Halloween!

Last year Hannah was sick for Halloween. I had my fingers crossed that everyone would be healthy for it this year. Besides Hannah's friend Halloween party, I did a preschool party with my preschoolers. They were dressed up so cute! We went to a friend party and enjoyed every one's company. We went to my sister in Law Cindy's party at the Pump house on Utah lake. She does an awesome job and I love how she makes a pirate ship on the lake with the music " yo Ho" to it. We ended up leaving early because I got asthma. My brother Ryan came and helped out this year. We decorated the outside and inside all fun for the holiday. I made a Halloween dinner and the kids thought the fake flies in their drink was just gross!We watched Monster House, Hocus Pocus, and some other fun Halloween movies. We went trick or treating with the neighbors and enjoyed a little haunted house at the end. Austin liked passing out candy rather then trick or treating. I went and helped Hannah out at her school this year. While at the school they did a costume parade. A teacher dressed up as a barbie in a box! pretty creative

Hannah was student of the week in her class. We made a poster all about her. She helped me glue on all the pictures, and she chose out the ones she wanted. Her teacher and I have been trying to get Hannah to enjoy all day school. Last year she loved kindergarten, I am not sure if it is because she is in the portables, or because two little boys try to tease her (I told her boys will tease her if they like her, she still didn't think it was funny.) Or whatnot but she had been struggling a little bit this year. It has been hard to see your daughter struggle, you just want to be able to pull her out and do everything to make it better. I remember being in Jr. high and HATING It. It wasn't until 9th grade when I started to enjoy school again. I wished my mom had taken me out and home schooled me like my neighbor friend was. It works for a lot of people, but even though I had to go through the crap I did, I honestly think it made me a stronger person. So we decided to help Hannah make new friends, be more vocal to the teacher if there are problems and to stick up for herself. So far she is been doing great. I am glad we stuck to our guns and worked together to make her happy, and she realized that when there is problems she can come to us and we will help HER make the right choices in fixing the problem. While I told Trent we needed to switch classes, he showed me that we just needed to give it time and that she needed to get out of this problem, or she would always think we could run to her rescue on anything. I am proud of her and she has made a lot of progress. She was student of the month in Kindergarten and she was also Student of the Month in first grade this year. I told Hannah if she was good and helped me around the house she could invite some new friends to her own Halloween party. We frosted sugar cookies, did the monster mash, watched the Great Pumpkin, musical chairs, Pumpkin,pumpkin Witch (duck duck goose) and sparkled pumpkins. The kids loved it!

Things to do.

this jar isn't mine I found it on google, but you get the idea.

http://downloads.sugardoodle.net/Thanksgiving%20Thankful%20Countdown.pdf

All you have to do is print it out above.

For Thanksgiving I decided to make a Thankful Jar. it turned out cute!
This is a fun thanksgiving countdown to do with your kids!!!

I am in charge of coming up with a craft for thanksgiving. We are going with Trent's moms side of the family. I believe there are 13 children in her family and she alone has 8 kids and we all have around 3 kids each. It will be HUGE. So here are the two snowman crafts I decided I may do.

I have been busy making a Christmas poster for our ward Pioneer HoeDown Christmas. It was fun to decorate a poster,a nd gave me something to do when the kids would want to color.

Hannah is Student of the Week in her class. She had to make a poster about herself! It turned out cute but hard to tell since this was taken with my phone. She also help me make some "Mummy" cards for her grandparents. For her class they get to put candy in a jar and have the class guess how many is in it. I decided we would stick with the "mummy" Theme and make mummy's. I also made some for visiting teaching. Hannah is also Student of the Month at her school. I am so proud of her and hope that her struggle with first grade gets a little easier. She is loved by many. She teaches me things everyday.

For Halloween I found some fake flies at DOllarTree. I will freeze those in ice cubes and serve green punch in some goblets. I will add sugar around the rim of the goblets in a purple color. Then I am going to make Mummy pizza's for the kids. Last year I made some peanut butter fingers that look like witch fingers, but the kids didn't really eat them so I think I will pass on that. This Sunday we are going to my mom's so the kids can show off their costumes. My mom is making her yummy soup and bread, and the kids will bring their decorative sugar cookies!! Next week we will paint and glue or carve our pumpkins. I love this time of year!

On Friday I went to my mom's house to hang out. My mom watched the kids while I went and got a haircut. We decided to go to Black Island Farms and go on a hayride to get pumpkins like we do every year. The kids LOVED the slides and Austin kept cracking me up watching him have so much fun. Hannah would wait until he came out of the slide ok before she would take a try. We had a great time!!

