find joy in the journey

busy morning

Spent about an hour at Conner's school hanging up some snowman projects (for 4 classes) on their giant bulletin board.  I also used strings of orange christmas lights and poked the little bulbs through the snowmens' carrot noses.  It looks pretty cute.  Then off to Walmart for misc. items.  Back home to drop the milk off in the fridge.  To the bank for some cash.  Then the scrapbook store to drop off my design team layouts for the month (I make two scrapbook layouts for the local scrapbook store each month to showcase some of the items she carries and in return I get store credit).  And then it was time to pick up Conner from school and finally back home just in time for lunch.  Mornings like this always have the potential for draining every ounce of energy and patience that I might have.  But I have to say that it was a very nice morning.  Payton and Anna were angels -- so perfect.  Anna slept from 8:30-12:30 -- how awesome is that.  And Payton played quietly with the toys at pre-school and never complained or acted up as I pulled him in and out of the car over and over again. I'm definitely thankful for how smoothly everything went.  And to get some scrapbooking in over the last few days . . . I almost feel like a real person.

Trying to get caught up on scrapbooking -- this is from our trip to Vancouver, B.C. last year for a Josh Groban concert.  Good memories.

 

Conner's first day of school LAST year.  I remember having these thoughts the first time I saw this photo.  I'm so glad it stuck with me so I was able to jot it down.

super saturday

This past weekend we had our annual relief society super saturday.  I taught a project where we painted and decoupaged wooden trays and added cabinet door knobs to the bottom as little feet.  They turned out pretty cute.  (Got that idea from Martha Stewart).  I also signed up for these cute fleece snowman hats and made one for each of the boys.  As you can see, Payton is more than happy to be my little model.

And here's what it really looks like.  The idea came from an issue of Family Fun magazine. 

 

for the love of shorts

Our boys love their shorts.  Especially Conner.  Everyday, all year long, when Conner dresses himself in the morning he puts on a pair of shorts.  Even when I make him wear pants to school, as soon as he comes home he darts into his bedroom to change into shorts.  Just one of this boy's odd quirks.  I asked him once why he likes to wear shorts and he replied, "it makes me happy."  Well, there you go. 

This past week we have had beautiful sunny weather.  Such a nice change from the rain.  I thought it would be great for the boys to play outside and get some fresh air.  Conner loved the idea too.  My one condition was that he put on some pants and a jacket considering it was about 50 degrees outside.  But for conner, that was a deal breaker.  So he spent all week inside the house.  Finally, on Friday I told him that he was putting pants on and going outside -- or else no snickerdoodles.  Apparently the cookies were the kind of leverage I needed because he immediately put his pants on and ran outside.  A few minutes later Payton threw a bucket of water at him and his pants were soaked.  When he came inside to change I pulled down his pants and he was wearing shorts underneath!!  What a stinker.  This reminds me of days I've needed to run errands and so I tell Conner to get his pants on.  Once we're in the car I find out that he has brought shorts along with him, thinking that he'll get to change into them once we arrive at the store. 

Ok, so yesterday (saturday) we decided that it was time to get rid of the slip-covered, hand-me-down, 20 year old chair that was in our family room.  I was removing the slipcover (freshly marked with Payton's crayon drawings), getting it ready to take to Goodwill.  Conner asked what we were doing with the chair.  We told him that we were going to give it to some people who maybe don't have enough money to buy a chair.  Scott explained further that sometimes when we're all done with our clothes, or when we're all done with our toys, or when we're all done with our chairs that we take them to poor people.  Conner's immediate response was, "well, I don't need my pants."  Oh . . . my . . . heavens.  Scott and I could not believe what we were hearing -- speechless -- all we could do was laugh!  Sometimes this boy is just too smart and too quick for his own good.  But I love seeing his little mind work and watching how he reasons things out.  Oh, it's going to be an adventure with this one.  And I can almost guarantee that he'll be wearing shorts all along the way. 

one word

A couple weeks ago I received an e-mail from a friend with this message in it:

One Word.

