An Official Invitation

I would like to invite anyone who reads this post to come and visit my house and enjoy all the hard work that has gone into Tyler Baird's Eagle Project.

Weeknights will include
- lit Christmas house display (about 200 houses)
- craft activities for kids
- fire pit and marshmallow roasting
- hot chocolate
- donations will be accepted (canned food, toiletries, books)

Weekends will include
- all of the glorious things above plus
- hayrides
- popcorn

And on the 20th....
Santa will be at my house from 6:30 - 8:30.

December 23 is the last night of the festivities.

To view a clip of the news broadcast, copy and paste this link (since I don't want to take the time to figure out how to do a cool linkety link).

http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-phoenix-531-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=videopage&maven_referralPlaylistId=search&maven_referralObject=943767120&maven_referrer=staf.

Random Thoughts / Happenings

This has been the busiest month (besides crazy yearbook season) in quite a long time. It seems like I haven't done anything huge or terribly exciting, just little things that are consuming my days. Below is a list of some of the things that have kept me on my toes.

1. Kaylen's various classes - dance, kindermusik. I've skipped the library and family fun van for a few weeks.
2. Purple has visited. It has been fun to take time out to go out to eat each night.
3. Christmas baking. I vowed I wouldn't make 6 batches of Buckeyes, so I made other stuff - pumpkin bread, peanut butter fudge, carmels, candy cane cookies, and 2 batches of buckeyes. Next year I would love to do only cards. We'll see if Eric goes for that.
4. Christmas shopping. Almost done. I've still got to figure out my parents, grandmas, and nieces and nephews.
5. Present wrapping. I actually enjoy it, maybe it's a form of therapy for me. I get to watch something I've DVRd while I chill and wrap. Maybe I'll finally catch up on Grey's Anatomy.
6. Scrapbook class. I partially completed a recipe book. I think I'll adapt it slightly and change it to a book with pictures of us cooking (when I get the time).
7. Family photos. I'm still waiting to get them back, but I'm excited to get them.
8. Christmas cards. I've been making the cards, but I've still got a long ways to go.
9. Tyler's Eagle Project. I've been able to not be as involved as I was the first weekend, but it's still hard to stay inside and ignore everything, so I will usually go and sit outside for 5 minutes (or until I get too cold) and then return to help clean up.
10. Today I spent some time driving around my neighborhood looking for Eric's bike. Some stupid person came and took it out of our backyard on Monday night. Then they came back on Wednesday night and took another bike. The porch lights weren't on, so our camera didn't catch anything. I'm quite annoyed with evil (for lack of a better word) people.

This list doesn't seem like it would occupy so much of my time, but somehow time has flown by and I can't believe it's 10 days until Christmas!!!

Orchestra Concert

Lindsey and Spencer are in orchestra at school. Spencer is in Beginning Orchestra; this year was his first year. Lindsey is in Advanced Orchestra; this was her second year in orchestra. On December 4, there was a concert. They both did good. I had to laugh at Spencer, because he was so cool, that after each song, he would hang his violin on the music stand and let it hang there while he rested.

Memorable Monday

I intended to do this post last week, closer to Thanksgiving, but time just got away from me. I wanted to blog about past Thanksgiving memories.

Most of my childhood Thanksgivings were spent at home. We rarely went anywhere. I have 3 main memories about past Thanksgivings.

1. My mom's second cousins (I think) used to live about an hour away from us on a dairy farm. Shelly (my sister) and I spent one Thanksgiving eve at "Aunt Debbie's" house. We rode on a 4-wheeler, played Nintendo games, and made spin-art t-shirts (that were totally cool then) which I would wear with the side tied into a knot. It sounds like simple fun, but I remember really enjoying it. On Thanksgiving, they brought us back to my house and we all ate dinner together.

2. One year we (I think it was just my parents, Shelly, and me) went to Cedar City, UT for Thanksgiving. We ate at my grandparents' house, in the living room on their orange carpet. There were quite a few different people my grandma had invited who would have otherwise spent the day alone. The following morning, when we had to leave, it had snowed. I built a snowman (the first in a long time) that was quite small, standing about four inches tall. On the way back home, we drove through the mountains with the snow on them. It was quite a pretty site, and short, but enjoyable visit.

