What's better than a cookie? A cookie with cheese on top, of course!

My mom sent us a package filled with halloween sugar cookies. We weren't quite sure what shapes they were in because they arrived broken but we devoured those delicious pieces. We were all commenting on how nice it was that Grandma had sent the cookies when Courtney said,

"And Gwamma put cheese on top. Mmmm!"

Yep, she saw the orange frosting and thought it was cheese. Rachel and I had a good laugh at that one. Yeah, she's a cheese lover just like me, even on cookies!

I stuck my finger in a light socket and came out looking a little younger (I hope!)

I recently started scrunching my hair with gel (like in the picture on the header) as a quick and easy style. Clearly, I have very little variety to my hair styles because so many people have commented on it including my family. Here are some of their reactions:

Spencer: "Here's a brush, Mom. You should brush your hair."
Me: "Do I need to brush it?"
Spencer: "Yeah, it looks pretty messy."

Rachel: "I like your hair like that. I hope I don't offend you (grabbing my arm in a comforting gesture) but you look a lot younger with it like that."

Paul: "What happened? Did you stick your finger in a light socket?"

Courtney: "Mommy, your hair is vewy cuhly!"

Friend: "Your hair's so cute. It looks so young and hip." (maybe because I was copying the teenagers' hairstyles from our ward)

The twins' Nursery School Teacher: "Your hair's down. It looks good down!" (This is sad. This made me realize that I hardly ever wear my hair down on preschool days because it takes too long to blow dry so I put it in a ponytail, bun or clip because I'm in a hurry.)

Obviously, I've been in need of a change in the hair department so I'll enjoy this easy style which hopefully makes me look younger and I'll ignore my boys' comments!

Trunk or Treat

Click to enlarge the image

Happy Birthday Spencer!

I can't believe Spencer is six years old! He had a great birthday. He got Legos, legos and more legos and even got the Wii Legos Star Wars game. We went to our ward trunk or treat last night which I told Spencer was his "birthday party with the whole ward." That worked out rather nicely, didn't it?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A long time?

On our drive home from Stake Conference, Rachel and I had this conversation:

Rachel: "Mom, High School Musical 3 has been out for a long time! We need to go see it."

Me: (surprised--how could I have missed it?) "When did it come out? I thought it was just this weekend."

Rachel: "I think it was on Friday. That's a long time! Pretty soon everyone will be talking about it and saying all the lines and stuff and it won't be a surprise to me."

Me: "Oh, yeah. Well, we'll see it soon." (Relieved that I was actually up on the tween scene. I guess I just didn't realize that two days was a LONG time!)

Fun Pictures

Ahh. . . autumn in its blazing splendor! I took this from my window as I was driving home from Stake Conference yesterday. It was a gorgeous drive but freeway pictures don't turn out very well!

Goofing around at the bus stop on Friday while waiting for Spencer

Peek-a-boo!

Look at that fall beauty!

Courtney and Caitlin (on both ends) with their friends at a Halloween Party on Friday

They played lots of fun games and made a darling spider. Thanks Anissa for planning a great party and Maddie for hosting it!

The kids and Sugar with their friends, Lauren and Gina, after the plopping down on the couch to watch a movie after a long afternoon playing outside and jumping on the trampoline

Jumping queen Caitlin

Gotta love the hair, Courtney!

Hi Mom!

Stake Conference weekend is the best! Saturday began a little hectic but ended beautifully at the adult session of conference.

It was raining sideways during Rachel's soccer game but they played well and Rachel scored the last goal! Yeah, Rachel! In all her years playing with the YMCA, she has primarily played forward and has scored lots of goals in seasons past. But this is her first year playing on this team and most of her team mates been playing together for years and have set positions so she got put on defense. She has been a little bit unhappy about it but still enjoys playing and particularly likes playing with a bunch of her school friends. The coach finally let her play forward this week and sure enough, she scored!

Paul took Rachel to the game because I was trying to get everyone packed for our trip north for stake conference. He had a leadership meeting and had to leave straight from the game so he went in his suit. Needless to say, even though he had an umbrella, it didn't keep him from getting completely soaked and from looking completely silly with a suit at a soccer game. But he did make it to his meeting on time and saw Rachel play. . . so. . . mission accomplished, right?

