Now, Some Pictures of the Kids

Here's a few pictures of our past week.

Caroline and Samatha were able to go to Adam's office and do some trick-or-treating. Caroline was a princess and Samantha was a lady-bug. Adam was an attorney.













This past Saturday night Adam and I were able to take Henry out on a special date to go watch and FC Dallas game. We had a lot of fun together. The girls had a baby sitter.










On Thursday we went to the YMCA Halloween party. Here you can see Henry dressed as the "Iron Man" and Caroline as a princess. They painted pumpkins, but the pumpkins didn't make it home- too messy!

Harvest Hoedown

At Caroline's school this past week they held their annual "Harvest Hoedown." Caroline dressed up in her western wear, they had a parade for the parents, and a carnival for the kids.

Citizen of the Month

Henry was awarded "Citizen of the Month" for his kindergarten class. Adam and I were able to attend an assembly this past Friday and see Henry honored. It was very exciting because Henry did not know he was going to receive this award. We are very proud of Henry and the strides he is making.

Curbside Check-in

My cool little sister Annie came to visit last week. On her way to the SLC airport she was running short on time and wanted to check her bags curbside. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough cash, so she and my sister Katie had a great idea, they would stop at the Wendy's up the street and ask for cash back at the drive-thru. Yes, it was a desperate measure, but it may just work. As Annie handed over her debit card to the cashier in the drive-thru she asked him if she could get some cash back. He looked a bit confused, and then he went and found his manager.

"No problem. How much do you need?" Said the manager.

Annie was relieved. Who knew you could get cash back at Wendy's.

Just then the manager handed her a Wendy's cash card. Oh....that's what cash back is when you aren't at a grocery store.

There was no time to worry about the fact that Annie would have to tip the curbside check-in guy with a Wendy's cash card, Annie had to catch her plane. As she pulled up to the curb she asked the curbside check-in guy if she could tip him with a Wendy's Cash card, and he said yes. Then he made up a song to taunt his curbside check-in buddies. It went like this:

"I got a Wendy's cash Card, I'm going to get me some Wendy's.... I got a Wendy's cash card, I'm going to get me some Wendy's."

Then Annie checked in, got on the plane and arrived in Texas, just in time for Caroline to give her a big hug and throw-up on her.

I'm becoming one of those moms

Today at Henry's soccer game I was cheering rather loudly.

Caroline took it upon herself to tell me to stop yelling. (She hasn't been her usual cheerful self these past few days since she threw up fifteen times on Friday.)

I told her I was a just being a cheerleader.

She responded rather angrily, "You're not a cheerleader, you are a mom."

Who is Iron Man?

>Guest Blogger: Joseph Darowski*

So as I was perusing the Darowski Family Blog I noted the question "Who is 'Iron Man' and what is my husband teaching Henry?" and figured I would go ahead and offer some insight (I also noticed the section about Karate Kid, and I've had a few recent conversations about that film, and specifically the "Put him in a body bag" moment (I note the arched eyebrows as key to making it hilarious)).

Iron Man is a comic book character featured in the Marvel universe of comics (Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America...). He was created by Stan Lee (who also created Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, and many other characters) in 1963. Iron Man is really billionaire industrialist Tony Stark. His family made their fortune designing weapons. Tony Stark has no super-powers, but wears a suit of armor. Stan Lee was trying to make a member of the military-industrial complex, which was quite unpopular at the time, into a popular superhero, just to see if it could be done.

There is film version of Iron Man coming out next summer, with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark. The preview looks fantastic, and can be viewed at apple.com/trailers/ .

The Iron Man song Henry and Adam apparently listen to in order to get pumped up is not actually related to the comic book character, though it is used in the trailer for the movie (and is a good song to get pumped up to).

*Joseph Darowski is one of Adam's brothers. Joseph has a Masters Degree is English from BYU and is currently in a doctoral program (American Studies) at Michigan State University. Joseph wrote his masters thesis about comic book super heroes. You may read Joseph's masters thesis here: http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1515.pdf

"If worse came to worse we could just....

...eat Hermie. I mean if it were a real disaster." The kids looked horrified when Adam made this off hand remark. I reassured them that we would never eat Hermie. (We are currently working on emergency preparedness in our family. We are putting together 72 hour kits, or "Grab and Go" bags as they are also known. Just in case disaster falls upon us, we will have everything on hand if we have to leave in a hurry.)

Hermie is our family pet. I purchased Hermie this past Christmas after I had given a Beta at a white elephant party. The kids thought having a fish would be cool, so I bought one for our family too. I didn't know how much work it would be. Cleaning the bowl, finding it a babysitter when we go out of town, feeding it etc... Adam even comes home from work and makes the comment, "Is that thing still alive? I thought it would die after a month or two. I didn't know we were committing to so much when we bought the fish."

Then there is Henry who draws a family picture and includes a fish in a fish bowl next to the five of us. Then there is Caroline who sticks her hands in the water and over feeds the fish. Then there is the mom who has to clean the fish bowl every week.

Regardless, we are never going to eat Hermie. We may let it out in a river someday though.

Samantha's New Hairdo

Samantha finally has enough hair on top that she can wear a bow rather nicely. Do you like it?

How are your flu shots going?

So last night, after I got home from helping a girlfriend who was hosting and open house, my ever sensitive husband begins to ask me how I'm doing.

"How are your flu shots going?" he asks.

"You mean my allergy shots? They are going fine."

"Oh, I meant allergy shots." Then he thinks for a minute. "What really is the flu any way? I've never had the flu. Have you had the flu?"

"Maybe once."

"I don't know anyone who gets the flu. People only get colds. Why don't they have cold shots? I'm going to invent cold shots and make a billion dollars."

Though Adam has limited scientific background I think he is on to something. Once there was a school teacher who invented these alka seltzer pills you put in water and they fizz up and they are supposed to prevent the common cold. I think they are called Airborne. Anyhow, Adam's a lawyer and if a teacher can invent something like that why couldn't he? Anyone who knows him can verify how scientific he is.

Rough Day at School

Today at Henry's school the children dressed up as their favorite nursery rhyme character. Of course, I remembered this particular assignment at 7 am. This didn't give me a lot of time to throw something together. Henry mentioned something about being "Jack" from "Jack & Jill." We worked fast. I found an old t-shirt, grabbed some scissors and grabbed a plastic bucket from the garage. He looks good doesn't he. Don't worry I know Halloween is on October 31st. Henry wants to be the "Iron Man." Who is the "Iron Man" and what is my husband teaching Henry?