Halloween fun

Since Halloween is on a Sunday this year we were thankful for the Trunk or Treat at church. Last week Caleb and I made up a pie using choc. and white choc. pudding and reeces peanut butter cups. We didn't have a recipe. It was soooo good so Caleb decided to make that for the pie contest for the Trunk or Treat. He tied for first place.

Caleb and I dressed as hunters. It was pretty funny when I had 3 or 4 people not recognize me. After I took off the hat they realized who I was. Here is Ethan...GROOM. Rachel...BRIDE and Mayah....BUTTERFLY.

Cutest butterfly EVER.

Look at this lovely bride...so pretty. She is using my veil from when I got married and she was the one to decide on the red shoes so I found some red ribbon (pulled out the strings in some Christmas bags) and tied them on the back of the dress. Too bad we didn't have a bouquet.

The bride and groom

Since Ethan wasn't able to pick Rachel up we decided to do a fun picture and have her pic him up. TOO FUNNY.
Zach didn't end up dressing up. Our friends brought him a dr. costume but then he never put it on....so no pictures of him.

Crazy Hair DAY

Today is Crazy hair day at the elementary school. I had to be up early anyway to take Zach to school for a field trip. He had to be at the school at 7 a.m. so that meant leaving our house at 6:30 and stopping at the gas station to get some gatorade for his trip. We ended up seeing about 4 or 5 kids doing the same thing. :)

When I got back we fixed Rachel and Ethan's hair. I love how Rachel's hair looks and yep...pretty crazy. She put a bottle on her head and then flipped her hair over. I grabbed her hair and put it in a pony tail making it stick straight up. It looks so cool.

Definately the craziest hair I have seen in a long time.
Ethan is soooooo funny. Last night as I was putting him to bed he asked if he could shave his head for crazy hair day. I wasn't too sure about shaving it completely. So we compromised. I cut it pretty short and then left a piece uncut in the front and we spiked that. I told him we could finish cutting it after crazy hair day but the other kids really like it and want him to keep it. We will see. It doesn't bother me to allow them some fun hair as long as it is within reason. And this wouldn't bother me. It is kind of cute...actually.

You can see it better in this picture.

Ahhh my kids are growing up. It is sad...what a cutie. Would you let your 6 year old keep his hair like that?

Is it Grandpa?

Today Mayah and I went over to our friends house to help them prepare to move. We took our camera so we could put some things on Craigslist. Well Mayah was super excited when she saw a pick up that sort of looked like her Grandpa's. We had to slow down...and I mean SLOW down so she could look inside to see if it really was Grandpa. We knew it wasn't since he lives 2000 miles away but JUST IN CASE...you never know. So I decided since I had my camera I would take a quick picture. Don't worry...he didn't see me. It isn't exactly the same but close. We were hoping we would see him inside.

OOHHH I am loving the Fall. This is taken in our driveway. It is such a gorgeous time of year.

Here is our front yard. I am a little sad to think that in a couple of weeks the colors are going to be gone. I sooooooo wish they would stay longer.

Who US?

Don and I were called as the Marriage and Family teachers for our ward. US? Trust me...I am just as surprised as you. :)

I just finished a long blog post about this calling and then our computer went out. So now you are left with just this little amount of info. I am fairly confindent that the bishop prayed about what couple/family needed the greatest amount of HELP. We all know who learns the most when called to a position. We are in for a big treat....we are going to learn so much. And for that I am truly grateful.

NO WONDER

Two nights ago Caleb made pancakes for dinner. YUM. He makes good pancakes. But for some reason these were not very good but I didn't really say anything. The kids said they weren't very good but we all ate them anyway. AS he was making them he mentioned how he thought they needed more flour because the batter was too runny. So he added more. They were flat and blah.

Well today I pulled out my mixer to make some pumpkin bread. I asked Mayah if she wanted to help and she excitedly ran over to me wanting to help. But then the truth came out. She was laughing and said that she had put water in Caleb's pancake batter. No wonder it was runny and he had to add extra flour to make it the right consistency. I asked her why she did that and she said that it was the secret ingredient. We have a secret ingredient that we add to our chocolate chip cookies and we make a big deal about it with the kids. I don't think water is a good secret ingredient. And by the way....it isn't the one we add to our cookies. :) I made sure to tell Mayah that there were no secret ingredients allowed in the pumpkin bread. No secret ingredients are even needed in this recipe. OH YUM.

Gratitude

It has been so long since I have blogged. I feel grateful for all my blessings and I feel a need to quickly write down some of the things I am thankful for. My friend is on her way over to our place. I am taking her to the airport. She is going oversees for 10 days. And they will be moving in a couple of months. It is pretty darn sad. This friend has five kids like us and we have done quite a few things together. But I am excited for their new journey and for what adventures they will be sharing together as a family in a foreign country.

I am thankful for good friends.

I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and for my Savior Jesus Christ. Our family has really been tested these last few months but I feel loved and I do not feel alone in our struggles. I am thankful that we have been stretched and tried. I feel stronger and I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so comforting.

I am thankful for family. THIS IS MY GREATEST JOY. I have a great family. SO many that have helped me. I know they have prayed for us and have helped us in so many ways. I feel so blessed to come from a family that constantly thinks of others. My parents are amazing and they continually give and give even though they have very little themselves. If that doesn't get them a place in Heaven I don't know what will.

I am thankful for my husband. He is a wonderful man. It has been hard seeing him sick these last few months and it is such a blessing to have him up and working full time and well. The last couple of days he has come hoome and started cleaning. He and the kids cleaned up after dinner a couple of nights ago and just these small kind acts of service mean the world to me. I am truly grateful for a man that helps out.

I am thankful for my five wonderful kids. YES...they keep us busy but what a blessing they are. They talk back, they refuse to do chores, they argue and argue, they complain about homework, they fight with each other, they hate going to bed BUT they are our greatest joy and they bring smiles to our faces even in the worst circumstances.

I am just so grateful that our child that has been struggling to go to school is now going. I know it is still hard but this child is working through the difficulties and making great progress.

A couple of months ago I had to force myself to find the things I was thankful for. I knew I had a lot to be thankful for but it was hard to pull it out from the things that were squashing me down. I know it is so important to be thankful and so important to thank the Lord for what we do have. Every once in awhile I devote a prayer to just being thankful and not asking for a single thing.

Great morning

Everything went great this morning. All the kids got on the bus and were happy. I am so HAPPY. It is a great morning. I even got another day of exercise done. PHEW...that makes three days in a row. Pretty good considering it has been awhile. Don's brother is coming from Utah. We haven't seen him for such a long time. He is here taking a language test for his job back in Utah. My inlaws will also be coming and they are bringing dinner. Can't wait. They came on Sunday too and brought dinner. OH it is so nice to not have to worry about that.

It is getting quite cold out. Don LOVES this weather. I love fall but when it gets cold out I like to be under a blanket with some hot chocolate. I have already added another blanket to our bed. The trees are changing colors and it is getting sooooooooooo gorgeous here. Halloween is just around the corner and my kids continually talk about what they want to be. It is a good day and another day to be grateful for all my blessings. AND Ethan hasn't gotten a color change in 4 days. YEEHAW. :)