Hmmm. . . .

This was Lauren's chicken feeding outfit a few days ago.

Looks like she's ready for a roller derby.

I've expressed to my children that when I'm too old to dress myself, they are not aloud to pick out my clothes.

Decorating for Thanksgiving

To kick off the the Thanksgiving celebration this week, Lauren tried to liven up her room (and a few other random objects) by decorating with the festive fall color . . . orange. She found the nearest Sharpie she could get her hands on. Mom has tried diligently to keep these out of reach, but that didn't deter the decorating prodigy.

Wall art. I think this is called "Blustery Autumn Day".

Body art. She didn't leave the table out either.

LOTS of body art.

Awww . . . she even decorated her bed.

Her tricycle. I guess she was trying to break up all the pink.

She even took the time to decorate her brother's baseball. I don't think he fully appreciated the gesture.

Thoughts

I've had some thoughts circling around my head for a few days now. Maybe by writing them down I can put my mind somewhat at ease.

Do I show my family them I love them?

Do I tell them I love them?

Are we making enough good memories together?

What kind of legacy will I leave behind one day?

The reason for these thoughts is because I came across a blog yesterday belonging to a woman who died unexpectedly from a stroke just 2 weeks after her 4th baby was born. I don't know this woman personally, but her death has forced me to look at my own life and my family in a different light.

Even though family is the most important thing to me, it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, mundane tasks. Most days it seems I just go through the motions to get through the day. I forget to slow down and take notice of the blessings right in front of me.

Another reason for this reassessment is because a good friend of mine has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. She has 5 little ones.

There have been a few other eye-opening experiences over the last few months, but they haven't hit home with me like these two have. I think Heavenly Father keeps putting these life changing stories in front of me so that I will recognize my blessings and not dwell on how terrible I think things are. I'm reminded that there are always others whose trials are far greater than my own.

We are healthy.

We have the necessities.

We have a home.

We have food.

We have a car that gets us from point A to point B.

My husband has a job.

We have the gospel.

My goal is to recognize my daily blessings, notice the little things (and enjoy them!), enjoy my children every day, keep trying to do the things Heavenly Father wants me to do, and recognize my progress even when I don't think I'm making any.

And laugh.

I don't do that often enough.

Just when I thought I was doing ok . . .

. . . the laundry multiplied ten-fold overnight. I swear it did.

My mom came over this week to help deep clean the kids rooms. They were in serious need of help and maw maw is a professional in this area.

I try to get the kids to tidy up each day, but eventually it gets to the point where I can't stand to go in there. I just close the door and try not to think about it. Hey, it's their room, not mine. But it still bothers me. That was the state of the 2 bedrooms when maw maw came to the rescue.

So, as it goes when you REALLY clean a little person's room, you end up with at least a load or two of laundry you didn't know you had. I'm amazed at the amount of stuff that hides under a bed. No wonder they don't have clean socks or underwear! And did I mention the full bag of paper trash? I need to rename my blog The Pack Rats.

I thought I was making progress in the laundry department, but when I went to start a load this morning, it looked like I hadn't done any laundry in several days. *sigh*

It's not called Mt. Washmore for nothing.

Are we done yet?

We've had a pretty busy week. Just the weekend alone consisted of 3 birthday parties, visiting Ian's dad at the nursing home, and having supper with Ian's mom.

Our cub scout pack was scheduled to perform the flag ceremony for the school's Veteran's Day program on Tuesday. Thanks to our freak tropical storm, school's were closed Tuesday and the program was rescheduled. We were at the school practicing for the program when the announcement was made. Still no word on when the program will be.

The pack was also invited to help hand out programs at the city's Veteran's Day ceremony on Wednesday. After the ceremony, we went to the luncheon for veteran's and their families. I wasn't expecting it to last as long as it did and the little ones were starting to get restless. I was starting to get a little restless too. I was so wiped out by the end of the day that I decided to cancel our scout meeting last night. Thankfully the kids went to bed with no problems because I ended up with a terrible headache.

The boys are back at school today, headache is gone, Ian is home sick, and I've made a quick grocery run.

I'm ready for a few quiet, uneventful days.

Trunk-or-Treat and a little bit of football

Yay! We made it through! As wiped out as I am I'm surprised I'm even bothering with this tonight. But I know me, ' miss procrastinator', and it might be next month before I get to this if I don't get it out of the way now.

My little motley crew standing on the grandparents' porch. We had to stop by there so they could see the costumes. Todd is a Grim Reaper/Skeleton-something-or-other. Zack is a Jedi. Matt is Elmo 'going to the beach', which is why he's in shorts and flip flops. You can't see the flip flops, but you get the visual. Lauren is a 'I-don't-want-my-picture-taken' Witch. Thankfully I only had to pay for Lauren's hat, which was only $0.69, and maw maw made her pants because the dress was a little too short. Everything else was leftovers. :o)

Elmo with his stash.

The Witch eating her stash.

I'm not quite sure what this is, but I called him a Werewolf-Clown-Farmer. He had big monster hands on and glow sticks in his 'fro'. Sorry---can't see the glow sticks because I had to use my flash, but they were VERY cool.

Witches were popular tonight. This one was too cute. Her grandma made her entire costume. I'm jealous.

This Witch was excited to be there and wanted to make sure I knew here hair wasn't really pink.

When I asked this lovely princess if I could take a picture of her dress, she gave me the perfect princess pose. Look at the delicate placement of her hand. Very princessy!

ON TO FOOTBALL ----

For the record, I've never been more happy to see a football season come to an end. I don't do well with sports.

Since this was Todd's last game, I figured I better get some pictures. I kept forgetting to bring my camera to his other games when I didn't have the little brother or sister in tow. Can you guess which one is him? Hint: In the back. He's the tallest one on his team.

Yay, he's finally in the game! Look. He's about a head taller than the rest of the players. What am I gonna do with him in a couple of years when I have to look up to lecture him?

He was NOT happy with me taking his picture. I tried to get something more formal and football-y-like before the game, but he gave me the 'tude'. I dropped the subject and went to sit down. Don't you just love pre-teen hormones?

Here I go again . . .

I'm referring to procrastinating. I hate that word. I hate that I do it . . . . a lot. *sigh*

Here we are the Monday before Halloween, and 2 days before Trunk-or-Treat at church. Do my kids have costumes? Lauren has a partial costume. Do I have money for costumes? No. Do I have materials at home to throw something together for the boys that they will be happy with? Maybe. Maybe not. *sigh*

Every year I promise myself that I'm not going to wait until the last minute to figure out costumes. But I do it anyway.

And, you know, this just tells you exactly what my entire holiday season will be like. Last minute. Stress. Hating the holidays to the point of not wanting to deal with any of it. Whining. Complaining. *sigh*

And the stores don't make it any easier on me, either. They put out the Christmas stuff earlier and earlier every year. Pretty soon they'll have it out around July 4th.

Ugh. It's starting all over again.

I asked Ian last night if I could hide under the blankets until January. He said yes, but I don't see it happening.

I think I need some Calgon. And chocolate. And a fluffy pillow.