Last Monday morning I heard Faith screaming in the hall. I ran in there but there was nothing for her to have hit to be screaming holding her foot. I thought it was her ears since she has had an ear infection since August and the meds don't work. She goes in for tubes in two weeks. I held her all day long, rubbing her head just thinking she wasn't feeling well. Later that day I took the kids to Walmart and came home. I put Faith down on the floor and watched her fall, scream, and grab her foot. It hit me that something has to be wrong with her foot. I drove back to town and took her to the dr. We waited for three hours. Luckily they had a tv so the kids were pretty good. Trent of course was out of town working at the MAnti Temple (Doesn't it always happen when the other is out of town?) They X rayed her foot and said she was fine. I Took her home and the next day she wouldn't even crawl. I drove her back in and even though they were a little put out, I made them x ray the WHOLE leg. Of course she had broken her tibia! THey put her in a splint that went up to her diaper. SHe HATED It. She couldn't move, but try to drag her leg with an army crawl. On Thursday we went in and got her real cast. People have been asking me how she broke it. I kept asking my kids if they dropped her out of the crib or something. I Figured that was they only way it could have happened. Well last night we found out how! SHe has learned to get out of her crib on her own. THere is a time out chair under the crib and she must have hit that on the way down. Even with her *cast she tries to get out!!!

Hannah is student of the week this week. We made her a cute little poster and then some fun "Mummy" candy bars where the kids have to guess how many are in the bucket. I hope she has a good week!

We exist today, so lets make a difference for tomorrow

For years I have wanted to do something that makes me happy. AS a young woman I had the opportunity to go visit the Ronald McDonald House. I saw many families who were suffering the pain of having a loved little one in the hospital with cancer. I knew that one day I would want to help those beautiful kids. Every year when Christmas comes around I tell everyone my idea and if I had enough money what I want to do . Enough with the excuses, just because I don't have a lot of money doesn't mean I can't make a difference. I EXIST for heaven's sake, therefore I can do whatever I can to make a difference and Never give up. I have thought it would be fun to dress up in Disney princess outfits and visit the cancer patients. Then I decided what a treat it would be to buy cute hats for the children at the hospital and give them out to them. I decided that this Christmas I am going to start my own charity called "EXIST" meaning that we are all here in this world together. Let's not just worry about ourselves but let's help those in need. TO often depression sweeps in our lives, and the only way to get rid of it is to indulge in service. We exist today, so lets make a difference for tomorrow. I am going to be calling stores to help donate items and what not to see if I can get this going. IF you have any ideas other than hats please let me know. IF you have any stories of loved ones with cancer I would love to hear about it. If you would like to donate a dollar for this charity so I can purchase hats for the children there is a paypal button. You can donate how little or much you want. Otherwise if you would love to help out and make hats, or have cute brand new hats you can email me and I will send you my address so you can send me them. I will deliver all the items and record about it with pictures and if they allow it, video by December. I am so thankful for having my health and having my children's health. I can't imagine the pain, agony, and expense of seeing your little one suffer with cancer or any disease for that matter. AS a mother I would be appreciative to know others do care.
"Never, never, never give up." ~Winston Churchill


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zitIpX4-ano

Find these awesome Jars HERE at patino style!

Getting back into the groove of things since my trip has been crazy! Sat. Night I got sick from something I ate and felt like crap. Then Monday and Tuesday was spent all in the Instacare. Faith broke her foot. I think it was because one of my kids got her out of her crib and dropped her on accident. I am not to give her Motrin for two weeks because she has to have tubes put in her ears. I called the dr to reschedule but he said she can up till three days before. I wasn't going to let her suffer I would rather change the tube date. Tomorrow I go in for her real cast that she gets to wear for four weeks. Poor baby! Here are some of my decorations for Halloween (yes we were cheap this year and made bats and silhouettes out of black cardboard ) Also here are ideas I would love and might do:

Love this idea of Frankenstein cups, if you look on the other how to video's you will find a Frankenstein Milk Jug!! LOve it!

http://familyfun.go.com/utilities/global/feature/fftv-archive-video-player/fftv-archive-video-player.html?dl_section=channel&dl_channel=Halloween

for the life of me I can't find the things I wanted to share, one was a modge podge pumpkin with leaves on it. Another was a white pumpkin with BOO and EEK on it. I will find it and post it later!