I met Paul and Rachel at the game with the kids and bags packed and ready to go. Rachel changed her sopping wet clothes and we were off to our motel. We got there, quickly changed, went swimming and then got the kids dressed just in time for the babysitter to arrive. I grabbed my viola and headed for a rehearsal for our instrumental ensemble. We played the prelude for the meeting. I think it was one of our better performances. We have added a harp to our group and it really added an angelic sound to the music.

The meeting Saturday night was wonderful. I always think the Saturday session is by far the best session at Stake Conference and this one did not disappoint. The spirit was very strong and I left feeling uplifted and inspired. I was particularly touched by President Dunford's talk about Christ. The visiting authority, Clayton Christensen, was outstanding. He shared some great stories (some about failures, some about successes) about sharing the gospel and provided some excellent ideas, many that I had never thought about. I'm not very good at sharing the gospel so it was a good talk for me. One thing that struck me the most is that we should count our efforts a success if we invite someone to hear about the gospel, rather than if they accept it.

Today, the conference was also very good. I took Rachel with me to choir practice. It was the first time she's sung with me in stake choir. It was really fun having her sitting next to me and hearing her beautiful voice in my ear. She's growing up so fast. It was amusing watching Paul deal with the three little kids in the audience. Near the end of the meeting, Paul separated Spencer and Courtney because they were becoming a little disruptive. Sure enough, Courtney started crying loudly so Paul had to take her out. As they were leaving the chapel she put her arms out toward me and cried at the top of her lungs, "Mommy, I want my Mommy." People were chuckling in the choir seats. Poor Paul, he was a bit embarrased. But he did a great job!

I took this picture on my cell phone today. You have to forgive the picture quality but the way the light is coming down is interesting. It reminds me of the need for continuous revelation as we parent the choice spirit sons and daughters our Heavenly Father has entrusted to us. Each one of my children is so unique and has his or her own strengths and weaknesses and because of that, I have to parent them differently. What works with one doesn't always work with the other and what worked today might not work tomorrow. That's why I find prayer so vital to parenting. I do feel that we do receive help from our Father when we ask for it. Sometimes it takes a long time to see the results but eventually we will understand why we receive certain answers and directions. I am so grateful for the guidance I have received to my prayers (of desperation) because, believe me, I need them. Parenting is hard. Being responsible for teaching a child correct principles is a challenge but the rewards are beyond sweet and they're eternal.

Sweet Sundays

I love Sundays after church. Church responsibilities are over for the day and there are no kid friends, no checklists, no taxiing kids to various activities and, most of all, Paul, here with us all day. The only problem is that I'm so lazy that the house looks like a tornado went through it on Monday because I don't do much of anything on Sunday (including cleaning up after the kids or making them do it.) But it's worth every minute of Monday cleaning to have Sunday's rejuvination and relaxation. I really don't know where Sunday went this week--it flew by--but now it's Monday so I'd better get to work!

A Visit to the House of the Lord

This weekend, we packed up the family and headed to the Washington D.C. Temple. We didn't leave until early evening so we pulled into the hotel about 10:30 p.m. Our favorite part of the ride was waking up all the kids to sing "I Love to See the Temple" as the beautifully lit temple appeared right in front of us on the freeway. It's an incredibly stunning sight to go around the bend and see the shining temple above the trees right in front of you. Whenever we drive that way, my heart fills with joy at the sight.

It was so good to finally go to sleep once we got checked into the hotel and got the kids settled for the night. In the morning, Paul went early to the temple so I could attend our stake meeting in the priesthood room of the temple with the temple presidency. When I arrived at the temple, it was absolutely packed. In fact, I have never seen it so busy. It turns out it wasn't just our stake but four stakes meeting together. Despite the large numbers, the peace of the temple overwhelmed me and I felt a renewed spirit being there with my fellow ward and stake members. It was especially wonderful sitting next to my friend, Marilyn Chamberlain, during the endowment session. At the end of the session, she mentioned something that she noticed during the session and it happened to be the same thing that came to my attention for the first time. It was just a small thing that I had overlooked before but had struck me that time, and, interestingly, it hit her the same way. I rarely share my temple impressions with anyone so it was particularly gratifying to have exactly the same impression as someone else. I was also particularly touched by the amazing blessings we and our families receive in the endowment. What hope and happiness we can experience through the gospel! The temple is truly the best place to be in the world today. The Lord's spirit fortifies me each time I attend despite the challenges we face getting there. I feel so blessed to be a member of the church and feel the peace of the Lord's house.

