SPT--Halloween

I enjoy Halloween. I don't know if it's the treats, the costumes, the weather, or just the fact that it's so different from any other day of the year, but I like it. I don't get into anything too spooky or creepy, I see it more of a fun and ridiculous day.

My friend Betsy teaches 1st grade in Michigan and is well-known at her school for her elaborate costumes. One year she was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and even carried a real dog around with her all day. (Regrettably I don't have any photos.) If I were a teacher I would definitely be way in to Halloween, because the kids love it so much. In fact, when Landon was in kindergarten I noticed a few teachers at his school didn't dress up and I thought that was outrageous. If ever there was a chance to be a fun teacher, Halloween is the day to do it.


You'd think that since I feel this way about Halloween that I'd get more into it myself, but I have never dressed up as an adult (except for my big orange jacket). Today I got to go help with the kids' class parties so I wanted to have something to wear. I opted for one of the cat headbands I'd found on clearance for 70% off at Joann's the other night. It wasn't anything major, but the kids still thought it was fun and it was clear that I was a mom willing to be silly.

**What about you??**

What's that smell?

It's 8:36 and I'm just now getting on the computer to blog...that is not good. I know some of you may be able to handle that sort of thing regularly, but it's a huge stretch for me to be away from the computer all day, so I'm practically twitching right now. Must type...


Today Melinda hosted a blogger's brunch at her lovely home in Payson. I rode with Amie and her kids, and ended up getting a lovely tour of Mapleton and Payson which involved seeing the two places Amie lived as a newlywed, her in-laws' house and Jimmy's Aunt Sue who just happened to be walking down the street as we passed by. How about that?


We were seriously tardy for the brunch (due to an accident on the freeway) but we made up for it by staying later than everyone else. We ended up getting to visit with Lucy and her 3 boys, Lindsay and her 4 kids, Rachel and 3 of her kids, Jenn and her son Ethan, Melinda and 3 of her kids, and special guest blogger Michelle Alley all the way from Canada with her twin girls.


We had an excellent spread of food (I just couldn't get enough coffee cake) and got to chat while we ate. We also ended up getting a little Spanish tutorial thanks to one of baby Ryan's obnoxious...I mean educational birthday toys. It was a huge hit with the visiting kids so a couple times I had to try to read lips in order to hear the conversation. This was pretty amusing, though by the end of our visit (4 hours) I was ready to destroy that toy and one other. Poor Melinda, how do you stand it? (She doesn't usually have 20 people in her house while Ryan plays with it.)


Melinda had cute Halloween party favors for everyone so I ended up with some cool Halloween pancake molds, so I guess we're having pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. She also sent Amie and I home with some leftovers of her gluttonous breakfast casserole and a bag of Costco croissants. I didn't realize I needed to bring luggage with me, but I was okay with that.


Upon returning home at 3:35, I had an impromptu visit with my sister Lori. She had taken the day off of work for a funeral so she stopped by to visit. It's rather sad that we went from seeing each other almost daily (when she was looking for a job) to hardly ever seeing each other at all. We hunkered down on the couches to visit but were surprised awhile later when a strange car pulled up in the driveway. I had totally spaced my 4:00 appointment with my visiting teachers (that's right, the ones who hadn't come in 3-almost 4 months). We had a good visit and they brought me this cute treat. I think their love-language is gifts and I love that about them!


After they left, Lori came out of hiding so we could resume our hunkering. We ended up staying on the couch for 2 hours (Randy eventually joined us). Then it was on to pumpkin carving.


I was NOT in the mood for that, but since it's October 30th we had to do it. And by "we" I mean Randy and the kids. I watched (as I always do) as the kids drew on their pumpkins and Randy carved them. I have no carving skills and I hate the stank of pumpkins (hence the title of this post). I was not happy about having that nasty smell going on, nor was I happy with the instant headache it triggered. #$%@! Fortunately this was a quick activity and the smell dissipated when the guts were taken out to the trash.


