Tooting My Own Horn

Each year for the last seven, I think, I have helped put together a family calendar for Louis' side. I love these. Each month is assigned to a sibling and they make a page all about them and their families. The extra months have various themes depending on what has gone on during the course of the year. The best part is once it's all put together, sitting down and looking through it. It's one of the things I look forward to each Christmas. The last few years I have delegated the making of my own family page to other more experienced digital scrappers. I lack know-how and correct software to say nothing of creative juice that seems to always be out of stock. I love the pages people have come up with on my behalf. Most recently I have burdened my friend, Amber with the responsibility of choosing a theme, pictures and design. She always does a superb job. Always. I do tend to feel a lot of guilt, though. She is so good at what she does, but she is also meticulous and so I know that even though she could do something super amazing in about five seconds that would leave me oohing and aahing for years, she refuses to send off anything of such low caliber. Instead she will pore over an assignment for days or weeks (or longer if I'm ever courteous enough to give that much notice, which I'm not.)

Needless to say, when I realized I was one page short on the calendar this year, I wanted so badly to turn the assignment over to my more-than-able friend, but knowing that she already expended so much time and juice on my own page, I went to extreme measures. I made a digitally scrapped page. NO, really I did. And I like it. So, for your viewing pleasure, because let's face it, I don't know if you'll be lucky enough to wander by my house in the next week or two and have the honor of letting me show off my entire calendar to you. And really, I do show it everyone who chances by. Everyone.

Are you dying to know where I got such cute stuff? Elise Hansen of Elise's Pieces. Isn't she amazing? Her stuff is available at DigiChick. Check her out!

Oh, and because the question has been asked,

No, I did NOT set fire to the Provo Tabernacle. Yes, I have a rock-solid alibi.

Stake (your claim) Conference

Today was my least favorite Sunday of the year. Stake Conference. Why such an aversion to this Sabbath? Surely it has it's perks, i.e. a break from your ward calling, a shorter block, etc. However, I feel after many years' experience, that the cons outweigh the pros. My children agree with this take wholeheartedly. When we get in the car and begin heading to church, the moment they become aware we are not heading to the same old building, the worrying and wailing begin. Charles line is always, "NO!!!!!!! Not the Tabernacle!!!!" I share this sentiment though I have learned not to let loose my internal groanings. The Tabernacle is a beautiful and historic building. But, it is NOT comfortable and it is NOT functional. If you are so lucky as to be early enough to get a seat (I imagine you have to pull a Black Friday stint of waiting out in the cold for hours to be the first through the door-- it appears fifteen to thirty minutes just doesn't cut in anymore) those most fortunate souls are the lucky ones who get to Stake Their Claim. They get their pick of seats and where do they always pick??? The aisle seats. No one has the good courtesy or common sense to slide to the middle. I am a firm believer in doing this, and so I tend to avoid the thought of arriving early. I NEED an aisle seat. Why? I have three children. Period. That should be enough of an explanation, but for those who still insist on having families with young children climb over them in the narrow benches to get to the only empty spot in the center, I will now provide clarification and hopefully some understanding. I have a seven year old, a rowdy five year old BOY, and a six month old infant. Even with my best intentions of being on time, of sitting through the whole meeting, of being the epitome of reverence or something very close to it, these lovely young 'uns do not always share this view. There are many times in the normal course of a "boring" church meeting that I may need to leave. I am a stickler/strict/mean mother and so my list of acceptable reasons to leave are very limited for my little brood. They include: bathroom break, feedings, and "if we don't leave now nobody will be able to hear the speaker any longer." Kaylee is generally very well behaved, but there is something about being squooshed into a hard bench with too many other bodies and having a brother kicking your legs and elbowing your ribs because of the lack of space that makes her act up a little. I could go on and on, but most of my readers are mothers of young children and know just what I am talking about.... so to the few older folks who might ever read this and still insist on claiming the beloved aisle seats, here is my point:
Because of said disruptions in worship, it may become necessary for me to evacuate one or more of my children with myself included. Due to this I do NOT appreciate having to climb over you in a place where the space between benches is already too small for me to sit up straight with my feet on the floor and not need a knee replacement (don't believe me? Sit by me in the Tabernacle sometime). I especially do NOT appreciate your glares when this feat is attempted. And I will usually try to come back and have to repeat the process again? Why? Because I'm a glutton for punishment. Believe me. I'd much rather leave and never return again. But there are people who keep telling me that I'll regret it and my children will regret it. So we continue in our vain attempts. You can help the cause by MOVING OVER! Or at least be polite. If you choose an aisle seat know what is in the fine print. I'm taking a contract next time. By sitting here in the coveted aisle seat I agree to............ I agree NOT to..............
And on a final note. Why in the world do they talk up these large church conferences and meetings and heartily encourage all to attend and then meet in a building too small to accomodate even one entire ward? "We really want everyone to come........just not enough to provide adequate space for all of you." Is is any wonder why most people just don't go? They are trying to make more room for others.
Having said this, let me end by saying that I was very appreciative of my bishop and his family. Especially their daughter. She was majorly squashed between her parents so they could make room for my family to have a seat. On the front row. This made getting in and out a whole lot easier. Unfortunately we didn't last through the whole meeting, and my children enjoyed a hearty time-out, but we all survived and that small gesture of making room in the inn sure made me feel a little less hostility toward Stake Conference.

