Jack-o-Lanterns

Grizzlies 5, Steelheads 4

What a great family activity! My kids' elementary school offered free hockey tickets to each student for Friday's game, and additional tickets for half price ($8 each). So for $16 we decided it would be a fun family night.

It was the most exciting hockey game I have ever seen, with Utah down 4-2 going into the 3rd period, then tying it up with 14 seconds to go! We then won in overtime.

But, like most things in life, there was a down side, too. Little story....

DS2 was sitting next to me for the 2nd period. He kept talking about maybe buying a souvenier puck. He thought they were so cool. During the middle of the second period the mascot and some promo guys came to the section next to us and were tossing out pucks and t shirts. They weren't looking our way, but I told him to try anyway, and he was jumping around, hands in the air, etc. They finished and were headed back up the aisle, when one of the guys with a box of giveaways turned and looked right at DS2 and mouthed "you want one?" and tossed one right to him. I can't describe how excited he was, or how I felt watching him.

I can just picture his beaming face! He held that puck like a baby, tracing over the words "official game puck" with his fingers, telling me he was going to keep it with his ticket to mark the date he got it, even saying he would show his kids and grandkids. My other boys were a bit jealous.

We were into the end of the third period when the game was getting CRAZY and all of a sudden the puck was gone! It had been in his lap, but inexplicably it had vanished. He frantically began searching our row, the rows near us, asking nearby fans. His brothers, in a display of true charity, also looked their hardest and tried to comfort their brother. It was nowhere! Poor 7yr old ds had tears streaming down his face and began to sob.

You know, being a mom is a roller coaster. Yeah, I know it was just a piece of black plastic. But it wasn't just a piece of black plastic. Watching your children experience life is overwhelming joy and heart-pricking pain. I hate those helpless moments when there is nothing you want more then to remove the hurt, and yet nothing in your power will make that happen. We all felt ds's loss as we left that night, and my heart ached for him longer than I care to admit. He fell asleep in the car and when he woke up to head into the house he was still crying.

I'm glad that there are good times to balance out the bad. We know there will be both in this life and I'm grateful that one makes us thankful for the other. I just wish it wasn't so rough for my baby :(

Anyone know where to get a "official game puck" and maybe a hockey stick? I just may buy one for Christmas.

UPDATE********

Ebay has a puck. Hands, off. It's mine ;)

Halloween graveyards and Bears, OH MY

Last night my baby sis decided to get a checkmark for being a cool aunt. She brought over food to make pudding dirt cup graveyards with chocolate body parts and headstones Yummmmmm. The kiddos were loving it.




Then, my little cub scout got his BEAR badge! I'm proud of him. He (we) did a lot over his long summer break. He(we) now has the next 4 months to work on arrow points till his birthday.

Ist place

DS3 won first place in Literature for his poem entitled "Grandma in a wheelchair". I was thrilled for him, my one child who struggles with self esteem. He really needed something like this and I couldn't be happier for him. Way to go, buddy!

Awww, cute

I love engagement stories. And I enjoyed this little story on another blog I read.

http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/10/quite-possibly-.html

Jury Duty

I've been called to my civic duty. $18.50 if I show up. Cool. That should pay for, let's see, half of one day of child care.

No, it won't be TOO bad (if mom can help with munchkins). Last time I got a notice, maybe 4 years ago, I called the night before and they didn't even get close to my "number" so I never had to show up. I had tiny kids then so it would have been harder. But I can do this.

I woke up feeling a bit sick today, but it seems to be gone at least for now, and I'm grateful for that. I made out my to-do list at 1am last night (this morning? Thanks, Wendy) and it's a long one. Can't afford a sick day.

Plus, DS3 got a call from the PTA that he's getting some kind of award for Reflections, so we need to go to that assembly today.

Better go switch the laundry...

New Chapel!!

Gratitude

There are those times in life when you don't feel deserving of something, and yet somebody gives you something anyway. Not something you asked for, just something they wanted to do. How do you react in such situations? Are you humbled? guilt-ridden? grateful? All of the above?

We speak of being a generous giver as well as a gracious receiver. I seem to struggle with both at times. Are you a better giver than receiver? I bet most people are.

How much does our lack of being a thankful recipient hinder another's blessings of giving? How does our Heavenly Father see it?

I am surrounded by people who love me. I don't always show them the love they deserve, but I try. Somehow my Heavenly Father loves me in spite of the weaknesses I possess. He knows what they are and I have to have faith that as I encounter them He is showing that He has a belief that I can overcome them. I suppose it's like an immunity. The more I am faced with the same challenges and struggles, the better I will get at withstanding and overcoming.