3. Our Thanksgivings at home had the traditional foods. My parents invited a family (the Bentleys) over many years. Sister Bentley made the best cherry cream pie. Her son, Shelly, and I would play Barbies and Star Wars before and after eating. I have quite a vivid picture in my head of sitting on the grass, playing with Shelly and Brett.

"Deck the Halls...

.... with balls of holly," argued Spencer. We went back and forth about this yesterday. I even showed him in a piano book that it's boughs. He said, "that doesn't make sense. It's balls." I wasn't successful in my endeavors to help him learn the correct lyrics.

I briefly mentioned decorating in the previous post, but I took pictures I want to post.

Our family tree


My "pretty" tree

Our OSU tree

Thankful Thursday

I can't believe it's already Thursday. I haven't done Thankful Thursday for a while, so I decided to take the time to recount my blessings during this busy and hurried season.

The things I'm thankful for this week include (among many other things):

1. Thanksgiving. It was great to have my parents, Shelly's family, my grandma, and a family from the ward over for Thanksgiving dinner (lunch). We had delicious food. Everyone was fantastic at helping clean up the mess. I wanted to do something to help us all remember why we have Thanksgiving, so I made a turkey with feathers. Spencer had the assignment to ask everyone who came what they were thankful for and write it down to make "Tyler the turkey."

2. Decorating. My Christmas decorating is done! Enrichment was Tuesday night, and the women all came to my house. We had a ton of people in the house, but it forced me to get the house decorated (and clean). I set up 3 trees this year. I have my "pretty" tree that is gold and red. In the game room, we have our Ohio State tree that is red and silver, with Ohio State ornaments. Our family tree is in the family room, decorated with all the ornaments we've gathered through the years. I forced everyone to help with the family tree, but it was fun to look back at the ornaments and reminisce about them. Some were "child's __th Christmas" and we'd have to calculate things out to figure out whose ornaments were what. Others were ornaments we've picked up in our travels, like the Waterford crystal snowflake I bought in Waterford Ireland or the double-decker bus from London.

3. Stronger than Cancer blog (see link under blogs I blurk). I discovered this blog yesterday. I actually know the girl who's writing it (she works at my local scrapbook store). Her husband passed away a month ago after his second battle with cancer. I was in tears while I read her blog. It's amazing how strong she is. It's also a very good reminder to appreciate, value, and love those in your life, family especially.

4. Visiting Teaching. I went visiting teaching this morning to one person's house. We ended up staying an hour and a half. It's hard to describe, but I just really enjoyed spending time, talking with her and laughing about parenting.

5. It's Thursday! We're closer to the weekend, and closer to me getting a real haircut. I haven't had one for at least a year. I've been trimming my hair myself. I'm not doing anything drastic, I'm just excited for getting my hair looking better for our family pictures we're taking on Saturday.

What a week!

Well I can say that I am completely exhausted and am not sure if I'm ready for a new week or even a new holiday month to begin. Tyler's Eagle Project is in full swing now, so we've been really busy.

WARNING: This post contains boring, trivial aspects of my life during the past week.

On Monday it rained. This was probably the highlight of my week! I love the rain. It was so fun to have to wear a jacket and carry an umbrella. Kaylen insisted on her Hello Kitty umbrella while we went to the rec center. Eric was still in Ohio, so I was alone with the kids. Such joy!

On Tuesday I went to institute. It was quite sad because I wasn't able to concentrate because all the things that needed to get done for Tyler's project kept dancing around in my head.

I took Kaylen to the library on Wednesday. It was slightly rainy, enough for me to get in trouble for dropping Logan off at the park with a broken umbrella and without a jacket while Eric lined the fields for Turkey Bowl.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. My parents, grandma, Shelly's family, and the Bairds came over for lunch. Things weren't too stressful because we split up the responsibilities fairly evenly. We even ate within 15 minutes of the planned time (usually it's at least an hour later than we plan). We had a test run of Tyler's Eagle Project. The cousins were all at our house, so it was fun to have them join in the fun.