Finally, it was time for the kids to go to bed. Landon has been writing funny stories in bed at night and then coming out to have Randy do little drawings for them. He was crushed last night because Randy was working and couldn't do the drawings until today, so this was the debut of Adventure One of Super Mom and Whine Girl. (I have video of him reading it, but it won't load.)

**Do you like the smell of pumpkin guts?
What time of the day are you "done" with being awake.
Has Halloween snuck up on you?**

The Things We Do

Yesterday during our Marriage and Family class the teachers (a husband and wife team) had the class list good things husbands can do for wives, wives can do for husbands and parents can do for their children. It ended up being pretty interesting since everyone has different feelings about what their spouses should do.


For example, I rarely make a big, official dinner. I make sure the kids get something to eat at regular meal times, but our house definitely isn't a "Hi honey you're home, here's your hot meal and your slippers" kind of house. But some of the husbands in the class commented that they appreciate that their wife always has dinner ready for them. I cringed a little bit when I heard this, but know that that's just not my way.


Randy spoke up and said that he appreciated the fact that our house is always clean, because he likes that a lot (this was news to me). He said he appreciated the fact that the laundry was always done, that he always has clean socks and underwear, and that he doesn't mind ironing his shirts because he always has plenty of clean ones to chose from. (It was a little bit surreal to sit in a room of about 40 people and hear Randy complimenting me.)


It was also cool to listen to the different things everyone had to say. The beauty of it is that we're all different and can do the things that work for us. This got me thinking about blogging and the things we all post about. I know we all have a tendency to bristle at the posts that strike a nerve with us, whether it's because it's a pet peeve, a weakness, a strength or a desire, because as women we have a tendency to feel threatened by other women's victories.


I think this is sad and it's something that I've been working on and have definitely gotten better about over the past couple years of blogging. So I had sort of an epiphany about this yesterday as I checked my comments on my Sunday post about visiting teaching. Obviously visiting teaching is something I feel strongly about, so it comes easily for me and is something I write about. But there are plenty of things I'm not good at that I don't end up writing about, and I'm guessing this is true of everyone. So rather than reading blogs and feeling threatened or like we're somehow less, why not just take the good from each others' experiences and remember we have other strengths?


I could list strengths from every blog I read, and most of them would be very different from my own. Our blogs are reflections of who we are and who we want to be...not who we're not.

Photos examples are...
Claudia's gorgeous living room
Michelle's beautiful angel food cake
Kristi's marathon finish
Amy M.'s amazing studio and talents
Amie's family focus and marriage
{These are just a few examples
of people I know well.}

**What do you think???**

Sunday Thoughts

{If you haven't seen this, you're missing out.}

I had my visiting teaching interview this morning at the church, and as I sat there facing the member of the Relief Society Presidency I felt totally guilt-free and able to discuss my thoughts about visiting teaching and the needs of the sisters I visit. It was a great feeling! I was asked about the women I visit by name and was able to give detailed answers about how they're really doing and what I think they need right now. It made me wonder what my visiting teachers are going to say when they're asked about me (they haven't come for 4 months).

I truly believe we are all instruments in the Lord's hands each day as we serve our families, neighbors and friends, but we have been specifically called to serve certain women when we have agreed to be visiting teachers so we should take that responsibility seriously.

I haven't always felt this way, and really struggled with visiting teaching as a newlywed because I felt like I didn't relate to the other women and because I saw it as a way of being assigned a friend. My views were totally immature and naive, and way off base. I just hadn't caught the vision and wasn't looking at it from the Lord's perspective. I'm grateful now that I had that experience, and even more thankful that I don't feel that way anymore.

Here are some great quotes from Elaine L. Jack

“Through visiting teaching we act as mothers, sisters, helpers, companions and friends, one to another”
(Church News, 4 Sept. 1993, 6).

