrated and when we go outside all day (more on that later), I will remember to push water for her. Yesterday was not that day. Alison, however, was a trooper and 1) made it through the event and had a good time and 2) saved her throw up until we got going in the car. Poor girl.

Anyway. Rick Riordan is a blast. Seriously. He had a terrifically entertaining presentation; he's funny, he's a good storyteller (not just a writer), and he kept us all laughing as he told about his process (we got to see pictures of him as a kid. Not pretty. :-D) of becoming a writer. I still regret that we didn't go see him 7 years ago before he got HUGE, but I'm glad we did get to see him at least once. Also: I wish it had gone longer. Oh, and Kristen got lucky and won an official tshirt. She picked a Camp Jupiter one.

The rest of the day we spent with my parents and sister who (happily) decided to join us here in St. Louis. We went to the St. Louis zoo, which is totally and completely awesome, and spent 5 hours there. I'm not sure we saw a lot of the zoo -- in fact, I know we didn't -- but we had a grand time. We rode the carousel twice, saw a really fun sea lion show, looked at animals, climbed a huge hill (I pushed my mom up in a wheelchair; it was my workout for the day), rode the train, and basically exhausted ourselves. Afterward, we drove around Forrest Park for an hour until we found a picnic spot. It was a gorgeous day for a picnic, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Friday, we went to the temple, and Caitlyn was a wonderful human being and babysat her sisters and 4 year old cousin for four hours while we went. (It took longer because I missed the exit coming home and it took forever to find a place to turn around!). It was nice going with my family.

The rest of the week pales in comparison. We had the sister missionaries over on Thursday (Russell spent the weekend in Texas at a conference, which he says was enjoyable, but exhausting) and made our Halloween Haunted Houses. We made a HUGE mess, but Kristen and Sister McDermott made a really awesome house. The rest of us were in awe and they were justifiably proud of it. And I had parent-teacher conferences for Kristen and Alison on Wednesday. I know my kids are awesome, but it's really nice to hear other people say it sometimes.

And the rest of the week was, well, uneventful. We've got a drive to get home, and the kids are all tired from everything we did, and while it's been a FANTASTIC weekend, it'll be good to be home to our home and own beds.

Halloween Haunted Houses

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner last week, and I was just planning on having dinner with them. But Alison and Kristen said that we HAD to have the sisters help us build our Halloween Haunted Houses because they'd NEVER gotten to do it, and we ALWAYS have the missionaries help. So I ran to the store and picked up supplies. And... well... we made a mess.

We turned out some pretty rocking houses though. Especially Kristen and Sister McDermott. Their house was awesome. Everyone else paled in comparison. But we all had fun. And ate a lot of candy, which is really the important part.

Kristen/Sister McDermott's house is the one on the left.
Alison and Sister Thompson's is on the right.

Caitlyn's is on the left; mine on the right.

It must be Halloween.

Only 79 Days Until Christmas

(Caitlyn objects to my subject line. She says "BUT... HALLOWEEN!")

It was another one of our busy weeks, but we have no idea what happened at the end of it. I was going to put up a Halloween display at work this week, since it's October and all, but was overruled by my bosses due to a couple of events that we had at the store last week. Oh, well. There's still four weeks till Halloween. (Speaking of which, I need to get moving on costumes.)

The big Events this week were Caitlyn trying out for Rock Band, which (for the second year in a row), she didn't make. She's convinced the band teacher hates her. Maybe it's something else. Aside from the tears on Friday (and thanks to advice from Wendy!), she's going to go ask him why. Maybe he'll say "Because", but maybe he'll actually come up with some helpful critiques. Either way, it's a learning experience, and she's doing better now.

Part of our heartbreak therapy on Friday night was watching Rock of Ages. It's a stupid movie, really, but I enjoyed belting out ALL of the songs along with. Ah, 1980s rock music. Takes me back. Caitlyn spent the movie laughing at me. That's what I'm there for.

Wednesday night, I dragged Kristen and Alison to an author event for Shannon Messenger. I'm not a big fan of her books, but I like supporting the kids author stuff at the store (though I didn't go to one yesterday because 1) it's an actor's book and I have issues with that, and 2) General Conference). Anyway, I'm glad I did. The girls were the only kids there, and they asked good questions. (Kristen: "How old are you?" Shannon Messenger: "I'm 31.That means I'm old." Kristen: "My mom is 41. You're not old.") And Shannon was really quite adorable. So, it was a good time all around.

Thursday was Caitlyn's choir concert. There are videos up of a couple of her favorite songs.

And we've spent the weekend watching Conference. I did get some cleaning done, and even though we should have worked in the yard (it's been a couple of gorgeous Kansas fall days), we didn't. It won't happen next week, either, since we'll all be off in different directions. I'm sure the yard will survive (I hope). And Russell and I watched Hitchcock last night. The best parts were the beginning and ending, when they riffed on the TV series. But it was fascinating. Good drama, not good history, though.

P. S. The picture is for those of you who aren't on Facebook. I haven't heard from Megan since Friday when she put this up -- we were supposed to Skype this morning, but she was a no show. Sick, maybe? -- so I don't know the story behind it. But she does look wonderful in a sari.

Caitlyn's Choir Concert

It's that time of year again.

This one's "Why We Sing." (Yes, the altos really are that loud. Caitlyn says the sopranos are wimps.)


And this one's the Crawdad Song. I tried to get the speaking parts, but I wasn't fast enough.