A Rainy Halloween

There is candy in every nook and cranny of my house it seems. We went to Heather's work for a big party complete with games and rootbeer floats, plus trick or treating from desk to desk and office to office. It was so fun - thanks for the invite Heather! On Friday it was time for the annual trick or treat bonaza at Chad's work...
more candy followed by pizza and soda for lunch provided by the boss. Sweet. Saturday morning was spent with Sann Dee at yet another Halloween bash...games galore, a cookie decorating station, and a magician! I was surprised that the kids were still excited about trick or treating Saturday night, but they were and they needed all the enthusiasm they could muster to face THE RAIN!












I must say that I've been spoiled by the Halloween weather we've enjoyed the last four years or so...fairly mild and DRY! What a bummer it was to watch the seven day forcast and see that rain cloud smack dab on Saturday. We bundled up as best we could against the elements and spent an hour outside trick or treating our immediate neighborhood. (I wasn't willing to venture far in case someone needed the potty (i.e. Grant) or in case someone got too cold and/or tired.) Even only walking the length of our street, the kids got plenty of treats. Add that to their two-day haul and their bags were full to the brim...even after my late night purge when I got rid of all the really weird looking stuff! It's going to be a long, long while before they make their way through it all - especially since I'm the candy Nazi and will only let them have a little bit each day. Oh well, their teeth will thank me!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

We gathered up our pumpkins (three from the garden and two store bought) to carve them for our FHE activity. The kids were all excited, more for the finished product than for the actual gooey, scraping work that makes Merritt gag every year. I like cleaning out the pumpkins...it's sort of satisfying to me for some reason. Anyhoo, they got their hands dirty, which is all part of the fun, and designed their own faces. The pumpkins turned into very fine jack-o-lanterns. I love Halloween!



We figured it was a bit too much work to carve 5 pumpkins at once, so we focused on the kids' masterpieces and then worked on ours after they all went to bed. It turned into a fun, improptu date. I made a vampire jack-o-lantern while Chad got super creative and carved his to read, "Trick or Treat."

Happy Halloween!!

A Sower Went Forth To Sow...

We read the parable of the sower as found in the Gospel of Mark last week. The discussion that ensued was so wonderful and interesting. We talked about how the sower (Christ and those who follow Him) was good and the seed (the gospel) was good, but that the soil (our hearts) was not always what it should be. Sometimes we are hard hearted and won't accept what is taught, sometimes we are choked with the cares of this world and don't hear what is taught, sometimes we think the word does not apply to us and thus it falls by the wayside, sometimes we get excited about what is taught and resolve to apply it, but then we get busy and burdened and do not continue in faithfulness. Sometimes, though, we get it...we really receive the word and change and grow! It is all up to us.

Chad took Grant's doodle board and drew two trees, one with tiny roots (to represent the seed sown in stony ground) and one with roots that were deep and true. He showed it to the children and we talked about how, when the winds blow (i.e. hard times and temptations), only those with deep roots will stand tall and strong. Then Merritt took the doodle board and said, "What about this?" And he drew the sturdy tree's roots reaching out and grabbing hold of the roots of the tree that was struggling. "We can do this, right?" he asked. I wanted to weep. We can do that! We should want to do that! I'm grateful that Merritt intuitively understood the principle found in D&C 81:5: "Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." I'm grateful for children who teach me, who are small sowers of gospel truths in my life. I'm grateful we can reach out and help one another when hard times come. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have every day to make the soil of my heart a place where the words of Christ can take root and grow.

Bobcat Teeth and Random News

Merritt was awarded his Bobcat badge last night. He earned it a month ago, but was sick on the night of pack meeting and so missed the awards ceremony. It's all good, though, this month is as good as last...especially since he got bobcat teeth. His den leader presented him with the teeth...

which he then used to grab his badge out of my hand. It was supposed to demonstrate the perserverance he had shown in getting his badge, and the determination he would need to finish his Wolf badge requirements, but I don't think he got that out of the ceremony....he was just excited to have Bobcat/vampire teeth to wear all night long. Now he wants to be a vampire for Halloween...sigh!
I really didn't know much about the scouting program before I was called to serve in the Webelos den three years ago, and I am so grateful to have had this calling as it has prepared me to be excited for Merritt to start Scouts, and to help him properly. It really is a neat program!

In other news, I was at the doctor today and she said at the end of our visit, "I'll see you in two weeks." Huh? Are we really to that point? Hooray! Of course my next visit includes the dreaded glucose test, but not for nothing have I given up sugar! I shall pass with flying colors!!

The Night We All Became Fire Breathing Dragons

I love mystery dinner night...I dearly do. Sometimes, however, it yields interesting results. I found a recipe on the Pioneer Woman Cooks for Corn Chowder with Green Chiles, and since we have weekly soup night, I thought it would be a fun one to try. The recipe contained an ingredient I had never used before...chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The dear Pioneer Woman described them as "smokey" in flavor so I didn't think twice about adding them in. Well, chipotle peppers are "smokey" if by "smokey" you mean smoke coming out of your ears or the smoke that follows fire breathing! Grant, of course, didn't try it - which was probably good because it would have put him off soup in particular and dinner in general for the rest of his life. Grace put the spoon in her mouth and pulled it right back out. Chad managed about 3 or 4 spoonfuls before he devoted himself exclusively to his bread. Merritt ate around 5 spoonfuls, which was amazing, but he also chugged three glasses of chocolate milk to do it. I was the only one who finished the bowl, and that was because A) I always feel the need to eat what I cook - especially when it is a disaster (am I punishing myself?), and B) this pregnancy has brought about a high tolerance for spicy food...go figure. The funny thing is that the soup would have been delicious without the "smokey" chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (even Chad agrees on this point). I think I'll give this soup a rest - let it fade into our memory for a bit - and then pull it out again and make it sans smoke.

Have your Ghost and Eat it Too

October is such a fun month for Family Home Evening Treats. Case in point...


These are "Boo Cups." Aren't they darling? They consist of crushed Oreos, chocolate pudding, more crushed Oreos, and then a whipped cream ghost with mini-chocolate chips for eyes. I just whipped up some cream, added powdered sugar and vanilla, then scooped the whole she-bang into a ziplock baggie, snipped a large-ish hole in one corner, and piped out my ghostie. Chad and the kids were impressed by the look, but they said they tasted even better. Sweet.

Yum! Ghosts are delicious!!

Welcome October!

We had our "welcome to October" family party on Friday. It began with decorating!

We then pulled out our box of Halloween costumes to see what would fit. (Fingers crossed!)

Hallelujah! Merritt still wants to be Megatron, Grace still wants to be a princess, and Grant liked the pirate costume...and everything fits! (Minus having to roll up Grant's pant legs.) We are set!

Next came the pumpkin harvest. We went out to the garden and each of the children picked the pumpkin they liked best.
They are all smiles...soon the pumpkins will be too!

Then I made "cheater" donuts (it's just refrigerated biscut dough rolled out a bit and cut with my handy-dandy donut cutter, then fried and glazed - easy and cheap...next year I will try the real thing) and white cheddar popcorn...


And finally we all gathered downstairs for a "spooky" movie, which gave us all a good excuse to munch goodies and cuddle.
Welcome October, you wonderful month, you!