Black Friday. I was a participant, waking up at 4:40 to hit Walmart. My major goal was a Cabbage Patch Kid for Kaylen. I got it, along with many other things. Eric went with me to Target, and about 5 other stores after that. We spent the ENTIRE afternoon setting up for the grand opening of Tyler's project. Things went smoothly, with Santa even coming. I also got a surprise visit from a very good friend, Jocelyn. I loved seeing her, and catching up in the few and only non-chaotic moments of the day.

Saturday I actually got to sleep in. I started putting up Christmas decorations. I worked on that off and on throughout the day in between laundry and cleaning.

Sunday. I hoped for a nap, but Eric insisted that I stay awake during scripture study, so that idea never happened. I worked a little bit more on the inside Christmas decorations. I've got two and a half trees up. I'm hoping that we'll be able to decorate our family tree tomorrow as a family.

Ohio

On Thursday Eric and I went to Ohio for Eric's brother's graduation. I found a girl in the ward who watched the kids. Thursday was spent travelling. It always seems that when I fly east, my day disappears. We got to Eric's grandparents' house and then went to dinner. After dinner we went back to their house and hung out. We talked with John, Eric's brother, about his degree and what his projects have been. He is a lab rat, working in pharmacology and toxicology. It was quite interesting learning about what he's been working on. He has been able to re-create the 1917 (I think) influenza virus. We then laughed about all the silly tv shows out there, mainly the ones on TLC (love those little people and the 8 kids!).

On Friday I had a relaxing morning. I went for a walk to take pictures, but it was quite short since it was SO cold. We went out to lunch at Steak n' Shake (we always eat there at least once when we go to OH). We spent the afternoon shopping.

On Saturday, we went to Dayton for John's graduation from Wright State University with his Master's Degree. We went out to lunch at Applebee's (I had their tomato basil soup and oriental chicken salad - so yummy. I'm making it for dinner tonight.) We also got to watch the OSU and Michigan game. Go Bucks!!

After we got back from Dayton, we went to the mall and did more shopping, not finding too much. Santa was there though. We went out to dinner with all the family who lives in Ohio - crazy, but fun.

Sunday morning I headed to the airport and home. If I end up sick it's because some sicky lady sat by me. How disgusting seeing her snot rags filling up an entire bag.

It's tough to be back to reality after taking it easy, eating out and shopping. Eric got to stay extra, he comes home on Tuesday. It was a great break. It was, however freaking cold!! I got to see some leftover fall leaves and snow. Thanks G & G for having us again.

The Golden Ticket

The date finally arrived! It seemed like it took forever for November 19th to roll around. We were invited to see the premiere of Twilight here in the valley via a golden ticket. (We know the Meyers from a ward we both used to be in and have kept in touch.) We took Lindsey and Spencer with us. Kaylen and Logan were invited, but we let them stay home.

The dress was black tie. The red carpet was rolled out. We were given gift cards for food at the theater. At the end of the movie we were given posters and autographed bookplates.

I loved the movie. Some characters weren't quite what I pictured when I originally read the book, but they worked out and seemed perfect in the end (I'm still not sure about Jacob, though). I won't write more because I don't want any spoilers coming from me. It was a fun evening. Thanks Stephenie and Pancho!

A visit to Kaylen's dance class

These are some pictures from parents' day at Kaylen's dance. I really enjoyed being able to watch Kaylen dance. She is a great little dancer.

Esme

I did this online Twilight-related quiz and the results are....


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

"You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things."

Takin' it Easy

This morning I woke up and didn't want to do too much. Eric wasn't at home, so I got the kids ready and to school alone. This, in turn, made me late for my exercise class. So I opted to skip it. I also decided to skip storytime at the library. Every weekday morning I have something scheduled, so I feel like I'm constantly running. I took today off. I worked on a Christmas project all morning. Kaylen watched Diego and colored by me. The coloring resulted in Kaylen having marker on most body parts and her pajama shirt.

