Happy Halloween!

I hope your Halloween is a fun as ours. In preparation we have made yummy treats. And Little Miss was sneaking little tastes the whole time! She learned that from me! They loved making rice crispy treats to look like pumpkins, with tootsie rolls for the stem.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch. Little Man had a hard time choosing, it couldn't be dirty, or lopsided, or wrong looking. But the warty pumpkin was just right. Go figure.

Little Miss found the perfect one right away. Smooth, pretty, and just right for a Princess. And I must mention I love the light in this picture. Love it. We went on a fun hayride. All hayrides I have been on to a Pumpkin Patch involve you sitting on a bale of hay. Not this one. It involved you sitting in hay, getting it in your pants, your shoes, and anywhere else it wanted to go. The kids loved every minute of it. Me, not so much. My allergies were killing me!

And a couple of quick shots of Randy with the kids and just him and Little Man.

And lastly Little Man loves my camera. Not quite as much as me but close. He has decided he is going to be a photographer when he grows up.. along with several other things. I bravely hand my beast of a camera over to him and he loves it. He snapped this picture of Randy and I. Not too shabby. I have to show off how good he is doing! If he is doing this at 6, I cannot wait to see what he does when he is older. Great job buddy!
Happy Halloween! I hope your night is as fun as ours!

A day late..

But late is better than never. Yesterday this gorgeous girl. My wonderful sister turned twelve. And this is the first year I have not been there to help her celebrate it. I miss you Sissy!
When I was a little girl I begged my Mom daily for a baby, preferably a baby sister. And then when I was in second grade I was talking to someone who told me their Mom was 28, and my Mom was 40. I talked to my Mom about this and decided that it was okay for her to not have any more babies, and I quit begging for one. Then near the end of my Sophomore year of High School while sitting on my brothers bedroom floor my Mom broke the news that she was pregnant. *SHOCK* I was like sure Mom.. me too.. yeah right. I mean Mom was weeks away from her 48th Birthday.. no way was my Mom pregnant. But she was. And my brother and I giggled and whispered about it all day.. total shock and unbelief. The summer came and my Mom found out she was having a girl. A baby sister. I was thrilled. And then there was more news. They were sure she had hydrocephalus. And more. My Mom had many ultra sounds, met with many doctors, and the final ruling from the doctors was that at best she would have down syndrome, but most likely she would live for a few minutes and die. It was heart breaking for us. But we had faith. And I hadn't waited this long for my baby sister to only have her a few minutes. Her heart had problems, but we knew that doctors can fix hearts, and well.. we can handle it. They did it with me, and we could do it again. The doctors tried to convince my Mom to abort her as late as 7 months along. It was wrong on so many levels.
Twelve years ago yesterday I went to the hospital with my parents and we waited. I went to lunch with two friends from school and came back and then my Mom set the record in the hospital for being the oldest woman to have a c-section in the hospital. Great record Mom, 48 is quite a feat! And my sister had to have oxygen when she was born, but not when I was in the room with her, or my Mom or Dad. My sister and I had a bond instantly. And the doctors told us she did have down syndrome. And I looked at my beautiful sister and thought, well she is so pretty maybe all my kids will have down syndrome one day. :) All I saw was the sister I wished for. The sister I prayed for. The sister I knew was supposed to be my sister. I saw the sweetest girl in the world. The girl who would teach us all what matters. The girl who would change us all for the better. The girl who I miss like my own daughter who is 2300 miles away from me right now. The girl my kids love. The girl who is my favorite sister. The girl who has helped others to soften. The girl who has over 45 barbies. The girl who is my Sissy. The girl I love.
My sweet sister. I wish you a wonderful birthday. How blessed am I to have a girl like you to be my little sister. I feel honored to have you as my sister. You will never know how truly blessed I am because of you. Happy Birthday Princess. I wish I was there to celebrate with you. I love you.

Women we Need

“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. … We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith” -Margaret D. Nadauld

This quote, it spoke to me. In so many levels. And the funny thing is I have heard this quote before, but reading it today it was like it was meant for me to hear. It made me think about what woman I am. And reevaluate the woman I want to be.

I look at all of the women around me. The great examples they are. Those we are truly Women of God. Those who are tender. Those who are kind. And those of great faith. My heart wants to develop each of these to be the type of woman I can be. To be the woman, the mother, the wife that I know I am, somewhere.

I have reflected on this and pondered this all day. How often am I caught up in things of the world that do not matter. I try to live by If it doesn't matter in the eternal scheme of things, it doesn't matter. But that is rarely a success. I still strive for that.