Describe me in one word - just one.

Send it to me (only me), then forward this e-mail to your friends and see how many strange things people think about you.

I think it's interesting to know what other people think of you.  And then trying to pinpoint it in one word can be a real challenge.  So I also sent this e-mail to some of my friends and here are the replies.

• princess
• dedicated
• friend
• talented
• sweet
• organized
• stubborn
• articulate
• sparkling
• guarded
• mature

As you can see they are all over the board.  I think it's because different people know me in different ways.  Some I have known for a short time and some have been my friends for almost 10 years and others are my family.  I love to note that the words "princess" and "stubborn" came from each of my parents - what a contrast!  It was a fun exercise and I have a feeling that it will turn into a scrapbook page real soon.   

chocolate caramel goodness

These are to die for!  I've been munching on them all day.  They're fantastic warmed up with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Mix together (will be crumbly):

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups oats
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cubes butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Press half in bottom of 10x15 baking pan (spray first).  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.  Watch carefully.

Melt bag of caramels and 1/2 cup whipping cream.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on crust.  Pour caramel mixture over.  Spread rest of oatmeal mix over the top.  Bake again about 12 minutes.

anna's blessing

yesterday we blessed Anna in church.  She looked beautiful in her blessing gown -- just like a little angel.  We were so happy both of our parents were able to come for this.  Conner later commented, "we took up the whole couch at church!"  The boys had a great time playing with their grammer and papa, swimming at the hotel pool, opening early birthday presents, and new matching astronaut pajamas.

a belated happy halloween

It's three days past Halloween and I'm just about sick of candy.  Except Twix bars, I could eat those all day.  But what I'm really craving is a good smoothie.  If we had a Jamba Juice or something like it in town I'd probably hit them every other day.  Maybe what I really need is some good smoothie recipes to make at home.  I keep trying new recipes, but I'm always disappointed or they require too many ingredients to make it worthwhile.  If you've got any award-winning smoothies, please send them my way.

Well, Halloween was a success.  Probably the busiest Halloween ever in our house.  First there was Conner's preschool Halloween party in the morning.  Then after lunch we went with Nicole, Austin, & Cameron to a local retirement care center for trick-or-treating.  This was a new adventure and a lot of fun for the kids.  The elderly folks were lined up in their wheelchairs with a big bag of candy on each of their laps and the boys trick-or-treated all the way down the hall.  Some of them were dressed in costumes, some were sleeping.  In those instances Payton made sure he wasn't going to miss out on his candy opportunity and took it upon himself to reach into their bags to grab a treat.  I think it was also lots of fun for the "grammer's & papa's" -- they really seemed to enjoy having the children around.  I'm glad that we were able to do this and maybe brighten their day a bit.

After our wonderful gourmet dinner of kraft macaroni and cheese Scott took the boys trick-or-treating down the street.  Once they returned the boys helped with handing out candy.  From their reactions of frantically running to the door, passing out 2 or 3 pieces of candy to each child (instead of the ONE piece they were instructed to give), and two enthusiastic voices yelling "Happy Halloween!" as the treaters walked away, I think this was their favorite part of the night.

Oh yes, we had a Star Wars theme going with the costumes this year.  Conner was Obi-Wan-Kenobi, Payton was Darth Vader, Anna was Princess Leia (click on the photo to get a closer look at her buns), and Scott was a Sith Lord.  Sadly, I did not have a costume to go with the group.  I made Scott's robe at the last minute, and I didn't feel like dressing up as Yoda or Chewbacca. 

Finally, the conclusion of the holiday was at our ward's trunk-or-treat.  Scott decorated the back of the van with many of his Star Wars toys (ok, some belonged to Conner) and he had Episode I playing on our TV/DVD.  There were many, many children who had to be pried away from the spectacle.