When I left the temple, I realized I had been in the temple 4 1/2 hours. There was a lot of waiting because of the large amount of people there but I didn't even notice the time passing. It seemed like I been inside only a minute. Meanwhile, the kids had gone swimming with Paul, checked out, gone through the visitor's center and were waiting for me at the temple for two hours. When I took out my phone to call Paul to tell him I was done, I was surprised that it was so late! We had planned to go to a museum but because of the late hour everything was closing shortly so we stopped for lunch and headed home. On the way, we stopped at Susquehanna State Park which is right at the beautiful Susquehanna River near the Maryland/Delaware border in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Paul and I have always loved the view as you cross the span across the river and decided we'd stop at the park to give the kids a chance to get out some energy and see the view before it got dark. It was beautiful and the kids loved getting out and running around for a while.

It was a great trip! I'm so glad we took the time to go even though it conflicted with other things. The temple is the best place on earth, no doubt about it!

Kids at the park: more cell phone pics

While Rachel's practicing, the rest of us are on the playground!

Courtney monkeying around at the park

Caitlin says, "stop taking pitchahs mommy and help!"

Caitlin in a happier moment

Cute Spencer gives me a smile

I thought I'd post a few more cell phone pictures from our frequent visits to the playground during soccer practice. The kids really look forward to playing there twice a week. It's especially nice to go to the playground on Tuesdays after the twins have been sitting quietly for an hour during karate class. I like it because everyone's exhausted when we get home and the children go right to sleep!

Household Hint: Lego Cleanup

Spencer loves Legos and so do I. The building possibilities are infinite and they encourage creativity and innovation. I can't believe the things Spencer makes on a daily basis. They often have moving parts, gears and are very complex. However, despite all the fun Legos bring into our home, they sure do make a mess! Clean-up is a nightmare and has to be done several times a day. I told Spencer I'm waiting for him to invent a little vaccum that sucks the legos up so I can just dump them into the lego bin but since I'm still waiting for him to grow up and do that, I tried using a leaf rake the other day to gather them into a pile and it works pretty well. We have nine pounds of legos (thanks to cheap e-bay prices) and it makes a pretty big pile. Maybe I should use a tarp like I do with the leaves. Then I could just pick them up and pour them in the bin. I'll have to try it this morning! Ah ha! Maybe I should only allow Spencer to dump them out on a table or a tarp! That might work. . . see, Legos are still getting my creative juices flowing even if it is just to figure out an easier way to get them back where they're supposed to be.

Rachel and Spencer: my little speakers

Rachel and Spencer gave talks last Sunday. Both of them wrote their own talks with very little help from me aside from scribe/typist duties. It's wonderful to see my children take a topic and think of stories and scriptures that apply to it. Giving talks at such a young age really helps children to become comfortable public speakers and will benefit them enormously in their future lives. Just for fun, I thought I'd blog them as part of our family history:

Rachel's talk:

Hello. Today my talk is on praying to Heavenly Father and knowing that he hears and answers your prayers. Heavenly Father will always listen when we call upon him. He has asked us to pray always. When Jesus came to visit the Nephites, he told them to “watch and pray always.”

Now I’ll read Jesus’ words in 3rd Nephi 18:19-20:

19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

This year I started middle school. That means that I have a locker and have passing classes with 10 periods a day. At the very beginning of the year, I was very stressed out because I couldn’t get my locker open which meant that sometimes I was a little bit late for my classes. Luckily, since it was the first few days of school, the teachers were understanding because everyone was having problems with the lockers. I was always really worried because I didn’t want to go to detention for being late. So one night, I decided to say a prayer asking for help to be able to get my locker opened easily. The next day when I went to school, I got my locker open on my first try. I even helped another person get theirs open. From that, I learned that Heavenly Father really does always listen to our prayers. I might not get my locker open on my first try every time but I get it open and that’s the important part because I’m not late for classes and I’m not as stressed anymore.

By this story, I hope you have learned that when you pray, Heavenly Father really does hear you and that you will pray more often with your problems. I have a testimony that I know Heavenly Father will answer your prayers when you pray to him. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Spencer's talk:

Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to pray to him in faith. In 2nd Nephi 32:9, it says: "I say unto you that ye must pray always." If we pray, Heavenly Father will hear and answer our prayers.

The Stripling Warriors learned to pray from their mothers and when they were in battle, they prayed that they would be safe and Heavenly Father answered their prayers.

