Reflections of Christ

This slide show and music are amazing. So when you have 6 minutes to sit and watch it the whole way through you should. Click HERE.

2 lists

Things I got at Target today...
1. pink feety pajamas for Molly's bunny costume (it was a Carter's two pack. so soft and so cozy)
2. a black turtle neck for Emma, and a black fleece to wear with her tiger costume (it's cold and it was snowing today!)
3. plain white twin sheet set to be cut into strips for Lucas's mummy costume
4. 1 pack of Reece's Pieces
5. oh...and my period too...sad...very sad...very very sad...


Things I got at home today...
1. 2 napping kids and 1 1/2 hours to myself (much needed)
2. a phone call from a friend who knows me and knows what I need...thanks friend
3. time to read my book, gain perspective and lift my spirits slightly (also known as the 15 minutes waited for Lucas to come out of school at 3:15)
4. hot chocolate with the kiddos and tales of adventures from the day
5. a husband calling to say he's going to be awhile...clarification:30 minutes (ha!)
6. me calling said husband an hour later..."almost done" he promises
7. frozen pizza for dinner (see above)
8. Molly SAYING (not signing) want banana!!!!! (she even said banana with the "b" sound!)
9. a husband home 2 hours late (followed by a husband to be out of town for 2 days)
10. yummy treats from a mysterious Family Home Evening Phantom...(thanks! I needed that and the kids LOVED the glow sticks)
11. family prayer and scripture study
12. Hugs, Kisses, and Cuddles all around
13. some much needed tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and is mindful of my needs...that's what I am grateful for today.

What are you grateful for today?

Cute Pics from the past week

Emma practicing her egg cracking skills. Now
if only we could get it in the bowl...



The jack-o-lanterns from our F.H.E. with the
Brandon's and the McKnight's. A squirrel has
since eaten a wing off our bat!



Emma the artist seriously painting her pumpkin.



Molly and Orion having a snack and a laugh.



Emma so happy to being wearing her winter hat
again!!!!!!!

Sutter's Ridge

Over the weekend we went to the pumpkin patch to pick our perfect family pumpkins. Emma picked the first one she saw, Molly picked out the biggest one she could find and Daddy decided that was the one he wanted, and Lucas was the last to pick his out. He was searching for a perfectly round, perfectly orange medium sized pumpkin. I just share with Joe and we got Molly her very own tiny pumpkin. We always carve and/or paint our pumpkins for F.H.E. the following Monday and we sometimes invite another family over to join us in the festivities. So that is the plan for tonight. We invited the Brandon's and their one year old son Spencer over for dinner and pumpkin carving. The girls and I went to the store to get some things to make some Halloween cupcakes for dessert. We are all excited and I am sure that it will make for a very exciting blog post tomorrow.

On another note, this is my first official baby free week. I only have 2 kids at home! I forgot what a piece of cake it is having only 2 kids. We all got up, had breakfast, took Lucas to school and then it's only 8:15 in the morning. What are we supposed to do with all this free time??? So we went and ran some errands like going to the post office and the grocery store and World of Variety. Gotta love World of Variety! These are all things you can do with only 2 kids that some how seem unmanageable with 3. ( Okay, I can do all these things with my own 3 kids too, I'm talking about adding someone else's 10 month old to the mix.) Even after doing all of this it was still 9:45 when we got home. So I cleaned up the kitchen, made lunch, put Molly to bed, made cupcakes with Emma, cleaned up the cupcake mess, got the cupcakes out of the oven, read Emma Dinosaur Roar (love that book!) and cuddled with her so she could take a nap. Time still only 12:30. I might even get some laundry done today and dare I say it...a shower!!! Oh, this is the life! Now tell me why it is I want to have another baby soooooo bad and throw off this wonderful thing I've got going on??? Oh, yeah...because it's always worth it and I feel that being a mother is why I was put on this Earth. The joys and blessings far out weigh the trials and struggles. I know my righteous desire to have another baby will come to pass in the Lord's own time. So for now I am enjoying my piece of cake life with 2 kids at home all day and 1 at school and reveling in the joy of 3 kids at home all night and all the love, hugs and kisses it brings. (and you all ready know how I feel about my husband, right?) I am so blessed!

Fun Fall Foliage in the Front Yard

Today was a gorgeous fall day and a half day of school to boot! The kids had a great time playing out side and collecting all kinds of different colored leaves in zip lock bag I gave them, while I was making dinner and taking care of the babies (Molly and William). They ran all over our back yard and by the time Joe got home they were scoping out the front yard for more fall treasures. Joe came in and asked for the camera because they were being too cute in the front yard. He got a couple of great shots of the kids playing. I love fall! Now if only the temperature felt like fall too...

Molly's happy and she knows it!

We took this video of Molly Sunday night before bed time. Part of our bed time routine includes everyone picking a "song stick" from the jar of songs we have(remember I told you we have a very extensive bed time routine around here), this happens to be Molly's favorite part. She has the uncanny ability to pick the same song almost every night! She's just so stinkin' cute!(Sorry about the annoying play list thing. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom you can pause so you can hear our beautiful singing voices.)