I am in a period of self-examination. You know, those times where you back up and look at yourself from the outside-in; as another person sees you instead of just the voice in your head and your face in the mirror.

I am filled with peace when I think of my life. Life is good. A great family, a warm home, a feeling of being needed. I have an abundance of blessings. What more could anyone ask for? I want my children to remember me as a grateful person. When I see Halloween in the stores being chased by Christmas stuff, I get a little sad that Thanksgiving is forgotten. I love the colors of green, brown and gold and everything they represent. Without that moment for our spirits to pause and ponder I believe something is lost.

Off Track

The boys are off track starting today. We had a lazy laid back day. They did get lots of reading done during quiet time, though.

I made this block and a few others with my sisters on Sun night. I really like it and ds2 even helped me mod podge 2 of them today! So domestic!

We had the dedication on our new chapel on Sunday - I'll update later! Night!

SUPER Saturday

Today was so much fun! We had our RS Super Saturday and I made this clock for the kitchen. It turned out even better than I was expecting and I can't wait to get it all put together and up on the wall. It was the first time I've used crackle medium and I didn't know what to expect really. I think I'd like to use it on more wood crafts. How fun. We also did a couple other small crafts and great classes.

We learned about melting and dipping chocolate and I picked up some new tricks. I also got great advice on doing cute stuff with dd's hair. Poor thing. She's so dang cute, but her wierd mom can't figure out this hair stuff. I have the courage to try a few things now!


They had a boys haircutting class and DS1 and DS2 were the models. Yay, FREE haircuts and mom got to learn to boot! They weren't thrilled (they think hair cuts are torture) but they really like the finished product.

I survived the Kindergarten Halloween party for DS3's class yesterday. I'm the classroom coordinator for his class and I get the distinct privilege of planning parties. 23 five year olds, YIKES.



It was a lot of work and I was exhausted afterward but at least I had other good moms to pitch in and make it easier. DD was even pretty well behaved, considering it was during her naptime and all. DS3 is a pirate, even though he took off his eye patch and moved his bandana and so this picture makes it look like he's a housekeeper or something! LOL

Teacher of the Month

My cute DH was chosen Teacher of the Month at yesterday's assembly at school (chosen by the students)! Third month of teaching, pretty neat-o! He got to choose a surprise from some various boxes and this is what he got. A flag bear is pretty appropriate since he is a jr high history teacher.

And last night he had a Young Men's planning meeting here at our house during mutual time. So I decided to make yummy chocolate chunk cookies. MMmmmmm



They were so good. Um, and then no one came. So DH and the YM pres just sat here and talked about campouts and merit badges, while the smell of fresh baked cookies wafted through the neighborhood. Oh well, their loss.

Ds1 has a fun cub scout field trip right after school, so I won't see him till after dinner today. Hope he has fun. And it's FREEZING today too. I suggested a thermal shirt under the scout shirt, but I was turned down.


Statement from ds3

ds: Mom, what is the biggest number?
me: There is none. Numbers go on forever.
ds: No, 10,000 is the biggest number.


Ok, whatever you say.

Is it Wednesday, mom?

Chipper, happy children! So excited for hump-day Wednesday. Could it be? Are they eagerly anticipating what homework awaits them in school? Is the kindergartener looking forward to our weekly storytime at the library? What a bookworm! Wait, no. It's GameCube day.

A week and a half ago we changed family rules again. After watching conference we realized that we needed to be discretionary with our time. That meant limits on the stuff that we loved but that wasn't uplifting. Nintendo was the first thing that came to mind, so we decided that we'd reserve video games for weekends (fri and sat) and one weekday. We chose Wed. It has actually gone really well. About 10 times better than I expected. Only Monday did I get a brief, "mom, what day is it today"? The rule must make sense to the boys, because they have not complained or bucked it, AT ALL. They must have figured out that one can still thrive while not playing everyday. And maybe at the same time they will be more grateful for the times they do play.

Happy Halloween

"What am I going to be, mom"? I love halloween but I do not love the begging associated with costume-buying. I feel like I never have anough money in Oct for all they want to pretend to be. But wait. Even if I did have $25 to spend on each of them, would I? Probably not.

What we end up doing is buying a couple pieces to round out the dress-up bin, and get imaginative with what we already own. That doesn't make me a bad mom, right? Resourceful is a better term. That said, the kids can't even decide what they want to be, so I don't know what hat, cape or face paint I need to get. Thinking that the big day is two more weeks away should help things, but the kids have their parties on Friday, this Friday, and there's not much more time for decisions.