On Thursday my sisters, mom, and I flew into Indianapolis Indiana to visit my brother and his sweet family. While flying we got to watch the movie that Trent said he would not see with me. "My sister's Keeper" We also flew through a lightning storm and kept seeing the coolest flashes of light as we hit turbulence. Call me crazy but I love turbulence (as long as we don't crash into anything) I find it fun! Mom on the other hand didn't think so! We got in late Thursday and rented a key less car (pretty cool) On Friday we woke up early and headed to the Lincoln museum in Springfield. It was a very neat museum with wax figures, narrations, and holograms of Abraham Lincoln. I was really impressed and wished we could have stayed longer in Springfield where there was so much to see. On Friday night we drove next to the Mississippi River (Which seemed to be as wide as our lakes in utah!) We drove into Nauvoo and checked into our log cabin. I kept scaring my mom and sister Erin saying the lady who used to live here named Mary (from Wyoming) was haunting the place. We went to the temple (Which is 98% as it was except for the angel Moroni and the 2002 symbol.) Nobody was at the temple so the temple president took us on a tour. The next day we woke up early and went to Carthage Jail. I never thought I would ever be able to see it, but always wished I could. What a humbling spiritual experience it was there. I had no idea about the Jail keeper and his family, and how they tried to keep them safe. It was very interesting, and once again got a tour all to ourselves. We were able to stay in the room Joseph smith died in and we sat and just felt the spirit. THe missionary said to go to all the sites in Nauvoo and I was very curious of the community of Christ Church (Re-organized church) as I am always interested in other religions. The Community of Christ was very interesting tour. They own all of the Joseph Smith properties and graveyard. The lady was very informative and interesting to learn about Joseph Smith's and Emma's descendants. We went to the Red Brick Store also owned by them. The lady was very nice, knew her history and was a wonderful place to be. However something was missing. We went up to the LDS sites, and the instant I walked into the home of John Taylor I felt the spirit back with me. I am a critique when people say it's a "different feel, spirit" in the other homes the COC owns compared to the LDS owns. I said it was bogus. But that day to me was a testimony of the spirit that was there, was missing and kind of a gloomy sad feeling in JS's properties. I enjoyed them both, but felt at home at the other. Maybe that's something I shouldn't share, but this is my journal and I always want to remember the feelings I had in Nauvoo. We took pictures at the temple, the shops, the homes and it amazes me that 12,000 people once lived there. They all had to leave their homes, families, friends due to the mobs. I can't even imagine. What a wonderful experience to have been at Martin's Cove last month and then to come here to Nauvoo. It felt like a lovely town here and what a beautiful place to live, however there were many hardships and sadness here. I have never been to a place where Joseph Smith had been until now. As I looked at the statue of Joseph and Hyrm smith I wondered how they felt knowing this was probably the end and the saints had many trials ahead of them. TIme really does go fast. We walked down parley's street to see the stories of the pioneer's as they left. Many of them had to leave everything they had, their beautiful homes and such. That night we went to a show put on by the couple missionaries. It was a fun thing to see. What a fun mission it would be. They even get to live in the old pioneer homes. We went on a ox cart and MAN was it bumpy. I am not sure how women had babies in those things. That night we went to dinner at HOTEL NAUVOO and bought some souvenirs for our kids. Today we woke up took pictures and looked around once more. We crossed the Mississippi river and came back to Indiana. I am so grateful for this experience and feel that one day I personally will be back for some reason. I love how the temple had these beautiful lanterns on the outside, reminded me of pioneer times and how beautiful it would be to take bridal pictures there. While at the Lincoln Memorial we saw Bruce Lindsay and his family from channel 5.

Ahh, The Joys of Motherhood~!

"In the store, with the hand sanitizer, my child." I need to get a clue already that just because I tell my child "No" Doesn't mean they are always going to listen. SO it happened the other day, I was at the store trying to get my shopping done with all three kids as usual. One of my children wanted to buy hand sanitizer (Why ? I have no idea) I told this child "No" Well fast forward an hour later I am bringing in the grocer's, this child is hididng something behind their back. I ask what it is. "Nothing" They say. Finally I grab their hands and see hand sanitizer. My child shoplifted the first time. (I hope it was the firs time.) While I was disappointed, deep down I thought it was going to be a great learning experience for this child. My husband on the other hand thought it was funny they took hand sanitizer instead of a toy or treat like most kids would steal. So I told this child they would have to work off 9 quarters, pay tithing first, and when daddy got home they would go apologize to the store manager. My child and husband marched down to the store, paid for the sanitizer and apologized. We told our child how serious it is to steal. Hopefully this child learned their lesson. While being a parent can bring a bunch of emotions, it is nice to be able to teach your child when they make a mistake, it makes me love them even more for being human and trying to learn to be a better person.

Let's Roll

Little did I know that picking up a book from the library on Sept 11 2009 would help inspire me to be a better person and be the woman I know I am/can be. I went to the library with Austin and thought it was so neat they had 9/11 books out in memorial. I picked one up called " Let's Roll" a book by Todd Beamers wife. Todd was one of the men on flight 93 that said the now famous "let's Roll." This book reminded me a lot of my own life in the aspect that they were college sweethearts, had fun loving families, visited nursing homes and so forth. It talked about their lives and how they lived. Some are eerie of the things said the last couple days before Sept 11 01. This woman has faith that could move a mountain. What an uplifting book to bring you closer to God. She not only lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks, she had also lost her father when she was 15 and from that she knew she always wanted to have life insurance when she got married. It is a beautiful book with a standpoint of what is most important in our lives and a review of what happened that day. Many times we think these people are imaginative, or someone you will never connect with,or something that happened in history. These people are real people with lives like yours and mine. So real in fact I emailed her on facebook to thank her for writing it, if for nothing else but for me to remember You are never truly alone, and God does love you.