I have had many of my prayers answered. This summer, my dad and me went fishing. When we were going back to the camp, we had a flat tire. It was night time and I felt scared. But then I said a prayer that we would get help. After the prayer, someone stopped and helped. He was able to patch our tire, put air in it and it was fixed. He even followed us all the way up the dirt road to our camp to make sure we were safe and wouldn't take any money.

I know Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Downtown Philadelphia

"The Philadelphia temple will be built in downtown Philadelphia, at North Broad Street between Hamilton Street and Noble Street. Several other temples occupy urban sites, including those in Manhattan and Hong Kong. No designs have been completed for this temple or the others announced on Saturday." - From the newsroom of lds.org

This is disappointing in some regards because I wanted to drive to the temple. Will there be a parking lot (please, please, please!) or will we have to find a parking garage nearby and pay up the wazoo for parking like we do in Manhattan? Manhattan's actually closer to us than Philly so if we have the same parking, tolls and traffic obstacles, we might as well go to Manhattan. Okay, I feel terrible now because I just remembered Sister Allred's talk about the saints traveling to the temple during the women's conference:

"The Central American Mission then included Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras. The closest temple was the Mesa Arizona Temple. The trip required us to travel five days each way, crossing six borders. The financial sacrifice for most of those who went was great. They sold their television sets, bikes, skates, and anything else they could sell. We traveled in two uncomfortable buses day and night. Some of the members had used all their money to pay for the bus fare and had taken only crackers and margarine to eat on the way."

Alright, I feel guilty now for murmuring! We are so blessed to have another temple in the area. I was just excited for a closer, more convenient temple and it doesn't look like that's going to happen. But maybe it will be our "official" temple so we won't have to go all the way to Washington D.C. for stake temple days.

7 Random Quirks about me. . .

I have had two people tag me this week. Jana said to share 7 random things about me and Anissa said to share 6 quirky things about me. So you get 7 quirky/random things if I can think of anything. . .

1. I have never taken an art class (except the required class in 7th grade but all we did was pencil shading and perspective) and a community art class when I was around 7 years old but I like drawing and occassionally I'll paint something with the kids. These are two of my paintings. The first is of an olive tree in a garden but I couldn't get the tree right so I won't even hang it up in my house. I keep thinking I'm going to keep working on it but I'm so discouraged with it that I don't. The second is a picture from around Payson Lake where my family likes going camping. Since I painted these, I've learned a better way to paint trees so I'm excited to try it but first I have to buy some more paint but that would require shopping (see #5 to see why I may not be painting for a while.)

2. I am a serious BYU football fan. I spent many happy Saturdays at BYU football games when I was younger. Unlike many of my female friends, I know most of the rules of football (although I can't remember what clipping is even though I used to know.) In high school, some of my friends were cheerleaders and I had to laugh because they didn't even know what a first down was even though they went to every game! This has been such a fun fall because we're getting all the games on TV for the first time ever. I still wish we could actually be at a game sometime, though. I've tried to get the other moms at soccer games to cheer with me, "Let's go Panthers" clap, clap, clap, clap, clap and do the wave with me but it's not nearly as fun as it is at BYU stadium!

3. I'm really good at getting clothes washed but I am terrible about putting them away which is why my laundry room is always a mess. A lot of times the dirty laundry basket is empty but the folded clean clothes and towels are everywhere. I just emptied the twins' laundry bin today and I found swimming suits in there. I don't think we've been swimming for a month so that gives you some idea of the problem. A lot of days, I dress the kids out of the laundry room rather than out of their dressers. It's terrible and I'm trying to do a better job (thus the emptying of the twins' bin.)

4. I dislike oatmeal. I like oats and oat products (cheerios is my favorite cereal, oatmeal cookies are the best!) but it's the texture of that mushy oatmeal that gives me heebie jeebies. Growing up, I used to feed all my oatmeal to our dog, Tommy. We had a linoleum floor and I would casually dump my spoonfuls of oatmeal onto the floor for the dog to lick up. Tommy sat on the floor next to me every day. The only other way I could tolerate oatmeal is if I had a raisin in every bite and a swallow of milk to wash it down. Sometimes I would swallow it with a glass of milk just like you take a pill to avoid tasting it.

5. I H___ shopping. (The H word previously mentioned is a bad word in our house but I really do H___ shopping.) I have about a one hour shopping limit before I get into a REALLY bad mood. That is why Paul doesn't like me to go to WalMart because I can't help being there for more than an hour. Sometimes the line is that long plus there are so many things there to buy. When I shop, I don't meander. I'm in, get what I need, and out. I really don't get people who shop for fun like a lot of the cutesy moms from pre-school who spend their entire preschool time shopping or exercising. Maybe it's because they love looking at themselves in all the mirrors--I don't know. To me, window shopping is like hearing fingernails go down a chalkboard: just plain icky.

