Halloween 2010

The kids had the opportunity to dress up today for school. In Elaina's school, they were able to dress up as a book character. Kind of stupid in my opinion. My kids dress up how they like anyways, then try and find a book to somehow match up. haha Elaina wore a dress that Mom and I found in a thrift store for $3 (actually $2.99). Mother had to do a little “tweeking” on it, but it turned out really well. She called herself Barbie and she was good to go! Haha

Emma dressed up in a sparkly black number we found at the same thrift store as Elaina’s dress. Hers was about the same price if I remember correctly. Truthfully, I might not be thinking correctly, but it’s the same ballpark I tell ya! Haha Emma liked it and that’s what matters, right?

She went as a witch to school (no book character to find with her). We painted a black stripe in her hair for school to try to make her more genuine without putting on makeup. Yep. I’m lazy when we have 30 mins to get makeup, hair and wardrobe done for two people. Haha I think she looked really nice. :)

 Josh didn’t dress up too much for school. Just normal clothes but with a little twist. He found an old pencil sharpener shaped like a lightbulb. Then he hot glued it to a paperclip. Then he glued the paperclip to a hat. It looked really cute. No. I didn’t get a picture. I will have to do that, though. It really was a cute idea. He is too creative. I don’t know where he got that from…

Jake didn’t dress up for school. I was a little shocked that he didn’t. I thought that would have been right up his alley. ;)

Then tonight was the city trunk or treat. Since our ward didn’t have a trunk or treat this year (just a fall festival), I knew I needed to make sure the kids got to the city trunk or treat. :) The boys didn’t want to go. I wasn’t too shocked. They didn’t go last year either. I think they might think they are getting too old for it or something. Silly boys! Haha The girls looked really good. Elaina was a princess/ Barbie. Emma was a vampire instead of a witch. I think she was happy with how her look turned out. :) She looked quite freaky. :)

The birthday weekend

Elaina turned 8 on Sunday, so we seemed to celebrate all weekend! Haha She was determined to go out to Chinese food for her birthday, so I talked her into having a date with mom and dad on Friday night since Saturday was already was packed! :) We had a really good time. She did her best to wait patiently for Mike to get home from work Friday. I let her ride in the front on the way to eat. She thought she was a super star! She chatted all thru dinner. It was so fun to watch her. Then she sat in the back with me while Mike chauffeured us home. What a special treat to have an evening alone with Elaina. :)

Then Saturday, We had a tea party. We had lots of food and gussied up the table.

Aunt Dana and Abbie made the trek to come have the party with us. Elaina was in hog heaven! The girls had such a great time. Heck, so did I. It was great to see Dana and Abbie. When I asked Elaina on Sunday what her favorite part of her birthday was, she said that Abbie coming for her party was her favorite.  What a sweet girl!

During the tea party, it decided to rain. Not that big of a deal, right? Wrong. Dana and I were cleaning the kitchen when we noticed it get really dark outside then heard sirens going off. We were in a tornado watch/warning. We tried to play it off like it wasn’t that big of deal so the girls wouldn’t get scared. Abbie got a little scared, so I decided it was time for a little re-direction. ;) I had gotten some cloth bags for the girls to decorate as loot bags. I didn’t get pictures of them making them, but I did get some of their finished products. :) I think the girls had fun letting their inner creativeness come out.

Saturday was also the ward Fall party. Mike had to leave for most of the tea party to get supplies since the Deacons were in charge of the spook house at the church. Elaina about exploded waiting for Mike to return so she could open gifts. Haha

Elaina had been talking about buying herself a special doll with her birthday money. I took her to Wal-mart after the church party Saturday evening so she could get her doll. Sunday (her actual b-day) I let her take her new doll to church~ sacrament only. ;) She dressed her in the dress that Grandma had gotten for her dolls and  then she dressed to match her. She was so excited to have her doll look like her. Unfortunately she got to feeling a little sick during sacrament and I had to take both the doll and her home after sacrament.

We also let her blow out the candles while we sang "happy birthday" on Sunday since Dana and Abbie left before we were able to do it Saturday.  Elaina loved the cake...  It was totally "her".  :)

All in all, I think she had a great birthday.  Although, the party isn't completely over.  Now we get to prepare for her baptism on Nov 27th.  :)  Click HERE and HERE for all the pics from this fun weekend.

Are you romantic?

