A Small Victory

On Monday night we carved our pumpkins for Halloween.  Every year I forget that children under the age of 12 really can't carve a pumpkin and as a parent you are going to have to do it for them.  Megan tried her hardest but settled for black jack o lantern stickers when she realized her owl design just was too hard.

For the past few months I have been looking for a new sugar bowl.  My mom got me mine about 15 years ago but I was getting tired of it and the lid has a big crack down the middle from when it broke a few years back and then was glued back together.

I had looked at several stores but everything was just white or clear glass and I wanted something that was cute.   I considered ordering a Portmeirion Sugar bowl like this from the internet.

Or a sweet Suzy Watson one like this also found online.

 But then this week Scott took a day off of work and we went on a date to Dickies BBQ and then to some new stores in Issaquah Town Center.  I was excited to try out Home Goods, it is the first in our area.

I found this cute sugar bowl there for only 4.99.  It was perfect!

The old versus the new.

  

Thankfulness

This week I am thankful that:

*Nathan and Scott had so much fun playing our Batman video game and they finished the whole game.  Nathan would wake up each day begging Scott to play it.  Scott enjoyed playing with him but is grateful the game is over.

*I got to attend a fun birthday luncheon for my good friend Kristen.  We both moved into our ward six years ago and have been friends from the start.  In August she bought a new house and moved about 30 minutes away.  One of the ladies in my ward hosted this luncheon  so could all visit with her again.

 Me and Kristen

 *Nathan and I got to go on a preschool field trip to a nearby pumpkin patch.  Nathan was pretty nervous though and held onto my pants almost the whole time. 

 His favorite part of the trip was using these shears to cut the pumpkin top.

*We got to drive there with our good friends from church the Johnsons.  Sister Johnson took my picture with Nathan right before we headed home.  Nathan did not want to smile but at least he looked up.

 *Today I got to be crafty.  I decided it was time to make some more birthday cards so I pulled out my scrapbooking supplies (colored paper, birthday stickers, print paper, paper cutters and a glue stick) and got to work.

 First I cut and folded the colored paper to make the blank cards.

 Then I used my creativity and pieces from old birthday cards to make new ones.  I think all the cards turned out pretty cute.

*Finally I am thankful that for the past 7 weeks our new friend Beth from England (on the right) has come over every morning before school for a 30 minute play date. It was a bit of service to help out her mom who was living in temp housing.  Now her family has moved into their new house and so she doesn't need to come over.  Luckily her new house is close to our house.  I think the next few play dates will be at her house!

The Dinners Continue

For the past 7 years we have been attending a monthly Sunday dinner at my parents house.  My parents are now in Kentucky on their mission but the monthly dinner has continued.  My brother Andrew and his family are living in my parents house and gracefully host the dinner each month.  When we arrived at the October dinner we found these fun Halloween lanterns hanging in the entryway.

All the kids raced up to the playroom to check out the toys and the new carpet.  The carpet was sooooo soft.  Feeling it made me want to replace our old carpet at home.  This picture shows 11 of the 15 grandkids.  Andrew set up his family's furniture and toys in the playroom.

 Here the kids are playing with the puppet show.

 We continued with the three tables for dinner.  The picnic table for the younger kids.

 The kitchen table for the adults.

 And the dining room table for the teenagers.

One of the highlights of the night was talking to my parents on the laptop.

 Here we are all looking at the laptop as my parents tell us about their Saturday setting up new apartments for the incoming missionaries.

We finished the night by decorating ice cream pumpkin faces, an annual tradition in honor of Andrew's birthday in October.

 They turned out really cute and they tasted delicious.

 Today I am thankful that:
*the fall leaves here are so beautiful.  If only they didn't hold the promise of a dark rainy winter.
*Holly completed her much dreaded Biology unit test.
*The new season of TV shows has begun.  Scott and I enjoy watching The Amazing race, Modern Family, and Parks and Recreation together each week.

