It's a PJ Day!

No need to change into jammies tonight (I lounged in them all day!!) Pinterest friends probably guessed that!

Family Photo Merge

Playing around with photo merge on the 3DS . . . amazing -- merging mine and Amanda’s or Jeremy’s faces makes no change to the picture! It’s like we’re triplets. But putting Bill or J in the mix really messes things up!

You Better Watch Out!

I’m not complaining about good behavior . . . but I did finally ask J why he can’t be as good for Jesus as he is for Santa!

I Caught Santa on Video Too!

Believe forever!  ELF CAM

I Caught Santa Tonight!

Eeeeekkk! A Mouse!

Eeeeekkk! A mouse! I should have believed J. when he insisted he saw a “big black spider crawling really fast across the kitchen floor!”

I don't know how long I screamed -- but both boys ran out of the room and I later found them standing on my bed with hands covering their ears!

Of course, I called our assitant at work -- she knows how to fix everything! "Lay a paper bag on the floor with crackers or chips in it. When the mouse runs in -- stand it up, fold the top, and put him outside." !!!Oh, I forgot about being humane in a situation like this!!!

Home Alone Renewed!

“Guys, I’m eating junk and watching rubbish!” (and enjoying my six-year-old as he discovers Home Alone!)

Breakfast with Santa

Please! I Just Want a Not-Sexy Witch Costume

Finally stumbled upon . . . “We think it’s cool that there’s one day a year when people can dress up as anything they want. What we don’t think is cool is that increasingly women are only supposed to dress up as one thing: “Sexy _____” (fill in the blank). Sexy Nurse, Sexy Cowgirl, Sexy whatever.” . . . so I excitedly peruse the site – only to find – How to dress up as Emma Goldman, Lise Meitner, or Susan B. Anthony! Please, I just want a not-sexy witch!

Spooktacular Family Fun

Thanks Burr Family for this year's spooktacular Halloween carnival! We have so much fun with cousins! I completely enjoyed the party planning -- collecting ideas on PINTEREST and spinning them into our own fun! Check out some of them here http://twists-and-spins.blogspot.com

Ray Mine in Kearny AZ

It's a "mini" Kennecott! This is Bill's connection to Salt Lake City. He was born in the town of Ray, situated somewhere in the middle of these heaps. When he was in grade school, the entire town moved to the newly established Kearny (so the mine could expand). His father became a Kennecott executive -- so the family moved to Salt Lake City for Bill's 5th thru 10th grades, back to Kearny to finish high school, then later back to SLC to attend U of U.

Bill has fond memories: When I was a kid I didn't have any toys. We made our own fun by throwing rocks and wading in the runoff water of the tailing ponds. Well actually, I had one toy -- my sister's doll.

The Scarlet B

I can't quite convince Amanda that a US history vaction to DC would be fun. However, she believes a Salem Witch Trial history vacation for Halloween is to die for! She finds it fascinating! As we were discussing it last week, I encouraged her to read one of my favorites The Scarlet Letter.

Yesterday, with Hester Prynne still lingering in my thoughts, I stumbled upon Bill's 7th Great-Grandmother Katherine Aines living in Plymouth in 1656/57. She was an outsider, living among Puritans. She came from Ireland as an indentured servant, presumably after Cromwell overtook the Isle. Her husband Alexander Aines, a Scot, survived the Battle of Dunbar and the Death March to Durham Cathedral, and was shipped to the New World with a thousand other prisons of war to labor in the ironworks.

In March 1657 Katherine was publicly whipped for adultery and sentenced to wear a red capital B on her upper garment. If she were ever found without it, she would be whipped again. The B was for Blasphemy. Her husband was also punished -- sentenced to the stockades for "leaving his family and exposing his wife to such tempations."

Romantic literature brought to life! Hmmm . . . blasphemy, rather than adultery, was her mark. She obviously spoke her mind! I imagine she pronounced her accusers' feined piety and foretold their now infamous hypocrisy! I wonder if she mocked their sentence with elaborate embroidery. I must find more!

Bill would rather close the door on this skeleton -- he obviously hasn't read Hawthorne!