Picture Dump

Just haven't been in the blogging mood lately. I have written several posts in my head, but they never make it onto the computer. I've been doing lots of housecleaning, mostly de-junking. So, in an effort to keep that up, I'm unloading all (or hopefully most) of the pictures sitting in my "To Blog" folder. Yay me. Semester is almost over! Hurrah!!! Christmas decorations are up and boy do I love sitting in the dark and enjoying the glow. sigh.

On 10-10-10 My dad turned 55. It was a pretty cool date, and he's a pretty cool guy, so we had a big family dinner after church. It was very nice. Even the grandparents made it down! (Don't mind my cloudy pictures. I finally figured out there was a big old fingerprint on my camera lens, and after I cleaned it off, WOW what a difference!)

On October 12, this little man busted out with his first tooth!

And isn't he so stinkin' cute fresh out of the bath?

Isn't he cute???

We joined Charles Kindergarten class at the Pumpkin Walk, and this is the only picture I got!

10/22 Caleb's first baby cereal. He didn't think much of it.

Halloween seemed to last the whole month long. Thank goodness it finally ended! And on a splendid note! We carved pumpkins this year!

Kaylee's and Caleb's. He had a tooth, and hers had eyelashes. So cute!

We were able to walk to school until Thanksgiving break almost! Caleb would always fall asleep in a pool of drool!

For Red Ribbon Week they did crazy hair day. Kaylee's was pretty crazy! Everyone loved it and I was pleased how well it stayed in. (This is after a full day of school!) She reminds me of Cindy Lou Who!

On Thursday they did a trick or treat at Louis' work and that is my favorite thing to do with the kids on Halloween. I was surprised it was so early this year. Oh well. Kaylee wore my costume from when I was eight. Toothfairy. And Charles was Darth Vader, again!

Caleb was Super Slobber---another costume from my childhood.

Friday before Halloween Jake and Tressa came up for her dr. appt. I got to play with Squirm most of the day! It was beautiful weather, so of course we colored chalk pictures. And we went on a bus ride. I am such a cool aunt like that.

We got a surprise early Saturday morning when Tressa called to let me know that I was an aunt. Again. I was so confused since I wasn't fully awake! She had "Baby Boo" on October 30th at 4:32 am. In keeping with the tradition of birthing her children the day before a major holiday. Thus the family Halloween party was moved to my house and it was a blast! I finally got to go up and see Baby Boo late that evening and Louis and I got to take Squirm with us. Judging by the pictures can you tell that he still has a major hold on me? (These are the only pictures I took! Sorry Baby Boo!) I did hold the baby for a while and have only been able to hold him once or twice since then. Kinda different when I have my own baby. Squirm is such a cute brother! I love it!!!

On Halloween I let the kids plan a menu from my Halloween party food magazine. This is the dessert they chose. Monster Toes. They were so good and the best part was having Kaylee help me. I have never been one to be super patient and enjoy letting the kids help me cook, but this time it was very enjoyable. Charles helped make his favorite fluffy jello salad. We also had mummy hot dogs and homemade root beer. We were able to torture Donna and Steve with our kid-friendly meal as well! ;)

I have been trying for months to catch this face on camera! It's what I call his 'bird face' and thank goodness I finally captured it, because he hasn't done it as much lately. Isn't that so funny?