“In visiting teaching we reach out to each other. Hands often speak as voices can’t. A warm embrace conveys volumes. A laugh together unites us. A moment of sharing refreshes our souls. We cannot always lift the burden of one who is troubled, but we can lift her so she can bear it well”
(Church News, 7 Mar. 1992, 5).

“We should never underestimate the value of a one-on-one visit.

Here is a link to a BYU Women's Conference Sharing Station about overcoming roadblocks to visiting teaching.

**How do you feel about visiting teaching?
Do your visiting teachers come?
Has a visiting teacher ever changed your life?**

Serenity Now

Today was Whitney's birthday party, and I thought I had everything under control, but I got out of the shower this morning to find that Randy had decided to go to help with a Service Project (which he had decided not to do as of last night), so I was on my own to get things ready but had 3 extra kids here (the nieces) and couldn't leave the house! $#@! I was so mad.


Randy is always super helpful to me, so I don't usually freak out about throwing birthday parties or anything else because he is excellent back-up for me. His disappearance today left me confused (he didn't even yell goodbye through the bathroom door) and feeling like he'd thrown me under the bus. I was steaming mad, super flustered and extremely bugged.

{We had the hardest time getting a
self-portrait with the girls in the background.}

Michelle to the rescue! I called Michelle to see if she could pick up some ice cream for me since I had underestimated how much we had here (I should have checked, but was positive we had a full container). Then my mom called and wanted to come to the party. I hadn't mentioned it to her because she's leaving for Australia tomorrow, but it turns out she's already packed and wanted to come over. She saved the day by picking up balloons and bringing cookie dough to help compensate for burned cookies I made this morning (not 1 but 2 trays)!! (Note to self: do not vacuum when there is only 1 minute left on the timer! Also, inform son that when he hears a timer ringing it's a good idea to inform his mother.)


The party ended up being a success. I had the brilliant idea of having the girls decorate their own party bags, so that took them about 20 minutes and didn't involve any help from me.


They also put on costumes (just for fun) and then played freeze/dance in the front yard. Fortunately everyone (included Eva) was happy to participate. It was fun to watch their various dance moves and glee at playing all together.

A little video to capture the feel.

The girls circled Whitney as she opened her presents, each of them vying for the seats next to her. They were all so excited to give her their gifts, and she was so excited to receive them!


We were almost out of time, but finally squeezed in the cookie ice cream sandwiches for a treat. My mom had baked the cookies and put the ice cream between them, so they were ready to go (how did I think I was going to do this?). They were super tasty because the cookies were freshly baked and Michelle had brought my favorite ice cream...Canadian Vanilla. I don't know what makes it Canadian, but it's all kind of good.


Randy returned home during the last half hour of the party and ended up redeeming himself greatly by cleaning everything up while I talked to Jenn in the driveway when she came to pick up Emily.


By the time I came inside the house, Whitney, Bella, Tess & Megan were having a tea party with her new tea cart and dishes (from the party). It was pretty cute. I made them lunch (using the fun new plates from Kristine) and Tess wheeled their plates out to them, one at a time, because she got to be the waitress.

After cleaning up lunch I felt like I was going to drop and actually allowed myself to get in the cozy and read, rather than doing laundry or even blogging. It was bliss. The girls played so well together that I was able to read and doze for an hour and a half!

**Are you exhausted too?**

Farewell to Football

{Picture taken on the field.}

Last night was our final flag football game of the season. The coach normally goes on the field when we're on offense so he can huddle with the kids and go over the play they need to run (Randy goes on the field for defense), but for this game he had me do it. It was so fun. I had gotten a little taste of it at the beginning of Tuesday's game when "the real coach" wasn't there, so I was ready for it. The kids did great, and it was cool to be right on the field behind the action, rather than taking stats on the sidelines.

