Boo and Thank You

As goofy as we are, my little family had a blast this Halloween. This is us at the freezing trunk or treat. What a haul! Bananas was an Egyptian Queen complete with eye makeup which thrilled her to death. The Boy couldn't help but be Captain Jack Sparrow beard and all. Rapunzel, well, was Rapunzel this year. She grew her hair out past her bottom and boy, do I understand Tangled a lot better now. Jelly Beans, was a Sleeping Beauty and would curtsy every so gracefully with a, "Your Majesty" or "My, Lady." Quite hilarious.

But as much fun as Halloween was, I have been working on Fall/Thanksgiving decor for the last month and a half. Blame Super Saturday...it got me in the mood for a serious craft fest of goodness.

I throughally enjoyed ripping up a book making the paper pumpkin. It took about as many hours as sticking its counter part, the gold tack pumpkin. I had a bit of scrap paper left over from my 'Give Thanks' blocks and couldn't help myself and make my best knock off of a leaf garland. But those yarn wrapped candy cones where the easiest thing on the planet.  Yarn wrapping and I are going to be really good friends I think.  I saw these little ditties of framed leaves and figured out my own version as well because I was not patient enough to wait till morning to hunt down some gorgeous fall leaves.

A million candy corns later...

And a burlap table runner complete with lace trimmings.  Mine is a bit rumpled from use and since we are all on a first name basis I figured the pressing could wait. ;) Of course my pinsperation was gorgeous!  I couldn't justify purchasing new lace at over seven dollars a yard so I made do with what I had.

I am grateful for this cozy time of year when things become focused on gratitude, generosity, and blessings.  Since today is the 13th day I figured I could at least list thirteen things that I am more than blessed to have.

1. A hard working man who loves me and my children and the Lord more than anything else in the world,  even more than football.  That is saying something.
2. Four beautiful, sometime precocious and wild, but darling children.
3. A home filled with love and laughter.
4.  The full Gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. Being able to stay home with my kiddos each and every day.
6. Having the privilege and responsibility of teaching my children.
7. Living in the United States.
8. Seeing the first real snowfall and the wonder of it all through my children's eyes.
9. New winter tires.
10. Hands.
11. Inspiration from the Holy Ghost when I truly need it.
12. Walking.
13. Trees that looked like they were blooming a sunset.

Thanks again.

Homemade chicken noodles soup and chocolate mousse cake in the same day.

Orange, scarlet, and purple leaves.

Getting the very last parking spot with in a three block radius.

Holding hands with Jelly Beans.

Two working toilets.

Watching my six year old Rapunzel leap with wild graceful abandon in ballet.

Coming home to an empty kitchen trash can.

Hearing, "I love you to the moon and back, forever and ever and always." four times.

Front row seats to the retelling of "the best soccer game yet".

Being here to pick up the pieces when She needed me to.

Getting to bed 20 minutes earlier than yesterday.

Lazy Summer Days...

...are a myth, for me, at least. I can't help it. After hibernating this very cold and unusually long winter that lasted until June, it feels amazing to be out exploring, playing, and soaking up vitamin D with my kids.

So far our typical lazy summer week consists of picnics at the splash pad at least twice a week, the free movie on Friday mornings at the theater, awesome library classes to get out of the heat in the afternoon, hiking a new trail, disc golfing with Mister, having friends over for huge bubble making parties with our yarn bubble wands from Family Fun, and a trip to the Spokane River in various locations,

and walking through the English, and Rose Gardens at Manito Park.

Look how thrilled The Boy looks.

(Thank you random missionary for anchoring this shot.)

Plus going for bike rides, topped off with sewing and cooking lessons until swim lessons start at the end of the month.

We have also managed to squeeze in a road trip vacation for a week for a wedding which I managed to get absolutely zero pictures of because I left our flash card behind. I am very steamed about the whole thing, still.  Rapunzel also needed an emergency side of the road potty break, which we later found out that Jelly Beans was very covetous about because when we finally got to the much needed gas station and announced to the kids we are going potty, Jelly Beans exclaims: "Do I get to pee in the grass too!?!"  We finally consoled her with the fact that when we go camping she will get to do that a lot.

The next couple of months don't look like they will be slowing us down any either with three summer birthdays still in the forcast, two with in the two weeks, a day trip to the Grand Coolee Dam for the Lazer Light Show with some traditional fun in the sand at a sandy beach not to far from there and my anniversary (13 years, whoot!) just to name a few.

I love summer and the hubbub!

Now I need to start taking my camera with me with a flash card in it.

Plus summer means parading around with glitter toes...the icing on the cake.

Saturday Morning Session

This is what I woke up to early Saturday morning (notice the light is on in the back which means the sun is barely up).  The bigger kids planned and schemed all week long on how, what, and where to construct their traditional tent for conference.  It was cozy and a great way to snuggle together while listening to the excellent words of this last LDS General Conference.  With the waft of warm strawberry scones hot out of the oven and the sweetness of the morning, I think it was just about the perfect way to start a fabulous family weekend.