All of these qualities are what we as women are meant to be. I strive to be kinder, more tender and to have greater faith. To reflect on how I can be a better representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ. To be an example of what He stands for. Am I those things? Not always, but sometimes.



Today, I want to do better. To do those things that I should do, to be a better Woman. A better mother. A better wife. To be a better me.

Sad News.

News that I keep ignoring, keep denying and finally facing. We aren't able to go home for Thanksgiving. I am sad. I really wanted to go home. I had family to see. Pictures to take. Places to be. And it just isn't happening. So to everyone I am letting down you have one million apologies from me. I truly am sorry. I was looking forward to going home. But due to flying over Thanksgiving costing over twice the amount of any other week, and in order for it to be affordable I have to pull the kids out of six days of school we are staying here.
However on the plus side, I do get to see my parents and wonderful sister. They are coming here the day after Thanksgiving, and staying through Little Man's seventh birthday. I am thrilled they are coming, he will be thrilled for the surprise of them coming. And it made it feel okay.
I am sad though, sad to miss more of my family, meeting my two new nieces, seeing friends, and just being home.

Fall Break

Today I have the blessing of having my kiddos home. It was nice to wake up and not have to rush out the door. We did crafts and then had breakfast. We colored and watched TV. They wrote letters, and are just enjoying being home. We had lunch on a Wednesday all together. Does it get any better than this?
Our plans for the week include:
A Haunted House! They are so excited!
Boo Zoo
Pumpkin Patch
More crafts
Painting
Reading
Giggling
Making Rice Crispie Treats
And more delcious goodies
And just having the best time ever. I am thankful that we are on break, even if it is just for a few days.

A forgotten most important first

Okay, maybe not forgotten, but put on the back burner due to the funeral, and extreme jet lag after the funeral.



Little Miss three and a half week ago was smiling and jabbering away and I noticed her front teeth on the bottom looked like they were overlapping. And then I realized they were loose. She was thrilled, and I was thrilled for her. I loved losing my baby teeth, and she has wanted her to be loose so she could be like her big brother.

While in the airport waiting for our turn to board I wiggled her tooth, and I wiggled it a little harder than I meant to. It started to bleed..but just a little. She was excited it was so wiggly. We headed off to the bathroom for one last potty break and she was sitting there going potty and she pulled her tooth out. And for the first few days she told everyone when I was going potty at the first airport I lost my tooth. It cracked us up. On October 11th, my baby girl lost the first of her cute baby teeth. My baby girl is becoming less of a baby and more of a big girl, and she couldn't be more excited. And while I am excited for her, I am at the same time. I want her to be my baby forever.

We jumped on the plane and she told everyone I lost my tooth. And then showed them the hole in her mouth. And after a little while of flying I realized that I needed a picture of her.

This is what I captured first. And then we tried again to show off that hole. Could she look any happier? And could she be any cuter?

She was thrilled the tooth fairy came to visit her in Utah! Congratulations Little Miss on losing your first tooth. The novelty has yet to wear off.

The Inspiration

These colors are my inspiration for my current project. I can't wait to see it all put together. Or at least well on its way. And I have to once again profess my love for the Internet, without it my project would be sad.

Succumbing to the dark side

I am really wanting to decorate. And today I did something I always swore I wouldn't do. I went to a website. I am embarrassed to even admit this, because when this lady went to jail I cheered. I went to Martha Stewart's website. And I didn't die. I didn't have to take a vow to love her. It was okay. And I think I might be learning something. And it really wasn't horrible like I imagined. And I must admit she does have some good ideas. So there you have it.. I still don't love Martha, but the people who work for her have great ideas!

And really this isn't my fault. Kellie took me to look at home interior stuff.. and then I bought the Martha Stewart Magazine for Beth, so she could have some entertainment while she recovers, and I peeked inside. Curses.

Home again.. home again..

We are home. We had fun. We had a wonderful time with Kevin and Rachel and their two wonderful children. Thank you for letting us stay with you! We enjoyed the company of Rachel's sister and her husband also. And we had a lot of fun visiting with family.

It was nice to be together as a family to remember Grandpa, and the great man he is. I was in awe sitting in his funeral and looking at his posterity. Grandma and Grandpa should be proud of the family they have. We were all there to celebrate the life of Grandpa. I enjoyed hearing stories told, and the lessons that were taught. The funeral was beautiful. It made me laugh, and cry. And I felt great peace.

