Table for Eight

Happy Halloween from our family to yours! (and no, we aren't all dressed up--the kids are at that age where they aren't sure how they want to handle costumes) Our ward Soup and Pie Night (and October tradition). Papaya at Soup and Pie Night--which ends with Trunk or Treating in the church parking lot. Lu--at the Trunk or Treat with her new braces. Our favorite kiddos to babysit/tend. Soup and Pie Night again. Harriet and I have walked every day since September 5 (well, we have taken 2 days off). We love it! She loves walking ... because these guys are everywhere. Quack, quack here ... quack, quack there ... you know the bit. 8) Elder Meehan is doing great overall. A little sad to leave his previous area--they just had transfers. He is 3 hours north of where he served before. Here he is with his new companion (also a redhead). He said there are great signs all around town. Basketball at the church....

At what age  does it begin to happen? When do we start finding fault with nearly every single detail of our beautiful selves? I know there had to be a time when most of us were happy to find ourselves in a photo--no matter our appearance or expression. Maybe it's shortly after preschool here in the US? Around age 5-6? It's probably different for each person? Regardless of age, I am pretty certain this is a universal thing: eventually we ALL feel this intense criticism for ourselves. How do I know? Well, most of the Meehan kids received their school pictures this week (4 outta 5) ... and every one of them--EVERY ONE OF THEM--refused to show us the photos. One by one I had to literally plead for our kids to share their photos with me. And one by one they each selected the smallest wallet to show me. And as I held this tiny picture in my hand, I found myself saying, "That picture is great. What don't you like about it? You have a beautiful smile, your...

My friend Janae invited our girls over for an art class taught by her friend Rebecca. They studied Monet. This is Lu's oil pastel. Elder Meehan attended a fireside in Indiana this week--and someone posted photos on facebook. And we were able to just happen across them! Wild how the internet gives us a view of his missionary life ... even without direct communication. Papaya had her first choral concert (It had great lighting. Hahaha). She did great--even with a sinus infection. Bam has been working on this project for ceramics all week. It's a replica of Jack Skelington's house? (Smaller scale.) Zu's oil pastel. My attempt to recreate the Pinterest Blooming Carmel Apple recipe. Mine didn't bloom, so I just dumped it all in a dish. This is not on the health and wellness program, PS. The kids and I went to the library one day and as I was looking at cookbooks I came across this. It is cracking me up. Love the library. ...

A page from someone else's Wreck-It Journal. I think all of our daughters have a "Wreck It" Journal--this kind of modern-day journal that records really interesting and random facts about your life. It reminds me of something future archaeologists would love to happen upon. Anyway, I don't have a Wreck-It Journal myself but I thought I'd copy a page from it and create a Wreck-It Journal Blog Post today. Just for fun. (PS: Now that I am writing, I'm wondering if there is an electronic version of the Wreck-It Journal? That would great.) (PPS: I just linked you to Amazon because I want you to see the journal. I am not in any way affiliated with Amazon.) A Page From Dawn's Wreck-It Journal 1. This week's HIGH point = going on walks with our youngest kids while they are on Fall break for a few days 2. This week's LOW point = hearing a detailed description of how doctors are managing Ebola in West Africa 3. Something I made this...

I know the old wives' tale is that things tend to "come in threes" ... unless you are in the Meehan family--then they come in twos and sixes. Yup, yesterday BOTH Zu and Lu began their braces treatment ... bringing our family's total orthodontic treatments to SIX. (Papaya actually gave us a break and didn't need braces, but Jay had them TWICE. His teeth are extra straight.) It's funny. The girls were sooo excited to begin their braces. And yet as we sat in the orthodontist's office yesterday, I couldn't help but think how kind of unreal it is to live in a country where our teeth are not only cared for regularly, but straightened when they are out of alignment.  And still  most of Planet E still lives without clean water . The disparity in First-World living vs. Developing-World living is sometimes mind-boggling. Actually, MOST of the time it's mind-boggling. I don't know about you, but sometimes I find it hard...