P.S. Thank you Sugardoodle for the quiet saver conference packets for all the ages!  The treat bingo was a HUGE hit. :)

My Top Three

My top three things that made my hectic but rewarding day worth while:

3: imagine in the daintiest and sweetest three year old speech..."Baw-bie dominows? ... Sweeet!"

2: While perusing books for teaching children, I stumbled upon a site for fathers called FamilyMan Ministries and found a book titled..."Help! I am Married to a Homeschooling Mom".

and finally

1: diriving some sort of ironic satisfaction that while I was watching Biggest Loser tonight, I was also having a lovely bowl of light chocolate chip mint ice cream, because I had points left over from my too busy to sit down and eat kind of day!

What were your top three?

Bedtime Battle Rewards

Now my little man, is my super star sleeper. Of my four kids he rocks the nighttime kasbah like this is the last night for Mr. Sandman, so make it a good one. But the girls....oh, the giggly, talkative, Chatty Cathys just can't help themselves.

Every night it is a new antic.

...climbing the bunk bed latter because their beds, pardon me boats, are sinking...

...the rapid fire one hundred miniature stuffed animal volley...

...the contagious giggling virus that seems to infect them as soon as the lights turn off...

...the thirst epidemic that grips the girls bedroom each night at about 8pm...

..."Didn't you pee all day? Why are you out here...again? Potty...wow that's original"...

..."Mom, my rooms to hot/cold/quiet/loud/dark"...it supposed to be that way...because I said so...

..."I'm scared, Mommy."..."Of, what?"..."The breathing!"..."That is just your sister. That is the sound of sleep. Now you try it."

..."Mom, my eye, I mean my foot hurts."

..."I have a hangnail and will need a clipper and a bandaid..stat"

and my personal favorite...

..."Mom, I am not tired. Maybe if I had a cookie I think I might feel more sleepy."

Oy.

It is just after 10 pm and my littlest girl has finally joined her comrades in the fight against all that is snoozy and is finally asleep. Her last words to me were, "Mom, you tucked me in wrong."

So I reshuffle a perfectly fine blanket layer a smidgen to the right and boom...she is out like a light...seriously. I watched it with my own two eyes. But, not before her sweet angel face with hands snugly tucked under her cherub cheeks says, "Thank you, mommy.", expertly shooting an arrow straight to my heart.

And that is why I can't trade bedtime for anything else.

Sunday Funnies

Let me introduce you to what looks like our old neighbor dog, Brutus, from our mini-farm days a couple of months ago.


He was a lovable guy, a bit slobbery for my taste and apparently Jelly Beans as well. Here is the following conversation I had with her as I tucked her into bed...

JellyBeans: Mom, I liked the white house. (mini-farm)

Me: That house sure had a big yard in it, didn't it?

Jelly Beans: Yep! It was fun...except when Brutus would crawl under the fence.
He thinks I am lunch, but I am not!

World from a three year old.

Return and Report

My to do list as usual always gets mostly done with a few hiccups in between.

I did manage to plant the cantaloupe and watermelon which was a huge feat in itself...a rototiller would be divine at this point but I will just have to keep toughing it out, blisters and all, with my handy dandy pick and shovel. Plus I had no idea how much space those melons needed! I know I will be completely convinced of the worth of this effort when I bite into my first sweet and juicy melon later this summer.

Now since, this dirt whacking and shoveling comes with a price my hands became too sore to get any farther on my finer arts...the names will have to wait a few days till my hands heal. I did get a skirt made but the other dresses will also have to wait till I can bend my hands again. I am afraid to admit, I think I have developed princess hands...to tender for gardening...nothing a few more weeks of picking won't solve though. But they didn't get me before I could mend all the shorts for the season.

My running was by far the best thing going for me this week. I had a runners high this week. I know! It was totally amazing. I felt like I could run forever. So the next day, I ran a 5K, thanks to my surprise running buddy from Illinois, (you rock Aunt Faffy!). Yep, I completely shocked myself, but I did it six weeks earlier than scheduled. Which makes me even more excited for the Running with Angels 5K that I signed up for to run in June. By that time I will be a third of the way through my 1/2 marathon training, to run in August, that I have started in place of the 5K running. Who knew...me a runner!

But with all the extra workouts I have been pretty tired by night fall. It was great opportunity to catch up on my reading and added a big chunk (100+ pages) to my scripture goal reading for the week.

And last but not least, the Rubber Ducky Cupcake Cake. Oh my goodness...this was to simple for the cuteness factor that came out of it! I love the books, Hello, Cupcake! and it's sequel What's New, Cupcake. This is where I got the idea for Jelly Beans' birthday cake. She absolutely loved it and keeps asking where the duckies went. She has a hard time coping with the fact that she ate them. Ahhh, to be three. Go check out the site and watch all the videos, you won't be able to wait for your next cake event, I promise. I will post more with pictures, next.