Happy Halloween!

For the last couple of years, Jack and Abby have designed their own jack o'lanterns. They draw what they want on paper and my talented husband John carves them. I imagine we'll have to buy four pumpkins next year. Aren't they cute?

I didn't get to take many pictures of my children dressed up this year but I will try to post some later.

A Touching Story

I've been following a heart-wrenching but inspiring story that another blogger introduced me to. It is about a couple (Stephanie and Christian) who were severely burned after their small plane crashed. A new article that just came out was particularly touching so I thought I would share it with you here . Her sister Courtney posts updates on her blog and Stephanie's blog is just a joy to read-- you will get hooked to! WARNING: If you read the article, you will need tissues.

I think about Stephanie and her children everyday and I pray for her to continue to improve so that she can be reunited with her family.

Hide and Seek

I sat down on my bed after picking the children up from school and thought about how tired I was. So, I said to myself, "You should listen to your body and just lay down for a minute."

Those who really know me know that I do not take naps. I wake up from naps feeling absolutely horrible-- tired, grumpy, nauseous and like I have the flu. My children's doctor asked me when Joshua was born if I was taking naps while Joshua slept and was surprised that I never take naps. I told her how I feel when I wake up and she said, "You know what that means don't you?" I didn't. She said, "It means that you are very sleep deprived." Who knew?

I have been sleep deprived for years even when I'm sleeping 8-9 hours a night due to lack of restorative sleep that my doctor is now trying to remedy, but I never knew that's why I can't take naps.

Anyway, Joshua came in my room looking for me a minute or so after I laid down. I couldn't see him because I was laying on my side facing the other way but I heard him go right past me to my bathroom door and then head back out of my room. I thought, "Wow. He's going to let me rest."

Then I hear, "He's (Translation: She's) got to be here somewhere." Enjoying this little game, I of course remained still. Ethan found me about 30 seconds later followed by Joshua and well, so much for my rest but I did have a laugh and for some reason, laughing seems to have restorative powers too!

Go Figure!

Jack on our back hill in 2004

Getting my children up for school is no easy task. When they say, "Just a few more minutes Mom", I feel for them. I too, have trouble dragging myself out of bed. I don't like to nag them, pull off their covers, turn on their lights or get frustrated with them. I don't like to but I sometimes do.

Today is a Professional Development Day for their teachers so my children got to stay home. Hoping to be able to sleep in this morning and planning ahead, I let them all stay up an hour past their normal bedtime last night. In theory, they should sleep in an hour or so more in the morning, right? WRONG!

My children were all up by 6:30 AM! This is a half hour earlier than I normally wake them up for school! How can this be? I don't think they have gotten themselves up for school this entire school year so far!

Now here's the good news:

Jack made me breakfast this morning and came to tell me at about 6:30 AM. I expressed my appreciation for his thoughtfulness and then told him that I would really like to sleep a little longer. Could he feed my bowl of oatmeal to Ethan instead?

Jack willingly agreed. In fact, he took care of Ethan and Joshua until 8:00 AM when Ethan decided he really wanted me and I told Jack it was okay to let him in my room. I put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the only show Ethan watches) on in my room and slept on and off for another hour while Ethan climbed on me, throwed pillows at me and then started asking for a drink.

I finally dragged my lazy bones out of bed and expressed my sincere appreciation to Jack, my nine year old son who let me sleep. What a sweet boy!

Pumpkin Cookies

Okay, so maybe Pumpkin Shaped Cookies is a more accurate description.

My creative and clever husband John made the children a stencil for a Jack o'Lantern face. Isn't it cute?

Here is a picture of Joshua looking at his cookie. He hadn't eaten any of his dinner and I told him he had to eat a few bites before he could have a cookie. When the cookies were ready, I pulled his dinner back out of the fridge. Even seeing and smelling the yummy cookie wasn't temptation enough to eat any meatloaf, mashed potatoes or green beans.

While rolling out the dough, I ate too many little bites and feel a bit ill. Oops.

When They Grow Up, You'll Miss...

Women are often heard saying, "When they grow up, you'll miss fill in the blank." Some women say this for everything. I'm sorry but there are SOME things I WON'T miss!