The coach tried hard to make sure all the kids got a chance to score during the season, so even the nonstar players were able to make an extra point. As of last night Landon was the only kid who hadn't gotten a chance to score, so the goal was to give him that chance. The time just flew by and even though we were winning 18-0 Landon still hadn't gotten his chance. We were running out of time, and though several of the plays were meant for him it just didn't happen (the quarterback had to run). Poor Landon was very upset by this, and no matter how much we tried to explain that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't shake it.


After the game was over and we got together for our team cheer (usually Go Blue or something) the coach had us yell "Landon!" It was really sweet, but Landon was in tears talking to Randy so I don't even know if he heard it.


The coach ended up making certificates for all the kids, and included their stats (lovingly compiled by me all season) and then a personal note to each of them. I thought this was such a nice thing to do, so personal (the coach has 6 kids of his own so he was really fatherly with the kids). We also gave them a 5x7 copy of one of the pictures we took the other day (for some reason the city didn't do official team photos for football).

{click to enlarge}

Landon didn't read his certificate until he got home and ended up getting upset again as he read that he had scored an extra point. The coach was so sure Landon would get to score in this last game that he had printed it on there before hand. It was a nice thing to do, but ended up being salt in Landon's wound. I think the whole experience ended up being a good learning opportunity for him. He had a great time all season, met new friends, greatly improved skill-wise, and got to be a part of a team.


I'm sad the season is over. I really loved being a part of it, even though it meant being scheduled Tues, Wed, and Thursday of each week. I will definitely volunteer to be an assistant coach next year. Being hands-on is so much more fun than watching from my chair on the sidelines. Next up is basketball (not my favorite), luckily it doesn't start until January and I won't be helping to coach for that one.

Happy Birthday Barb!!
P.S. Jenn posted her caramel recipe!

**Did you play sports as a kid?
Do you think sports are a good way to learn life lessons?**

I Screamed Like a Girl!

I did it, I forced myself to clean the garage. My main motivation was clearing the toy area so that Whitney and the cousins will play out there this weekend, and that mission was accomplished.

This is me at the beginning of the task, so not happy. Fortunately I got to listen to NPR podcasts while I did this. It helped a lot.

My spider-related skittishness wasn't put to the test until the end of the project. Funnily enough I was on the phone with Michelle at the time, so she had to hear me scream right in her ear (sorry about that). The scream was actually snake-related, though the incident piggy-backed a spider sighting. This small snake was stuck to this water bottle (ew) and died with its mouth open. It freaked me right out. What in the world happened to it?


I was moving random stuff so I could sweep out the bird seed that seems to be spread everywhere, when I happened upon the shirt to the Halloween costume Landon is wearing next week (it had a small black spider on it, nice). Whitney was wearing it the other day and rather than walk 3 more steps to throw it into the costume bin (clearly that's way too hard to do), she shoved it behind a shelf and other crap.


I have no idea what her thought-process is like but it makes me crazy!! I was muttering "Whitney!" the entire time I cleaned the garage. I found pens in with the toys, candy wrappers shoved in the toy bins (even though the trash can is right next to them), dinosaurs, hello kittys, naked Barbies, many clothespins, pipecleaners, marker lids and Littlest Pet Shops in every nook & cranny of the garage. She's trying to kill me I'm sure of it.


This is the finished toy area. Having the table clean makes all the difference for the girls. It's funny that they're the ones who always make the messes, yet end up getting shut down by them too. (Maybe this is why we end up like this as adults.) Somehow it seems simpler for them, especially since all they have to do is put the toys into bins...I don't even care which bin, just a bin. But noooo.

This is the finished look until next time.

After dropping stuff off at DI then getting gas and picking up football photos at Costco, I picked up a tasty pork salad from Cafe Rio and came home to put my feet up and eat it while watching last week's episode of Friday Night Lights. It was a tasty treat and a great reward for my 2.5 hours of garage cleaning, which really took all day.