I didn't shower until it was 8 minutes before I needed to pick the kids up from school. Kaylen remained in her pajama shirt all day. I also did something that I swore I'd never do as a mom. I let Kaylen run around outside without only a shirt and underwear on (she did have shoes, at least). I didn't realize she was doing it until she had already done it. It didn't seem to harm anything, so I let her continue. Maybe someone driving by got a laugh from it. It was just one of those days where I wanted to take it easy and I didn't really care how Kaylen or me were dressed. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to hop back on the crazy schedule yet. I'm not sure what I'll decide to do tomorrow.

11-11-08 11:00 am

For some reason when we went to the Veterans Parade today, I was touched (tears were close to the surface many times) and wanted to blog a little about it. I took the kids and we joined my parents and grandma to watch the parade. On the ride to the parade, I explained to the kids who veterans are and why we honor them.

At the beginning of the parade, there were convertibles. A member of the armed forces (army, navy, marines, etc) each rode on the trunk of the cars. When it came time for the last car which was in honor of POWs, no one sat on the trunk of the car. This brought it more to life for me and made me stop and think.

A whole lot of Boy Scouts carried the banners above (there were at least 200). Each banner had a photo and some written information about someone from my state who had died in the war (Iraq, I think). It was quite unbelievable how many from here had died serving their country.

This cool airplane (maybe WWII fighter plane?) flew over our heads a couple of times.

Today when I went to institute, my teacher (a Canadian) proceeded to tell us about the poppy she was wearing. A poppy is a symbol of remembrance. This morning she woke up and thought the she (and our whole class of about 150) needed a poppy to wear in honor and remembrance of those who have passed away. She made all of us poppies. I proudly wore mine to the parade. She then recited the poem, In Flanders Field. It talks about a place in Canada, but we can easily imagine Arlington Cemetary, or any other cemetary. I italicized the part that really caught my attention.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

I know a few veterans. One person (a father of one of Spencer's friends) is currently serving in Iraq. He has left his wife and son behind, while he serves.

Another person, is my neighbor. He too served in Iraq and got shot, and walks with a limp as a result. One night Eric lit off fireworks. His wife came over and told us that loud noises like that really set him off and push him to the edge.

My cousin's husband has served in the war too. He doesn't sleep well and has nightmares.

My grandpa served in the army. He is the person in the top left of this picture. Isn't he cute?

These are just a few of the people who I know directly who have served my country. There are many, many more who have served so we can live freely. I am very grateful for those who have served and who do serve currently so we can all live such wonderful (free) lives.

Thank you Veterans!

My Girls

A few mornings during the past week, I've gone in to wake up Lindsey. I've found Lindsey already awake and reading in her bed. She's turned in to quite the little reader. She will check out 3 books a week from school and ask me to check out more from the city library. She's working on reading 4 books to participate in "Battle of the Books," a trivia competition between teams at school. I'm excited for how she's growing into an avid reader.

Kaylen will also wake up (usually a little too early). She'll head downstairs where Eric is, working out and where the toys are. On Thursday morning I found her playing all by herself. She had fixed dinner for herself and her cousin Abbie. She invited me to join in. I love children's imaginations.

Memorable Monday - Chores

So today when I woke up, I wanted to go back to bed and hide from the messy house. Last night after dinner I was completely tired of everything, so I went to bed and laid down. I ended up falling asleep at 7:30 at night (later to wake up at 10, and not be able to go back to sleep until 11:30). Eric and the kids had cleaned up dinner, but things were still messy. It seems that on Sunday since doing chores would be breaking the Sabbath according to the kids, things pile up, get cluttered, or get out of control. So today is appropriately named "Messy Monday." I will dedicate my post to chores and cleaning and avoid the actual cleaning that needs to get done today (the floor is killing me! it's awful).