Last night, I asked Mike on a date. We realized some very interesting info.  My girls are romantics. I’m really not sure where they get this from. It’s obviously not me. I don’t have a romantic bone in my body. My idea of romance is Mike helping with dinner. I know better than to get my hopes up most nights, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. Mike is even less romantic than I am if that is possible. His idea of romance is baking bread with me and the kids nowhere in sight (or sound, more importantly). I’m fine with that most days. Last night was one of those times when I had been around kids too long. I needed to escape. Thus, date night! ;)

Well last night as we were leaving, Emma made sure to tell us to go watch a “romantic movie” and spend as much time as we like. Haha She is always trying to get Mike and me to go out. She gets a sparkle in her eye and tilts her head in such an animated way when even thinking about Mike and me going on a date.  It’s as if she is getting to live vicariously thru us and she wants to have some lovey dovey kissy poo going on or something! Haha The kids know we love each other, but we don’t spend a ton of time on dates… alone. We usually have at least one kid with us when we go somewhere. We also aren’t very imaginative and it gets old just eating out all the time. Haha As if Emma wasn’t bad enough last night, while we were pulling out of the driveway, Elaina was sitting on the swing making kissing faces and noises at us. Haha I don’t know what we are going to do with these girls! I just dread when they get hormones and want to go on a real date. Maybe I will sit on the swing and make kissy faces as they leave with their dates as well. On second thought, I better not give them any ideas!

I got busy this weekend!

I don’t know what it is about Conference weekend that brings out my inner baker, but it has happened yet again. :) It was such a beautiful day (mid 70’s) that we opened up all the windows and doors and turned up the TV. I was in the kitchen doing two of my favorite things. Cooking and listening to Conference. Was it me or was it especially good this year? :)

Anyways, I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and pumpkin cream cheese bread for Saturday morning. Sunday, I made homemade rolls to go with the grilled chicken that had been marinating overnight for lunch. :) The chicken turned out GREAT and I was too stuffed to bake anything that evening. :) I also tried a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They turned out wonderful. I will definitely be making them again. :) Oh, I also made some wheat banana nut muffins for breakfast Sunday. The recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I make half with blueberries and half with walnuts.  I hope you don’t think we ate all this food I made… Although the kids did try. ;) All of the muffins went into the freezer for school mornings. The pumpkin bread is in the fridge, waiting for school lunches. The cookies are also being used for school lunches although not at the same time as the pumpkin bread. ;) All in all, a very productive weekend. :)

Unexpected insights

Today was my Grandmother’s funeral. It was a very unusual day to say the least. We waited to leave until this morning because the boys had plans last night with their buddies. The funeral was 4 hours away, so that meant getting up at 4:30 AM! Thank heavens I had my wits with me and showered last night and got the girls’ clothes picked out. I had the boys get their suits out before they went to bed as well. Then this morning, we started out for East Texas. We knew it would be a fun drive, not only because of the length of time, but because the air compressor went out recently in the van and the AC blows nice and hot air. :) This morning, we were blessed with an added treat. It rained for over two hours of our drive. The rain was nice because it helped it be nice and cool. The unfortunate part was that the wipers decided today was a good day to not work. “Jesus take the wheel” took on a whole new meaning this morning! Haha Eventually, the sun came up and the sky quit crying. We made it safe and sound. I couldn’t help but think of how the journey was similar to our trials we go thru in life. How many times are we determined to get to a certain destination while all kinds of forces rise against us? Heavenly Father helped us see thru the rain (trials) just enough to keep forging ahead. Once we go thru the choice part (turn back or keep going), he helps us even more until we can see for ourselves. Then the destination is all that more special to us.

The service was nice. Jake was one of the pall bearers. He was quite nervous, but he did really well. It was quite an honor. After the graveside speech, the pall bearers passed by the casket and placed their white boutonnieres on the casket. It’s probably a normal occurrence, but I haven’t paid enough attention to know. To me, it was a beautiful show of humility and love.

After the funeral, we all went to my Aunt and Uncle’s home for lunch. I ate WAY too much. It was nice to laugh and talk with everyone. Lots of pictures were taken, but I left my camera in the car.  I didn't think we were going to stay as long as we did.  ;)  On the way home, Mike let Jacob drive along the back roads to my Grandparents old homestead. No, the other kids did NOT want to get in the car. Yes, they screamed they were going to die. We made them get in the car anyways!  Haha  Jake did a good job, though. I think his top speed was 20! It brought back memories of me learning to drive along the same dirt roads by Grandmother's house WAY too long ago.  :)  It was really odd how much the old home had grown older. Of course, I haven’t aged at all! Yeah, right! ;) We just walked around the old house and it was as if I was 10 again, hanging out with my cousin Ashley. I really miss him sometimes. Grandmother gets to see him, though. She gets to see Aunt Joan and Mama Parish (my great-grandmother) as well. I’m sure Grandmother is enjoying catching up with them.