Oh say can you see....

I used to write in my journal. Every night before I went to bed I would write everything important that happened that day. I wrote between my Jr- Sr. year of high school until when I got married. I wish I hadn't stopped writing in it. It seemed like all the important things happened in my life after I had gotten married and had kids. I would have loved to remember fun times of being a newlywed and being a mother for the first time. I always think I will remember the cute things my kids say and sadly they seem to disappear faster than I can write them down. However, on Tuesday Sept 11, 2001 was when I was a freshmen in college. I had written down all my feelings and everything I had done that day. I need to pick up the goal of writing my history down . I once wrote all my memories of childhood and somehow it erased. Instead of checking email or cleaning the house, I should write down my life.

I remember being in biology at Dixie College when a guy came and told us that the twin towers had been hit. I was so busy that day from going to school to work and back to school that I wasn't able to watch the news. Later that night I used to babysit for my apartment manager and was able to watch the news then. I remember seeing all the people crying in the streets fighting for a turn to ask if their loved one had been seen, the newscaster had to try to calm everyone down and tell them they would all get a turn. That night I went with my boyfriend (now husband) Trent to a candle light vigil. I will never forget Sept. 11, 01. Many people forget important things in history, let's not forget this. The sad thing is look how fast many are forgetting in only 8 years. I just got a book from the library today called "Let's Roll" from Todd Beamer's wife it should be interesting. I think as horrific as it was for me to hear about it (my family is very patriotic and I remember in the 3rd grade standing so proud while singing "Proud to be an American" I would get so mad when others didn't care.) It would have been harder for me had I been a mother. If something where to happen now, I would freak out as a mom

For Some must Push and Some Must Pull...

Trent wanted us to take a picture of how it would have been back then. It took so long for the camera that nobody would smile...

monument of the men who helped others across the river
Martins Cove

Sweetwater River

I had such a good time, I didn't want to come back to reality. We went to Martin's Cove up in Wyoming to visit Trent's parents. I have been on two treks when I was a teenager. However, it was really neat to see the place where so much grief, pain, and strength the pioneers had to endure. On Friday when we got there we hiked up Devil's Gate. We missed Gina, Steph, and Vicki's family. Then on Sat we got in our pioneer clothes and went for the hike with the handcarts. We had to tie Faith's car seat in the handcart and she actually did great!! We hiked up to the handcart parking lot, my kidneys were hurting by then and I didn't want to over do it, so trent pulled me in this little seat looking thing up the cove. Funny but those where harder to pull than the handcart themselves. I kept getting out because I felt bad that Trent had to pull me. It made me wonder how when someone was sick or hurt how guilty they must have felt to make their loved one pull them in the snow. We went to the cove, which for some reason I was thinking would be more like a cave but it wasn't. At that cove, to get out of the wind, the pioneers that left England to come to Zion where in life and death situations. They told us 50 something people died in the cove. They would put the dead bodies on the other side of the cove, and because the ground was so hard they tried to bury them in the snow. However, by the time they started walking back they could hear the wolves devouring their loved ones. One story I really thought was interesting was a lady whose fiancee died and she couldn't bare allowing the wolves to eat him, so they tied him in a tree and hoped by spring that his body would still be there so they could bury him. Going to the Cove at this time of year we really don't understand the hardships of a severe winter storm. We also did a women's pull when the men got pulled off to the "Mormon Battalion" it was good. I really have always thought that everyone should go on a real trek if they ever have the chance. It was different going as a teen than it was now. I will always have good, spiritual, physical, and emotional memories as a teen. I think every Teen needs to go on one. The one I went on was the needlepoint mountains where Brigham Young got really sick on his first time out to the west. It was interesting to take my kids this time, and think of me as being a single mother with her three children and having to try to cross. Many of the men died from giving up their rations to their children, and loosing their strength. I honestly don't know how they pulled through. There were angels on earth sent to help them and help them cross the freezing river. I really enjoyed going and hope that in the future I will have another chance to do it again. On Sunday after church (which I actually loved Sunday school because they taught out of the Heritage Manual. I love history and pioneer stories, it has gotten me so ready to go visit Nauvoo) we stopped to visit the visitors center, and we went to Independence Rock and that was really neat to see all the signatures as well. After driving 6 hours back home yesterday, I had fever blisters pop all on my upper lip. I look like I just had some botox done!