Snotty Nose?

Colson's been home sick the last two days and it reminded me of when I showed my sis this crazy gift from my crazy friend. You might be wondering what it is - it's an egg separator!! Works like a charm. :)

My kind of salad

Stace from Papercrafts made this cake - I found it blog hopping - doesn't this rock?

Must Do Traditions

Must-Do Traditions

Fall, my favorite time of year, love the weather, love football, love the leaves, just awesome. One of the fall traditions of course is the pumpkin patch. I've been dreading taking the troops to the patch for obvious reasons, it's not fun alone. I really just wanted to take them to Wal-mart take a few pics of the bin of pumpkins and call it a day. Well, that wasn't cutting it in my mind, I was feeling that I didn't want to let the kids miss out, on this tradition. So, off we went to a pumpkin patch. I had driven by this place before, and thought it might be fun, but wasn't really aware of what it had to offer, boy did I not know what I was getting into... just try and beat it, I've never heard of such a place. These are some of the activities, hay ride, castle and pirate ship playground, petting zoo, a corn crib(kindof like a sandbox but with corn), corn maze, ring the pumpkin, a pumpkin launch, the pumpkin patch, face painting, bingo, etc. It was insane! I decide to include the corn maze in our adventure. If you know me, you know I always have a story, well this one is a doozy. In we go, the maze we were told was about 45 minutes, that's a big maze I thought, but hey why not, we were there, it could be fun, plus the kids would be tired out and take a nap, right? Well in we go. I take a picture of the map at the beginning...I don't know why that didn't give me a clue. But anyway, we headed on our way, along the way we found candy machines, a big bridge that we could look out over the maze, a tower, and then about 45 minutes later, Colson says, I FOUND IT!! so he's running "out" when we realize we've hit the Snack Shack, the what?!? A snack shack, you heard me, a snack shop. Hello, why I didn't think I should get out now (I mean how big is a corn maze, that they have a snack shop midway through it?!), especially when we were only at the half way point. I should have at least bought us something to eat, so that an hour later when we were still in the maze, we wouldn't be tired AND hungry. We were so lost in this thing, Colson is shouting at the top of his lungs "Can someone please get us out of here?!" Hallie kept saying "I hate this place, I want to get out of here!!" "I miss daddy!" It was crazy, there was some light at the end of the tunnel when we found a spiral slide towards the end, but still it was NOT a fun feeling, I mean I was trapped in corn, with three babies, and thank heavens no one had to go potty!! Needless to say after an hour and forty five minutes of the corn maze, we ended up NOT going to the pumpkin patch. So tomorrow for FHE it looks like we might be headed to the Wal-Mart bin for a pumpkin. Aaaagh. Nothing like keeping a tradition. Happy Fall Y'all!

HairCuts

I should have taken a before and after. But here's the after. I think I took 4 inches of Hallie's and probably 2 inches off Colson, I really like it when it's longer but I heard a talk about young boys in white shirts and short hair going to church! Anyway, here' the results. I saved $20 bucks doing it myself. Sweet.

Project Linus

Full Circle. That's what I call this! In my Relief Society awhile ago, we opted to do a service project (making blankets) for the wonderful organization Project Linus.

A few months later Hallie was VERY sick about a week after I had Laila and was hospitalized, while there they gave her a blanket from Project Linus, I thought to myself how COOL is that! Now in my inbox today I received the following email:

Sisters,

This is a thank you from a mother who received one of the Project Linus

blankets that we did for Enrichment several months ago. Extra thanks
to
Lucy and the committee members who planned the activity.
>
> Project Linus AA Co Chapter
> "Thank you for the loving works of your hands and
heart"
> From a mother whose child received a Project

>Linus blanket
> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints
> Ft Meade Ward Relief Society
> Dear Brandi and group,
> Thank you for your generous donation, I'm sure a child will be
comforted
>by the soft and cuddly fleece blankets.
> Thank you,
> Cathy

I thought, why didn't I send a thank you to the girls that made Hallie's! I do know the blanket I received was from a girl scout troop in Columbia MD, that's all I remember! Anyway, if you're looking for an easy service project Check out the website, they even have no sew patterns that are super easy to make!

They're located all over the U.S., and I know for sure, it's a comfort to a sick child!

Cosmotologist?

Hallie is very much interested in being "beautiful". Just like the princesses. I think Disney is the problem with women's self esteem these days. She wants to wear dresses, dance, do her hair, and even kiss like the princesses!! I mean she's THREE! It starts way too young. Anyway, I found her in the bathroom "doing" her hair! :) I stopped it before it became too big of a mess, because I heard the sound of the mousse can. I have been thinking though, it's too bad, we can't put some kind of alarm on everything so that when little ones started to get into the Hershey's syrup, the shampoo, the toilet paper, the markers, the toothpaste, the chocolate chips, the trash, the hose, the windex, the cheese, the lotion, the make-up, the halloween candy, the folded stack of laundry (just to name a few) we would be able to stop it!!