On the way home, we were able to have some pretty great discussions with Jake and Josh about death and how to live your life. It’s amazing to me how teaching moments place themselves in the most inopportune times. For me, at least, it’s when I’m super tired or needing to get twelve other things taken care of that the kids come looking for help and guidance. On the way home, we were stuck in a car and super tired. What a great time for learning more about their characters and helping give them insight to making their journey thru life a little less roller coaster like. :)

All in all, I would call the day a super success. :)

Grandmother

My Grandmother passed away yesterday. I know that my Grandmother loved me. I can still hear her say, “Come here little darling” in her strong southern accent. I grew up going back and forth to Grandmothers. She lived a few hours away, but it seemed like forever to get back and forth to her house in the middle of East Texas. Walking into her house was like walking back in time. She ate lunch at noon precisely every day, no exceptions. She washed her dishes in a pan in the sink. She had a REALLY old refrigerator. She didn’t have a laundry room in her house. She kept her washing machine and dryer in the dairy down the road. She lived on a big farm. Her house had the biggest & best heater I’ve ever felt. She also had little space heaters that didn’t have covers. I was always afraid I would burn myself on one. :) Her house was like entering an oven on a cold day. It would almost smother you with the heat. Often I would go outside in the dead of winter without a coat just to cool off a bit from the house. Her bathroom scared me. I don’t really know why, but it did. :) The fixtures were old and the tub, toilet and sink were all stained. They were clean, just stained by the hard water. The door would often stick as well. That didn’t help any. Many times someone was stuck in that old bathroom. :) The bedrooms were off limits for most of my childhood. I always wondered what was so secret in the bedrooms that we weren’t allowed into. Haha She was always smiling when I grew up. She was very soft spoken, very timid. In the end, she had Alzheimer’s. Her personality was not the same. She wasn’t as shy or as timid as before. What a horrible disease. She was blessed with a peaceful passing, though. A final blessing from Heavenly Father for a lady who had had a rough life.

Life is a roller coaster

It’s official. I’m a bad mother. It’s been almost 3 weeks since my kids have started school. Do you think I took a picture of them for their first day of school? Nope. No way. Not me. Do you think I have gushed to anyone about how spectacular they are doing in school thus far? Nope. Nadda. Not me.

So, here goes. :) Elaina has been at this school since Kindergarten. She loves it. She doesn’t know any better. Haha Actually, it is a really good school. It is a public charter school. :) She is now in 2nd grade. She came home with homework the first day of school (the only one to do that I might add). She has 15 spelling words a week to work on. She must play games with these words on the computer and take tests twice a week online. She also must write sentences with each word. She also gets to read 100 minutes per week. More like I get to sit with her and help her read for 100 minutes a week! I’m not complaining. I love spending time with her, but it’s hard to find 100 minutes a week to find a quiet spot to read, without interruptions. We haven’t started math homework yet, but I know it’s coming. YEAH! :(

Emma is doing really well in Middle School. Her school moved into a new building this year and it is really neat. She feels like she is super grown up. She has gotten a bit taller and thinned down a bit, so now she is starting to look the part a little more. :) She still LOVES to read and does it every chance she gets. The homework hasn’t really started too much for her yet, but she is usually pretty good at taking care of it at school. This year she even has study hall once a week to work on homework during school. She is excited about her drama class as well. :)

Josh was leary to start the new school we put Jacob and him into. He is starting to open up a bit and come out of his shell a little better. He is taking German and loving it. He is constantly teaching me new phrases. :) He knows more in the three weeks of German than Jake knows from a full year of Spanish last year! Of course, Jake wasn’t really into it last year and Josh is super excited about German, but hey, it’s encouraging!

Jake is in heaven at the new school. He loves getting out of school at 12:45 Monday, Wednesday and Friday! He thinks that is the neatest thing since sliced bread. I’m not so sure he isn’t right. For now, all the problems he had at the public high school are not affecting him. He has really enjoyed his fresh start and is making the most of it. YEAH for him! He is enjoying his classes and making new friends. I am super happy we went ahead and moved the boys to this High School. :)

I am on the road constantly. :) I wish that were an over-statement, but it’s not. :( I used to love driving around, but now I look forward to staying home a little. It’s been nice that Mother has been with me this last week. She has kept me company while I am dropping off kids then picking them back up a few hours later. :) She is doing much better and determined to go home in September. My selfish side wishes she would just move in and help me year round. Not just for a week or two. :) It’s amazing the things she does, even when she is “slowing down” and not doing as much. Haha

Mike is doing really well, as well. He works quite a bit. I have a new understanding of his dislike of traffic because I am in it each morning right behind him. :) He is enjoying his calling with the young men. I know Jake and Josh enjoy Mike helping with that as well. They tolerate me, but I think they prefer Mike because he doesn’t pry into their lives as much! Haha