Baby face

We have a new nephew, our second, to be exact! Teague Argyle was born late Friday...The second son of dh's brother Ryan. We went to see them at the hospital on Saturday morning and the kids were loving their new cousin. Second, to be exact! That's right. Out of 10 kids between both our families, only one sibling other than us has added children to the family tree. He's a cute little bugger, and I mean LITTLE. 6 lbs 6 oz. Seems small to me, but then I give birth to 3 month olds.

We had lots of fun in Ogden. The kids were good. Darcy (SIL) was discharged Sun morning and even came to Sunday dinner! Holy Cow! I was never moving that much after delivery. Kudos, Darcy. Here's a slide show of the hospital visit. The one in red is my MIL, proud grandma of six.

Craft time

oooh, ok folks. I feel it in the air again. SO nice and makes me want to get homey projects rolling. I will start to finalize my kitchen colors this weekend so I can begin sanding and painting next week. I just shelled out over $30 for RS crafts at Super Saturday on the 20th. And today I picked up some fabric to use for the wood blocks shown below. Three of the four were $2 a yard, so getting 1/4 yd for .50 is pretty el-cheapo. The cute blue one with scarecrows was a little bit more, but lots of fun.










Here's my sleepy dd after a nap. She was so grumpy yesterday when I took this. I was just laughing at her hair.


















Conversation with ds2 today when he walked in the door...

me: Why do you have that shirt on your head? Take it off.
ds2: No, mom! it feels cool like I'm someone from Egypt or something.

Autumn?

It IS October, right? It has been so hot this week so far. About 80 degrees now for two days. Swamp cooler turned back on, kids were back in shorts, the cozy hoodie sets still waiting with tags on.... Not fair! I absolutely love fall and I want it back.

I've been feeling lousy today, so lots of TV and magazines, and only bare minimum housework. My kids had oatmeal for supper. Ds3 was loving it. He said "Mom! My favorite meals are mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and oatmeal". Well, buddy, glad I could make your day. And I'll tell your future wife for sure.

Favorite mom moment of the day: dd came up to me in the sick bed and put her hands on my cheeks and said "There's my beautiful mom!" Yes, you literally had to mop me up off the floor. Wow. It doesn't get any better than this.

NEW Clothes!

Thank you Mr FedEx! Finally the order of clearance clothes from childrensplace.com came today. All of dd's fall wardrobe plus a pair of courderoys for ds3. Holy Cow, is it cute stuff! I must say, fantastic deals, too. I paid $79 and retail was about $226, according to the tags. The value of the shoes alone was $63! I wish I were 2 yrs old....

Well, the errands are done for the day...bank, groceries, diapers, new release movie from Redbox. The kids were good, too!

I saw this easy craft (I'm all about easy) and I think I'll try it. Maybe my mom and sisters can get together for it...hint, hint.




"Fall Blocks

Want a fast, fun decoration for fall (or any other holiday)? These are perfect! Just paint blocks of wood to match a fabric swatch. When the paint is dry use modge podge to glue the fabric to the block. Easy-schmeezy!"
Courtesy of chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/




Last night we had shepherd's pie for supper. I meant to make rolls to go with it, but while proofing my yeast it quickly became apparent that it was dead. So we had sliced bread instead and I got to toss a half a canister of old yeast :( Tonight dh is at CPR training while I am at Enrichment Night, so the kids get chicken nuggets.

Mr. Distracted

Sorry for the long absence. Life has been a series of ups and downs, but mostly ups. DH is enjoying his very demanding, mostly fulfilling, constantly learning, always something to grade teaching job. I am trying to get used to paperwork and lesson prep every night. He loves what he does and is trying hard to figure out what works, what doesn't and what he can improve on. I admire him for that!

This is my ds3 above. Oh how he dawdles! Every little thing gets him sidetracked. I think this morning I asked 13 times for him to get dressed. or maybe that was yesterday. They all run together. Anyway, this morning he was asked to take a bag of trash out to the can on the street. He did....and then I didn't see him for 5 minutes. He never came back in. I grabbed the camera when I saw him watching cars, bugs and all else. Fast forward three minutes. Suddenly he remembers to come back in from his long trip to the sidewalk. Eight minutes to take a bag outside. Sheesh.

Conference was wonderful this weekend! I'll have to post pics soon.

And for those that are interested, I've added a slide show of our anniversary at the bottom...