No Tricks - Just Treats

I'm so far behind on my blogging that I figured I'd just start where I am and back track from there. It's a plan I'm feeling good about. Life hit hard in September when I started work as an at-home secretary for a local water company. Between work, family and my stake calling, my blog was just muscled out of the way, but now I've got some time to give it some love. As you all know, my "mostest favoritest" holiday-time is here...HALLOWEEN! That means theme treats for FHE!! Hooray!!! I found the cutest idea for Monster Cups on one of my favorite blogs and instantly decided that I MUST make them. Of course there had to be a snag...I have a non pudding eater in my house. How does that happen? Who doesn't like pudding? Well, Grant doesn't apparently. It makes him gag. Whatever! I did, however, find the perfect replacement...Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!!! And honestly, mint chocolate chip ice cream and crushed Oreos are a match made in calorie heaven. Sooooo good!

The green monster face suffered a bit because there was no way I was giving my little children an entire cup full of ice cream just for the sake of aesthetics, but I thought the effect was still adorable. Certainly my monster cup eaters were happy!

3 Guesses

I had a dream the other night that I went to get Joseph out of his bed and that when he smiled up at me he had a mouth full of snaggle teeth! Three guesses as to what nursing phase we've entered into!

The Healing Field

On Sunday, September 11, we drove to see the Healing Field in Sandy. It was amazing and sobering to see rank after rank and row after row of flags. Each flag represented a person who died because of the 9/11 terror attacks. Along with each flag was a card bearing the person's name and a short bio. They were all heartbreakingly normal people with families and dreams and funny quirks. There were pranksters and crossbow inventors and wannabe actors and avid fishermen; their deaths were all so senseless! One lady wasn't supposed to be at work that day, she was on vacation but went back to work a day early so she could take Halloween off and trick or treat with her kids. There was a man who had only been working at the World Trade Center for a week; he'd been over the moon about his new job there. The names on the cards ranged from Anglo to Hispanic to Muslim to Asian; all different yet all God's children and all victim's of unreasoning hatred. I hope to never see another 9/11, the triumph of man's inhumanity to man. Instead I hope to see the triumph of love and goodwill. For the world it will happen when Christ comes again, but it can happen each day in individual lives. I'll work and pray daily for it in my own. I am grateful for those who put together the Healing Field display; it is a beautiful tribute to each life lost and a reminder of the price we all pay when hatred and ignorance abound.

To read a beautiful article by President Monson on 9/11 please click here.

Finally!

We thought that tooth was NEVER going to come out!

First Day Again

School has swung around again. It's kinda like a ship's boom; if you don't keep an eye on it it may whip around and whack you upside the head. I felt that we were better prepared for this school year than we've ever been. On Sunday, before school began, Chad gave the kids a father's blessing and we talked about the wonderful lesson David O. McKay learned as a missionary: "Whate'er thou art, act well thy part." We are working to keep that in mind this year.

So...drumroll please...here they are!
Merritt is now my big 4th grader! I did not stand in line with him this year. :( That would be embarrassing in the extreme! ;)



Grace is now in first grade. Her excitement for and love of school is so fun! I hope it continues (despite the boy who told her she wasn't a real princess and twisted her arm when she asked him if he'd like to play.)

It's funny how you can go to school for years and yet still have so many first days. There are not too many other experiences out there like that; parenthood is the other one that springs to mind - you get a "first day" with each child, that beautiful day of introduction to the wondrous new person in your life. But maybe I'm thinking about it all wrong. Isn't every day a first? We may do similar things each day (for me that would be cooking, doing dishes and laundry, cleaning some section of the house, etc.) but it is the first time I'm doing it that day and in that particular way. And even though I have a routine with my children, the things that they say and the things that they teach me are always different; it is never the same day with them! Perhaps the greatest gift I could give myself each morning is the realization that today is my new first day; my first day to hear the funny, insightful, compelling things that my husband and children will say. It is my first day as a better parent, wife, and person because I have forgiven myself for the mistakes of yesterday and moved on to better things today. It is my first day if I choose a better road, think kinder thoughts, and do more good than I have done before. I like that! I'm glad it's a first day again!!

Our Kids

These are our kids...


How in the world did we get so lucky??

Om Nom Nom!

Solid food is so exciting!!!!!!! Or is it? When I think of food deliciousness, pureed sweet potatoes don't jump to mind but hey, ya gotta start somewhere! We started with avacado, then brown rice cereal I ground myself in my awesome Blendtech, then sweet potato, and finally banana. Here's a little picture journey through Joseph's first two solid food adventures.




Joseph is getting the hang of this different type of food intake and likes sweet potatoes the best. He's so fun!!