Dressed in White

The happiest of all days...I truly enjoy every day of being a mom to this amazing crew of people. Some days are better than others, however. And this firmly falls under the category of "Payoff Days", when, somehow, you've managed to prepare another soul, as much as you have any part in it, to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to begin the covenant-keeping relationship you hope he will always enjoy with his Savior Jesus Christ.
Shane was just gang-busters for this experience, and, like every milestone he's experienced since birth, the time I'm personally contributing to prep him has exponentially decreased with each successive child. With Shane, it has never mattered, from weaning to walking to talking, and on to this great moment. He excels, I think, precisely because I'm not in there mucking with his own natural, God-given abilities to think things through, consider events and consequences, and do what he feels is right.

Shane woke up bright and early on the morning of November 7th ready to fast, waltzed into Sacrament Meeting and became the first Crawford child EVER to bear a public testimony (and did I love that his special testimony included Joseph Smith? Did I love that I don't think he was just reciting what he was 'supposed to', but that our recent trip to SLC impressed something on his heart?), and that he was just a model of composure at his baptism? A friend told me that as he sat to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that he felt the brethren's hands on his head and then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and just waited. It was also good that he didn't try to tackle anyone after the blessing was given.

Here he is with the Crawfords, Kulwickis and Prusses - one thing I think he really doesn't appreciate is how blessed he is to have so many family members attending such a special day, that the entire program was brought about by the talents and efforts of these special people. But he will.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

All Hallow's Eve. How amazing is THAT view from the back deck?

Nothing worse than a holiday that falls on the Sabbath. But I'll tellya what: the kids were only mildly disappointed, and were actually a joy that night as they watched movies and jostled over who got to answer the door and dispense treats...
The necessary ordeal of carving.

I doubt Gracie will ever be a gut-grabber - she's an artist by temperament, and would rather paint than hack.

Daddy doing the honors...now that I think of it, we just tossed those perfectly good seeds: no roasting, no spring planting. Dangit.

Nicely done. And though I love the lighting in the kitchen for everyday living, it sure wasn't flattering for picture-taking. But, then, they're pumpkins. What more could I expect?

OK, OK! Fine! We're wickedly, naughty, horrible people! We let them dress up and trick or treat! Only the houses at the end of the cul-de-sac, however, and they were back within 10 minutes. What an awesome weather weekend - 70s during the day, and, although they had to layer with shirts underneath the costumes, no coats required! Bonus!

Alice. Pulling an "Eat me." In the Wonderland sense, of course.

Eight, not a moment too late

Shane Roman Crawford. What can I say that hasn't already been said?

Eight years ago this angel of a boy came to us, and he has been, ever since, the life of every party, the spark in every conversation, the squeaky wheel, the bull in the china shop, the apple of our eye.
This fall, Shaney joined Eve in year-round swimming, which, if you can believe it, does NOT wear him out. If anything, he comes out of his thrice-weekly practices more hyped up than before he went in the water. Which is somewhat, well, beyond belief. And slightly disappointing.
He was able to attend the Great Pumpkin Meet in Longmont on his birthday, and just tore it up. Daddy will take the honors for getting him to a 7 a.m. warm-up at a venue 1 1/2 hours from the house...

The traditional apple bob following the meet is always a kick to watch, and I was somewhat stupefied: a kid of Shane's athleticism, determination, love of food and plain old big mouth didn't do him much good - he was one of the last to get his apple, and that was only after he followed the suggestion of cornering it against the pool wall.

The boys chose a trip to Elitch's as our family party this year, and our only open day was the evening of the 30th, Shane's birthday, and, naturally, a travel swim meet day, but, as is our way, we just shoe-horned it in. No pictures, but Shane's now tall enough to ride all the big kid rides with Dad, Eve and Ty, and they were beyond stoked to enjoy the full spectrum of crazy. We love going to Denver's oldest amusement park during the Fall weekends - probably not a bit less crowded, but significantly cooler temps, and the place is all creeped out for Halloween, complete with cobwebs, fog machines, and roving staff members in various horror-inducing costumes.

Shane scored an AWESOME body sled for our snow-cruising pleasure, as well as a plethora of Lego kits - lots of Star Wars for this kid. It's always a mixture of elation and frustration as he puts them together, but I just get warm fuzzies from watching him - that's what a childhood should look like, creating, experimenting, developing. Thrilled beyond measure that we get to watch him go through it.

Perfect Ten

Ten years ago I gave birth to a beautiful, blue-eyed, 10-pound boy...which was just as ridiculously painful as it sounds. But he grew on me.

And what a huge year it's been for Tysie - this year he's again excelling in all things math, and has added to his already brimming schedule regular practice times with the Clear Sky choir and is representing the heck out of his fourth-grade class, in addition to two kindie classes, as a Student Council representative.
Here, as he awaits his gifts expectantly, dad psyches him out with his hoodie instead. Oh, the madcap hilarity of a Crawford birthday!
The real goods. Which is all he really cares about these days: football and baseball, but not necessarily in that order. He's given up soccer (I hate to say it, but flippin' YAHOO!), granting us a blessed few fall weekends of stress-free enjoyment, but I just KNOW that next year he'll be demanding the gridiron. I don't mind it. Goodness knows, if there's one thing I truly enjoy, it's football. But, oh, those blessed few fall weekends of stress-free enjoyment! How I lament thy loss!

No need to call Social Services - he had a real cake at the birthday party. Pictures at eleven.

To sum up: we absolutely adore Ty. He's my main man, my angel boy, someone I'm endlessly proud of and can't wait to see at the end of every school day. One-sixth of my greatest blessings.

So there.