The Seven of Us

Just a  couple of things I thought would be fun to read in a few years.  I was getting Corbin to bed and telling him a story when I asked him, "How would you take a bath without a tub or a shower in your house? " He said, "I would dig a hole in the dirt and put water in it!"  Then he said, "But it would get all muddy 'acause the water would evaporate and go down into the earth!" We were in the car one day when Corbin asked, "Who makes the weather?"   I said, "Heavenly Father."  He replied, "Well, does he sit at the computer and press buttons to do the rain and the wind?" [He'd been looking at the weather on Jared's laptop.] Here he is:  My weather-loving, question-asking,  park-going four and a half year-old.

No one in my family has ever been a missionary.  No one. Okay, I'm fibbing. Well, actually, I'm not. To the best of my knowledge, no one named Droddy has ever been a missionary.   Someone named Fredette was, though: my cousin Dan served in Spain and in  Kingman, Arizona during 1989-1990.  The story of his mission is inspiring: he reactivated himself, paid his own way, was sent home midway through to have surgery and returned to finish his mission.  That's pretty awesome, and I do not mean to discount his service just because he's named "Fredette".   In fact, my heart bursts with love for him and for his dad, who taught him the gospel but died when Dan was just eleven.  I really grew to love Dan when I was able to write to him on his mission and again at BYU, where we enjoyed Sunday nights in Sandy together with our family.  And he holds a special place in history for being the first (and so far the only) Fredette missionary...

Corbin loves preschool, but it was hard to tell what he thought of being in the Christmas program.  Initially he had a lot of fun standing next to his friends Zach and Milo.  He sang the songs as best he could.  But after ten minutes he was ready to be done.  Doesn't the photo below just seem to say, "Enough already"? s

Easy, Sugar Free Fudge 1/2 cup coconut oil 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (a glycemic index 26 points lower than sugar) 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp vanilla extract pinch of salt 4 tbsp (ish) evaporated milk (not in the original recipe - I added it to make it a little smoother) any nuts/berries, etc you choose Put everything in a blender and blend. Spread on some parchment paper and freeze a few hours. Enjoy. (Keep cold since coconut oil melts at 74*)

A few days before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. On Halloween night we trick-or treated at several houses.  Actually, an elderly neighbor lady had called asking if Caleb could do some raking for her, so he and Jared were doing that. Taylor was at the Haunted House, which left Kenna and I to trick or treat with the little guys.  Here are Kenna, Corbin and Isaac with our neighbor, Rosie. Isaac was Mario; Corbin was a cowboy (minus the hat), and Kenna was "smartie-pants".  The weather on Halloween was great.  We really like to get out and walk, see our friends and neighbors, and enjoy the evening.  The boys had a good time handing candy out at home.  I was also able to go to the FFA haunted house with Kenna and her friends.  Scary!

This fall Kenna played volleyball.  Isaac played soccer.   He's pretty intense about it.   Corbin liked playing on the track during football games.  Taylor played volleyball. Caleb was kicker and played on the offensive and defensive lines.   He did an excellent job blocking. I always feel awful for the kids he hits. (Football isn't my favorite sport.)

This is a post about Caleb's and Corbin's birthdays.  Caleb turned thirteen last August 13, and Corbin turned four on November seventh. (Just for the record, I don't have a hard time thinking of Caleb as a 13 year-old; in my mind he was thirteen a few months before the fact. He's big, and he's one of my older kids. I'm okay with his age.  And I'm okay with Corbin being four, but lately when I look at him I notice that his features have changed, becoming more defined and a little less "young".  Just the other day I realized he'd be five this year. Five!  I'm having a hard time with that number. I know I'll grow into it, but right now, it's weird. Wow.) McKenna made Caleb some chocolate cookies. Corbin helped Caleb unwrap his gift (two little Mexican people and a cactus). He was soooo happy that Caleb liked it! (Caleb's sensitivity to these kinds of situations is a lot better than it used to be.  He played along really w...