For Thanksgiving we were invited to Donna and Steve's. It was delicious! I enjoyed my break from cooking very much. I did feel like a louse of a daughter and sister, though. My mom was recovering from shoulder surgery and my sister just had her baby and I took the year off from cooking.

Caleb looking handsome in his guitar outfit compliments of Donna and Steve.

Oops, I didn't think to take a picture until after everyone was done eating (except Donna's mom, hee hee) It was so yummy!!! I was able to try out some new dessert recipes. They were ok. I liked the eggnog pumpkin pie the best and then the pecan pumpkin pie. The snappy pumpkin cheesecake was soggy. I loved my whipped cream! I added almond extract this year. Oh, my! I love almond!! I got my Christmas shopping mostly finished on Friday--late afternoon with Donna. Much better than the disappointing midnight trip to Walmart. I hate Walmart.

In other news.... I just took my final for International Economics, so that class is done! I have one week of classes and then one final for Intermediate Accounting. Hurray! I have really enjoyed that class and I enjoyed talking to my professor about what path to take in my education and career goals. I am excited, but it is too soon to post anything yet.

We have had lots of snow, but now it is melting. Crazy weather. I am very much looking forward to Christmas break, and hoping to get super excited for next semester. Caleb now has three teeth, all on the bottom and still doesn't like baby food. He is also a mamma's boy. We took the kids to the Nutcracker the Saturday after Thanksgiving. THAT WAS FUN!!! I love ballet and so does Kaylee. Louis and Charles enjoyed themselves too!

Whew! And that is the last two months in a nutshell!

Posted with Permission

A little humor to try and help brighten my SNOWY day here in Logan,

Charles: "Mom, can I tell you something?"

Me: "Yep"

Charles: "It's a secret that I only tell to my very best friends."

Me: (highly intrigued) "Ok, what is it?"

Charles: (completely serious) "I can make myself burp whenever I want to."

It was so hard not to laugh! And, sorry bud, but THAT is no secret.

I knew.

Crazy how I can know those things, huh?

It's Time

It is a new month, so I guess it's time for a new post.
I've been having these thoughts swirling in my mind for a few days, and I figure it's best to let them out so as to make room for more Accounting stuff. Can't get too much of that, right?
So here goes....
I have been diligently running since I was given the ok after Caleb's eventful entrance into the world. It has been going well. I have been doing pretty great. But, I've noticed that I am getting to the point where instead of thinking, "oh! I get to run today." It's "Hmm, do I really want to run today?" This means it is time to find a motivating force like an upcoming race or a longer distance or a faster pace or something!
On Monday as I was getting toward the end of my run, but still had a fair stretch remaining, I thought to myself, "Self, you could walk a moment if you want, or just stop all together."
Before I could even relish the thought, it was almost like a voice boomed in my ear:

Finish the race!

I was somewhat confused since I wasn't in any race, to my knowledge. Then I remembered reading/hearing a story about a young man who was running a race and his father was watching and the boy tripped and fell and the father says to him, "Get up and finish the race." I really liked that story. But that morning as I thought about it, I really liked it. In fact, it made me almost teary, and lately it takes kinda a lot for me to get teary, and even more to admit to anyone that I got teary.

Well, I did and this is why:

Life is like a race. I used to think that to win, I had to run the fastest. After hearing Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, I don't think that is the case. I don't have to run the fastest. I may even need to slow it way down, or stop and stretch for a moment. That won't make me a failure. In fact, I may even find that after said pause, I am able to run better, maybe even faster.

The other thing is that it's really hard to get up from a fall. It takes a lot of energy, courage, and determination, and often swallowing of pride to get up and run again. It's even harder to get up after someone else trips you. I feel for those guys who get tripped up in a big race and miss out on their chance to compete in the Olympics or some other such event. It would be easiest to just walk off the course and blame it forever on "that jerk who messed up your chances." But then you'd maybe always regret not finishing. It seems pointless to get up and run again when the opportunity seems to have passed. I guess that is what really hit home the other morning. Who says the opportunity has passed? I don't get to just walk off the field. I started the race.

Even if I come in dead last,

I am going to

finish.