6. I love the beach. I am not sure which I love most, the mountains or the beach. I always tell Paul (who doesn't like the beach) that I was meant to live near the ocean. At least we live within a couple of hours of the beach but I dream of having a beach house where I could feel the sand seep between my toes every day and hear the waves crashing all night long.

7. My closets are always a disaster. Paul tells me that I'm an "out of sight, out of mind" person. I like surfaces to be cleaned off but inevitably those things cluttering up the house end up stashed out of sight in a closet or a drawer. I do know how to organize but it takes time and if I have time to do it, I always decide to do something else (like read or blog.) I guess I'd better wrap this up and clean out a closet immediately! Yeah, right. . . .Where's my book?

I tag Katherine, Em (so you will write something on your blog) and Marianne.

I love to see the temple!

Spencer's SSS Battler he made with legos (he named it)
Notice the height difference between Caitlin and Courtney (and the writing on my french door--lovely!)
Caitlin playing with the umbrella yesterday at the game
There's Rachel, hustling to kick the ball!

Yesterday was a wonderful day! It started out crazy as I took all four kids to Rachel's soccer game in the rain. I took the stroller, 4 chairs, 5 blankets (so they wouldn't fight) but could only find 2 umbrellas. One was a huge golf umbrella which easily covered three chairs but only having two caused contention as you might imagine. The poor guy sitting next to us had to move over because the umbrella held by Caitlin kept poking him despite my pleas to keep it still. But, hooray, about half-time, the sun came out and the kids could run around a little bit--much better.

I cried tears of joy to hear President Monson announce a new temple for Philadelphia. I have wondered if it would ever happen as temple after temple have been announced all these years but it is real! Watching conference with the DVR was the best thing ever--pausing when the kids got wild and loud and rewinding when I missed something or I wanted the kids to really listen to something made it so much more enjoyable than in conferences past. I also got to talk to my friend Katherine who lives in Brazil so that made the day even better (Katherine, I was going to say FABULOUS but I changed my mind!)

Cell Phone pics from last night's soccer practice

Rachel at the airport in July (didn't take a picture of her last night so I found this one on my phone to put in here. See post below for explanation.)

Caitlin swinging. I don't know what this face is all about!
Courtney with a big smile
Looking good, Spence!

Yesterday, as we do two times a week, my three youngest kids and I headed to the playground during Rachel's soccer practice. It's starting to get chilly now so I was shivering until the kids asked me to push them on the swing, go on the teeter totter and even go down the slide. It was a fun night. Rachel saw these pics on my phone and was sad I didn't take a picture of her so I found this picture on my cell phone of her meditating that night we waited all night at the airport and had our flight finally cancelled at 2 something in the morning.

Mmmm! I can't wait to eat that ice cream!

I don't usually use this blog to make political statements but here's an outrageous request from PETA to Ben and Jerry's asking that they use breast milk instead of cow's milk and give the cows a break! Okay--I've always thought PETA was a little nuts but this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read! Has the world gone completely mad?

For Immediate Release:September 23, 2008

Contact:Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382

Burlington, Vt. - This morning, PETA dispatched a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of ice cream icon Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace the cow's milk in their products with human breast milk. PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves. PETA points out to Cohen and Greenfield that such a move on their part would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health at the same time.
"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

For more information, please visit PETA's Web site Blog.PETA.org or click here.

PETA's letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield follows.

September 23, 2008
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, CofoundersBen & Jerry's Homemade Inc.
Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's. Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers--and cows--would reap the benefits.

Using cow's milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer's health. Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease--America's number one cause of death.

Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.

And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry. Because male calves can't produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can't even turn around.

The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Tracy ReimanExecutive Vice President

Is she spoiled or what?

A couple of days ago, Rachel was asking what she should wear to school. I said, "what about that cute pink shirt you wore the first day of school?" Rachel's reply stunned me: "Mom, I can't wear that. I've already worn it twice this school year!"

School's been in for over a month! I can't believe she has that many clothes. She is seriously spoiled. I think I wore the same thing about once a week. I am happy to say that I didn't buy all her clothes. Many of them are hand-me-downs from my friend, Tammy (THANK YOU!) but seriously. . . she is spoiled!