As a child, I didn't have a chore chart or an allowance. We always seemed to work together with cleaning up after a meal. I remember being a good little cleaner (hopefully that's my parents' opinion too). I would clean my parents bathroom (that was an assigned chore) until my sister got married. Once she got married, another bathroom got added to my chores. I vacuumed, dusted, mopped, and did the dishes. When I had extra time, I would wash the dishes by hand. I thought that was fun. Maybe I was reverting to memories from visiting my grandparents who had to hand-wash their dishes because they didn't have a dishwasher.

I shared a bedroom with my younger sister and would always get so frustrated that she wouldn't clean up her share. Once I got my own room (when my older sister got married), I think I kept it fairly clean.

Today, I still have chores, so many that I don't have time for them all. Lindsey and Spencer have assigned chores that we keep track of on a website. They each have to pick up and vacuum the kitchen and dining room or the living and family rooms. Logan has to unload the dishwasher and empty the trash. I usually end up doing laundry (I'm reluctant to turn that over to anyone because I want it done a particular way), dishes, mopping, vacuuming the upstairs, cleaning the dungeon laundry room, and other miscellaneous chores.

Thankful Thursday

Things I'm thankful for these past two weeks include:

1. Laughter. My kids have been totally acting up lately. The only way I can cope with it is by laughter (since I can't run away). I have a friend who comes over and does the funniest things that pull me out of my want-to-hide-in-my-room mood and makes things all better.

2. The Election is over. I'm not thrilled with some of the results, but at least the pre-recorded messages, tv commercials, signs, and junk mail will end.

3. Weekend plans. Time Out for Couples is coming here. I'm dragging Eric to it (I don't know if he wants to go or not, but I bought tickets). We're actually going to stay downtown overnight. Thanks Shelly and Ed!

4. Cool weather. I can wear jeans without feeling like I'm melting. My kids are now saying that they were cold during the night - it was 71 degrees last night.

5. Pilates "experience." I am no longer a newbie in my class! I can get through the entire class without having to stop or take a break. I realized this when I saw a newcomer have to stop and rest before she could continue. I don't do that anymore.

6. Ability to understand. There were issues with my side of the family during the week. Feelings were hurt. Things were said/emailed that shouldn't have been. However, through it all, I was able to communicate with my siblings. Things were explained better, and I was able to understand things from their points of view. I am incredibly thankful for being blessed to "see the other side" of things in this instance because (I hope) that things are worked out and hurt feelings are mended. (if that makes sense)

7. Golden Ticket. I've got a Golden Ticket, but unfortunately it's a Secret Golden Ticket and I will share details November 20. Very exciting, though.

Living in the Ghetto

Who needs to watch Cops when you can watch it from the comfort of your own front yard? Recently we got to watch Cops live. Woo hoo!!! There were (at most times) 4 cop cars surrounding our house. The punk neighbor kids had cause problems, so the police were called. This went on for at least an hour. Our neighborhood has gotten scarier and scarier. We've had the SWAT team on our street before, with our street barricaded. There was a drop house across the street from us. There have been other police-involved happenings, but these are the most memorable.

After the altercation, one of the police officers talked to us about it. It was really no big deal, but from the looks of it, it was concerning. The police officer said to us, "Can I ask you one question? Why did you build a house here?"

I replied, "I ask myself that quite often." It is so weird for our house to be in the ghetto-neighborhood we live in. Last week I saw a group of people pushing shopping carts down a nearby street. Can you say 'white trash?' We built our house here after many prayers and fasting, but I am still wondering why? There has to be a good reason, but I'm not quite sure why we did it. At least I'm close to Target and my scrapbook store. The school is great (minus the papers that get sent home in Spanish). There are some awesome people in our ward too.

Belated Halloween Photos

We had a fun Halloween. We had a bbq on our driveway. For the trick-or-treaters, we handed out popcorn (popped from our machine), cans of pop, and candy. Those who came, seemed to enjoy it all. Our kids trick-or-treated down our street, and then they hung out and handed out stuff to the trick-or-treaters who came. My parents and grandma came over. Grandma sat on a chair in the driveway the whole time, watching everyone. She didn't say much, she just watched everything. She was cold and had to cover up (it was like 90 degrees). At the end of the night, her comment was, "I'll be thinking about this for the next 3 days."