Trick or Treat on October 24th?

So when moving to a new town remember that not everywhere do they trick or treat on Halloween!! I had to mad rush to get the kids ready when I found out at the last minute that oops tonight is trick or treating!! Anyway, we managed and here's the kids, Laila does not have a costume. Is that bad?? Oh well, we do the best we can! :) I think Colson's costume was a hit!

Snackfood Capital of the World

I'm not telling you where it is, but that's where I am! :) My sister came to visit and part of the trip we received a phone call from our dad who said we could enjoy the famous Utz chips on him, here's the proof, and they didn't make it 24 hours!YUMMY!

My Sistah

O.k. I must first have a shout out to my older sister, who rocked my world, by watching our baby sisters babies, just so that she could head my way to help me out. Now, to my weekend with my baby sister - We had a spectacular time, we did a ton of stuff, I even planned the weekend so well, Bec called me "Cherri", who is my very organized stepmom! :) We had a work day on Friday - it was all about the Basement, and my closet, then the scrapbook stuff. She helped me organize it all! We then had a date Saturday morning to a yard sale, which was totally fun, then to the scrapbook store, and to dinner. We had so much fun working on Scrapbook stuff! We entered some fun challenges online. Today we went to the Washington Temple, which was beautiful and then to IKEA. Say no more. That store is AWESOME! And I might otherwise be totally depressed, except that I get to watch my very first Colts game of the season tonight!! GO COLTS BEAT THE JAGUARS!!!!

It's been a while!

I have been so busy... I'm getting ready for my sister's visit, and trying to get caught up on things around the house. I can honestly say in my entire life I've never been so busy, or had so much to do. Even when I was working and taking 19 credit hours in college, I still didn't have the schedule I have right now!! Anyway, a part of the current schedule is Library story time with Mr. George on Tuesday mornings. He's a fantastic story teller, and Hallie loves him! What I love most, is that it keeps me going to the library every week, so I avoid late charges. Long story short I landed a FABULOUS children's book!! Oh my heck, it is great literature, a long story, but full of excellent writing and character. It's titled Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed. You can pick it up easy HERE. Fantastic illustrations, please remember it's a long one. Oh I loved it!!

Bathrooms

When my friend pulled up one day at our house and saw the pot she said, Oh look, they've finished the bathroom!! Ha - I will tell you a port o pot is cheaper than a finished bathroom, trust me I know I paid for both!! Anyway, I thought it was funny when they came to get it, I'm looking for some scrapbook page titles...

Many Hands make Light Work

As many of you know, we purchased a "fixer-upper". Well, I wanted to replace all the doors in the house, but it was going to be fairly expensive, so we decided to just paint them white and replace the knobs, well we removed the old door knobs and primed the doors. Now I have to paint the doors, and put on the new knobs. But here's my little helper! Colson did all the door knobs by himself, it actually was a huge help, thanks buddy!

Conference Weekend

What a weekend!! My aunt Suzanne came to visit, and we had General Conference for our church, it was a great weekend! Conference was just great for the soul, it inspires, enlightens and lifts me. One thing I really felt inspired to do was to keep a journal of spiritual things, and the things that we know have been blessings from God. Wow, I have a long way to go, I feel His love in so many ways. One thing I have felt recently is how I have been fortunate to have not one, two, but three healthy children. So far, we have had no problems with them. This is huge.

I have a dear friend that lost a daughter this month, she was born, and died in October. I think of her every year at this time. I can't begin to feel the loss she must feel. E, you know I am thinking of you! I also know she has done extensive fundraising for the March of Dimes. If you're looking for somewhere to donate a little extra, here's a great opportunity.

I have a sweet cousin who recently lost a precious little one about the time I had Laila, she was due this month. I think of her at this time, too. J, I am thinking of you!

So today I must remember to not take my little ones for granted.

We went for a walk in the woods Sunday morning, it was just beautiful, and I was reminded of Joseph Smith's time in the woods. I had asked Colson why do you think he had chosen the woods for his prayer? We talked about how it was private, quiet and peaceful. It was also a place of beauty created for us, it seems a perfect choice. I love to read his account of the First Vision. This is so powerful, we finally can understand the nature of the Godhead, it no longer is confusing, or incomprehensible. What a blessing to know of the truth of this vision.

I have much to be thankful for. There is Joy in my Journey, and I hope you can see the Joy in yours!

Laila at 3 months.

I've started a tradition of having an impromptu photo shoot with Laila as she hits each month... So here she is today at 3 months. I can't believe how quick it goes. She is sitting next to me as I type this cooing and sucking her "left" thumb. I wonder if she is left handed?? I think she's going to have Daddy's eye color, she seems to look like Hallie but has the personality of Colson. Who knows, only time can tell.