My children enjoyed the opportunity to visit with their Great Grandma. She played checkers with Little Man, and took time to talk with both of them. I am so grateful that we were able to go and spend time together with our family. My kids were able to see Nana and Papa, and we were able to see all but one of Randy's siblings. I still need to clear out my memory card and then I can check out all of the pictures I took while I was there. We even had a large group photo of all of the family in town. It was great to see everyone there, and to see the support for Grandma.

And after this trip, I miss our family. It was nice to be close together. Nice to feel the love and support. And I hope that someday we will be where we can feel that more often.

Headed for Utah

We are headed for Utah this weekend.

Randy's Grandfather passed away early this morning. We are very sad, but thankful that he is able to rest and to be at peace. And I am sure he is rejoicing in seeing his sweet daughter Mary Ann who died as an infant.

How grateful we are for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the blessing of knowing our Heavenly Father's plan for us, and the Plan of Salvation. We will be with him again. We are thankful that Families are Forever. And we are praying for our Grandmother, that she will have the peace and comfort that she needs through this time.

Halloween Costume Fun

My kids are so excited for Halloween. They have their costumes picked, and now I am on the mission to make them. Little Man has decided to be Luke Skywalker, and Little Miss any guesses? Pink Princess?? One would think. But she has decided to be Princess Leia. I for one was shocked that she wanted to be Princess Leia.. are you sure you are my girl? Little Man was not a shocker at all. He has inherited his love for Star Wars from Dad. I still have yet to see them all. Okay... back to my topic. Star Wars is quite popular right now. Like it hasn't been popular since it came out, but it is huge so I figured I could find a pattern quite simply and be have all month to make these costumes. But I cannot. I have looked through books trying to find a pattern. While I know how to sew, I need a pattern, I need to be told what to do. Because honestly I have no idea what I would make for Star Wars costumes without a pattern. And I am sure I could learn but that would involve watching said movies. And I don't think I am up for that. So for now I will search the Internet, the stores, and every where I can think of until I find the pattern.. or resort to buying cheaply made costumes.

Nauvoo

I don't think I mentioned we went to Nauvoo. We did.

It was a short trip and I cannot wait to go back next summer when we can spend more time there. It is beautiful. I have several more pictures, and I have not forgotten about sharing Kirtland. That is on my blog to do list.

Nauvoo was wonderful. The Spirit was amazing. And the Temple was breath taking.

Happy Monday.

Inspiration

I am feeling the desire to decorate my home. Normally I shy away from decorating because I am not that great. It costs money, and if I am going to spend it I would rather spend it decorating my kids, my husband or myself. (clothing) I am 28 now, and I guess I am finally thinking it would be nice to decorate my home more than I have. To finish rooms instead of the half finished rooms I have done.

Last week I bought stuff to redo a room for Little Miss. It isn't quite done, the paint was purchased today, and hopefully in the next week or two her room will be pulled together and finished. My Mom convinced me to finish it, go all the way instead of my half like normal. Little Man is getting his room done too, though not as drastically as Little Miss.

My bathrooms are stark white. Well not all, but they need paint, and to look pretty. I need to pull my house together to make it look like a home. To bring in my sense of style, and I need to figure that out. I am looking at blogs for inspiration, like here, here, here and here. And many more.. but I am done linking. I am looking at websites to inspire me. I need great ideas, that are clean straight lines. And fun. And...??? I don't know.

I need inspiration. Things that are thrifty, because let's be real, I love to decorate myself and family way more than my house! And I want things that are kid friendly, movable friendly, (because I move a ton) and I want to my house to look awesome. I would love ideas.. tips.. and some inspiration.

Pretty Please.

Tagged!

List 5 Joys, 5 Fears, 5 Obsessions, 5 Surprising Facts, 5 People to tag....

5 Joys

1. The Gospel
2. Randy
3. My Kids
4. Photography
5. Laughing

5 Fears

1. Death
2. The Economy
3. Obama
4. Snakes
5. Bad Guys

5 Obsessions

1. My Kids
2. Photography
3. Photoshop
4. Shopping
5. All things red

5 Surprising Facts (I think I have blogged way too much about myself.. but here goes!)

1. I miss living in a small small town.
2. I like revolver style handguns., this surprised me too!
3. I used to chase my grandparents chickens with a bull whip.
4. I still feel out of place here, and wonder how I ended up in Indiana. But I like it here.
5. I pulled porcupine quills out of my dogs after they tried to eat one. They weren't too happy.

5 People I tag.

1. Kellie
2. Allison
3. Tiffany
4. Char
5. Missy