Halloweening

Ever since the groovy 7os there's been at least one little Schneider who's ventured out into the cold to take candy from strangers. Can you believe that it took 30 whole years to mark the end of this fabulous era? This is the first year since 1977 that there hasn't been a Schneid trick or treater! Rach opted out of this venture this year to go to a 'scary movie party'.
Luckily we have activities like our ward trunk or treat party to dress up and get into the Halloween spirit. And this year is the start of a whole new generation of Schneider family trick or treaters! We were soo lucky to have most of the LA contingent up for a Halloween visit this year - twin turtle power! And soo lucky to have a dead prom queen, a fairy and Indian, a pumpkin patch, Harry Potter and Aaron as himself join in the festivities all the way from Vancouver.
Happy Halloween!
Love Coco

To Goo or not to Goo, that is the question.

Before Christmas I think it would be wise for us all to consider a new nickname for Goo. Well, perhaps Jord and I are the only ones still calling Goo, Goo. If that is the case then please just let us know what everyone else is using and we will follow suit. If that is not the case then let's have a blog brainstorm and then either vote on the names submitted or have Goo declare what the new nickname will be.

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but here is some recent interesting news for all you footie fans ...

As the Premier League has become one of the most successful leagues in the world, it has also attracted an increasing number of talented players from all over the world, especially in the last few years.
The global popularity of the English league also means that English clubs can now afford the world's best who want to come to the UK and play in the league.

(Spanish player Fernando Torres is one of the many new
foreign players Liverpool has added to its squad this season)

But this increase of players from all over the world has also been a subject of controversy lately.In 1992 only 10% of the starting XIs from all teams were from outside the UK, but this season that number had increased to 56%!! and non-English players have scored 69% of Premier League goals so far this season.

With these figures in mind, one of the most controversial things discussed in the past few weeks has been Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s proposal to place a limit on the number of non-nationals per team on the pitch at any one time as an attempt to allow “homegrown” talent to flourish. A lot of people have already started to shoot the idea down though, saying that’s it’s an illegal EU restriction and that it would never get by the courts. One of the biggest critics is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (who happens to be French). Since his arrival at Arsenal in 1996 he has signed 124 players and only 40 of them have been English. But he also rejects suggestions that he is inherently biased against young English players, claiming his system of importing the best foreign talent improves English players in his charge.

He was quoted as saying “You have the biggest economical power, and that means you attract the best players in the world. But if the best English players play with the best world-class players, then they will be even better and develop quicker."

I think the same has also been said about Chelsea and its players, who are now making progress up the league table after some pretty disastrous results following Mourinho’s departure mentioned in my last blog - I’ve heard people say that English players like Frank Lampard have actually improved quite a bit since the club started importing other good players from all over. But as of yesterday Arsenal has been top of the table and in very good form, so we’ll see if this limit on non-English players actually materialises, but it looks unlikely at the moment.

Happy Hallowe'en!

After visiting the boys' cousin Liam (and his parents of course!) I was impressed that Jamie took her little guy so often to the photo studio to get his picture taken. They really turned out so much nicer than the ones that I take at home. As I read all the adverts about how they grow so fast and you want to capture them at each stage before it's gone forever I became wistful. So when I got home and saw a Hallowe'en coupon from Picture People and I also glanced over at the boys' as yet unworn cute turtle costumes from Children's Place, I decided I better carpe the diem.
When we got to Picture People told the photolady I just wanted a shot where both boys were looking at the camera and smiling- no fancy poses. I guess I thought I'd sit back a little and let the photographer do her thing. Well, it wasn't working out so well- the photographer took the photos, of course, but I became much more involved than I was expecting! I kept running up to the boys and putting them in place next to each other, and then running back behind the photographer and making googly faces and noises to get them to look at me. We had been at it for awhile and I must have been looking really disshevelled and just sort of panting there because she said that she thought we were good. I said- no way! I haven't gotten my picture yet! Luckily after just a few more minutes we got the winning shot. It was a good thing I had made us keep going because out of the whole lot I only got one where both boys were looking at the camera and smiling. Phewsh- close one. Moral of the story: it's much easier at these things with one baby- or two adults. And no head items. :D

I've got my sack in my pack, I've got my pack on my back, today's the day I'm going camping....