The pirates who don't do anything

Shawna's letting me post on her blog! She may live to regret this...

For those who want to join in with the booty shakin kitchen dancin party she mentioned a few days ago, just keep listening.
For more pirate fun, click here or here or here or here. The kids and I could watch these for hours.

Edit - pirate song has been removed after a vote. We lost, 4 votes to 1. Shawna's vote counted more than the rest of ours combined... i suppose it is her blog.

From Madison Zoo

Argghhh, we're the pirates.

F.Y.I.

Due to the fact that there is always a sleeping baby in my room where the totally awesome Mac is I have been unable to post about such fun things as our oh so fun conference weekend, impromtu carmel apple making in the front yard with none other than wacky Marianne who just shows up with carmel and bag of apples, and why Emma told Lucas he is not even Jesus. I will be offically free of a sleeping baby in my room in about 1 week. Then maybe you can hear these fun stories, or maybe not. You could just ask me and I will tell you anyway.

This one goes out to the one I love...

I have been feeling lately like I have the best husband in the whole wide world and that he deserves his very own post displaying my gratitude. If this does not interest you then feel free to skip this post because it will most likely be shameless and/or over the top with love for my hubby.

First of all, with much encouragement on my part, Joe has been leaving work at 4:30 everyday. WOW! If you know my husband you know what a huge deal that is. And it has made a HUGE difference in how our nights go. There is not all the dinner time craziness that comes with having 3 kids and all the after dinner chaos of trying to clean up and get everyone a bath, teeth brushed, pj's, and scripture study before the bed time of 7:30. If you know me you know that description of our bedtime routine hardly does it justice. Jenifer says it takes 500 hours and what ever happened to a book, a prayer and in bed you go, good night! With this new Daddy is home by 5:00 and subsequently dinner is served at 5:05 and we are all done eating about 5:30ish (we inhale dinner around here) evenings are quite enjoyable and Mom is a much nicer, happier person to be around. Thanks honey for choosing to go to work earlier so that you can come home earlier. You deserve some major lovin for that alone.

Second of all, I have had extreme unexplained tiredness this week (no, I am not pregnant. You'll be the first to know). In response to this my husband has become super dad. Molly is crying incessantly and won't go to sleep. I am tired and can't take it anymore. I go flop on my bed with a big sigh and then Joe,"Oh honey why don't you go to bed. You're so tired. I'll take care of Molly (this NEVER happens when it comes to Molly because she always just wants me). Oh and here why don't you listen the Breaking Dawn audio book and let sweet dreams of Edward lull you into sleep (under his breath something about reaping the rewards of that one later ...). Oh and let me turn on the fan and close the door so you won't hear her crying. I love you." This seriously happened on more than one occasion this week. He also cleaned the kitchen, mopped the floor, gave baths and made sure we had family scripture study all very willingly and patiently. Amazing!!!!!!!!! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!

Even though Joe made me so mad last night by being late and therefore me not getting to fix my hair to go to open house at Lucas's school (hair is important people! you should see the mom's at school!) he once again ended up being my hero later in the night. I was gone to my totally awesome, best person I know in this life friend Hannah's for our weekly Grey's Anatomy followed lately by some form of craftiness i.e., Jen teaching Hannah to sew a straight line. Good times! When it was time to go home at like 11:00 my van won't start! I get Jen to give me a ride home and then I have to tell Joe. He asks a bunch of questions like if the van is parked at an incline and when was the last time I got gas. The gas gauge doesn't actually work in our van. Turns out that was the problem. There was gas in the van but the van didn't think so. So he put gas in the van and brought it home. The big deal is that he didn't even make fun of or give me a hard time even once!!! Before this moment I did not know he was capable of such self restraint.

The point of all of this is my husband is a rock star and I am still crazy in love after almost 7 years of marriage. I love you, Joe and I can't imagine life without you. I never thought that saying hi to you at E.F.Y when I was 17 would ever lead to this! In case I don't let you know enough I LOVE YOU FOREVER and THANK YOU for always taking care of me and our family. You're the best and don't I know it!

Dancin' in the kitchen

I just have to say that I love a dance party. It was inspired by my mom who is of course a total nut. Whenever it was time to clean the house, it was time to crank the tunes and dance like a fool with the broom or feather duster or any other weapon of choice as we took on the dust bunnies. I continue on this tradition, but rarely do we need such an occasion as cleaning day. It makes the day go by faster and is especially helpful to pass the time while cleaning or waiting for daddy to get home. We have had several such dance parties this week. The music of choice this week... Veggie Tales "The Pirates Who Don't do Anything." Don't knock it til you try it! It is the rocked out version by I don't know who and not the veggie tale characters. Today is apparently a no nap day at my house. I do believe that calls for a dance party while we pass the time until it is time to go get Lucas. I am notorious for my bootie shakin after all...

Molly and Emma dancing in the kitchen and Emma rockin the pillow guitar (it's way cooler than air guitar)