3 dead spiders
3 live spiders
1 dead snake
= 7 palpitations

**Can you tell a difference?
What would be your reward?
Would the snake have freaked you out?**

Torn

I'm torn with what to do today (a luxury I realize) because the garage is a wreck, the yard is a wreck, my scrapbook room always needs work, and I have a book to finish (the pull of the cozy is very strong). The cousins are staying here this weekend so that makes me want to prepare the garage & kids' room.

I'm actually obligation-free until I pick up the kids at 3:30, then have football tonight at 5:30, yet still feel like the clock is tick, tick, ticking all day so that always makes me feel a bit panicked, and this bugs me that I'm still not over that after 2 months of the kids being at school.

{It's Crazy Hat Day today}

I should probably fight the resistance I'm feeling and just tackle the garage (for the millionth time) but I really hate that job. The possibility of running into spiders is great so that's a big deterrent, plus there's so much stuff that needs to be in there that it feels like an impossible task.

I'm being such a boob today, I've got to get myself together and just do it. Alright, alright I'm going. Wahhhh.

**Do you have to psych yourself up for jobs like this?
Does feeling overwhelmed make you want to shut down?
Do you want to smack me for whining?**

Randomalicious

I've got a bunch of random tidbits from yesterday, but when I put them all together they become randomalicious.


I went over to fellow blogger Lindsay's house yesterday to give her a Smugmug tutorial. It turns out she lives right up the street from me, like 3 minutes away. Crazy!


Whitney (sporting her crazy hair day style) received this birthday present in the mail from my sister Robyn. (She ordered it from Amazon.com and had it sent here.) Whitney loves it! She is making all kinds of "pretty" necklaces for Robyn's kids, including one for Olivia that strangely is adorned with W's. I had to suggest that maybe Olivia would prefer O's on her necklace.



We had a football game at 5:00 last night, but our coach thought the game was at 5:30 and was running late anyway, so I was running the practice before the game and then the first 15 minutes of the game. Yikes. The boys were a little crazy and were waiting for "the real coach" (as one of the boys put it), but we ended up scoring on the 3rd play of the game and even got the extra point! Woohoo. It ended up being a great game, and Landon even caught a long pass! Wow.


Before the game, when the kids and I were warming up and throwing the ball around, the only girl on our team was standing next to me and said, "Something smells like my grandma." As you might imagine, I found this highly disturbing. I wear unscented deodorant, no perfume, I shower daily, and am not a big-time sweater so what in the world? I was like, "Does your grandma smell minty, it's my gum right? It's got to be my gum." She kind of said, "Yeah" but the issue was never resolved. Holy crap...do I smell like a grandma? I actually know her grandma (she goes to our church) and she's a clean, fashionable sort but she's 30 years older than me, we shouldn't smell the same!!


I keep forgetting to post this good mail from Marie. She sent me these funny Halloween socks a couple weeks ago. Thanks Marie!


Hannah sent me this sweet good mail last week. She wrote a nice note and then included this great article about how saying "thank you" is life-alteringly good for you. So nice. Thanks Hannah!


I got this pretty thank you card from Lisa. This photo of the Oregon moss is gorgeous.


A couple weeks ago Claudia sent me this pretty card and envelope (complete with sealing wax) but minus any note or letter written on the back! The only thing she wrote was 4U in the corner on the back. I kept turning the card over thinking I had missed something, but no, that was it. I laughed and figured she thought the card was so pretty that she just wanted to send it.


I got this cute card from Claudia's friend Esther (a blog lurker and new friend) thanking me for the good mail labels I sent her. Thanks Esther!

Claudia also sent me this pretty postcard from her trip to Arizona.


I got this very generous (and heavy) package from Kristine (I don't have her blog address) yesterday. I sent her some good mail labels back in May, but she was busy preparing for and having her 7th baby (hello!) and ended up sending me this amazing package now. I had completely forgotten about the good mail labels and never expected anything in return, so this was quite a shock. Thanks Kristine!

**Any random tidbits to add?
Has Claudia sent you good mail?
It was the gum right?
It's Just Because Wednesday!"