Halloween

Halloween was warmer than we anticipated. June did not wanna wear her warm ladybug outfit...as cute as she was, the hood was too much for her.

We were going to do our neighborhood, but changed out mind last minute and took the kids to a neighborhood closer to downtown that's famous for its Halloween decor. It was AMAZING! The whole street was blocked off and there were a ton of people. It was a little scary for Dayne, and a bit overwhelming for Cole, so we left after a short stay. We didn't get back in time to trick or treat in our neighborhood...., next year I guess.
Cole received a ton of compliments on his cool mummy costume. We were so close to not even doing it again (we had our ward trunk or treat the night before, and what a difficult costume he had! It kept falling off and he could hardly walk). We tried some new tricks this time (duct tape) and it worked perfectly. I know he secretly loved the attention although you wouldn't know it since he ignored all the comments..

Quick, easy. A bit cold for Halloween, but we were fortunate this year.

One of the terrifying set ups found on "Hanover Street". Dayne eventually stopped going up to the doors and frankly, I was okay with that since the lines for a plain ol' smarty or dum-dum sucker were way too long.

June's favorite song lately is "I know you" (right title?) from Sleeping Beauty. She sings it non-stop! It's adorable. She gets Dayne's Cinderella and Prince Charming polly pockets out and they dance and sing the day away. So cute.

A virtuous woman (bear with me on this one...)

The morning before I delivered June, I finished the book "The Red Tent". I realize that we all have our own tastes and opinions on what is considered "good reading", but in the end (which is all that matters) what I got out of it was something great. I sat that book down and had a deeper appreciation for women. It empowered me knowing that so many before me had done exactly what I was about to do. I was grateful to God for making me a woman and allowing me to bring this baby to earth, to gain a body, and to learn from me. Yes, those were all my thoughts BEFORE having June. I really did feel calm and happy...and strong. The rest of the story doesn't go as well as you would think, but that's not the point of this post.

Now, fast forward to tonight: I went over to our friend's to pick up Geof.'s paycheck (he works for one of our friends). It was just me, all alone. The three of us sat and talked and the discussion turned to Cole and what struggles we have with him. There's days (like today) where Geof. and I both feel like we've completely failed with him. He (and we) have both lost our temper countless times and although there's a lot of NOISE in our home, there's not a lot of communication. We don't understand Cole, and he doesn't understand himself. That's what it feels like. It's a sad feeling. I don't like it at all. I think about something someone once told me, that if I'm prayerful in raising my children, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide, that my children will grow to be great people one day. I hold on to that. I look at that as a promise. I believe it. But it doesn't stop me from feeling like a failure some days.
When I arrived home, Geof. was sleeping on the couch (poor guy has the flu). I walked into the kitchen and noticed that the cornbread was still scattered all over the floor from dinner (thanks, June), the chili bowls left on the table, food that SHOULD of been refrigerated, NOT refrigerated. "Oh, it never ends!", I told myself. I swept the floor. I wiped the table off. I cleaned the kitchen. And I thought about "The Red Tent", again. Crazy and cheesy as this sounds, I felt like all the millions of women before me were cheering me on and telling me it was okay, that they'd done it too. That I wasn't alone. I thought about my sister in law Mindi's words, "Make it, eat it, clean it up". Such is our lot in life! (; But I felt happy. I felt calm. I felt peace. I couldn't believe it! Thank you, God! I'm NOT alone!

There was a time, not too long ago that I would often say that God must have a special place (in heaven)prepared for women. The honest truth, though, is that I said that to make myself feel better for all the griping I did as a mom/wife/woman. Tonight was different. I do think God has a special place for women. It's right here! We can choose to love what we're doing. We can be happy each day! We can look at our children, who melt in our arms when we show just an inkling of love, and LOVE them back! My babies have given me something greater than anything I can imagine. They've shown me what it means to forgive and to love unconditionally. They do love me and many times, I don't deserve it, but how wonderful to be loved. Thank you for that Cole, Dayne, and June.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." I can't agree more.

Pumpkins and our society..

We carved pumpkins Monday night. The kids were soo excited. It's funny how much you realize the sacrifices your parents made when you become a parent. I mean, yes, carving pumpkins is fun, but it's also a big mess and the kids are crawling all over you, sticking their hands in goopy pumpkin mess, grabbing knifes outta the knife drawer to help you. It gets a little crazy! But it's worth it. It's like camping. Camping with little kids is A LOT of work. Camping with kids, period, is a lot of work (thanks Mom and Dad, btw!). But you do it for them and their memories..mess and all.

So you wanna hear something lame? Cole brings a letter home from school yesterday stating that Friday is "pajama day" and that they must wear clothing underneath their pjs. WHat?! No Halloween costume? It's absolute nuttiness, I tell ya. Geof. says he remembers being younger and not celebrating Christmas (at school), but spending a good week studying Hannukah. It's like we're appealing to the minority, not the majority. I LOVED Halloween parties! It's such a treat to be able to wear your costume to school. And the whole clothing UNDER the pj's thing? What's that about? So frustrating..

Surprise visit

I came home last night to a surprise visitor (my cousin Kami!) visiting from Kentucky. I couldn't believe it...totally caught offguard. Yes, she'd sent me a message on facebook a few days prior mentioning she was coming through.., but when that was, I didn't know. I had just spent the evening with the kids at the park so Geof. could get some work done on the computer and so consequently, I'd left the house (mostly the kitchen) in a state of disaray. I HATE that (when your house is a mess and people show up without you knowing...)!! I'm kidding, Kami. No biggie. We pulled it together and had a wonderful time. I hadn't seen Kami for 6 years (SIX YEARS?!) and it was totally comfortable-no awkwardness at all. Loved having cousin time. Wish we had more visitors out here..