Lindsey (in the blue) with some friends.

Spencer, as Darth Vader minus the mask

Logan the ninja and Kaylen the fairy

Isn't she cute? She lives across the street. When she came over, I didn't recognize her. When I finally did, I burst out laughing. HE is one of Spencer's friends. Spencer did not recognize his friend. When I told him it was Elliott (a boy), he did not believe me.

Belated Pumpkin Photos

The finished product

Spencer's pumpkin - skull and cross bones

Logan's pumpkin - with a ghost

Lindsey's pumpkin - complete with eyelashes

Kaylen's pumpkin - she didn't care what hers pumpkin looked like

Kaylen would not touch the seeds.

Uncle Eddie helped Logan with his pumpkin.

Eric joined in the fun for about 5 minutes. (He, of course, wouldn't touch the seeds.)

Election Results

Two comments -

Yay for Propositions 8 and 102!!!

and

Pray for our new president. He needs all the help he can get.

Bookworm Kaylen

Before I went to bed, I checked on Kaylen. This is how she was - asleep in her bed with her book laying on her face. She sleeps with books (how comfortable can a book in your back be?) and other toys. Apparently she fell asleep while reading.

Halloween night I found her asleep with candy laying across her chest (no picture for that one).

Memorable Monday

Well today I caused some trouble with my extended family. In no way did I mean to cause trouble, but that's how it appeared. So in honor of my wonderful afternoon of working things out, this Memorable Monday is dedicated to memories of getting in trouble as a child.

I don't have too many memories of misbehaving. I know I wasn't a perfect child; I guess I've just blocked out painful memories. I do remember that I didn't get along with my siblings too well. On occasion to defend myself, I would use my nails. I have never been a nail biter or a nail picker, so I had some good length on my nails. This came in quite handy to scratch my siblings. As a punishment, my mom would cut my nails. It would feel so demeaning to have short nails.

One time my brother and I were fighting. I ran into my bedroom to get away from him and slammed the door. He came up and kicked the door. Between our "disagreement," a hole was left in the door from the kicking. We were incredibly lucky and got off the hook because shortly after that, my mom was babysitting some kids who ended up doing some damage to the same door, and their father paid for a new door.

My mom worked when I was growing up. During the summer, my poor dad would get numerous phone calls from us kids tattling on each other. It's too bad caller id wasn't invented then. I'm sure that would have saved him many frustrations. I don't remember any punishment from those phone calls, but had I been in my dad's place, I would have changed phone numbers.

When my mom didn't work and there was a problem, it was always dealt with the same way, "Wait until your dad gets home." I'm hesitant to type this, but that's how it was. When my dad would get home, we would get spanked with a wooden spoon. It didn't happen a lot, but when it did, I knew I was completely busted.

At the beginning of my 9th grade year, there was a new boy who I thought was the cutest. I got his phone number and we would talk on the phone. One day when I was home alone, he came over. We just talked on the front porch. Even this was against the rules, but I took a chance. I should have known better. One of my neighbors saw and tattled on me. This resulted in a grounding. Thank goodness I was off groundation by the time there was the 1st dance of the year, because I got to go and see him there.

That's about all the memories I have of getting in trouble growing up.

Halloween Decorations & Other Artwork

In the beginning of the month when I didn't take the time to decorate for Halloween, the kids took matters into their own hands.

Lindsey made these toilet paper ghosts, complete with glitter. (I hate glitter - it's sooo messy!)


Spencer made this creature.

This is Logan's drawing (which completely makes me smile)

Kaylen made this at the rec. center

Other Artwork by Logan

Logan has become quite a good little artist. He will sit down and draw the coolest pictures.

Logan drew this (our house) in sacrament meeting

A person Logan drew - love the fingers and toes

Institute - Finding Joy

Today I went to institute. The lesson was on a talk given by M. Russell Ballard in April 08 General Conference, titled "Daughters of God." This was probably my favorite talk from that session of Conference. It was very hopeful, promising, and encouraging. When we discussed it again today, I had the same feelings, but I also had a stronger feeling: I am a Daughter of God, I am loved, and I have a purpose.