Here are some things I won't miss:

1. Having food thrown at me and all over my kitchen floor.

2. Having my glasses pulled off of my face unexpectedly. OUCH!

3. Having to buckle and unbuckle carseats. It will be nice when I can just hop in and go!

4. Washing bottles.

5. Seemingly endless potty-training.

6. Finding spit up and snot on various objects.

7. Having something I love destroyed by a little one's hands.

8. Wearing dirty clothes 90% of the time. The other 10% being time I am away from my children.

Here are some things I will definitely miss:

1. Seeing little ones in pajamas with feet. So cute!

2. Slobbery baby kisses. (I feel that it is important to add here that I DO NOT like slobbery kisses from anyone but John and babies! So, if you were thinking about giving me one-- please don't.)

3. Snuggling with a little one.

4. Seeing the little ones faces light up when they see me come home.

5. Baby talk.

6. Having the occasional overnight guest in my queen sized bed. *Snuggle*

7. Nursing.

8. Being able to spend so much time with my children.

And lastly, here are some things I hope my children will always provide me with no matter their ages:

1. Laughter.

2. Hugs and Kisses.

3. Seeing my children excited about something new they have learned.

4. Hearing my children share gospel truths.

5. Having my children share their creativity with me. (Artwork, stories, songs, etc.)

6. Having fun playing games with my children.

I love being a mother!

My YouTube Junkie

Last week I introduced Joshua to YouTube Disney Halloween cartoons. Now he keeps asking to watch videos on John's laptop and he even navigates YouTube by himself with supervision. (I do NOT consider YouTube to be a safe website for children to freely browse!) This is one of his favorites. It is the Silly Symphony Skeleton Dance. Your children might enjoy it too. But, BEWARE, they might become YouTube Junkies too! Consider yourselves forewarned!

Home For The Holidays

For me, Christmas is about memories and traditions and being with those you love.

We have gone to Virginia Beach for Christmas for five out of the seven years we've lived in Stanardsville. We love going down there and being with our families, having Sauerbraten and acting out the story of Jesus's birth on Christmas Eve with the Niepraschks, having Christmas morning pictures with the Monteiths, giving and receiving gifts, playing games, making and eating the holiday treats we have enjoyed since we can remember, and if we are lucky, catching the fourth Advent with the Niepraschks. We LOVE it!

Many Niepraschks have moved away from Virginia Beach. This year there will be only 4-8 Niepraschks for Christmas Eve instead of 60 plus. There will be less people to play games with and probably no Advents. I guess it will never be the *same*. I loved having predictable traditions with my extended family and I am sure my siblings and cousins will miss them too.

I've been thinking over the years about this and I have decided that we need to stay home for Christmas at least two years out of every three. I want to create holiday memories and traditions with my own family. I believe it is important for families to have traditions for the children to look forward to every year and my children already have many. (Right now they can't wait to make pumpkin shaped sugar cookies to decorate!) Also, I want them to want to come visit me (once every few years) for the holidays when they are grown with families of their own. I plan to go visit them for the holidays too. For me, Christmas is about family.

It doesn't matter where you are for the holidays as long as you are with the ones you love-- creating memories that won't easily be forgotten.

Just for fun here are some pictures of my early Christmases:





Here is a picure of John's second Christmas. Adorable! Don't you think?

Here is a Monteith family Christmas morning picture. They take pictures on the couch every Christmas morning BEFORE opening their presents.

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever made a highly rated 5-star recipe from a site such as allrecipes (my personal favorite) just to find it so disgusting that you feel bad for wasting ingredients on it? I have.


Have you ever had a friend give you a recipe that she absolutely loves and "you just have to try it" only to find it not so tasty and you hope she doesn't ask you whether or not you liked it? I haven't but I know some people who have had this experience.


When you offer to bring a meal over to a new mother and her family, do you worry that they will not like it? I do.


Have you ever been the recipient of such a meal just to discover that your family found it inedible and your husband had to make dinner anyway? I have.

No wonder it is so difficult and sometimes stressful to decide what to make for dinner when you have company coming! You could love it while they hate it!


Want to try a good recipe? Try the Toasted Garlic Bread recipe from allrecipes. Watch them though because they brown very quickly. Oh, and if you don't like them... just keep it to yourself.

Abby's Art

"Flowers in a Vase"

I love the art that Abby creates for me to hang on my refrigerator! This is one of my favorites!

If you haven't visited her art gallery recently, you should check it out at http://abbysartgallery.blogspot.com/ .