Although it rained most of the morning, we decided to take Kami to a few of our favorite spots in Richmond before she left for Florida (she was on a month long leave from her "assignment" as a drill sergeant with the Army) to go to Disneyland for a week.

We took her to Hollywood Cemetery. Here's a little bit about this historical place. Among the important people interred there are two American presidents, John Monroe, the fifth president and John Tyler, the tenth. Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States, is also buried there as is his son and daughter. There are also 25 confederate generals buried on the grounds. That is more than any other cemetery. (I just copied those last 3 sentences from another web site). The fall colors were in full...bloom? Just beautiful..

It was the perfect October outing. We wanted to take the kids at night..but unfortunately, they don't stay open that late. (; Come on! You'd do that to your 6, 4, and 2 yr. olds, wouldn't you?

Then we took a walk down Monument Avenue. Click on the link for more info.

...if you want. Richmond is full of things to do! I was telling Kami it's overshadowed by D.C. and other east coast cities, but it's worth the visit if you take the time. Thanks for coming, Kami! We love you!

This was taken a few days ago. June had refused to take her afternoon nap, and around 4, when Cole gets home, she had thrown a fit about something (not unusually at all for her) and thrown herself on the floor. Cole and I started working on his homework and ignored her (the only way to get her to stop). She quieted down and just lay there and after a few minutes, I look over at her and find her fast asleep...on the cold, hard, tile floor. I carried her to her soft, warm bed and she woke up an hour later crankier than ever!

p.s. June's fine. No worries. She just hates being held down for a hug.

Do you love my pumpkins?! "I know I do" (where's that from? Anyone..., anyone?). I do love my pumpkins, though. I found them out in front of this 7-11 on my way...hm somewhere? the other day. June and Dayne were with me and we parked, picked out some crazy pumpkins, and then headed over to pay for them, but there was no one there! So I walked into 7-11 and the guys working said they had been assigned "pumpkin duty" for the day. They didn't seem to know how much the pumpkins cost, nor did they care! So I paid only $8 for all my lovely pumpkins, PLUS some inside that aren't pictured. Lucky me, and unlucky them ("them" being the people that left 7-11's apathetic employees in charge of handling pumpkin sales)!

We got home tonight from the Y (as in YMCA, all you BYU-ers) and the air spelled so great! It was fall! Something was burning in the air. What IS that burning smell, anyway? I'm just happy that it's nice and cool outside. When we lived in Richmond before, I swear it was in the 90's still, in October! Hated it...

Dancing queen

Found the tutu and slippers at thrift. LOVE thrift. Dayne loves dancing...

I'm sure the video's sideways. Sorry!!

TIME

I was real bored with my post yesterday. So bored, in fact, that I felt the need to post again today. No worries Ivy and Emily, you (my subject) didn't bore me. It was my restlessness, my need to write more, to express what I was REALLY feeling. However, I kept it short and nondescriptive and it bothered me all day that I didn't write more. What IS it with this addictive blogging?! The ironic, and possibly plain stupid thing about it, is that I feel the need to write about time (and my poor use of it. Yes, I continue to blog..?).

When Geof. and I were first married, I used the excuse of being sick and pregnant to not cook (yes, I was sick and prego 3 short weeks after), and then when we had kids, I had the good excuse of a baby, changing hormones, inexperience, Geof.'s crazy work/school schedule, Cole not really eating regular "adult" food, oh so many excuses..to not cook. At least not on a regular basis. Yes, once in a while (if we were lucky, twice a week), I'd pull something together and have it ready for a sit down meal. But most of the time, we were eating at separate hours througout the day, and very seldomly together at the table.
My good friend Emily lived next door to us in our first apartment in Orem. She was a fanstastic cook! Not only did she seem to always have a clean, orderly home, she also was able to pull off (daily) a hot, delish meal, ready and waiting on the table when her husband arrived home from school. Poor Geof. had to deal with a mess of a house (I will say that I've never been dirty, messy, but not dirty..I'm pretty nazi about my toilets and kitchen floor) and an unprepared, "hm..oh, it's 10 pm? What do you want for dinner? Oatmeal, again?!" wife. And he never complained. Yes, he'd poke fun of me when I was poking fun of myself, but that was pretty much it.


Six years and 2 MORE kids later, I'm still in the same spot! What's WRONG with me?! Wait, I know the answer to that. I could be in the kitchen at this very moment preparing some tasty cuisine for my beebs (kids, not boobs..if you're confused) and patient husband, but I'm not. I'm on the computer..again. Don't judge me, you are too. (;

I do know that a schedule works real well for the ADD type that I am, which is exactly what I'm going to do as soon as Dayne finishes Wubbzy's Big Movie on netflix. And I'm sure this schedule, meals and all, will work just wonderfully for a good 2 weeks or so, but then I'll be back in the same rut again: What to cook?! A slim budget, a desire to cook without meat and lots of fresh fruits and veggies, the fact that most everything I try comes with Cole's (and sometimes Dayne's) consistent reaction, "Ew..this is gross!", to which he gets sent to his room for a good 10 minutes (unless I'm in a good mood and can sweetly explain how that makes me feel), are just a few of the reasons why I have a hard time cooking for my family.
I looked up "time" in the scriptures and came across this one that I'd never read before: "Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him." Ecclesiastes 8:6.
Hm.., I do bring a lot of misery upon myself when I don't use time and judgement wisely. (;
Oh, and one more thing. Cole and Dayne have their Primary program this weekend. I'm the primary pianist and if anything else (it's not my favorite calling), I get to keep my eye on my two oldest. Cole's speaking part is this scripture. We've been practicing it a lot more than Cole would like these last 3 days. I've heard this scripture many, many times in my life, but it's perfect! If we could only make that our motto every day.. I DO love the scriptures.