Where did November GO??

I cannot believe it is already time for Christmas!  We had a great Thanksgiving meal, and I did get grouchy during clean-up.  Sorry, family of mine.  Holiday's tend to stress me out.  So much pressure to have things go great, for the food to taste great and so on.  I need to chill out, and I AM doing better.  At least I hope I am.....

Anyway, November flew by, didn't it??  I was looking at the calendar and we have 3 weeks of school before we take time off for Christmas Break.  Lots to do. But, I do need to be realistic about what I want to accomplish in the next three weeks.  I want to read a book out loud to the kids but have yet to decide which one....any ideas?  A good Christmas book you love?

I am looking forward to having a break for the Christmas Season.  I have tons of scrapbooking to catch up on.  Well at least work on.  I don't think I'll ever get caught up.  Completely!  I am also making Birthday Cards again this year for the entire Relief Society in my ward.  I love doing it!  It MAKES me be crafty and create and I love that.  It is so good for me.  It is my therapy.  That and eating chocolate.  And drinking a certain carbonated beverage.  ;)

Onward and upward......

Turning 9...Avengers Style!

Seth  loves the Avengers, heck we all do!  Hello...Capt. America!!  Thor!! Pure awesomeness!  Anyways, Seth wanted an Avengers birthday so I did my best.  I got him this poster to put in his room after the party.  I always decorate the house after they go to bed, or at least they go downstairs to watch TV before "light's out".  They can't come upstairs until morning.  It has been a fun tradition.  I always decorate the front door and stairway.  Birthday's are fun!

 Opening his presents.... I love his face!  I also love Addie's cute morning hair.

 He got a set of  Avenger masks and a few other things. We all got together and collaborated so he'd have them all. Thank you Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Lindsay!! He was so cute going from Avenger mask to Avenger mask.  He threw his shield around like just Capt. America does.

We have a punch pass to the Classic Fun Center and that is where Seth loves to spend his day, so after the babies had a little nap, we headed out!  We ate pizza, rollerbladed, played arcade games and just had a ball.  We brought Audrey's scooter and she LOVED riding around the rink.  Noah enjoyed himself as well strolling all over the place and eating pizza and candy and whatever else he found.  I decided Seth has a great birthday; it comes a week before Thanksgiving and kicks off the Holiday Season.  Nice going, Sethy!

I went simple on his cake....as usual.  I used to make more elaborate cakes, but not so much anymore.  This was dang good though.  Marble cake.  Homemade cream cheese frosting.  I made his name on my Cricut machine and called it good.  He thought it was great!

Seth is my big handsome boy that will be bigger than his dad in no time.  He is Audrey's special buddy and gives the best hugs, although you DO have to practically force him to hug you.  Happy Birthday, Seth!  We LOVE you!!

"Come Thou Fount"...

Ya, most post yesterday was kind of a bummer.  I have felt very overhelmed; no reason really.  Nothing has changed.  Still the same number of kids.  My new calling is actually not as busy. Anyway, I have just felt frustrated with the mess of a full house.  The pile of laundry that grows when my back is turned. Time to myself is hard to find.  The constant nagging that doesn't seem to work.  On and on. I know any mother can relate. 

Today was fast Sunday and I really wanted to feel peace about my efforts as a mother.  I wanted to feel refreshed and renewed.  I am grateful for my new calling as choir president.  My job is to support the ward choir director, encourage attendance, and attend myself. Something as our family
has grown, I have not done.  Usually I feel pretty much tapped out after church and am ready to go home and rest.  In my jammies.  Choir hasn't been something I have done these past several years.  But, I can honestly say that attending choir these past few months has been such a boon to me.  I have found myself refreshed after practice, and sing the songs we are working on without realizing I am doing it.

We are preparing for next Sunday, when we will be singing in Sacrament meeting.  Our director decided to change the song today.  The song she picked for us to sing was inspired, at least I took it that way.  When I was in the MTC my companion wanted to sing in the MTC choir, so I had to as well.  You kinda have to stay with your companion while on your mission.  I cannot tell you how wonderful that was for me.  Singing in a church choir for my first time, doubting myself as a missionary as I did, it strengthen me in ways I can't really put into words.

When we as a choir sang "Come Thou  Fount", well it was special.  The director talked to us about the words we were singing, so that we would sing them with feeling and truly bear testimony of the Savior.  I had never heard this song before since it was from the old hymn book.  So, I copied down the works in my MTC notebook so I would never forget them.  I never have.

Sitting down in choir today, seeing the new song choice, and having had a rough time lately, I felt the Lord's tender mercies just for me.  It was if He was saying that He loved me and knew I would love to sing that song one more time. Sometimes it is the little things that happen that let us know He is there and that He loves us.

Here are the beautiful words:

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Can't keep up....

I can't keep up!

Can you?

So many things I need to do:

to read

to clean

to improve

to help

to serve

to love

to prepare

to put up

to take down

to bake

to cook

to iron

to update

to ponder

====

I don't want to

give up.

Gotta keep going.

But, I can't keep up!

How do YOU keep up?

What do you let go?

===========

Don't know why I have felt so crazy lately. 

Keep calm.

Eat some chocolate....right??

Fabulous Fall!

We needed a craft time this week, so here is what we created! The supplies came from the dollar store and we glued them on a paper plate with the center cut out.

 Seth told me that "crafting is good to do often" as he glued away and made his masterpiece.

Audrey glued her things on, then ripped them all off and went on her merry way....

Fall wouldn't be fall without playing in the leaves....

 

We raked the leaves from the only tree we have that makes much a pile for us to play in.  Noah seemed to enjoy it.

Then a few days later....we got a foot of snow!!

Gotta love Utah weather that changes from day to day!  You never know what to expect, do you?!

A Family of Many Costumes: Hallowween 2012

Sometimes, it's hard to decide what to be for Halloween.

When you have a bin full of dress-ups, go ahead and change your mind.  We did this year!

 

 

 

 Addie as a Masked Beauty....

 The kids on their way to a neighborhood Halloween Party.....

 Addie decided to be spooky for the Ward Party.....

 Sasha wanted to go spooky, as well.....the girls are wearing old white shirts, ripped up and ripped and cut up socks on their arms.  Nice touch, eh? Oh, and she did her own make-up!!

 Here we go to the Ward Party\Carnival!  Will makes a great Zorro, huh!! I went spooky and regretted it.  Some kids were scared of me.  :(

 

Addie wore one of Sasha's old costumes for Halloween night!  Chopsticks and flowers in her hair!  CUTIE!

 Sasha found this cute shirt at the DI a few weeks ago, and when she put it on on Halloween, we decided it would make a great Rocker Girl Costume. So, she wore that on Halloween for trick-or-treating.  I have a very similar picture of myself, dressed the same way when I was about her age.  Except my mom painted my lips a really awesome dark purple.

The cutest puppy EVER!!

 I ditched the spooky costume and decided to be a cowgirl\country bumpkin on Halloween.  Fun costumes are more my style!  Noah didn't really like wearing his hood.  Not that I blame him...

 Seth wearing his BLACK Spiderman costume.

Audrey wore a dress from the bin.  She had a fun night and decided getting candy is awesome!!