About two weeks ago Jord and I decided we wanted to go to the temple. The nearest to us is the Preston temple, a six hour drive if you don't get lost. The morning of our departure was smooth sailing. I had us all packed and ready to go around noon and was on schedule to pick up Jordan from work at 1:00. Jordan however had to stay at work late and our time of departure ended up being a disappointing 2:30. That late start was the beginning of the end. We were traveling with a friend of mine (Magnolia), and her daughter. The idea being that we would take turns with the kids while at the temple. Along with a ton of food, Magnolia brought a Tom Tom. Jord and I instantly fell in love with the little gadget. We would ooh and ahh at how brilliantly the Tom Tom spoke directions, advised of upcoming turns and displayed the approaching cities. Like a blind man liberated with a seeing eye dog. Jord and I basked in the ease of our journey. There was only one little problem. We had set our destination incorrectly. Sadly we were following a blind 'seeing eye dog'. Although it didn't take us wildly off course, our detours set us back even later and we ended up pulling into our campsite in the dark. Yes, you read correctly, our CAMPSITE. Temple accommodation was completely full (filled ironically enough by the Aberdeen stake temple trip). Sooooo I figured camping would be a great way to save some cash and enjoy the Lake District as well. It was NOT enjoyable - not even close. It was the opposite, it was misery. I had borrowed a tent which was extremely complicated to put up. It had three little rooms inside a larger space and took forever to only partially put up. Partially.



The reason we could not complete the set up, aside from our extreme exhaustion and our tired little children, was because the battery in our car died and then all of the lights in our car went out as well. We were left completely in the dark to lay down our bedding, find our pj's and put our little ones to sleep. The children (whom we bundled in a ton of clothes and settled in cozy blankets) slept beautifully, unlike the rest of us who tossed and turned on a hard ground and felt wet tent flapping on our backs. I won't continue in describing the misery that our night was. Let me just say that around 4 a.m. I quietly moaned to Jordan, "I just want the sun to come, I just want this night to end." Well, there is a very happy ending to this story.....the sun came up!!! The night ended, our children were unharmed and we were able to get our car running again. My ultimate moment of triumph was when I walked through those beautiful temple doors. As I walked in, all my stress and unhappiness immediately melted away and I was filled with an intensely calm and peaceful bliss. I was so happy to be in that spiritual and physical haven my eyes filled with tears. A kind woman showed me to where I needed to go and in an attempt to explain my moist eyes, I said to her "I'm just so happy that I'm finally here."

Pumpkin Patch!

On our way home from a ward party at the beach we ran into this pumpkin patch with our friends the Morrises. It's called McGrath St. Pumpkin Patch and it was the best pumpkin farm we've ever seen. They had free hayrides, although it was late in the day so we didn't take advantage, and bargain prices. They also had some of the wackiest pumpkins and gourds we've ever seen! We are going to carve our pumpkin tomorrow for FHE- looking forward to it!

Luddite reflections at work

Just signed on to the blog. Thanks to juliancalebmomma for setting it up. I can see this is an exciting new world for a Luddite ( do we still use that word) like me. I'm sitting here at work waiting for a c section to begin. Very exciting. There goes my pager. I'll let you know how it goes.

Luv, Grampa

Mischief Makers

I came across this video today as I was uploading the recent additions- it was taken just a week or two before the barricade went up... now you can see what I mean!

the party is so over

BUSTED!

It has been noted in recent weeks that a level of disruption unlike any other has descended upon the Puente household. While initially the dissemblement of pots, pans and other sundry items was met with tolerance and even encouragement, the frequency of such disruptions and disorderly behavior has risen so sharply as to really get on the nerves of the household's adult tenants. After much perusing of used baby items advertisements and a long drive to Torrance, relief may be at hand. As of September 29, 2006 the first gate was erected in the Puente home to prevent entry into what will be hereafter referred to as 'the kitchen.' The purpose of the blockade is to attempt to restore some semblance of order, and recover what precious little sanity remains.




Initially the disturbers were quite agitated about the inaccessibility into 'the kitchen' (aka their playroom), but they gradually got used to the idea and now use the blockade as a launching point to practice their walking.

YW

On Sunday I was called as 1st counsellor in Young Womens!!!!!! The exclamation marks I added are deliberate and sincere. I am sooooo excited about the calling. I absolutely love working in Young Womens. (I know Coleen knows how sad I am that I wasn't called into primary) Anyways, first order of business is planning the YW in Excellence evening - if any of you have some good ideas I'd love to hear them.

caleb takes a few steps

Caleb is walking so often now that we'll turn our backs and look at him and he's teetering from one corner of the couch to the armchair across the carpet. We're wise enough to know that anything new our boys are doing seems to develop in fits and starts- one day they'll be doing it every chance they get and the next day they seem to have forgotten how, especially in front of the camera. But we did catch this little piece of fun last night. I'm predicting that he'll be walking exclusively by the end of October- right around the time of his unofficial first birthday/elusive due date of October 9.