Oh Ladybugs, Why Must You Torment Me?

Ladybug Legend:

If you find a ladybug in your house, count the number of spots and that is how many dollars you will soon receive.

If this were true, I would be a millionaire by now! I'm not even exaggerating!

Today is the first day of the Fall 2008 ladybug infestation.

Here is a clip looking out my front porch window:

They get much worse than this and I will try to update with a video of the swarming on a REALLY bad day.

Here they are IN my house:


This is what I have to do to my fireplace to keep the number of ladybugs in my living room each Fall down to a few hundred instead of closer to a thousand. Attractive, huh?

Don’t even ask me about my basement! It is frightening down there during an infestation and I don’t even want to think about all of the vacuuming and the sneezing and coughing I’ll be doing thanks to an apparent ladybug allergy. Don’t tell ME no one is allergic to ladybugs!

As I went down the front steps to go pick up Jack and Abby from school, I had Ethan in my arms and I was holding Joshua's hand because he does not like to step on ladybugs and I have to gently pull him down the steps. On the way down, the ladybugs decided to land on me-- my glasses, my nose, my arm, my clothes. I tried to stay calm for Joshua's sake. When I got to the van, we all jumped in the same side door and I quickly closed it behind us. I checked us all out and it seemed that we were now ladybug free (or so I thought) which is unusual after such a trip. As I was driving, a ladybug landed on my neck and freaked me out. When I swiped it off my neck, it pinched/bit me and released some yellow smelly reflex blood onto my neck and hand. Eeewww! I tried to take a picture of the red, slightly raised patch on my neck but it didn’t show up very well in the picture.

Don’t tell me they are cute. Don’t tell me they are beneficial. I LIVE with them. They are disgusting, smelly bugs that leave yellow blood stains on my curtains, walls and windows! Eeewww! I just can’t say it enough… Eeewww!

So, the number one reason that I want to move out of this house and this whole county is not my overgrown yard, having to drive my children to school because the bus doesn’t come here, or the 35 minute trip to church. No, the number one reason I want to move is the LADYBUGS! Eeewww!

Dunkin' Donuts Surprise!

Daddy surprised us with a dozen Dunkin' Donuts last Saturday. Thank you Daddy! The Dunkin' Donuts store just opened and we do not have a Krispy Kreme around here. Ethan LOVED the donuts as you can see. I think the fillings and frostings were a bit off so if you are thinking about getting a dozen, you should wait a couple of weeks for them to perfect their donuts. In the meantime, check out the Angel Cake Bakery next to the Ruckersville Food Lion. They have the best donuts for about the same price.

My Beautiful Daughter!

On October 7th my beautiful daughter Abby turned seven! I feel so blessed to have her. She is my one and only daughter. The only one I will get to go wedding dress shopping with. (Which may actually be a blessing.) I love you Abby!

Abby on the day she was born:

Abby on her blessing day:
Abby was my happiest baby. She smiled and laughed a lot!
Abby's first Easter:
Abby's Second Easter:

Thank you Heavenly Father for letting me experience the joys of having a daughter of my own! She is so precious to me!

Looking Out My Window

Dear Window,

Thank you for letting me see through you. I love to watch for my daddy to come home so I can wave and wave and wave to him. Good Girl Da loves to watch with me. She likes to communicate with her friends across the lake while we look out of the window. If she talks too much, Mommy sends her outside and I look out of the window by myself and wonder what she is saying in her own funny language.

When Daddy pulls up in his trusty car with over 180,o00 miles on it, I giggle and giggle while calling out, "Da-da! Da-da!" in my loudest voice. Mommy doesn't shoo me outside though. She smiles and comes to the window to wave to Daddy too. She looks so happy to see him!

Thank you Window for bringing us joy!

Love,

Ethan

Carter Mountain Orchard

Joshua, Ethan and I went to Carter Mountain last month for a field trip organized for preschool mothers in the ward. We had a great time! We went on a wagon ride, enjoyed delicious apple donuts and apple peach cider, and picked apples right off of the trees! I had to lift Joshua above my head for him to reach the apples so my T-shirt got all muddy and I had to stop at the grocery store with mud on my chest. I figured, "Oh well, they'll know I'm a mother."


And we came home with two whole bags of Golden Delicious apples. Yummy! Fresh apples really do taste best! We even made some apple fritters one Sunday morning.