Band, Halloween Pictures, Spiders, and Bracelets

Holly is having a fun time in band this fall. She helped with a car wash fundraiser to pay for their new band hats.

She has performed with her band at all the home football games.  Here they are in a W formation for Wolves--the high school mascot.

And she had made lots of new friends.  They all wish they didn't have the new band hats though.  The hats are silly looking and uncomfortable.

 This fall there have been lots of spiders in our area.  We have never seen so many.  One has taken up residence right outside the sliding glass door in our kitchen.

 It has been there for a month now and we love watching it.  It takes down its web and spins a new web almost every day.

 The kids have been making lots of Halloween pictures at our house.  Megan made this cute one.

Melissa made this one.  It is of Megan, Nathan, and Melissa in their costumes.  The googly eyes were a fun touch.

 This one is my favorite because it is of the whole family.  Melissa drew Scott and I holding hands which is so sweet.

Finally, we have been introduced to rainbow loom bracelets.  They are very popular at the elementary school this fall.  You buy bags of colored little rubber bands and weave them together to make bracelets.   Here the kids are separating the colored rubber bands and putting them into a muffin pan.

 Megan and Melissa both made some bracelets.

 Nathan even wanted some so his sisters made some for him.  This whole bracelet thing is popular right now but I'm sure that by Halloween it will be old news.  This reminds me a lot of the silly band fad from a few years ago.

Today I am thankful that:

*The weather has been sunny and Nathan and I have been taking walks together.
*Scott completed the first 3 weeks of his new job and finally feels like he knows what he is doing.
*Nathan is enjoying preschool this year.

Young Womens in Excellence

Last night I attended Young Women in Excellence with Holly and Emily.  In past years my mom has come with us since she lived close and loves fun events like this.  When I was there last night I was missing my mom who is serving a mission for the Mormon church.  I decided to take a few pictures so she could feel like she was there, even though she wasn't.  I hope you enjoy them too.

My daughter Holly played the opening song I'm trying to be like Jesus and did a great job.  After the prayer and theme each of the Young Women in our ward took a turn coming up to the microphone in the chapel and talking about a personal progress activity that they had recently completed.  There were 20 young women and it was amazing to hear about all the good they are doing and how personal progress has changed their lives for the better.  One of the girls spoke about reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, another spoke about attending the temple and doing family history work, another about learning to sew and making a modest dress.  After all the girls shared, one girl was presented with her YW medallion for completing all of her goals.  A sweet slideshow set to music was shown about this girl. Then all the YW went up to the front and sang the song Stand in Holy Places.  A very talented man in our ward played the piano, one of the YW leaders was the director, and the YW were like a choir of angels.  It was such a beautiful song and hearing all the Young Women in our ward sing it was very touching.  They sounded just as good as the singers on the official video.



You should listen to the song as you picture these sweet girls from my ward below singing it.  The top picture is of Emily and her friends and the picture below it is of Holly and her friends.

After the song, a closing prayer was said and then we moved into the cultural hall at the church. Everyone was drawn to the dessert table where there were cupcakes made to look like high heeled shoes.  Adorable!

Tables were set up with balloons in the YW value colors.  Each of the girls had brought one of their shoes, in keeping with the stand in holy places theme, and something to represent a personal progress goal they recently completed.

 Emily's poster was about her experience in drama camp last summer and how that helped her to gain individual worth and also make new friends and show support of their talents.

Holly's poster was about her experience learning to play songs from the hymnbook and playing the piano every morning in her seminary class (about 160 times) for the opening song.  Doing this increased Holly's knowledge of the hymns and now she is very comfortable playing the piano while others sing along.

It was a great night and sure made me proud of my two Young Women Holly and Emily.  I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. 

 

Today I am thankful that:

*Nathan is at preschool and I get some time to myself (3 times a week!)

*A new neighbor came over to visit with her two little kids.  She had a 6 month old son who reminded me so much of Nathan when he was little. 

*Even though I am sad summer is over, the leaves on the tree are changing colors and look so beautiful.