My teacher had 4 women, each from different age groups answer the following questions:
1. What are you concerned about right now?
2. What would you like to accomplish?
3. What do you enjoy doing?

Each women got up and answered the questions. The answers boiled down to: we each have concerns, we each have things we want to do, and we each find joy in our lives. The answer that got me, though, was given by a lady over 50 answering "what do you enjoy doing?" Her answer was very simple, "getting up each morning." She then went on to share that she is a cancer survivor. Sometimes I get so stressed with all that goes on in my life, that I completely fail to find joy in the simple things, unlike this woman.

My answers to the question would be:
1. I am concerned about my kids. I hope that they will have good friends. I hope that they will do well in school and get a good education. I am concerned about Logan's speech and how life will be for him in the future. I worry if I am doing enough to teach and raise my children. I worry about my grandma's and dad's health.

2. I would like to compile all of my recipes into a recipe book. I would like to go one day without yelling or nagging my kids. I would like to get a college degree. I would like to catch up on my scrapbooking. I would like to lose a few pounds.

3. I enjoy my family and spending time with them. I enjoy date nights. I enjoy the nice weather. I enjoy playing and kidding around with my kids.

It's quite interesting how my answers got fewer with each of the questions. It goes to prove a point - there is a lot of joy that I am missing out on because I'm too busy worrying and stressing. It goes back to the quote that President Monson gave in General Conference earlier this month, "Find joy in the journey now."

A couple other thoughts came to my mind during the lesson.
Stop and live today.
Look at where you are in life now, not the future, nor the past.

Memorable Monday

A new thing I'm going to try - Memorable Monday.

It will be an opportunity to blog about childhood memories.

Topic for today: Halloween (how appropriate)

Things I remember about Halloween, as a child

1. my family's traditional meal of hamburger/rice casserole baked in a pumpkin. I would love to make it now, but the pumpkin would go to waste because I would be the only one to eat it.

2. getting ready to go trick-or-treating hours before dusk. I remember attending a 5th grade Halloween party with a friend, and putting on makeup in the bathroom, probably at 4:00 in the afternoon.

3. trick-or-treating without an adult. Can't do that now. : (

4. celebrating Halloween in school with an actual Halloween party. Now my kids have Harvest Festivals, Spider Festivals, Monster Bashes.

5. wearing a pumpkin costume that was made for an 8-year old to a National Junior Honor Society party in junior high school.

6. trick-or-treating with my best friend Jocelyn. (I didn't meet her until 7th grade, so we went trick-or-treating in 8th and 9th grade!) One year Jocelyn was a cloud, a bunch of balloons pinned to her clothes. We also received apples, which we pitched and kicked down the street. We were also told we were too old to go trick-or-treating (probably when we were freshmen in high school).

7. my dad's gorilla mask and black cape that he'd wear and try to scare us with.

Halloween Activities

On Saturday afternoon, we (me and the kids) went to my sister's house for our monthly family get-together. The kids were supposed to wear their costumes, but that didn't last long. Logan had been to a Halloween party earlier in the day wearing his costume, so he didn't want to wear it any more. Spencer's costume was too hot.

We ate munchies, talked, and played badminton. The kids really enjoyed badminton. Logan's feet were black from running around and jumping on the trampoline.

Our ward's trunk-or-treat was Saturday night. There was a chili cook-off, games, and trick-or-treating. Spencer and Lindsey took off on their own. Lindsey had a blast socializing. Spencer enjoyed hanging out with the deacons, laughing at the kids who got scared from the boy hiding under our car. Logan ran around, it was amazing he didn't fall asleep on the way home. He was so filthy by the end of the night. (He left a black ring of dirt in the tub after bathing.) Logan also came up with the idea to hide behind a chair and try to scare kids when they got candy. He was thoughtful and didn't scare the little ones. Kaylen didn't quite get the concept at first, but loved the candy. I think her pumpkin was filled with the most candy.